Yeah I’m just citing a situation where a team had the luxury of being agnostic about their striker’s scoring…part of why adding Haaland is so funny, they were already one of the best three clubs in the world (arguably the best) BEFORE they added the best season from a striker ever
Yeah, I get how City plays. The false nine is more about overloads with numbers which is why they struggled so much early this year with Haaland. I think a Sargent/Jesus would be more about pressing and work rate than that.
For the USMNT it is a bit different though. Having the ability to have a guy like Sargent/Jesus makes some sense when you consider that there are goals from the wings (Pulisic/Weah) and you want to fit in some luxury/low work rate guys (Reyna).
I just think you have to be really good to be a Pepi/Vazquez striker who just scores at the international level.
From watching two games, Balogun seems like the total package in many ways… So basically you probably build a squad with one striker from each basket (link up/press vs. just goals).
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Blockquote Definitely don’t think that it would be worth anyone playing in Europe playing in the Nations League and then the Gold Cup. Preseasons are already starting, those guys needed the break – especially with a mid-season World Cup.
Yeah, I get that, but if all depends on what the goal of these two tournaments are. Both are essentially useless (not 100% sure on Nations League), but since the confederations cup is no more, the Gold Cup really means nothing so both are just extra games. Could have probably split the squad for both because like you said, playing B and C with B and C doesn’t really show a ton.
Like Aaronson played about 80 minutes in the Nations League, LDLT was low on minutes, Scally only played because Dest got a red, Richards had 9 appearances for club in the past year. Just thought the way they went full A+++ squad for 2 matches was kind of dumb. Think at least for development, could have had a few of the guys mentioned and even Pepi for this tournament regardless of how useless it is and you’re probably playing in a final this Sunday with a few alterations from the entire summer.
It’s not like Pepi is in some amazing form right now and above the Gold Cup. Then you wouldn’t have had to play Ferriera 240 minutes in the last 5 days.
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Guys don’t “develop” playing for their national teams
Pepi got his big transfer done while the gold cup was happening, he didn’t want to delay that and miss preseason with PSV
Well whatever word you want to use for it, developing cohesion or building confidence with younger players with some established ones there.
Like I said, it’s two tournaments that don’t matter much, but I’d rather have closer to some split squads than what we did, but probably doesn’t make much of a difference in the long run. Copa is where we will see where we are really at next year.
Wouldn’t playing your main team together be the best way to build cohesion rather than splitting it up?
You want your main players to play together in the roles that they are going to have to play in the fall.
How many European players played in the Gold Cup that could have played in the NL – across the field? 
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Depends on the goals. Successful Nations Cup and flamed out of the Gold Cup.
Wasn’t implying a 50/50 A and B team split. Mentioned a few guys in the post above I thought could have played both (Aaronson, Pepi, Richards, LDLT and maybe Scally or Zimm) and given a good shot to win both.
Was kind of my whole point in the first post about the Gold Cup today. I don’t think the GC did much good for anyone, but if it’s treated like a summer league game, no big deal either I guess.
Yeah, I just don’t see a ton of value for guys in Europe to play Gold Cup at the expense of having an offseason.
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Those of you who watch a lot of soccer, what are you watching? I’m assuming you’re not just watching the ball and you’re seeing how the defenders and other offensive players are setting up. When I’m watching basketball I probably watch the defensive rotations as much as the ball.
Any good X’s and O’s explainers? Or anything else that would help me appreciate the nuances of the sport.
I’m watching off the ball mostly. More focus on the midfielders usually, if you are familiar with formations, you can see what they are trying to crack the defense. You’ll notice how many missed run there either by design or someone just missing it.
For example …
If people aren’t familiar with soccer, people would assume you’d see a lot of Haaland, but he has the least amount of touches per game by far.
Not a ton of goals with a lot of build up in those, but there’s a few. Specifically 8 showing Stones pushing up.
I watch the backlines a lot on defense as well. Not a coach or anything, basically a FIFA junkie like 90% of US based Premier league fans, but you can learn a lot about footy playing a lifetime of that game.
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Hah - i’m probably the opposite, in that I watch the ball (of course) and then peek to see the defensive back line and how it responds the ball.
More generally, the first choice a team makes is a little like a football team in that it sets up in an odd or even defensive line – which in soccer is the defensive back line closest to the defensive goal. That choice is pretty fundamental to both offensive and defensive strategy. Offensively, it can significantly affect how a team attacks or posses the width of the field with the rule of thumb being that odd backline attacks width w/ players that have less defensive responsibility, even backline attacks width w players w/ more responsibility on D. Defensively, 3 person backlines often fall back to defend in a 5-person line, which can leave a centrally-located defender free to attack the ball or shore up a trouble spot, so watching the behavior of the middle three, particularly as the opposition builds up, can be interesting.
By the way if you’re asking because you’re aware the Women’s World Cup is starting soon and you want to watch the games, be aware that international teams are notoriously simple tactically. High level men’s club teams are fairly fluid within the confines of their initial set up, especially on offense, like you see with Stones in the example above. But international teams are often pretty straight forward and predictable in their play, as they have very limited opportunity to practice together (especially problematic for poorly-resourced women’s national teams).
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Yeah, I just have habit of looking for pockets on the defense and watching runs to see what they are setting up. Like I said above, probably too much FIFA in my life.
Plus being a City supporter for so long, I’m so used to boring parked bus backlines, it’s kind of where everything happens.
wooooooooooooo is a sentence
Oof is a sentence
think we mostly showed out but got some bad luck plus some self inflicted Weird Guys bc Zlatko is bad
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OK – For anyone who wants to play, what is your EPL top 4 in order?
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- City
- United
- Arsenal
- Newcastle
I hate it because I hate United, but I think Ten Hag is a great manager and will have them near the top most of the year. Thought second half of the season Arsenal was closer to who they really are then that burst to start out last year and as long as Bernardo extends his stay, I think City still are 5-10 points better than anyone else. That defense is going to be nasty. Liverpool is a bit old and not sure they have a full campaign in them, I’d bet this is Klopp’s last year as they will need a reset.
On the mid table, I think Chelsea will be improved and will challenge for Europa late when Nkunku is back. I think Palace could push a top 7 slot IF Olise comes back healthy and they find a striker in that mess they have and I have no idea what to do with Spurs, especially with Kane seemingly leaving and them only having Richarlison up front with 3 weeks left in the window. Totally mystery there.