Aaron Long Haters Are Gaslighters

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Aaron Long Photo: John Dorton/ISI Photos/Getty Images).

Traditionally, the U.S. Men’s National Team has favored really tall center backs due to a prehistoric understanding of soccer that the primary role of the center back is to clear crosses with headers. I remember recently seeing a fan tweet that one of the potential U.S. center backs was too short because he was only 6 feet tall. Now, most of the fan base is concerned with having center backs who are good with their feet, so they can pass out of the back or out of danger when they are pressured by the opposition.

It seems that a segment of the fan base values playing out of the back as more important that 1v1 defending, marking, and ball winning, when really you want your center backs to be complete center backs; the passing is equally as important as the defending, rather than being more important.

A certain segment of new USMNT fans have been oddly obsessed with John Brooks being excluded from the national team for the last few years. Their argument is that John Brooks was playing in the Bundesliga and the Champions League and now for Benfica, so it’s outrageous that he’d be excluded from the national team. Brooks isn’t as laterally quick as other USMNT center back options, and he isn’t as fast. Nevertheless, his rabid fans feel that he has to be on the USMNT because of his passing and club cv. There’s nothing wrong with this position, but there’s also nothing wrong with wanting a faster and quicker center back.

The John Brooks fans have been cyberbullying and harassing Aaron Long on Twitter for like a year now, and recently they’ve been claiming that Long is playing poorly in MLS, when really Long has zero errors leading to goals. There have been several New York Red Bulls games where the team let in a lot of goals, but Long wasn’t responsible for the goals, which is to say that he didn’t get beaten on any of the goals. There were even a few goals where he blocked someone’s shot, but the ball still found the back of the net.

Long’s critics have been tweeting for months that Long is playing poorly in MLS, but it’s all just gaslighting. Anyone can watch the goals against the Red Bulls on YouTube and see that Long hasn’t been making mistakes or playing poorly. Aaron Long has 0.04 errors per 90 minutes in MLS. Nevertheless, the gaslighting or false narrative continues.

I believe the root cause of this is lots of USMNT fans are new soccer fans who aren’t capable of evaluating players or understanding what is going on in games, but they do know that European club soccer is much better than MLS. Therefore, the discussion around the USMNT is about the tactics or who played well or badly, but rather it’s about singling out any MLS player in the lineup and lamenting why some other player who is playing in Europe isn’t playing.

Anyone who really follows European club soccer knows that there are only a few American players who are legit players in Europe, and some of these players lived their entire lives in Europe where they developed in a much more competitive and talented environment. Some of these players qualify to play for the USMNT, but they are products of other countries, which allows them to not be labeled with the stigma of being an American player. These players get more opportunities at clubs, and clubs don’t view them as American players who are possibly lacking the technical ability of someone not from the United States.

The idea that no MLS players should play for the national team is a delusional overestimation of the talent level of the limited Americans playing in Europe. There aren’t enough legit American players playing in Europe to field an entire team, as many of the players in MLS haven’t never been given the opportunity to play for a European club. Long has had lots of European interests and on more than one occasion, and some unfortunate injuries at the worst times stop him from transferring to Europe.

The criticism of Long isn’t based on his actual ability or his performances, but rather it’s based on an overt bias against MLS and for Brooks because he plays in Europe. Playing in Europe was a lot easier for Brooks, as Brooks was raised in Germany and seen as a German player. When clubs scout him, they see a German center back, rather than an American center back, who potentially could be lacking some technical ability by virtue of being American.

Aaron Long definitely has weaknesses like all players do, but the level of criticism from a certain segment of the fan base is delusional, biased, and personal.

Gregg Berhalter’s Gimmicky & Hipster USMNT Tactics Are Overly Defensive-Minded

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Gregg Berhalter Image: Morocco World News

U.S. Men’s National Team coach Gregg Berhalter only deploys the 4-3-3 formation, and his tactics consist of high-pressing the opponent in order to pressure them into making a mistake and giving the ball away. Therefore, the defense is the offense, so he doesn’t believe in deploying a playmaker because the high-pressing itself is the playmaker.

Berhalter’s soccer philosophy is something of a combination of nerd tactics and gimmicky tactics based on Dutch football. He thinks he can choreograph the ball’s movement before the game on a whiteboard or diagram, and this philosophy runs contrary to the artistry and impromptuness of Brazilian futebol arte or Spanish football or French football. Former U.S. international, Herculez Gomez, now an ESPN FC and ESPN Deportes pundit, has described Berhalter as a diagram or whiteboard nerd, and it appears that Berhalter is basically unwilling to alter his tactics or use a playmaker.

Since high-pressing is used by many of world football’s top club teams and coaches, you might wonder why it’s a problem for Berhalter to use similar tactics. The answer is that high-pressing doesn’t work against top teams who can easily pass around your pressing while you run around in vain wasting your energy. In short, it’s an inferior solution compared to fielding players who can keep possession, pass out of trouble, and create scoring chances.

During Berhalter’s tenure, a small segment of the USMNT fan base has focused on criticizing Berhalter’s player selection over his tactics, and their rationale was that Berhalter isn’t going to change his tactics. It doesn’t make sense why these critics think that Berhalter would change his player selections when he wouldn’t change his tactics. If someone is opposed to changing his tactics, why would they change their player selections? If the coach doesn’t listen to criticism on one aspect of his coaching, then why would he listen to criticism on another aspect of his coaching?

These critics think people complaining about the tactics should stop complaining, but they think they themselves shouldn’t stop complaining about the player selections. But, these people are nonsensical, as they also accuse Berhalter of being biased towards MLS players, when he barely selects any and when he himself played 15 years of his professional career in Germany and The Netherlands. Therefore, if people are going to criticize Berhalter’s player selections, then it’s just as valid to criticize his tactics.

The problem with Berhalter’s tactics in CONCACAF was that the U.S. wasn’t able to create scoring chances through the middle of the field from the run of play because the opposition bunkered with eight guys, and it was difficult to break down the opposition with the U.S.’ midfield formation. The reason why it was difficult for the U.S.’ midfield formation to break down the midfield and the defense was that the opposition’s midfield essentially double-marked the U.S.’ two 8’s who were essentially playing as right and left midfielders. 

The opposing teams’ right center midfielder and right wing would double-team the U.S.’s 8 on the left side and vice versa. The opposition’s two forwards would double-team the U.S.’ defensive midfielder Tyler Adams. Since the U.S.’ midfielders were separated so much, it was hard for them to combine with each other to break down the opposition, and they didn’t attack through the middle because they would get the ball so far out wide that they had to dribble too far to get to the middle. Many fans and the media praised Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie’s ability to dribble forward to advance the ball, but the distance they had to dribble to get into the final third or near the penalty area was too far. It was like trying to swim across a pool of crocodiles or sharks without getting eaten.

Despite the same problem of lack of creation through the middle, Berhalter wouldn’t change anything, and the fans blamed Sebastian Lletget for what was a tactical problem. Fans falsely accused Lletget of not being up to the level despite his obvious technical ability, attacking flair, assist ability, and scoring ability. Fans who didn’t understand tactics focused their criticism on an MLS player, even though in later games when Adams, McKennie, and Musah made up the three-man midfield there was still no creation through the middle, and the problem wasn’t solved.

According to FotMob, Lletget received ratings of 6.3, 7.1, 8.0, and 6.8 in his last four World Cup qualifying matches, and FotMob isn’t an American company – and it isn’t affiliated with MLS. Lletget received a 6.8 rating in the game where a small subsection of the fans labeled him ”awful.” Herculez Gomez pointed out the bias in the criticism of MLS players in a video interview with USMNT fan media YouTubers, Tactical Manager and 11 Yanks, but this subsection of the fans simply didn’t care. This helps to prove that tactics and no playmaker rather than Lletget or MLS players were the real problem with the USMNT.

Many top teams and coaches stick their playmaker somewhere in the Front 3 if they use a 4-3-3 formation, but Gregg Berhalter doesn’t do that. What the team needs is for Christian Pulisic or Gio Reyna (if healthy) to drop centrally to play this playmaker role, but it seems that Berhalter is opposed to this. One of the players will just have to do this anyway. Gio Reyna has done it before, and so has Pulisic, who oddly was criticized by the fans for dropping too deep and for trying to force too many things and for holding the ball too long. It would appear that the American fans and media weren’t smart enough to understand what he was doing. Even Ricardo Pepi dropped back from his Number 9 position because he wasn’t getting service, and the fans and the media also criticized him for not scoring when he wasn’t getting any service.

Both the coach and the fans are getting their tactics wrong. The U.S. must use a playmaker to link the midfield to the attack and to help break down teams who park the bus and bunker. Using gimmicky high-pressing isn’t a recipe for beating Brazil or any of the other soccer giants like France, Portugal, Argentina, Germany, and Spain who can’t be defeated by gimmicky tactics.

It’s important to note that Brazil, France, Argentina, and Portugal don’t base their tactics on high-pressing. They may press when they lose the ball to win it back, but they don’t press in lieu of possessing the ball.

These Berhalter tactics aren’t working, and the fans and the fan media are mistaken to think that player selection is the primary issue, as almost any American soccer fan knows who the best American soccer players are, since there aren’t too many in European football.

Which Three Strikers Should Be on the USMNT?

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Bienvenido Velasco/EPA, via Shutterstock

The U.S. Men’s National Team either has a striker drought or somebody’s not scouting the player pool well enough. With the vocal minority of USMNT trolls on Twitter, any mention of a striker outside of the five or so who have been on the roster recently is met with instant ridicule as if you suggested an amateur off the street. For a fan base that wants changes and new players, they are surprisingly resistant to incorporating new strikers. If you suggest that a new or different striker is used, people won’t provide an argument about why the player shouldn’t be included. Instead, they’ll just repeat the player’s name with a question mark after it or just write “LOL” or laugh.

Ricardo Pepi

As Hugo Perez said to Jimmy Conrad, Ricardo Pepi doesn’t get any service for club and country, and he needs a 10 behind him. Pepi is a complete striker experiencing a goal drought due to lack of service. U.S. Men’s National Team fans have somewhat stupidly written him off for not scoring, despite the underlying problem. Pepi has been forced to drop deep to receive the ball, and then of course he isn’t in position to receive the ball in a scoring position. Apparently, U.S. fans are too stupid to understand that he can’t be in two places at once. Pepi is still the top American striker because he finishes clinically, makes non-stop runs off the ball, combines well with his teammates, and plays direct. He’s also faster and quicker than people realize. He’s only a teenager, and he’ll get even better.

Haji Wright

Haji Wright Image: ESPN

Haji Wright like Ricardo Pepi is also a complete striker. His tall, thin build stands out, and Wright is a smooth mover with lots of speed. No problems with changing directions or horizontal quickness, he uses both feet interchangeably, attacks defenders directly off the dribble, and always looks to go straight to goal. He’s got a good goal-scoring rate in Turkey, and he’s shown that he doesn’t have a problem cooly burying penalties. Is he better than Pepi? The jury is still out, but Wright looks much better than Jordan Pefok, Jesus Ferreira, and maybe Josh Sargent just on spec based on the eye test. Wright has been a well-known name in American soccer circles since like 2012 or 2013 when he was 16. He appears to have all of the tools, and Christian Pulisic really likes playing with him. Wright has been bouncing around clubs for years, despite his combination of skill and athleticism. There doesn’t appear to be any issues with him that would hold him back. How many more Haji Wrights are out there? The USSF is the worst scouting federation in the world.

Timothy Weah

Timothy Weah Image: Fernando Llano, Associated Press

Timothy Weah is a striker who just doesn’t know it. I supposed you could say that he’s more of a second striker than a first striker. Lots of people think a first striker means a striker who holds up play, but I mean a striker like Brazilian Ronaldo or Thierry Henry or Karim Benzema. He’s been banished to the right wing for the USMNT where it takes more work and where he has to cover more ground to get in front of the goal mouth and into scoring positions. In the last few games, he showed his willingness and ability to blast shots from outside the box and score them. People say his goal on Morocco was a mistake by the goalkeeper, but I think there was too much power and movement on the shot. Listing Weah as a striker doesn’t mean he can’t be used as a wing or a second striker in a different formation, but his clinical finish against Jamaica with his left foot shows that he has the clinical finishing skills to be a striker.

Who Should Make the USMNT World Cup Roster (June 2022 Version)?

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DeJuan Jones of the New England Revolution Image: USA Today/MLSsoccer.com

This current preferred U.S. Men’s National Team roster proposal for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is based on a Diamond 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation, so some of the positions like attacking midfielder and forward are somewhat fluid. This isn’t World Soccer Source’s prediction of who Gregg Berhalter will pick, but rather it’s World Soccer Source’s opinion of who should be on the roster.

Goalkeepers- Zack Steffen, Matt Turner, Gabriel Slonina

Zack Steffen critics are pretty off base. Most of them appear to be the biased anti-MLS crowd which is weird, since he plays for Manchester City. Steffen has made plenty of impressive saves for Man City, and he’s twice as good with his feet as Matt Turner is. The “Turner is a better shot-stopper than Steffen” crowd conveniently looks over all of Steffen’s outstanding saves for City, and his recent “mistake” involved him being slide tackled by Sadio Mané when the sun was in his eyes. The fact that Steffen just stood there and got slide tackled, rather than shanking a pass or misplacing or underhitting a pass suggests that Steffen just really had no idea Mané was there. Matt Turner got a free pass for a shanked kicked in minus zero degree weather, but many fans didn’t give Steffen a pass for getting dispossessed when the sun was in his eyes.

Right Backs- Reggie Cannon, Sergiño Dest, Brandon Bye

Reggie Cannon receives quite a bit of criticism from the segment of the USMNT fan base that’s vocal on Twitter and social media, which isn’t a big surprise since this crowd is largely soccer illiterate. Cannon is an intense defender who also excels in the attack. Cannon used to be more aggressive going forward, and one has to wonder if he was instructed to stay back on defense more. Brandon Bye is the third highest-rated player in all of MLS, and he’s recently stood out for his attacking play, when he was previously known for his strong defending. Bye is a dangerous player going forward because of his speed and excellent passes, particularly his soft crosses, which are more refined than your typical line-drived crosses. Bye’s crosses are culturally placed on the foot or head of his target. No one I know of is calling for Bye to be on the roster, but Bye is a better defender than Sergiño Dest, which should help the U.S. contain the dangerous and fast attackers the U.S. will face at the World Cup.

Center Backs- Walker Zimmerman, Aaron Long, Chris Richards, Andrew Farrell

Andrew Farrell is someone that World Soccer Source has wanted on the U.S. Men’s National Team for years under Jürgen Klinsmann and Bruce Arena. Farrell is a complete center back who’s better in all areas than Zimmerman, Long, and likely Richards – comparing Richards to Farrell would require a close observation of them at the same time. Basically, no fans or media on social media or elsewhere have been backing Farrell for the USMNT, which isn’t surprising how most American fans and journalists don’t scout or back any player who’s not already in the discussion.

Left Backs- DeJuan Jones, Antonee Robinson

DeJuan Jones for the New England Revolution has really stood out for his two-way ability and for his two-footed skill. Jones is right-footed, but he plays left back for the New England Revolution; most people don’t even know he’s right-footed, which is how good his left foot is. Jones is fast, smooth, and skilled on the ball, plus he’s good at winning the ball and timing his tackles. He also excels at recovery defense, where he catches up and dispossesses his mark after being beaten: a useful skill – particularly against world-class attackers who are basically impossible to stop every time.

Defensive Midfielders- Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah

Tyler Adams has come under criticism for his passing and distribution recently. The criticism is probably unfair, even though lots of people are leveling it. Yunus Musah is known as a box-to-box midfielder because of his ability to dribble forward, but he could be a better option than Adams at defensive midfielder. Musah’s been dropping back in recent games, and that dribbling ability is good for collecting the ball from the back and dribbling forward out of danger, plus he passes better than Adams. Musah is excellent at tackling and ball-winning, although some have claimed otherwise. Perhaps, playing Musah as a defensive midfielder means that he can’t advance the ball quite as far forward, but it would be easy enough for Weston McKennie to cover for him if he’s on a particularly spirited run.

Center Midfielders- Weston McKennie, Luca De La Torre, Kellyn Acosta

Luca De La Torre has proven to be a skillful midfielder who’s direct and aggressive going forward, which the USMNT needs. So far, he doesn’t appear to be much of a scorer or shooter, but maybe he just hasn’t been aggressive enough. Some people have backed De La Torre as a defensive midfielder, but he seems better suited to be going forward rather than roaming the back and winning back possession. He might be a little easier to get past compared to the likes of Adams, McKennie, and Musah, but we’ll see. For now, he’s a good addition to the midfield as a center midfielder. Perhaps he deserves to start. Kellyn Acosta is much more technical and skillful than he gets credit for from the anti-MLS crowd. It’s hard to argue than he’s a skilled ball-striker and dead ball specialists but somehow he doesn’t pass well. That doesn’t even make sense. If you have command of the ball, then you have command of the ball.

Attacking Midfielders- Gio Reyna, Sebastian Lletget, Djordje Mihailovic

Djordje Mihailovic was injured last camp, but the USMNT definitely needs his skillset, playing style, and creativity. Mihailovic is a goal-scoring playmaker who has attracted serious interest from Europe. Probably only Carles Gil of the New England Revolution is a better MLS player than Mihailovic, and Gil is really too good to be playing in MLS. The Spanish Number 10 is an excellent player even by Spanish standards, and it’s unclear how he ended up in MLS as opposed to a better league. Several scouts let him slip away.

Forwards- Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson, Timothy Weah

Timothy Weah’s best position is likely as a second striker, which Coach Berhalter has not deployed if memory serves. Weah would also do well as a first striker. One has to wonder if Weah only claims that he’s not a Number 9 because he doesn’t want to be compared to his father or in his shadow. This is all speculation, but playing a different position from his father would allow him to be his own player more. Nevertheless, the U.S. needs Weah up top as a second striker or first striker. Out wide, Weah has to cover more ground to get in front of the goal mouth, which requires extra work. Many fans oddly want Weah at right wing for his crossing, but having a goalscorer provide the crosses is quite illogical.

Strikers- Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright, Bobby Wood

The American coach and USMNT legend has gone on the record on multiple occasions (most notably on Jimmy Conrad’s video podcast) to say that Ricardo Pepi is getting no service for the USMNT or for FC Augsburg. Pepi is a complete striker and a clinical finisher who has received basically no service or final balls for his club and country. He’s still the best current American striker, and his goalscoring drought is not his fault. Haji Wright has been an exciting USMNT prospect since he was 16 or so in like 2013, and he has an excellent goalscoring record in Turkey. He’s done fine in limited minutes with the USMNT, and he tucked his penalty away calmly and clinically in a recent friendly against Morocco. The USMNT needs three strikers on the roster, and Bobby Wood has more speed, technical ability, and experience than the other options. Wood is playing for a mediocre MLS squad, which isn’t helping his goalscoring rate. Nevertheless, no one except the biased anti-MLS crowd can deny his ability when you subject them to the eye test. Wood is a direct & creative striker who is proven at the international level and in the Bundesliga, plus he’s only in his late 20’s.

What’s Wrong with the USMNT, Its Fans, and Its Fan Media?

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Gregg Berhalter Image: MLSsoccer.com

About a year and a half ago, a new group of U.S. Men’s National Team YouTubers and fans appeared on the scene, and I don’t recall ever seeing them on Twitter or YouTube before. I’ve wondered where they came from, and it appears that the most likely answer is that almost all of them are new soccer fans who decided to start participating in the discussion and producing content. Almost all of them accept for Tactical Manager appear to be new to soccer, and you can tell by their ignorant opinions.

These new content creators have resonated with a group of U.S. Men’s National Team fans on Twitter, who appear to understand very little about soccer, except that the level of play in European club soccer is above that of MLS, which everyone knows. Therefore, this new group of fans and content creators isn’t capable of analyzing the play of USMNT players beyond calling for a player playing in Europe to replace any MLS player in the lineup. So, the quality and accuracy of the criticism from this segment of the fan base is low and off base.

One of the main problems with the U.S. Men’s National Team is the lack of a link between the midfield and the attack because coach Gregg Berhalter doesn’t deploy a playmaker in the Number 10 or central attacking midfielder position. Frequently, he starts a playmaker in the lineup, but it’s usually out of position as a wing in the Front 3 or as a center midfielder or Number 8 too deep in the his three-man midfield. Better teams and better players have their playmaker drift into a center attacking midfielder role, even though they may be deployed as a wing or center midfielder on paper.

Rather than criticizing Berhalter’s tactics and formation, this new group of fans and content creators focus 100% of their attention and criticism on harassing and mocking whatever MLS player happens to be in the lineup; this is their scapegoat. It doesn’t matter what’s actually going wrong with the play. This new group insists that if some player playing in Europe were in the lineup over an MLS player, then all of the team’s problems would be solved.

Currently, these fans are mocking and harassing Aaron Long, a complete center back who’s been playing well, and this new crowd insists that John Brooks needs to be in the lineup because he can pass a little bit better. It doesn’t matter to this crowd that he’s slower and not as quick and that he lacks the ability to change directions quickly, which would result in him getting beaten. Somehow a center back possibly passing a little bit better is more important than a center back who’s harder to get past.

Prior to the crosshairs being on Aaron Long, they were on Sebastian Lletget, who was one of those most skillful, creative, and exciting American attacking players to emerge on the scene in a while. He lacked the explosiveness of Christian Pulisic and he wasn’t quite as dangerous as Gio Reyna, but he was a skillful, creative playmaker or forward, who are in short supply in the American talent pool.

Berhalter had Lletget playing as an 8 in a three-man midfield that frequently faced CONCACAF teams who bunkered with 8 players, which left almost no space or ability to unlock the defense. Lletget didn’t make any mistakes in the games or look like he wasn’t up to the level, but he was an MLS player, whom this new crowd saw as preventing Yunus Musah from starting. The idea that Lletget should be used in the Front 3 or as 10 in front of the three-man midfield of Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, and Musah was too complex for this new crowd of soccer fans. They lacked the nuanced understanding to say that Lletget was being used out of position or that he could play with Musah. Rather, they focused their attention on mocking and harassing Lletget on Twitter and on YouTube.

One YouTuber, Jack Landau, even made a video accusing Lletget of not being focused and not “giving his all for the shirt” after his sister’s death and therefore he should have removed himself from the lineup. Never mind, that Lletget received good FotMob ratings (6.3, 7.1, 8.0, 6.8) or that ESPN pundit Herculez Gomez totally disagreed with this new crowd’s assessment of Lletget. Berhalter and the USMNT have been using a three-man midfield of Adams, McKennie, and Musah for over six months now, and the U.S. still isn’t producing many scoring chances through the middle or from the run of play.

The scoring chances are mostly coming off crosses and set pieces, and Berhalter’s lineup is based on defending and high pressing the opposition as opposed to keeping possession and creating scoring chances. Attacking players like Pulisic and Timothy Weah are relegated to wide positions where they are supposed to high press the opposition and produce crosses, even though crosses are supposed to be the purview of the outside backs like Reggie Cannon and Antonee Robinson, who is doing a good job in this regard.

Berhalter’s refusal to deploy a playmaker has resulted in a goal scoring drought for the team’s top Number 9, Ricardo Pepi, who has been blamed for the lack of goals even though there is zero service. Berhalter even told Pepi to take a “mental break” to restore his goal scoring form even though the lack of goals had nothing to do with Pepi’s mentality or form and everything to do with not receiving service. Anyone with even a basic understanding of soccer could have diagnosed this problem, and famous American coach, Hugo Perez even pointed out the problem with Pepi not receiving service on Jimmy Conrad’s podcast and the coaching staff still didn’t listen or change anything in their tactics or formation.

Now, the U.S. is some five months from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the U.S. isn’t even close to the level of the favorites to win the tournament. The U.S. can’t pass or keep possession remotely close to the top teams, and the team can’t produce scoring chances either. The solution for the new crowd of soccer fans is to drop the MLS players, even though there’s very few of them and all of them are international caliber players.

Who Should Be (Not Will Be) on the USMNT Roster In November Against Mexico?

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Image: Courtesy of U.S. Soccer

Gregg Berhalter will be selecting his U.S. Men’s National Team roster for the November World Cup qualifiers soon, and here’s who World Soccer Source thinks he should select:

The roster is listed by position with a Diamond 4-4-2 Formation in mind, but World Soccer Source also supports a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is essentially the same as a 4-3-3 where a Number 10 is used behind a Number 9 and Number 11, as opposed to having wings or outside forwards. It’s also unclear how many players Gregg Berhalter and U.S. Soccer plan on selecting for these upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Goalkeepers (3): Zack Steffen, Matt Turner, Ethan Horvath

Like Herculez Gomez said, “What’s with all of the shade (disrespect) being thrown on Zack Steffen?” Even before Steffen’s recent great performance for Manchester City, the “correct” narrative in U.S. Men’s National Team fan and media circles was that Matt Turner was the better shot-stopper and that he had to be the starter. Steffen didn’t do anything to deserve this disrespect, but there it was anyway. Steffen is an excellent shot-stopper in his own right, and as the back-up goalkeeper at Manchester City, he keeps plenty of reps and practice training with his world-class teammates. Game-like scenarios can be recreated somewhat in training, and a goalkeeper doesn’t need the same cardiovascular fitness as an outfield player.

Right Backs (2): Reggie Cannon, Shaq Moore

Reggie Cannon (and Sergiño Dest) are the U.S. right backs par excellence, and Shaq Moore, despite playing in the second division in Spain, is a complete right back who defends and attacks well with good speed and a level of technical ability above DeAndre Yedlin. Moore regularly plays well for the USMNT.

Center Backs (4): Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, Chris Richards, Matt Miazga

Miles Robinson would appear to be the best USMNT center back because he’s a complete center back who combines speed with quickness and skill on the ball and excellent ball-winning and man-marking skills. He’s a smooth defender. Walker Zimmerman and Matt Miazga are complete defenders too. Chris Richards is likewise a complete defender who’s possible more technical than he is at actually defending, but that doesn’t mean that his defending is lacking. Right now, it appears that Zimmerman and Miazga might be better ball-winners and man-markers right now. Who knows? The jury is out still.

Left Backs (2): Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally

Antonee Robinson has proven that he deserves the left back spot with him combination of speed, technical ability, and two-way skill, but Joe Scally has impressed in the Bundesliga where he plays right back and left back. If he plays on the left, he can cut onto his right to score. Dest is another strong option here, although he’s listed later as a wing. Dest’s defending isn’t as good as his attacking, but his defending is underrated. As a left back, he can cut onto his stronger right foot to score, but he’s also shown that he can score golazos with his left foot. Currently, Barcelona are using him in the attack as a wing. Gregg Berhalter has multiple strong left back options.

Defensive Midfielders (2/3 with Kellyn Acosta): Tyler Adams, James Sands

Tyler Adams runs without stopping and distributes well, in addition to recovering seemingly everything. He’s one of the almost indispensable U.S. players, and his technical ability is underrated. Like Bobby Wood, he runs with a sprinter’s bounce. James Sands seems to have worn the wrong length cleats his last few USMNT appearances. He was slipping all over the place, and his mistakes were all around slips. Sands is also a complete center back who played well for the U.S. in the 2021 Gold Cup.

Center Midfielders (4): Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Kellyn Acosta, Gianluca Busio, (Luca De La Torre & Joe Corona Described Under Attacking Midfielders)

Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah are box-to-box midfielders who like to go forward, and despite McKennie’s attacking ability and scoring potential praised by Juventus coach, Max Allegri, Musah is the better dribbler who can seemingly surge forward at will. Gianluca Busio is a skillful midfielder, and it’s not clear what his best possession is. He plays as a mezz’ala, which is one of two of the outside/advance midfielders in a midfield three, for Venezia in Serie A. For the U.S., this position seems to be more outside midfielders than center midfielders as both players occupy one side of the field or the other. Joe Corona is in here because the U.S. doesn’t have many, if any, other international class center midfielders because Luca De La Torre appears to be dynamic and creative and fairly direct, but it’s not clear if he’s really demonstrated enough to really be considered better than former-USMNT player, Corona. With the way, the midfield three tend to play under Berhalter, Sebastian Lletget seems to waste too much of his energy tracking back only to be too far away from the from goal to set-up any scoring chances or score himself, unless he decides to take it upon himself to play farther up the field. Luca De La Torre is a dynamic and creative center midfielder/attacking midfielder with good vision who looks to be play direct. Having De La Torre as a center midfielder in a diamond midfield behind Lletget would give the U.S. multiple creative passers playing in the midfield. I have Luca De La Torre listed in the attacking midfielders, although he does play more of an 8 or center midfielder sometimes, depending on how you define the roles.

Attacking Midfielders (4) : Sebastian Lletget, Joe Corona, Luca De La Torre, Djordje Mihailovic

Joe Corona and Luca De La Torre are also center midfielders. Sebastian Lletget can play there, but it doesn’t appear that he has the engine to thrive in more of a box-to-box role. American coaches and U.S. Men’s National Team coaches seem allergic to starting an attacking midfielder or a true Number 10. Bob Bradley, nicknamed Bunker Bob, would occasionally let Benny Feilhaber play, and the only thing that happened was the U.S. beat Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup when Spain were ranked Number 1 in the world and hadn’t lost in something like 30 plus games. Bradley even let Freddy Adu play a few times in the 2011 Gold Cup, and it felt rarer than spotting a giant panda in the wild. But, it was when he absolutely had to start Adu or definitely lose to Panama. Jürgen Klinsmann refused to use Benny Feilhaber or Sacha Kljestan as attacking midfielders when he was coach except for maybe two times. Bruce Arena deployed Christian Pulisic as a 10 with Clint Dempsey and Sebastian Lletget flanking him in the line of three attacking midfielders against Honduras in World Cup qualifying in 2016 or 2017, and he somewhat used Darlington Nagbe as an attacking midfielder or 10 after that. Berhalter has found a midfield formula of Adams, McKennie, and Musah that works, but there isn’t a playmaker in front of them. Using Lletget in this role could improve upon the success of that midfield and provide a link to the attack and possibly more scoring chances and goals. Aaronson can play this role as can Corona and Mihailovic. Luca De La Torre could perform in this role as well, but it’s not clear than he’s better than the other options. Mihailovic has impressed in MLS with his overall technical ability and creative playing style. He definitely stands out from most of the other players in his games. Mihailovic is a true playmaker who can score, and he’s played his way on the national team.

Forwards/Wings (4): Brenden Aaronson, Timothy Weah, Sergiño Dest, Konrad De La Fuente

Brenden Aaronson is a forward, but he was also listed as an attacking midfielder. He’s somewhat of a 10, but for now he’s better as a second striker or winger. Konrad De La Fuente is too good to leave out as the U.S. as few players who can beat real defenders off the dribble. Timothy Weah can play second striker or first striker or wing, but he needs to keep improving his goal-scoring rate. He’s good enough that he should feel free to just fire away on even a half chance. Matthew Hoppe is one of the U.S.’s only real strikers, but he’s a complete attacking player who does well at wing and second striker as well. It’ll take a little bit to convince Mallorca to play him more. American attacking players in La Liga are rare, and there is still the bias that Americans can’t be technical and creative. Americans in La Liga and Serie A is rarer than Americans in England and Germany.

Strikers/Center Forwards (4): Ricardo Pepi, Matthew Hoppe, Rubio Rubin, Bobby Wood

Ricardo Pepi is the clear first-choice first striker, and he appears to be a complete striker, who will soon be playing for a top European club team. Rubio Rubin is a proven USMNT player who has been out of the mix for a few years, and he has 8 MLS goals this season playing with Bobby Wood who recently came back from injury. For me, Wood and Rubin are more skillful and dangerous strikers than Jordan Pefok, Nicholas Gioacchini, and Daryl Dike. 

Is Puma Financing Neymar’s Transfer Away From PSG?

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Is it possible that Neymar signed with Puma because Puma will be underwriting or subsidizing his transfer away from Paris Saint-Germain?

While Puma is an excellent and storied brand, which is synonymous with both Pelé and Diego Maradona, it is rare for someone to leave Nike. Nike could have easily matched any offers from other shoe and sporting goods company. Nike catapulted onto the world football and soccer stage in the mid-1990’s when they sponsored Brazil and Romário at the 1994 World Cup. Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are sponsored by Nike. The inclusion of Neymar into the tradition of Pelé and Maradona is fascinating and nostalgic, but it still was surprising that Neymar would leave Nike. Cristiano Ronaldo has been a Nike player his entire career, and he never switched brands despite his three club transfers.

Football fans should consider the possibility that Neymar’s switch to Puma was necessary to allow him to be sold by PSG and bought by a different club. Such a move isn’t unprecedented. When the American international left AS Roma for Toronto FC, he magically switched from Nike to Puma, but without much fanfare or media coverage if memory serves.

While a return to Barcelona has been the rumored destination for Neymar, it would be fascinating to see the Brazilian perhaps sign with a top Serie A club, Bundesliga club, or even a Premier League club. Could it be possible that we see Neymar play for Juventus or Inter Milan. It’s difficult to imagine Neymar going to play for AC Milan, not because the club isn’t big enough or storied enough, but because the team lacks the level of players that Neymar deserves. Rafael Leão is a Portuguese striker on the rise, but Milan really lack the class for Neymar. Inter Milan certainly need a boost at the defensive midfielder position before a player like Neymar would go there, but perhaps this is in the works.

All of this discussion of Neymar transferring to another club is pure speculation, but Neymar signing with Puma made little sense to all of us outsiders. Surely, there must be a reason why Neymar would leave Nike, the top dog in global sports and footwear, and sign with Puma who are not nearly as famous. Maybe Rihanna influenced Neymar’s switch. Who knows? We’ll find out soon enough.

2020 Champions League Final Preview and Prediction

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The parrots and sheep will predict Bayern Munich to win the 2020 Champions League Final, but the smart money is on Paris Saint-Germain to win. 

Not only do PSG have Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, two of the top four players in the whole world, they also have Ángel Di María who himself is easily a top ten player in the world. 

All three of these players have excellent chemistry, and all three are too fast and too skillful and creative in 1v1 situations for any defender or defenders to contain. You may stop them a few times, but they are all capable of torching multiple defenders in a row on multiple occasions throughout any game against any opponent. 

In addition to PSG’s attack, which is the best in the world, PSG also boast a central defense led by Thiago Silva, arguably the world’s premier defender. Normally, PSG start Thiago Silva and Marquinhos together in the center of the defense, but it appears that Marquinhos will once again play as a defensive midfielder where he is also imperious, skillful, lightning fast, and an excellent ball-winner. 

For all the hype and praise surrounding Bayern Munich, PSG is the team with the better players. The French side should’ve won the Champions League every year that Neymar and Mbappé have been playing together.

Bayern Munich seem to be the favorite of most of the journalists and pundits, which is quite odd considering PSG’s attack. Why would you bet against Neymar and Mbappé…and Di María for that matter. The only explanation is that these journalists and pundits hold some sort of animosity towards Neymar. It’s never really been clear why there is so much animosity toward Neymar. The only incident that sticks out is when he rolled excessively after being fouled in the 2018 World Cup. This incident appears to have really incensed lots of people, and it really is quite fascinating that this one incident caused so much hatred. 

Neymar is the most fouled player in world football, and anyone who watches his games can see how often and how hard he is fouled. Fouls on Neymar are frequently vicious stomps and cleats to the ankles, calves, and feet. Anyone who calls Neymar a diver clearly doesn’t watch him play very much.

As good as Bayern are, they can’t match the firepower and defensive class of PSG. Robert Lewandowski is a deadly and clinical striker who is likely the best Number 9 in the world, but as good as Serge Gnabry and Ivan Perišić are, they are several levels below Neymar, Mbappé, and Di Maria. Bayern have been successful even though they have left Coutinho on the bench for Thomas Müller for much of the season. Bayern normally start Perisic over Kingsley Coman, but the Frenchman Coman is a very skillful and electrifying player who is likely more dangerous and more difficult to defend than Perisic. Having Coman starting would cause more defensive headaches for PSG.

One could argue that starting Coman and Coutinho as the wings to the side of Müller would give Bayern a stronger and more dangerous attack, but arguments such as these frequently elicit comments about how Bayern shouldn’t alter their lineup. Such an argument also rocks the boat in a world where groupthink rules.

Bayern have been operating on the idea that Thomas Müller and Coutinho can’t play together because they would get in each other’s way, but Coutinho excels on the left wing where he often plays for Brazil, in addition to playing as a right wing if Neymar is playing.

Nevertheless, Bayern have four excellent wing options. If this writer were facing off against a loaded PSG side, he’d pick Coman and Coutinho over Perisic and Gnabry. It is controversial, but they are outstanding attacking players who are a nightmare for defenders. Many people argue that altering a consistently successful team for a final is a risky and bad idea. But, Bayern’s defense are going to be in trouble for most of the game. Can they stop PSG’s attacking trio? Bayern might need to raise their firepower.

Alphonso Davies as a left back is one of Bayern’s biggest weapons, and having Davies and Coutinho on the left side would certainly cause PSG’s right back Thilo Kehrer plenty of headaches. He and Presnel Kimpembe are the weak links in PSG’s squad if you can even call them weak links. The former plays for Germany and the latter plays for France.

The French side’s other weak spot is their back-up keeper for Keylor Navas, but this should be offset by the scoring threat of Neymar, Mbappé, and Di María. It wouldn’t be crazy to suggest that they are the best attacking trio since Brazil 2002 World Cup trip of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and Ronaldo or Barcelona’s attacking trident of Lionel Messi, Luís Suárez, and Neymar.

Bayern vs. PSG presents an entertaining midfield battle. Bayern have Thiago and Goretzska, but PSG have Marquinhos and Paredes (and possibly Verratti. Not to mention Gueye. The midfield battle hasn’t been the media’s focus in the build-up to this game, but PSG’s midfield with both Marquinhos or Gueye with Verratti is arguably better than Bayern’s. Once again, if one really thinks about the two teams, it isn’t clear why many have Bayern as their pick.

Bayern are an outstanding side whether it’s Neuer in goal or Thiago Alcantara and Goretzska in the midfield or Davies at left back or Müller and Lewandowski in the attack, but PSG has three attacking grandmasters whose skill and threat outweighs any collective team skill or cohesion that Bayern have.

Despite Bayern being the favorite of most, look for Neymar, Mbappé, and Di María to have too much class and speed for Bayern Munich.

Prediction: Paris Saint-Germain

Why Manchester United Is the Most Overrated and Bandwagon Football Club in the World

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Although Cristiano Ronaldo, George Best, Eric Cantona, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all played for Manchester United, the English club remains the most overrated and bandwagon football club in the whole world.

If you were seven years old and looking to buy some football gear, then you’d buy Manchester United’s jersey, if the store was sold out of all the Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, and Bayern Munich jerseys.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich play one-to-two touch football, but Manchester United play three-to-four touch football.

Recently, three of the Top 10 footballers in the whole world were deemed flops and rejects at Manchester United. Their names are Alexis Sanchez, Ángel Di Maria, and Paul Pogba. 

What’s the common denominator here? 

Manchester United. 

Clearly, Manchester United doesn’t have the critical mass of one-to-two touch footballers to compete against elite clubs in the Champions League or the Premier League for that matter because all three of the aforementioned players are world-class players that any club or manager would sign in a heartbeat. It simply can’t be that all three of these players are to blame.

Di Maria, Pogba, and Sánchez are all world-class players who found themselves playing for teammates at Manchester United who couldn’t play the ball back to them first-time like those players’ countrymen and ex-club teammates could. Sánchez used to have to work the mines as a child in Chile, and he became a world-class player, then he got to United, only to have clueless fans call him a flop after starring for Chile, Udinese, Barcelona, and Arsenal.

Before anyone gets too angry, it’s worth noting that Manchester United have several young elite players who are English and who play world-class football. Their names are Marcus Rashford, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and possibly Mason Greenwood. This writer would go as far as saying that Rashford is more technically-gifted and creative than any English footballer ever. 

Manchester United should be better than they are. Despite their fans claims of their club being synonymous with beautiful football under Sir Alex Ferguson, they have never displayed the same quality of beautiful football as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, or Bayern Munich. Manchester United literally sold or loaned three of their best players to Inter Milan, which is a club they believed wasn’t a competitor of theirs, despite the fact that Inter Milan are consistently a Champions League club. In fact, Inter Milan are so storied and big that Brazilian Ronaldo played for them. 

Any time Ronaldo played for your club, you know your club is elite. Brazilian Ronaldo wouldn’t have come within 100 miles of agreeing to sign for United, and in fact several years ago, Ronaldo said that he had zero respect for Ferguson after the former United boss called him “Fat Ronaldo.” Just the fact that Ferguson would call Ronaldo “Fat Ronaldo” shows you the lack of respect for non-Premier League football prevalent in the United Kingdom. 

This incident is a perfect microcosm of the gap between an appreciation of elite football and the type of football promoted and praised in the United Kingdom. Such a disparaging remark about a player like Ronaldo is a great example of how a real, refined appreciation of top-level football is missing in the United Kingdom. 

Consider the fact that, when Alexis Sanchez signed with Arsenal from Barcelona, the English press ran articles entitled, “Who is Alexis Sanchez?” The premise of the article essentially being that Sánchez hadn’t played in the Premier League yet, so he was unproven in their minds. This mentality has been on full display with United’s fanbase who described Sanchez, Pogba, and Di Maria as flops. All three of these players can’t be flops, especially since Di Maria and Sánchez are two of the best forwards in the world and Pogba is the most complete and technically-skilled midfielder in the world.

Another world-class Chilean footballer highlights the gap between truly top football clubs and Manchester United. Arturo Vidal is still one of the top midfielders in the world, and his club resume demonstrates how super elite players frequently avoid the Premier League and Manchester United all together. The Chilean Number 8 began his career with the Santiago, Chile giants Colo-Colo before going on to play for Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona. Vidal played in the Bundesliga, Serie A, and La Liga, but he hasn’t played in the Premier League. One could argue that players of Vidal’s level only play for clubs like Manchester United for insane amounts of money when they have no other options, which is to say that Manchester United are good, but not as good as they think.

Recently, the young striker prodigy, Erling Haaland, told Manchester United, “thanks but no thanks,” as he elected to sign for Borussia Dortmund, which is in a better league, the Bundesliga. Don’t forget that Germany have won four World Cups, and they produce better football than the United Kingdom.

If you are looking for empirical evidence of how United isn’t the biggest club in the world, look no further than Champions League trophies. Real Madrid have 10 Champions League trophies, and Manchested United have three Champions League trophies. That’s a huge discrepancy. How can Manchester United be the biggest club in the world if they have seven fewer Champions League trophies than Real Madrid?

United’s best player ever was arguably Cristiano Ronaldo who only happened to play for United because Ryan Giggs and other players supposedly convinced the club to sign him after a game against Ronaldo. United’s scouts didn’t get Ronaldo before that game, and again it was the players who convinced the club to sign Ronaldo after the game.

The very best players in the world come largely from South America, and you never hear of Brazilian and Argentinean players dreaming of playing for United. They always want to play for one of the Spanish or Italian giants. In fact, the only reason that any South American footballers play in the Premier League is the obscene amount of money thrown their way. Gabriel Jesus only agreed to play for Manchester City in the Premier League because of coach Pep Guardiola.

How can United by the biggest club in the world, if the best players don’t grow up dreaming of playing for it?

Let no one say anymore that Manchester United is the biggest club in the world, and don’t forget that Pelé, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, and Lionel Messi never even played in the Premier League.

One could argue that the Premier League is where the most technically-gifted and flashy players lose their soul. It certainly stole Mesut Özil’s soul. Before he was amazing and free at Real Madrid, and then he went to Arsenal where they killed his spirit and pushed him to pose for photos with that hate-monger Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who makes Donald Trump look like a Disney character. Özil was one of the masters of the much-maligned Jabulani ball at the 2010 World Cup. Özil is a world-class footballer who now plays with lifeless, cardboard cutouts at Arsenal, who are even worse than Manchester United.

Even Liverpool lucked their way into a Champions League trophy last season thanks to all of the top teams being out of the tournament, and this season Liverpool were absolutely rocked and outclassed by Atletico Madrid who taunted Liverpool to their face. Now isn’t the time to criticize Pep Guardiola as a coach given the circumstances, and my heart goes out to him at this devastating time.

The point of this article isn’t how the different Premier League teams stack up against each other. The point is that Manchester United are nothing compared to the actual top clubs who play in the better European leagues with more technical players who perform better in the Champions League and in World Cups. Manchester United fans don’t just say that their club is the best in the Premier League. They claim that it’s the biggest in the whole world.

Manchester United are definitely a top club, but it’s inaccurate to say that they are the biggest club in the world. Everyone knows that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the best clubs in the world, and thinking that Manchester United are bigger than Bayern Munich and Juventus is just pure ignorance.

Saying that Manchester United are the biggest club in the world is like saying LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan at basketball because when did LeBron even pass Kobe Bryant?

The two most successful clubs in world football are Real Madrid and AC Milan. Milan have seven Champions League titles to Real Madrid’s 10. When did Manchester United leap frog Real Madrid and AC Milan?

How AC Milan Should Line Up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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AC Milan have talented players at every position, so it’s anyone’s guess why they have been playing so poorly this season. Nevertheless, the blame should fall mostly on their coach Stefano Pioli due to his poor utilization of his talent and his misguided lineups. Pioli routinely fails to start Paquetá, Giacomo Bonaventura, and Rafael Leão together, and the word for this is incompetence.

Assuming Milan are smart enough to not sell Paquetá to Paris Saint-Germain, this is how Milan should lineup with Zlatan Ibrahimovic now on the squad for the second time, and it’s really the Front Six that is the most interesting discussion.

Milan already have a world-class striker in Rafael Leão, and they would be wise to start him alongside Ibrahimovic up top. Two striker lineups are rare nowadays, but they didn’t use to be. Since Bonaventura is an excellent playmaker and trequartista, it makes since to start him behind Ibrahimovic and Leão as the team’s trequartista or Number 10.

Ibrahimovic always appreciates having teammates who can play his level of quick combination jogo bonito, and Leão certainly has the creativity, technical ability, and playing style to partner with Ibrahimovic. Frankly, Ibrahimovic is lucky to have Leão whom this writer believes one day will be the best Number 9 in the world. Both strikers play like honorary Brazilians, and it should be exciting to watch them play together, assuming that Pioli actually does it. 

Milan are also fortunate enough to have Paquetá who is an outstanding midfielder who qualifies as a fantastista, and he can play as a Number 8 or as a Number 10. Having Paquetá and Bonaventura together on the side should provide plenty of possession, creativity, and service to the forwards. Paquetá’s best position to maximize all of Milan’s talent is in the midfield behind Bonaventura and alongside Frank Kessie, who, while technical, isn’t as creative and skillful as Paquetá and Bonaventura. This leaves Bennacer to anchor the midfield as a regista, which is the position that he plays best in.

Milan’s problem so far has been the player selection of the coach Pioli, and Pioli appears to be a very poor judge of talent so far. Frankly, it’s incredible that coaches like this are allowed to continue to bench their best players without any repercussions from Milan’s higher-ups.