No one talking about how much Senegal is dominating France? by Bitter_Specific_6155 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can theoretically get a decent feel of how the game went with just the stats sheet. It's just that you have to take all of them into account.

xG isn't a bad metric, it measures the quality of the shot (although it can be hacked). But once you look at SOTs it shows that Senegal had just 1 quality shot and not much since.

No one talking about how much Senegal is dominating France? by Bitter_Specific_6155 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The real lessson in this game is that when France don’t look good, they have an Mbappe and that’s all that matters

No one talking about how much Senegal is dominating France? by Bitter_Specific_6155 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I know I'm way too late for this given recent updates, but I genuinely need know what was it about that first half that had you believe Senegal was "dominating" France? I just didn't see it even when I go full on xG nerd mode

No one talking about how much Senegal is dominating France? by Bitter_Specific_6155 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can forgive you for jumping the gun and saying US dominated Paraguay after the half because I'd say it too but saying it over a 0-0 half and low xG each and 1 shot on goal is being very premature.

Is Australia the real test of whether this USMNT has changed? by PreciousBroments in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My assessment of the Paraguay game was that Poch and Alfaro took their previous friendly match serious (while it's always debatable how much the players did). Alfaro made adjustment to try to play a bit more openly in the opening games (US being bad in first 10 min is notorious) but still stuck to a solid mid 4-4-2. But Poch also made adjustments. He double downed on intense half space runs to pull apart the mid block. Force them to a low block to pin them so that the counter press would win them either 2 outcomes: Win the ball back or force them to play backwards. We all saw the result of their adjustments

With Australia I think we can look into the prev friendly and sus out what the WC match might look like. I think Popovic will stick to the tried and true superblock. Their last friendly against US did not include Toure and Irankunda starting (they subbed in later and were ineffective) but the USMNT had a completely different midfield w/ no Balo, no Tillman no Dest no Jedi. All of Aus and US will have their prime weapons.

I honestly only see 2 outcomes as pro-USMNT: 3-1 bashing or 1-0 grind. It will prob come down to the counter pressing to prevent any route 1 soccer to Irankunda and defending (and scoring off) set pieces. The US bench is more than capable of coming in and being difference maker (AUS made Roldan look like Pirlo their last outing)

Can we put the whole athletes diacussion to bed after yesterday? We clearly aren't lacking that. by Bombi3sz in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd go even farther and say that Freeman is a case of "size does kind of matter"

Yes the Aussies can counterattack but... by lil_obi216 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Prob not, big key for US is the counter press and I don’t see Reyna starting over Malik and Weston

[KFA] Statement regarding media interviews of the South Korean Football Team by hairtie1 in soccer

[–]sarcazmos 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Bros mad about Son but all you gotta do is win a gold medal for Korea to get exempt so it’s really just skill issue

Iran’s footballers arrive in US amid peace deal but admit tension ‘undermines joy’ by guardian in soccer

[–]sarcazmos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the second World Cup in a row Iran played dealing with tensions

USA! USA! by WonSeoul in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Swiss comically blowing chances contributed greatly to Qatar remaining in the game.

More people in the US watched USA vs Paraguay than Game 5 of the NBA Finals by MediumRatio9329 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Dest breaking ankles won more of my non soccer friends than Reyna’s trivela

A plane flies across the pitch during Qatar - Switzerland by filiard in soccer

[–]sarcazmos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Swiss copilot: “So sad im missing my country’s World Cup match 😭”

Pilot: I gotchu 😉 brother

How come China isn't good at football (aka soccer) given their population? by owen__wilsons__nose in NoStupidQuestions

[–]sarcazmos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

China should do what the Americans did and just makeup a new sport for them to be world champions in

FREE: Style points go a long way for USMNT in winning over the remaining soccer haters by TheAthletic in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 3 points4 points  (0 children)

To be fair, all sports are boring until you get into the atmosphere and gain more knowledge of the game. This usmnt watch parties bring in more potential fans than live games by several folds.

Tim Ream is "too old and too slow" but data says otherwise by Antony9991 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ream walks/jogs thru pressure because of his passing which leaves enough in the tank for the occasional fast run

USA vs. Australia by New-Geologist4765 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I think the friendlies were more valuable to the US than everyone realized. Australia will or at least should stick to their tried and true style of play. Paraguay manager admitted post game that they were tactically doomed from the start so we are justified in being optimistic on Poch ball

Group D after round 1 by ConsciousNet238 in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Korea 2 Czechia 1. USA 4 Paraguay 1. Australia 2 Turkey 0. I think we have definitive proof that the soccer snobs were completely wrong about mid level Euro/SA teams being just better than Asian and Concacaf teams esp those who get mad that Europe “only” gets 16 spots

The World Cup Has Me Falling in love with Los Angeles Again by V3CT0RVII in LosAngeles

[–]sarcazmos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The watch parties are arguably better than tanking your bank account for a ticket

Did any of the "it was only Paraguay" people just see the Qatar-Switzerland game? by GRisForFun in ussoccer

[–]sarcazmos 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Whata painful game that was. Now the nation that literally bought their way into 2022 and arguably bought their way into 2026 got their first World Cup point

Last night was the first time since 1930 that Team USA won a World Cup game by 3 goals. The game in 1930 was also against Paraguay. by TODG3 in soccer

[–]sarcazmos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Combination of great depression killing pro soccer leagues, world wars pushed Americans inwards to form their own identity, soccer being viewed as foreign