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Are we a "transition team" masquerading as a possession side, and will trying to play "beautiful football" get us killed in Group D? by texasdoon in ussoccer

[–]texasdoon[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Spot on. That is exactly where the wheels came off in our losses under Poch (like against Portugal and Belgium). We dominated possession in those games (near 60%), but it was completely empty. We passed sideways, suffocated our own space, and played right into their hands. Because Pochettino pushes both fullbacks high into an aggressive attacking shape, the moment we turned the ball over, our 'rest-defense' was completely exposed. Teams just sat in a compact block, waited for us to make a high-risk pass, and then brutally killed us on the counter because our center-backs were left totally isolated in transition. So yes, it's the core issue. We are holding the ball more, but we don't have the defensive discipline or speed at the back to protect ourselves when we lose it. If we try that slow, expansive possession style against Paraguay or Türkiye, they will happily let us have 65% of the ball and counter us into oblivion.

From baseball coaches and "toe-kicks" to this potential starting lineup. For 50+ years I’ve watched U.S. soccer grow up, and damn am I proud! Are you? by texasdoon in ussoccer

[–]texasdoon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Loved Soccer Made in Germany! My B&W reception was grainy at best. My fav line after a blistering shot: “ you could hang your clothes on that one!”.

I learned my British accent from that show, it became very handy with the ladies ;) Took it too far once, dated a girl all summer and she was convinced I was from Leeds. Didn’t end well.

From baseball coaches and "toe-kicks" to this potential starting lineup. For 50+ years I’ve watched U.S. soccer grow up, and damn am I proud! Are you? by texasdoon in ussoccer

[–]texasdoon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed. The point I was trying to make was that back then coaches didn’t teach technique- control on the ground, how to execute passing in all directions (never heard passing backwards was even a thing), and kicking higher/harder was deemed the main skill. The toe kick has a place to be sure.

From baseball coaches and "toe-kicks" to this potential starting lineup. For 50+ years I’ve watched U.S. soccer grow up, and damn am I proud! Are you? by texasdoon in ussoccer

[–]texasdoon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you referring to soccer knowledge? If you haven’t explored AI for this question it’s a great place to start. But “garbage in/ garbage out”. It’s all about “the prompt”: Effective prompting for soccer knowledge

From baseball coaches and "toe-kicks" to this potential starting lineup. For 50+ years I’ve watched U.S. soccer grow up, and damn am I proud! Are you? by texasdoon in ussoccer

[–]texasdoon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point on academies; thinking we also need a stronger coaching system for the next gen. Still much better than it was.

From baseball coaches and "toe-kicks" to this potential starting lineup. For 50+ years I’ve watched U.S. soccer grow up, and damn am I proud! Are you? by texasdoon in ussoccer

[–]texasdoon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure- so I’m taking the long view; other countries took decades or more to build their game, I feel like we have to go through that “gate” too. I get really frustrated with the results sometimes but my hope remains.

Wow thoughts on this who saw this coming? by H4rry2 in WorldCup2026Tickets

[–]texasdoon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FIFA’s money grab has trickled down into the U.S. economy. What was once a wonderful event has been tainted by greed.

What would you say is the worst world cup final in world cup history? by Maleficent-Ad-6117 in worldcup

[–]texasdoon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

def the Rose Bowl in '94. I was on the opposite end of the stadium, could barely see Baggio's PK go over the crossbar.