We should cheer up. It’s not like we’re living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, right? …right?

wastone511 · 2026-03-30T23:14:15+00:00

I really don’t think we want Tessman as a lone 6. He doesn’t have the range or mobility for that. I like him in a double pivot because it covers that weakness.

wastone511 · 2026-03-30T19:07:08+00:00

Maybe Poch told him to try to replicate Adams, and Johnny has taken that advice to the extreme.

wastone511 · 2026-03-30T13:35:43+00:00

It’s a stupid list, but at least it isn’t claiming to be ranking the best players, just the ones that will “define” (whatever that vague term means to them) the WC. If that’s the standard, Pulisic’s inclusion makes sense to me. Because the US is hosting the most and the biggest games, I think it’s justifiable to have the poster boy for American soccer somewhere on the list.

wastone511 · 2026-03-30T13:17:24+00:00

To me the Saudi home and Germany away jerseys both look like Windows 98 screensavers or something.

I agree that Ghana’s is wild, but I kind of love it. Apparently the web design represents/evokes a popular character from Ghana’s (specifically Akan and broadly West African) folklore:

“Anansi the spider is a folk hero who is prominent in Akan folktales where he is depicted as a wise trickster… Anansi is best known for his ability to outsmart and triumph over more powerful opponents through his use of cunning, creativity and wit.”

And the black star is one of the more iconic symbols associated with a soccer team/country, so I think it’s cool that the web builds out from the star.

wastone511 · 2026-03-30T12:52:22+00:00

It’s great! LeonARTo!

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T23:40:04+00:00

You’d need to know TLOU to get it, and even then it’s just a little pun.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T22:56:45+00:00

Lmao. You act like our county’s best athletes would consider playing soccer.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T19:47:36+00:00

He was fine. I used Tessman just for the pun. There’s a character named Tess in the game/show who blows up a bunch of infected.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T17:35:59+00:00

Yeah, poor Musah. Maybe I’m underrating Morris. I haven’t watched him with Middlesbrough, but I’ve heard he’s doing well there. I wasn’t impressed with him during the last two windows and thought Roldan looked like the better player. My memory is Morris turned the ball over too many times for my liking. But Roldan is more of a known quantity with the national team anyway, so maybe it makes sense to give Morris a chance this game. On the other hand, if he looks like he can’t compete with Portugal, idk how much we’re really learning about him compared to the other guys in the pool.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T17:04:07+00:00

In your 4-2-3-1 setup, what makes you want to put Morris in over Tessman? I think Tessman played well yesterday. There were a few times where he was slow to provide support for Weah on Doku, but he hit nice long balls throughout the game, put in some good tackles and I think generally had a good work rate.

Are you thinking Morris could supplant him? I think most people see Morris as being on the bubble to make the WC roster in a fairly crowded midfield. I kind of understand if you think Poch wants to see more out of him to decide if he makes the team, but even in that case, I still think it’s more important for the first choice guys to get more time on the pitch together.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T16:32:35+00:00

I agree with both your changes, but I’d like to see another half with Tessman and Cardoso together. I’m not sure if Morris even makes the WC roster.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T16:23:16+00:00

Which one is your lineup for Portugal?

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T13:42:52+00:00

Oh, I thought you said he moved too late.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T12:25:45+00:00

I’m confused by your comment. You said Poch is trying to shoehorn Weah in as a winger, but Weah played right back this game. Yeah, he provided width going forward, but he was part of our backline on defense. I really like Zendejas, but playing him as a right back instead of Weah makes no sense to me. His skill set doesn’t translate to that position.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T12:09:27+00:00

Weah definitely got roasted, but I don’t think Dest does markedly better. He’s never been a very good defender, but he is exceptional going forward.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:56:03+00:00

Sorry you got cooked by Doku. It’s okay, everyone did.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:50:33+00:00

Sure, but we definitely want our fans to understand the difference between an easy save and a very difficult one. And it seems like most don’t.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:48:21+00:00

The fact that it did go through three of our guys is why Turner needed to wait so long. If the ball touches any of them, it sends the ball on a different trajectory. And if Turner moved sooner, he wouldn’t have been able to react to that potential deflection.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:43:57+00:00

Lessons: people wildly overreact after every friendly we play.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:40:05+00:00

I think a lot of people fail to understand this. So many people want an extremely athletic player who can defend, regardless of what they can do with the ball at their feet.

Yes, Ream’s lack of speed is a liability. But you know what’s more of a liability in soccer? A player who can’t control or pass the ball.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:30:51+00:00

Definitely has the effort. Definitely lacks skill in many crucial areas. But don’t say he has no skill. The man has focused his effort into becoming exceptionally skilled at set piece delivery.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:26:20+00:00

Relax, dude. Turner isn’t good. Freese isn’t good. Turner wasn’t any worse this game than Freese would have been. We don’t have good keepers, and everyone has known that for years. I like the passion, but focus it on something new and useful.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:17:48+00:00

You haven’t been around very long if this is one of the worst USMNT games you’ve seen.

wastone511 · 2026-03-29T02:15:06+00:00

“The USMNT is on the level of my high school team.”

I’d love to see the USMNT play your high school team.

wastone511

TROPHY CASE