Arena The Old Title Was Way Too Long: USMNT/MLS Discussion

are the Canadian MLS teams just doing to play each other and then the winner of the Canada teams gets the "honour" of crossing the border to play in the US?

 

All the teams are still doing games within their region for now.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/schedule/2020/return-to-season

 

Columbus played an incredible final twenty minutes today. Which offset an absolutely terrible first half. Pretty clear this team misses Maybe when he's not out there. Missing Zelaryan, as well, but you can tell there are options to do in for him. None for Nagbe

 

In their match prior to that one, San Diego Loyal had a racist slur (the n-word) directed at one of their players, too.

 

USMNT with their first camp/games since before COVID, and roster was announced today.

The big story is the unsurprising inclusion of Gio Reyna, getting his first call-up to the Senior National Team, and the opportunity to be the twelfth male yank to make his senior team debut before the age of 18.

Pulisic called in, but I have my doubts if he'll actually go to camp, let alone play vs. Wales.

Yunus Musah, who just picked the USA over Ghana, is included.

This is starting to feel like the formation of a Golden Generation, with all the young talent already playing in some impressive places. The clubs we'e calling players from include Man City, Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich. And, they should be peaking and in their primes as we enter the 2026 World Cup ... would be a fun ride for the host country.

 

It would be a very refreshing change from the stale team we've had for too long.

 

Well, without qualifying for the playoffs, Atlanta United's terrible 2020 season is now thankfully done. We can just rest and regroup, and hopefully make a lot of meaningful changes before next season. Hopefully Josef Martinez will be ready to play at 100%, but with this current team he wouldn't be able to do everything on his own either.

 

Pulisic has left camp and is returning to Chelsea. Not unexpected, given his injuries. Along with Bremen not allowing Sargent to leave, and the few players from MLS playoff teams, this is slightly less than our full-strength squad. I think without Pulisic and Sargent, the team will struggle to find a way to consistently attack in a meaningful way - goals will be hard to come by. I'd guess that Reyna starts in Central midfield and we try to build any attack through him, with Weah up top as a lone forward.

 

@tom

Ken Griffey Jr. becomes latest minority owner of Seattle Sounders

This is clearly not a huge thing, but it is yet another example of how the Sounders get it right in how to connect with the local community and expand beyond just the soccer base. LAFC has done it as well, and more clubs should embrace it. Obviously, I'd love to see Columbus embrace it and get any number of Ohio State alums who are still beloved in the area to hop on in an ownership role and pump up some interest. Houston, with the rebranding of the Dash and Dynamo could use it. And some of the struggling, MLS 1.0 Teams could use it, too - Chicago, New England, etc.

 

Yes. It's a great strike. Yes, it's high drama in a knockout game. But how does Montreal play defense that poorly in that situation???

 

What a time to be a fan of men's soccer in the USA:

 

No matter who lifts the cup, they can say "This one was for Sigi!"

But, damn - imagine if that final twenty minutes had come in front of a sold out stadium up there in Seattle. Probably would have heard it in the Dakotas when they exploded. Thanks for robbing us of that, Pandemic and terrible responders to the Pandemic.

Now, that said ... Columbus vs. Seattle is a sneaky-good rivalry in MLS, especially on the fan level. Columbus fans hate Seattle fans like no other, and Seattle fans treat Columbus fans with such contempt and snobbery that the hatred is well deserved.

 

Crazy - remember Besler having offers from English clubs after the 2014 World Cup (not big clubs, mind you - but decent enough) and turning them down because he loved SKC.

Going to be really weird seeing him in a different kit next season. Kinda like seeing Wil Trapp in his third kit in three seasons next year

 

Welp. Unfortunately, MLS Cup might already be decided, as Columbus will be without Darlington Nagbe and Pedro Santos. Probably the only player more important than those two is Lucas Zelaryan, but it's nearly impossible for Columbus to play the "Press and Possess" style effectively without Nagbe. Santos is crucial to everything Columbus wants to do offensively for attack - getting it wide, when the middle gets clogged, crossing it into the big center backs, providing a threat from outside the box to keep defenders away from Zelaryan, etc. It's going to take an otherworldly effort from the likes of Luis Diaz to spark some offense with his speed, and we will absolutely need 90 (maybe 120) minutes of mistake-free football from Jonathan. And, if it goes to spot kicks, we're really going to miss Santos.

 

Yeah, Nagbe is just so good.

 

Glory to Columbus!

 

Lol heels. I literally called it out in this post you responded to

Still on a pretty big sports high from last night. Lots of emotion. Long form post to come later.

But, for now, it's good to know that Columbus is the greatest team the world has ever seen