Anyone watching the World Cup this year? I watched part of USA/Wales but haven't had a chance to watch any more. Hopefully I'll be able to watch a bit on Saturday.

Nope. Just mainly paying attention in hopes of hearing about crazy Euro fans rioting and tearing down Qatar over their stupid-ass rules.

Missed Wales, caught the tale end of England and watched most of Iran.

Will be watching Saturday.

Yes, and they have been wild. Yesterday's afternoon games were fucking intense. Belgium going out today, as if they didn't realize they needed a win.

I’ve watched all of the US games, and most of the games during Thanksgiving but missed other games during work weeks. 

Netherlands matchup on Saturday is gonna be tough. They have a good defense and we’ve only scored 2 goals. They also have a young forward who has scored a goal in all 3 games. Hopefully Pulisic isn’t too injured and can play. 

I like our matchup with Netherlands. They are good, will probably have the possession, but we can boss that midfield around -- granted, we can boss most midfields around with Adams, McKennie, and Musah. And they can be gotten on the wings, which has proven to be our best attack with Weah/Dest on the right and Pulisic/Jedi on the left. 

Gakpo is on fire, which is scary - but we havent given up a goal in open play or from a set piece all tournament. The defense has gotten lucky at times, but has been stout for the most part. Jedi and Ream playing next to each other for Fulham in the EPL, but never for the USMNT before this, was a worry but the club familiarity has come out. I like the matchup here more than some of the other teams we couldve had if the groups had been drawn differently.

Lastly, it didnt end up mattering since they got scored on, but Mexico going out because they had more YCs than Poland was going to be marvelous.

posted by Laley23

Lastly, it didnt end up mattering since they got scored on, but Mexico going out because they had more YCs than Poland was going to be marvelous.

YC’s is a ridiculous tiebreaker to use, but that would have been hilarious. 

posted by iclfan2

YC’s is a ridiculous tiebreaker to use, but that would have been hilarious. 

I think eventually you have to get there, but not sure why they skip over H2H. 

GD should be #1, I'm fine with goals scored being #2. How is YC/RC the 3rd tiebreaker and not H2H, then if that was a tie, result vs top of group, goals scored vs top of group, etc?

And now with Japan equalizing and now taking the lead, we have more chaos. Germany currently OUT on GD. They need to crank it up vs CRC. 

posted by Laley23

I think eventually you have to get there, but not sure why they skip over H2H. 

GD should be #1, I'm fine with goals scored being #2. How is YC/RC the 3rd tiebreaker and not H2H, then if that was a tie, result vs top of group, goals scored vs top of group, etc?

Right, anything else. YC are mainly judgement calls, and some refs are much looser with them than others. 

Been watching a LOT.

FuboTV with multiview is glorious.

Nervous for Saturday.

posted by Automatik

Been watching a LOT.

FuboTV with multiview is glorious.

Nervous for Saturday.

I told my good friend before the tournament, I think we have a top-3 to 5 midfield in the world. And midfield is where games are won and lost, for the most part. I was worried about no striker and defense.

The striker issue has been apparent, but Ream has been a godsend in the back. Jedi and Dest not the best defenders, but play nicely with the midfield. 

I think USMNT can dominate the Netherlands midfield, which will give us every opportunity to win. But they need to score, and they need to score more than 1.

I’m pumped. This entire WC has proven to these guys how good we all think they are. They should run through qualifying next cycle.

The pundits are saying it's a very "winnable" game. I fucking hope so. 

Definitely not the Netherland team of old. I don't know a lot of these players. 

Agreed on our midfield. McKennie has been our best player by far IMO. 

I'm on the fence with Ream. He has stretches where he's great, then some real dumbass mistakes. Zimmerman can be on the bench forever. I thoght Carter-Vickers did well last game, I hope he gets the start again.

posted by Automatik

The pundits are saying it's a very "winnable" game. I fucking hope so. 

Definitely not the Netherland team of old. I don't know a lot of these players. 

Agreed on our midfield. McKennie has been our best player by far IMO. 

I'm on the fence with Ream. He has stretches where he's great, then some real dumbass mistakes. Zimmerman can be on the bench forever. I thoght Carter-Vickers did well last game, I hope he gets the start again.

I hope to god you mean Adams not McKennie? Weston has been great, but Adams has had the type of tournament (and last year plus, really) that will have Leeds selling him high to a major, major team.

I'd love CCV and Ream again. They both are great at playing out of the back, and distributing. Zimmerman is a kickball type defender. He's fine, but he is not to the technical level the rest of this group can get to.

Netherlands have Frenkie De Jong, Barcelona midfielder, can play anywhere really. Depay, Barcelona striker, who is deadly but needs distribution. Gakpo, 3 goals in 3 games -- head, left, right. Kinda says it all, but other than that, I had only heard rumors of his talent, never had watched him. Virgil Van Dyke, the best defender and arguably player in the world 2 years ago. Form has dipped, but obviously still great. They have talent...but it aint the teams of Sneijder, Robben, Seedorf, Van Persie, Van Bronkhorst, Kuyt, De Yong, Van Bommel, Van Der Vaart, Huntelaar, Van Der Wiel. That decade for them was loaded. This is like half that.

I loved the RVP Netherlands days. Makes me want to say fuck it, buy a PS5 and get addicted to FIFA again. 

For the 2nd day in a row an oriental team scores a late goal to win and sneak in to the 16, today disappointing Uruguay!

Asia representing well! Awesome to watch. 

The loss to Japan and the tie vs Saudi Arabia aren't looking as bad for the USMNT.

Would love for Cameroon to pull this off, and then need Switzerland/Serbia to draw. I think Serbia win would also send Cameroon through if they win.

The 3rd games were really fun this week being played at the same times and many times changing who was in and out back and forth. 

De Jong has me seriously worried because he is a hard tackler and will definitely take a shot on Pulisic. Not to mention his dribbling and passing ability. Tyler Adams and McKinney have been great. The ball McKinney played to Dest on the goal Vs Iran was world class. McKinney was also feeling it in the England game and was really pushing us forward. Ream has been fantastic in the back.  

My biggest gripe with the team has been the subs. Where’s has Gio been. Where has Jesus been. Jordan Morris is a good concacaf player but has no business on the field Vs a world class opponent. 

In four years hopefully one of our strikers will be ready because we will have a lot of talent in their prime

Welp

Looking timid and scared. 

Man buns are trash.

Game over. Offense can’t finish anything and the defense is misplaying everything. 

Why are we not shooting set pieces?