re: United States of MLS v. Olympic Sprinters | Gold Cup, Quarterfinals | 8:30pm CT (FS1)

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I feel like Nagbe doesn't belong with those other names. He's been one of the best CMs in the league for several years.

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That’s fair. He’s just a player that I expected more from after seeing him play early in his career.

If I had to pick one of the four I named to be on a team though, Nagbe would be the first I’d pick.

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Sands, Musah, and McKennie are my personal preferences

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I would like to see Sands do it before I pencil him in, but at first glance he looks like a more refined version of peak Geoff Cameron.

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I disagree that you can't learn shite here. The opportunity is just different. We don't have the youth setup of European countries. Kids aren't specializing in soccer and when they are, they're playing way too many games and not training enough. Club soccer teams practice 2 or 3 times per week and play 3 or 4 games per week. It's crazy.


There have been 2 kids from Lafayette who have moved to play in Germany within the last year though.

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We also put to much of an emphasis on the score of the games at a young age. In Europe they really don’t care until about 14

Until then it’s focused on development

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Only issue I see is him being a NYCFC player, he gets “bought” by Man City and then goes into loan purgatory

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I don't think there's a good chance of that happening. In NYCFC's short history, MC really only did that with Harrison. NYC just sold one of their best prospects to Gladbach.

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Dropping McKennie back is probably our second best option, but if we're in a game that matters and Adams is hurt, we're fricked anyway. He is that important for everything we're trying to do.

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I think I would rather try Musah in the 6 role than Weston. I want Weston to feel more free to carry the ball forward and make runs into the box. Plus Musah has shown that he can win duals pretty regularly

I agree Dike needs a rest. My criticism of him this game was more his off ball movement left a lot to be desired. With that said, our MF wasn't great at keeping possession and carrying the ball upfield at all. As said before Acosta was a liability in possession although he made some great plays on defense all game. Busio and Lletget were meh. Lletget's set pieces were complete arse. And yes Hoppe has come out of this tournament along with Miles and Sands as being the most deserving of more minutes going forward

Side note: Hoppe has that "try shite" swag I love so much from a front 3 player

Busio was serviceable last night and has upside potential. He will get a TON of experience at Venezia coming up to the Serie A for the first time.
Lletget was positively terrible last night, giveaways, balls to nowhere. I felt sad for him, because when I first saw him a couple years ago, I was truly excited.

I keep watching Busio waiting to see what the hype is about but I just don't. Granted he is only 19 so time will tell. He did seem a little more committed to getting stuck in some challenges last night which was good to see.

I fear Lletget's positive outings in the last 18 months are more of a biproduct of who is paired with in the MF and who we are playing rather than just him playing his arse off. I still think he has a large role to play in qualifying but the door is more open now for someone to claim his spot

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I fear Lletget's positive outings in the last 18 months are more of a biproduct of who is paired with in the MF and who we are playing rather than just him playing his arse off

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Yeah Lletget had been solidifying himself as a top sub IMO the last few matches, but last night he was dreadful. I can't think of anything he's done really solid the Gold Cup at all.

Nipples was non-existent too last night, but at least has the excuse that he has been hurt the last few weeks.

I get the feeling Hoppe and Pulisic are close