wm72

quote:

---

knew they couldn’t be on the bench but not even being able to celebrate with the team after the game on the field seems a bit much. I can see why this would be enforced for violent conduct though.

---

Probably happened after a lot of players came out to have a chat with the referee that sent them off.

quote:

---

Welcome back to the board btw. Been a while. I always thought your posts were well written and well reasoned.

---

Thanks. I read it on occasion but life's been too hectic to follow much aside from Roma matches on replay for a while.

quote:

---

What tactically, outside of taking some random gamble to start the game, should have been different that he didn't change at half time?

---

quote:

---

Rudi Garcia chose the players to execute the exact tactics he prefers. High work rate defending to press and win the ball in vulnerable areas, playmaker type instead of classic striker, speed to play in the air to racing wingers etc.

That Poch only seemed to get the team adjusted to that after being shellshocked for 45 minutes when it seemed kind of obvious as soon as the lineup was announced is certainly on him.

---

The criticism is that if the players weren't shellshocked from seeming so unprepared the entire the 1st half, it would have been a different game altogether. Maybe one we still lose but who knows.

But coming out so ill adjusted to what seemed a fairly obvious game plan from Belgium certainly falls mainly on Poch.

quote:

---

Would Gregg Berhalter have had the team better prepared for Belgium than Pochettino?

---

I'll bite.

This match was so frustrating in that as soon as the Belgian lineups was announced and Rudi Garcia chose:

Speed and defensive work rate over just best attacking players at every chance and a #10 type skilled player at striker.

You read some fans saying Belgium was going to defend deeply but every random who follows European club soccer knew exactly what Garcia was going to do:

Gang press certain players/areas high up the pitch and use the playmaker at the striker position to facilitate breaking at speed when they won balls and also quickly play over the top to speed on the wings.

He's been doing that for 20 years. He hasn't in some Belgian matches only to accommodate aging stars.

US players made countless dumb mistakes but I think much of that is that from just not being prepared for exactly what they were going to see from Belgium. That is on Poch.

Maybe in this one match a different manager gets that right. I still think Poch is a very good manager with a great personality too for the USMNT.

Horrible that the one time he got his arse handed to him tactically was in such a massive match though.

quote:

---

t won’t be parking the bus. They’re not going to play that deep in their defensive third. When they get possession they will push downfield quickly as a team (and heavily through the wings) as opposed to just hoping someone alone up top lucks into an effective counter.

---

Yeah, I think people are missing the point a bit with the "waiting to sub on KDB, Lukaku, Doku" angle.

They'll concede some possession but are going to be actively trying to nick balls while positioned to launch counter attacks with supporting runners instead of just digging in.

quote:

---

Raskin can be aggressive but he's not a dirty player. Neither is Lukebakio. This is more minutes management and signalling more defensive tactics to get them through 60 minutes level

Then they throw KDB, Lukaku, Doku, Vanaken on and we hold on to our butts

---

Agreed. I think Rudi Garcia prefers a team that can press and try to create turnovers as we play from the back and counter at speed.

Then, of course, still have his attacking threats with lower defensive work rate later in the match.

It's a sign of respect for how we've been playing.

However, it's not as defensive as some are framing it since press and counter with speed --punish fullbacks getting too far into attack etc -- has been his preferred managerial style since Lille 15+ years ago.

quote:

---

Who says we did?

There’s a strong argument to be made that our “wealth” is all paper fakery, a game of pretend that only works as long as everyone keeps playing. Look at how many of our factories we moved overseas. Look at all the inflation over the past few decades. Much of our “wealth” is guys in New York pushing piles of paper from one desk to another and taking a commission with every transfer .

---

Agreed, that's what I was talking about in my previous post.

So much "wealth" in terms of real estate, business/industrial structure etc has been gobbled up by private equity backed investors.

It's worth more to them as leverage based on inflated assessed values whereas a disperse middle class ownership required a more actual "market".

It takes a real "economic expert" to explain how great it is that investors buy most of the retail space in an excellent location to have it sit empty for years because it's worth more to them as leverage than the rent any small business can actually pay.

Like you say "paper fakery" more than an actual market value. And pretty similar to the reason Japan "messed it up so badly".

quote:

---

Following the 1985 Plaza Agreement, Japan implemented loose monetary policies that led to extreme speculation in real estate and the stock market. By 1989, the Nikkei 225 index reached nearly 39,000

---

Concerning that the US is not currently getting a handle on policy that seems intent on ballooning assets for private equity backed investors at all costs.

Having so much real estate gobbled up and assessed at values beyond what actual renters/buyers can pay for leverage seems a fools errand for many of us non-economic experts.

quote:

---

Part of it is watching the English step on a rake is always great trage-comedy.

---

On the other side of the coin, listening to English commentators gush on and on for the next 4 days about:

"There's just something different about this English team. Winning in Azteca. I dare say we can dream big"

before they crash out in a lackluster showing against Spain.

Kind of a World Cup tradition.

quote:

---

They used it for Ronaldo a couple of tourneys ago. It’s basically FIFAs solution to the fact that they don’t have a traditional appeal process.

---

Thanks for the factual info.

Doesn't seem like there were many people talking about this FIFA precedent over the last few days considering it would have been the most important detail by a large margin to bring up!
Maybe I just missed them.

quote:

---

Would love to hear what the reasoning/process was, it may cause a bigger shite show among the rest of the world than bullshite red caused among the US.

---

I'm glad but yeah it seems the most controversial possible way to handle it.

In regular league play -- Serie A at least but I assume most leagues are the same -- the Rec Card review would either rescind any suspension, maintain it or increase it.

Upholding it but then deferring the suspension isn't a option.

I didn't even know that was a possibility.