8 Comments

Congratulations to the players and staff for surviving this qualifying window! What challenging condition through which to play! We are still struggling in front of the goal and I return to a previous post - speed of play is not sufficient. The whole process of moving the ball takes too long, from first touch to decision making and from pace of pass to time of release. All this must become quicker.

We can expect, I think, both Panama and Costa Rica to want to play low block and counter. Only quick and incisive ball movement will give us chances to score against these opponents.

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That “frozen man” is Jack Nicholson from the end of the shining.

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founding

Nice one. Besides Luca de la Torre and Kellyn Acosta, were there any other players who improved their chances for a ticket to Qatar?

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Grant, great stuff as always. Happy to be a subscriber. Also really happy this article wasn’t just “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” repeated over and over again! Can this be forever known as “The Shining” game? (Thank you, Tim Weah!)

For me, Pulisic should never be allowed to take corners anymore for the national team—he’s too slippery and elusive as a field player—his impromptu header versus Mexico, his cracker one-timer in this game. Free kicks? Sure. But let’s 86 his responsibility on corners. Besides, Gio Reyna will one day be masterful for us at delivering consistently dangerous corner kicks. Looking forward to March! Stay warm!

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Grant, the USMNT will never get “past” that T&T game. Neither will Bruce Arena.

This was a solid win against the worst team in the group. Continued failure to score off the run of play is a worrying sign. Jack Huckel is right. Panama and Costa Rica will give new meaning to “park the bus”. The game against Mexico would be nice, but isn’t essential. The one against Panama will be. And I hope the one against Costa Rica will be meaningless for the US.

At least nobody will have to be treated for hypothermia. Or is the USSF now discussing the potential of switching the Panama game to Nome?

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The part about barbers reminds me of the locker room haircut scene in Ted Lasso. Also reminds me of this great story about the barber shop in Durham where Duke and UNC basketball players both go: https://greensboro.com/a-cut-above-the-rim/article_38f16baf-6997-5978-af8f-190727b46f9b.html.

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I think it's pretty indisputable at this point that McKennie is the best US player - not just for the fact he can score goals, but he truly did 'boss' that game. That said, I'm curious Grant how you would rank the Top 5 or Top 10?

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