Ghoat

Could be worse, I keep checking the Groups for updates to see where USA is. Nothing yet, but I'm sure it will get sorted before group play begins. In Qatar Reckon I'm all in on my cousins across the pond this year. Especially after that pretty 'Murican girl just married into the Royal Fam, we're almost first cousins now!

He was really just getting settled in when his injury occurred. He will have rust to shake off, but you think by the time he does start back, he should be much better settled in. He has seemingly been hugely positive through his recovery and is chomping at the bit to get out there. I am really looking forward to him getting on the pitch again.

You were very much in the same incorrect majority as I!

Baines with the corner as well as the PK. Niasse is hard to argue, on effort alone. Davies was decent. I swear he plays better when his U-23 mates are on the pitch around him - Kenny, DCL, Lookman etc

Doesn't excite me. At. All.

4 guys who I think have the best workrate and are always TRYING to do something are Rooney, Davies, Niasse and Gana. Their energy itself almost warrants them being on the pitch at kickoff. But... - Davies just needs more seasoning, but he works hard and at least he runs at the defense with the ball, but it's wasted when no one is making runs in the final third. I still have no idea what his BEST MF position actually is. - Niasse works hard, but just isn't clinical. Just that he works hard in and around the box to cause trouble, sadly, makes him needed - Gana is an unguided missile that leave holes when he seemingly starts man-marking in a zonal system. I'm starting to think the reason he was so effective last year is that he had a very astute partner that read his movements and provided cover for him to run amok. Schneiderlin, Davies, Besic and McCarthy's hamstring don't seem to compliment that style. Gareth Barry did. The good news is that at least Gana takes shots on goal. The bad news is that Gana takes shots on goal. - Rooney I think is just trying to do too much and overcompensating for his and other's deficits. I can't help but wonder if he isn't a significant factor in Sigurdsson (and Klaassen to a lesser degree) not being able to kick on and play their game instead of looking lost, ineffective and out of sorts. Despite busting his arse, he may be retarding the attacking mid's game like Gana does the DMs. Whatever lineup we trot out there, it seems the whole is MUCH less than the sum of it's parts. I don't think we have had a single match where team looked really organized for extended periods of time. We haven't really gotten much more end product, but we sure seem more dangerous and on the front foot when we have substituted in a 2nd striker. Pickford Kenny Keane/Holgate Holgate/Jags Baines Schneiderlin Davies Mirallias Glyfi DCL Niasse Would sacrifice some width for midfield, and have some cover for players who like to get forward (Mirallias, Kenny) linked with players who will go into tackles to break up counters (Davies, Baines) and Schneiderlin roaming for support. I'd rather see Keane play if able, but would not particularity want the less experienced players side by side on the back four Kenny/Holgate or Holgate with Martina's defending. I would drop Rooney and Gana to the bench, and see if their respective midfield parts are more effective without them constantly changing the shape. They could still be valuable subs especially if changing to a more defensive formation, as well as having Sandro/Vlasic/Lookman for fresh legs. Of course, to my original point, that's a lineup that hasn't played together, so who knows. But we have GOT to find a lineup that can attack and compliment each other instead of getting strung out or all over each other, leaving only backwards and sideways options.

So McCarthy isn't making trip due to a hammy injury. Can we just give him Darren Gibson's #4 kit and be done with it? I mean, if we don't we run the risk of someone in the starting XI wearing it and picking up some bizarre injury - injured by a kangaroo, torn groin due to a nightmare, freak leg infection from stud nick etc. Oh, wait...

He and Keane have knocks

They just said on NBCSN that Keane had stitches in his foot this week

I do like the bench, 3 attacking types, a defender and 2 holding mids. Interesting that Sandro, McCarthy and Keane (unless injured) aren't in team

Is Keane injured?

Yeah, the T&T match isn't the bigger issue, it runs much deeper. We have had what 3 years that we could have qualified? It should not come down to the last match, or getting CONCACAF'ed by sketchy calls in other results. That being said, with the sheer resources this nation has - player base as well as financial and infrastructure - losing to country that is basically 1.3 million people on a few Caribbean islands is mind blowing. We lost to what would rank 40th if it was a US metro area. Right between Milwaukee and Jacksonville...And yes Iceland would beat us 5-0, but that's beside the point!

Will never happen, if for no other reason he doesn't speak the language well enough. I'm saying it should come down to that, but it wouldn't surprise me. But being an Atlanta United fan, and having been to a few games...hell yes! My actual biggest concern is what Elston Gunnn said - losing that once per 4 year window to really make the US stand up and notice "soccer". 2014 brought a flood of new fans and we're not going to get that this go around. If the US Soccer Federation doesn't burn it to the ground and rebuild it - like from youth development on up, then we should just say fuck it all. So I need a judge's ruling here. My fam lived in England until sometime in the mid-late 1700's, so can I be an England fan in 2018? Or, are y'all gonna make me pull for Iceland or Japan or something?

The guy that also got Pickford and Keane?

He has been sharp. Who would have thought he would have opened his account before Sandro?

For Davies and Sandro

Klass and DCL warming up to come in

I'm starting to think Rooney may be best played as a 6 or the more forward DM. His defense has actually been good today, but his passing has been ass.

Kenny, Davis and Sandro are trying to move toward the goal. Everyone else gets the ball turns towards Pickford, and then looks for someone back there to pass it to. Unless they get suddenly aggressive and look to pass it sideways.....

Pickford. He has put 2 of the better balls forward. Including the ball that went from 18 to 18 on the fly

Haha they just pulled an Ashley

Give Williams an assist

Niassee wasn't included on the roster for group stages. He isn't eligible unless he is included on the roster for the KO stages.

I can only hope he just doesn't want to wear DCL down or put too much on him. I sure which Sandro would kick on soon.

2 of our other public High Schools are Jefferson Davis, and George Washing Carver. Montgomery has a lot of Confederate History, as well as Civil RIghts history - Selma to Montgomery March, Rosa Parks/Bus Boycott etc. The first White House of the Confederacy is in downtown Montgomery it is 2 blocks away from Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr was pastor, 3 blocks away is the Civil Rights Museum and less than a mile from the Rosa Parks Museum. So oddly enough there really isn't a movement to take down any of the various statues of historical figures in Montgomery. At least not at this point. But the local paper ins't aware that "soccer" really exists, despite the fact the most exciting team in MLS is less than 3 hours away.