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We had a bit of a pipeline…

We had a bit of a pipeline to southern NJ for a while (Hawkins is from Camden). Would be nice if he could help re-establish that. 

Named Steven Ross

Named Steven Ross

Oregon, USC and Washington…

Oregon, USC and Washington all lose quarterbacks just as good or better than JJ along with many other contributors. I definitely would not say they will be more talented. 

He's from South Dakota so…

He's from South Dakota so.....

If he truly does know, that…

If he truly does know, that means Harbaugh is coming back. There is no way he has already decided to leave when he hasn't even met with NLF teams yet. 

I went to the 2007game and…

I went to the 2007game and it was worth it but I went with my college roommate who got the seats from a USC booster so we had an incredible view and paid face value. 

I have to admit, us So Cal…

I have to admit, us So Cal locals take the Rose Bowl for granted (I Iive about 15 miles from there and the view of the mountains is essentially the same one I have from my house). We hate it. It's impossible to get in and out and most of the seats have a terrible view of the game. I went there for LAFC vs Galaxy on 4th of July and vowed not to return for next years match. I didn't go to Mondays game because of the "cost vs view of the game" equation but you all have me wondering if I made a mistake. I should probably appreciate it more. 

which makes me think this is…

which makes me think this is the game where they are going to hand it to Corum 35 times. They've been saving his legs all year and now is the time to reap some benefit from it. 

"I do not identify people…

"I do not identify people based on skin color nor do I attach expected traits or characteristics based on it. "

Is this the next evolution of  "I don't see race"?

Also, of this entire…

Also, of this entire coaching staff, including Juwan, Sanderson is the coach I would least want to lose. 

It's the newest punishment…

It's the newest punishment for violating the espionage act. Similar to Harbaugh and Michigan, Trump is trying to get ahead of the charges by self imposing this punishment. 

"the Orji proposition is…

"the Orji proposition is probably experimental rather than something destined to happen."

Nice

Yes. Joe Scally is better…

Yes. Joe Scally is better than Shaq Moore and Shaq Moore had no business playing in the world cup but Joe Scally admitted he couldn't grasp the tactics fast enough. He complained they were too complicated for him. That is what will change. 

I think Pulisic and Weah…

I think Pulisic and Weah publicly lobbying for Berhalter probably influenced them. 

He's still a child. He will…

He's still a child. He will learn the tactics and force his way in as he gets more experience. He's playing at a high level so it shouldn't take long. 

Yeah, someone if remembering…

Yeah, someone if remembering Klinsmann through rose colored glasses. He did do some good things for the US in terms of pushing our youth development systems but his player selections were almost as bad as his tactics (or I should say lack of tactics).

Berhalter is a good coach who had the team playing good soccer. Also, some of his selection decisions look worse in hindsight than they were. He was slower to integrate the young guys than anyone would have liked but the strategy to build the system through vets and then have them essentially mentor their replacements was not a completely illogical one. Brooks was reportedly a cancer in the locker room. Pepi was just turning it around from a horrible run of form. He sustained it which makes him not being selected look horrible in hindsight but at the time there was a question as to whether he was back on track or just had a few good matches. Gregg handled the Reyna situation about as well as anyone could expect (there are a LOT of nuances people are ignoring there. Someone could and probably will write a book about that situation).

Gregg was not my first choice to coach this cycle but he seemed to be the players first choice (Pulisic and Weah basically said as much). For that reason, I am fine with him coming back. 

they need that Reeves kid…

they need that Reeves kid from Kentucky (another grad transfer who doesn't have to worry about credits transferring) who shot 40% from 3 last year. 

I just listened to his…

I just listened to his podcast. It does not sound like coming back to Michigan is really still on the table. He said "I am genuinely still trying to decide which of the 4 is best for me". The 4 are Nova, Kentucky, Kansas and Maryland.

Clever yes, but why even put…

Clever yes, but why even put that into the universe? 

I know no one here really…

I know no one here really cares about this but that could be huge in terms of drawing viewers to Major League Soccer who is already on AppleTV

Yes. They basically created…

Yes. They basically created the stereotypes of the conservative evangelical college. Both of them.

This gentleman (or lady) is…

This gentleman (or lady) is about to triple their points with this comment. 

Perfect comment. No notes.

I started watching soccer in…

I started watching soccer in the 2010 world cup and it was MGOBlog's coverage thereafter that got me more and more into the tactics of it to the point where I am now an LAFC season ticket holder and a full on obsessive when it comes to the USMNT (like daily podcasts obsessive). So A) I want to say thanks to Brian and B) where I used to come to this blog to learn what I should think about a performance, it now operates as a good sanity check for my own internal analysis. 

This totally tracks. I am against 2 cycle coaches in general and think we should move on but the #BerhalterOut and #MLSsucks people have been driving me crazy. There is no garuntee that we can find a coach who will do better than Berhalter, though I think any coach (including Berhalter) is likely to do better given the state of the player pool (partially thanks to Berhalter). 

I don't really buy the NIL…

I don't really buy the NIL thing. This is complete speculation here going by things people (seemingly connected people) on twitter have said over the last few months. It seemed like Michigan's medical staff did not want All to have surgery and he decided to go forward with having the surgery anyway. All's dad responded to Don Thomas on twitter saying "you don't want the truth to come out" in regards to All's reason for transferring. My guess would be it stems from the disagreement over the the medical situation. Based purely on conjecture, I bet All and his family have the perception that Michigan didn't want him to have the surgery so they could keep him on the field this year rather than they genuinely didn't think he should have the surgery for his own sake. 

I'm sure more tea leaves with surface soon.  

I have no idea what will…

I have no idea what will happen but I think the thing people may be missing is that Saul was a pretty ancillary character in BB. He easily could have had a wife at home and there would have been no reason for us to know that. 

There are any number of…

There are any number of reasons Jesse could cross paths with Gene. We do not know exactly how far in the future the Gene timeline is, nor do we know what happened to Jesse after heading to Alaska. That said, I had not heard the thing about altering the understanding of BB so that adds a very interesting dynamic. 

I watched in on AMC (via…

I watched in on AMC (via slingtv) and the second version with Lalo choking on his blood with Gus standing over him was what I saw. 

This show is so good. I…

This show is so good. I totally forgot that Walt and Jesse are going to cameo. Seems like Jesse almost has to be in the Gene part of the timeline since Aaron Paul is now in his 40's and would be just out of high school in the Saul part of the show. 

Tacopants

Tacopants

No offense but did you write…

No offense but did you write this a year ago? Seems like a lot of these have been decidedly ruled out over the course of this cycle.

For example, Zimmerman is a locked in starter and Mckenzie is on the outside looking in for even making the roster. Acosta  is 100% Adams backup at DM. Ferreira is clearly ahead of Wright and all the other strikers (though that is one spot that is clearly very unsettled and subject to change). Lletget is out of the picture at this point (if they take another CM it will likely be Roldan or Busio). Morris is the 6th Winger (behind Pulisic Weah Reyna Aaronson and Arriola) and will be a tough call if he makes the roster. 

Probably something more like this:

Turner (Steffen)

LB Robinson (Scally/Peredes?)

CB Zimmerman (CCV)

CB Richards (Long)

RB Dest (Yedlin)

DM Adams (Acosta)

CM Musah (De La Torre)

CM Mckennie (Aaronson)

LW Pulisic (Aaronson/Arriola)

ST Ferreira (Pepi/Wright)

RW Weah (Reyna)

MMA midfield I think has to…

MMA midfield I think has to be the default. My guess is Aaronson will enter every match at the 60 minute mark and will replace whoever makes the most sense tactically for that match (Musah, Mckennie, Pulisic or Weah/Reyna)

Certainly CWeb should be…

Certainly CWeb should be able to help with Peja's kid

glad I'm not the only one…

glad I'm not the only one who thought that was gibberish 

Combo's last name is Ortega…

Combo's last name is Ortega. Badgers last name is Mayhew. They never give us Skinny Pete's last name so there's a chance there at least. But he also says his son's name is Gregory. Maybe Gregory Main goes by the name of Spooge

That seems to be a point of…

That seems to be a point of contention. I think it depends on the recruiting process. People seem certain Jett cannot be taken off scholarship but no one seems to know about Jace. 

It was very satisfying to…

It was very satisfying to hear that Brian essentially agrees with all of my opinions relating to the USMNT

That may very well be the…

That may very well be the most watched soccer game in  the United States in US Soccer History

Everyone should be. We have…

Everyone should be. We have 4 wingers who play regularly in the championship league. They both are very good players though who are also still in their primes. It really shows the different level of talent we have now. 

I have Yedlin and Cannon as…

I have Yedlin and Cannon as the backup fullbacks because that's what it seems like Gregg will do but I'd def bring Scally instead of Cannon since he can play on both sides. Having your starting right back be your backup left back seems too risky.

Depth at winger is what's really crazy. Morris and Arriola are probably getting left home and they likely would have been starters in previous cycles. 

Qatar, Tunisia and Saudi…

Qatar, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia please. 

He was only called in after…

He was only called in after Dest got hurt, Yedlin got suspended and Canon tested positive for Covid. You are not taking 4 right backs to the world cup (may take 3 just because Dest can play on either side) so Moore's not making the cut, barring a couple of injuries. 

1. https://www…

1. https://www.americansoccernow.com/  and the Athletic. Matt Doyle does some good analysis on MLSSoccer.com as well.

Also Scuffed Podcast, Total Soccer Show and Futbol Americas (espn) are good sources to listen to. 

2. Starting 11 is mostly set except for Striker. Gregg uses a 4-3-3.  GK: Turner/Steffen. Back 4: Robinson Robinson Zimmerman Dest. Midfeild: Adams Acosta Mckennie. Attackers: Pulisic Fereira? Reyna. A lot of people are calling for Tim Weah to be used as a striker instead of a winger so that you can get him on the field at the same time as Pulisic and Reyna (Winger is by far our deepest position. 4 deep of champions league players)

Here is a spreadsheet I threw together last night just to organize my thoughts about the likely 23: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EZeU4TSXQNagXH-Z-IhW9VNn9sTCqHWq2412TuIwwI8/edit#gid=0

I came up with this to…

I came up with this to organize my thoughts about the 23 last night. Feel free to disagree loudly. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EZeU4TSXQNagXH-Z-IhW9VNn9sTCqHWq2412TuIwwI8/edit?usp=sharing

I put this together last…

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EZeU4TSXQNagXH-Z-IhW9VNn9sTCqHWq2412TuIwwI8/edit?usp=sharing

I put this together last night to organize my own thoughts about the 23. Feel free to check it out.

 

@UMproud I believe our subs…

@UMproud I believe our subs make around $200 per day which seems to be about the going rate in the Los Angeles area. Minimum wage in LA County is $15 per hour. 

I am in charge of special…

I am in charge of special education at a school district. Not only can we not find teachers and service providers. We also can't get people through the non public agencies we usually use to fill temporary vacancies. We also can't find substitute teachers. Its a mess. It has sort of become a downward spiral. I think a lot of educators who could afford not to work, chose not to return during the mess of school re-openings and haphazard independent study programs (CA passed a law that we had to offer Independent Study). Then a job that is already really hard and underpaid, became harder with staffing shortages and so the staffing shortages got worse and so on and so forth. 

My wife is an office manager for commercial real estate and she can't find people for an entirely different reason. Everyone expects to be able to work from home for office jobs now. In my opinion, the jobs she is hiring for actually could very easily be done from home with reliable well trained employees but her company wants hourly employees to come into an office and with what her company pays those types of positions, "reliable, well trained employees" does not describe most of their applicants. 

I was not this mature when I…

I was not this mature when I was 19. These kids are special. 

"Donovan Edwards looks like…

"Donovan Edwards looks like he is 45 years old."

And Andrel Anthony in contrast looks 12

I played varsity high school…

I played varsity high school basketball in Los Angeles.I went to a College that was very good in Div2 and I was about the same level as the walk ons from the team with whom I occasionally played pick up ball. So my level was/is about the level where I look very good with average players and don't look entirely out of place with very very good (even pro) players.

All of that is to say, playing pick up basketball and rec league basketball at a high level around LA, I have played with and against several former NBA players. These are guys who have never scored 20 points in an NBA game for the most part. Those guys are always so obviously better than the rest of us it's ridiculous (Brian Cook is one example when he was recently retired). 

There is no chance a regular person could score 20 points in an NBA game. 

I could have done without 50…

I could have done without 50. I, however, will hear no Kendrick slander. There are very few current hip hop artists I will defend. Kendrick Lamar certainly is one of them.