Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales

[KrefelderFox666]

39 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Obviously the USA and Iran benefit from being in weak confederations so they're going to pick up a lot of wins in qualifying. The Nations League has had a bit of a similar influence on some of the mid ranking European sides too which benefited Wales. I mean obviously we got pumped by Netherlands and Belgium but prior to that we'd gone a whole "season" playing rubbish teams and topping our group.

 

FIFA's official rankings will always be pretty rubbish to be honest. It works better in rugby and cricket where the top sides are all consistently playing each other every year but in international football with such sporadic scheduling its very meh.

 

Isn't it a bit more complex in that it weights teams based on their ranking. So if you constantly play Top 10 sides and win/draw you get more points than if you play teams ranked outside the Top 10. Either way it's just really hard to have a serious ranking based on past results.

[TJQuik]

5 hours ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Isn't it a bit more complex in that it weights teams based on their ranking. So if you constantly play Top 10 sides and win/draw you get more points than if you play teams ranked outside the Top 10. Either way it's just really hard to have a serious ranking based on past results.

It's like xG - something that has a lot of flaws but it can be useful as a rough estimate. If you're in the top 20 it's likely you're not a pub team on the level of San Marino - there aren't any teams outside the top 20 that are favoured to win the Euros, World Cup or Copa America.

Edited 30 November 2022 by TJQuik

[Finnegan]

52 minutes ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Isn't it a bit more complex in that it weights teams based on their ranking. So if you constantly play Top 10 sides and win/draw you get more points than if you play teams ranked outside the Top 10. Either way it's just really hard to have a serious ranking based on past results.

 

Sure it's weighed but if you're by far and away the big dog in your confederation and you barely lose then it doesn't matter if each win doesn't give you many ranking points, you're still constantly, slowly building up your "score."

[Countryfox]

[Deeg67]

8 hours ago, Detroit Blues said:

 

I don't really agree at all. MMA midfield has been dominant, and Pulisic/Weah on the wings have been great. That leaves no place in the starting XI for Reyna or Aaronson unless you are going to start a winger out of position at striker. If Berhalter wanted to do that, fine, but he's never tried it, and the last place to do that is at the World Cup, in a must win game. I think Sargent actually played pretty well against Iran, and I was disappointed to see him go down in the second half. He would be my preference (If  healthy) for the game against the Netherlands.

 

I think Berhalter, for all of his criticisms, has gotten his starting XI right at the World Cup. Ream's inclusion in the starting XI has been a delightful surprise. Picking CCV over Zimmerman in the last game vs Iran so we have better passers against a low block was correct. Going with a 4-4-2 with Weah/Wright up top against England worked. I don't think his subs have been particularly the best, but i think it more shows the relative lack of depth the USMNT has compared to the actual top nations. 

 

A lot of those dual-national players we are enjoying are also thanks to Gregg Berhalter's recruitment - Sergino Dest picked the USMNT over the Netherlands. Yunus Musah picked the USMNT over Italy/England. Where would this team be without them? There's also plenty of others like Gabriel Slonina (Poland), Ricardo Pepi (Mexico), etc. A big reason they chose the US is because they like the culture/vibes of the team. It would be unfair to say he has nothing to do with that.  

 

Berhalter is similar in a lot of ways to Southgate. Nobody likes a cautious, pragmatic manager. Everyone wants attacking, free flowing football until their team concedes a bunch of goals and they're out of the tournament. But the proof is in the pudding. USMNT didn't concede a single goal from open play, and only goal allowed in 270 minutes of the group stage. If you are doing that well defensively, you give your team a great chance to go far in the tournament. 

In the first place, there's something hinky going on with Berhalter and Reyna.  That whole business of Berhalter claiming he was injured and Reyna denying it had a whiff of something sinister about it.

 

Fitting both Aaronson and Reyna into the lineup would he harder, but one or the other is easily done.  Weah is effectively a striker, there's no need to play Sergeant/Wright/Ferreira when all of them offer very little.  You can play three across the front with Pulisic, Reyna/Aaronson and Weah, or play Weah and Pulisic up top with either Aaronson or Reyna slotting in behind them as a #10. 

 

[Detroit Blues]

14 hours ago, Deeg67 said:

In the first place, there's something hinky going on with Berhalter and Reyna.  That whole business of Berhalter claiming he was injured and Reyna denying it had a whiff of something sinister about it.

 

Fitting both Aaronson and Reyna into the lineup would he harder, but one or the other is easily done.  Weah is effectively a striker, there's no need to play Sergeant/Wright/Ferreira when all of them offer very little.  You can play three across the front with Pulisic, Reyna/Aaronson and Weah, or play Weah and Pulisic up top with either Aaronson or Reyna slotting in behind them as a #10. 

 

 

I think wynalda basically retracted his statement about Berhalter and Reyna. We know Reyna had a knock and I think Reyna is basically saying "I'm fine" because he's a teenager and wants to play in the world cup. But the coaches are probably going off of what the doctors and physio's are saying, and are approaching him playing with an abundance of caution.

 

Berhalter and Claudio Reyna (Gio's dad) are incredibly close. Gregg has basically been an uncle / family friend his whole life. I don't think there's anything sinister going on. 

 

[Deeg67]

Wynalda made a very compelling argument on ESPN today about why not playing Reyna is criminally negligent. 

[HybridFox]

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Edited 1 December 2022 by TK95

[The Bear]

Why are the BBC still running VTs trying to convince everyone Wales were great? No they weren't they were shit, lost to Iran, and rightfully got knocked out.