CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying (Russia 2018)

[Acymetric]

Catching up. I agree on Nagbe. My concern is that he is a bit like a point guard that dribbles too much. And that worries me when Pulisic is in the game as well given he is probably our best player. Want to see them play together more in qualifying ahead of the WC.

Current starting line up?

Wood Altidore
Pulisic
Nagbe Johnson
Bradley (where he belongs)
??? Brooks Cameron Yedlin

I guess the ??? is Lichaj or Villafana? You could also move FJ back and put Corona in midfield, right?

Interesting take on Nagbe, the most frequent criticism of him from coaches and players is that he is too quick to lay the ball off to someone else instead of holding it and working his way up the middle.

As far as left back it feels like there are no real options...Johnson is probably the best if we can find someone to adequately fill his spot in the midfield. Lichaj makes me super nervous after the way he played in the Gold Cup (some truly awful mistakes) but I have not seen him play much before that so maybe it was enough of an abberation that he deserves another look for the starting role. My mostly uninformed preference assuming we keep Johnson in the mid field would be something like this:

Timmy Chandler
Villafana
Garza
Lichaj

I would have Beasley probably #1 or #2 but his age would make a starting spot in the World Cup next year seem unlikely.

[cato]

The US better get out of Honduras quick, lest someone take away that point they just stole.

[OldPhiKap]

The US better get out of Honduras quick, lest someone take away that point they just stole.

After the Costa Rico fiasco, could not muster the motivation to see the match. So frustrating.

[JasonEvans]

Must beat Panama in Orlando on Oct 6th. Do that and we should be in. A tie would be a problem and would open some nasty doors. Of course, I expect us to finish with a win on Oct 10th as T&T is far and away the worst team in the Hex.

[CDu]

It isn't a World Cup qualifying unless the US makes you sweat it out.

[cato]

It isn't a World Cup qualifying unless the US makes you sweat it out.

The good thing is, if our chances come down to Mexico winning an upcoming game, we know that they will help us out.

[tbyers11]

Must beat Panama in Orlando on Oct 6th. Do that and we should be in. A tie would be a problem and would open some nasty doors. Of course, I expect us to finish with a win on Oct 10th as T&T is far and away the worst team in the Hex.

I have tickets for myself, wife, and 5 year old son for this game. When I bought them a month ago I thought the game be might a bit anticlimactic in terms of qualification drama.

Definitely high drama now. Hopefully, our defense magically improves between now and then.

[CDu]

Well, we close with 2 very winnable games. That's the good news. The bad news is that we need to beat Panama at home in order to feel good about our automatic qualifying chances. If we draw with Panama, we'd then need help from Costa Rica (who travels to Panama for their final match) to get in. Costa Rica is better than Panama, but I'd hate to go into that match needing Costa Rica to get a result.

The scenarios:
1. Wins against Panama and Trinidad and Tobago: in regardless
2. Win against Panama and draw against T&T: would need Costa Rica to get at least a draw against Panama and Honduras not to get wins over both Mexico and Costa Rica
3. Draw against Panama and win against T&T: same as scenario 2 above
4. Draws against both Panama and T&T: Costa Rica would have to then beat Panama, and Honduras would have to do no better than draws in either of their matches against Costa Rica and Mexico
5. Win against Panama, loss against Trinidad and Tobago: same as scenarios 2 and 3 above
6. Anything else: we don't get an automatic spot

So, yeah, let's go beat Panama. And we might as well finish it up with a win over Trinidad and Tobago.

[blazindw]

I have tickets for myself, wife, and 5 year old son for this game. When I bought them a month ago I thought the game be might a bit anticlimactic in terms of qualification drama.

Definitely high drama now. Hopefully, our defense magically improves between now and then.

I will be at both games. We were expecting T&T to be a nice few days of fun in the sun and celebrating a World Cup bid. Now, that match will be very important to secure an automatic spot.

[CDu]

I will be at both games. We were expecting T&T to be a nice few days of fun in the sun and celebrating a World Cup bid. Now, that match will be very important to secure an automatic spot.

Well, assuming we don't lose to Panama first. If we do, the T&T match will be our only hope for a play-in spot.

Now, I don't expect us to lose to Panama. But, first things first. Get the result against Panama, then T&T becomes relevant.

The one good thing is that Panama doesn't score a lot of goals (fewest aside from T&T). So getting at least a point should be eminently doable. But they also don't concede many either (tied for second fewest behind Mexico). So getting a win won't be easy.

[budwom]

Well, assuming we don't lose to Panama first. If we do, the T&T match will be our only hope for a play-in spot.

Now, I don't expect us to lose to Panama. But, first things first. Get the result against Panama, then T&T becomes relevant.

The one good thing is that Panama doesn't score a lot of goals (fewest aside from T&T). So getting at least a point should be eminently doable. But they also don't concede many either (tied for second fewest behind Mexico). So getting a win won't be easy.

I'm beginning to adopt the attitude that if we can't pull it together to finish third in this group, we really don't deserve a World Cup spot...the effort vs Costa Rica was weak. If we can't beat Panama, how good are we?

[cato]

I'm beginning to adopt the attitude that if we can't pull it together to finish third in this group, we really don't deserve a World Cup spot...the effort vs Costa Rica was weak. If we can't beat Panama, how good are we?

I hear ya, and am trying too adopt the same attitude. However, I have to admit it is not an attitude, so much as accepting reality. If we cannot qualify out of CONCACAF, we do not deserve to be in.

Not that reality is always easy to accept.

[OldPhiKap]

I'm beginning to adopt the attitude that if we can't pull it together to finish third in this group, we really don't deserve a World Cup spot...the effort vs Costa Rica was weak. If we can't beat Panama, how good are we?

Yeah, I'm with 'ya

[budwom]

One of the worst things for a sports fan is getting yourself all set up to watch a big game (beverage, food, what nots) and have it turn out to be a complete dud.
like OPK, I didn't even bother to watch last night after the CR fiasco.

[CDu]

I'm beginning to adopt the attitude that if we can't pull it together to finish third in this group, we really don't deserve a World Cup spot...the effort vs Costa Rica was weak. If we can't beat Panama, how good are we?

I hear ya, and am trying too adopt the same attitude. However, I have to admit it is not an attitude, so much as accepting reality. If we cannot qualify out of CONCACAF, we do not deserve to be in.

Not that reality is always easy to accept.

Totally agree. A World Cup team SHOULD beat Panama at home when it matters. Panama has scored only 1 goal total in their four road matches in the hexagonal. They did draw with Costa Rica, but they also lost to T&T. We should win this. It may only be 1-0 (Panama has also only allowed 2 goals on the road in those four matches, and never more than 1), but it needs to be a win.

[CDu]

At home, against Panama. Down by one point. We need to win here to avoid needing to rely on help from Costa Rica to get us through.

If we can't get a win at home against Panama when we need it, we don't really have a strong claim to deserving a spot in the World Cup.

Let's get it done!

[OldPhiKap]

At home, against Panama. Down by one point. We need to win here to avoid needing to rely on help from Costa Rica to get us through.

If we can't get a win at home against Panama when we need it, we don't really have a strong claim to deserving a spot in the World Cup.

Let's get it done!

Yup, yup, yup. All spot on.

Time to get our @#$# together.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I will be flipping back and forth between the baseball playoffs and the soccer game. USA!

[CDu]

I will be flipping back and forth between the baseball playoffs and the soccer game. USA!

Yeah, gonna be tough. I will probably watch the Cubs live and record the soccer match. But we'll see. Probably will toggle a lot too.

[tbyers11]

At game with wife and 5 year old. Just watched the American Outlaw hype cheer on the scoreboard. 99% sure it the outlaw leading the cheer was blazindw. Nice job Donald!!

🇺🇸 USA 🇺🇸!!!