u/sallright

I'm not really familiar with Courtois and how he wants to play.

And it's clear that Brais will be starting, but are the other additions sure-fire starters?

It’s unlikely USMNT will stick long term to the current defensive scheme, which is essentially a “Back 3” with Jedi pushing way up on the left.

Freeman is an ideal RB in that scheme because he can operate as a CB and is capable of pushing up selectively.

But it’s very possible the next four years will feature a more traditional ”Back 4“ where the RB will be expected to get up and down the wing more and join the attack (e.g. Dest in 2022).

In that setup, Freeman may project better as a Center Back, leaving a gap at RB for someone perhaps a bit shiftier and slightly more composed on the ball in the attacking half.

Any idea who might get a shot at that role? We know Dest can do it, but many are no longer high on him.

Everything since June 2018 has been a buildup to this World Cup.

In some ways, even the 2022 World Cup itself was a buildup to 2026.

That’s fine. We were hosts. And the player timelines aligned with the moment.

But that’s 8 long years of waiting. The mentality has to shift now.

The entire US Soccer ecosystem needs to adopt an “Anytime, Anyplace” mentality.

Is there a tournament ? We want to be in it. A match? We want to play in it. A win? We want to celebrate it joyously.

The era of waiting - for a specific tournament, for a generation to mature, for specific players to come available, has to end.

Here’s an underrated issue - our youth players are learning to play on thick grass that’s too tall.

Do other kids around the world have perfect pitches? No, far from it.

But their version of a “bad surface” is still a fast surface.

In much of the US, our kids have to trudge through and somehow pass a soccer ball over super thick grass that isn’t cut low enough for soccer.

They’re better off playing on synthetic field turf or a soccer “court” or even a dirt field.

Even many of our “well maintained” fields in fancy suburbs have the wrong kind of grass and it’s way too long for soccer.

The game everyone wants US Youth to eventually dominate (World Cup) is a completely different sport because it is played on 1” thin grass where the ball can actually roll.

It seems like a small thing, but you cannot produce a player with the foot skills of Sergino Dest if that kid can’t even move the ball swiftly over the playing surface.

USMNT needs its Back to Africa moment.

CONCACAF can host the Gold Cup in El Salvador without us just this one time.

Imagine our boys kicking it in Kenya. Uniting in Uganda. Tussling in Tanzania. It’s all happening in 2027.

This might be the only way to heal US Soccer.

Many people are saying the Cavs broke up the Pistons.

Now, people are coming to me, with tears in their eyes, telling me the Cavs have broken up the Celtics.

Local hoops legend Mike Gansey parachutes into Philadelphia and immediately induces Boston into a deal that will live in infamy.

Borderline superstar, borderline coherent, Harvard professor Jaylen Brown is a Sixer and this entire Celtics run is over.

It’s fucking over.

The Cavs just completed the most panned trip to a Conference Finals in modern history.

And when people talk about Eastern Conference contenders, I usually see four, or sometimes even six teams named before the Cavs.

And yet...

The number one seed Pistons traded away their heartbeat in Stewart.

The loss to the Cavs had lots of people questioning whether Ausar Thompson needs to be traded.

And now their #2 guy, their 22 year old All NBA talent Jalen Duren may be leaving town.

Can't argue with the moves. Maybe every single move works out for them.

But with those moves and aging vets like Duncan and Tobias, they're looking at turning over the entire core.

We finally saw Donovan and Mobley get angry yesterday in the second half.

At one point, Kenny paired them with three guys who are naturally wired to play that way: Scrhöder, Strus, and Tyson.

For a brief time, we saw a version of the Cavs with aggression dialed up to 6.5 instead of 3.

I don't think there's an easy solution to the Cavs turnover problems or defensive consistency.

But this spark of anger may end up being a solution to the problem of listless, soft play. Maybe.

It's at least something to watch for in Game 3.