This leads us to one question....is Joe Flacco an elite backup quarterback?

Is there an xG map for this game (do they keep xG numbers for U17 tourneys? why do I care what happens in an U17 tourney?)? Because match reports suggests a decent US performance until they got walloped by Senegal’s 2nd and 3rd goals, but then you look at the shot numbers relative to possession....

Yeah, that’s really important to bear in mind with “selling clubs” like Ajax. They’re my favorite non-EPL team, but claiming they’re top 10 or 15 is tough based on last year’s UCL results because then they had both Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, both arguably some of the top talents in Europe at their…

It was Ajax that released the video. It’d be a big surprise if it wasn’t in Dutch.  The English subtitles were a nice courtesy. 

SO easy to counter attack against. Dear lord, this was Senegal’s first-ever game in the U-17 World Cup, and they absolutely carved us to pieces.

They’re playing the Berhalter system down there now too. Lots of meaningless possession with predictable attacks. Easy to defend against, easy to counter attack against. We need to eliminate this influence from US Soccer as quickly as possible.

I’m almost glad he missed the kick. If he makes it then everyone tends to quickly forget how bad the offense was all day because they won. Just like after the Denver game. They don’t deserve that.

It’s always difficult to peg teams like Ajax based on the previous seasons results now that they’ve effectively become a feeder club for the ultra rich clubs. Ajax of last season was undoubtedly among the top few clubs in Europe, this year isn’t as certain although they certainly haven’t stepped back to the degree…

Oh yeah.

I too made a lot of shitty decisions as a 19 year-old.

is that possession stat for real?

I guess Koeman doesn’t know about them?

It’s funny that, on a US soccer discussion board, every time this is mentioned, some Dutch fans come in and give us a list of 45 other players who are ahead of Dest for LB or RB on the Orange.

Remember when Tribusky was in the Pro Bowl last January? Did that really happen? Now his coach doesn’t even trust him to get 5 yards.

Champions League semifinalists Ajax?

guaranteed playing time

I hope he knows that he will also be expected to run backwards. 

They had gotten down to the 21 yard line with ease on that drive. Forget one more play, or running it when the other team knows you’re gonna run it. 45 seconds and a timeout, just keep playing football. Throw the ball, run the ball, get to 5, chip it in to win. 

So a QB kneeldown loses 1-2 yards. If you run one more play (according to Nagy) you lose 4 yards. BUT you might also gain 4 yards. Or 10 yards.

This was a frightened decision made by a man who has no reason to coach scared - YET. What he cannot say out loud is that he doesn’t trust his QB