JamieZ

Cool it, Jack.

Yikes.

And that the difference between the two sides.

Why do I feel like there's another goal in this one?

Wow. Ugh.

I'm more worried about Pulisic than Giroud. Feel free to quote me later.

There are a lot of things one can get into—the net, a strong tackle, legal trouble, the cheese dip...

If our form reflected his predictions, we'd be looking at relegation from the Midland Football League Second Division.

Watching the match today with Scott.

I'm watching RB Leipzig v Köln and I would just like to reiterate how good I think Angeliño is. He's just a terror along the left flank. I can't imagine why he isn't more interesting to Man City, except it being a matter of him being a mis-fit for their particular system. I can see him being a major contributor to any team playing with a back three.

Frustrating.

Pierluigi Gollini just saved a Ronaldo penalty for Atalanta today. Morata is having a nightmare, but Gollini has been keeping his team in the match. Thankfully, we have Emi Martínez to soothe my broken heart.

Here in the States, everyone I meet is either an Arsenal fan or a Liverpool fan (if not a Man United fan). In previous years, I always remarked that they must be the two most frustrating teams to support because every year starts with, "This is our year!" before ending up decidedly otherwise. But that's changed for both clubs, and in vastly opposite directions.

I had to double check to make sure Craig Pawson wasn't Craig Dawson's golden retriever. I thought we might be getting the Air Bud treatment.

He'd help, too!

I can see Jesse Marsch being a good match for them, as he'd be able to motivate and manage the younger players and add some passion and discipline. The defensive frailty has been an issue for years but they'll certainly benefit from having Dan-Axel Zagadou back in the equation, thereby making them the only dual-Axel team in Europe.

There's a club that's going to have to rebuild in the 2. Bundesliga rather than hanging on by a thread and consolidating like a Werder Bremen (who are still quite awful). I felt bad for David Wagner when he was sacked because he keeps getting saddled with these downward-trajectory teams when there's clearly little if anything he can do about it. And I think it's evident now that they're no better off without him. It's amazing to think they were playing Man City in the Champions League a couple of years ago.

This is curious to me as I saw a side of him yesterday I haven't seen in his performances with the U.S. National Team. It's always been clear there's a player in there, and I certainly think he deserves time to develop, but it's his defensive abilities that have left people wondering a bit—to the extent that many seem to favor moving Sergiño Dest over to his less favored left-back position and playing Reggie Cannon on the right. Against Liverpool, I saw evidence of a more complete player and that's really encouraging. He made an end-line tackle on Salah that made me cheer out loud.

I suppose Pellegrino Matarazzo could be a good shout, as well: replace your manager with the manager who crushed him in the match that led to his sacking.

Assistant coach Edin Terzić has been appointed till the end of the season. I wonder if they have a high level of faith in him or if it's an indicator that they were impulsive with the sacking of Favre and had no real plan. I'm curious to see who they'll choose for the job failing Terzić staying on as a full-time manager. With the talent they've got, they'll want to be taking a step forwards rather than a step backwards. I can see Jesse March at Red Bull Salzburg being linked with the job, but I'm not sure who otherwise could be seen as a really enticing candidate (especially if they fail to qualify for the Champions League—although I imagine they will).

And he keeps doing things like this...

*deep exhale*

Yeah, it's tricky. I'm sure you appreciate the danger in anointing a 'Golden Generation' before a ball has been kicked—or in this case, said generation has even played together for more than a friendly or two. But in the States (or at least among the people who are actually following it), there's a sense that American talent, and therefore the United States National Team, is taking a step up to the next level. The fact that nine U.S. players played in the Champions League this year and eight of them advanced to the knockout stages (with Juventus, Chelsea, Man City, Barcelona, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund) is a good indicator. Five years ago, there was still talk of, "An American will never be a key player in a Top 4 team in the Premier League," and that's no longer the case. Gone are the days when Americans are advocating for Lynden Gooch at Sunderland to get a look with the national team. And these aren't just dual nationals, either (although Yunus Musah, if he decides to declare for us, will be a coup), so it speaks to our development and not just our global outreach. As far as top-tier talent, I may be guilty of viewing some of these players through rose-colored glasses, but I think it is reasonable to suggest players like Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Sergiño Dest and the like can become widely-recognized after establishing themselves at top clubs in Europe, and new talent is popping up on a seemingly weekly basis, breaking into squads in Spain or the Bundesliga, not just Scandinavia. This shows that not only is the talent improving, but attitudes are changing and channels are being created to take advantage of it. I think Americans, especially in the Bundesliga, are starting to be viewed as an untapped resource. I know for a fact that clubs with MLS partnerships are taking advantage of their MLS connections, and not just to bring in Americans. Man City used NYFC to develop Jack Harrison before loaning him to Leeds, for instance. And the Red Bull connection has been central in Tyler Adams' move to RB Leipzig and Brenden Aaronson's move to Red Bull Salzburg. I would suggest our primary issue at this point, and the reason I would be careful before anointing a Golden Generation, is depth. We're breaking through, for sure, but we don't have the depth of a France, or Germany, or England. If Christian Pulisic gets hurt (which is a likelihood we hay absolutely have to plan for), we can't just call in a like-for-like replacement. That said, fixture congestion has been helpful and between a run of Europe-based and domestic-only friendly internationals, and with CONCACAF Nations League, World Cup Qualifying, and Olympic Qualifying coming up, Gregg Berhalter is essentially assembling three different national teams and teaching them how to play together. This means that even if talent doesn't run so deep as it does at the top teams, we'll have a system and a number of options at each position who know it. We're getting there. As for MLS, I'd suggest it's growing in leaps and bounds, and the reason for that isn't so much domestic talent (although that's certainly improving), but its capacity as a platform for North, Central, and South American talent to break through on the world stage. Alphonso Davies is the one that comes most immediately to mind, but more and more South American players (especially from countries like Colombia and Argentina) are coming to MLS to develop and build an international profile before moving to Europe. In this sense, a rising tide lifts all boats and helps all parties involved. Moreover, MLS development academies are improving, identifying talent earlier and earlier (the FC Dallas academy, where Weston McKennie developed before moving to Schalke, has been particularly successful), developing positive reputations, and establishing more connections with top European clubs. And as a side note, American managers are beginning to break through, as well. Jesse Marsch (who became famous for his Champions League halftime talk against Liverpool) is destined for big things, Pellegrino Matarazzo is establishing himself as an exciting prospect at VfB Stuttgart, and the quality of coaching in MLS is improving drastically, in part due to league parity and as evidenced by the failure of managers like Frank de Boer to come in and offer anything of value whatsoever. So yeah, I guess this is a long way of saying we're cautiously optimistic. I think it'd be a bit early to declare much accomplished, but I certainly think American football is on its way up.

Every time I watch Leipzig play (which is quite often because Tyler Adams is a USA international), I think to post about how much he impresses me on the 'Players That You Think Are Good/Excellent' thread, and for some reason I never do. Well, I think that he's good/excellent.