Freeman in prettyyyyyy good company here with his ability to play quick passes (via @scoutedftbl.com)
Catching up on Scuffed, and thought @sanjaysujan.bsky.social made a fantastic point about building a midfield and style of play for beyond the Round of 16. There were two moments during England-Argentina that I noticed that reinforce these points...
The Scuffed Podcast@scuffed.bsky.social · 4w ago🎙️ New pod ‼️ The World Cup postmortem with Vince, Belz and @sanjaysujan.bsky.social A look back at the Belgium game before we get into the big picture discourse: the legacy of this World Cup for 🇺🇸⚽️, developing world-class #USMNT players, Pulisic, Poch’s future, the 2030 cycle and more.
Just caught up after the final: this is a brilliant article from @colinmillar.bsky.social on the linguistic and cultural understanding of suffering
The misunderstood art of ‘suffering’ and why it may be central to this World Cup final
This is the first World Cup final between two nations which speak the same language since 1930 — and one word may dominate the discourse
nytimes.com
Excellent analysis from Neel and Kim here. Love this viz, too, showing how Mbappe/Barcola required constant attention.
The Transfer Flow@thetransferflow.bsky.social · 3w agoSpain might be famous for their gorgeous possession sequences, but this was the best *defensive* performance we've ever seen. www.thetransferflow.com/p/superior-s...
Bringing a talent like Pedri off the bench is borderline incomprehensible
Thought Argentina’s shape was fascinating throughout the game states. Switzerland contained Messi well enough 11v11
I keep returning to the U20 World Cup as the most analogous situation to this summer: - Won group comfortably - Still exited at same stage - Style of play looked better and increased margins - Talent level deeper - Still a step or two to take before title contender
Using @futi.live data, a stylistic look at USMNT progression so far. Who is progressing via passing, carrying, or receiving? - The all-action volume from McKennie and Tillman is remarkable - Dest and Pulisic well-rounded - Balogun and Pepi providing the reference points in attack
Love this from Ream (and @pcattry.bsky.social is killing it this World Cup)
Pardeep Cattry@pcattry.bsky.social · last mo.#USMNT’s Tim Ream slipped into proud older teammate mode post-game about the team’s resolve after the red card: “It was a steely focus and unless you're on the field and you see it in guys' eyes, it's hard to understand but it felt so comfortable, even down to 10 men”
Opportunity for #USMNT against Bosnia: look at how a fairly basic rotation from Qatar disorganizes the defensive shape. Now picture Balogun, McKennie, Tillman, and Dest in these roles...
Ream could have done a remake of this gem youtu.be/lAmv5AENebQ?...
Pert Plus Television Commercial 1994 Featuring Paul Caligiuri World Cup Soccer
YouTube video by Analog Memories
youtu.be
John Muller@johnspacemuller.com · 2mo agoFeels like marketing departments have a pretty wild idea of how much Americans care about David Beckham in 2026
Most impressive thing for me in the first two games - we kept our foot on the gas despite the early goals. This suffocated the attack for Paraguay and Australia, mitigating a potential weakness in defense (data from @futi.live)
Interesting double jeopardy call there against Qatar. Would you rather have the penalty and yellow card than play a man-down for ~55 minutes?
These Spanish pass maps by time are wild. Swapping Cucurella and Torres for Williams and Yamal probably solves some problems on the wings.
I've slept on it and feel confident saying that was our best win since Spain 2009.
Incredible, couldn’t have asked for anything more. Reyna’s goal clutch if we’re 2-0 along with Turkey headed into the 3rd game, too.
Goal up, man up at home pretty ideal conditions for Mora’s World Cup debut
Good article that also leads me to 2 questions: 1) Who was the closest to reaching this level? 2) Are those conditions replicable at scale?
Henry Bushnell@henrybushnell.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhy has the United States, the richest and most successful sporting country in the world, never produced a world-class men's soccer superstar? In a word: culture. (And a "broken" system.) Full piece, free to read @theathletic.com:
Inspired by The Athletic previews, here's #USMNT + Group D Elo Ratings from 1994 through today. Fascinating to see how cyclical these ratings are, particularly for Gold Cup / Euro / Copa performances.
