Dr. Data Bet: Christian Pulisic Anytime Goalscorer+390
Oct 10, 2017 is the darkest day in American Men's soccer. It's the day our lads lost to Trinidad and Tobago and Panama defeated Costa Rica which meant USMNT didn't qualify for the 2018 World Cup. It truly was a failure of magnitude proportions and it forced US Soccer to make foundational changes. The first step was to turn to the american youth which some like myself are dubbing the golden generation of american soccer. Since 2018, we've seen these young studs like Christian Pulisic,Tyler Adams, Branden Aaronson and Weston Mckennie compete at top European club levels. We've also seen young talent with dual citizenship commit to playing for America, names like Sergino Dest, Yunus Musah and Antoniee Robinson. This young talent pool, fueled with a deisre to prove the haters wrong has provided an American soccer reincarnation. Since 2018, the USMNT has won the Concaf Nations League, 2021 Gold Cup and qualified for this World Cup in Qatar. The successful turnaround has awarded our young team the opportunity to showcase that American soccer is here and we aren't going anywhere. It starts Monday against Wales.
For the US, the key to this game is the back-line of Dest, Zimmerman, Ream and Robinson staying organized. Wales will not be able to breakdown the young talented midfield of the Americans. Therefore, look for Wales to play over the top and have either Gareth Bale or Daniel James get behind the defense. James and old Bale have world class pace. Wales will try to isolate the center-backs of Zimmerman and Ream in a counterattack with Bale or James running at them full speed. It is pivotal for the outside backs of Robinson and Dest to be smart as to when they should push up the field and join the American attack which would leave their center backs exposed to a Wales counter.
For the US, I believe they will have the better midfield. Tyler Adams, Musah and Brendan Aaronson at the top will be able to control the midfield. Musah might be replaced by Mckennie who isn't fully fit yet but still, the Americans are more physical and skilled. The strength will be the US front three which will include Pulisic and Reyna. These two players are elite in taking defender 1v1. Their quickness and skill make them a significant offensive threat to the Welsh back-line. This is where our guy Christian Pulisic steps up and bury's one. He's the face of the team. The face of this young, golden generation. When his team needed a goal during qualifying or in other international tournaments, he stepped up. He lives for the big moments. Look for Puli to get one tomorrow, possibly from the pentalty spot.
I see this game ending in a 2-2 draw. Both teams will be stretched out creating opportunity's across the pitch, but expect CP10 to step up as he always does and bury one. Its World Cup time LFG and fyi the internet will break if Baby Jesus scores a goal and does the below celebration:
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