USMNT

Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead after 26 minutes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, only to watch Mateo Kovačić and Christian Pulisic bring Chelsea level before halftime in a match that finished 2-2 and gave Manchester City a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League.   

Such has been City's relentless pace that both Chelsea and Liverpool entered knowing that a draw was as good as a defeat, and the Reds had to navigate the match without Jürgen Klopp on the sideline because of COIVD-19. 

The FIFA rankings are nonsensical 75% of the time and only truly matter for seeding of group stages at the World Cup. Three out of every four years these rankings mean squat, but in 2022 they matter a whole lot. The top seven teams and host get the most favorable seeds during the World Cup draw. FIFA has released the December rankings and the USMNT sits at its highest ranking to end a calendar year since 2005.

The U.S. is ranked No. 11. One spot above Germany.

Christian Pulisic is in a bit of a form slump heading into the holidays with only one goal in his last 11 appearances. An inconsistent number of starts can be attributed to the poor form with only four of those 11 appearances being starts. Another issue comes in the form of a question. What position does Pulisic play?

The debate over who should be the USMNT's starting striker will continue into 2022 despite Ricardo Pepi's recent heroics in front of goal. The 18-year-old was quiet on Saturday night in the national team's 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina (a match The18's David Moore likened to "cruel and unusual punishment"), and Gregg Berhalter will be closely monitoring the FC Dallas striker's competition abroad.

My apologies and condolences go out to any poor unfortunate souls who canceled their Saturday night plans to watch the USMNT play Bosnia and Herzegovina. The U.S. defeated Bosnia 1-0 in what was perhaps one of most mundane soccer games ever played.

With it not being an official international break, there was no Christian Pulisic or Weston McKennie caliber of starpower. The purpose of this friendly was a tune-up game ahead of World Cup qualifying in January. This was a chance for some youngsters and fringe players to prove themselves to head coach Gregg Berhalter. 

Carli Lloyd passed the torch to Lindsey Horan this year. Lloyd, who won two Women’s World Cups wearing the vaunted No. 10 jersey, bequeathed the number to Horan after retiring. On Thursday night, it was Horan who honored the jersey by being named U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.