Can’t help but appreciate him.What Arriola lacks in hair cut decision making he makes up for in hustle
Aaronson is such a little weasel who seems to have a knack for bringing quality deliveries or finishes in big spots. I dig him a lot.PEPIIII! And I’m a huge Aaronson fan
I do. Having those workhorses is important, I think especially for this young team.Can’t help but appreciate him.
Imagine what will happen when his club actually starts giving him reps at his natural position! Getting him in the program was such a coup.I’ve actually loved Yunus Musah in this game. Driving the ball, showing grit when he loses it, really playing well at a position we need.
I’ve described him to my just now invested friend who is a big hockey fan as Brad Marchand. He’s a pest who won’t stop working but has a surprising scoring abilityAaronson is such a little weasel who seems to have a knack for bringing quality deliveries or finishes in big spots. I dig him a lot.
Called it.Berhalter bounce pass! @watke is pleased.
View: https://twitter.com/watke_/status/1446309665537765378Berhalter bounce pass! @watke is pleased.
I genuinely think he's aware of the watke videos and is hamming it up.Ha! Just beat you.
It's truly odd - he could EASILY just throw the ball normally there. Why behind the back?
Ugh. Kind of wish Robinson hadn't gone 90 now, since his knee was already a question mark. Scally should've been called in from the start.Seeing reports all over the Dest tweaked his hammy, likely done for this window.
Maybe, but if we take care of business against Panama, the pack will separate.Canada with some pretty good results so far. It's nice to see the USA at the top of the table but there are no bonus points here. Top 3 is all that matters. I think I would have preferred to see Canada drop all three points in Azteca. Long way to go but that draw at home to Canada could have a very long tail and we may eventually need a result in Toronto.
Musah just has a natural gravity to his game that is a huge boost to the midfield. Draws in and dispatches defenders with purpose and—more importantly—with pace. Dest, for example, can be a magician on the ball but he sometimes gets stuck in skills mode where he just wants to break down defenders and for the basketball fans in the audience it's similar to when Jayson Tatum decides he's going to ISO. It often works, but it can really slow things down and his teammates just kind of sit there and watch. When Musah is on the ball, I see a lot more intentionality and a lot of potential to be the kind of guy who is moving chess pieces around the field. Turns 19 in November!We should never start a midfield anymore without at least one of Musah or McKennie if we can at all avoid it. McKennie's the more all-around of the two at this time, but Musah's greatest strength of ball retention and ball progression happens to be laser focused towards fixing the USMNT midfield's biggest problem.
If Musah improves in the final third, he could be the best midfielder on this team no contest, but even if it he basically contributes nothing there he could be massive for this team simply for what he does to keep us ticking over in midfield. Reminds me of Dembele from the good Poch Spurs teams.
If the game had been called correctly Jamaica should probably have been down to 9 men… definitely 10 early. Beyond that there were a number of other hacks that could have been more severely punished. Also, they never really seemed dangerous except for one or two chances. With a bit more luck this game could have been 4-0 or more… so, yes they were poor, but the US pretty much dominated them as well.Great second half! Super impressed by Pepi, Musah, De la Torre, and Weah. The team just looked to just play without thinking too much in the second half. Idk how to describe it, but it just looked like they played naturally, if that makes any sense. Aaronson keeps doing his thing. It was refreshing to see a normal Dest performance after a few subpar showings. Not that he was great, but that is the game he normally plays. If he's hurt, that will be a big loss. Too late to call in Scally? I kid. Everyone else pretty much did what I think we expect them to do. Having that driving force in MF in Musah and a finisher in Pepi really helps.
Not to be too much of a turd in the punchbowl but that was a pretty limited Jamaica squad outside of GK though.
I meant more about the performance than the result. It was 2-0 and could have been more based on how well the US played, especially in the second half. In some ways not getting the deserved red 20 seconds might have helped in that regard. Obviously results matter and getting the win was paramount, but actually playing well was nice to see. My asterisk was more about playing well against an inferior team. Basically I was really enthusiastic about the performance but just noting that it's easier to play well against lesser opposition.If the game had been called correctly Jamaica should probably have been down to 9 men… definitely 10 early. Beyond that there were a number of other hacks that could have been more severely punished. Also, they never really seemed dangerous except for one or two chances. With a bit more luck this game could have been 4-0 or more… so, yes they were poor, but the US pretty much dominated them as well.
Is Berhalter not starting Pepi because of “rotation”?I’m down with the “Arriola does important glue guy stuff that people don’t recognize enough” thought, but not sure I’m “he starts most of the games in a WCQ window” down with it.
Not too mad at Gregg as a lot of it is COVID or injury based and rotation is needed, but this feels like a lineup that will give us one of our struggle-filled first halves.
I mean, this is at the expense of Brendan Aaronson who did not play the full 90 on Thursday when Arriola did. Arriola's effort was obvious, but to me the danger guys on the wings were Aaronson and Weah. This along with not starting Pepi (also subbed out against Jam) removes players involved in, what, the last 10 goals for the USMNT (give or take)?I’m down with the “Arriola does important glue guy stuff that people don’t recognize enough” thought, but not sure I’m “he starts most of the games in a WCQ window” down with it.
Not too mad at Gregg as a lot of it is COVID or injury based and rotation is needed, but this feels like a lineup that will give us one of our struggle-filled first halves.
MF tooThis back line looks like a bunch of kids playing with matches right now.