USMNT: Hold My Beer
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
Would have been tough viewing of Robinsons effort to close that cross there if it had gone in
USA Soccer should build a brand new stadium in Bangor or Orono for future home Concacaf qualifiers (just not with Canada as the opposition)
Too many sloppy passes from Adams. Too much dribbling from Pulisic (again). Weston is the man. Antonee is critical.
Morris didn't do anything, but it was nice to see him get back on the field for the national team.
Fingers crossed that Weston and Dest aren't injured.
Fingers crossed that Weston and Dest aren't injured.
I'm sick of the Antonee hate. Yeah, his crossing needs work. But there's nobody in our pool who's remotely close to taking his spot.
Did this ref know that cards are a thing? The 35 fouls certainly did not help the game flow elegantly for either team.
We put ourselves in position to score more.
View: https://twitter.com/PaulCarr/status/1486880140500123658
View: https://twitter.com/PaulCarr/status/1486880140500123658
Hate is strong, but I see wayyyyy too much criticism in general of that man. He is a HUGE player for us.
I'm totally here for the no cards. Adams ready to roll for Canada.
I missed the early goal, but Canada is enduring typical Honduran "hospitality". In control, but job is only half done. I remember a 8-0 defeat in the same venue not so many years ago, so the difference is marked.
He did however love the “whistle and sprint to the spot of the foul immediately to assert his authority” move.
I mean, ultimately if you don’t let in even a shot on target, you win the games no matter what complaints I have about the style.
We US fans probably spend too much time hyper-analyzing every attacking move and roster construction choice and not enough time noting how extremely stingy Berhalter has made this team defensively.
We US fans probably spend too much time hyper-analyzing every attacking move and roster construction choice and not enough time noting how extremely stingy Berhalter has made this team defensively.
Brilliant breakaway goal from Jonathan David put the game away … Mo Salah would have been proud of it. Laser 40 yard pass , taken in mid sprint , headed for control and chipped the onrushing keeper. Wow
View: https://twitter.com/si_soccer/status/1486892907609088004?s=21
Goal for Costa Rica puts them up 1-0 against Panama. This would be a very, very good result for the US.
Doyle has a pretty good breakdown on what went wrong for Pulisic and what could potentially fix it.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/the-usmnt-s-pulisic-problem-lessons-learned-from-el-salvador-what-to-expect-at-c
I texted a buddy of mine at halftime that the US had to scrap the dual pivot and trip 8 formation. That midfield was just way too congested with Ferreira as the false 9 and CP playing Musah's position. I'm really curious if this was part of the game plan or if CP was just doing it on his own (or did Gregg tell CP that he was free to do his own thing?). At times it was ridiculous seeing where Jedi was in relation to Pulisic and Ferreira. El Salvador's best chance, the one for Roldan, stemmed from that. Zim (who generally I thought passed well) made an ill advised pass up to Dest, which ES ended up with and broke quickly. Jedi was so far up the field because nobody from the US was there, which left Richards stuck covering two attackers.
Overall the win is great but the performance was just ok. Adams did well in the destroyer role but definitely gave the ball away too much. It almost looked like ES was intentionally giving him space and he didn't know what to do with it. CP was poor, and Ferreira I thought was ok for what he is and is being asked to do, but missed the chances. CBs were fine, Dest was active and looked energized to me, as was Weah. The midfield was too packed and easy to defend.
I think Gregg gets too cute with the setup. Just play a predictable 4-3-3 and force the opponent to stop you. Who cares if they know CP is playing wide left as an inverted winger and Pepi is playing as a true 9? Don't screw around with it. Having Pulisic drop so far inside and back along with a false 9 just made it way too easy on that El Salvador defense.
Separately I've been really impressed by Hugo Perez. Why can't we get coaches like that for the USMNT?
xG was approximately 3 - 0 in the game. If the U.S. had won 3 - 0, there would be a lot less concern I think, though I'm sure we'd still be worried about Pulisic.
(Of course, it can't be entirely untangled from lineup decisions, e.g. does Pepi finish the chance that Ferreira botched, or even if he does finish it, does he create it in the first place?)
(Of course, it can't be entirely untangled from lineup decisions, e.g. does Pepi finish the chance that Ferreira botched, or even if he does finish it, does he create it in the first place?)
I'm not totally in love with xG as a predictive stat, but 2-0 or 3-0 probably was warranted. When I think about all 11 players, the only one that I thought was poor was Pulisic. I know some people are lower on Ferreira, but I thought in terms of what he was being asked to do, he was fine. I do think his inclusion in the starting 11 was and still is a headscratcher given how the US played. Especially in the first half, the bulk of the attack was coming from the right side. Crosses could have been better, but who was going to be on the end of those crosses anyways? Pulisic wasn't there, Ferreira is a false 9, McKennie was playing on the right side as well. I know this is borderline heresy, but I think even starting Zardes would be defensible over Ferreira with this all taken into account.
Changing gears and looking ahead to Canada, I desperately want a win tomorrow night. I want Canada and their fans to be reminded who the top dogs are in the region. No Davies (which sucks and I hope he fully recovers), no Eustaquio, long flight home from Honduras. For me, start Pepi, staple CP out wide left, and switch McKennie and Musah. Idc who the CBs are as long as it is 2 of Richards/Zim/Miles. Canada is undefeated in qualifying, and I want that to end in front of their home fans. Yes, I know a draw is probably acceptable to both teams, but f that.
Looks like Weah is out for the Canada game. Ugh.
View: https://twitter.com/usmntonly/status/1487294295384248320
View: https://twitter.com/usmntonly/status/1487294295384248320
On one hand, that does suck.
On the other hand, says a lot about where we’ve gotten with winger depth that we’re like “oh no, we might need to start the Champions League starter who Leeds are salivating over and who scored our last goal against Canada”.
On the other hand, says a lot about where we’ve gotten with winger depth that we’re like “oh no, we might need to start the Champions League starter who Leeds are salivating over and who scored our last goal against Canada”.
Interesting - apparently it's a vaccination issue. I guess he's only had one shot or something? Definitely better than an injury.
View: https://twitter.com/BrianSciaretta/status/1487472783818899464
View: https://twitter.com/BrianSciaretta/status/1487472783818899464
The Doyle article is really informative. CP just seems lost in his current role. As noted in the gamethread (this thread?) and this article, he does better on the right. I get he is competing with Weah out there, but , as great as Weah has been, you need to optimize CP.
Honestly I'm not even clear what formation they are playing. I get the 4 with Dest - Richards - Zimmerman - Robinson. They seem to have a 5 pointed diamond with Adams at the back and McKennie at the top. Munsah in the middle. Weah and CP on the wings. Forward du jour up top. But it felt like there were 2 left wingers (munsah and CP) and 2 right (mckennie and weah) and with Dest's ability to advance that did the majority of the work. The left bc lack of structure or roles or maybe an amazing El Salvador right side couldn't do anything.
I get we will never be Spain with incredible possession, but we seem to be misusing our MF. Either you get the ball down the wings or nothing happens, no central fluidity despite several talented players there.
I think the approximate attacking shape Berhalter is aiming for is basically five spread across the front (left back, left forward, center forward, right forward, right back) with the two 8s (McKennie and Musah) supporting and having the freedom to interchange with any of the front-line players.
That’s lively stuff, but like a lot of Berhalter‘s tactical plans, it relies on a lot more training and familiarity than a national team typically has to implement well. And given the number of injuries and disruptions this squad has seen, they just aren’t fluid in the approach yet.
I still wish Gregg had a coach on staff to provide some extra tactical nous to balance his impulses.
If Gio is ever healthy and fit, where does he end up? Weah out, CP pushed right, Gio more central in the kind of role CP was attempting to fill the other night?
In the hypothetical first choice lineup he probably does displace Weah, although I could see form arguments to the contrary depending who’s doing how well.
In the world of inevitable cards and injuries, his depth is great on the wing and also most likely he becomes our 2nd - 3rd best 8.
It reminds me a lot of what Klopp does at Liverpool. The part that confuses me is CP supposedly being stronger on the right when much of the press about what’s going wrong for him at Chelsea is his being used out of position - ie not on the left. Pretty sure there’s an athletic article from the last week or so saying the same.
So how much colder does St. Paul need to get before it’s criminally negligent to play that game outdoors? Columbus at 30 degrees was a non-issue, but this is single digit temps with negative windchill.
Out of curiosity I checked to see if US Bank Field was free, but it looks like they have some kitchen and bathroom expo that week.
Before we even get to St. Paul, today's game is going to have shitshow conditions. Extremely narrow field, rock-hard turf.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/briansciaretta/status/1487812317844844545
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/briansciaretta/status/1487812317844844545
68 yards wide is a postage stamp. Concacaf won’t allow NYCFC to host home matches at Yankee Stadium because their pitch is 70 yards wide, so I have no idea how Soccer Canada snuck this one by the authorities.
I’m sorry but this shit is a joke. There needs to be some sort of baseline temp or something that needs to be met for the game to be played. Playing these games in this weather just makes no sense. Up in Canada and the game St. Paul should not be allowed to happen.
Apparently there was a miscommunication and it's actually 68 meters (~74 yards). So, that's good I guess.
I’m not too bothered by the striker change, but it’s odd how Pepi went from locked in to dropped with no explanation at all.