USMNT: Hold My Beer
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
I read article recently that said something similar---against smaller, less-skilled teams you can play Pulisic centrally and have him link up with the back and spray passes around. Against the better teams, play him wide, where it's tougher to mark him as closely.
Maybe it's just because I'm used to their low-fi, low-key, analytical treatment of everything, but I thought the drunk post-game review from the Scuffed podcast was hilarious.
https://twitter.com/zlebmada/status/1141372366246817792
As they put it, Zardes' USMNT career really is a tragicomedy.
https://twitter.com/zlebmada/status/1141372366246817792
As they put it, Zardes' USMNT career really is a tragicomedy.
At this point, Pulisic isn’t a string puller or play maker against quality competition. He’s a run at you attacker with an good finishing touch. Another match alongside Arriola & Boyd ain’t gonna make our boy into Claudio Reyna.
Put another way, I don’t want to see 90 minutes of Pulisic dribbling into 3 Panamanians and having to tap the ball back to Bradley, who will promptly spray a long ball 6 feet over Boyd’s head.
Here's the typical underselling of Pulisic due to years of negative reinforcement. He's the best USMNT player ever, already. Just accept it.
Well, that doesn't mean you can just plug him in at any position under any system and see him excel.
His attacking of defenders is his best plus-skill, it's true. Along with his close control. His passing is good but not great. If you've got a better passer who's just kinda okay at taking on defenders 1:1 or getting a shot off, you should put him at CM, and push Pulisic to wing where he can still do a lot of damage.
We just... don't. No, putting him out there won't turn him into Claudio Reyna. Where do we get prime Claudio Reyna from, again? Is that our alternative? No? What's our alternative, then? Thought so.
His attacking of defenders is his best plus-skill, it's true. Along with his close control. His passing is good but not great. If you've got a better passer who's just kinda okay at taking on defenders 1:1 or getting a shot off, you should put him at CM, and push Pulisic to wing where he can still do a lot of damage.
We just... don't. No, putting him out there won't turn him into Claudio Reyna. Where do we get prime Claudio Reyna from, again? Is that our alternative? No? What's our alternative, then? Thought so.
Pomykal should be ready soon, as he's been a standout in MLS this season and there really isn't much in his way. Roldan sure is a solid MLS player, but the next time he turns in an impressive performance for the USMNT will be the first time.
The only thing is that Pomykal seems to be evolving into a very valuable #8, or maybe an "8-and-a-half" rather than a true attacking mid. There's enough quality to make a midfield of Adams-McKennie-Pomykal work, though. Hopefully this happens soon. It would be miserable to play against that midfield — work rate and defense for days, and quality on the ball, too, even if it lacked a true magician.
Longer-term, I'd love to see a true #10 emerge. The hope right now is Richie Ledezma, but it's early with him. There's Mendez, too, but he has a lot to overcome. That would give us a new look, a lot of options, and real depth in the midfield.
The only thing is that Pomykal seems to be evolving into a very valuable #8, or maybe an "8-and-a-half" rather than a true attacking mid. There's enough quality to make a midfield of Adams-McKennie-Pomykal work, though. Hopefully this happens soon. It would be miserable to play against that midfield — work rate and defense for days, and quality on the ball, too, even if it lacked a true magician.
Longer-term, I'd love to see a true #10 emerge. The hope right now is Richie Ledezma, but it's early with him. There's Mendez, too, but he has a lot to overcome. That would give us a new look, a lot of options, and real depth in the midfield.
There's no Gold Cup thread, so I'll say it here: I think you could give Canada a penalty kick, and they'd try to dribble it around a little bit to get a better angle.
It's been discussed before, but here's an article talking about the missing generation in US soccer---essentially birth years 1990 through 1994, and 1996. Article is a few years old, but the points still hold.
http://americansoccernow.com/articles/the-missing-years-u-s-soccer-s-development-gap
http://americansoccernow.com/articles/the-missing-years-u-s-soccer-s-development-gap
All the mentions of Jonathan Gonzalez made me sad. Would have been great to have him in the midfield mix with Pomykal and McKennie going forward.
Gyasi Zardes is used less frequently than he was in 2015 and 2016 under Klinsmann and could fade out of the picture before the 2018 World Cup.
Things that make me sad.
Correct.
Also, he didn't start on Wednesday night, he started on Tuesday night. Which means today is not Friday. Dammit.
Also, he didn't start on Wednesday night, he started on Tuesday night. Which means today is not Friday. Dammit.
USSF employees have apparently been going to town on Glassdoor.
https://twitter.com/WillParchman/status/1141874604916576257
https://twitter.com/WillParchman/status/1141874604916576257
Steven Goff @SoccerInsider
7h
Flynn pushing hard for Berhalter, I'm told, but fed prez Carlos Cordeiro not aboard. The board of directors will make the decision. Meantime, the search for a #uswnt general manager is apparently down to three finalists.
There's much less hype about this than there was about the USSF presidential election, but this hire is actually more important. I have no idea who to root for because I don't know the range of candidates and I wouldn't know enough about any of the individuals anyway. I do know that if it's Jay Berhalter, it would be "complicated" at best.
7h
Flynn pushing hard for Berhalter, I'm told, but fed prez Carlos Cordeiro not aboard. The board of directors will make the decision. Meantime, the search for a #uswnt general manager is apparently down to three finalists.
There's much less hype about this than there was about the USSF presidential election, but this hire is actually more important. I have no idea who to root for because I don't know the range of candidates and I wouldn't know enough about any of the individuals anyway. I do know that if it's Jay Berhalter, it would be "complicated" at best.
Yup. It doesn't matter at all, neither (should be...) playing real minutes come qualifier time.
The lowest of bars to clear. And I was staunch Zardes guy back a few years ago. He is fast and tall-ish which I guess are his best skills
Zardes isn't even blazingly fast, he just makes decent runs and has a good work rate, and is mostly bad at everything else.
Jozy is a big dude but plays smaller than his size. He's never been all that great aerially. The underappreciated part of his game is that he's a strong passer who is useful in the buildup.
Sargent has a ton of potential, but he's still figuring out how to be consistently influential in games. I wish he were here over Zardes, but Altidore is a better player today, June 22, 2019.
And there is a water spot on the top left of the blimps cam.
Pretty good shot on that free kick
"McKennie first-times it over the top to Zardes... Who had stopped his run."
For a guy whose calling card at one point was his work rate, it's really disappointing to see sugc things.
For a guy whose calling card at one point was his work rate, it's really disappointing to see sugc things.
Doesn't seem much more than usual CONCACAF, but we can disagree on that. But a card for a little jersey tug seems excessive.
I'm not believing anything good or bad against T&T. Heck, Bradley looks good tonight, too.
If Lima bosses the Panama game, I'll find some room on your bandwagon.
Edit: Boyd too.
I am looking for any way to keep Adams out of the backline when the time comes. We need guys like Lima to show.
Let's not forget that a majority of T&T's starters play in the USL or in T&T. We're not facing a lot of talent.
If I had my druthers, yes, but Berhalter seems interested in using Adams as a pinched-in RB who supports Bradley in the midfield. Adams has only played one game under Berhalter due to injury issues, so it's hard to know for sure.
I think Berhalter's system overcomplicates it and Adams should just take the DM job. I've never been a Bradley-hater, but at this point in his career I don't think he brings enough to the table. People have always focused on his passing, but watch his defense. He doesn't have the quickness to close down attackers (Trapp is a bit quicker, but lacks the toughness to win 50/50 challenges) and at Bradley's age it's only getting worse. IMO, having a ground-covering, ball-winning DM like Tyler Adams would make a lot of other players and the team in general look better.
If we do go with a 4-3-3 or some variant thereof, a midfield of Adams+McKennie+Pomykal would be a real pain in the ass to play against.
Hmm, you need a left back, which means you have to take off an attacker or a CM.