USMNT New Era
- Thread starter TU_BLA
- Start date
Whatever lineup they ran out yesterday against T&T played with a chip on their shoulders and shellacked a side that kept the US out of the World Cup in 2018. And especially when the upper echelon CONCACAF teams struggled in their 1st games, the US taking care of business is a good thing. Mexico barely held on against the Dominican Republic, a team who can't even get into the top 8 of CONCACAF for qualifying. Costa Rica needed a flipping miracle and help from the referee to come back against Suriname. Saudi Arabia, a WC quality side, was barely able to beat Haiti, 1-0.
I kind of wish we had Herve Renard as our coach. At the very minimum, he could motivate a lot more women to show up.
That team TNT team was depleted and divided and not a squad fit for international competition. Even for CONCACAF. Or the smaller Caribbean nations for that matter. Maybe the worst defended international game I’ve ever seen. Andorra or San Marino could have won this game.
The USA isn’t the only country not taking this competition seriously. The best striker for TNT took the game off to get married. Other players skipped too. Dwight York could play. He may not be able to coach. We shall see.
The only thing to be learned from this game is that Reyna has been replaced by Luna for now and Wright is the fourth choice.
We continue to experiment with that three man back line and double pivot. And we do it with players who likely aren’t going. That’s interesting.
Sounds like Sargent isn’t going to the World Cup based on the post game remarks that the squad will be cut significantly after this tourney.
The USA isn’t the only country not taking this competition seriously. The best striker for TNT took the game off to get married. Other players skipped too. Dwight York could play. He may not be able to coach. We shall see.
The only thing to be learned from this game is that Reyna has been replaced by Luna for now and Wright is the fourth choice.
We continue to experiment with that three man back line and double pivot. And we do it with players who likely aren’t going. That’s interesting.
Sounds like Sargent isn’t going to the World Cup based on the post game remarks that the squad will be cut significantly after this tourney.
We'll see. I'm not big on this group right now. GK needs a major overhaul and the best US GK is likely not in the top 4 mix right now for whatever reason.
And Guatemala beat Jamaica last night and Jamaica had the majority of their top players out there, the ones we see in EPL. Guatemala was better in possession, very creative in their attack and pretty technical. I will say the referee in that match had a real clunker. I don't recall seeing a yellow card and there were at least 6-7 YC offenses, mostly for grabbing a guy from behind and stopping a promising attack. The ref showed nothing. And I 'm sure if you showed the match to a dozen referees, 11 of them would agree with me on the assessment. He was far too patient and the grabbing got worse later in the game because he did nothing about it early in the game.
And Guatemala beat Jamaica last night and Jamaica had the majority of their top players out there, the ones we see in EPL. Guatemala was better in possession, very creative in their attack and pretty technical. I will say the referee in that match had a real clunker. I don't recall seeing a yellow card and there were at least 6-7 YC offenses, mostly for grabbing a guy from behind and stopping a promising attack. The ref showed nothing. And I 'm sure if you showed the match to a dozen referees, 11 of them would agree with me on the assessment. He was far too patient and the grabbing got worse later in the game because he did nothing about it early in the game.
The US has looked good and creative offensively so far but not very clinical in terms of finishing. It has to be better. I really like Ageyemang. He’s sort of a peak Jozy Altidore with more speed. Or maybe I’m just remember lazy Jozy who got a pass by the coaches for years. Ageyemang’s work rate is outstanding and he makes some very instinctive runs, the ones like Harry Kane used to make, like Jamie Vardy tries to make. And he’s strong. Defenders simply can’t knock him off the ball.
Malik Tillman has been outstanding so far as well adding to yet another RFB to the mix.
What hasn’t been good is the CN relationship and communication. Too many easy runs into space behind them. The GK has also been terrible. Seriously, can we please start developing GKs at an early age and teach them how to use their feet and distribute the ball. So many US GKs don’t begin to specialize until 13-14 because they can’t really score goals from there and parents want their kids to get all the glory. Instead teams stick their least athletic kid back there to hide them. Or they rotate and every kid plays GK. I’ve seen so many U11/U12 academy groups, pre-ECNL even, just stick a pinnie on a player for a game when it’s “their turn” to play GK. It’s terrible. The position is incredibly complex. Seeing the field, communicating with your backline and defense. Technique wise- it takes years. And the position requires a tremendous amount of instinct. And youth programs neglect GKs in terms of development. My son was lucky and his coaches wanted him to go to GK training as much as possible. But we also invested in private GK training as well. Unfortunately for Tulsa, the two best GK trainers that were here have both left Tulsa (Lewis Amos, Donovan Ricketts). The guys stepping in like Brady Moody and Austin Wormell, they understand technique, but they’re not teaching how to break down the game like Lewis and Donovan were.
Malik Tillman has been outstanding so far as well adding to yet another RFB to the mix.
What hasn’t been good is the CN relationship and communication. Too many easy runs into space behind them. The GK has also been terrible. Seriously, can we please start developing GKs at an early age and teach them how to use their feet and distribute the ball. So many US GKs don’t begin to specialize until 13-14 because they can’t really score goals from there and parents want their kids to get all the glory. Instead teams stick their least athletic kid back there to hide them. Or they rotate and every kid plays GK. I’ve seen so many U11/U12 academy groups, pre-ECNL even, just stick a pinnie on a player for a game when it’s “their turn” to play GK. It’s terrible. The position is incredibly complex. Seeing the field, communicating with your backline and defense. Technique wise- it takes years. And the position requires a tremendous amount of instinct. And youth programs neglect GKs in terms of development. My son was lucky and his coaches wanted him to go to GK training as much as possible. But we also invested in private GK training as well. Unfortunately for Tulsa, the two best GK trainers that were here have both left Tulsa (Lewis Amos, Donovan Ricketts). The guys stepping in like Brady Moody and Austin Wormell, they understand technique, but they’re not teaching how to break down the game like Lewis and Donovan were.
Saudi Arabia had 9 starters missing and this group struggled to break them down. They needed a set piece from a defender to score.
Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico, they will have some world class talent and then we can talk.
Who are you benching for Tillman
… Weah? Weston? Reyna?
Tillman has done nothing against elite players for the USMNT and plays in a lower European league at club known for wide open scoring. He had a couple of nice games in the Gold Cup against, in some cases, semi pro competition. We shall see if he takes the pitch for Lever. We forgot he was out there against the Kingdom of Saud.
Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico, they will have some world class talent and then we can talk.
Who are you benching for Tillman
… Weah? Weston? Reyna?
Tillman has done nothing against elite players for the USMNT and plays in a lower European league at club known for wide open scoring. He had a couple of nice games in the Gold Cup against, in some cases, semi pro competition. We shall see if he takes the pitch for Lever. We forgot he was out there against the Kingdom of Saud.
Last edited:
Exactly! He's simply the "flavor of the month" for scoring vs the typical cupcakes in a pathetic Gold Cup.
Last edited:
I liked TIllman a lot vs Costa Rica, just presented all sorts of problems. Agree on Adams, Richards, and even Ream. I think Ream is one of those guys, despite his age, who you need on the roster to just calm everyone down. He never seems to panic.
Luna, I see what you're seeing. He's obviously tremendously talented but his technical skill is spotty and inconsistent, especially in tight spaces. I'd like to see a much better 1st touch at this level and better judgment trying to fit passes into spaces that really aren't there.
Berhalter isn't a WC level player, IMO. His delivery on set pieces was not very good against Costa Rica and that is usually a strength of his.
I like Ageyemang a lot. You can't move him off the ball, he shows an upper level understanding of when and where he should be moving without the ball. Downs, in the few minutes I've seen him play over the last month, has good speed, and he and Ageyemang seem to understand how to run the 2-striker system very well together understanding their relationship on the pitch.
GKs- Freese was great in the PK shootout...but let's talk about why we had to go to a shootout. He spilled a shot and worse yet, he didn't control where the rebound went. My son the GK felt he should have controlled that one better. In other instances when the ball was played back to him and he was pressed he shanked quite a few of his clearances out over the touchline. Again, the US absolutely needs to find a GK who is comfortable with the ball at their feet. But the US isn't developing GKs early enough in their playing days to do that. These guys are usually stuck back there because they're tall and decent shot stoppers but their academy and club teams never focus on playing out of the back, especially under pressure, so they never learn to do it correctly and it shows up in places like the Gold Cup and World Cup. I feel fairly certain it's why Turner is not playing much in England. (And it sounds like Lyon is getting relegated to Ligue 2 because of financial troubles). I know Guzan is old but he is currently the best US GK when it comes to playing with his feet and distribution.
Until he clanked a PK off the post. Don't worry, Poch will call him up for the WC......ugh!
Similar threads
