Another sleepy January camp match. They were in offseason form and looked rudderless without vets and creativity. Sarachan was showing why he's not even an MLS coaching candidate in this day and age, thinking the solution to a lack of creativity is to throw more forwards at the problem. Just typically looking for a couple players to put their stamp on a Jan. camp game. Unfortunately they were two of the older guys in Opara and Sapong. Disappointing match by Adams. I wish he played fb. Roldan was meh. Those were two of the most promising guys. Sucks that Lima, Glad, Ramirez, and a few of others didn't get opportunities. Maybe could have happened if they added a 2nd game, the team would be deeper into the preseason, and the sample could have been expanded. Would be suffering through it again probably, but trust the process.
We’re going to waste a bunch of years calling up Jordan Morris because he runs around a lot aren’t we?
Undefeated in the Sarachan era! Some stock up/down analysis: Up: Opara--a bit older than ideal, but didn't really put a foot wrong other than one kind of shanked clearance that didn't result in anything bad Trapp--circulated the ball well and had a couple nice balls over the top. I do agree with Holden that he didn't do enough to put his name in the conversation for the starting 11, but deserves to be a regular call-up. Rubin--if for no other reason than he was completely off the radar with a career on life support and had a couple nice displays of skill. Probably gets an MLS team to bite and bring him in Hold: Adams--completely ineffective in the first half, but got on the ball more in the 2nd half and looked a bit more comfortable. Still young with lots of time to figure things out Steffen--didn't have much to do, but had some poor distribution Hamid--had the one good save, also some poor distribution Morris--wasted some opportunities, but still one of the few guys in the pool to have that speed to consistently get in behind the defense Morrow--not much good or bad from him, but weakness of the LB pool keeps him in the conversation Rowe--wasn't that influential, missed a good chance on the Morris cross, but also played a couple great balls that no one else in red tonight would have Sapong--made stuff happen, but also screwed up a couple good opportunities Agudelo--as usual, flashes of skill, but nothing to show for it. Mediocre forward pool keeps him in the conversation Down: Polster--solid in 1st half and got forward to good effect early in the 2nd, but was beaten regularly during the last 30 minutes or so. Zusi Jr. Zimmerman--looked like a standard US CB, physical, mostly solid defensively, but uncomfortable on the ball and prone to a couple bad brain farts. Omar Jr. Roldan--really like his play with Seattle, but this is his 2nd chance now with the US and hasn't shown anything
I thought Zimmerman looked good with the ball at his feet. And he was pretty smooth distributing the ball.
both Morrow and Polster, defenders, got dribbled and burnt badly. Opara and Zimmerman both performed well. solid. good positioning. ...could give Zimm a negative mark if u blame him for that foul that gave BIH the PK Trapp was ok. but the trifecta of Trapp, Roldan, Adams, didnt do what they were suppose too. there was a huge disconnect between the 3. sometimes Roldan and Adams werent even in the picture when Trapp had the ball. Zardes blah. Morris had 2 chances to bang in a goal, and took poor touches instead of just finishing. Sapong, good energy, hustle, effort. had some chance to rip shots but didnt Rowe, played well. always surprises me. great 1 touch to Morris off of a cross. i like Rubin a lot. i hope he can latch onto a team and get time, develop, perform. lots of injuries tho, needs to stay healthy.
When he wasn't getting run by, giving up a penalty, or failing to clear the ball away from the 6 yard box. Other than that, yeah, looked great!
If you went in expecting something, you got left with a bad taste. Wasn't a good game, but it's about what I expected. Rowe and Trapp were solid enough to warrant a call in March. No one else really impressed or hurt themselves. Zimmerman gets knocked down a bit, but he was always just depth anyway. Morris offers something off the bench, so he will be there. No cohesion or plan, but it's January camp. Sarachan didn't help by dividing the lines between the team even further with his formations and subs. But overall it's what was expected.
Just realized that I forgot Zardes on my list above, but I'd guess everyone knows which category he's in anyhow...stock way, way up.
I still can't believe Zardes was in the first XI. That alone shows the mentality of our country club. No creativity. No skill out there. No players dribbling 1v1. It wasn't the modern game nor do these players have the modern mentality. This camp serves no purpose at this point and is a waste of money. Three weeks produces crap. But those three weeks the USSF pays to fly players back and forth, house them, feed them(which Morris obviously took advantage of), pays the coaches, rents the stadium, yada, yada. Put that money into something else. If it were an U23 camp to showcase true youth for better opportunities, that's different. But this current iteration is pointless. Much rather have seen Carleton and Durkin types out there. Lennon doesn't even make the bench but Zardes and his cement touch starts? Sign of the times. This was a good example of why we're not a WC level program.
There were a number of guys who did something or two well enough for the international level. But there were few who were good enough overall to play at the international level. Thought Arriola and Rowe were the best. The game started going the other direction when they came in. Rowe's disappearance after the Gold Cup - heck, during the Gold Cup - still seems like a horrible mystery. I'm a big Gyasi defender. But his game is about getting to the rim and producing despite his skill deficiencies, and he didn't do that tonight. Less impressed with Opara than others, because I didn't think much of his passing. Poor Christian Roldan has the size but not the touch. Poor Wil Trapp has the touch but not the size. After Trapp played in that pretty ball over the top to Morris or Rowe, I thought, yeah, but in a real game I fear he'll get squashed like a bug. A few minutes he's laying face down in the ground and Bosnia is at the penalty spot. I wish we could splice these two guys together. Zimmerman - weird game. Looked solid and composed at the start. Then left the ball on the doorstep and then the penalty. Morrow never embarrasses himself. But he's 30. Sapong is another big strong fast forward with questionable touch and finishing. Morris does nice things, but is a disappointment compared to what we had hoped. This is the sort of game that a young veteran should take over and lead. Agudelo always does a thing or two that makes you think he could still play at this level. Unfortunately that thing or two never happens to be scoring a goal. Hamid was authoritative and made a decent stop, even if the ball was right at him his reflexes and anticipation were good. But I like what I see out of Steffen more. Rubio Rubin has barely played in the last 74 years, but still looks quicker in thought and better in skill than his teammates. And Matt Polster ..... he didn't have the worst game in the modern history of the USMNT. But he might be the worst player in the modern history of the USMNT. And it's not like anyone here was surprised he had a footspeed deficiency. It took Bosnia 70 minutes to figure out they were facing a slowpoke at right back. But they abused him after that. The fact the US soccer establishment has been promoting this guy demonstrates why things need to change.
I don't know what Polster did to earn that opportunity over Lima, or even someone like Rosenberry, and he reinforced that belief with his performance. Just not quick with his foot or his mind. A couple decent crosses though. Football is a funny game in that if one of those were finished maybe he's viewed differently. But I think it was much more accurate now that they weren't finished. I don't know if there should be any exclusions or inclusions after this game, but maybe he's one since he was bad AND his chance was so unwarranted. Must have connections.
I remember watching an MLS game right after Arena came back aboard. And Chicago was playing. And the announcers were going on and on about how Arena called Polster and told him how well he was doing and to keep it up and there would be a spot for him after 2018 if he kept going the way he was going. And I thought, Mon Dieu, is that supposed to inspire my confidence? Matt Polster is the future of the USMNT?
If Sarachan isn't willing to trot out multiple teenagers, then he doesn't need to be the coach right now, not even the interim coach. And USSF needs to keep demoting/firing coaches until they find someone who will. It's ridiculous to have the same old 25-year-old not-quites out there. Because the answers to our problems are not in those age cohorts that have been terrible since the youth ranks.
2ND game, against Mexico who are playing Bosnia mid week in San Antonio, would have been interesting.
I liked that you noticed Bosnia went heavy right at the USA"s rb. Polster isn't a fullback. Look at his great cross or two into the box, his diagonal pass across the pitch to hit Zardes in the chest, his moves off the ball on offense and you see a guy who adds value but tracking back and defending in the lateral fb areas in the defensive third? Bah. Either play him as a mid or don't play him.
This is the kind of positive thinking we need! And yeah let's save some $ by not feeding the players.
\ What did you think of his winner at the death in the gold Cup and his assist to Wood for the 1-1 tie at the death against Honduras in the Hex? Were those a waste of time, too?
Ok, but Rubin has failed at even modest Norwegian league levels. I'm mystified because I loved his game with u20's, but facts are facts. I like how you put Roldan, Trapp and Adams in a "trifecta". that's showing something more than you get from usual drivel.
So you ignore that he was clearly fouled and the referee made a bad call? He made a great defensive play on that play using his body to get in front of the forward after one of the defenders made an error to put the team in that position.
Starters who I thought played well: Hamid, Opara, Trapp Staters who I thought were okay: Roldan, Morris, Sapong Starters who were bad: Polster, Morrow, Zimmerman, Adams, Zardes Subs who I thought showed some flashes: Rowe, Agudelo, Steffen, Rubin Subs who I thought were bad: Arriola No one was that good, some were really bad. The team had no creativity, but was good enough at the back.
One of the sad facts of USMNT/MLS/SUM/USSF soccer is that the suits feel like they have to support the decisions of MLS managers so they end up telling guys like Polster that they are valued at fb when that club level change of position was dictated by business reasons, not soccer reasons. These are among what I call the "petty corruptions" that sink any hope whatsoever of a national team reaching its full potential. Don't blame Polster, blame Arena. I see posters here calling him garbage. Sad. He is an imaginative player with great desire and athleticism but a fullback he is not.
Sarachan wants to show that he supports Chicago's money saving move to put Polster at fullback. There 's stuff like that all over the place in this game. You have a situation where you have bad play thru the middle third and Delgado is sitting on the bench altho he played that role for the MLS cup winners, Toronto and instead you put in Rubin who failed in Eredvisie and failed in Norwegian league. Is Sarachan just stupid? No. Sad to say, no.