Pre-match: International Friendly: USA vs Mexico; September 6th

My choice of an event as long as the person cost is comparable....

 

Make them watch something like Magic Mike: The Musical

 

Depends on which defenders you're talking about. Brooks is a pretty good passer - a BL starter and clearly the best in our CB pool. He's our the only CB we have who consistently breaks lines with his long passing. Dest is a very technical player and a good passer. If GGG chooses them and Cannon and Long in a back four, that's a stronger group then we've seen recently.

Of course then we have the problem of who is receiving the passes. I think we need Pomykal in midfield. He gets in good positions and can hold possession.

None of this means that we have to try to play like Barcelona - I'm just pointing out that this group is considerably more gifted on the ball than what we've been treated to recently. Will GGG play them together? Who knows.

 

My family is going as well so I think that’s out!!!

 

I can dig this.

Watching Dest play twice in the last two weeks for Ajax has cemented his potential in my eyes (he was also great in the U20 WC). He is really dynamic. His speed is unreal and he is very calm on the ball. He needs to be starting.

Brooks is a very good passer IMO. He does almost everything pretty well for a CB except being able to run with quick forwards.

In short, the addition of these two backs makes me feel a whole lot better about our D overall. Once Richards gets in the mix it will be even better.

PS. I too think PP needs to play... along with Sargent up top.

 

Yes, Brooks is a pretty decent passer. But he is one of 4 defenders. Are who would be pass the ball too? Trapp, Holdan, Lleget? These guys couldn't get a pass off under pressure.

 

You sound like Richie Williams when he took over Pulisic's U-17 team. 0-0-3 and out while playing "pragmatic".

Over the last 5 years the YNTs have increasingly become a primarily possession based team that can adapt and play without possession if necessary but always an offense first team. That's the character of the new generation. Given the "lost generation" and given that we have three YNT auto-starters already we need to look forward and not backwards.

 

Huh? Those guys aren't bad under pressure. They are just bad at creating pressure.

 

Berhalter just keeps on mentioning "consistency"; you know what that means.
Expect Ream as a "LB", Trapp at DM, Zardes as a lone forward. Sargent (even if he's more capable than Zardes at his young age), Morales (not because he's been left out of the roster until now) and Dest (not because he's undecided about playing for the Netherlands) will see few minutes. Our coach and the USMNT will get beaten a second time by Mexico this summer because of his favoritism and know-nothing character.
Ugh.

 

Let’s see how it plays out. I just read that Dest was named a starter

 

#USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter confirms that young Dutch-American fullback Sergino Dest will start against Mexico tomorrow.

— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) September 5, 2019

 

I don't mean MLS pressure.

Did you watch those guys play International balls?

 

39,400 tix so far. Per goff.

 

Pulisic is best at utilizing his speed and get behind the defenses. He's not built for tiki-taka. Neither are are Adams and McKennie. This team is speed for speed, counter attack, and high pressure. Especially with the young yanks we have.

 

Trapp vs France. He was the best outlet that game IIRC.

 

It's a friendly. No one cares about the result, what people care about is how the players fit with each other and what players look good.

To obtain any satisfaction, we have to beat Mexico in a competitive game. So far that doesn't happen, they're right in saying they're better than us in soccer.

 

I care. See post #398

 

The Dest Issue is going to loom large in the future. Of course GB named him the starter. We have to try and incentivize him staying with USMNT. Unfortunately, it would be really hard for a player to choose us over the Netherlands.

 

I was thinking about that and am not so sure.

Netherlands: country that raised him. far better team...both currently and historically. Netherlands will likely remain one of hte top teams but will they ever be the top team?

USA: Dest has played with many of the young stars and future stars with youth teams in US. He and is (presumed) friends have a chance, together, to make world history by raising usmnt from a 2nd or 3rd tier power to an elite world team (that could match or even exceed Netherlands). Potentially, Dest could play for the US in 3 world cups and he conceivably would be participating in 2-3 with severral friends that he has known since U-younger national teams. By the time the 3rd or possibly even the 2nd WC rolls around, the US may be a legitimate threat to go very deep in the tournament. That may or may not matter to Dest when making his choice but being part of a group of friends that change US soccer history is an edge that Netherlands doesn't have....they are already great.

 

Is there an extra camaraderie between the US kids who are dual nationals and whose fathers were in the military? Just from observation they seem very comfortable together.

 

I was not impressed at all with his performance against France. Mexico bullied Bradley and shut us down in the GC final. Trapp is a poor mans Bradley, if he plays that role against Mexico I expect him to get eaten alive.

 

In short, we want Dest, at this point, to be good --but not too good.

 

Furthermore, Netherlands is on the way down - their golden generation couldn’t get it done. Their recent youth teams haven’t performed outside of Europe.

The US should be rising sharply over the next couple of decades - as long as any MLS bias doesn’t screw things up entirely.

 

Steffen, Brooks and Dest are excellent in possession. Long and McKennie are more than adequate. Pulisic needs to receive the ball higher up to be effective. Possession play, particulary in the back, helps bring the opposition down and provide Pulisic the time and space to best use his speed and skill.

 

Yeah you get the sense that it is starting to all happen. That the time is now for the young guys to finally take over. This has been building for some time. These guys seem to be all buds, they don't' relate to the older guys, and they also happen to be better than all of them. All this BS about the veteran leadership is just that, BS. Deep down in their hearts everyone...the kids and the vet(s) know who the real leader(s) on the team are now. I absolutely love Dest as a player and really hope he feels, that with the US, he is part of something new and special that is building. Hopefully he is playing for us for the next decade plus. Even if we lose him though, it won't be the end of the world. It seems like we are turning the corner. The numbers of really young players we have that are making noise in Europe is unprecedented. Reyna at 16 looks like he is about to pull a Pulisic at BVB. I wouldn't put money against him being a real force in 2-3 years. We may never be a truly elite team, but you get the feeling that the era of the lost generation is about to end. I'm more jacked about tomorrow's game than I have been for any game in a long while. FFS GGG, please I implore you, start Sarge over Zardes and no Trapp. What a breath of fresh air it would be to see a team without either Trapp or MB starting at the 6.