Post-Match USMNT vs. Cuba 10/11

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Winoman, Oct 11, 2019.

  1. Winoman

    Winoman Drinkin' Wine Spo-De-O-De!

    Jul 26, 2000
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. Sebsasour

    Sebsasour Member+

    New Mexico United
    May 26, 2012
    Albuquerque NM
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Really annoyed we couldn't break that Barbados record. That was only a 3-0 game at the break. I really thought we had it at halftime.

    I guess getting one more goal than Canada helps if Goal Differential comes into play (though I really hope it doesn't)

    McKennie was awesome, Morris was awesome, and Yueill was awesome.

    Sargent made some nice runs, though the finishing wasn't great.

    Pulisic got his consolation goal from the spot, but he really seems like he needs some confidence and I'm not sure this game gave him that. Same could be said for Boyd.

    Center Backs had some sloppy moments, but boredom can do that.

    Lovitz had some really nice passes, but also had a ton of time and space to deliver those.

    Fairly meh performances for Cannon and Roldan.

    Guzan had nothing to do, though he did do a good job on judging the angle of one shot and not allowing a needless corner.

    It was nice running up the score, but Tuesday is what matters.
     
  3. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    McKennie and Morris were absolutely outstanding.

    Yuiell was great.

    Cannon was good.

    Sargent was alright.

    everyone else sucked.

    I was really high on Boyd at first, but he’s very low on my pecking order right now. And, Arriola only does good when teams are better than us.

    Roldan was invisible. So, was Lletget.

    Miazga, Ream, and Guzan weren’t tested but were sloppy at times.

    Pulisic was very poor.
     
  4. mette72

    mette72 Member

    Sep 29, 2000
    Free America
    Lots of interest in the game, huh...

    :whistling:
     
  5. Lloyd Heilbrunn

    Lloyd Heilbrunn Member+

    Feb 11, 2002
    Jupiter, Fl.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not much to say considering that Cuba is probably as bad a Men's team as Thailand was a Woman's team.

    One negative was that our corners were absolute rubbish. Drive the damn corner across...
     
  6. comoesa

    comoesa Member+

    Aug 13, 2010
    Christen Press's armpit
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yueill needs to be ahead of Trapp. I would take him ahead of Bradley too at this point. Lovitz and Roldan aren't USMNT quality. Not even at the speculative level.
    I'm glad to see Morris have a year of good soccer.
     
  7. Nacional Tijuana

    Nacional Tijuana St. Louis City

    St. Louis City SC
    May 6, 2003
    San Diego, Calif.
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What's the consensus on the tourney in general? Is it worth it? Yes to some teams, no to others?
     
  8. TOAzer

    TOAzer Member+

    The Man With No Club
    May 29, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    too early to tell.....
     
  9. Sebsasour

    Sebsasour Member+

    New Mexico United
    May 26, 2012
    Albuquerque NM
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We still need one more point to qualify for The 2021 Gold Cup so I'm not breathing easy just yet
     
  10. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    Wow. Nations League Fever! 6 posts 2 hours after the game. 3 of which are referencing the lack of posts.

    I'm still excitied ANYTIME our NATION plays.

    Well kinda.

    Anyways.

    Cuba defense was ?????????????????? ouch.

    Morris gets another MOTM. He's now I guess lock starter status?

    Mckennie also obviously killed it.

    The rest can't take much from this match.

    The Canada Match is BIG. BIG I TELL YOU. HHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
     
  11. Poet

    Poet Member+

    Mar 13, 2001
    Toledo, Ohio
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wanted 10. And it is going to take a LOT MORE than that to convince in the long run, but I'm good with a glazed donut every once in a while...
     
  12. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    There’s a good piece over on mlspropaganda.com by Bobby Warshaw about the team beginning to execute Berhalters vision. He talks about the intent to put the opposition in a bind by isolating their defenders in half spaces where they have to make quick choices between at least two options and are always on the back foot reacting to an assertive offensive set.

    It has become apparent to me that McKennie, Cannon, Ream, and Morris are probably the first to really start getting their heads around this. They are the group to consistently find ways to execute. I am surprised, but Pulisic still floats in and out of games a lot while the aforementioned group is making things happen.

    Berhalters approach is really bright (reminds me some of the NBA’s Don Nelson teams), and its quite ambitious. Will he be able to teach these conceptual binary decision flows to enough of these guys to have them flourish and culminate in a World Cup? That is yet to be seen. But I tell you what, it’s fun to see someone finally brave enough to demand that the program change its mentality from fast break soccer to putting the opposition under pressure in their own half. Its a super ambitious project.
     
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  13. ArsenalMetro

    ArsenalMetro Member+

    United States
    Aug 5, 2008
    Chicago, IL
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Good idea, shit execution.
     
  14. Tmagic77

    Tmagic77 Member+

    Feb 10, 2003
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Thailand's women's team is actually ranked the same as Turkey's men's team (currently 39th). I can't imagine watching qualifying for AFC or CAF.
     
  15. Rahbiefowlah

    Rahbiefowlah Member+

    Oct 22, 2001
    Las Vegas
    I like Weston playing closer to goal as the forward-most midfielder.
     
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  16. DHC1

    DHC1 Member+

    Jun 3, 2002
    NYC
    lol.

    We played a minnow’s minnow and you use it to laud Berhalter’s system? Are you Gregg’s mom?

    we’ve historically never had problems when minnows cede time and space to us as Cuba did. Furthermore, most of our scoring plays were direct.

    SMH
     
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  17. LuckofLichaj

    LuckofLichaj Member+

    Mar 9, 2012
    I literally thought the game was today. Lol
     
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  18. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Next go round, I want to see:

    Ledezma
    Llanez
    Miljevic
    Soto
    Mendez
    Cardoso
    Hamalainen
    Ferreira
    Araujo
    Dest if he’ll play.
    Sandler if he’ll play.
    And any other dual-national I forgot.

    One big negative about that game is that we didn’t cap-tie anyone.
     
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  19. AutoPenalti

    AutoPenalti Am I famous yet?

    Sep 26, 2011
    Coconut Creek
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Eh, it was Cuba.

    Morris looked like a world beater. McKennie was a super star against a back line with most of their starters defecting before the match.
    Pulisic looked quiet, corners were taken horribly.
    For a player that’s somewhat rotating in a Bundesliga squad, Sargent needs to finish better
     
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  20. UncagedGorilla

    Barcelona
    Sep 22, 2009
    East Bay, CA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    I posted my thoughts in the match thread so sorry in advance to anyone who is reading them twice!

    It's hard to take away too many positives because Cuba is very bad but it is possible to tell who didn't stand out or even struggled a bit. Pulisic, for example, did not have a great game but he was literally dribbling circles around Cuba at times and obviously had the quality that stood out so I don't judge him too harshly.

    • Tim Ream is an excellent LCB for the USMNT. He is so smooth on the ball and he ALWAYS leads our players where he wants them to go. He can be our LCB for the entire Hex for me.
    • Jordan Morris has put himself in the auto-starter category. I believe the advanced line of four should always include him, Pulisic, and McKennie when healthy. I'd like to see Weah get the next shot at being the fourth as soon as he's healthy. A player in the Ledezma mold probably fits best but I'd rather see Holmes and Lletget get their chances before him.
    • Daniel Lovitz is an awful left-back. We had 10 guys who were head and shoulders above Cuba and then we had Lovitz who looked like he'd fit right in on their team. Seriously, he is in contention the worst LB I've ever seen us play and there is some pretty stiff competition at LB. His passing when he had time and space was fine. The second he had pressure he either played it back or errantly forward. Also, he has more crosses blocked than anyone I've ever seen. If not for the Cuba defender temporarily forgetting what sport he was playing, that cross for a pk would have been blocked too. Robinson and Hollingshead should both in the next camp and so should Lichaj if Ream stays at LCB (which he should).
    • Jackson Yuell has sort of won me over. I was fully prepared to hate him for being the next suburban soccer legend pushed on us as the cerebral savior of the USMNT but I actually like him. He's more athletic than Bradley and Trapp combined. Though still not a plus athlete, at least he won't be a minus against CONCACAF Hex teams. But the thing I really liked was how adventurous his passing is. If we want to play a "regista" this is a must. He understands how to pace a game so much better than Bradley. At this point, I'd be fine heading into the Hex with Yuell as Adams backup at the 6. Adams will win us games there. Yuell won't lose them which is more than I can say for his competition.
    • Sargent is better than Zardes. We already knew that. He didn't have the type of performance that leads me to think he's better than Altidore yet though. Connected well and made great runs including one where he got in front of the keeper that led to McKennie scoring. Still needs to finish.
    • Roldan was pretty anonymous considering how much action every other advanced player was getting. Something about this guy and the USMNT just doesn't click. Lletget immediately became involved when he entered which is more of what I'd expect.
    • Stu Holden's propaganda for Michael Bradley is disgusting. It's literally straight out of Goebbels textbook. I assume it's in his SUM contract that he must absurdly praise Bradley "x" number of minutes per game because he kept talking over the other announcer who was trying to comment on the match just to heap praise on MB90.
    • McKennie is very good. He's a midfielder unlike any we've ever had. I'm still not sure what his best role is but he's a fantastic player.
    I actually enjoyed the game. It was nice to see us do what we should. Now, I'm ready for MB90, Zardes, and Ream at LB to resume against Canada and all of the goodwill from tonight to immediately disappear.
     
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  21. dams

    dams Member+

    United States
    Dec 22, 2018
    It would have been really fun to see Dest play in this game in place of Lovitz.
     
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  22. Sylvius

    Sylvius Member

    Jul 18, 2013
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought Puli did a good job demonstrating why he's glued to the Chelsea bench. I hate Lamps slightly less after last night.
     
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  23. nowherenova

    nowherenova Member+

    Jul 20, 2003
    Formerly Terminus
    Cuba was not good. Only one page of post match comments is o_O
     
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  24. Burr

    Burr Member+

    Boca Juniors
    Argentina
    Jul 8, 2014
    Tampa, FL
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The game was painful to watch just because of how bad Cuba was. It wasn't really a contest.
     
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  25. ifsteve

    ifsteve Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Jul 7, 2013
    MS and ID
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes it was Cuba and they were awful. Crappy, However you want to state it. But sheesh I swear what did some of you expect?

    We dominated the match from start to finish. Dominated in every aspect. No team plays perfectly for an entire 90 minutes. But the few things errors we made last night were minor and did not lead to dangerous situations.

    To me the best overall thing was that we continually made runs in behind the defense and the passes to those runners were mostly spot on. Great timing and communication. So again not sure what y'all expect. I was delighted with the performance last night.
     
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