Warning - Long post Ream + Yuell>>>>>>>>>>>Zimmerman + Trapp Positives: I thought Ream really stood out tonight. It's amazing what having an outlet like Ream does to keep a defense honest. When he started advancing the ball with some well-placed passes, Uruguay actually backed off. That may have been their strategy anyway but it was noticeable. I've said many, many times on here that Ream has no place on our team as a LB but he can play CB for me any time Brooks is injured, which is always. Robinson is a good partner for him. Morris was also very good tonight. I've been critical of him at times but I applaud him for taking the time he was out injured to round out his game. I still think there's a good chance Weah becomes the winger opposite Pulisic but Morris isn't going to just give that spot away. He belongs in the 23, no doubt. Yuell was okay. He's a bit rangier than the other two and not an absolute sieve but he needs to be on the Olympic qualifying team at this stage. He adds nothing above average at the international level but neither do the other two guys who have played the 6 for us so maybe he actually fits right in. Dest should be the RB but I did like he and Ream combining with Morris sometimes dropping in to add some nice combos down the left sideline. His defending is questionable but man is he good going forward. I still think he works well with an Adams/McKennie double pivot but until then, we probably need someone a bit better defensively at LB. Lima looked good when he came in. An instant upgrade. I'd like to see him at LB but I think he's a better passer than Cannon so maybe we anointed Cannon too soon. Negatives: Lovitz - Awful. The next time he gets a cross off against an international defender will be the first. He couldn't even hit an accurate ball to Zardes feet from 15 yards away. He also tried to get Morris killed. Boyd - Corey Baird should not look better than a Besiktas starter. Pom deserved more time. Sargent was okay but can't seem to take hold of that position like I'd hoped. Roldan is so hit and miss even within a single game. I think Pomykal would have really been an upgrade if he got 30-45 minutes at Roldan's spot. Lletget was surprisingly wasteful with the ball tonight. Long was actually quite bad tonight. Not just the goal but he started to go then stopped multiple times. He just seems really unsure of himself right now which is not what we saw in the Gold Cup. Takeaways: I appreciate the more pragmatic approach to this game by Egg. It looked like a team with ideas. Please move Ream to CB full time. Still waiting for someone legitimate to get a shot at that #6 spot. Keep searching for LB's and attacking center mids.
When Mexico plays USA, they know that they are technically superior. They play with confidence. When they play Argentina, they know that they are inferior. Because of that, they play tentatively. The way to beat Mexico is to hit them hard early.
Guzan - 4 The goal went right through him. Shot with power but couldn't even get a hand on it? The cross he spilled right in front was pathetic. Was gonna be a 3, but he made two basic saves with good positioning late. Cannon - 5 Didn't do much to warrant much. Long - 3 Really bad night. Got turned on the goal, but it was in possession that rally bothered me. No idea what to do with the ball. Ream - 7 Nice game as a CB from Captain Ream. Solid all around. As a backup CB (with emergency LB, emergency only please GGG), he could stay on the 23 for a while. Dest - 5.5 Can't continue to get burned and be a RB/LB. Has the confidence and skills to create danger. Maybe he learns the defensive craft at AJAX, or maybe he's a winger. Can't trust him on defense right now. Yuiell - 4.5 Not Trapp, so I'm happy!! But he did nothing to garner more PT. Roldan - 5.5 God awful for the first 70. Another disappointing Roldan game...then suddenly he was pinging dimes all over the place. ?? Lletget - 5 Was involved a bit as a linker, but overall meh. Boyd - 4 Had to score there. Had one cross that was decent. Otherwise, nada. Morris - 7.5 MOTM for Jordan. Right place on the goal. 1st half, very impressive beating defenders and getting off dangerous crosses with his left. Looks like an improved player. Sargent - 6 Should have drawn penalty. Not terribly involved, but the easy skill and touch is just very clear. Any minutes going to Zardes over Josh are dumb. Robinson - 6.5 Liked what I saw. Baird - 6 He was ok. Don't call again. Lovitz - 4.5 Arrrrgh Lima - 6.5 Did more in 15 than Cannon did in 75 Zardes - 5 Whatever Pomykal - 6 Disappointing to not see more time. Obviously Berhalter had set exceptions low, and he bought into his own story. But 5 minutes is lame. Took on 2 and almost created something in those 5 minutes.
Naaaa. My boy Gregg says they way to beat Mexico is to make sure you play out of the back no matter what. Mexico will try and trick you by acting like they want you to play out of the back, hoping that you will foolishly adapt play to the situation. It is right at that point a true genius of international soccer understands that you have to play out of the back even more than previously! We almost had em. Long live GGG
I seriously think the Uruguayans were out way too late partying last night. That was one of the most lackadaisical international games I've seen. They were giving us acres upon acres of space, and of course we didn't have the quality to take advantage. The only thing more surprising about the amount of space they gave on the wings was the minute-and-a-half it took for our midfielder to find the pass. I am dreading the self-congratulatory Berhalter presser about how we controlled possession, etc etc.
The Argentines play. They remind me of Lima. Most of our players give a little tap to the ball then stop and have a cig while they ponder what to do next then look down and realize that somebody stole their marble. Dest is the exception but there's always time to learn bad habits playing for Berhalter. Look what he did to Trapp, onetime captain of the USA youth team. We are getting worse and worse for every game Egg is in charge. How about we promote Egg to General manager now that Earnie has given up the spot to fill a new position in the ever expanding US Soccer bureaucracy? That would open the Manager spot for a new hire.
I still watched. Watching this game was drudgery. I have to say, it might have been the least interested I've been watching a USMNT game since I started watching in the '80s. The program needs a jolt, because if they lose the likes of an obsessed fan like me, it's pretty much rock-bottom. I believe this was the quote at the whistle. Stu Holden, "Let's go home." Troubled times.
Vacationing Uruguay D team stifles US. Uruguay did not look serious at all. Still more dangerous than the US. The low pressure sucks because it makes Gagg think his system works better. (Guzan helps). Was it painfully obvious or just obvious that roldon was the worst player (at least until Uruguay's vacation caught up and they quit running).
Main differences were Uruguay didn't press us the way Mexico did, and we didn't use the Uruguay friendly as some sort of pointless training exercise where we were only allowed to play short passes out of the back into heavy pressure.
I was curious how they would score Lima's chest pass to Morris for the assist. The boxscore gives him zilch. The play never happened.
Vacationing maybe, but the majority of their lineup started in the World Cup last year (plus one more that started in the Copa America this year) so D team seems like a stretch to me.
Yeah, I'm hanging on by a thread at this point. I need something to be positive about but I don't know what it would be and Berhalter looks set in concrete.
Except that unlike Trapp he actually could pick out a forward pass and unlike Bradley he has some familiarity with a thing called defending. To be fair to him, I don’t think he’s a lone #6 by trade. Doesn’t SJ play him higher as one of a duel #8/10?
Cannon is the right back. He was level with the ball on the counter that scored but the guy he is marking just pulls away from him dribbling and opens up more space as they sprint down the pitch 80 yds towards the goal. Obviously he isn't fast enough at this level. Warshaw and Doyle blame Roldan for not fouling and Long for not defending 1 v 1.
The apathy is palpable. This has to be the shortest post game thread ever four hours post match. Nothing could have gotten me to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to see this but good to hear Paxton got on the field. I’ve always thought Ream was unfairly maligned. Still don’t want him as a first choice starter. #BerhalterRaus
Imo, he goes invisible a lot for SJ, but I've heard others with the opposite oppinion of him, so YMMV. Judson and Jungwirth are playing out of the back, often directly to the wings, so those are the guys tracking back to pick up the ball, not Yueil, who makes more suppprting box-to-box runs.
Our defense looked better in possession only because Uruguay didn't press us. The times that Uruguay did attack the goal, the defense didn't cover themselves in glory. My main takeaways; - Long is not in good form and is not a good defender in this system. - No striker is going to look good in this system as slowly and as uninspired as we move the ball. There were plenty of times that Sargent was moving into space looking to receive a through ball only for our guy to look at him, put his head down and make a safe pass to someone's feet. - Pomykal deserved a hell of a lot more time than he got.
Because Argentina are really that good, Mexico are really that bad and we are really that much worse.
Shocking stat was we we were tied with Uruguay on results and then I remembered how well we did in the very early days of the program. So with the tie we are still even with them on results.