The first goal almost looked like Cuba wasn’t aware the match had started. I turned it off after 2nd goal as it was clearly a mismatch and there was other stuff to do.
Really tired of watching crap MLS players like Lovitz, Roldan, etc when there are better and younger options out there. NietzscheIsDeadPropaganda seems to not realize the opponent was a joke and there is nothing to take away from this game. I found these highlights for those who missed the game.
It's a net negative for the USMNT and wasn't really built for us. Barring disaster, we'll get roughly three good games out of roughly six, so it's not the end of the world that two of these games are absolutely terrible. But it really pulls away from the time we could play tougher friendlies, or play in Europe to more easily see those players, etc. On the upside, the games do mean something, they can cap tie, and right now, lots of CONCACAF competition is actual competition.
Yeah, it's been standard since the 2000s for the U.S. to schedule 1-2 international windows a year with matches in Europe. It's always a positive because it slightly reduces travel demands for Yanks Abroad and lets second-tier Yanks Abroad get an occasional opportunity. Nations League makes this task much more difficult, both in reducing the number of international windows available and reducing the number of European national teams with open fixtures. So I think Nations League is a waste. At least we've gotten more fixtures against South American national teams, and hopefully we'll schedule more against African and Asian national teams too. I believe 2019 will go down as the first year since 2001 where the U.S. won't play a match against a European national team.
It's only Cuba, but I enjoyed the game. I don't really get people who claim to be fans who "didn't watch" or "thought it was today" or whatever. I don't get how you have time to post on a message board about US Soccer but can't find time for a game. Weird. Some thoughts: Yueill isn't going to stand up against truly talented teams because of athleticism in defense, but the El Pelado in him really shows through. Hyper-aggressive passing + immediate bulldog defense when he loses a ball is something I love about the Quakes, and Yueill has brought that to the USMNT. It's too bad he isn't a bit bigger and faster. Sargent looked very good except his finishing. Which puts him only a slight step above Gyazi in terms of actual performance (skill set, he's miles above). I really wish he'd had buried one or two more -- it would just be very clear he'd seized the spot. He knows it, too -- this game meant more to him than anyone. Players like McKennie and Morris played great, partially, I think, because they are both very secure right now in Club and Country. Pulisic and Sargent played tight because they are both trying really hard to prove something. I will say Sargent's one finish was nicer than it looked at first. That was almost perfect slotting. Also loved Ream's aggression as a CB. Brooks is like this as well -- but potentially can do it against better opponents. We need more of that -- if there's space, you need to go. Trying to pass out of pressure when there's clear space in front of you is making it too hard. Ream also, defensively, looked like the only Dad playing defense in a game of six year olds. He just calmly took the ball from people left and right. Cannon played very nice, but he has a long way to go to lock down that role. He's simply not great in attack -- very much one of the players, along with Ream and Yueill, who probably looked way too good against inferior opponents. Morris is probably up there as well, but I agree with folks that he's our clear RW for now. I was impressed with Boyd from his Turkey clips and impressed in his first couple of games, but it's clear Morris is more versatile (which is amazing because Morris' strength is not versatility) and simply more effective right now. People also need to give Morris credit for improving his game. He's not just a speed merchant anymore. He's got a pretty good left foot -- which he scored with. He's not great one on one or coming inside, but his crossing has improved, he's a decent finisher for a USMNT player and he's really learned to use his size well. He's got a great motor as well. He's not a star at the international level, but he's not a negative.
The other way I was thinking of it is that it's basically taking the place of the first round of qualification for us, and the level of competition is about the same. The first-round qualifying games were more meaningful in the sense that not getting a result meant potentially not going to the WC, but those games were often similarly meaningless in terms of what we could take away about the actual quality of US players.
This was Cuba and my rec league team could have put them under pressure. Instead of arguing how the one they reference as coach has done none of the above I will instead reference his “body of work”. Anyone can stomp minnows and this team should probably make the semi finals of the gold cup without a coach. Seriously. I guess Canada will be a test? Wow.
You're right that there's something disgusting here, but it's not Stu Holden's praise for Bradley (which I also disagree with). Somehow you seem to have read enough history to know who Goebbels is, but not enough to understand how ********ing sick it is to compare a goddamn sports announcer to a guy who literally (this is how you use that word, by the way) had the blood of millions on his hands. Stop comparing people you disagree with to Nazis, it makes you sound like an idiot.
This statement a year or so ago would have gotten you laughed off this board. Left foot and Morris was not a statement of positivity I thought I would ever see. Most improved.
Okay, my statement was overboard but I don't think anyone thought I was seriously implying those two things are the same. I'm sorry and meant no harm by it. The point, which it sounds like you agree with, is that we are in a strange place where higher powers be it in government or sports governing bodies believe they can just bludgeon us with propaganda until we believe it and that is honestly a pretty disturbing trend.
If you can’t see the change in approach from our traditional reactive approach to a more proactive approach then I’m not sure what to tell you. We have officially moved away from “bunker bob” (which I thought was somewhat unfair also, bit I digress) to the proactive approach that Berhalter is trying to install. Its an exciting time. We have a group of young players taking the mantle at the same time we are instituting a proactive system for the future. Its not going to be pretty at times and it’s a long term project, but we are actually seeing it happen, which I wasn’t sure we’d ever get to do.
Too weak an opponent to conclude much from this game. McKennie’s not Ronaldo and CP’s not an A-League walk-on. And Gregg is not Klopp. Glad for no injuries.
To your point, I think this is more a product of a difference in the business of soccer and sports culture in the US versus European leagues than anything more generalizable. It's like the difference between watching your local MLS team with the hometown announcers on the regional sports network, compared with watching an EPL match on NBC. When you watch USMNT, you're getting the hometown announcers. FWIW, this is the same dynamic that you see with MLB versus NFL... The dudes calling the Red Sox game on NESN are not as "objective" as the guys calling the Pats game on CBS, because the Sox pay the NESN guys and the Pats don't pay the CBS guys.
Not sure I agree with you about Gregg's system...it was Cuba, after all. A group of young players sounds fine, but on Tuesday, it will be back to Bradley, Zardes, etc. Doubt that Sargent will start, or even play. And, speaking of long term projects, I think it was Holden (or maybe not) who noted that Bradley will probably be playing in the 2022 WC if he can physically manage. This is a scary thought, indeed. We will see how the old lions perform on Tuesday. Thought it was funny that Lalas predicted a 6-0 win, but then was told that was the Canada score and changed his prediction to 7-0. I wonder what his prediction will be against Canada.
Yueill is looking like the business. Gives us something Roldan and Trapp do not. Wes and JMo looked great last night. JMo has improved his game so much. Hes actually a two footed player now. Pulisic's corners were bootie trash, someone else needs to take those over if thats the standard Cannon looks like hes moved up the pecking order at right back on good merit. I hope Lima can get a look at left back, because Lovitz isnt it.
Somebody doesn't watch enough Women's soccer then. Cuba is orders of magnitude lower on the totem pole compared to the Thailand Women's team, which is closer to a Men's Costa Rica.
I mostly agree with this. It's good to see the proof of concept against lower-level competition. And it's not just last night. The T&T game from the GC was also quite good. We haven't always looked this good even against minnows. However, I have two worries. When the competition has been even a bit better, the style of play either hasn't worked at all or has been relatively easily countered by the opposing the coach. The US looked like they were going to run Jamaica off the field in the GC semi, but after the storm delay, Jamaica made some changes, and while the US still won, the game was a lot more even after that. Same thing against Mexico in the GC final. The US gave them real fits in the first 10-15 minutes, but then Tata adjusted and Mexico slowly took over the game and began to dominate. Rinse and repeat that for the September friendly. So, are the players good enough, and is Berhalter good enough to make this work against real competition? The second worry is that we saw this before. I still think that the summer of 2013 is something of a high water mark for the USMNT. We breezed through the GC with a B-team, won some high profile friendlies, and a qualifier or two, all while playing quite stylish, proactive, possession-based soccer. Then, Klinsmann probably correctly judged that he couldn't get results at the WC playing that way and shifted to a much more pragmatic style and was never able to recapture anything like that 2013 form in the 2018 cycle. Are we just seeing history repeat itself, implying that Berhalter will scrap this style when games get real, and we'll revert back to the scrappy, ugly style that has mostly been our bread and butter?
A full Cuban squad lost 6-0 to Canada We beat a depleted Cuban team 7-0 We better play much better on Tuesday.
without some sort of "other than the first 25 min where he gave probably the best offensive performance from a rb in our history" caveat thats a straight up bonkers take.
Then thank Christ you’re not in charge. Your strategy probably won’t work (see Dest.) And even if it did, in the medium run, not even the long run but the medium run, it’s a deeply stupid strategy because you’d be marking the Fed as manipulative and dishonest in dealing with dual nationals.