I don't think it makes any sense to never hit the ball over the top. I get playing attractive football and all, but you have to take what the opposing set up gives you. Morris is pretty fast, Sargent and Pulisic are not plodders, why not make it a track meet if they want to push way up the field? i also don't really "get" the whole system thing. If we are developing a system that MB and Roldan are the best we can offer then it is a moot point. That system will suck against all but the Cuba's of the world. Speaking of, I do not know how you have a fullback set up four straight goals and not give the guy a run out the next fixture. This becomes even more reasonable if you get behind and want to do your super sub fullback routine. I honestly think you could pair N'golo Kante with MB and the inarguable all world Mr. N'golo Kante would look bang average. Pulisic is in a bad place right now. The scoreboard flatters us, the game was horrible. Soccer is a weak link game and we have far too many weak links with Bradley, Lovitz, and Roldan all starting. I think Ream is useful, but only as a utility back-up defender. New coach please?
We are. I actually enjoyed the defeat, the second goal brought a lot of satisfaction in that you couldn't b.s. away the result at that point, even though only epic dolts would buy it. Sure, maybe his firing is a pipe dream, but results like this do a lot in terms of delivering nails into the coffin of his international coaching career, and each nail hammered into place is just one less that needs to be hammered home to be free of his idiocy. Maybe not the fed's idiocy, but at least his. At this point, I don't even need a good coach, I just want one who isn't a complete and utter moron, and unfortunately, that appears to be far too big of an ask. But this helped in that cause, so in that sense, it was delightful. The pain is awful, but it brings us closer to delivery.
This feels lower than the failure in T&T two years ago. Despite the fact that missing out on the WC should seem worse, at least at the time I was resigned to the fact that we had to turn the page and start afresh with a new manager with a pool of fresh, younger players. The idea of starting over at least gave me a glimmer of hope about the future at the time. Well, now we are two years into that future and that very glimmer of hope has been vanquished by the stark realities of a player selection devoid of any threat to score against even slightly respectable opposition and a manager trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Where is the evidence that this national team program will progress and rise from the ashes of the 2017 failure? I see none, and it’s depressing.
I don't care about math and tiebreakers, I care that we lost to a team that we had not lost to since the Reagan administration.
True, but how many times did the US play Canada in that time period? Pre 1990, Canada was consistently better.
Well, we would've played them more if they had ever qualified for the hex. Speaking of 1985, what Branko Segota doing now?
During the interim period, there was someone who was posting that Roberto Martinez was "not good enough"! LOLOL.
How do you make an avatar? I've never had one in 17 years here, but I need to do one just in honor of this game:
In the first relegation battle that Harry Rednapp was in, he was freaking out. He was super stressed and had all kinds of facial ticks and twitches going on. It was sad but hilarious. The producers quickly picked up on it and there were tons of shots of twitching Harry. Tonight, Berhalter was twitching like Harry.
Canada looked sharper, completed their passes, won more 50/50 balls, attacked with purpose. Hard for me to blame GGG’s system when American players are sleepwalking. Sir Ian Darke made a comment that this is consistent with how they played away games in the failed WC qualifying campaign. He’s right. Why are they dog sh** when playing away? Is it the rigors of travel? Put them in first class. Is it that they want to sleep in their own beds? Surely, we can ship their beds to Toronto for a few nights. Are they going out and getting drunk the night before? Post a chaperone to keep watch at the hotel. WTF is the problem.
The only reason I watched was I was pretty damned sure we were going to lose. The Fed and Jay's Brother have turned the team into a shit show. For me, I blame Garber.
I simply cannot wrap my head around how this guy is the coach of the USMNT. Horrible in every way. This "system" is a complete joke. With club teams, sure...have your "system." But I think it is crystal clear how this cannot work on a National Team, especially the US National Team that does not have the skills of say...Holland...or Italy....or CANADA!
Prediction: we don't qualify for 2022. There is no way to turn this around w/o firing Jay's Brother. And, that's not going to happen. He's Jay's Brother. So, since we autoqualify for 2026, we will go three cycles w/o qualifying for a WC. I'm about to turn 58. There's a damn good chance I'll be dead before we qualify for another WC. Thank you Don Garber. He's about he same age as me. So, our chances are about the same. Only diff is that he'll have made a shit ton of money f*cking the MNT.
This forum is a festival of overreaction and inexplicable rage. So I’m trying hard not to add to it. Really, really trying. But, golly, that was bad. Bad coaching, bad playing. But I think the kit manager gave everybody the right shirts. So that’s something.
I have consistently watched US soccer since 1988, and have never seen a disaster such as this. The locker room is lost, the coach is high school level at best, many players are well past their prime yet still get called in, other players have zero heart and seem to be afraid to work hard. The frustrating part is that there are players out there that would make this team much, much better...with the right coaching. GB won't be fire...he won't quit...The US will not qualify for 2022. I am at the point of just hoping for loss after loss, in the slim hopes that something does happen, however I am pretty sure nothing will. What has happened in the last two years? Nothing...
How is it overreaction? Did you watch the game? Have you been watching since GB took over and has forced his "system" on to this team? The US has gotten worse since losing to T&T and failing to qualify for WC 2018. WORSE! This all starts at the top. People with half a brain for this sport can see it...however, money talks and nothing will change. Pathetic...
Well, there’s an example of an overreaction. You just indignantly asked me if I’d watched a game that I described as so bad that the only positive thing I could say involved the jerseys. Should I have used more emojis when I said how bad the game was?
What formation were we playing right after the Puli sub? Watch the video and it looks like this: ----------------------------Steffen------------------------------ -------------Long--------Ream-------Lovitz---------------- Yedlin---------Bradley---------Roldan------------Arriola -----------Morris------Sargent-----McKennie------------ A 3-4-3 after having played a 4-3-3 right before the sub, with Morris behind Sargent on the right, Roldan behind Pulisic on the left, and Bradley behind McKennie on the center. When Arriola came in, the entire shape shifted and the goal was a consequence of the confusion that ensued. On our left, the just-subbed in Arriola was expected to mark Laryea, Roldan would move inside to take care of Fraser (guy who came in due to the Kaye injury early), Lovitz would stick to Arfield as before (with Ream as support), Yedlin same with Davies (with Long as support) and the CBs would mark David. It was supposed to look like this, and keep in mind Egg took Pulisic out because that left side had become far too porous, and Puli was doing nothing defensively at that point (even if he screams "I'm fine!" at Egg, I doubt it, he had been breathing through the whole second half): -----------------Long----------Ream------------Lovitz--------- -------------------------David-----------------------------Arfield Yedlin------------Bradley----Roldan---------Arriola-------- Davies----------Osorio-------Fraser------------Laryea----- --------Morris----------McKennie------------------------------- ----------Miller---------------Prette--------Sargent------------ ------------------------Cornelius------------Vitoria-------------- Now the sequence of the goal has two big mistakes: 1) Roldan is completely out of place, leaving Fraser alone to advance and make the crucial pass to Arfield. Arriola looks around confused, tries to move to cut Fraser but decides to stick to his man, Laryea. The pass gets to Arfield, who has the speed, therefore the space for the cross; 2) Up to that point the play was a regular one, but on the right Yedlin was on the wrong side of his man, Davies. Long runs to cover, but it's too late: the ball is in. For the next five minutes, Davies keeps going on the wrong side of Yedlin, who keeps far too advanced without noticing that with Pulisic gone, the Canadians have pushed both Miller and Davies forward. Look at the positions at the moment of the goal: Roldan is completely lost, miles from his man, Fraser, who makes the crucial pass to Arfield. Yedlin is far behind his man, Davies.