Pre-match: 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League: USA vs Cuba, November 19th

Lineup yet?

 

Just because it has lights doesn't mean they're up to snuff: in the CCL, lights must ensure, "... that the whole field is evenly lit to at least 800 LUX".

There are also a bunch of broadcast rules that must be met that might not be possible at their current home stadium, like a, "... room for post-game press conferences" and, "A private, secured box or comparable seating area for the officials of the visiting team." Obviously the nations league should have more lax rules than the CCL to encourage smaller teams getting promoted, but the pics of Estadio Pedro Marrero make it seem extremely sparse in terms of modern amenities.

 

I'd like to see McKennie up top with Zardes and Boyd in this one, Lima at rb, Trapp and Morales at dmid

------------------zardes
------arriola-----McK------Boyd
-------------Trapp---Morales--
--------x-------x----------x-------Lima
------------------GK: Guzan

 

Probably won't be released until ~6:30 PM EST.

 

If Zardes is the guy that presses and runs on the counter attack, then you start the guy that can drop in and link up and provide overloads on the wing. You have to expect the USA to have the ball and Cuba to bunker, there will be no space for Zardes to run into. Zardes, as we've seen all year, is a black hole in possession against a bunker.

 

There will be a lineup an hour before kickoff just like every game.

 

Ha. Yep I even had plane tix for Havana. Love that place.

Havana stadium just not up to concacaf NL standards (I know, sounds crazy huh.).

But no lights was the main thing, along with general stadium upkeep.

#CONCACAF

 

And to top it all off, that "latest solid result" was also in Orlando in a must-win game.

 

Sorry, everyone involved there is now on 'island time' - expect significant delays. Doubt we will see anything that looks official until an hour or so before kickoff.

 

Were the lights that were there just not up to snuff or had they been removed since some of the pics you can find on Google were taken?

Honestly, I'm bummed. This will give the US a better chance to win, but I was really looking forward to the atmosphere... Cuba? In 2019? Vs the US? I bet that atmosphere would be intense.

 

Wouldn't it be exciting if GB doubled down on all the parallels and courted disaster by starting the exact same 11 players we just saw tire appreciably by game's end v Canada!

 

I think the narrative is good. It should be discussed before every island competitive game.

However, even if we ran out the same as we did in Orlando (like last time) we would be in a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs. Not a 4-1-3-2 with the hard nosed defensive duo of Nagbe and Bradley!

We also would have Brooks and Long and no Omar.

We also didn't beat T&T at home by as much, only 2-0, the Cuba home game could have been 15-0. We also had just only tied at T&T in the previous round (we did beat them 4-0 iirc in that round in Jacksonville iirc).

All to say, that T&T was better than Cuba by far. Also, Long at least would approach clearing crosses correctly. And I doubt Yuiell or McKennie would stand off 20 yards and let someone tee one up from 35 yards. Or maybe we are cursed and they will all do just that haha.

 

He shouldn't posses against Cuba, just barge into penalty box and score. And one touch finishing is something that Zardes is very good at and Sargent isn't.

 

Well, we know two touch anything with Zardes is not going to work. Barge is a good verb for him with the ball. He has scored in 4 of 14 appearances.

He has played in 14 games under GB and scored in 4 of them.

He has played 10 games where he didn't one time finish anything.

One of those was off his face.

He had a good game. He was available for the mini-camp to learn the new pressing system. But Sargent has the higher upside.

Sargent is an elite finisher. Actually, his one elite skill. The kid puts the ball on frame from any angle and body position.

I doubt either will play the whole game.

 

i don't believe in helping players earn work permits, and, worse, one can see an absurd circularity where a player might be played to get a permit and then thereafter favored because of where he plays, even if he doesn't actually play that well for us.

even if you believed in such things, we aren't qualified so there should be no distortions of the lineup to do favors. that is actual "man management." if you are doing things to benefit the clubs you have the concept backwards. we are supposed to be doing things that accrue to our benefit.

 

also worth pointing out that lovitz, if he's jewish, could probably get israeli citizenship rapidly and circumvent the whole process. i understood some of the interest in him, as for saief and bornstein before him, is in israel. he doesn't need our help, and he's not playing well enough for us to burn time on him. is this about improving the team or helping incumbent players' careers in their other job, even if they maybe should be dropped next time? that's nuts, burning a sub on a player in a position you don't usually sub, who has frustrated, who shouldn't be here next time, to help his personal career.

 

y'all need a tougher schedule. when i was trying to discern what to expect before the first game, i looked them up. my pet theory is compare games with a common opponent. i think the USA is way over-ambitious right now on who we schedule, but canada was the opposite. like one friendly in two years, nothing but nations league and gold cup, bunch of soft opponents. when i look at a team that seems to crack in key fixtures i think you need to schedule harder.

i am not counting this chicken til it's hatched.

 

we really could use to have to play some away games. the disparity home versus road, which will come into play tonight, may in part reflect the fact we rarely play away unless we have to anymore. the idea that the coach could be surprised what to expect in an away game is absurd.

the excuse is removed if we play a more balanced schedule. i am sure teams want to come here for summer vacation but the value of playing half speed opponents on vacation -- even big names like germany -- is debatable. i am sure teams abroad would be happy to have home games during the fall and march international dates.

at least part of the issue here, unstated, is they like their cash cow games.too much. we can probably easily stand to play fewer home games and still make plenty of revenue. nor do we have to host every tournament. it might help if we had to win gold cup out of borders once in a while.

 

Don't care about upside in the must win game abroad. Need someone to bang heads with Cubans. Zardes is a streaky hot forward. Let him score a couple and then Sargent can play
his finese game.

 

I was going to post a desired line up, but realized I don't even feel like it because this game won't prove much with our player pool. It comes down to the decision by Gregg whether he wants to try to get as much of our A team synergy together, or if he wants to rest players who are going back to important club matches or just finished long seasons (Morris, Brooks, Mckennie, Dest etc.)

 

that might be an interesting experiment for friendlies but not tonight, given that morris is the playmaker also. he's not going to set himself up. you'd also then need a RW and not someone named boyd. weah, arriola swapped across, one of the vaunted "backs who get forward" who can't defend and need a role. but if you move him in and boyd is the server he will starve.

 

we are already ahead of canada by the necessary metrics, GF, GD. the only question is winning to trigger the tiebreaker. the margin is immaterial though i would suggest a 2 goal margin at least where some glitch doesn't cost a tie and then the rest follows.

 

And come out with over-aggressive, offensive tactics despite the pitch being six inches deep in water?

 

to put this one to bed

Canada 9 pts 10 GF 6 GD
USA 6 pts 11 GF 8 GD

Canada has no more games. For them to catch up on tiebreakers we would have to lose, at which point the tiebreaker is irrelevant. But we have to win to match their points total to trigger the tiebreak. A tie and we would be ahead on metrics but behind in the standings.

I would go for the neck to ensure a cushion and because in terms of personnel or recent results I don't yet see a capacity to grind a close one out and pitch a shutout. Like three 1-0 wins this year (Curacao, Ecuador, Panama), each of which were agony. Past few games we ship a goal almost every time. I don't know if this is the team to sit on a lead yet.

My concern re going for the neck is we should probably squad rotate but he used most of the attacking types last game. If he puts in a second string forward or two, plus Roldan or other meh mids, different team, less confidence. If he starts the team from Friday more offense, but more miles on the legs, we better get our lead quick. This is one reason I don't like his rosters, is not enough offense. Same basic mistake BA made with his TnT team. You need attackers to create the fear of god and get the result. You need some bench options if we need a second half goal. I don't see how redundant DMs help get this done.

 

i think most of us are saying so in the context of the grander pool and a different selection next time, or long term. in terms of now, there are only so many choices on the roster and the plane and to be real i think while critical of his play, i don't want to see roldan instead. the beef is more in terms of the options offstage.