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

Assuming the field is narrow and/or rough, does it make sense to focus on an possession game? I’d be more focused on stopping their counters. Ironically, I’m pretty sure we’d end up with more possession if we did that as they’re not going to break a well organized defense without turning the bell over a lot.

 

fwiw, here's the Truman Bodden for a recent U14 match - but you get a decent view of the pitch.

 

Not anymore:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wet+foot+dry+foot+policy+revoked&t=vivaldi&ia=web

 

Because Cuba is weak enough, it might work? We need goals, not possession with no shots! Assuming we win, we are one goal behind Canada on goal differential. We need a lot of goals to insure

 

Uh...we're not. We're currently two goals ahead of Canada on goal differential, and they don't play tonight. For advancement purposes, any win will do.

 

3 in cm defensively, try to win the ball right back after losing it otherwise fall back, only way I could envision Cuba scoring is off a counter where our players are totally out of position or a smash and grab. While we should be playing possession here, still should have the when in doubt clear it out mentality at the back. Cuba's line shouldn't be allowed to push up high enough to threaten often and so it should be Sunday stroll passing out of the back usually.

We should be able to comfortably win this while playing mostly a b-unit, but multiple players have to be capable of breaking down an opponent in tight spaces (a task often proven to be difficult for our pool), if Cuba isn't foolish enough to do that mid-block press again to allow us to get in behind them. We should account for the former possibility.

I'd go:

--Boyd----Sargent----Dest
--------Lletget---Yueill-------
Cannon----McKennie----Lima
----------Ream----Zimmerman----
--------------Guzan------------------

 

I mostly don't care about the lineup tonight with two exceptions.

I want to see Sargent up top and Dest at left back.

 

I want to see us come out with the same defensive intensity / tactics as Friday. I want us to put it away early -- no doubts, no slacking, come at them hard and overwhelm them. I get that there's little there to learn if we simply overwhelm with talent. But I think this team needs to get back that swagger and we can add later.

Sargent and Cannon, please. Give Lletget another run out at CAM before Pulisic and Weah are back, even if it's just Cuba. Give Morales a full game. I'd be okay with resting Brooks so we don't break him. Give Boyd some time to get his mojo back against an easy opponent.

 

I don't want to see McKennie play. Get him back to Schalke healthy. He should already be on the plane.

 

Still a must-win game for the sake of this stupid competition, and we're already missing three of our best seven or so players. I'm not prepared to pre-emptively sit another.

 

Everyone's saying McKennie was our worst player (not me, I'm saying he was our best). So, let's sit him.

 

After T&T catastrophe nothing is taken for granted, but we gonna win tonight's game i think. Just need to roll in couple early goals and don't stop playing after that. Easy, right?

 

If I were picking someone to be our best player in this upcoming game, though, he'd be one of my top picks. And we might need it if it's one of those games where the goal seems to have a lid on it.

 

With a win, the US will be level on points with Canada, have a goal difference at least 3 goals better, and will have scored at least 2 more goals than Canada.

What exactly are you trying to get at?

 

I will cast my vote for scoring six goals if that makes Cannons comfortable. Still need to win.

 

I was talking about GF...That number Canada is +1 on GD we are +2. I would feel comfortable if we scored about 6.

 

The US has scored 11 goals. Canada has scored 10.

 

My friend - Canada does not have another game to play. They are done. If we win, we beat them on goal differential, and at least tie with them on goals scored, which doesn't even matter.

 

Actually, although it’s irrelevant as you said, but US already has 11 goals and Canada 10, with Canada done playing this round. Simply put, any win by the US means the US wins the group. End of discussion. Here is a link to the current standings:


https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/concacaf.nations.league

 

I'm sure someone has already explained it, but why are we playing in the Caymans and not in Cuba? I assumed it was for political / visa reasons, but then I saw that Canada played there as well, and I was under the impression that Canada had a more friendly relationship with Cuba than us...

 

Not certain but I believe their stadium and pitch is not FIFA certified.

 

Concacaf mandated that League A matches be played at night and Cuba's field doesn't have lights IIRC.

Edit: I do not recall correctly. Their stadium is under construction.

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...gue-group-play-against-cuba-in-cayman-islands

 

This occurred to me just after I hit 'post reply'. I think its the safest assumption. I was doing some light research and it looks like the thing that prevents Estadio Pedro Marrero (where they've played most of their home matches the last few years) from being certified is a manual scoreboard / clock.

Like I mentioned above, I wonder if the 'construction' is installation of a modern scoreboard and/or updating of lights. Semi-recent pictures of the stadium show it having lights: http://bohemia.cu/deportes/2016/06/la-habana-y-santiago-hoy-en-fecha-final-del-futbol/

edit: FWIW, Cuba hosted Bermuda there in February... maybe one of the summer storms caused significant damage?

 

Perhaps we should consult with 'our man in Havana' @wixson7