2020 Olympic Qualifying Team

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by AutoPenalti, Mar 29, 2016.

  1. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The team shouldn't start in action until a core of guys US Soccer knows it wants for qualifying can be assembled. Otherwise, what's the point?

    The approach for the U-23 team doesn't need to be like the U-20 approach. There doesn't need to be a whole year of experimenting and sorting through the player pool. Ramos (and Rongen before him) would call up many, many players over the first year of a cycle to evaluate the player pool.

    At the U-23 age group, US Soccer should know the player pool because they're all pros who should be playing regularly. There is no need to call up tons of players.
     
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  2. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    10 and 20 were hacky players. I think that was Yueill and Lindley. They didn't belong on this roster. Haven't been able to emerge in MLS and are probably rusty to boot. Although that's kind of why they were available.

    Lost that game in cm for the most part. Didn't have mettle and ability to circulate. None of the guys have really emerged at MLS level, outside Mihailovic.

    I do think c(d)m depth is an underrated issue in this age range. Although when everybody is available you could have a strong 1st and 2nd string between guys like Adams, McKennie, Sands, and maybe EPB (if used where he's best). If Goslin breaks out soon in Atlanta that would be significant. Got some 10's coming with Mihailovic, Pomykal, and Aaronson.

    Left fullback was also a problem. Antonee Robinson made some speculative passes and was getting turned. Disappointing. Farfan is better than that, although maybe still not a starter, even if not rusty.

    Right fullback was a lot stronger. I like the cut of Araujo's jib every time I've seen him. I think he's as good of a fb prospect as Bello. Olosunde has potential to be a senior nt'er with the proper loan or transfer, maybe back to Red Bulls.

    CB and GK were solid. I thought both Miles Robinson and Donovan Pines shined. If US managers are struggling at that position, that's clearly their problem. GK's were surprisingly reliable, especially Marcinkowski. Good positioning, reflexes, and distribution. Maybe a matter of not getting their proper opportunities at club level and it being a position where starters are typically older.
     
  3. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
    Watched alot of 2nd half. A. Robinson and #20 DM were particularly bad. Had to take 3 touches to settle the ball, bad give aways. #10 looked good on the ball. Sargent got pushed down on a Penal call. #10 had a bouncing ball at the 6 near the death and side footed it to the GK for an easy save.
    Ebobisse just isn't a wide anything.
     
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  4. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    Just FYI the 2nd half was ten times better than the first.
     
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  5. manutd02

    manutd02 Member

    Oct 23, 2002
    14 was not Maher just fyi. He doesn't appear to have played
     
  6. Luksarus

    Luksarus Member

    United States
    Jul 27, 2018
    The 14 was Lucas Pos. The second goal comes after a bad rejection of him.
     
  7. Tom Collingsworth

    Jun 14, 2011
    North Carolina
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #657 Tom Collingsworth, Mar 22, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2019
    Personally I thought #10 (Yueill) was solid, he was good on the ball and had good ideas with it. He was more effective than Mihailovic, who was playing a similiar position in the 1st half.
     
  8. yurch10

    yurch10 Member+

    Feb 13, 2004
    Did this Egypt team have a bunch experience playing together? Because if not, that was an awful look from us.
     
  9. Tom Collingsworth

    Jun 14, 2011
    North Carolina
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #659 Tom Collingsworth, Mar 22, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2019
    Pos looked smooth on the ball but was caught out of position multiple times. Apparently he plays right back for his club team, so that could have something to do with it.
     
  10. Luksarus

    Luksarus Member

    United States
    Jul 27, 2018
    Nothing against him, but a player who plays in the fourth division of Switzerland does not seem to have much level for the U23. I understand that Kreis may want to try guys who have never been in the program, but I think he has no point of comparison with some players in the USL or NCAA.
     
  11. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    I thought Yueill was effective as well. I think Parks and Yueill did a lot for keeping possession when they got the ball but the pieces around them were unreliable. Sargent was better than Wright but neither really got touches. Mihailovic was better than Williamson.

    I think a big problem with the team was a total lack of wide players who could take opponents off the dribble. It was obvious from the moment the roster came out without a single true winger that we would struggle. Compare that with the U20s who have Llanez, De La Fuente, Dest, and even Pomykal.

    Even worse than the wings were the fullbacks. Olosunde and Farfan were abysmal, and their second half replacements weren't much better.
     
  12. ArsenalMetro

    ArsenalMetro Member+

    United States
    Aug 5, 2008
    Chicago, IL
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Second division, not fourth.
     
  13. Luksarus

    Luksarus Member

    United States
    Jul 27, 2018
    Right, my mistake. Although he is playing with the first team the last games; he is still registered in the U21 team that plays in the fourth division.
     
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  14. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    I just rewatched the first half on double speed and my initial thoughts are mostly confirmed with one major exception: Jones was actually pretty good. Yes, he had that awful clearance for the goal. That said, he won the ball back frequently, had almost no turnovers, made smart passes that progressed the ball.

    I would be comfortable with any combo of Parks, Jones, Mihailovic, and Yueill in central midfield.
     
  15. matabala

    matabala Member+

    Sep 25, 2002
    #665 matabala, Mar 22, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2019
    It's not a big surprise that we were largely ineffective. It takes time and experience to build a fully-functioning, maximal ability "team". I'll guarantee that the Egyptian players have been teammates to a much greater extent than our guys. An "all-star" lineup (in the U23 sense) doesn't get you very far in a competitive environment. Egypt and Holland are both opponents that stress continuity in their programs. They are at the level of teams we will need to beat in an Olympic tournament. Get the experience, develop a working base and got from there.
     
  16. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    I still don't get what people see in Robinson.
     
  17. onefineesq

    onefineesq Member+

    Sep 16, 2003
    Laurel, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm trying not to be judgmental but, as I have said before, he has a lot of work ahead of him. He has tons of speed, but as DC United fans would understand, "it takes more." To think that we have a USMNT fanbase that had many upset that Robinson (fresh off a lengthy injury no less) was not called in to the full team for these friendlies is, well … just lunacy.
     
  18. Martino2Buddle

    Crystal Palace
    United States
    Dec 12, 2005
    Richmond, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree about Farfan but I thought Olosunde was decent and I definitely see something there. In addition to his obvious athleticism he was good with ball in tight spaces most of the time. Needs to come back to MLS ASAP though as just wasting away right now.
     
  19. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #669 Clint Eastwood, Mar 23, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2019
    Its a good problem to have when two of your top U23 CMs graduate to the senior USMNT (McKennie and Adams), thus necessitating the USSF to identify the next group. That's great, actually. The way its supposed to work. After all, the goal isn't to win U23 games in March of 2019...….but to win USMNT games when it matters.

    Pomykal with FCD, by the way, plays as a #8. And when you watch his play from the first games he's played this year, you understand why. He really is a talented two-way player. I think we as a collective group need to come to a consensus that he isn't a #10. He's a #8, and a talented #8. That does put him right into the teeth of a position that we already have a lot of talent in at the youth levels. But that's the way it is. He's a #8.

    I'd also add that once the U20WC ends...………….these midfielders like Chris Durkin, Alex Mendez, and Richie Ledesma are going to be pulled into the U23 group. So I think we're going to be fine in the midfield. Maybe for qualifying in October its going to look a bit wonky due to the number of guys that may not be released (hence why we need to look at some fringe guys in camps like this). But overall, the future looks really strong there for the USMNT.
     
  20. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    I just can't get worked up over the result, or how the team looked, given the circumstances.

    *A lot of players who will contend for playing time in qualifying weren't there, either because of U20, senior NT or club commitments.

    *The team had only a couple of days together and many of these guys hadn't played together in years, if ever.

    So it was sloppy and disjointed and disappointing, you say? Yeah, no shit. How could it not?

    US Soccer couldn't done more for these guys to succeed by having had a couple of U23 camps in the months before this tournament and a coach in place a little longer.

    But the fact that they now have a coach and are playing tune-up games and having camps is progress. If they don't get any better in the coming months, then I will worry.
     
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  21. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    I know the camera angle was low but come on guys. This was the bog standard 4-2-3-1 we’ve seen with YNT’s going back to Bradley’s U-20’s. It wasn’t that close to what we’re doing now, except on D, and different than C-bus in that the 6 does not drop as deep to distribute.


    It’s called a 4-1-4-1 and it’s also what Sarachan did.
     
  22. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    4-1-4-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-2 diamond and 4-5-1 are all fairly close and can morph into one another based on just one or two players moving forward or backward. Mostly they do morph many times during the game based on possession and circumstance. A lot of times what a coach instructs players don't follow especially at younger ages. Many's the time I've heard a coach say he was trotting out a attacking 4-3-3 only for the team to overwhelmed by the opponent and play a very defensive 4-5-1 with the 1 on an isalnd far away from his teamates.
     
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  23. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    I think Jones has improved and is still a candidate for qualifying. That said Egypt did not press and he had the key error.
     
  24. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    Minus the diamond I agree, but I think a lot of it is just bad coaching and positional sense. The last thing has always struck me as branding to obfuscate that team’s negative approach.
     
  25. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    Overall we carried the play but created little. This wasn’t like the senior team, we didn’t pin Egypt back and then just fail to create enough in the final third because of a deep defense. It was more a case of largely having the ball in the first two-thirds and the attack breaking down quickly in the last, then winning the ball back in our half. Maybe we didn’t get the numbers forward and around the ball enough but we did not press off our high turnovers well enough. Despite them not doing it much Egypt occasionally showed flashes that they knew how to get numbers around the man on the ball and could combine and sometimes even switch the play.

    1st Half:

    On defense Djordje joined Haji on the forward line, like he did in camp cupcake, with two lines of 4 behind. Maybe we pressed a little more to force Egypt to play long. Occasionally in buildup Djordje would come back and Parks would go to the other side forming a V in midfield, not as pronounced as the senior team and more situational. I should say that Jones’s habit of playing passes behind runs or to the wrong foot is not encouraging.

    Sabbi was not good enough, running into blind alleys if he hadn’t given the ball up already. Weah didn’t get very involved, likely due to which fullback he was playing in front of. He did get one hard shot off that was too close to the GK but caused a rebound.
    Haji got it even less. Lots of guys on different pages. I thought Djordje had some ideas but execution and coordination was not there.

    Olosunde looked rusty and is not especially defensively aware, like Yedlin, but he has talent. Pines looked pretty good on first impression. CCV is a known commodity. Farfan looks worse.

    2nd Half:

    Miles Robinson was probably the best of this group. Sargent didn’t get much to do either but was better, not good but better than the others. The whole CM was not great. Maybe Williamson had one good run up the right-center channel.

    The goal happened because Pos got the ball in the left corner and couldn’t put much distance on the clearance, like maybe 10 yards. So Egypt got it back with some numbers forward and while Antonee and Pos tried to switch back in a 2v2 on our left they left a man just about wide open in the left side of our box -> scramble -> gaps -> goal.
     

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