For anyone paying attention, the issue with the team toward the end of the Hex was the midfield and poor defending. Wood and Jozy were involved in at least three of the goals against panama.
The 32nd best team in Russia. That Panama? @ home, no less. If that's your best xi and they finish behind the worst team at the World Cup, what's the point anymore. We cant criticize the midfield because the sainted Nagbe was playing there along with Pulisic and Arriola. What a mess. Why don't people just put it behind and move on - is totally beyond my imagination. People like dwelling on the past. It keeps the shrinks in business. Zardes is much better than both Jozy and Wood on current form.
You are all over the place dude. You are dwelling on the past and then suggest that people put it behind them. Your whole argument is about them not scoring in a game in the past and has nothing to do with their style/quality of play. Zardes may be on better form, but isnt near the quality of the other players. I chose the Panama game because it was the only game of the last four that the team wasnt poor. The best example of the three players complimenting each other was the game against Mexico. I believe this is the best game we played in the whole Hex, but the result didnt go our way. Watch the spacing and combinations of the 3 players. Pulisic technically moved out wide after 30 minutes but operated centrally quite a bit after that point.
I haven't changed my mind since Oct; get the feeling Long deserves to be there over one of Parker/Brooks/Miazga trio. Horvath is in contention.
That's a shame because the November friendlies confirmed to me that while Trapp and Delgado are nice, hardworking MLS midfielders, they are not skilled enough nor play quickly enough to be effective at an international level.
that's funny. It was virtually impossible to score on USA when Delgado was on the pitch. Peru did it when Newcastle's Yedlin came on late to give up a goal and 2 points for the 1-1 draw. Otherwise nada, zilch, zip. vs. England, Trapp didn't fare well with McKennie as partner at the 8 and Green at the 10. 3 GA. tsk, tsk. oh well, I guess when you said not above MLS level, you meant England?
b.t.w. for those McKennie + Adams fans out there, let me remind you that USA - Brazil 0-2 was a McKennie +_Adams central mid pairing. https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-09-07-us-mens-national-team-vs-brazil/lineup
Well, the McKennie-Adams pairing was supposed to be something out of the ordinary like that was supposed to be the next big thing - not the "usual" thing as you put it. But you are saying that is not the case. That Adams-McKennie is just the usual losing pair. Ok. That's fine. I agree. They are not the magic miracle pair, after all, are they.....
Excellency has done an excellent job of convincing us that two B1 teenagers playing their first game together in CM vs Brazil is the same as trapp/Delgado.....
a couple of defensive plays against Brazil illustrating that Trapp is in over his head at this level. This isn't horrible or anything, but brazil literally ran a circle around him. We have players who it's harder to run circles around pic.twitter.com/MktKzxrAkl— ol velasquez (@away_goals) September 11, 2018 There are a lot of guys who owe antonee robinson for taking the spotlight off their 1v1 losses. Trapp pantsed here pic.twitter.com/dvM4itIZ22— ol velasquez (@away_goals) September 11, 2018 For the most part though brazil were toying with him. Again, it's brazil, they toy with a lot of people. But nobody was saying antonee robinson had a good game pic.twitter.com/snHuEW7w3U— ol velasquez (@away_goals) September 11, 2018 The poor penalty decision obscured the fact that trapp (and brooks tbf) was beaten so badly he had to jump out of the way to avoid fouling pic.twitter.com/DHZQC0enPj— ol velasquez (@away_goals) September 11, 2018 Circles. pic.twitter.com/a355x1Ak5e— ol velasquez (@away_goals) September 11, 2018
How did the B boys do in their 2nd game together against a Mexico C team just 4 days after the Brazil game?. It was 1-0 with Adams scoring in the 71' mark but McKennie came out at 40' mark. It was pretty much ineffective stuff that leaves one wondering why anybody would say "cant wait" for a midfield of McKennie/Adams dub 6's. My point here isn't that either one is a "bad" player. I don't see why it's on the USMNT to make McKennie into something he isn't if he's more a club than country guy. Schalke seems to play better when McKennie plays. That doesn't mean USA plays better when McKennie plays. So far we have not. I don't see Schalke relying on McKennie as a dmid, even after they were unable to keep their starting dmids (Goretzka plus the other guy at the 6). They have been pushing him further up the pitch. But by golly, we're going to do it because we just have to and Berhalter will coach them to do it? When you force McKennie to get stuck in he gets injured. He has to learn a style that will keep him healthy, not get stuck in at dimd against Honduras while playing CAM for club. I wouldn't call McKennie in for the next 6 months and just let him keep developing at club where people are more invested in his success. Nobody really knows where his style ends up as a player. He's too young.
Trapp's 1v1 defending vs the Mexican player Dest shut down.... Sheesh 🤒 pic.twitter.com/0Afy8HiNeq— DMV Soccer (@DMVSoccer96) September 12, 2018
This is a weird criticism, since they think highly enough to use him to fill their injury caused gaping hole at forward. Plus, he's never really played as a 6 for Schalke, more box to box.
You know one time defensive failures are the soccer equivalent of anecdotal evidence. Not really reliable enough to use as hard evidence. On the other hand, it does sort of show his physical limitations.
You're trying way too hard … and still failing miserably. They were significantly better than the team (with more experienced players and starters) that lost 4-1 to Brazil in 2015 in New England and 4-1 to Brazil in 2012 in Maryland and our World Cup starters who lost 2-0, in New Jersey, to Brazil's kids after the 2010 WC, but looked AWFUL in doing so (I was at 2 of the 3 games). Hell, the problem with this last game was Antonee Robinson couldn't defend a traffic cone on one end, and our forwards were awful on the other (our best forward run was from Adams). But you are blaming the center midfield? Really? Context. Learn it.
Thank you. I genuinely enjoy it when others competently save me the trouble of pointing out what I think ought to be obvious.
That was just the one time that there is readily available video. It is also the most embarrassing example of what has occurred often to WTF90 when he gets isolated. The PK against Brazil was another example and believe another example occured early in the second half of the same game where he ended up in a similar position as the case in the Mexico game where he provided little obstable to the attacker providing service into the box. I rarely go after players, and generally think strong criticism should be left for veterans, but the excessive minutes and being made captain put him in that category... and was infuriating!!! edit: The play i think i was think of was in the 47th min and at around 1:15 of this video. I think the video picks the play up a little late but from this clip it isnt as bad as I recalled but still pretty easy service.
The first part of this is lazy and false. Robinson obviously took a bad angle and got burned on the goal. He also had a poor clearance and turned the ball over once or twice, but otherwise had a very strong game IMO. He defended Costa quite well the rest of the game. Not bad for 21 yo outside back in his third international game. Id soften up the critism of Robinson, add Miazga losing his mark, and Trapp gettting beat then catching the attacker's foot awkwardly for the PK. I'd also include Trapp's giveaways and Brazil generally having their way with him to the problems of that game.
Not lazy OR false. Robinson was getting roasted from beginning to end. He was lucky to not be at fault for 3 goals. Costa beat him like a drum, consistently. Just call a spade a spade. It does not mean that his NT career is over. But he was atrocious that game.
Please point out those instances in the all touch video I included.... I assume that would be easy to point out a number of examples if he was "getting roasted from beginning to end". Im guessing you didnt watch the video but someone was nicest enough to document his game in just over 7 mins and it doesnt sound like your memory. The spade is your description of his play in that game.
Thanks for this. Interesting to note his major mistakes were early in the match, and once he became accustomed to the pace he played better. Obvious to me he is not physically limited and at 21 has a future