We still have Honduras and Trinidad away luckily. Both of those should be wins, but I know playing in Honduras is very tough. We also have Costa Rica and Panama at home. Honestly we have no reason not to finish at least 2nd in this group. First place is probably out of the question which will put us in a harder group at the world cup.
Just curious: why does finishing 2nd put is in a harder group in the WC? I didn't think it mattered because they do random ball draws from confederation pots.
Typically the top 7 teams in the world plus the host are "seeded" teams, meaning they won't have to play each other in the group stage. If we don't finish on top of qualifying, it pretty much eliminates any chance of being a seeded team. It's not a guarantee of a harder group, but definitely more likely if you are not seeded.
We aren't close to being the seeded team, even if we win the hex running away. @skydog what do you mean that Nagbe lacks technique?
"We have no reason to finish at least 2nd"? I think you are being way optimistic. Our remaining schedule includes 2 home games and 3 away games while our main competitors for a top 3 finish - Costa Rica and Panama - each have a more favorable 3 home games and 2 road games left to play. The cold hard fact is that winning on the road in Concacaf is hard. So far in the Hex the home teams have only lost 4 out of 15. And one of those losses was ours. Our road games are against Mexico, Honduras and T&T. Mexico at Azteca speaks for itself. As you note yourself Honduras on road will be tough - Costa Rica only managed a 1-1 draw there. Even lowly T&T isn't a walkover when defending their turf - they beat Panama at home and lost to Mexico by a single goal. At least that will be our last game - we will know exactly what we have to get from that game when it comes up. So we have little margin for error here. A good outcome would be 4 points from our three road games. That puts us at 11 points. Then we will have win both home games against Costa Rica and Panama to get 17 points, which should get us 3rd place and safely in the WC. And third place is fine. Don't worry about seeding - we aren't going to be a top 8 seed, so it doesn't matter.
We were seeded once...as host in 1994! Our best chance for a relatively "easy" group would be if we're drawn in Russia's group...although home field advantage will factor in that as well.
Our remaining away matches are Mexico, Honduras, and Trinidad. Mexico is obviously very difficult to even get a point in, but the two remaining away games are the best case scenario for away games. We have to play the 5th and 6th place team away. Then we have the 2nd and 4th place teams at home. If that was flipped, I would be worried. I am basically saying that this is the best possible draw we can have considering we need points.
Wow, Bradley with a nice interceptions and chip goal from almost near the center circle! US 1 MEX 0. Let's see how long this lasts.
A decent half of attempting to lock it down; a typical Bruce away match, actually. Snag an early goal, try and keep it tight to preserve the lead. I think the worst player for us thus far has been Yedlin, who hasn't done anything to prevent attacks getting down his side, has flubbed a few chances in attack and has been fouling way too much. That being said, his and Arriola's speed and ability to interchange along the right has potential. I feel like DMB's going to get a lot of hate for allowing the goal to come from his man down his side, but he was able to channel him inward, where someone should have been able to help him. I'm not saying he's faultless (if he had his 2002 speed he would have prevented that goal) but ultimately some of the centermids or centerbacks should have been in that lane.
That was a riveting game, even though a lot of it was Bruce-ball. Omar did well, I miss him. Bradley's goal was for the ages - wow! I liked Arriola's attitude, and the whole defense worked like dogs. Props to Tim Ream and his distribution. Oh, yes, and Acosta looked fantastic, other than letting Chicharito get loose in midfield break for the pass on the goal.
I dump on Yedlin and he was a great second half. Well done boys. I'm so glad my USMNT fandom is back in full force.
I am trying to remember (not that I really want to) how the US played with 3 center backs under JK (and looked so bad) vs how well they played under BA. Can anyone help explain some of the differences? I seem to remember reading that they had not really practiced the formation under JK (no surprise there). I also remember Omar on the right vs in the center. Anything else (e.g. the positioning of the full backs/wings, the use of 2 dmids)?
the biggest difference i saw was that we looked organized and had better defensive positional discipline while on offense. we had cover most everywhere and we did not get Omar or Ream (the 2 outside CB's) sucked out into 1v1 defending on the touch lines, dragging everyone else out of shape. other than the MX goal, where both Cameron and someone (Arriola?) ran back and then just kinda guarded space thereby hanging DMB out to dry, we generally had a man on ball AND a man in a help position
I was so scared when I saw that line-up. Bruce trying something other than a 4-4-2 in mexico and with a lot of our subs...I was shocked we played so well. We went to Azteca and earned a draw. We didn't get lucky, we earned it. Mexico didn't have many chances from the run of play. Their post was a great free kick, and their goal was a great counter. We also had some chances as well. A draw was the fair result. I wonder if Bruce sticks with the 3-4-3. Our personnel seems to work with the formation.
I loved the result and love our improved play under Bruce. But I do think the result flattered us a little. We were under a lot of pressure for 3/4's of the game. Mexico out-possessed us a whopping 74%-26%, were more accurate with their passing 87%-60%, and especially more accurate in final third 79%-40%. Creating dangerous chances though is more important of course and I don't have the stats on that. They only outshot us 10-7 but they had at least one point blank shot they skied, the free kick that had us beat and a bunch of dribbling in and around our box, especially on Yedlin's side. Overall I think Mexico created probably twice as many really dangerous chances as us. That being said, that were at home and we played well enough that a draw wasn't super surprising. Well done Bruce and the lads! The team is sooooooooooo much more fun to watch now!
That's all try, but I'm quite certain that it was entirely expected with the 3 CB lineup. On Mexico's goal, if Acosta tackles better or smarter (tactical foul anyone??), then that goal never happens. And even though the US ceded possession miserably, Pulisic still had a golden chance for the game winner late.