Post-match: United States v Jamaica Gold Cup Final 7/26

Roldan is another player that needed more time this cup.

Time is the big problem facing Bruce at this point. Unlike others, I think the guys he barely used this tournament are the ones he's decided he doesn't have the time to bring into the pool, that they're for the next cycle.

It could be a mistake, but I understand why he's making that choice. We're about 10 months away from releasing the names of the final World Cup group.

 

Oh, now I see why you're discrediting Arriola. If only he would have made the choice and stayed with the Galaxy, even though they're blocking American youth development among the best in MLS so seemingly he made the right one, he'd get more support from a certain group.

There is no cause and effect to sending a cross in and the guy under no pressure putting it back over his head into the middle of the box. Head it out over the endline where you were going, use the momentum of the ball to head it sideline, pop it up, or anything but what he did or let it go. He made a gaffe and that wasn't Zardes' intent. If you don't intend to do something, even generally, you don't get credit for it. That goes for if a ball bounces off your feet because you miscontrol it and a teammate scores. That's the opposite of what you were trying to do.

Conflating Zardes' other actual assists in this tourney is intellectually dishonest. I said nothing about them and they are false equivalents. They are independent actions. This one should be judged on its own merit.

These built-in biases are why we NEED advanced stats for national teams. Plenty would still dismiss them as it would be convenient to them, and they aren't the be all end all, but in most cases they'd reinforce what the impartial observer analyzed. In this case the impartial observers in the Total Soccer Show Podcast guys, who do a great job and hyper-analyze matches after multiple views, assessed Arriola played really well in this match and Zardes was poor. No they didn't think there was a cause-effect to the cross and goal. They were just superficially associated events. FWIW, they did think he had a decent tourney, and I'm not disputing that. But it's a partial product of what we don't have at attacking wing, namely in terms of creation.

 

Wow. Harshest ratings ever for a team that just won their continental cup. Reminds me of:

http://deadspin.com/usmnt-beats-terrible-team-to-win-meaningless-trophy-1797301821

USMNT Beats Terrible Team To Win Meaningless Trophy in Boring Sport No One Who Matters Cares About

We don't even know why we're wasting our time writing about it

 

Arena got a long look at Acosta. Knowing the player's strengths and weaknesses should better inform Arena's decision making. Roldan, Bradley, McArty, and Acosta all play in the same league. Comparisons and extrapolations should be straightforward.

 

They're also the guys who have the most potential to benefit the team in the World Cup and arguably before. I'm talking Miazga, Roldan, Hamid, and possibly Lichaj. Miazga was top 5 in WhoScored rating in MLS as a 19-20 year old and has since naturally improved. Roldan is top 10 right now at 21-22 years old. Hamid is best in terms of estimated goals saved in MLS the last few years. Lichaj was just a club player of the year in the Championship and has been one of the best rb's for a while. And they are all competitive athletically, technically, and in terms of awareness to project internationally. We're talking potential 1's and 2's on a WC roster.

And he had 7 games to try things out. That's a lot. It's a luxury that most international teams don't have. Same thing with January camps. I don't think time is an excuse. You just have to make better choices than to throw all these games away on bad experiments like Zusi at rb, more Bedoya when he's low ceiling and was a liability, more Guzan when he's low ceiling and we know what he can and can't do, Omar when we've seen what he can and can't do already, the ill-fated Omar-Hedges combo, Hedges over Miazga vs. El Salvador when Hedges was struggling, playing Acosta almost every game, etc.. He didn't even use many of his subs in the friendly where he had unlimited ones. I think saying he doesn't have the time is a poor excuse.

 

That's not true. If it were, Wondolowski and Hedges wouldn't have sucked with the national team. And the likes of Holden, Cameron, Besler, and Rowe wouldn't have stood out upon translation. It's a different style, often level, and motivation.

If comparisons and extrapolations were straight-forward even for opportunity, he'd have invested much more time in Roldan who is an impact player as compared to Acosta who is just a decent starter.

The only way to know how players ultimately will translate is if they're given reasonable trials (more than 1 game). And they won't be trusted, fair enough in the case of must win games, until they've proven themselves through some trials, and shaken off any nerves that may be circulating.

 

No. Hedges and Roldan were brought in, given a camp, and given game time. Hedges failed the sniff test. Roldan did not. So you monitor Roldan's MLS performances then give him more NT playing time.

Besler, Cameron, and Holden all were solid in their debuts.

 

As I've mentioned a number of times before, Cameron's distribution is highly overrated because he's a big guy who's mobile and has David Luiz type venturing-forward tendencies.

His contribution to a normal type of build up is only about average, I'd say. He's good at breaking up plays and then venturing forward to start a break, but in conventional defensive parts of the field, I'm not sure he adds a ton with his passing.

 

What are you talking about? Two of the players that lifted the GC trophy this week are Galaxy academy products: Arriola and Zardes. Another is a former LA player. Do these facts undermine your argument?

Right now I rate Zardes above Arriola, who I think is still very raw in the final third. Arriola's also like 4 years younger so I can see why Bruce values him. You'd be better off analyzing the game at face value instead of assuming everyone is biased.

The quality of the pass makes it a dangerous ball that must be dealt with, and yet also a difficult ball to handle. There is nothing accidental about that.

No one is conflating anything; if you observe Zardes match after match, you will see he is a very good passer with good vision that can find teammates in dangerous places consistently. Sometimes these passes lead to nothing, sometimes shots, sometimes assists, sometimes just a fortunate bounce or deflection that leads to a goal, but there is nothing random about his passing ability and vision.

Stats fo dat ass

Pulisic only player near Donovan in creating goals for others. Arguably only 2 true playmakers for USMNT history. His assist rate = Messi's. pic.twitter.com/FCxjqY5udn

— Tutul Rahman (@tutulismyname) July 27, 2017

Analysis is making an argument and seeing if it holds up to scrutiny; reasonable people can agree or disagree if they're honest. Right now I rate Zardes more for the reasons I stated. You can debunk /challenge those reasons (and it should be easy, if I'm way off base), which would be analysis, but just assuming I'm biased because of my club isn't really choosing to engage honestly.

 

They aren't impartial. They are paid in clicks and likes.

As for the bolded: Nonsense.

W/out going into a deep analysis of Zardes here (he's a head case), let me just say Zardes doesn't want to be the guy who crosses the ball so you can be sure he was doing it because Arena coached him. That was precisely the type of cross I would want.

What you saw in that cross was Zardes guaranteeing his trip to Russia. Pogba could not have done better.

 

We don't need to use everyone a ton. The starting XI is pretty set. It's the 12-23 places that he should be focused on. I don't think you need a ton of caps to be a bench WC guy.

To give an example, let's just say that Schalke-based Weston McKennie continues his stellar preseason and some fortuitous injuries make him Schalke's starter. He'd be talented enough that, if Bruce were down to choosing between Weston and a guy like Johansson, or Pontius, or Corona, I'd rather he go with Weston. At that point on the roster, it's better to go with the best talent instead of "experience", because it's a small difference in terms of USMNT experience (none of the 3 I mention have very many caps), and the role is more like an impact substitute.

 

Couple of nose rings and tats and he might as well be Dennis Rodman. The guy was an absolute train wreck and yet, and yet,...best defender and rebounder perhaps ever.

Zardes has that din

Watch Clint. Directly after the settle he moves away and looks back expecting the shot. He knew exactly what he was doing. One of the more quietly sublime plays in USMNT history if you ask me. There might not be 5 more dangerous and capable big game players in the world at the international level. Clint is always dangerous.

 

Miazga, Roldan, Hamid, and Lichaj were given starts in the group stage. It seems that Bruce Arena chose the group stage to audition inexperienced players. He became conservative with his selections in the knock out stage. Is your quibble that he should have also used the knock out stage for auditions?

 

It's almost like they spent a couple seasons as teammates!

 

We could use having a superclub in MLS with all the best American players. It's not considered cheating, it's basically what Spain and Germany did to win the whole enchilada.

 

. . . or two superclubs and then combine them

 

Don't forget the uncle willy House of sausage to Launder enough money to keep players and sponsors happy. Barca and RM will show up soon with some massive tax fraud and trading problems as well. Barca already with the first round of problems. It seems to be a champion you need to be a crook as well. Too bad we lost Blazer. With him we take home the 2022 wc.

 

Given how Acosta struggled, I also would like to see another trial for Roldan. But, I have no complaint about Arena's selections for the Gold Cup. It is a balancing act between trying new players, getting results, and building a squad. It is way above my pay grade to second guess his choosing between unproven players and veterans.

I will make a prediction that Seattle Sounders will dominate the Western conference in the second half of the season. That would benefit Roldan in receiving another trial in WCQ.

 

Kinda cool that 10 of the 16 players in this chart are still in the pool (if you include DMB)

 

did you read the article or just the headline? cuz the text is pretty on point if you ask me.

 

Clint Dempsey, by his own admission, did not intentionally pass to Jordan Morris for the game winner. Dempsey was trying to take the shot himself. However, he showed excellent instincts and movement when the ball fell to Morris instead.

 

I'm not sure if that chart is meant to be comprehensive. I assume they excluded players with fewer than a certain number of caps (15 maybe? since Pulisic is on there with 16 caps), but by that measure Brad Davis would be third; Preki, Taylor Twellman, Stuart Holden, and Clint Mathis would be top 10; and Freddie Adu, Charlie Davies, Robbie Rogers, Heath Pearce, Joe Max Moore, Chris Henderson, John Harkes, Jermaine Jones, Juan Agudelo, Steve Cherundolo, Alexi Lalas, Brian Ching, Brad Evans, Edgar Castillo, Hugo Perez, and Brian McBride would all be before Beasley.

 

I always knew Freddie Adu, Brad Davis and Heath Pearce were underrated by US fans.


ETA: Thanks for your post, that possibility just blew right over me.

 

If no Roldan, another young prospect needs a legit shot, I'm def not sold on Acosta.

After all the hype bigsoccer fans gave Acosta, I was expecting him to dominate this B teams tournament but in reality, he choked under pressure, his age shouldn't be an excuse anymore, he is a grown man.

 

Really? Bradley is an A team player, this was a B teams tournament.

If he didn't dominate that would be a concern.