Two terrible teams played an incredibly ugly game. Sarachan may be better on crosses than Hamid. We need a better coach more than better players I think.
Sucks we couldn't hold on for a "historical" result, even though it was a friendly and still not very impressive. I don't know if Dave called off the dogs or what, but that was a fade the last 20 minutes, after previously the game was even. Didn't have a good link-man between Parks' exclusion, Green's apparent injury, and the choice of DLT over Hyndman, Lletget, etc. Otherwise I'd have liked to have seen that guy and our possession higher up in control may have been more consistent. We were dependent on a press that waned. We've seen that in recent games. Thoughts about individual players in a separate post.
Piss poor effort. Pretty much nobody stood out in a positive way. Extremely disappointed in the performance of some of the "veterans", including Yedlin and Hamid. Even more disappointed that we struggled to maintain meaningful possession and create chances against a team like Ireland. Seemed to be second to every loose ball, which I wouldn't have expected with our midfield pairing. McKennie looked tired and everybody seemed a step slow. And not that it mattered, but I didn't think the ref called the game fairly. A ton of 50/50 calls all seemed to go for Ireland.
I will say this, the ref giving every 50/50 call to Ireland got irksome. That being said... Bill Hamid? You can probably kiss any future call ups good bye. The communication on defense was not great. CCV needs more seasoning. The center of the D got a bit better with Tim Parker replaced ******, but way too many gaps compared to last week. Weah looked dangerous, shows where he needs more experience. Trapp/Adams/McKennie looked good early but Adams and Trapp really fell off in 2nd half. Good goal for Bobby Wood, but his lack of presence hurt the team as well. Joe Corona and Luca de la Torre both kind of pointless. Not the end of the world and doesnt mean doom and gloom, but also some duds
Bad player selection! Not bad players but the formation needed more ball movers than winners. Maybe 4141 is not playing to our strength and player pool. 4231 is more what we need. 2 ball winners and 4 man game up top. Some glaring, imho, examples of players either not ready or not at this level. I'm sure that will b covered in the next thousand replies.
Someone got upset when I said this after Bolivia but I'll say it again. We had flashes of talent from some youngsters but this does not look like a prepared or well coached team. The tactical plan and understanding is not there. The midfield movement off one another is just not there. And none of the other mids showed they have the ability for McKennie to link with and play off.
Meh. The much-hyped youngsters don't look so great when they're not playing the Bolivian high school all-stars. Not a playmaker in sight. Abysmal defending Crosses. Does Hamid have an elephant in his circus? France might be R rated for Gore.
I thought we saw a reasonable sampling of the raw material that comprises our "next" generation and, quite frankly, i wasn't impressed. The Irish were stronger, faster, bigger, more explosive and had a better idea of what they wanted to do out there. I wouldn't criticize Miazga for the final goal. He got caught flat-footed late in a game. A classic scenario for a lumbering defender who's been asked to do too much throughout a match. The result was well-deserved. The Irish were easily the better side after the opening 30 minutes. We have some big holes to plaster. What's with the cynical fouls? There is really no place for the kinds of fouls I saw Woods, Yedlin, Moore, Corona and others commit. If you can't beat them, hack them seems to be the mentality of some of these players. A sorry spectacle all-around.
Stock up/down for this one: Stock up: --Moore: Seemed sharper with his runs and with the ball than Yedlin, not always tight defensively, but merits more looks --Weah: Much quieter than against Bolivia, but still got into positions to make things happen. If he can dial in his finishing, he's going to very dangerous. Hold: --Adams and McKennie: Both had some good and some bad, but didn't look at all out of place as partners in CM. It'd be nice to have more creativity around, but they cover ground, pressure, and make the simple passes. --Wood: He scored, but didn't contribute much in the way of hold-up play or combination with others. --Sargent: Didn't get on the ball much, but was competent holding it up and combining --Villafana: Not much offense from Ireland down his flank, but didn't find a way to contribute positively to the US attack either --Miazga: Didn't look good on the 2nd goal, but was solid otherwise --Parker: Not quite on the same page with others when he first came on, but solid after that. Not bad for a debut --De La Torre: Didn't get on the ball much, but was competent holding it up and combining Stock down: --Hamid: Flapped at several crosses, and the one cost the US. I guess Steffen and Bono are ahead of him now? --Yedlin: OK defensively, but had some really bad giveaways and didn't contribute to the attack much --CCV: Looks too slow in terms of decisions and foot speed to me to be a starter at the international level. Maybe the former improves --Trapp: Ireland seemed to consistently find pockets of space centrally in front of the US backline that Trapp theoretically should have been closing down. Didn't have much influence on the game through his passing to make up for that. --Rubin: After a lively display against Bolivia, he was absolutely invisible today.
Judge stole the ball from teammate McClean to score the winning Irish goal. The biggest negative was that Ireland played harder than the United States. The biggest positive is that Tim Weah looks super promising.
Hamid - needs to just go home. I get he hasn't been playing but when you come off your line you do so with authority. He didn't. Yedlin - Ok its just a friendly but how about some presence. Wood - Eh, he's ok but needs to be better Midfeld - as already stated ok first half but way slowed up the second Defense - not sure what to make of their play. Hamid was so timid they just didn't communicate well. Weah - Got some tools just needs more time of the field Sargent - He's going to be good Overall game was just bleh.
Our lack of a good #6 to cover our CBs was apparent. McKennie should have been stationed there and just bulldogged then all game. Instead he was forced into 1 side, limiting his maurauding defensive abilities. Strange decision.
The homer announcers kept saying he was rusty because he wasn't playing. A better question is, is he not playing because he's been playing like that?
Stock up: TIM PARKER will one day make the game winning block to beat Mexico in Azteca. BOBBY WOOD hopefully had some mid-level French or upper-level Portugese teams watching. TYLER ADAMS looked like he'll do well in Europe with better teammates. I think still a FB. Neutral: TIMOTHY WEAH flatters to deceive. WESTON MCKENNIE's battery is running on low. MATT MIAZGA was a hero until he was surrounded by bad guys showed he was merely mortal. JORGE VILLAFANA is not the hero we've deserved, but the one we've needed. Stock down: BILL HAMID doesn't have the luck of the Irish. The Irish have their typical luck against him. SHAQ MOORE could have had a nervy debut, but if you watched La Liga that's how he normally plays. DEANDRE YEDLIN is sort of a made man, but I don't think he's a lock at starting fb going fw. CCV looks like a man against boys but a boy against men. The MLS CB's appear better. WILL (he) TRAPP or defend better because if he did that passing would come in more handy. RUBIO RUBIN had a rumor going around he played today.
Yet again, we lack any semblance of creativity. 3 defensive minded CM's, and three CF's in the attack. I don't think anyone played well. We might've had two or three chances, and they came off set pieces and Ireland mistakes. No one with the ability to beat players in any way and create chances. The lack of technical ability in this lineup was alarming. Way too many players who can't complete forward passes. Its a kick and chase team. We need to be emphasizing technical ability and creativity in our squad selection. Hamid was terrible, but he's also out of form. His club team has shafted him with playing time since joining them. I'll chalk his performance up to not playing regularly. But he's gotta get minutes the upcoming season. Yedlin put in another bad performance. All over the place defensively, couldn't complete any passes. I've been very underwhelmed by many of his NT performances the last year. Carter-Vickers is somewhat okay defensively at this level and you can see he's improving there, but he's just not very mobile and not good with the ball. Can't play him in a two CB pairing with Miazga. And Miazga is ahead of him. Miazga is currently a better player. Actually a pretty similar style of play. Not the quickest, not very good on the ball. But I think Miazga defends very well right now. I'm not going to criticize his play on the winning goal that much. Defensively, he was stout. I'd keep him in contention to start, but if he plays for us, he needs to be paired with someone more mobile and better on the ball. Villafana was below-average. Not awful. Typical performance from him. Could've done better on the winning goal. Trapp was about average. Wasn't very involved in the match, mostly because it was a game between two teams with little technical ability who were kicking it from end to end and running to the end-line. Not a very midfield and technically focused match. When he did get on the ball, he got the offense started well with his passing range. Nice free-kick on our only goal. Held his own defensively. Didn't hurt his stock. McKennie also had a quiet game mostly for the same reasons as Trapp. I thought he had some nice displays of quality on the ball. Wasn't as involved as he was against Bolivia, but wasn't bad. An average performance. Adams again showed why he isn't a CM. The passing is rough. Way too many misplaced passes centrally from Adams. Ran a lot, but not for a lot of impact. Below-average match. Seen this type of performance from Adams in this role and formation way too much. Rubin was pretty much invisible. Weah wasn't much better. Had one or two shots, but didn't take the opportunities well. Not a winger. He had one run through the center of the field that epitomized why he is a CF, not a winger. He ran past players and then into a wall. Didn't have an idea where to go with the ball. He needs to be running onto through balls past CB's not running with the ball to create chances. He's not good at the latter. Wood had a nice poaching goal, but added nothing otherwise. Wood adds absolutely nothing if he doesn't score, and he doesn't score all that often. I thought Parker wasn't bad. He had some nice interceptions, and passed the ball better than Carter-Vickers. de la Torre added nothing, and shouldn't have been on the roster. Moore was naive with his defending, and shouldn't have been on this roster. Quiet game from Sargent. Didn't add much, but its not like we had much of the ball when he was in the match. Corona didn't add anything either.
so hypothetical question, how different does the game look if the Galaxy release Llegett to play, Parks is active, and Saief/Green are not hurt? Little more creativity and link up play.
Hate to burst some of these domestic, insular bubbles but... Bobby Wood is an average Division 2 striker, no more. Adams is a bench player in a middling Euro league, no more.
Really about what I expected after seeing the squad. No real midfield link play. Trapp is not a DM in a 4141. CCV was pretty poor. Miazga was gassed and just whiffed but had a solid game otherwise. Yedlin was as poor as I've seen him for club or country in a while but Weah was pretty awful at helping him cover. Adams still reads better as a RB to me. Villafana was Villafana pretty meh. Wood was missing other than a nice touch goal for him. Sargent ran around but didnt do much. If not for Hamid, Rubin would have been the worst on the field. And Hamid should be 5th best at best. Not even the 3rd keeper role that Rimando had for a while. Just not good enough. Sarachan with a bad formation since he chose the players he did. Shows his lack of real ability to lead the MNT.
It might have looked different, but I think it's been established at this point that that's just not Sarachan's thing. He likes the 4-1-4-1 that is filled with workers rather than creators and doesn't get numbers forward. We'll have to wait for the new coach to hopefully establish a formation and a style in which such players can be effective.
Not very different. The marginal players aren't going to make a difference. The difference in our play will come when the young players get older, get more playing time, start to become more consistent. Its not going to be because of players like Lletget, Green, Saief. We really aren't that bad right now comparatively to what we've shown in previous cycles. We could put an athletic team on the field with limited creativity and technical ability. If we have a good coach and good game plan, we could get the usual results we usually do. If we are going to actually improve, it will be because of players like Pulisic, McKennie, EPB, Carleton, de la Fuente, Durkin, Sargent, Pomykal, Weah, not from marginal players in their mid 20's. And with most of those younger players, its a matter of them playing more games and becoming more consistent. They aren't there yet. Its probably going to be a pretty similar USMNT for the next number of years. Hopefully by Qatar we show better, but it might take more time than that.