Imagine a gif of a nuclear bomb going off. First, a mea culpa. I didn’t like the GGG hire, but I thought he was a decent choice, and the best American coach available. I can’t wait for the tell all books to come out and explain why the hell he is setting the team up like...this. We don’t play like the Crew did. I have a sneaking suspicion Earnie wants us to play this way and GGG had to agree to that to get the job. And now to draw and quarter the guilty party. 1. Our mental approach is horrifically wrong. The ESPN guys, I think, gave us a clue. We’re the US. That has positives and negatives. The “be calm” crap negates the positives and brings the negatives to the front. 2. He has broken Pulisic. CP looked good as a central attacker behind a lone striker. As a wide forward in a 4-3-3 possession based tactic, what is he? 3. It’s OBVIOUS the team, everyone, was playing against their instincts. If that’s the case, he either needs to select players who can play his style without playing against their instincts, or change the style to fit the players. 4. The only times we looked at all decent was when we played direct. We rarely played direct. 5. What is our theory of goals? Here’s what I mean by that phrase. Canada’s theory of goals was obvious. They have two talented, fast attackers. So they tried to win the ball high up the field and get at our defense with those players before we were organized. What was our Plan A for scoring? I understand that against a competent coach, he’s going to shut off that Plan A, so you have to adjust and go to Plan B. But you have to have a Plan A, something that plays to your strengths and/or against the opponents weaknesses. Make them do something they don’t want to do to stop Plan A. It’s clear to me that on the most basic, fundamental level, GGG doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’ve been watching Ben Olsen try to succeed by outgritting an increasingly talented MLS for a hell of a long time. And it’s never going to work on any kind of consistent basis because the sport is more complicated than that, it takes more than playing like a fist to win. That’s what watching GGG coach is like. He’s got beautiful theories, but I’d die laughing hearing him try to explain how to make it work with this group of players.
same. i cant reconcile berhalter at colombus with what we are seeing at all. but we are seeing the worst roster selection/player inclusions of my lifetime. and thats before even getting to management.
You know what I liked about the selection? With the Crew, he got production out of guys like Justin Meram and Ethan Finley. He got production out of 3 different forwards who are pretty average. I thought he would be able to identify the stars like Pulisic and McKennie, and patch around them average talents, but get good production out of them. He is getting Morris to play well, but as I said in the omnibus thread, everyone else underachieves.
He’s obviously in over his head, and he’s dragging the team down with him in the process. At the national level, it comes down to making things simple, getting the most out of your key players, and limiting your weaknesses. Strengths: 1. Christian Pulisic, winger, second striker 2. Weston McKennie, center defensive midfielder, destroyer type 3. Tyler Adams, center midfielder, linking type it seems pretty obvious that what we want to do is put Pulisic in the hole, have Wes protect him, and Adams is basically the one running the show. Now, Adams can’t get healthy to save his life, so we need to figure some things out... What do we have? yean, there is Bradley, Trapp, and Roldan. but there is also Lletget, Pomykal, and Nagbe if he can commit. They like to play a little further upfield than Adams, but Wes is versatile enough to drop deeper. So, that’s what we’ll have to make do until Adams heals. Furthermore, there’s more upcomers in Aaronson, Reyna, Miljevic, Ledezma, Llanez, Busio, etc.... that can be groomed in the midfield slowly along. Once, we figure that out... the whole team should make sense. But, the next move is finish out the backline... Okay, so everyone knows now that Steffen is the undisputed man. So, we need some regularity. The problem is our best player, Brooks, is always hurt. So, he is a bit of a luxury player, IMO. But, who are four main guys? We keep mixing things up and we can’t get any consistency. Now, it’s okay, to bring some new faces in, but we need some solidarity. IMO, I say let’s stick with Brooks, Miazga, Long, and Zimmerman. And, we can flex with Palmer-Brown, Carter-Vickers, M. Robinson, Richards, and Alvarado. So, in other words, my typical approach would be to start 2 of the main 4 in all matches. But I’d typically only call in 3 of those 4 and bring in one of the fringe guys to show them the system. This way, I wouldn’t worry if there is a time when I need one of them. Furthermore, it’s time to say goodbye to Ream. He’s too old and we don’t need him. On the flanks, let’s start with the right. Yedlin still needs to be the main man, but I’m glad we have Cannon who could easily take that job. There are other guys we could pull in, and hopefully Dest commits. I still wouldn’t throw the towel out for Chandler, but that’s me. Now, the issue, as it has always been, is the left. We may have to switch somebody over there. And I hear people, that we don’t want to play people where they don’t normally play. But damn... look at who we are playing. I’ll take Reggie Cannon on the left everyday of the week before I ever voluntarily watch Lovitz again. But, we don’t have to be that desperate. Antonee Robinson is a decent option to try out. Lichaj, although a rightie, has played plenty on the left. The same goes for Lima. Then, there’s Gloster coming up. And I’m still personally really high on Bello even if he’s a couple years away. That said, I’d look to keep Robinson and Lima there, and in the mean time, rotate players around until I found the right fit. But, if Dest commits, all our problems are solved. Okay, moving on.... what we’ve got so far GK Steffen RB Yedlin/Cannon CB Brooks/Long CB Miazga/Zimmerman LB Dest*/Robinson/Lima/Lichaj MF Adams/Pomykal/Lletget/Nagbe MF McKennie 10 Pulisic Okay, so let’s talk about attack. speed kills. So we need speed. Weah, Morris, are my burners. Arriola and Boyd are more technical and workers, but because of lack of options, they’re in the picture. Looking young, there’s Amon, Ferreira, Ebobisse, Toye, Llanez, Ledezma, Pomykal, Holmes, Sabbi, and Baird. Ebobisse and Toye can play FW too. Speaking of which, Who is our main central forward? Jozy is still a contender, but he’s so damn injury prone that we have to look elsewhere. So, that means it’s Sargent. After him, there’s Soto and a bunch of crappy options. Thus, who are my starting strikers? Sargent, for sure. Weah, for sure when he returns. And now, I’m leaning towards Morris. And back ups are Arriola, Boyd, and stretching into the deep to find a good young option. I might even try Reyna. So, now we have an idea of our team... GK Steffen RB Yedlin/Cannon CB Brooks/Zimmerman CB Miazga/Long LB Dest/Robinson/Lima/Lichaj MF McKennie MF Adams/Pomykal/Lletget/Nagbe 10 Pulisic RW Morris/Boyd/Arriola/? FW Sargent/Altidore/Soto/? LW Weah/Boyd/Arriola/? obviously, that’s not perfect. But it’s a start... we still have time to cement the particulars. Moving on, who’s leading this ship? I can see where this is a problem because our best players are young and our older players are injury prone and inconsistent. Nonetheless, it needs to be figured out, and the coach needs to determine who is the leader of this squad. If it were me, I’d go: 1. Pulisic 2. Adams 3. McKennie But, that’s an insider decision on who has the best and most positively infectious personality in the locker room of those three. if one of them aren’t there, then go with Steffen or one of the center backs. But that’s more done on the fly if one of the big three aren’t there. Now, let’s talk, style of play. look, I get we want to look like Man City. But, we don’t have the players for that. Against any competition. We are a bread and butter, out work you, defend, and counter team. That’s in our DNA. The only thing I want to see added to that is maybe a little more technique, a little faster on the ball, and a little more decisive in the final third. We do that, and we will make teams sweat us again. But, they need to respect that we have our wingers looking to break. And, we need to keep our shape when pressed. At the end of the day, leave it all out on the field and make the team and the country believe in the team again.
At this point, creating a “system” is pointless at the senior level. Why doesn’t this guy get it? A national team coach is required to get the best of the current crop of players he has at his disposal. Don’t force square pegs into round holes. Forcing a philosophy or a system with a team that meets only 3-4 days out of the month will only have result in redundancy and imo it looks idiotic when you look at it on a different perspective.
I mean subbing out Pulisic was an attempt to do what? Show whose boss? Pulisic wasn’t having his best game, but he was more effective than Bradley, Roldan, Morris, or Sargent. Whatever was left with the teams confidence died with that substitute.
I really disagree with 3 of those names. I’d be interested to see if the stats tell a different story. Cuz ain’t no way I’m subjecting myself to a 2nd viewing.
At a minimum, you should name the three players you disagree with. Even putting that aside, what is the larger effect on team psychology by taking Pulisic out? It immediately resulted in an even worse level of play and a coup conceded. The team clearly dropped a level.
Agree with all the part I left out quoting you. Gregs (many) errors are all obvious to us and have been pointed out in this thread. This is also on the players which really puts us in a conundrum. How many times did we pass the ball out of bounds? How many times did we attempt to settle or trap an easy ball and pop if off our shin/foot directly to an opponent? We couldn't even complete simple passes, let alone build a sequence of play. We suck at the most basic technical aspects of the game and that is systemic and is a result of our (lack of) development. Now one can argue that our players are playing uncomfortable, and lack confidence due to Berhalter, but c'mon....
You guys really need to watch these guys (the good guys who are up to this level) play with their clubs. You think Yedlin would have survived in the EPL if he didn't defend the post most of time on a weaker EPL team?
The dumb #6 role he insists on destroys this team. Once that Domino falls, we're out of luck. Couple it with a completely assinine strategy to only play the ball short out of the back with some of the poorest ball handlers in a poor region along the backline and nothing else even matters.
It's doable if you have a talent pool like Germany or Spain to work from. We most certainly do not. We need out best players to be out there playing as much as possible, instead of random scrubs like Lovitz/Roldan/Trapp/Zardes that Berhalter thinks fit his "system"...
That's an indefensible opinion Pulisic was better than Morris. He was self-apparently worse. Morris getting on the end of a long ball, circumventing defenders, to put it on a platter for Pulisic, who missed, was somewhat a microcosm of their two performances. Morris was better in his scoring chances, more of a target, as creative, and tidier in possession. Not that I agree with the sub decision, but you really had to contort like you were playing Twister to further the argument. Just take out Roldan, push McKennie back to the 8, and sub in Lletget. Or move Pulisic back to the 10 if you're dead-set on bringing in Arriola for whatever reason. Pulisic staying in didn't require Morris subbing out instead.
Is it on the players? It's more reflective of a team that doesn't know what it is doing. In a general sense, this defines national teams. Try to shove players into a system they don't have embedded into muscle memory with daily practice, and the sum quickly becomes less than the parts. The overall parts of the CNT are not greater than the US players available, or on the field, in this match. One approach was stunningly simple, and therefore effective, the other was overly complicated and therefore ineffective. We have more technically gifted players at this point in our soccer history than we have ever had before. It's impossible not to see the postive impact MLS is having on CONCACAF as a whole. Maybe that's a problem for the USMNT, teams such as Canada are taking advantage of what the league now provides and are improving quite a bit. Berhalter is a good club coach, but he's trying to impose the sorts of things clubs do upon a national team and that only works if you take just about your entire national team from a single club. If not, the result is predictable, meaning the level of play is unpredictable. Players in a system they don't quite get look worse than they are. When they're having to think through what they're supposed to be doing, they're making mistakes.
I didn't have to twist anything. I made a simple assertion. To be fair, I was smoking a cigarette outside for the first few minutes of the second half when I understand Morris had his best moment creating an opportunity for Pulisic, who had his worst with the missed finish. I can accept that Morris had a better game. Regardless, subbing out Pulisic made no sense. It seems like a Klinsmann-esque move to show the team who's boss. And then the team totally collapsed. I'm not so sure Berhalter is even a "good" club coach. Average, maybe. But he totally flunked out of Hammarby in the second division, despite the fact that Hammarby is one of the bigger Swedish clubs that typically competes in the first division, so he should have had more resources than the competition. His years at Columbus were fine, but it is impossible to understand how his record made him the de facto pick. Does anyone understand why US Soccer let him delay a year in starting the job, without bothering to really interview other candidates in the interim?
Depends which story you believe. Some have said USSF hired Sarachan to simply take heat away from the program for a year. Others have said MLS wanted Ggg to transition Columbus to Austin which blew up in MLS' face. My theory is simple. USSF is dumb.
Bradley, Trapp, and Roldan ... None of these 3 are up to international standards. Fix that and you fix many of the problems.