neither fullback did anything in the attack; Ream because he’s really a 3rd CB, Lima because he sucked. Throw in Bradley, and we tried to score using only 5 players ever. Our off the all movement is not that of a team trying to score, but a team trying to be in good position when we lose the ball.
At this point can we just switch out Zardes for a cardboard cutout of a soccer player? At least the cardboard cutout could reliably execute a wall pass.
I think in the back of the players' and coaching staff's minds was that they play Jamaica in 3 days. Not much rest. Get the job done with as little energy expended. A bit too close for my taste, but they got the job done.
The thing I found most shocking was the lackadaisical pressing when Curacao had the ball in its half. Either put some effort into the pressing or back off 20 yards defensively to open up space when Curacao push forward.
I agree, but you need to take control a little more firmly in a match before you can coast. Very strange, disappointing match for the US IMO.
We might. Someone who's more familiar with Gregg from his Columbus days - was he known for playing somewhat conservative and defensive? That kind of approach can lead to some tight results. I think the USA was still in control for much of the game. In their third and in our third - we were making chances, and they were mostly not able to do much inside our own box. The middle third ... well, that was a bit concerning.
Literally nothing good to say about our current national team other then, I guess, to acknowledge they earn the required result. Just less then mediocre all the way around. Very few ideas.
Feelingl like Gregg thinks this is our best team... Bradley was OK, but his transition play is gone. And it's not coming back. I just want to see Adams and McKennie as dual 8's in the midfield.
Embarrassing. We go from beating and tying teams like Portugal, England, Czech Republic, Italy, Ghana, and Germany in the World Cup to being not just amongst Concacaf teams, but amongst the Caribbean nations. We are going to get steamrolled by Mexico if we even get there.
This team will not get a single road result in qualifying. They aren’t good, and they aren’t coached well enough to make up for the fact that they aren’t good.
The final is 7 days from today, and if we win none of this will matter. This was a great way to kill any positive momentum that we've built though. Mostly crap all around. The goal was beautiful, Steffen was sloppy but did come up with saves when he needed to, and I'll say from a purely defensive standpoint, Tim Ream had his best NT game in a long time IMO. That's it for positives though A lot has been made about Curacao having some talent, and they do, but this team was completely outplayed in every game during the group stage and were extremely lucky to get here. This was not an away qualifier where we struggle to break a bunker and eek out an ugly win. This was a home game where we were on the back foot the entire second half and had to hold on for dear life. to close this out Really annoying performance that's going to leave me nervous about Jamaica
Gold Cup really needs to go to 8 teams. I don’t think it does the tournament or the team for the US to sleepwalk into the semi-finals. I mean, seriously, we made Curacao look like a legitimate soccer nation.
Part of me thinks that the team was looking ahead. That being said, that was an awful game from pretty much everybody not named Pulisic. Zimmerman was okay, and when Arriola got a chance to do something he wasnt awful. But the rest? Boyd surprisingly awful. McKennie had his goal but he was awful. Zardes needs the game to be open to be useful in build up play when the game isnt open he is awful. Take a few days to crap on this performance but it doesnt mean anything one way or the other for the rest of the tournament
That was really sad... 1. What the hell was Berhalter's logic tonight? Zardes as a hold-up 9? He doesn't do that! Never subbing on Altidore, who does? 1 meaningful sub? I don't get it, man. That was a poorly managed game. 2. Before I rail too much, props to Steffen. One gaffe with his feet (recurring issue...) but otherwise up to every test, including one tremendous one. 3. I think Pulisic has to be better. Don't get me wrong: he should have had a goal (excellent save from CUW) and his ability to pick out a pass at the far post is unrivaled and was the difference. But you expect a player like him to put the game away in the 2nd half, and he wasn't nearly dynamic enough. I'd also argue that he had 2 shots from 20 yards -- one entirely uncontested, one about to be closed down but open shooting window -- where he couldn't put the ball on frame. A player of his quality has to do better. 4. Rough go for BS favorite Tyler Boyd. Don't get me wrong: he's still a starter in my book. And he still presented a threat down the wing. But just lost possession entirely too often. Deserved the sub out. 5. Troubling, though, to see Pulisic and Boyd as the aforementioned wings stressing CUW down the wings and de-compacting that backline ... and the US having no central threat to show for it. Zardes was handed a dream matchup centrally and played the ball back 20 yards nearly every touch. Just horrible. 6. Michael Bradley won't get credit for some of his passes tonight, which were excellent. But he will rightly get slaughtered for his defensive work, which was absolutely wretched. Dude has no lateral agility anymore. Sidestep around him all day. I bet half of BS could buy a shooting window on him right now. Problem is he's still preferable to Trapp... 7. I thought it was a rough night for McKennie. Lost possession entirely too much and seems a step slow in his thought process in a national uni. Had a decent enough first half, but second half wasn't nearly good enough. 8. Thought the backline was actually OK. Nick Lima stood out as most solid. I don't know. No real brilliance here. Just a lot of discipline required when there was no central midfield to speak of ahead of them... 9. ...which Jamaica will annihilate, btw, even if this isn't Reggae Boyz past. The disconnect between the front and backlines of USMNT is alarming. There are, like, 2 friggin' players who take space on this whole team. It's maddening.
I almost decided to get tickets, since Philly isn't far for me. Glad I didn't waste the money. Very hard to cheer for that performance. Glad they won, but Berhalter needs to do something different vs Jamaica.
Against Costa Rica. Both of those teams played great, I watched the whole game. Costa Rica is the best team in our region outside the US and Mexico
Not sure why people are surprised. This happens every Gold Cup. It's not like we slaughter every nation we face every single 2 years. But go ahead with your talking points. That's why we're here after all.
Curacao with 15 shots and 5 on goal, and 53% possession. USA with ... 10 shots and 3 on goal. That's worrisome. Second half - it did look a bit like we were playing to defend. If that was the plan - Zardes definitely was the wrong man to rely on to drive a quick counter out of a defensive block.
This was pretty terrible almost entirely across the board. Kudos to Steffen, Ream and most of the game for Zimmerman. Everyone else was subpar to their talent. People will credit Pulisic and McKennie, but neither were great, and I thought aside from 3-4 runs, McKennie was terrible. Inactive, which is terrible for an 8. This is also the first game that I thought Berhalter made insufficient adjustments in this Gold Cup. Too many attackers stayed high and no one came back to really help beat the press, which should have been doable. The press was ... I have no idea what the idea was because the midfield laid off too far, making it too easy to break through. Zardes was absolutely terrible, much like Guyana. He killed off multiple counterattacks, provided no hold up outlet against the press, and lost the ball almost every time when he was an outlet against the press. I have no idea why Jozy didn't play. Other players didn't help -- Boyd, McKennie, Arriola and Pulisic were all subpar in receiving the ball and breaking the press. But Zardes was a complete zero. EDIT: Thought Lima was pretty okay as well.