I'm not sure that this team is better than our U-20. I'm not sure that Bradley would make that team, I'm sure Mihailovic wouldn't. We should start that scouring from our youths not called Mihailovic.
Zardes was soooo awful. Worst performance ever in a USA shirt by him. Bradley and trapp wont get the job done vs better teams. Wingers had a good night. Back four looks vulnerable. Real lack of bite and presence in central midfield. Best players dropping like flies.
Great phrase - commitment Boyd and Arriola were the only two that seemed to grab the game by the throat. I think we still have a leadership problem. Maybe make Boyd the captain and shake things up.
These silly formations 4-1-4-1 need to stop too. Stick with the tried and true. And if you are going to pull that, at least don’t make Bradley with his speed that holding midfielder. Might work with Adams though. GB needs to stop trying to be clever and stick with a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 (anything lore conventional to be honest)
Not nearly good enough. Way too many passengers out there. Mihalovic, Trapp, Long, Ream, and Zardes are simply not good enough. I am hoping it’s temporary with Long but he was terrible. Bradley is past it, Mckennie was very good and average depending on the moment. Boyd was excellent Arriola did some good things, Pulisic got frustrated after 20/30 minutes and was less effective. I honestly didn’t think I would sour on GGG this quickly, but I have. His personnel selections (No Sargent), insistence on forcing unsuitable players on the field and his addiction to Brapp, are serious issues for me. What a shit show. Glad we won though. A better team would have crushed us.
I will withhold final opinion about this match until I hear about McKennie's health (he says "I'm ok, it was just a little cramp") but my first impression is "unsatisfying, but they managed to beat up on lesser opposition when they played simply and directly." I hope Berhalter took note.
The fact that Boyd looked very good is sadly, ironic evidence of the poor condition of our current talent pool. He's a mid-level pro in a mid-level Euro league yet he stands out in a US shirt....ouch.
Jozy went 90 his last two games at TFC. I don't think he is unfit. Maybe GB thought he could beat the worst team in the tourney without him.
Exactly. He’s been loaned out by a Portuguese club (that isn’t Porto or Ben fica) to a Turkish one. The fact that he looked that much above the fray is concerning.
Boyd was good but the guy could have scored 5 without any special finishing. He had two clean shots inside the box that he did not get on frame.
Good enough. If either of Pulisic or Boys had scored just one of the two golden chances from the 1st half, this is a Mexico-Cuba whoopin.
In regards to Mckennie and the injury. Maurice Edu touched on it. Mckennie needs to start deeper. That way he is not required to make 80 yard recovery runs which puts an enormous amount of stress on his hammys with his style of play. Casualty of the system
Good news: #usmnt manager Gregg Berhalter says that Weston McKennie “should be okay” and that he had “a little bit of a cramp.”— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) June 19, 2019
The guy scored a goal and honestly should have had two assists in the first half alone. People are going too far.
Below Expectation. This was a chance to "get well" and we made 5th division players look fine against us. Worrisome, but take the 3 points. T&T game will tell more. Boyd is a nice addition. Thank you Kiwis. The whole backline was mediocre. Meh Bradley was bad. McKennie made a couple nice plays. Then he goes lame. Great. Pulisic needed to see more ball. When he had it he toyed with these guys easily. Not sure who to blame for him not seeing the ball more. Arriola overall was a positive, though he's limited. Jar Jar Gyasi strikes again. This guy.
I expect Boyd to be good vs this level of opponent as hes a decent player that is playing in his natural role. I agree he was a bit wasteful early on when it was still competitive. I think hes a decent finisher but may lack composure. Which makes sense because hes a winger not a striker. I want to see how he fares vs fullbacks with higher fitness levels and recovery pace.
He set up Pulisic and Boyd with great chances in the box multiple times. I wouldn't even have brought him but to act like he didn't do those positive things is unfair.
He scored a goal by accident and the two assists he should have had only became possible assists because he ********ed up his first touch so badly that he blew his own scoring opportunity. He should have been walking off the field with the match ball, counting his goals to 5 like he's Alex Morgan. But he wasn't, entirely because his first touch is so atrocious
We've seen plenty of good-better-best players careers cut short due to injury, chronic or otherwise, issues over the decades. Comes with the athletic territory. Hope that isn't the case with McKennie.