That’s always been an issue to an extent, but it’s been a while since it was this obvious and glaring
They are purposefully calling in DMs and leaving off attackers for U20 or lack of playing time who might supply what you want. Defense is the empty cupboard issue. Offense is selection. You bring in Sargent, Green, Weah, Wood, etc., 180 degree turn would happen.
I want pointed questions that make him confront truths that appear very obvious to outside observers but seem to completely escape him.
Reposting from the PbP thread, but these quotes about changes for the Rapids post-Hudson feel very apt right now to me: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/06/...re-by-finding-treasure-in-their-own-backyard/
The only thing worse than the USMNT was Holden's commentary. All I can say is this was my first game to watch since Couva and lol...I think I'm good missing another 18 months.
According to the FIFA site I just visited, Guyana is ranked 175 in the world....ahead of such as Aruba but behind such as Vanuatu... On home soil, with our "A" team, I expect us to win 8-0. Then no matter what happens afterwards, there will be those who argue GB has cover through the tournament. By the way, Panama is 74 and TnT is 93. If we are well prepared, this group round should be a straightforward series of training sessions. ..... But, at this moment, my confidence has been shellacked into little bitty pieces.
World class teams with a deep talent pool can stress system first- I guess we know we aren't world class now...
My words would "be slow of foot, and slow of thought." We have some talent, but they can't figure out what to do, fast/quick enough.
The only direct comments that Holden made were advocating for Altidore and Bradley, with him stating that the are ahead of competition (currently Zardes and Trapp). He's right about Altidore. Bradley, of course, should be behind Tyler Adams, but I think he's still clearly in the picture. Other than that, disappointingly few direct statements from the Fox commentary team. I did appreciate Donovan's harsh statements at halftime.
How hard would it have been to have had a 23 of... GK Horvath, Steffen, Guzan RB Chandler, Cannon/Lima (Yedlin out injured) CB Miazga, Carter-Vickers, Zimmerman, M.Robinson/Alvarado (Brooks out injured) LB Johnson (Lima if Fabian isn’t healthy), A.Robinson DM Adams (CPT), Morales MF McKennie, Pulisic, Holmes, Pomykal RW Boyd, Wooten FW Sargent, Soto LW Weah, Amon Alternates: Arriola, Altidore, Nagbe, Canouse, Mendez, Gloster, Dest, Alvarado, Richards Weah——Sargent——-Boyd —————Pulisic————— ——McKennie—-Adams——- Johnson——————-Chandler ———Miazga—CCV————- —————-Horvath—————
Pretty sure Chandler and Johnson are done with the US (if not officially), and running out with two unproven teenagers as strikers isn't smart (Jozy can still definitely do a job), but otherwise that's a much, much better squad than what we're going into this tournament with.
If Berater hadn't sold himself as a genius, whose Syst Fox is stuck with the GC telecasts and can't afford to trash its own product ahead of the tournament. It will be mordantly amusing when Holden goes through the Kubler-Ross five stages of grief over the course of the tournament.
Our problems keep mounting. At the very least, you can pick the players who are in the best form or have a real chance to step up a level in club competition. I see none of this happening. This system is completely whack and is over relying on fullback play we don't have. A completely shocking matchup between Long and Rondon today. The gap between those two was significant. Miazga didn't do Long any favors a couple times to be fair. Another Lovitz for Ream substitution...why? That literally makes no impact on the game. LB is essentially dead space in this setup. Seeing Jozy look so immobile... I don't know, he looks a little like Cameron did once he visibly dropped a gear. It's really noticeable. Doesn't not mean he isn't useful but I really question his longevity and I haven't seen how his aerial ability is. There is enough talent in CM that it should be an area of strength, but somehow it's been an insane liability. Where was Trapp when Miazga overstepped to that throw in? Why is Roldan starting at #10 over Holmes? Does Warshaw and Doyle just not want to see hype players succeed? Overall, I am most concerned about our wing play. We literally have next to nothing at the wings. Pulisic might need to play our there or we switch to a 4-2-3-1 with three attacking midfielders.
Some random critical thoughts: --I've been a quasi-defender of Trapp, trying to make the case that he's not as bad as people were claiming and did offer something with his passing. I think I'm done with that. Not only did he not hit any higher degree of difficulty diagonals or through balls, he routinely screwed up what should have been simple passes. I might honestly prefer Bradley there, but really just stop the nonsense and play Adams as the #6. --Compounding the lack of distribution from Trapp is the fact that when Brooks isn't there, the distribution from the backline is quite mediocre. --I'm not sure what the role of the RB is at this point. I thought the idea was to have an underlapping RB that allowed the US to have a numerical advantage in the center of midfield. Lima was barely involved in that area of the field, but he did send in a couple good crosses when seemingly pushing forward and overlapping on the outside. So what's going on? Reaching for some random positive thoughts: --Boyd looks promising...certainly seems like he could more useful than Arriola. --Altidore got a lot more involved than Zardes and seemed to pull the Venezuela defense out of their preferred shape a bit to open up space for US attackers. If we get Pulisic in there running off of Altidore rather than Arriola and Roldan, some goals will happen.
I think I'll head over to the Will You Watch the Women's World Cup? thread, to say you need to if you want to watch a senior US National Team playing actual soccer. Holmes and Boyd have to wonder at WTF they got themselves into...
I was already saying this but I think a team with any cajones would end it tonight. Do you really think it gets better than this with 2-3 more guys? That team wasn’t playing for him.