i'm pretty confident that if we told both adams and McKennie that they had to have 90% passing, they'd accomplish this pretty easily by back and side passing at every opportunity. Intead, I think that their teams want them to push forward at the risk of 5% lower pass completion. The analysis of pass completion is only of interest in conjunction with how many advanced passes (AND dribbles) the player has. Having watched a lot of Bradley play, he is a guy whose passing is rarely incisive in an attacking sense nor is he one to unlock an opponent's compact defense. The vast majority of his passes are simple passes to an open but unthreatening teammate, who frequently passes it back to Michael. Given his defensive limitations, I think it's smart for him not to take any risks. Conversely, Adams and McKennie can turn the ball over and win it right back (which both seem to do with relish).
I think its risk vs reward. That is the nature of a possession system. It's a balance between taking risks to make a line splitting pass and not wasting possession. Bradley does what you are saying because he is playing a role where he is supposed to keep possession. The same complaints have been made of Jorghino and Xavi in the past. But yes- one can be too conservative and err on the side of not losing the ball and lose transition opportunities. My take is that Adams can do either. He can and does balance that.. and Liepzig plays a style where they encourage risk and long balls because they want to counter press that pass. So he his 85% is actually relatively high. When I've watched McKennie play for club and country he struggles with that balance. Hence Adams average 84% and McKennie averaging about 80%. He is a risk taker by personality. Pomykal is averaging just under 84% for example.. which fits around that normal number 8 number. McKennie's is unusually low. If I had to choose two 8's today they would be Pomykal and Adams. I can't think of a player who averages that low. They have gone up with his new coach. He averaged 68% last year.
I think it's pretty clear he doesn't. There's a reason he keeps putting Weston at the 10 -- and I think a lot of it is in anticipation of a Yeuill-Adams-McKennie midfield. I'm not in love with the attachment to the regista ... but I don't think it comes at a cost to PT to Adams or McKennie anytime soon.
I really don't either. I just think it comes at the sacrifice of making them all play in awkward positions that fail to maximize their strengths and as long as we play that specific player type he wants, we're looking at sitting guys to facilitate a lesser player of this specific type since we don't have anyone who plays hat roll of real quality. I'd actually defend the idea that sometimes you need a specific type of player. I just think this specific type of player is a poor for for the US. Admittedly, if he is going to roll with one of these guys, Yueill has looked better than Trapp or Bradley, mostly because he brings more intensity and bite to the spot. They are all too slow to move the ball and too casual back there for me.
I think it's also who you rate. I don't see McKennie as a must starter. His only real quality trait is as a ball winner. We don't need two of those besides a 6 and Adams offers more. I like his athleticism, fight, and intensity.. but he's just doesn't seem to have the mental side of the game. He's a young player- that can change. But his production for club and country has been pretty sub par. He's some type of mix of Jermaine Jones and Jonathan Spector for me right now. Maybe he makes a full transition to CB- and its problem solved... People seem to get really adamant about leagues. But I think some flexibility needs to exist there. I would rather a Pomykal or Ledezma in there. Now if its a choice of McKennie and Adams and guys like Roldan, LLegett- sure. We just accept the warts... just like we do with Roldan or Llegett. But by the end of 2020... I don't think those are going to be the choices.
Sigh. The concept that Pomykal or Ledesma are better than Weston right now is simply beyond the pale and I have high hopes for Paxton and richie
if you watch his play for Schalke, he is a high impact player at the major league level. He’s disruptive, covers an amazing amount of ground and is a reliable defender. He is an absolute beast aerially and brings tremendous fire as well. He has the ability to turn with the ball in transition and make incisive passes against top level competition. A young Jermaine Jones is a good description and Jones was one of best midfielder in USMNT history. He’s a deserved auto starter for a team contending for UCL and one who can be moved to various positions if necessary. MLS fans here are simply too much when they think Paxton Pomykal is as good as Weston. We have no idea if Paxton can handle the higher speeds of the game - he’s completely untested. there’s this overwhelming complex to say that major league players aren’t better than minor league players. It does happen but I am unaware of any Alphonso Davies lurking in MLS right now unfortunately.
At the end of the day, I think the talent forces him to Adams in the back. I don't think Berhalter is such a idealogue that Adams or McKennie would go to the bench over a Yeuill. But that will require someone seizing the third midfield spot from Yeuill/Bradley. I think he will try the three of them together.
@Pragidealist Weston would be very well suited to playing alongside Adams in the RBL style. Extremely well suited. Here's Tyler Adam's description of the philosophy that has catapulted them from Germany's fifth division to contending for the B1 crown within 10 years: "High-pressure soccer" is how the American midfielder Tyler Adams, who was transferred from MLS' New York Red Bulls to Leipzig in January 2019, describes it. "After winning the ball back," he says, "we want only a certain number of seconds to get to the goal and create as many chances as possible. That's how we play. We're all just a bunch of young guys running around on the pitch."
If they played a complete RBL style - yes. But the don't. They will press but the scheme of RBL is very different than what the US did all year. I have trouble seeing it McKennie in any form of possession. Against really good teams or even teams like Mexico in must win games... where they anticipate spending most of their time without the ball, playing more direct, and focusing on the press... then I agree. In games where they want to own the ball more (which is what they want to develop more and more towards)- I have hard time seeing both of them playing together. Jermaine Jones was horrible for the US in any game where we needed possession. He was wasteful - trying to make the killer ball, crazy outside shot, every time he touched the ball. McKennie is much the same. I don't, personally, even like it against top teams. I think pro sports is all about efficiency of opportunities. Whether you talk about basketball shooting percentage, football qb rating, baseball with batting averages or soccer with expected goals-- the very best are defined by their efficiency with whatever opportunity they get. McKenniee and JJ are volume shooters. They can and will make a crazy pass, or crazy shot.... but they took 10 to get that one. When we go up against teams as deep underdogs.. you kind of accept that. Because - you need a player to make one special play and you hope that that game is your lucky game. That he takes 10 shots to get that one special one but hopefully he gets that one in THIS game against THIS opponent. The France game was a good example. The US were out shot 19 to 2. We had 1 goal on target all game and they had 8. For his club Weston Mckennie is .1 shots on target per 90. But he made that one shot against France and we some how tied. But that high defensive, lucky play is what I really, really hope the US grows out of. I want them to win games by being better than the other teams not always playing for the lucky shot. To me.. Mckennie is still that player for the US. If he plays every game after Adams is healthy... I think we'll still be hoping for magic instead of expecting it. If that makes any sense.
I'm not sure if you are asking me or the other poster, but I'll respond. I don't think he's a must-start in any principled sense. But I think that in virtually any configuration of the team, he's a player whose performance dictates he's on the field versus the other options. McKennie's athleticism, size and skill puts him at a strong intersection as an all-around midfielder. I've been as critical of some of his mental lapses as any, but he has capabilities most of our other options do not. Where a player like Yeuill, who has great passing vision and an incredible work rate, with top out and fail against better opposition purely on size and athleticism, we don't have that issue with McKennie. He isn't going to get bullied or outrun by many people -- and much less than a Bradley, Yeuill, or other, less physicall gifted option. So yes, I will take a lapse or two in place of simply being overrun versus better opposition. Especially if Adams is going to be playing to help pick him up in those situations. Offensively, he brings a few things to the table. One, he's got very good vision and has a knack for the pass that opens up the defense. There's no doubt he's aggressive here and gets more turnovers than most, but he also unlocks more offense, and we need that more. McKennie had 5g and 4a in 9 competititive matches this year. And while 4 of those were in one match against Cuba, he still had 2g and 2a in the Gold Cup. He's been surprisingly productive with the US, and our offense would be much worse without his through balls. He also can make the long diagonal. The other thing he brings, which I value a lot, is the ability to take the ball in the midfield, turn, make someone miss, and drive forward. A Yeuill or Bradley can't do that at all. The lack of 1:1 ability in the midfield makes us very easy to defend. This is partly why Roldan kills us. Between the passes and the dribbling and his late runs, I think McKennie is someone the opposition starts to have to gameplan for -- making changes that open up other opportunities as well. I don't think anyone gameplans for Yeuill, Bradley or Roldan at this point. I don't think he should be playing quite as far forward as Berhalter puts him at times. And yes, he isn't as good at the one touch passes. And there's a lapse or two. But what he brings to the table is so much above the current replacements. If Pomykal AND another player can bring the offensive/defensive combo I describe, then sure, McKennie playing might become a question mark. But Pomykal still needs to show it at an international level -- I love the dude, but no one would guess Weston was mistake prone from his play at Schalke, for example, where he is much more solid in a simpler role. Or maybe Paxton gets absolutely steamrolled by larger midfielders in CONCACAF, where the officials look the other way. Who knows? And then we need another on top of that. Because I'd much rather have Adams as my CDM and play McKennie, than play any of our more traditional registas and bench McKennie.
What games did we lose against minnows where Jones’ wastefulness was complicit? Wes’ play forms Halle isn’t a 1/10 bank shot and neither was jones. Their athleticism allows them to patrol and compete/own the middle third. You care about aesthetics - that’s abundantly clear - and a guy who’s a “tank” battler doesn’t do it for you as you want a Latin flair. Conversely, I just want to win
Guys he has played specific types of players in the roles of Bradley, Trapp, and Yueill. He may play Adams there. As I've said many times, I think constrains his talent but the player pool may require it. If he does that- then Adams and Mckennie can play together. In no way do I ever see McKennie playing in the Bradley, Trap, Yueill role. To say so- completely ignores the importance, significance and most importantly the consistency in which Berhalter has included it. When he talks about position profiles- that number 6 is just not something that suits McKennie. IF - as I suspect- Adams is too talented to be constrained to the 6 role... as Lampard says Kante is... then, in that scenario they don't fit together. I'll use Herb Brooks from Miracle again- "I'm not trying to pick the best players. I'm trying to pick the right ones." It seems everyone is stuck on picking the "best ones" and the idea of picking the "right ones" is just too foreign. Now Adams may very well play in that deep 6 role. We'll see. It is definitely not the same role as he plays for RBL. It asks different things of him that isn't asked of him at his club. I will be interested to see it. I do not doubt that Adams as the talent to play it. I do wonder if he has enough experience and the patient mentality to play it well. But I would be excited to see him try it. All these things of work rate, defensive interceptions, tackling, aerial ability - even propensity for long risky passes- all suit a different style of play. As everything seems to with Berhalter- it all comes down to if you want to see it, expect to see, even understand what it takes. The fans I disagree with the most and most regularly are those that simply don't - in all three.
I don't think Wes is a possession midfielder, but I also think that putting him out there with Adams, Pomykal, Dest, etc., is going to look a lot better than trying to make him carry Roldan and Yedlin, both of whom are really not suited to a possession game.
Key passes Stats comparison: Mckennie - .4 Adams - 1 Bradley - .8 Jorginho- .8 Busquets - .7 Fabinho- .8 Pulisic - 1.4 Kante- 1.2 Adams is the closest to Kante in key passes and in passing percentage. It's the best comparison imo.
Completely agree with that. He looked 180 degrees better next to Yuiell and Llegett than in front of Roldan. Roldan was definitely a problem last year. I hope we're done seeing him in any competitive games.
I used to think Wes would be the best alternate option for the regista role, or whatever you'd like to call it. He absolutely has the passing for it in terms of passes in his bag. But right now, I don't think his mental settings are there, so to speak. He's much more like that at Schalke, but he has better release valves to pass away to. He's probably a bit too aggressive and a bit too mistake prone. Perhaps that changes as he ages So on one hand, I agree with you there. On the other, I don't view Berhalter as locked into the role as you do. I agree that he's very committed to it now -- he made some assessments of the pool, and aligned that with his/Earnie's preferred style of play and came up with the few things he's rarely walked from. Included in that are a regista-type and having a more stay-at-home left back (which he has walked from twice, I believe). That said, I think those decisions were made in context of the player pool. And as much as Berhalter values the system and knowing it, I think he will alter certain aspects of the system fairly freely for the right talent upgrade. He's not going to abandon certain elements of possession. And he's not changing things for smaller upgrades. But I think if a Pomykal or other central mid breaks through, I just don't see him putting McKennie on the bench to maintain a regista in the long run if he can move possession another way. At least not for Bradley and Yeuill. And he can, especially with Dest at RB. I think that's a huge unlock. In the Herb Brooks parlance ... I don't think there's this dichotomy of "right ones" versus "best ones." I think it's always about trade-offs -- the best overall player may not product as well as the right one in the role needed ... but maybe even with the role conflict, they do? Or maybe the roles can be adjusted some, for the right amount of talent. Right now for me, I think McKennie is going to fall down that his talent will make him the preferred option over someone more suited to the preferred roles because the talent gap is big. If the gap gets smaller, I may feel differently.
I think this one he is locked into. As I have said previously almost all of the top teams use one and he's used one in every game he's coached that I am aware back to his MLS days. I just see it as consistent as just about any role he has put out there.