Bolivia was terrible. Pulisic should have been subbed at 46 minutes. Weah, Rubin, Sargent, McKennie, Robinson, Zimmerman impressed. We have a LB in Robinson...my big take away. Sargent is just a great target striker. Big future for him. Weah is still raw but very good. McKennie is a bulldog. Man have we missed that. Corona....why? I want to see more of Parks...he showed some great skill and his passes/touches are super clean. Green was sort of just ball hogging since no one was putting pressure on him. He also looks like he is 35 years old. Gooch.... wasted spot. Novakovich looks promising. Needs a start.
Hard to know what to take away from a game against a terrible and uninterested side. Pulisic is tired. McKinnie always plays hard. Sargent gets into good positions. Rubin looked great, but lots of people can look great with no pressure. Definitely want to see more Robinson. Is Ireland bringing their A roster?
Good - Robinson, Weah, Green Bad - Pulisic, Gooch Ugly - Imagining McKennie being sent off in a game that matters
The team didn't look like it was actually coached leading up to kick off. Saw some individual talent out there but there was no tactical cohesion. I often wonder what goes on in US camps.
He reminded me a bit of a young Bradley in that Bradley also went hard no matter whether the challenge or game mattered.
Bolivia was a pub team, so I really can't take much from this game. McKennie was excellent, best player on the field. He was everywhere. He was too loose with fouls in this match, but thats what happens when the referee doesn't want to give out cards in a friendly. Pulisic needs to pick up his play. He's been really bad (for what you'd expect) the last half year. Everyone else is tired at the end of a long season. I don't know why excuses are made for him. The "put your feet up" line from the announcer was so unbelievably cringeworthy, as if he's some messiah. Defense wasn't tested. I don't even think Bono had a save to make, so you can't really judge much about the keeper and defense, but the lack of opportunities is partly due to their play. Rubin had a good first half, I liked Robinson's play going forward. Parks made a lot of good decisions with the ball in his brief appearance. Sargent was better than Weah. He looked like he belonged with the professionals on the field. He combined well, held the ball up, and took his goal well. Weah took his goal well, but he wasn't very involved in the game outside of the first ten minutes. Even then, he was "involved", but didn't make good plays. He's not yet ready to play for the NT. I also don't think it helps that he played out of position.
I have to agree. Sitting in the stands, i saw lots of skill, bit no gameplan. That's coaching ... or lack thereof. Secondly, Pulisic was like our 7th or 8th beat player out there today. Take that as you will.
Seriously? I thought it was the most entertaining soccer we have played in a long time. I don't give a crap if it was Bolivia. You still have to get it done. And they did across the board. And these kids have played very little together and they looked quite good. I believe that had a very good camp and credit to Coach Dave. No I don't want to see him long term. But good grief what the heck were some of you looking for?
So if they played an actual pub team and all the attacks were dumping the ball to the corner and scoring on crosses and we won 10-0, you'd be pleased with that?
Agreed. So with that in mind, I still see burn out on CP. McK loves his role. Weah really coming. Sargent!! We have a lot of options at the back. Our goalie could have come for a few balls that came thru. I wanted to see Parks, did and I see the potential. I don't wanna knock too much, but it won't be this easy against France. This group in 4 yrs is gonna make noise.
I don't understand it either. Watching this game, I was asking myself is the Trinidad team any better than this Bolivia team. And obviously neither team is good, but a group of players that had some players with 0-5 professional appearances completely dominated Bolivia. I don't know what more you can ask of what we saw from this match. There are a lot of younger players on this team. They just aren't consistent enough. Many of these players aren't yet good enough to play for the best 23. For what Sarachan has had to work with, he's done a better job the last six months than what we saw last cycle from Klinsmann or Arena. I don't understand this insistence to think that a resume is all that matters for a NT coach. Klinsmann got the USMNT job because he's a famous former player, he lived in the USA and had some pro coaching experience. Arena got the US coaching job because he did well in the past with the USMNT and was available to coach. It looked like he might've been fired by LAG if he didn't assume the US job. I wouldn't say Sarchan is any less qualified for the USMNT job right now than either of those two were for the US job. Thats not to say he should definitely get the job, but results matter. He's done well, and should be in contention. Undefeated in four, only allowed one goal.
Well... I guess you can only beat the team in front of you. Would have liked to see these kids vs. a tougher foe.
We'll find out a lot more next game. The real question is who played well enough to justify traveling across the pond. Can only play the opponent in front of you and it should be mostly merit-based. Pulisic should be rested next match. Played the first half of the final friendly. And then bubble wrap him for the rest of the offseason. He played too much today given form and over-extension.
Stock up/down take... Stock up: --Weah: He looked raw and wasted some opportunities, but was constantly making stuff happen. I also liked his determination to stay in the game after his injury scare. You could tell he really wanted to make an impression. --Sargent: Is a bit more polished than Weah, but also raw. Looks like he has the potential to be the real deal as an all-around forward. That touch on his goal... --Rubin: I know his club track record has been uneven (to say the least), but these past couple caps with the USMNT, he's looked consistently skillful and creative. --Zimmerman: I wasn't happy about him getting the call-up or the start, but he was rock solid defensively and scored a nice goal. --Robinson: Some bad positioning and some bad decisions with the ball, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. Great assist on the Weah goal and excellent speed to snuff out some dangerous chances for Bolivia. --Green: Definitely lively after coming on, maybe a bit too ambitious/selfish in the final third, but I thought he was good playing a little deeper and contributing to the build-up. Parks: Pretty much the same as Green Hold: --Pulisic: Looked a bit tired, and his touch wasn't clean all night --McKennie: Not sure he's best suited as a 6. I feel like he's better covering a wider range in a more dynamic role. Did remind me of Jones at times with the corn rows and scything tackles. --Lichaj: Didn't have that much to do defensively. Was a bit off on some passes, but seemed to be there to provide some veteran presence. --EPB: Not much to do and clearly let Zimmerman be the more assertive CB. --Novakovich: Didn't get much service in dangerous areas, but worked hard. I didn't like that he seemed a bit whiny about not getting the ball. --Bono: Not much to do and a bit shaky on clearances, but was sure-handed the couple times he had to make saves. --Villafana: Only got a couple minutes at LM Stock down: --Corona: On a night when he should have stood out as one of the most experienced players, he was totally anonymous. --Olosunde: Maybe a bit harsh, but out of all the "kids," I thought he was the shakiest. --Gooch: When you're definitely a bubble guy and all these other guys looking to make their mark, you have to take your chance when it comes to you, and he flubbed it.
I feel like people want to hate certain players just for the sake of it. Weah was instrumental because of his movement. As soon as he and Sarge went off,,,, we scored no more. The combination play between the 2 was very good. We desperately need wingers. I dont get playing Puli centrally in a 4141. Our best winger. I thought Green looked more serviceable in the cm role. Back to Weah. Having him out there provided a constant outlet. I really dont get what some of our fans see. I really dont.
Very good analysis... I’ll say it’s a bit harsh on Corona. I’m not sold on the guy, but he did what I expected him to do... circulate the ball and work hard. Basically, he’s a Alejandro Bedoya type player. I think he showed that level tonight... which is nothing to be excited about, but sometimes every team benefits by having a Bedoya player on their team who will work hard and not stand out too much, either bad or good.
I thought Keaton was excellent. He surprised Pulisic a few times when he got the ball to him so quickly and effortlessly. Overall the team was only alright, and looked good because they were playing a really bad team. Of the really young guys: -Sargent was really good. It might take him a few months to get back into the USMNT setup, but he'll stay in it for the next 10 years. His playstyle is always consistent. -Weah was exciting, although selfish and wasteful a few times. His decisions remind me of a lot of guys that come from Ligue 1 to England and make decisions that just baffle you. However, he's too good going forward off the ball to ignore, and it's not like we have many other good options on the wings. -I think a lot of people were overrating Robinson's performance here and a lot of the stuff he did would have been exposed against better opposition, but it was more of an off night than an indictment of his talent. A lot of him being out of position and some long touches are fixable, and he reminds me a lot of young Yedlin in that facet. He's also a much better passer, crosser, and dribbler than Yedlin already. -Pulisic was atrocious, especially in the first half. The amount of times he tried to heroball and failed was hard to watch. Can't wait to watch him in 2 months when he stops pressing so hard. -McKennie, although less prettily, does his job. I don't know if he'll ever lose his clumsiness, but I do hope the team itself gets more coordinated so Weston doesn't have to slide tackle north of 10 times every game. Aside from that, love the kid. -Again, Keaton was excellent. Such a pleasure to watch on and off the ball. I hope he starts every game for the next decade. A lot of the somewhat young guys I really liked, too. Rubin looked good, as did Green. Never been a fan of Gooch. EPB wasn't noticeable. Zimmerman good. Overall, happy enough. Onto Ireland we go.
I know some people want to discredit this because it was a bad Bolivia team, but I've seen better teams struggle against bad teams too (both the A team and teams from January camps) Sure not a good opponent but a nice way to get kids a look. Gooch and Green IMO looked way to selfish out there and weren't really working with the team, especially with Novakovich doing a good job of dropping into open space. I'd say McKennie, Robinson, Zimmerman, Weah, and Rubin all looked very good and I'd like to see more of Novakovich, and Parks for sure.