This. It's a tune up, and hey, it didn't work. I give GGG a pass until after the first game against Guyana. FFS that has to be a win, wouldn't you agree Hang?
Shame on you, Timon, for your #content. Don’t you realize you have to be an active participant in relevant discussions? For shame!
It's a poor team, coached very badly. But this isn't surprising. This is what anyone who watched the last 5 years of Crew soccer should expect. My passion for the USMNT probably reached an all time low with the Berhalter hire. The only thing that could have made it worse was Berhalter and USSF pulling strings somehow nationalizing Federico Higuain, and throwing him into the team as our #10.
In some of the seedier corners of the interwebz (including the parts of BS where brain cells go to die) the USMNT coach is referred to as "Egg Fartsmeller" That is all.
I was speaking about this weekends game on my whats app group. There was a lot of talk about Berhalter being out of his depth or maybe not the right man for the job. There was the halftime interview where he looked like a deer in headlights, and the post match comments where he talked about sticking to his system, and a belief in his players. But, here's the main thing. This is really the first job that Berhalter has had where their are actual expectations. The USA, despite the last qualifying fiasco, is expected to be one of the top two teams in CONCACAF, if not the best team in CONCACAF. This is a long ways from being the a curiousity as an American coach of a mid table team in Norway. It's a long ways from being coach of the Columbus Crew, with a friendly media, and a supportive (if absentee) owner. In Columbus especially Berhalter could always rest safe knowing that he would get plaudits for doing more with less compared to some of MLS bigger markets and more well supported teams. This isn't the case anymore. Berhalter and the USA are the big fish here, and people rightfully expect them to play like it and deliver. And frankly, Berhalter is gonna need to get his head out of his ass quickly or he runs the risk of being completely exposed.
That the 3 Crew players, those most familiar with his style, tactics and preparations, were 3 of the worst performers vs Venezuela is troubling. This Gold Cup "run" is going to be...something.
I said something similar elsewhere this morning. Somebody was saying that Steffen and Trapp had no experience starting an attack from the back. Excuse me? They've done nothing BUT start the attacker from the back.for 2 or 3 years. If anything, they could rightfully claim to not be sure how to play any other way. Then there was the guy who said that Steffen isn't very good with his feet......
You could make an argument that Trapp has very little experience starting attacks from DM. He has lots of experience doing so as the center man in a back 3. This gets him on the ball with basically zero pressure. Now, when you ask him to do so 25 yards further up field, he struggles. As I've said elsewhere, he does not turn when under any pressure, doesn't have a quick burst of pace to create time and space. He can receive the ball from the a center back and play that same center back a one touch pass, one time it to the other center back or the goalkeeper. That's basically his entire game. It brings nothing to the buildup except retaining possession. Every u19 player in the country can do it too.
I think Trapp has a role with the national team, but it isn't as a starter for most games. I think his passing from the back can be useful when we are playing against Concacaf minnows who bunker all game. Games where we have had issues eeking out 1-0 wins or so. Against teams when we have to bunker or against evenly matched teams? I don't think he should start.
I'm getting to the point where I don't think he should start for The Crew. Seems you might be feeling the same way since, CONCACAF minnows tend to be USL level or below and MLS matchups tend to be evenly matched affairs. It's a lost spot on the field for us (both US and Crew) when he's there. Especially when playing DM solo rather than a double pivot.
I don't think you are too far off. I love Trapp the person, but it has been a while since Henry played the Crew and complimented Trapp's game. Maybe just a case of a guy being a bit stagnant while MLS' overall quality of play has improved.
Hey guys, does any of this sound familiar? https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/usa-vs-venezuela-june-9-2019.2104307/page-3#post-37857652
The Crew's best season under Berhalter occurred with Trapp playing a deep lying center back paired with #MBTT (the rich man's Vieira). Trapp organized, switched and supported while Tchani could recieve a short pass, turn and drive. He may have lacked some offensive punch too, but he could move the ball forward at speed, pull a defender or 2 and then square it to Pipa for some magic. No one has done that since Tchani left. Artur is much more defensively sound than Tchani, but brings Trapp level offensive production. Our pit of midfield despair continues. Trapp at the Nats level brings his MLS game. I don't know that he has anything else to offer.
I think Trapp us an above average MLS player in the double pivot role. He's been abysmal as a lone DM every time it's been attempted. If USMNT is not going to play two DMs than Trapp needs to watch from the sidelines.