Pre-match: USA vs Jamaica -- Gold Cup Semi-Finals Wed 7/1

Last time we played them as a friendly game with a B team...This time we got a "A" team, so hopefully we'll beat them at home

 

That is what I am seeing too. Can the US lose this game?... Obviously... but we should still be the favorites. That is why a loss would hurt so much. The TnT debacle has us all waiting for the next miserable performance... and it has the MNT playing tight. That is probably Jamaica's best weapon... they seem to be having fun out there. It also doesn't hurt their cause that they embarrassed us on our home soil less than a month ago. Last night I saw a team playing very scared in the 2nd half.... but it was the atrocious passes that made me want to puke. Caracao has a lot more talent than people want to give them credit for... the vast majority of their players came up thru a very good youth program in the Netherlands and they have quite a few players on top-level euro teams. But the US still had the players to kill them... they just laid a dud... especially in the 2nd half. I am not sure that Jamaica is all that better than Curacao... but those boys are playing lose and with confidence. It is time for our boys to step up and play a quality 90 minutes. If they do... then I see a win. Play scared and fail to make passes in the mid-field like a MLS Team and they will be out w/ yet another black eye.

 

Both of those issues, which I agree with, center around Mr Bradley. This team would be significantly stronger if Adams were healthy and playing there instead of MB. Add Yedlin for Ream, switching Lima to LB and that’s another improvement.

With personnel available a formation change with more of a focus on central MF domination and less on high flank play for Zardes sitters would be a welcome tactical flex. It would probably result in more than the 3-5 shots on goal we’ve been seeing.

 

The loss of Adams was a big blow to this team... but your moves only make sense with almost any other coach in the world. But we have GB... and Adams would be replacing Lima... and perhaps Lima could then replace Ream. We would still have Bradley as D-Midfield... and as we have seen... it is a total hit/miss prospect. He has played OK in a couple of games... but was atrocious last night against Curacao. Furthermore, I am not at all convinced that Adams at this hybrid RB position might not end up hurting us more due to breakdowns/counter-attacks. IMO, Adams is pound-for-pound, our best player... so having him on the field, even in this stupid position, may still be better.... just gotta hope that GB comes to his senses in the near future and puts him where he belongs. I am not holding my breath.

 

We have those kinds of players as good as we have ever had. Berhalter just decided to ignore them in favor of "The System tm" and building around Bradley/Trapp.

Adams, Morales, Williams, and Canouse are all proven ball-winners. Bedoya led us in tackles at WC2014 and was 2nd in tackles at Copa 2016 if you prefer a more experienced CM leader.

 

We can only hope that Adams kills it in the bundesliga this year making it glaringly obvious even to GGG that he must play there. That or eventually Bradley will break and force GGGs hand.

 

Would Adams' winning the Ballon d'Or make this any more obvious?

 

"Yes, he won the Ballon d'Or ... but Wil Trapp was US Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year. So it's really six of one, half a dozen of the other."

 

https://www.football-lineups.com/footballer/44496/

Last started a match in December. Injured his knee. Two brief cups of coffee as a late-game sub, once in March and once in April.

I was a fan of his and thought he deserved more chances under prior coaches. Wish him well.

 

It's going to be a close game. If CONCACAF wants their USA-Mexico badly enough, I'd expect some shenanigans in both semis.

 

Can't play together? Gotta blame the manager. They have been together for an f-ing month. What happens in qualifiers when Egg has only a week to prep? Gotta fire this clown.

 

Nepotism. Brother aint firing brother. We're stuck with the egg headed clown.

 

You are correct, we don't have Pirlo so I guess we have no choice, we have to play "The System tm".

Of course we have never had Pirlo and neither has any other country not named Italy. How did we ever manage all these decades without "The System tm" which has us looking disorganized, unsure, and which leaves us wide open in the center of the pitch with zero pressure on the ball?

It is fine to say that you support the choices that GB made as far as style, tactics, and personnel. Let's not pretend that there aren't other choices which could have served us much better.

 

Lets add the context that when he came back from injury Huddersfield was essentially relegated and so had no incentive to play DWill who was on an expiring contract and not a candidate to go back down with them.

 

Their keeper is way faster than Ream/Bradley/Trapp as well.

 

Tear phone books together?

 

Jamaica has started the same back 4 every match so far. But one of the CBs, Lowe, is suspended against us.

Looks like Jamaican CB depth is very poor (next up looks to be a 19 year old USL player, can't believe they'd throw him in here), so I think they are going to have to move Hector to CB. Hector is a much better player than Lowe, but it still is breaking up the chemistry that they were obviously trying to build starting the same back 4 every game.

If Hector does go to CB, my guess (I don't know much about Jamaica, just going by what they've run the past 4 matches), is they will bring Devon Williams into the midfield pairing with Je-Vaughn Watson.

So, that's a CB pairing that haven't played together (at least not recently) behind two USL midfielders. If Bradley/McKennie/Pulisic can't put a couple in then I don't know...

 

I presumed that we'd "put a couple in" against Curacao too, and look where that got us.

Berhalter can't get his team to play consistently to save his life. One game we press, the other we sit back. One game he makes a ton of adjustments, against Curacao he makes none.

We've played a single good half under Gregg Berhalter in 4 competitive games, against Panama B, Trinidad, Guyana, and Curacao.

It's almost funny how pathetic that is.

 

We have yet to give up a goal in the gold cup after 4 games. The problem isn't the team not playing well together. One gentleman suggested we wait for McKennie to become the next Lothar Matthaus and pretend Adams is not injured and we kill the other team. That is a sarcastic interpretation of his comments but the point is to say we can't "wait" for a team to appear. We have a game in two days.

doyle says move Pulisic to left wing, pull Arriola off and that will leave a space at the 10 for a mid (he is aiming for Pomykal). The thing is that Pulisic and Arriola make a good tandem. TSS pointed out that Pulisic's ability to make the move that led to the winning goal v. CUW was made possible by Arriola and Ream and Pulisic all working together.

 

The US should rightly be favored to win at home. We got some "home cooking" with the very late and very cynical suspension of Lowe. I think we see our best performance of the GC in a 2-0 win.

 

OK, so fire Jay, then fire Egg. Get rid of 2 problems. Other than getting his little bro a primo job, Jay makes $800K/year doing what, exactly?

 

Gregg Berhalter, basically: