I was not a fan of Klinsmann. Gregg Berhalter has all of Klinsmann's weaknesses, especially the absolute conviction that he is some kind of visionary genius about to revolutionize the USMNT, without Klinsmann's strengths. Gregg's "trust the system" has the same hollow ring as JK's "trust the process."
I agree — I think Wes is a nicely offensive 8 but making him the most forward CM is asking for a weaker offense. Even with his youth, I’d have rather seen Paxton. Or Lleget, though he doesn’t seem a 90 minute guy right now. Then again, I’m a guy who likes Pulisic in the 10 for this reason. Morales actually had a bunch of good opportunities, but his touch was terrible.
I think at some point after several coaches failing with this group we have to do the Occam's razor thing and start considering that our pool may be sub-par when compared to that of other Top 32 countries. It may still be our "best pool ever" (we cannot compare them directly with past generations), but in the world context, we may have been left behind somewhat.
Most of these players play professional, they should be able to play 1-touch. I know Sargent, Wes, Morales, Pulisic, Dest do it with their club teams. When you play 1-touch, one of two things should happen. 1-the receiver expects the ball at their feet 2- the sender sends the ball to an open space where the receiver should be going. That is a fundamental strategy in soccer. For these players did not know if a direct or a timing passed should be done is an indication they weren't told what to do in those situations. Is really part of soccer 101. Let me give you an example. Two vet players that never played together, they are in the same team. one expects this partner to cut across for a timing pass but the other wants the ball to be played through, this happens when they don't know what should be done. As a coach, you go over the different scenarios that the other team may do. If the opponent is going to press hard, you already have your players to change the formation on the fly, sometimes you don't even have to tell them, they will see it and adjust.
I'd consider a creative player as one who receives the ball under pressure, holds the ball, and completes passes of short, medium, and long length--all on a regular basis. I'd consider Boyd and Pulisic to be slashers--swish and dish to borrow a phrase from hoops. Basically, we didn't start any creative players. Lletget was the only one on the roster. And of course he subbed in to make the pass that set up the Morris pk.
To me, a good coach is not just one that can recruit top talent but a coach that makes his average players play above their weight class each and every time they step into the field. For me the best coach around is Diego Simeone because he always gets the most out of his players. Case in point, Diego Acosta is sold to another powerhouse and doesn't click, he goes back to Atletico Madrid and he kicks ass again. That to me is all on the coaching staff that knows how to work with players.
I'm not even sure Lletget is international level either. Without a creator, the talent of the likes of Pulisic, Weah, Sargent, and even McKennie (who loves his forays into the rival area) are going to be wasted.
I think when people throw around "this is our best pool" they're only looking at the U-23 crowd. That dead zone just above them really cancels out a lot of the younger talent though. Until that filters as the younger class age them out we are gonna struggle.
My experience this takes time. Some players break club habits more easily. If all US players from youth on had a "playground mentality" in common it would be easier. Instead they come from a variety of backgrounds.
I think Yuell and Paxton profile as creative. I am counting the slashers as creative as they will at least push the ball up the field.
I don't think slasher and creative are mutually exclusive. Pulisic is a creator when he gets the ball with a bit of space and an option or two. Sure he messes it up some and makes the wrong pass some, but as time goes on he appears to be seeing the right pass more and more. Nevertheless, if he gets the ball with three defenders on him and nobody making a run his only choice is attempt to dribble out (slash) or backpass.
3 mental errors. 3 Mexican goals. Goal 1: Chicharito left unmarked. Hi Wil Trapp, you're a liability. Poor positional awareness. Never leave a man open. Where was the help from McKennie? Goal 2: Terribly unwise pass from Zach Steffen. Goal 3: Poor positional awareness on the part of Aaron Long. Mexican's right winger got behind you. You should have dropped back into space. He beat your offside trap. These are fixable. The greater problem is the lack of midfield dominance. Wil Trapp isn't up to international standards. Bradley is past his sell-by date. We need a new defensive midfielder to partner with McKennie.
On goal #2, the accuracy of the pass is on Steffen. The decision is on Berhalter. There were way more issues on the other two goals.
This really puts it into perspective. What you are saying basically is that we have our best U23 team ever and one of our worst USMNT ever so we will play our U23's against other USMNT. Now, I am not saying that there was nothing else wrong the other night.... My big issues at this point are Trapp/Bradley and Zardes. To some extent I can see the reasoning for starting Trapp: who else has gotten time in that role? Starting Morales in an alternate role makes sense in some ways. Starting Zardes doesn't make any sense to me. He chases better than Sargent but that isn't really the main role of our center forward is it? I know a few have already touched upon it but I took Pulisic's deferral to Sargent on the PK as more a statement of confidence in Sargent to both Sargent and to Berhalter. One poster called it giving Berhalter the bird....I don't know if I would go that far. I know if I were in Berhalter's shoes I wouldn't take it that way. I didn't see it as a sign of weakness. If anything it was a sign of strength as a leader. A few positives that I took out of the other night: Dest: Offensively he looked good and mostly solid on defense. Sure he got megged and was largely at fault for the first goal but he is 18 and at this point in his career he has the potential to improve in 6ish months far more than any 27 year old old in that stretch of time. If our floor at left back is Lovitz and our ceiling is Dest's potential in 6-12 months I consider that a positive. Of course he is a dual national that hasn't made up his mind but I'm not going to worry about that...what happens happens. Morales: I haven't watched him other than a few times with the national team when he last played for us. the other night I thought he was a bright spot in a midfield that otherwise got overrun. He wasn't great but overall I thought he showed that he at least belongs in the 23. More time will tell exactly where he fits in. Pulisic: to me what stood out is that he is becoming less dependent upon his teammates to look good. He was probably one of the few players that you could pick out and say "yeah, he was good", as opposed to "yeah, he was one of our best players". Cannon: I thought Cannon was solid and played well. Long: see Cannon above. A couple of disappointments: Boyd: Based upon his first showing I still have hope for him but unlike Pulisic....playing basically the same position he was largely invisible. I was hoping for more. I'm not giving up on him but I was hoping for confirmation of his quality against Mexico. Sargent not starting....or at least getting into the game a bit earlier. Not being able to see Brooks (I know he was injured) Trapp: I actually thought he started off pretty well but he is still too weak in his areas of weakness and isn't good enough in his areas of strength to make up for it. Not really a disappointment from the game in that it wasn't something that we don't already know.
If McKennie is to blame on goal one, I think you really mean Berhalter. GGG had McKennie out pressing the highest on the field (above Zardes!). The fact that he's not back guarding Chicharito in the box I think has to therefore be excused.
I didn't see any replays that show it but where was Trapp? was he marking someone else? as the "6" isn't that the area of the field that he has a great deal of responsibility? Him or one of the CB's?
I would give Stefan a break. We've all seen what he's capable of when not constrained by a dictate to play out of the back. That's not his game at this point, nor is it, obviously, of Zimmerman and Long.
WTF90 was hanging out. Chicharito made a pretty flat run centrally right by him. I posted further up in the thread where Morales was the only player in the back 8 that didnt have anything he really could have done better. I think it was my first post in this thread. Video included.
BTW: Was I the only one who thought Pulisic had a bad game? Very ballhog-y. Didn't pick out runners, etc.
I also miss Chris Armas, heck, Danny Pena. Weston could be that tenacious DM we so desperately need, but something isn't clicking there.