The first goal he was hedging towards the upfield Madrid player, the goal scorer was not his responsibility given that the right back was over there covering. That being said, the second goal was shockingly poor from Musah, like the kid may never again see the field poor from a defensive effort standpoint. He was just stood there like he had two cement overshoes on. I don't know that I have ever seen less effort to try to close down a crosser of the ball from a guy within reach of the defender. They had already made 5 subs at that time so there was no subbing Musah prior to the goal going in if he was truly as gassed as that looked.
1st goal looked to be the RB responsibility, but he didn't do himself any favors. Up 1 goal in the 85th minute, man.. should be hyper defensive focused, he could have easily dropped to support. 2nd goal. What on earth is that effort. he'll be ripped to shreds in the video review, lack of effort is absolutely unacceptable. And it's not that he didn't close down, he just stood there. Disappointing for our guy who's trying to fight for a starting spot.
I've been trying to decide which scenario is worse. Is it: 1) he didn't feel like putting in the effort to close down Vinicius Jr, or 2) he didn't recognize the danger of the situation?
I think #1 is what he chose, probably exhausted and not super focused on the defensive side of the ball, at that time. #2.. no way he doesn't recognized the danger... right?... I hope. Especially with the game tied and 1 point just a few minutes away. His teammates and coach should let him hear about this, and that is how young players learn.
he was thrown into the game unexpectedly and may not be match fit at all. It is a lot easier imagining those runs from your living room that making them in real life. If he wasn't ready for 70 minutes, give him a break.
You make it sound like they randomly picked him out of the audience. He was fit enough to be in training and on the bench. He's a professional soccer player. I'm not saying he wasn't gassed, I'm saying he has an obligation to defend when he's on the field, which on goal #2 he chose not to which led to an open cross into a dangerous area, our guy literally just stood there 10 feet away. Did you actually see the video?
Agree, but his manager should have subbed him off with 15-20 left in the match. He was running on empty from that point on.
This all seems a little melodramatic for one moment among many, especially given the multiple competing inferences about why it happened.
If it were an isolated incident, I would agree. This is a pattern that has been on display for quite a while. Below is a post I made during the preseason, when similarly low defensive effort leads to a goal. As I said in the post, it also happened in a US game. Edit to add the highlight. You can see the play at 1:00.
Ok, but who else is saying this. To me he offers some hope of progressing the ball forward through the midfield for the US. No one else (except maybe Busio) does that. I watch him and I see those pluses.
His defensive effort on those two goals from Madrid was dog doo-doo and his engine/endurance is one of his primary limitations right now (as it is for many young players). The manager should have subbed him off around the 70 minute mark. And yes his ceiling remains very high, but these are must address issues to play in MF in Concacaf.
The kid is not good enough offensively to not perform defensive duties, especially when up a goal. Very disappointing, given what an upside we've seen with him on the ball in the middle of the park. When I think of what we're missing, it's a guy who is uber comfortable on the ball under pressure, and he has shown exactly that. But if he is going to take an "8" role for us, he needs to be able to be a two way player. Stinks.
He is 18. Doubtful he is ready for the middle of the park. Yes, he receives and screens the ball well which is great but not all that is needed.
i think expecting a guy who has barely played to play 75 minutes out of nowhere results in defensive lapses when the energy is simply gone
Totalfootballanalysis had a really interesting in-depth scouting report of Musah last year. https://totalfootballanalysis.com/analysis/yunus-musah-202021-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics Here's a couple of key snippets: "...he’s still a player who doesn’t work constantly and lacks the intensity and defensive positioning to be an effective ball-recoverer..." Then they analyzed a couple of sequences to illustrate the point: "With his team defending near their box, Musah is just standing in no man’s land and far from any rival. His teammate behind him has to shout and guide him to make him get closer to the man he should be marking, but without that guidance, he concedes too much space and doesn’t really know where to be." "in the example below, we can see Musah’s defensive positioning. When the rivals try to build from the back, Musah doesn’t mark anyone and leaves the space for an easy pass to be played past him."
no one is denying that. We are just saying those were bad plays on his part. It's ok to call them out without having to give a bunch of excuses. we aren't saying he's a horrible human being.
Fair enough. But those defects (when considered with his pluses) don’t necessarily make him worse than the alternatives. And at his age, there is reason to expect improvement.
I've reread your post 10 times.. can't figure it what side you were on then. Missing some words or commas. Ha.. all good man.
Terrible but teachable moment. (2nd goal...1st one is more debatable the degree of error) I'm sure the coach will not be easy on him. Musah will have his head hung low when that part of the film comes up. He'll survive...he'll be fine.....better for it. But young man...just don't do that again!