Post-match: USA VS Costa Rica 10/13/21

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by EXALIFTIN, Oct 13, 2021.

  1. smokarz

    smokarz Member+

    Aug 9, 2006
    Hartford, CT

    Canada is destroying this Panama team right now. GB royally f**** up that game with his moronic changes and mentality.
     
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  2. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Imagine not having Weah just careen down that right side all game. Imagine it. We almost didnt have it.
     
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  3. mfw13

    mfw13 Member+

    Jul 19, 2003
    Seattle
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Agree for the most part, but have a few quibbles:

    - the original plan to start Arriola over Weah
    - choosing Steffen over Turner.....Steffen was poorly positioned on the CR goal, which is a reflection of his rustiness.
    - bringing in Busio (even though he played well) when you're trying to protect a lead, instead of more defensive midfielders like Roldan and Acosta.
     
  4. Marius Tresor

    Marius Tresor Member+

    Aug 1, 2014
    Certainly, with Pulisic and Reyna available. Aaronson and Weah off the bench would be great. Busio was terrific in limited minutes.
     
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  5. DIMITAR BERBATOV!

    Aug 2, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For almost as long as I've been watching USA soccer, there's been a timidity in playing through the center properly. It's one of the big differences between a top club side and how we usually play. When they get into the box, they default to playing it wide and then mindlessly crossing.

    When we had Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore, there was more of an ability to play through traffic and find the space there. With this group, we haven't seen that yet. As I mentioned in my other post, Wes and Dest had a couple moments where they tried to play in that space. Generally we just seem too afraid of losing possession though.

    Looking ahead to Qatar, this could be an area where Reyna or Pulisic is vital. I haven't been following the MLS season, but I also have Caden Clark as a guy who can potentially do some damage in that area of the field.

    I don't want to turn this into a love letter to Altidore, but he was MUCH better in that zone that people maybe realized, and it's something that we need to eventually get from Pepi/Dike/whoever, because we can't be so stale in the final third against good teams.
     
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  6. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Musah is legit. He just needs a better engine. He can take challenges that other players can't. He makes things happen.
    I'm worried about Mckennie. The kid is not playing as he did a year ago. What's up with him.
     
  7. AngelaMerkin

    AngelaMerkin Member+

    Dec 2, 2005
    Once again, speaking as someone who played keeper at a d1 school (and definitely never progressed beyond that) sometimes you get caught between the player being an inch away from touching the ball and going the opposite direction and going after the initial pass/shot. Steffen played for the attacker to do what attackers generally do and go after the ball. I personally don't think Turner saves that, nor Navas on the other end.
     
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  8. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    one more thought- can you freaking believe gregg has gone his entire tenure up until a month ago without regularly using antonee robinson?
     
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  9. Dervos

    Dervos Member+

    Mar 13, 2002
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    A few thoughts from the peanut gallery:
    Dest was fantastic. He was flying in both directions. He'd be man of the match for me *without the goal*. And the goal was spectacular.
    Musah. I just love watching him play.
    Jedi was great. If he could get a cross in, he'd be all-world.
    Richards. It's hard to comment on him without commenting on Gregg mismanaging his introduction to the team so badly. I thought his class showed in a tough situation.
    Aaronson: Making it extremely hard to pick who sits with our full team. He's had an excellent 3 game series.
    Greggggg: meh. whatever. These guys are good enough to win in spite of him - if he is at least willing to play our goods. Props to Arriola taking one for the team.

    Sidenote: I think this was one of the most technically skilled US teams I've seen. Wes was probably the weakest link. Well, at least until Mr. Zardes showed up :D
     
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  10. Martino2Buddle

    Crystal Palace
    United States
    Dec 12, 2005
    Richmond, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I liked it because the best defense sometimes is a good offense. Acosta is probably shell shocked from Panama still and Roldan was equally shit.
     
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  11. DIMITAR BERBATOV!

    Aug 2, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've always said I've seen some Ozil-like qualities to Reyna's game, and Mesut was pretty good at unlocking the defense in the final third.

    Another possibility is playing Pulisic behind the striker. It's a tough decision because he's our best winger by some distance, but he's also one of the only players who can create space in that area of the field. We saw in the Honduras game before he went off injured how his intent and quality in that area can create problems. Once defenders start to worry about that and overcommit, it unlocks the other stuff.

    It's going to be a decision for Gregg and his team because it really depends on how they want to play. If we go with a true 10 or a withdrawn second striker, either Pulisic or Reyna could be viable, but present different qualities.
     
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  12. Jazzy Altidore

    Jazzy Altidore BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 2, 2009
    San Francisco
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Weston tries to do too much for the USA.
     
  13. The Clientele

    The Clientele Member+

    Portland Timbers
    Jun 25, 2005
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought Busio was excellent. It struck me he put Costa Rica on their heels. The guy is a good passer and has vision. Plays like an Italian!
     
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  14. bct81

    bct81 Member+

    multiple (DC United, Dortmund, Arsenal, Leeds....)
    United States
    Mar 17, 2007
    moving around the US every few years ....
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    amazing what happens when you start your best 11 available (hint only 2 MLS players on the field) .....

    just sayin ...

    amazing goal by Dest ...

    just fun watching Musah, Dest, Weah and Aronson play possession and keep away from the Old Men.

    Adams and Wes were pretty good backbone tonight ...

    outstanding ball movement ...

    Busio is Mr. Calm on the ball ...

    hint - don't play a bunch of mid 30 year old players against our utes ....
     
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  15. adam tash

    adam tash Member+

    Jul 12, 2013
    Barcelona, Spain
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    yes...needs to happen
     
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  16. AngelaMerkin

    AngelaMerkin Member+

    Dec 2, 2005
    Okay, how about this. Turner is not good enough as a keeper to be an international #1. Steffan is the superior shot stopper and miles ahead with the ball at his feet. I didn't move any goalposts. I added that you need a keeper that doesn't give you a heart attack with the ball at his feet.
     
  17. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Aaronson has a Peterbilt engine. He can play at a high level for a 90 if you let him.
    I like the starting lineup. I like the CB pairing they are fast and are able to clean up their own mistakes. They need to play cleaner going forward. Miles has forward speed, very impressive. I wonder if we will continue to see this pairing or is just one and done.
     
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  18. Marius Tresor

    Marius Tresor Member+

    Aug 1, 2014
    Nah. That was kind of a freak goal where Steffen was screened by a player that normally would be way offside. And he did well other than that. He made some good saves and his distribution helped create several attacks.

    Busio came in and helped possess the ball against a visibly gassed Costa Rica. I thought that worked well.

    But Arriola, yeah, that was bad. Divine intervention corrected that one for us.
     
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  19. bct81

    bct81 Member+

    multiple (DC United, Dortmund, Arsenal, Leeds....)
    United States
    Mar 17, 2007
    moving around the US every few years ....
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    just give him time ... he is probably still reeling from what happened during last WC qualie round.
     
  20. adam tash

    adam tash Member+

    Jul 12, 2013
    Barcelona, Spain
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    theres not enough room on the roster for such limited niche players....there are too many better, more complete options in the pool.
     
  21. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Crowd - 10 - They were loud and in the game the whole time.

    Steffen - 4 - What a horrible game. He let the ball roll into the net. But afterwards settled in. This is Steffen’s problem - his propensity for mental lapses.

    Dest - 9 - Hate that he had to come out of the game. Best game from him for the USMNT. Great goal!

    Richards - 5 - Struggled in his WCQ debut but he wasn’t terrible. Seems a little too like-for-like with Robinson.

    Miles - 6 - For the most part, he was good. But he made a couple bonehead mistakes that we were fortunate didn’t get punished.

    Jedi - 7- He’s such an outlet for us on that left side. If his crossing was a little better he would be out of this world.

    Adams - 7 - He’s such a critically important for us. Although Davies rightfully gets a lot of hype as the best player in CONCACAF... Adams is the one who has the right to challenge him as most important player.

    McKennie - 6 - He was excellent in spurts and never terrible. But for a Juventus level player, I expect more consistent quality.

    Musah - 9 - Mannnnnn.... what a performance. He has Messi like control of the ball. Easily, the best on the ball in North America... perhaps ever. That first touch is phenomenal.

    Aaronson - 6.5 - I love his hustle which makes a difference for us. But his final ball was lacking today.

    Weah - 6 - Can we all agree that we don’t like own goals? Such a great goal that the keeper had no chance on.

    Pepi - 6 - He didn’t get a goal but there’s no doubt that he’s our starting striker.

    —————————————————-
    Hoppe - 6 - He hustled but didn’t do much else. Hopefully he goes back to Mallorca and will be ready to go in the next window.

    Busio - 8 - He came off the bench and made an instant impact. So much so, I should stress that he came on after Hoppe yet when I thought about not rating Hoppe, I couldn’t fathom not giving Busio a lot of credit.... him and De la Torre are definitely in the picture for next window.

    Oh, and thank God Busio wasn’t marking Watson. That’s like watching a five year old get into the arena with Clubber Lang.

    Yedlin - 7 - He came off the bench and did what he needed to do.

    Zardes - 7 - This is Zardes game. When you don’t need creativity... just hustle and muscle.... bring on Zardes.

    Zimmerman - 6.5 - He did everything he needed to close out the game. A true leader for this team.
     
  22. TurdFerguson

    TurdFerguson Member

    United States
    Jan 11, 2013
    Excellent match from Busio, that should pretty much wrap up LLETGETS call ups, no need for that backpass merchant. SL would’ve have fit in well with that CR team. Old, slow can’t push forward.
     
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  23. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't think he was commanding his position like before. The way he plays he can easily be replaced with a more technical player.
    We need the 2-way player that he can be.
     
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  24. mbar

    mbar Member+

    Apr 30, 1999
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So we will end the night three points clear of 4th place (Panama at 8 points, along with possibly El Salvador). If we had drawn in Panama we’d be 6 points clear of 4th place Panama on the live table. Big missed opportunity.
     
  25. AngelaMerkin

    AngelaMerkin Member+

    Dec 2, 2005
    What match were you watching that Richards is the lowest rated on the team when he had no bad giveaways and made a great tackle to save a 1 on 1 shot with the keeper. lol
     
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  26. bballshawn

    bballshawn Member+

    Feb 5, 2014
    Delaware
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Like I could see if Turner had a basic level of ball skills but he doesn't lol it's so bad
     
  27. mfw13

    mfw13 Member+

    Jul 19, 2003
    Seattle
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    I agree that Busio played well, BUT.....I like that sub much more when we need a goal, not when we're trying to prevent one.

    Don't forget, Busio looked in over his head during the Gold Cup, and tonight we were playing an old and slow Costa Rica team at the end of a three-match window.

    Not sure that sub works out quite as well against Mexico, for example.
     
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