We need a goalkeeper who is playing week in and week out at a good level starting at the WC. Steffen looked rusty as hell. We can’t have that. Id rather he was starting back at Columbus then playing 3 times a year for Man City.
I was shocked by the starting lineup tonight and the fact that Berhalter started the same group that started in the Azteca. I thought he's start the backups alongside some of the guys who didn't go 90 against Panama, and then bring in the A-team only if things started going badly.
Unless a wing forward ahead of him gets hurt I can definitely see Berhalter bringing Arriola to the cup and just taking 2 forwards.
People are conveniently ignoring that we played pretty well in the 1st half with the lineup that was originally trotted out there with more defensive stability and structure. It didn't fall apart until the cm change was made at half. And both goals against were partially on gk'ing errors. He didn't have tired legs. One lesson was to stop trusting Steffen. Berhalter should have known that long before last game. Another is to not trust players simply because they look halfway decent in far easier games at home. A third is to not listen to fans and stay patient with a sensible gameplan that's working. It should pay off in time. We nearly scored a couple times in the 1st half. Had better chances than in the 2nd. And we didn't allow significant ones the other way to allow Steffen to eff up again.
1. I am so looking forward to Wes getting healthy. 2. Wes and Yunus and Adams can be an absolutely dominating midfield. 3. I am so looking forward to NOT having any CONCACAAF refs and not playing in Central America. So obvious that CRs strategy was to constantly hack down CP over and over again. Ref could have stopped it early in the game with a yellow. 4. Steffen was just horrible. 5. I am so looking forward to our best player (Wes) getting healthy. 6. Yunus is a beast.
Steffen looked like Berhalter era Steffen, particularly 2019, error prone gaffe machine Steffen. He has no business as the starter, period.
Yedlin is a great athlete who happens to “play” soccer. As opposed to others in the team who are actual, technical footballers. He probably makes the WC squad simply because his athleticism may come in handy as a sub at some point, but you are spot on and many have noticed this for years. Not the guy you want to play if you are trying to control possession and ping it around.
We didn’t get outplayed we got out finished. I’ll take our team over that CR team every time. These boards ( not specifically your post) are so bipolar. Not a Greg fan but he’s what we’re stuck with for now. Go USA
#7 - we are still severely lacking at the #9 spot, and it’s glaringly obvious to any team that’s scouts us. #8 if Yedlin makes the WC roster, he should see very few minutes, or we are in trouble
We also finished 3rd in qualifying for that tournament. You don't have to qualify in style. You just have to qualify.
That's right. I didn't see it but the U.S. must have had a higher xG. Finishing/final third is a huge problem.
Oh dear. We have a potential locker room problem here: Erik-Palmer Brown prematurely popped the champagne, according to Walker Zimmerman.— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) March 31, 2022
With that said, this was actually the best I've seen the US play away to CRC. If this was basketball this was a 20 point win. But it's soccer and they have Keylor Navas so it was a 2 - 0 loss. Whatever, we were better in 10 positions, gave up a bad corner, and a flukey/lucky scrum goal, and then Navas saved some goals. Analytically, no surprises. Christian was forced to do much on his own because he had Acosta as his 8, Yedlin showed well positionally and played good D, but struggled with his final ball. LDLT should be competing with Yunus for that other 8 spot. Reyna needs to be less about highlite reel passes and dribbles and just play his BVB game.
In hindsight, Zimm + M. Robinson in central defense, in back of Acosta and Adams, with Yedlin in support, was probably never going to look pretty. Unless we're at or near full strength in Qatar w Wes, Gio, Brendan, Dest — it's gonna be rough.
He’s a great guy and a CONCACAF legend, and I will not miss him. He has won so Many of their points single-handedly, and kept the US from scoring too many times
That was disappointing but the score flattered the Ticos a bit. in every main offensive stat (shots, SOT, xG, corners, etc) our team led. In spite of that we didn't score. Our shots looked a millisecond late and of course Keylor did Keylor. The main topic for this window is how much better our offense works when conceding possession and playing a lower line against Mexico and Panama vs playing an aggressive high Iine against CR. Was the high line a mistake by Berhalter? Eh, it was a glorified friendly and I think we could have expected a tighter game from the defense than what they delivered if there was anything truly on the line. However, Costa Rica's MO is very troublesome for us. I hope we don't have to deal with this in the WC and I think we most likely won't. But we do have to continue to be better against a compact defense.
As a 2 seed, we're likely going up against 1 definite bunker (unless it's ********ing Ghana again at the 4 seed) and a team that's likely going to view as the more dangerous side, and thus happy to cede possession for counters. CRC is a good example of that 3 seed, and tonight was a good example of how to beat it and how to lose against it all in one match
Turner could realistically beat out Ramsdale by the first game in August. Turner is better at PKs, perhaps a better athlete. It's not a given. It may not be a question of either-or, as they might be rotated. This all remains to be seen.