I wonder why Berhalter used the guy who wasn't any good for Dallas when he could have used the guy from Leeds who had just beat Liverpool where VanDijk plays.
Okay. Read first 10 pages and last 4. Conversation seems to be pretty consistent!! First - hats off to the team. They played their butts off and stayed together. Glad to have you represent the USA! I was struck by the shot of Pulisic after the game. And was reminded of the shot of him after the loss to T&T in 2018. Learning what it takes and feels like can be hard. Doubt that he’s the only one that will take that feeling and desire into 2026. Not much to say about the continued divide about Gregg. I think we can all agree Reyna and Aaronsen should have been used more. Not sure what else we all agree on. I hope the USSF and he have a long talk/post-mortem and figure out what the next steps are. And sorry, but I’ll take their collective soccer wisdom over anyone on this board. They certainly have earned it.
After so many complaints about end-of-game bunkering against Iran (which I maintain wasn't a bunker, unless you call how the Dutch played yesterday a bunker), you think we should have bunkered? We played fine, created lots of oppotunities, and failed miserably 3 times at marking. Adams doesn't make any attempt to stay with his runner--goal scored. Dest falls asleep ball-watching momentarily--goal scored. The third goal I give 50% "credit" to Jedi and 50% to Berhalter. Jedi never looked around and moved where he should have. But he was exhausted and had been for 20 minutes. Berhalter should have subbed Scally on in the 66th minute. I knew that error was coming.
Seems like a lot of complaints about use of the roster during the group stage leading to just too tired physically and maybe mentally in the Netherlands match. Perhaps its valid but perhaps its not. There wasn't a single game in the group stage when we could comfortably make substitutions for the sake of fitness. Not one. So it falls down to pick your poison. Go all in for the group stage and advance then deal with fitness as you have to. Or try and save some legs during the group stage with a higher chance to not advance. We can discuss all day if there were players on the bench that could have been used to save some legs but at the end of the day I would go for the group stages and do all I could to advance. So no complaints from me. Do I think GB returns as the manager? No nor do I want him to. Am I fine with how the team performed in Qatar? Absolutely. Disappointed yesterday for sure but we showed that we have the talent to play with anybody. What we don't have is a deep enough roster with that kind of talent. All the ranting calling for Reyna to get on the field like he was some savior. Well he got 45 minutes yesterday and was ok. But nothing special. Will he be in the future? Sure hope so but he isn't the game changer that some think he is yet. You know what the absolute worst part of losing yesterday is? That I have to wait so long now for the USMNT to have meaningful matches again.
I hope you guys dont mind that I made this little compilation https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/q...victory-to-come.2118599/page-63#post-41017149 The US has an excellent core of your players though, you should be a contender for the QF or Semis in 2026
Saw LVG told he players that their first half was unacceptable other than the two goals. Lit into them and made two changes at half time. We really lost the game in key moments but played very well. It’s time for a new coach, but Greg’s only real mistake was likely not rotating more in the group. It is strange though that we were set up to prevent Wales counters (which is what they do) but we were open to Dutch counters which is what this Dutch team does. I wonder why.
After sleeping on it, I think this game really came down to a couple things: 1) We emptied the tank getting out of the group and weren't as sharp physically or mentally. The Dutch didn't have to do that. 2) The Dutch are a lot more experienced and a bit more talented. There were things Van Gaal did well and things Berhalter could have done better, but I don't think this was some coaching master class by Van Gaal vs. coaching malpractice by Berhalter. If Pulisic scores and Depay misses, it's a totally different game. Berhalter didn't tell Pulisic to miss, Adams not to track back with Depay on the 1st goal, Dest to let Blind slip by him on the 2nd, or everyone to ignore Dumfries on the 3rd.
the Dutch are much better than Wales - and Wales had a few players (Bale etc.) that we really had to worry about. Oh and the Dutch are clinical. and we were gassed against the Dutch ... Berhalter prepared for Wales for months .... and we still only drew.
This is so true. Money is a hard thing to come by, and for an athlete you have a short window to make enough to set you up for an easier life, provided you don't screw it up, which is human nature ( the truth is most people, yes, even economists admit to this, are lousy at managing money, because emotional decisions override practical ones, and that isn't even necessarily wrong depending on the reasons ). Michael Caine once said that it was either Roger Moore or Sean Connery who told him, always take the bigger paycheck, never mind the script. Hence Caine was in some of the best movies ever made, and some of the worst. But he paid his bills.
Malpractice no .... poor decisions yes. By not getting some of the subs more rotation in during the previous three games (how many times in minute 60 and 70 did we see Wales, England and Iran bring in players and Egg simply did not) it caused this fatigue. Reyna, BA, Scally, Ferreira, Acosta ... all of them one can argue should have helped to rest Adams, Musah, McKennie, Dest (although Yedlin came in for him twice), and Jedi .... even Pulisic played essentially 2.5 games prior to Holland. The men were simply gassed from the group stage and because Berhalter doesn't coach to go for the kill in the group stage (every game was very close) and keeps the best players in for longer to protect the one goal lead. They were tired against Holland and the play on the field showed that. frankly the whole situation was started when Greg did not prepare the kids to bury Wales. It is not only that Zimmerman gave away a PK .. it is that up front we had only one goal (off of a counter attack with Pulisic and Weah) and Greg did not coach the boys to go for the massive kill. Not doing that with a team of only 16 - 18 quality players is going to come back and bite you in the butt somewhere down the line. Tournaments require player rotation to go deep.
but in this case it hurt his career...he was out of form as a result of the "money"....wouldnt a good world cup showing bring him more money in the end? we dont know the details so cant really say eithr way, but the last window was vital for a lot of players to be ready for qatar and they were obviously making moves with the world cup in mind not having luca ready to play was a bigger deal than many think imo
im not intently keeping up with this thread, im just popping back in to elaborate... re our depth: think a lot of you are full of poo. who could have given adams a few minutes in a couple of games? acosta, in the only role hes suited for. dest? yedlin, as did some (or you know, a freaking bund starter, not that that means anything ). wes? aaronson. musah? well, having no clue if de la torre is totally fit or just a body double like some deceased dictator i have no clue. youre allowed to change shape/tactics, you know...and the way i know you (and gregg) do know is we saw it multiple times in the post-qualifier friendlies. weah? arriola (oh, am i touching a nerve?). it goes on and on, and the way people are stretching themselves into pretzels to explain this stuff away is a little hilarious, but also really sad. yet its me and my all hatin' friends who dont believe in the team?!?! what does gregg believe in? what do you? berhalter bit down hard. all the minutes and work and faith he, and we, put into those unused, underused, misused players- where did that go? what was the real change, the step up in comp or the way he threw those guys overboard, decided theyre suddenly not up to it- and almost to man (or woman) this board decided "yeeeah, all these guys ive been defending for three years arent good enough all of a sudden". not even good enough to run around, holding on for dear life, doing anything it takes to just see out a result- minus the 70-80 min on their legs that got us to that position in the first place? where were the principles? the pressing mandate for fowards, the utmost importance on being part of "the group"? ill say it again- we sold out this entire cycle for a round of 16 appearance we simply werent capable of competing in once we got there. we did that by design. ill also repeat that thats fine. considering where we were 4 1/2 years ago the result, after all the dust has cleared, is fine. what puts me in the minorty is i absolutely believe we had the players to do both. again, what do you believe? these on-the-fly rewrites are ridiculous. throwing these players (guys 10-26) no one in the world thinks are world class but will run through a damn wall for each other- and us i may add- under the bus? gtfo. some of you are shamelss.
You are taking this personally. Go take a nice long walk in the woods. Take in the sights. Walk in a mall and admire all the people who don't give a happy horseshit about soccer or the WC. Then come back and watch a game.
well now you do. MLS production from a domestic player doesnt equate to anything when it comes to the WC. remember that for later.
I watched that game and was mostly disappointed how after all the talk - it was boys against Men out there. Dutch were stronger, savvier, more clinical, better on the ball, more composed. If you saw that and want to scapegoat the coach, well I sadly disagree. Sad because I thought we would really compete in this one. I wish it was just a coaching screwup. Fatigue is a big factor in all the missed assignments - but we don’t just need more depth and rotation, we need more skill and strength. We win or tie currently by outworking teams like England that are playing a long game - but if we aspire to being a semifinalist, we need our best players to also be able to conserve energy by how we play. Our coaching is commensurate to our talent. If we want top tier coaches, we need top tier talent. And even then there is lots of luck and timing and generational difference makers involved. The importance of a Landon or Dempsey who find ways to score can’t be understated. In my opinion if you are fan of the US team you should be a massive fan of MLS because it’s so important to our growth. The wider the net, the better and imagine a world where MLS is the best league in the Americas. Without MLS, we would be nowhere near the trajectory we are on.
It's not fun if a person is showing signs of depression over it. It's a lot more fun if you do NOT take it so seriously.
Posts like this make discussion on this board so difficult. it’s very fair to say that Ferreira has underwhelmed against good comp for the USMNT, but you sound ridiculous claiming that Ferreira wasn’t good for Dallas. He finished 4th in the golden boot race as a 21 year old.
I think you are underestimating the effects of local leagues; I believe a stronger MLS would have a profound effect on US soccer. Culture: What would be the cultural impact of watching your local MLS team playing in Maracana, or La Bombonera? What impact would have your team represent your country on a strong regional competition? IMHO, every WC (and WWC) soccer becomes relevant in the US of A and your fan base increase. While not wide spread or impactful as the WC; Libertadores could serve as a rallying point for fans and new fans. Game: Playing against strong opposition and different styles improves your game. Exposure to different tactics, environment and conditions will affect player and coaching staff. Better MLS will translate to better coaching and players. Higher level of play in MLS could help increase the level of your youth academy and players. While European leagues are great, they are thousand of miles away. Being able to watch game on person, see actual training grounds (and team training), and having a feasible path to pro level is significant. A kid from Rio might wear a Barça jersey and dream about playing for Barça one day, but he knows that he must become a professional in the Brazilian league first. While the Brazilian league isn't top 5 anymore it still has huge cultural relevance for Brazilians and it is a feasible path to becoming a professional player. If the Brazilian league becomes a regional push over (can't compete in Libertadores) it will lose its cultural relevance in Brazil and kids will naturally chose/pick up other sports.