We lost so maybe. I only saw the last 10 minutes so I don't know how things really went. In that limited time I 1) liked our center back Neal (looked very smooth) 2) HATED the dude on the left... Gomez? 3) HATED Acosta's set piece delivery... I've never seen him that bad.
I agree with you on all 3. Neal was pretty good. He looked better with Long next to him then Zimmerman. But overall he did great for being a young guy. Curious to see how he continues to grow. Yes the left back we used was Gomez. He wasn't very good. I don't think he will be a long term USMNT player. Especially with guys who are ahead of him. But no harm no foul. These January games mean nothing. While some of these cats looked above average, good and great last night, we need to see how they perform against full National Teams in the important games, but they must show well now to get those chances. I was impressed with Adin Morris last night. I felt he held his composure in the midfield. It wasn't perfect but for his first time rolled out at this level he did pretty good. Vasquez, Zendejas, Gaga, Neal, Pomykal, Cowell, and Gressel were standouts for me for the newer guys in camp. Long and Zimmerman you know what your going to get, and we got it. Solid, steady and no mistakes. I like both of these guys a lot. I think they're 2 of the top 5 CBs in the league. Long and Cowell easily could have put away 2 a piece in the 2nd half with how many looks they had on goal in the transition or set pieces. Acosta was one of the worst last night. I don't rate the guy at the International level, but I do rate him at club level. I expect against Colombia Tolkin, Sabbi, Aaronson, Ferreira, Jones and Long will either get starts or some decent minutes, with Celentano or Johnson probably getting the start in goal if Hudson doesn't stick with Gaga. Wouldn't surprise me if he gave Celentano and Johnson each a half. I on a personal level was happy to see Williamson get his shot, but he wasn't too impressive.
Haha, no Rios did that from the moment he got here… I’m trying to remember who played sort of behind Magnus. It was another right midfielder…
No seriously, Huckerby had a certain way of doing it, a momentary pause, a dip of the left shoulder, and then a 60 degree diagonal step that got him a tiny bit ahead, then take off. This was back when I had touchline seats at Buck Shaw and he was practically doing it in front of me. I couldn’t understand how it kept working on defenders, always in the exact same spot on the field, and it always made me laugh. And then I saw Shea do exactly the same thing a few times. But it didn’t stick. After Huckerby left, Shea went back to doing it the way he always did it.
It just occurred to me — ya know, the name that pops into my head as replacing Earnie Stewart in a pinch (after all, 2026 is just 3 years away!) is Bruce Arena. I wouldn’t like it, but I’ll bet USSoccer is making those phone calls.
I agree with BSman, please keep Bruce as far away as possible...time to clean house and integrate some proven international level cred into the US braintrust.
Neal had one of the worst plays from a US defender in a long time on that second goal. Central defenders just can't make those kind of mistakes.
I just found a quote in The Athletic by psychologist Daniel Kahneman that describes me perfectly : “People, including experienced professionals, sometimes have subjectively compelling intuitions even when they lack true skill.” The article was about whether or not scouting really works. Apparently not really, especially if the scouting is not done in person. Data alone is just as successful, which makes it sound like scouting is another human job where AI will do better.
This is essentially the premise described in Moneyball. Out with the scouts, in with the data. AI potentially offers another dimension beyond data.
I watched the full game last night. CC had some nice runs and a few nice crosses/passes that should have been rewarded. He disappeared a lot too, but I can see why he was man of the match. Outside of the beautiful header goal, wasn't overly impressed with Vazquez. I think less of Gomez now.
I don’t know about his defense, but Gomez was one of the reasons Cade had a good game. He was consistently bringing the ball into or close to the final 3rd, which allowed Cade to stay in deep attacking positions and to cut in, instead of receiving it closer to midfield on the wing under pressure, where he tends to struggle. Most of the U.S attack was coming down the left side until the last 15-20 min when Zendejas started to move more centrally and basically took over the US attack.