Agreed. There were also some tactical adjustments that did not work. I found this analysis very interesting
The plan going into the tournament was clearly to use Luca as the backup 8. Then he got hurt in the run up, and although he went to Qatar evidently wasnt fit enough to do that job. This left us with Acosta, who is a 6, Aaronson, who is a 10, and Roldan, who is only there for the vibes, as the only midfield options in reserve and none of them really even come close to the level of the starters. So we ran MMA into the ground. I think if Luca was fully fit, and Aaronson and Acosta are used in their actual roles (attacking sub and Adams insurance respectively) then maybe the midfield would have had just a bit more gas left for the Oranje
This is the 2nd tournament in eight years. We missed the first one 4 years ago, for the first time since 1986. We were the second youngest team at the WC, average age of 25.2. At the 2018 WC, France had the 2nd youngest team with an average age of 26, and won the tournament. Did we have a team that can win the WC, No? But IMHO this team overall didn't come close to performing at their collective abilities. At the 2002 WC, we made it to the quarter-finals, led by 20-year-old Landon Donovan and 20-year-old DaMarcus Beasley. Soccer is a young (wo)man's sport. My concern is that we finally have a group of talented players, just not 1 or 2 and the coach doesn't have a clue. He's more concerned about his system and playing his players than getting the most out of the talent that is available to him. I will give him credit for calling in Tim Ream and playing him in this tournament. But I seriously wonder if that was someone else's call because Aaron Long was his guy. Bottom line, thanks GGG for your service, and good luck in your next endeavor.
I think we really need realistic impressions of where we are and what we are capable of. - contending for a WC title is a pipe-dream; not happening in my lifetime, probably not in most of yours - reaching the final 8 is a lofty, worthwhile goal - and we did it once - but with the level of this year's field, it would have taken an major upset and, once we see the quality of the final 8, it will be %100 clear that we didn't belong. All that said, we are still waiting after many years and many WC Finals, to reach a point where we can compete tactically with the major powers and not have to rely solely on effort, physicality and fortunate breaks for an upset. My biggest complaint with Berhalter's management, and some of it mirrors what I saw from the Revs last year, is that we didn't seem to have the awareness to recognize the opportunities to attack or gain advantage and instead relied too often on trying to force our way through the strength of the opposition. The Netherlands didn't go through us to score goals, they went around us and got 3 uncontested shots that were easy conversions - they weren't necessarily better than us, they were smarter than us. I agree with Bruce's comments about our being handicapped by our CONCACAF qualification requirement - we need to master that, but it doesn't do that much to prepare us for the finals (and this next cycle it won't even have the pressure component). We need many more significant games against the world's best for our core squad.
Acknowledging (as the writer does) that this is way too early, ESPN's Bill Connelly pens a piece about the 2026 depth chart for the US. He does have one current Revs Academy product on his list.
Not sure what your first point is about... we hadn't participated in a World Cup in eight years. You're twisting the reality of 2002. We shocked Portugal but came dangerously close to not making it out of the group. We were fortunate in our Round of 16 draw, but made the most of it beating our arch rival. The performance was encouraging overall, but it barely more impressive than our showing in 2022. Beyond that, saying we were "led by" Donovan and Beasley is a stretch. It was a team effort, but we were lead by Claudio Reyna, Brad Friedel, Brian McBride, Tony Sanneh, etc. Donovan had a great tournament (I believe he was awarded young player of the tournament) but Beasley only started one game (Portugal) and was an unused sub against Germany and Mexico. I don't disagree with the sport being a young person's game, but our starting XI seems a bit younger than France's in 2018. Either way, France had the benefit of the majority of their starting XI participating in the Euros only two years prior. Our USMNT is not getting the same level of competition from major tournaments.
My first point is that I have heard people use that eight-year term and make it sounds like we missed the last 7 tournaments, it's only been 1 that we missed. What I clearly remember about 2002 was that they practiced in Cary, NC. I was living in Raleigh at the time and went to the send-off game. They spent most of the game trying to feed Beasley down the wing, quite unsuccessfully. They ended up losing to the Richmond Kickers 2 - 1. After the game I thought their time in South Korea would be short, so yes, they were lucky and caught some breaks to make it to the quarter-finals.
Revs roster pairings: - two U. of Virginia central defenders - two Ghanaian midfielders - two spanish Gils ...
What a ridiculous soap opera this whole Berhalter/Reyna thing has become. It reflects badly on everyone: Berhalter, Claudio, Danielle and Gio. And, it shows the problem of having the USSF/USNT administration made up of former USNT players/teammates. Claudio Reyna complaining to his buddies Earnie Stewart and Brian McBride about the way his son is treated? Danielle Reyna reporting a 30 year old incident, where the victim was her former roommate who chose not to report it ... all to protect her son??? That's some major backstabbing there. It would all be laughable if it weren't making the USNT a laughingstock in the process. - Berhalter - couldn't seem to figure out how to get the best out of Gio Reyna, and resorted to humiliating him in the process - Danielle Reyna - Tiger Mom who was willing to blackmail her son's coach - to protect him(?) - Claudio Reyna - didn't raise/train his son to have the fortitude to fight for his place in the squad - USSF/USNT - a good old boys network that enabled all the back channels for going behind the coach It's no wonder that US Soccer never seems to sustain any kind of continual growth when it's staffed with a bunch of mediocre former players from mediocre teams. When/where did Stewart and McBride, among others, develop world-class football minds? With all the brilliant coaches/administrators throughout the world, this is what we go with? No wonder we wasted pretty much 2 cycles on the Klinsman disaster and now risk wasting another by considering rewarding Berhalter's mediocre, at best, results (one win in four games?).
After last season, Arena seemed to throw the team's training staff (or at least head trainer) under the bus, saying that the injured players shouldn't have been out so long (and I believe there was at least one re-injury during rehab). That seemed like a sure sign that changes were coming in that area, yet there have been no announcements. Last season, Eric Bengtson was the head athletic trainer. His profile is still on the team website, but there's no link to it from the coaching/training staff page, so I'm assuming he's gone (and they haven't scrubbed his page), but don't see any replacement. The long-time assistant trainers are still there.
Hearing on the MLS: N&A board that Vox Media (owner of SB Nation) announced 7% layoffs, and this includes all MLS sites (Bent Musket is one of them).
Revs trying to step up. Hope it works. @Sam_Minton22 - Everyone at our club values our independent soccer journalists and what you add to our community. Adam is going to reach out to see how we can help, including financial support. I'm sure we can find a way to support in a way that allows you to remain independent.— Brian Bilello (@RevsPrez) January 20, 2023
Reporting by the Wall Street Journal released today confirmed Boston has locked down their entry into the NWSL, however, their launch date has not been confirmed past the fact that it will not be in the 2024 season. https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/01...ansion-team-boston-to-join-later-each-at-50m/
Does anyone know if this will be a new Breakers? It'd be a shame to create a different club identity, given the Breakers' history.
Well considering that someone could have purchased the Breakers in 2018 for about $3mill (with players) and someone just ponied up $50mill., for an expansion franchise my guess it will be an entirely new enterprise.
I was nostalgic for the Breakers name in the second iteration but considering all that's happened I believe the name is now radioactive. Time for a whole new start and new vision. There's money now for a really professional marketing roll-out and to get it right. PS: I really excited about this!
Boston getting back into the NWSL is exciting if and only if they can find a proper place to play. They appear to have an ownership group that will actually have money and be stable. That's great. But where are they going to play? Nothing has changed regarding the regional stadium picture. Their old homes Nickerson Field, Harvard Stadium, Dillboy, Jordan Field? They all remain inadequate options. Gillette? Fenway? White Stadium in Franklin Park? Memorial Stadium in East Boston? None of those are great solutions. Are they hoping for Unicorn Park in Everett or are they rich enough to try and build that themselves? Good luck with that - I'll believe it when I see it. I really want this to work, so I hope they can figure out a decent place to play. I don't know that the right place really exists.
I would think Fenway is a logical temporary solution. Then rebuild White Stadium. It's too narrow a field right now.
Fenway is obviously a good location as far as having something in the city with public transit access goes, and having Linda Henry as an investor in the team makes that a likely option under consideration. But it doesn't do anything about the narrow field concerns and the site lines blow. If that (Fenway and then White) was the plan, they'd have to announce the plans for White's renovations at the same time. And Franklin Park doesn't have great rapid transit service. If you can't drive, you either have a long walk from the closest T stop or you have to transfer to a bus. I realize that the perfect solution is probably never going to emerge, so I wish them luck figuring out whatever the best bad solution turns out to be.