Has USMNT over-exposed MLS under Berhalter?

Running....

Jesus Ferreira says as a key to playing on the #USMNT frontline and impressing U.S. coaches is to "keep running no matter what and press."

That criteria would shut out a slew of the greatest center forwards in history from getting on the field. https://t.co/gBl11ZL6Wv

— Mike Woitalla (@MikeWoitalla) January 31, 2023

Ferreira first half highlightspic.twitter.com/D0hwZyUzRi

— Jay Hernandez (@JayAH985) December 3, 2022

 

I did not read that because I do not trust posts on the Twitter disinformation platform. However Morris consistently took up space in the attacking third of the field. However he also had not one effective touch in that area. He would get to where he probably should have been but then something always happened to kill the Seattle attack.

From the way he was playing I almost expected him to be subbed in the first half. Then I realized that Seattle probably had no one better or even as good on the bench. I think that Seattle put the best they had on the field but that "best" was woefully inadequate.

I have always liked Morris' effort and his hustle and his perseverance but he is at the ending of his career and he is less effective than Frankie Hejduk was at the end of his.

In his case it was like watching geriatric soccer. He was even caught from behind a couple of times.

Morris, in no way, has belonged even close to the USA Men's team for at least the last three years. But he was in Qatar. I would have rather seen some young untried player than having Morris stumbling around the field after forgetting his cane and seeing eye dog.

 

Yep.
That kind of criteria would exclude Lionel Messi if he were from the USA.

I think we really need a really good hold up player. But looking at the development of USA soccer all I see is fast, or not so fast, forwards that run forward all the time.
But this is the USA so all we need is speed.

 

It's 2023......October 2016 was what, nearly 7 years ago???

Brooks WAS the best CB ion the pool back at the 2014 world cup. 8 years later Brooks was barely playing for his club team and hadn't been the USMNT since the previous;ly failed cycle. Where his last appearances didn't cover himself or Geoff Cameron in glory. Have you seen Brooks performances since signing with Hoffenheim???

Just let it go already. Long was on the WC roster as a break glass in case of injury/suspension catastrophe. Most reasonable and/or intelligent people didn't think he really deserved to be, however, picking someone else in his place wasn't going to change anything.

Berhalter is gone. The 2022 World Cup has come and gone. None of that can retroactively be changed.

Everyone here is in agreement. YOU do not like MLS. That's fine. DON'T watch it. Further, don't crap on people who actually enjoy being able to watch professional soccer at a decent hour, and/or live in person.

When every one of your posts is devoid of facts, evidence, etc and also attacks other posters intelligence and understanding of the game because they don't see it as you do (which btw, you do a VERY poor job of explaining just how you view game differently), it's easy to see why your posts are seen as trolling.

 

Brooks wasn't our best CB in 2014. He played over 3,000 minutes in the 21/22 season and Benfica signed him for cover. He stepped into the Hoffenheim squad. Not playing at Benfica isnt the sign of a player you think it is.

Why should I let it go? The USMNT was being mismanaged to play shifty MLS players. I will make a deal with you. The moment these stupid MLS fans stop whining about Donovan, I will stop complaint about Brooks, Berhalters MLS guys, and Berhalter in eight years.

I am crapping on people who claim to be USMNT fans but bash Brooks, Pefok, Steffen, Reyna, Pulisic, etc and defend the use of MLS players. You are a pathetic bunch of people.

I dont supply facts and evidence? Wtf are you talking about? It is pretty factual that Berhalter screwed over euro based guys. It is also factual that if you aren't an MLS fanboy, Berhalter screwed over USMNT fans by playing crappy MLS players.

 

Actually it is not the problem that Gregg played crappy MLS players or that he misused or under used guys from outside the MLS. The problem was that he was just not a good coach. I am quite convinced that a good coach could have taken the squad(s) Gregg used and done much better with them.
Of course no one, probably, could have advanced the USA further at the WC than Gregg did. But a good coach would have won the matches that Gregg struggled to keep as ties.

If we want to truly get better at the international level we must have a coach that can produce teams that are better than the sum of its parts. I am not sure who that could be but I do know he/she will not come from the MLS, mostly. Nor will he/she come from the top Euro clubs. But he/she might well come from an overachieving side just about anywhere in the world.
We will continue to fail as long as we stick to any coach that will not come up with a simple, easy to play, system that is designed to maximize the skills of each player while hiding any weaknesses.

 

It is kind of weird. All anyone on here keeps telling me is how great MLS academies and MLS are. Yet, when I watch these Americans, most of them have multiple major issues with their games. Issues are basic in nature. The result are athleti and hard working players that are technically deficient and understand the game at an extremely low level.

 

I believe it is both. Another coach could have done a better job with the same players. That same coach could also do better than that if he could select the players himself.

 

Newcastle was playing West Ham at the same time......that was a much better game. You chose poorly. Living in the US, there are always more and better options in terms of soccer games to watch.....

Didn't Lionel Messi start as a midfielder/winger?

Every manager/team values different skill sets in their players. It's clear that Gregg valued work rate and pressing in his strikers rather than hold up play. Was that good or bad? That's up for debate. Depending on how one views the game, and measures the USMNT's success, will lead to differences in opinions on this subject.

Strictly going off of the style of play of professional clubs. Certain players may not fit a teams style of play. As an example: Messi was tailor made for the tiki taka of Barcelona. That said, Messi likely wouldn't be a good fit for a team that plays a 4-4-2 narrow diamond with pressing/counter pressing principals. He also likely wouldn't be a good fit for a Red Bull team.

Now, the coach of national Team has a difficult job. They have to pick from the pool of the best players a country has to offer. Out of those players, they need to pick a group that fits together, compliments one other, while also making each other better. The coach is tasked with selecting the best team. The best team is not always or necessarily a collection of the best and most talented players. It's usually a mixture of highly talented players, and complimentary role players.

I'm NOT defending gregg's roster choices. He made many, many questionable choices that he felt were best for the team at that moment.

IMO, Berhalter was a poor choice for the National Team. He needed more professional experience as a head coach. That said, he deserves plaudits for the job he did with the Crew. He was not only the Head Coach, but also the GM/TD while there. Given the manner in which Precourt was striping his asset and cost cutting in order to make the case to move it to Austin....the job he did should not be derided.

IMO Gregg's tenure with the USMNT is a symptom of a larger problem with US Soccer as whole. The fact that Earnie Stewart was actively working on his post world cup exit prior to the World Cup....that says it all. While he was with Philly, he often spoke of wanting to be the head of US Soccer in a director type role. It was a dream job of his. Granted, Head of Football at PSV is a MUCH, MUCH better job than Technical Director of US Soccer, it still warrants the question of why would you want to exit a dream job on the precipice of hosting the World's showcase event? Is part of it being away from his wife and son for years? Yes, I can 100% understand that.

Still, there are even bigger issues with US Soccer as a whole than GGG, & MLS.

 

Playing inferior MLS players is simply a byproduct of the drop off from our top 10-15 and a still relatively shallow player pool.

Once you get past our elite players you're filling out the roster with either MLS players or 2nd tier Euro league players.

So I'd rephrase your comment to "does playing inferior players to our top 10-15 players help our NT"?

 

I hope my "poor" choice will not have the ramifications that the "poor" choice did in "The Last Crusade."
Actually there was not a "choice" to make except which mach to watch first. I will be watching other matches later. Every Premier league match is either available to record or will become available delayed on the Peacock service.

The advantage of streaming services is that they have produced a LOT more variety and a LOT more choices of how to waste time. The disadvantage of streaming services is that they have produced a LOT more variety and a LOT more choices of how to waste time. I am mostly housebound now and my time is spent consuming media. I could, if i wanted, watch soccer all my waking hours but, as much as I enjoy soccer, there are other things I enjoy and my time is best spent doing exactly what I want. So, today at noon local time, I chose to watch a match from the "Club World Cup." While I did not watch what I would consider the "best" match possible I did watch the one that had the highest possibility of being "important." I will choose the remainder of the matches at the Club World Cup over Premier League matches , except, maybe, the 3rd place match to watch over the next several days. However I do expect that I will watch enough matches to keep my soccer cravings at bay.

 

You claim to be a USMNT fan, but constantly crap on US players, isn’t that the same thing? Does that mean you include yourself in the “pathetic bunch” group?

 

Explain.

 

Seriously? You've named the fringiest of fringe players in the current national team outside of Reyna and Richards.

Baligun: hasn't committed to the US or England or Nigeria yet. Played for England's Youth National teams. He's far more likely to commit to Nigeria or England than he is to the US. He's not a part of the US player pool.

Pefok: That's his first goal since early September. Also, he doesn't necessarily fit the style of play that GGG wanted to play. We can disagree on GGG's tactics/system/what have you. The fact is, Pefok was not in form and GGG doesn't really value a hold up striker

Reyna: His story is out there. Enough has been said about it. He's one of the 10-14 top players

Bryan Reynolds: was in no position to be in contention for a spot in Qatar. He's been in club soccer purgatory for the past year and a half since moving to Roma.

Austin Trusty: Moved to England this summer, and then loaned out, was in MLS for most of this cycle. Where was this interest in Trusty prior to him moving to England? He's the same player he was in MLS. Which is not a slight to him.

Terrence Boyd: Seriously? Seriously??

Malik Tillman: played prior to Qatar. Who stays home instead? If we're going to deride the overall Quality of MLS....The drop off in quality from Celtic and Rangers to the rest of the SPL.....it's stark, it's VERY stark. That CWC game today was total dreck. So are the SPL games not involving the Old Firm. Tillman is still very raw, he wasn't ready for the WC. Let's see where he's at in 2025 in the run up to 2026.

Taylor Booth: Has been an afterthought at Bayern's developmental teams for years. Again, who he is he replacing at Qatar?

Chris Richards: injured, or he would have been on the plane to Qatar, and one of the starting CB's.

Seriously, the US has about 10-13 players who are at a very high level. After that, there's a big. big drop off. All touch videos and highlight clips on instagram, tiktok and youtube don't paint the entire picture. At the end of the day there's usually a 23 man roster. Only 11 of those will start with another potential 3 being brought on as subs in a given game.

The US player pool is NOT deep. It's certainly not as deep as some around here want to believe that it is.

 

Difficult to take anyone seriously who claims Terrence Boyd as deserving of being at the WC lol, dude looked seriously out of his depth in MLS, and he’s on the wrong side of 30,

 

I suspect Yurp is paying for propaganda posts again.

 

The 2nd tier Euro players got very little chance and a number of the top 15ish players were slowly integrated. The amount of minutes given to MLS was not helpful for the WC team. The bench was mostly poor MLS players and a few Euro based guys. When he finally got the lineup basically right vs Iran, the bench was Reyna, Aaronson, MLS guys, DLT, Wright, and Scally. Those last three guys had limited minutes because those MLS guys were locked in players for GB.

 

I guess I crap on MLS guys who don't deserve to be there. I do feel bad for them. They are just pawns of whatever this last cycle. Not near as much if a fan as I was back 2016. Basically, everything the fed has done since then has really turned me off. The real challenge for me as I've gone from a fan of MLS to not really caring to openly not caring for the league. Unfortunately, the fed and MLS fans won't those two intertwined together, even if it hurts the USMNT.

One thing I will tell you. I am as close to being completely done with the USMNT. I dont see me bashing poor MLS players this cycle. If they are still playing, I won't be watching.

 

Yet, thise finge guys are better than those MLS players taken to Qatar. The ease that you guys dismiss players is nuts. It is why you guys are always late on Euro based players. DLT was a fringe player not worth looking at for a long time.

The pool is much deeper than what Berhalter led you to believe. I hope we get see for real this cycle.

 

Pretty wild the best players for Celtic and Rangers are American and Berhalter didn't rate either.

 

that’s a bit confusing. On that list you made up, who do you honestly think should have been starting in Qatar? Keeping in mind that Balogun hasn’t even decided to play for the US and Richards was ruled out due to injury. I’m also wondering who you suggest sitting down in favor of the guys you mentioned in WC matches? Should Bryan Reynolds have started in Qatar over Dest? Should Trusty have been starting despite having zero caps at the senior level? Who hits the bench in order to fit Taylor Booth? Musah? Who are we benching to fit Tillman into the 11? McKennie? Are we sitting down Sargent to get Terrence Boyd up top at the World Cup? Lol.