He was ever and always better than alternatives like Lovitz. Recasting this as AR becoming a better player, rather than GGG becoming a better manager over the last year or so is wrong.
It's not so much about Antonee being awesome, even he is aware Milan wanted him as a backup only (and a temporary one at that). It's that we got nothing else, unless you want to waste Dest on the left.
Maybe Berhalter is starting to see the pitfall of the DLM like Nagbe, Bradley - not so much Yueil so far, I guess - and will rethink his midfield. I think it was Doyle over at MLS soccer who pointed out how Minny "neutralized" Nagbe with an extra mid - I think it was Dotson - and as luck will have it, Minny will play San Jose next. NYCFC followed DC's lead with how they waited to get Bradley isolated and then pounced https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...-and-advanced-mls-back-top-tier?autoplay=true Vanney has been playing Delgado higher so no life preserver for Bradley lately. Playing Delgado higher means he can go after the other team's DLP like Atuesta, say, in last year's Toronto @ LAfc game.
Guess not. I think it is very fair to say that Berhalter made some very questionable decisions since being named the US manager, but Robinson was coming off his first season as a pro for a bad Bolton team. He is in his 3rd year of first team football and has improved so much to where he is getting EPL attention. And I could be misremembering but I remember ARob showing glimpses going forward but looked completely lost defensively at the time... and from what I see now thats no longer the case
I thought he played really well for 20 yo and where he is now isnt surprising at all. Given the other options, i think he should have been a mainstay in the lineup. When did he look completely lost defensively? I dont recall that.
Generally speaking I am inclined to say the truth is in the middle, little of column A, little of B, etc. This isn't that and you were the one specifically attributing it to Robinson having taken a "giant leap" forward and not mentioning GGG at all. The part you are misremembering is the bit where Robinson was a vastly superior candidate, (regardless of his imperfections or where Bolton finished), to the player GGG mistakenly thought was superior. Lovitz received 13 caps over Robinson directly, Lovitz is one of those questionable decisions from Berhalter you referenced above. Lovitz is and was garbage and Robinson could have regressed over the last year and he would still be clearly superior to the player GGG specifically chose. So no, this is about GGG rectifying his mistake, nothing else. Bigsoccer gonna bigsoccer.
I'm with you, but one game posters tend to return to in this USA v Brazil friendly, where Robinson got schooled multiple times (by Douglas Costa), most notably on Brazil's first goal.
I thought Robinson played pretty well overall under Dave Sarachan. He took a few lumps but he provided some attacking presence and assists as well. I would have rolled with him and Lichaj as LB's for these past two years and tried Hollingshead as well. Lovitz was an indefensible decision. He can neither attack nor defend. At least Lichaj can defend and Robinson can attack! Had Robinson been integrating with this team since early 2018 when Sarachan started the process, he would know "the system" and have the talent to actually do something in it. The fact that we had Tim Ream (still a fan of the guy as a CB) and Lovitz as LB's is the second worst decision Egg has made only because MB90 is still somehow a thing. Bottom line - ARob was good enough in 2018 to keep getting calls but he didn't and we'll probably never know the real reasons. The sooner Egg fixes it, the better. But he is not suddenly worthy of being included. He never should have been purged in the first place.
Why would getting schooled by Costa be grounds to not call ARob? Costa makes a living on the best clubs in the biggest leagues in the world schooling the best players on the planet. Would Lovitz or Lima do better? ARob at 5:38
If the argument is bringing in Lovitz over Robinson that is an argument I agree with. I never thought Lovitz every ddi anything spectacularly bad but he didn't ever do anything remotely good. But yes those were wasted call ups because he didn't add anything. My argument though was never about to be Robinson vs Lovitz. Now admittedly i dunno who can be argued as better guys to try as I am pretty sure most of the options just became options in the last calendar year. My point was more that I think that we forget how raw he was when he started getting call ups and he was as he was getting his first first team minutes. He has since established himself and now his exclusion looks worse. Honestly think a guy like CCV could make a similar jump
The scary thing is egg just mentioned him along with some other average young guys as "having a chance". In fairness, I think he had another quote where they have been in contact and Yada Yada Yada. The thing I hate most about these boards is that so many think our manager should be reactive. A player shouldn't be given real chances unless he's performing at a high level in Europe. Why can't our managers be proactive and call these guys up before they break out? The only guy I remember doing that is klinsy. He hit on a few (Brooks/Morris) and missed on other (Alvarado). But presumably these guys are in contact with club mgmt. Why does a USNT manager need to wait to see what we average fans can see? Certainly they must have knowledge that schalke weren't high on Haji Wright, but that McKennie was close. Be proactive. Call these guys in and give em chances, rather than rolling out already established poor players. What's the worst that happens? They perform poorly and you can stop call ups. And I don't mean just euro guys. MLS dudes too. I would prefer that Jan camp style always. Give 2 or 3 spots to youth talent that you're hearing good things about.
When he was playing a world-class forward who has made a lot of more experienced left backs look pretty bad as well.
While I can understand the Premier League striking this down, Toon fans have to feel like this is a Groundhog Day nightmare with Mike Ashley keeping the team forever. I know the rumors were to be taken with a pinch of salt, but wasn't Newcastle mentioned at least in passing as a possible McKennie landing spot?
Where are the multiple times in the video (the clip THHF pointed out does include one play not in the all touches video)?
Can you point out in the video those instances other than the one play where he took a poor angle and Costa beat him to the end line and sent in the contested shot for the assist?
I read the reports about the Newcastle interest. I don't know if that was predicated on the takeover going through, though.
I can respect the decision, but man, when did the EPL get ethics? So much of what has driven their rise to the top has been very shady money. Newcastle fans have to wonder how they get stuck with Ashley when Manchester City, Chelsea, Wolves, Leicester City -- hell, Man United, etc. all have some ranging levels of dirt.
Because the Saudis and their pirating of games take money out of the Premier League's pockets directly. In the other cases, while the actions are curious at best and downright illegal at worst, they aren't directly impacting the league's finances.
You missed my point, which is that because of a single game (or even a single play) a narrative developed. Forget that it was limited and it was one of the world's better wingers who has made a career of making Bundesliga and Serie A fullbacks look pretty bad. If people are going to make a generalization about Antonee Robinson's defensive ability based on a game against Brazil and Douglas Costa, that says more about those making the generalization than it does the player.
And of course that was also my point. I don't think Robinson should be excluded because he was beaten by Douglas Costa, and I never thought so. I was a proponent of his, and an enthusiastic one given the alternatives. I was calling attention to what others think and have said. Quoting myself ... BS narratives based on scant evidence are pretty common, as every regular here well knows.
This is why I think a 4-2-3-1 with McKennie and Adams in the 2 is the best formation for the US. I also think Robinson (LB) and Dest (RB) are the best options at the fullback positions. They are both more advanced offensively than defensively. We can all admit that center back is not a position of strength for this team. That's why having two very good, defensively-minded midfielders in front of the backline just makes sense. McKennie and Adams can provide the cover for whoever the center backs are and allow Dest and Robinson to attack more. While I understand the "who's the 10?" counterpoint to using a 4-2-3-1, I think the ability of Reyna and Pulisic to interchange makes that point somewhat irrelevant. I just think this type of formation plays to the strengths of our best players and helps protect against the key weakness on the team. I get this means we have a question to ponder at the 9, but I'd rather have that question than the question of who protects the back line.