Hmmmm, I've never said that, so won't start now...my most "controversial" takes recently are Gregg forcing Acosta/yeuill on us despite not being good enough and having better options and ARob is way better than Cannon (who shouldn't be more than 3rd choice rb)...will one of those work?
I don’t understand the quick reactionary evaluations and drops some people create based off of a tuneup-warm up. Brooks will start and so will Sargent. Renya will be in there as well. Berhalter does need to make a choice at LB, Robinson should be his regular LB and Dest his RB. If he likes Cannon and wants him on the field he can use that grit in the seventieth during that crucial part of the game when Dest is gassed. At the DM position I think until Adams is healthy Musah will work but he does like Acosta’s grit. What can we say Berhalter came up in a time when grit got the Nats where they went, not talent. He likes that grit which is why he sticks to a few players that came up the ranks that are grinders. That being said, Adams, McKennie, Robinson have the potential to take on that jermaine Jones attitude. A few more years will get them there. I think some people think McKennie got soft but I think he embraced the creative part of his game but the Shalke bruiser is still there. for Honduras i think it looks like this Steffen Dest McKenna Brooks Cannon McKennie Acosta Lletget Renya Sargent Pulisic
When, exactly, is the right time for Berhalter to experiment with his starting outside backs in their correct positions? I mean....certainly not this week.....as they’ll never have played there together and those matches are for the NL. And not the Costa Rica friendly.....because friendliest need to be used to examine exotic combinations of field players number 18 through 30. It is critically vital that we figure out who will take the last qualifying roster spot. Same for the gold cup....we can’t have starters there because our players are too frail to play a tournament mid summer, unlike the majority of their European teammates. then we have qualifying....we really can’t be experimenting there....so trying Robinson at left back and Dest at right back with no history with that combination would be crazy. Summer 2022 at the earliest I assume.
The team played Wales in November with a joy and energy that was fun. They played in March with style and flash and it was fun. Sunday was like the 3-0 Mexico game. Berhalter took a chance, facing a very good team, to try out an extreme tactical game plan he knew would fail. Against Mexico, the players seemed interested in trying it. Against the Swiss, the players seemed frustrated to be hamstrung. It wasn't fun. Berhalter has never had the team man mark like San Jose or Bielsa before. Why start now? He had to know the Swiss would figure it out just like any good MLS team figures it out versus SJ. Is it that Yueill was in the lineup? Why are we changing everything if what the coach says is the team needs reps together? If the whole point was to see if Lletget could cover for Dest in a man marking system where we high press all the time, the answer was no. Was the worth it? I feel like all Berhalter really cared about was getting Dest, McKennie, and a few others major minutes to see if they will be too tired to beat Mexico.
Cannon has quickly entered that place that previously was occupied by Roldan, Trapp, and Bradley. He is being started and just putting up terrible performance after terrible performance. He does nothing in the build up, does nothing in the final third, and is afraid to defend. Everyone loved Dest on the left versus Jamaica. But the defender on that side, against Dest and Pulisic, played in the Jamaican league. The midfielder and CB on that side play in the EFLC. Against good players, Dest didn't look as good on his unnatural side. Which is all to say, Dest should be on the right. That we are playing Cannon and moving Dest to do it is akin to playing Trapp or Bradley and moving Adams to RB to do it. It is baffling. It is hard to believe that Berhalter is too blinded by results to not understand how a Barcelona player can look good against a Jamaican League player but might not look as good against Bundesliga level player. But that looks exactly like what is going on.
What do I think of that? I think if the team plays like that against Honduras, particularly the way they played the 1st half........................we'll win that game handily. People say "why did Berhalter try X, Y, or Z now? Because friendlies are the time to try stuff. Klinsmann used to do the same thing and it used to drive people nutso. He's play Diskerud as a #6 and Bradley as a #10. Jermaine Jones and centerback. Why? To try stuff. Why do we play with Dest on the left and Cannon on the right? Because we can't use Robinson every game this summer and need a plan B. What if Robinson isn't available for a WCQer? We need an answer, and I think we see what Berhalter's solution will be. We have depth at RB, and will move Dest over. Cannon will be fine on the CONCACAF level. Lets not forget that he was one of the better performers in the 2019 Gold Cup, including in the final against Mexico. We have Yedlin there for veteran depth, and a bunch of youngsters like Reynolds and Araujo charging. That was the best team we've played since the re-start. Hence we didn't blow them out of the water like we did El Salvador, Panama, Jamaica, etc. That was always going to be a close game for which we'd like some aspects and be frustrated by other aspects. If we learn that "Player X isn't good enough for that level" then we've still learned something. I do think that one of the biggest questions we have yet to answer is "What do we do if the oft-injured Adams can't start a WCQer?" I'm not enamored with any of the experiments we've tried. And that includes the Euro-based players. But add Adams and Pulisic to that lineup, and its wicked. There are holes. Every national team has holes, particularly when we talk about depth.
Nice counter, at this point my Sargent support is neutered in scope, flagging, hopeless, but you almost rallied the horses back to the fight for me. Good counterargument. I expect him to bounce back once he lands elsewhere, I expect him to get more minutes, I just would prefer that we also see Dike, Hoppe, heck I would've love to have seen Wright, pipe dream as it is apparently, but I'd like to see some other guys with upside too especially considering I expect Sargent to get 65-140 of the next 180 minutes.
That is all fine. But what does changing to a man marking orientation all over the field have to do with any of it? It can't be something done because Adams was unavailable or to see what happens if Robinson is unavailable. It was a completely new thing. If anything, introducing a completely new thing the team has never done before kind of destroys the experiments you are describing. All we have is, Yueill and Lletget can't cover behind Dest in a man marking system. But are we scrapping two years and going to a man marking system now? A system only our backup 6 (I guess) plays with his club? Can Lletget cover for Dest in a team defense scheme? Who knows, we didn't run that against Swiss. If we are not changing to a man marking defense, than what was the point doing it? I'm fine with using Friendlies to try things. I'm more interested to understand why we try such radical things. Why play out of the back at all costs against an 8 man press? You would never do that in a game, so what is the point? Why use a man marking system you will never use again?
I saw media reports that the camp was very taxing. I bet normally they could press all game with 5 subs in cool weather. Cannon was about the least of our problems. There’s a reason all the dangerous moves came down the left side. He’s like a Honda Civic, he gets the job done but isn’t particularly cool looking.
What does seeing Sargent week in and week out for one of the worst BL teams have to do with his play for the US? Serious question - what could Sargent have done the last 150 minutes in 2 years to make you ok with his performance? Simply one goal? Then complaints would be minimal? I think the big issue right now for the US is that we're not creating good chances. For as "good" as we looked this match in the first half, there were really no excellent chances for the team. And most of the ok chances we had (Sargent two headers, Reyna post, Lletget 2nd shot) all involved or were set up by Sargent. I get that fans will go straight to the "STRIKERS ARE SUPPOSED TO SCORE" easiest argument, but we need to use some nuance here. 2 matches and 150 minutes. Come on.
I think most people would behave with as much equanimity as you if we believed that Dest on the Left, and Cannon on the right was about what to do in the games against the bottom feeders of the Ocho, rather than the preferred choice for LB and RB for a game against Mexico tomorrow. We don't know if his first choice is Dest RB, and Robinson LB, or Dest LB, and whatever RB, but there's plenty of evidence that he doesn't rate Robinson, and prefers Dest at LB in his true First XI, to the idea that he's actually sane, and will play Dest at RB in must win games against legit competition. Personally, I have no idea, but we have seen him try to do this repeatedly throughout his tenure, is it experimentation, or just more inept evaluation and approach? I don't know, and that's what's scary.
I thought the game was either poorly coached, or specifically designed to see what would happen if we played without a left sided FB. Dest was playing a left winger. When the Swiss figured that out, they took advantage. The scoreline should have been closer to 5 or 6 against if not for some nice stops by Horvath and woeful finishing. It would be really nice to understand why Berhalter feels that only Dest can play left back. It would also be really nice to see Dest play a position where we don't need him to play much defense, when everyone in the world can tell that the kid is a phenom in the offense. John Brooks just had a career year in the 1 BL, and somehow, one game in Berhalter's system made him look like he should be playing in the Austrian Bundesliga. Either Brooks is that bad, which is 100% disproved by the 34 game season he just played against some of the best attacking talents in the world, or Berhalter's system is fundamentally flawed. I think you know where my money would be placed. Aaronson was less impressive than I thought he would be, but that may have been down to this being the first game in a new system against a highly organized Swiss defense which is generally pretty stingy. We are going to need more out of a 9 than we saw from Sargent. Don't know if that player exists right now. I think we need at the federation level to be motivated to produce strikers as the pipeline has been broken for what, a decade? Thursday can't come soon enough though. I'm just happy to watch the US play again in games that (sort of) matter.
The trick is always how to use talent, and which talent to design around. The criticism of putting Dest out on the left is part of that. I think Reyna’s struggles stem from the way Greg wants to play and that he sees Reyna as a wing in a high energy pressing system. He is fast enough but he will never be Aaronson when it comes to his motor or pressing quickness. In Greg’s system, Gio might be better served playing centrally in the midfield with Adams and McKennie. I don’t think anyone on the roster sees the offensive opportunities and passes into space as well as Gio. I can’t tell if Greg is still squeezing talent into his preferred system or not. But whatever he is doing is under-using Gio. And for the life of me I cannot understand why he would want to put Dest on the left—especially once Pulisic is available. Seems like a waste.
I agree that friendlies should be used to try things. I just happen to think they should be used to try your starting lineup first....particularly when the last 18 months have been knocked out due to a once in a century pandemic and you’ve now burned through every one of the limited opportunities you’ve had to try it....and have actively decided against giving yourself an opportunity to try it in a 5/6 game tournament this summer. But I guess trying option 1 before you go to option 47 is just too obvious
umm the us doesnt have less talent....the u23 team can beat most national teams. this isnt a flash in the pan...its the new normal.... the coaching hasnt caught up to the talent yet...which is the real problem.
i mean...he is very very good at pressing....of course some of it is natural. I was amazed that he kept it up all game....but, again, my point was that it helps that his club team plays that way. It must give him a leg up when the USMNT presses out there compared to players from clubs that dont emply that tactic. but yes he would be good at it regardless of what club he was on.
It's a good question. I'm sure there are different gameplans. In general, though, what I expect is a couple of things: The CDM is generally going to help more centrally, allowing the already split CBs to go wide. This is one of my longer term concerns, as Brooks is one of our best players ... and also not somebody who want on the outside. I love Adams; I don't think he can reliably get to the outside in terms of being a safety valve even with the speed edge he has on Yueill. As a safety valve, you need the guy to be nearly 100%, and that's just a lot of distance If the CDM gets forward, one of the two CMs needs to rotate back and cover. Neither McKennie nor Lletget showed particularly consistent effort or willingness to do this. The former ... we have a big game against Honduras on Thursday. The latter? I'm not sure if it's lack of focus or gameplan. The gameplan was different than some of what we've seen before to my mind: We pressed higher and more consistently than I've seen before across the board. That's the forwards, the CMs -- who often were right up there close to the box, and... ...even Yueill, who was clearly ahead of CBs. I somewhat expected Yueill to play more in line with the CBs -- like we did in one of Adams' games (and he played more forward in another). That would have given more cover, but it seemed like we were dedicated to an extremely high and compact high press If we do that, we are going to have issues with people getting behind. Bayern does this, but they want to have very fast centerbacks and fullbacks as recovery speed. I think it was a very aggressive gameplan. I'm not sure it works with what I consider the full A team -- so that MMA midfield -- against good opponents. It's probably going to be really effective against weaker teams. But the Swiss are talented, experienced and disciplined. Still, CONCACAF has enough rapid wingers -- Leon Bailey, Davies, Alberth Elis, that I get a bit wary of this much defensive aggression. And it's compounded to my mind because we aren't good at taking advantage of the mistakes. The lack of finishing on the offensive end. But that said, it will be interesting to see MMA in something this aggressive. And maybe against a slightly lesser team. And we're still a bit inexperienced. If we keep it up, though, I wouldn't be shocked to see a Richards - McKenzie CB pairing come to the fore.
I don't understand the Cannon griping. It must be his facial expression because it wasn't his play. He was fine on defense and contributed well on offense. He was a 6-6.5 out of 10, nothing to write home about and definitely nothing to complain about. https://the18.com/en/soccer-news/usmnt-vs-switzerland-player-ratings-sebastian-lletget-sergino-dest RB: Reggie Cannon — 6.5 The deflection for Switzerland’s opening goal was rough, but he otherwise was sound defensively and delivered a beautiful cross in the 35th minute for Sargent. 6.5 for Cannon https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usmn...sebastian-lletget-earn-high-marks-in-switzerl The US right back's solid shift lost a little luster when he opted not to close down the crosser on the second goal leak. It was a bit ironic seeing as how Cannon had himself been getting forward to play some tempting balls into the box. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soc...al-team-switzerland/j6mf0fanpzcy1qmwekxa7rscb Reggie Cannon: 6 He definitely had his hands full defensively, but for the most part he did his job. With as much as Dest pushes forward on the left, Cannon has to be selective about his attacking forays from right back. He did well to pick out good moments, especially in the second half. When he did push up, he was quality with his passing, decision-making and crossing. @bherald https://halfspaces.com/halfspaces-player-grades-usmnt-vs-switzerland/ Gives him above team average marks.
My issue with Reyna wasn't that he wasn't "good." It's that he wasn't good enough. Him, McKennie, Dest are part of the heralded crew of locks that are supposed to be differentiators. None of them really seemed to understand yesterday that they are the better players on the team. They all seemed very content offensively to play a support role, much like they do with their clubs. It will be interesting to see if that changes on Thursday, but our strengths need to be strengths.
Spot on and hilarious, but unfortunately true. I think most here assume that Robinson/Dest is the "Best XI", but I think we might need to realize it ain't in Gregg's mind. I said it in another post, but Acosta/Ream have played more minutes just in the last couple months (despite not playing for their clubs at the time) than Robinson has since 2019. I think Gregg just doesn't rate him. If I had to forecast, I'd say maybe Robinson gets the start against Honduras, but then back to the "1st choice" pairing of Dest/Cannon for Mexico.
While I think Ream is near or at his sell by date with the national team, this is completely inaccurate concerning his club career. I'm pretty sure he's been twice named Bolton's player of the season as well as once for Fulham...
When you see the Cannon griping, it's basically pre-formed opinion. He was fine across the board. He had 3-4 good crosses -- including one that Sargent needs to put on goal -- and a great through ball to McKennie in the second half. He's not supposed to be a dynamic offensive player.