The biggest problem for me with the US is that you have 3 players all attacking an area between the penalty spot and the 6 yard box at the same time. One player needs to stay wide while the center-forward needs to occupy defenders to create space for Pulisic or Reyna to run into.
Not just 4 teams, but supposedly the 4 best teams in the confederation. There were promising looking moments throughout both contests, but they petered out the closer the ball got to the goal. Any of the 4 could have won their matches, but I think the Mexico-Costa Rica match was much less sloppy than the USA-Honduras affair. Oh well, World Cup Qualifiers should provide more goals, but probably less skill quality this weekend to take our minds off Thursday's dross.
Well...if you were to believe twitter, it was all the fault of the two MLS players in the starting lineup along with the MLS coach.
Funny how club affiliation dictates whether you lost the game for your team or you’re incapable of having a bad game and your poor play is someone else’s fault.
Just for reference, Paramount+ is streaming all of these CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers this window. Many of them have a lot of bearing in determining the six group winners that will advance to the playoffs later this month. Times are EDT. Friday, June 4 (C) Guatemala v. St. Vincent & the Grenadines 6:00 pm (D) Dominican Rep. v. Barbados 7:00 pm (E) Nicaragua v. Belize 9:00 pm Saturday, June 5 (E) Turks & Caicos v. Haiti 3:00 pm (F) Bahamas v. Trinidad & Tobago 5:00 pm (C) B. Virgin Islands v. Curacao @ Guatemala 5:00 pm (A) US Virgin Islands v. El Salvador 7:00 pm (B) Aruba v. Canada @ Bradenton, FL 8:00 pm (D) Anguilla v. Panama @ Panama 8:00 pm Tuesday, June 8 (E) Haiti v. Nicaragua 5:00 pm (C) Curacao v. Guatemala 8:00 pm (A) El Salvador v. Antigua and Barbuda 9:00 pm (B) Canada v. Suriname Chicago, IL 9:00 pm (D) Panama v. Dominican Rep. 9:00 pm I'd expect them to also have the playoffs on June 12 and 15.
Let's be honest - as much as I'm a MLS fan and I get tired of hearing people talk down MLS players, Yeuill really was poor and Lletget wasn't much better, and Berhalter's coaching decisions, especially around not subbing anybody until almost too late, were debatable at best. But the only players I would've rated higher than 5/10 were Brooks and McKenzie (and Siebatchu ).
I’d say Yueill was poor and Lletget was kind of “just there.” But that latter description also applied to a few guys who seemingly can’t be criticized because of their club affiliation.
Gio Reyna really should have scored in the first half. Game probably goes totally differently if he gets that, since Honduras can't just sit back and wait for the counter.
Well everyone can relax about World Cup Qualifying. With a stunning result today the Bahamas held Trinidad & Tobago to a scoreless draw, which means St. Kitts and Nevis wins the group and T&T are eliminated. No return trip to Couva for the U.S.!
Talk about an unadulterated shocker! Bahamas had been outscored 15-0 in its first 3 Group Stage games. USA doesn't have to worry about T & T to kick that beach sand in their faces this time! But, how are they gonna handle potential trips to Curacao, Suriname, or St. Kitts & Nevis? Re-building America's soccer fortunes is a time-consuming process, and I get that. But, I'm also skeptical that this team of younger stars is playing appreciably better than the one that lost at Trinidad & Tobago in 2017. Tonight's game with Mexico and next month's Gold Cup will hopefully, put me in a better frame of mind by the time the U.S. begins its WCQ campaign in September.
I love that the top tier of CONCACAF is getting more competitive (and I'd argue the middle half as well), but man some of those scores from last night are kind of terrible...13-0? I guess eventually they think this Nations League will sort itself out with the relegation/promotion among tiers, but some of these teams like Canada and Panama are probably thinking their time could be spent much better.