The Coming ‘Golden Generation’ Will Not Accomplish What the 2002 Team Accomplished

Shout out for Kellyn Acosta who's no Tyler Adams but held the line and did what was needed.

 

The term “Golden Generation” just sets us up for major disappointment.

 

Association football sets most people up major disappointment.

But in a 2010 scenario many of the starters tonight would be getting ready to enter the MLS draft.

 

The funny thing about this thread now is that the USA won a major competition last night that previous generations probably would have lost on home soil. Especially after going down 1-0.

I was at the game in GC 2007 when the USA did come back though but that Mexico team seemed to have a split attention on the Copa America that same year.

This was different because Mexico put in all their attention and resources into winning this game last night and we still came back and smacked them in the face for the trophy.

 

This may explain why Musah didn't play.

https://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2021/06/04/60ba55b3268e3ea5128b45db.html

 

....................with an average age 5 years younger than Mexico.

We can talk tactics till the cows come home. Blah, blah, blah.

What we saw last night was a group with heart, fight, and a will to win.
It seemed like a young group that enjoys fighting together and for their coach.

Whatever folks want to say about Berhalter the tactician, he seems to have created an environment and squad that these young kids want to be part of.

If you merge an ever-increasing talent level with a real, genuine "will to win".......................then you may have something special.

We'll see. Time will tell.

What I do know is that these kids like McKennie, Pulisic, Reyna, etc. have an incredibly high ceiling. Will they reach the quarterfinal of a World Cup? Who knows? It takes talent and it takes a lot of luck. The 2002 group was extremely lucky to advance from the group stage after laying an egg against Poland.

 

Yes. The comments here preemptively blaming a loss on him were even more embarrassing in hindsight.

 

Acosta over Yueill was one of Berhalter's best decisions last night.

 

Acosta matched up better with Mexico's speed, but was outmatched in the air. I thought he didn't do as well dealing with Mexico's long balls as Ream. OTOH, Ream had to stay tight and got turned by his man a couple of times from passes along the gound, whereas Acosta always seemed to be able to slow Mexico down till help could arrive.

 

Maybe In the sense his lack of form carried over to the national team. Neither game was in hand, so throwing an 18 year old out just to cap tie him might not have been good for the team. He's looked good when he's played for the US, but maybe he didn't impress this camp. I don't think we can fault beerholder at this time.

 

Start of good things to come. If our younger talented players could show grit it would mean that we could start to replace a few older players on the roster with a few upstarts with potential. Every player that drew concern last night has someone waiting in the wings to take that spot. That player just need more experience at the professional level. Adams starts and plays at 6 with Musah as a backup but Musah also needs time with his club. If it’s a three man backline then Richards plays on the left next season and enters into the CB regulars. I’m not sure what will happen to Reynolds at Roma but I think that he can play as a right back behind Dest and also maybe feel in at on the right side in a back three. At LB in a back four I think it’s got to be Robinson the service he provides is good and he will get better. Berhalters got to bring in CCV and give him a chance. Other than those potential up and comers I feel like the attack has solidified itself. Aaronson will back up Pulisic or Renya and so will Weah.

 

Not going to lie, while there was great intangible moments and i've been enjoying the W, i felt like we looked awful for much of that game. Our backline/defense in particular. And while improved from Honduras our team definitely needs to build a lot more cohesiveness. Some flashes of great team play, and enough individual brilliance to grind us a win , but overall this is a work in progress. We need to be better in the midfield, we just could not link up to our attack outside of being opportunistic on counters or turnovers by Mexico. Anytime we had the ball after the goalkick or attempted to build anything out of the back we floundered. Particularly so when Mexico pressed. That really needs to be worked on. Even when we booted it downfield it felt like every time it either went to nobody or Sargent/the recipient lost the aerial battle for control.

 

I think we also need to credit the young team leaders of this group for creating this atmosphere. Pulisic, McKennie, Adams, etc. sure seem to be proactive in terms of engagement with teammates and recruits. Its a little thing, but you can see how they engage with each other on social media. When a player like Ledezma or Llanez or Soto has a tough time due to injury, off the field issues, or a bad club situation..........they show full support. When a player has a great moment, they're online congratulating each other and urging their teammates on.

What we'd heard about the Klinsmann "administration" was that many players didn't know their place or fit. That nobody was quite sure about their role. That was even true of team leaders. Communication was bad across the board, even down to the youth teams. That came to a head with Jonathan Gonzalez, etc. All of those issues seem to be improved. Most of these young recruits are actually identified and recruited by the youth coaches and leaders. That platform went from nothing to something under Rongen (who recruited a player like John Anthony Brooks) who was the first coach that convinced the USSF to have a dual-national recruiting budget. Now we seem to just be rolling with Nick Saban-caliber recruiting efforts.

 

Yes, @Suyuntuy was saying this I think about his dwindling time at Valencia.

 

This window has been eye-opening. The group is not only gritty and blue collar when needed but at times has been down right nasty. Our attacking duo of Reyna and Pulisic in particular have no issue doing villain turns. Just delightfully nasty and motivated.

 

Reggie Cannon is the same age as Pulisic and Mckennie

 

You called it!

 

Acosta has his issues, but his record against Mexico has always been good. He was part of the Azteca tie game.

 

I see it differently.
These kids are not going to let the coach fck this up with his formation or player selection. These kids will win for the USA, not GB.

We spotted them Mckenzie who was involved in every goal allowed and some.
We spotted them Ream, an aging player that must have incriminating pictures of GB to be selected to be beat off the dribble by whoever is the opposing winger.

These kids shown character, grit to not be denied a victory.
Think about it, what USA team of years past came back from 2-1 with less than ten minutes left to snatch a victory from Mexico?

This team is on a mission.

Next test is can they keep it up. Tomorrow will be the next test.

 

On the broadcast, didn't they say we had fallen behind 34 times to Mexico, won one (2007), tied five, and lost 28?

This generation came back twice and won. And it was the younger players (Brooks was immense and an exception) that carried the older players. We didn't even have Adams on the field for most of the game and our coach sabotaged Dest.

I think Sunday was a huge inflection point for the team. I think the 2015 Jamaica loss was a major inflection point that signaled the down turn and now we are headed up to new heights.

 

Yeah the players seem to hate Berhalter.