Post-match: USA vs. Mexico - Gold Cup Final - August 1, 2021 [R]

Happy birthday, Gregg Berhalter!!!

 

It was mostly the young MLS players who will soon move to Europe or will likely not make it anywhere near the WC. The MLS lifers did not show well.

 

I’m sure he’d do fine but he’d need to start winning air balls.

 

DLF might seriously get going too this upcoming season.

 

B- roster of the USMNT, I love you. You made Alexi Lalas cry.

 

Food for thought, a lot of our guys are likely going to improve in the next 18 months.

Reyna, Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Steffen, Horvath, Dest, Aaronson, ARob, Robinson, Turner, Sands, Busio, Williamson, Hoppe, Gioacchini, Dike, Richards, Weah.

Heck, even veteran guys like Acosta, Roldan, and Zardes look like they have leveled up.

 

I’m too hyped and need to settle down for bed for work tomorrow... so I’ll provide my detailed analysis in the morning..

But wow... I’m so proud of this team. Berhalter has brought back the American heart and fighting spirit to the USMNT.

 

Trust your eyes, not just pedigree. Pedigree is not meaningless but also not everything

 

It really would be the height of stupidity if they fire him for this.

 

Tournament Champions
6 Wins
0 Ties
0 Losses
+10 Goal Differential
0 Goals Conceded from the run of play over 6 games
Wins over the top 4 teams in the tournament: Mexico, Qatar, Canada, and Jamaica.
Youngest team in the tournament, youngest team ever fielded by the USMNT in a full men’s tournament.

 

Tremendous coaching job by Berhalter tonight!

Where I've criticized Gregg the most over his tenure is in being too beholden to his "system" with predictable results. That would have been disastrous tonight, but instead he acted pragmatically and got just about everything right.

Acosta starting at DM is one example. Starting a more athletic player in Williamson to compliment a slower Lletget is another. Playing more direct and booting the ball up field when necessary is yet another. Subs were great too!

Really happy for him personally, and much happier with him as our coach now that I'm confident he's willing to "win ugly" when necessary. And it wasn't even that ugly!

If he plays practically and strategically with this player pool and his incredible ability to build a team culture, then look out!

Great job coach!

 

I’ve been critical of Gregg, Acosta, Zardes, and Lletget before. A lot of it I think was deserved. Lletget didn’t have the best game, but he is clearly a leader on this team and a lot has to be said for that. Gregg made great subs, and tactically put us in a position to get a result. Zardes worked his tail off and took a beating for it. Did pretty well with hold up play. I don’t think he should start for WCQ, but after this I’m ok if he’s on the roster. Acosta was an absolute beast. He’s probably the one I’ve been most critical of in the past. He was a destroyer tonight. Looked like Ngolo Kante out there. I’d question why he looks so average against lesser teams, but for now, I’ll just tip my cap to the young man. Amazing performance.

well done to the boys, that was a fun ride.

 

I am very high on Richards, but he needs to prove it with the national team to really earn his spot. Part of that is on his youth, part on poorly timed injuries, and part on berhalter. I expect him to thrive, but other guys have done well enough with the national team that he has his work cut out for him.

 

Yeah, Turner, Zardes, and Roldan were all awful. Very perceptive.

 

I don't really see us lumping balls up into the air with guys like Reyna, McKennie, Pulisic, Adams, Aaronson, Konrad, Weah, etc. We will keep the ball on the ground I think.

 

So good news and bad news for everybody who wants to fire Berhalter and hire Tata Martino. The good news is that Martino is a lot more likely to be available soon. The bad news…

 

As it should be!

 

Great performance....really really good job by the entire team.

So much heart...they gave everything and its good to see that rewarded.

I think players learn from this type of contest - and you could see Acosta just become a man possessed out there. It clicked. Hopefully, this is a turning point for him ...because he was incredible as the game wore on he got better and better.

At this point, I there might be 3 rosters that the US could qualify out of CONCACAF and the pool is only going to get deeper.

Mexico is in trouble now.

I've been critical...but Berhalter deserves a ton of credit. I loved the way he kept insisting the team push all the way up the field - seconds later arriola got that glorious chance. (I hope he never gets called up again) GGG values fight and cameraderie and today showed why. I still think he needs to do better at roster selection and player eval...and also figure out the attacking side of things but he's earned his spot as manager of the team, no doubt.

zardes - wow. he ran and competed so hard....huge performance....wish he had a bit more guile sometimes ...but he really played well today....despite not looking he'd ever score.

lletget - what can I say - this was the worst setup for him...small field.....played every minute now on tired legs....his back passing was a real liability out there. I dont think he should be a lock for any roster but I expect him to stay heavily involved. i think his spot can be upgraded easily in the pool.

busio - you can see hes not ready for this. good player but still so so young. will get there. sands fought hard but i wouldnt put him in the 23 for the ateam, yet.

robinson was a beast defensively, let alone the goal. he should be in the 23 for wcq.

hoppe - he was like a young jedi going over to the dark side out there....snarling and everything....almost scored a couple of times and ran like a madman out there...when he got tired his decision making fell off...but he played well....left it all out there.

Lotsa comp for spots now - the ateam players must feel prssure - which will be a good thing in the end - as long as ggg figures it out.....but I also hope that more players than these 2 rosters are given a chance - i think there's a lot of upgrades in the pool, that werent included in the last 2 teams.

the USMNT is about to be extremely hard to break into in the coming years...watch out. gonna be a lot of good players who arent included in the world cup team.

 

And Acosta. And Miles Robinson.

It was clearly the 19 year olds.

 

Because other people have different opinions than your opinion.

 

While I'm sure some guys will make moves, I wouldn't mind if some moves waited until after the World Cup.

I think it will be useful for qualifying to have a bunch of local guys that aren't flying in from Europe jet lagged when we have a lot of travel and games in short windows. Also sometimes players move abroad and there's an adjustment period - I want players getting regular playing time and sharp for qualifying and the World Cup.

Now after Qatar? I want the floodgates opened. We will qualify automatically, so no worry there. And if players make moves that don't work out in 2023 or 2024, who cares as long as they are regularly playing in 2025 and 2026.

 

Cannot understand how they gave him that award .

 

Berhalter beat him with younger underdogs twice for trophies.

I’m sorry haters, but Berhalter >> Tata

 

Holy Shit!

A wonderful game of gritty defending and horrendous finishing.

My players of the tournament for us are Turner, Acosta, and Robinson.

Those of us who wanted Acosta to take the free kicks are validated.

So ironic, that in a game where every time we leaned into a tackle, we got called for a foul, we win the game on a free kick.

One of those games where soccer is #1 rule was again demonstrated:

The team that is trying to score against the run of play will have their best chance fall to their worst finisher, Arriola.

That said, we show surprising depth in this tournament, where everybody that played contributed in some way to this win.

Demonstrated by the fact that I don't think I've ever seen a team that substituted both outside fullbacks win a game, it usually results in incredible disorganization.

That said, 5 substitutes, 6 counting OT, changes the game.

We learned a lot about guys we knew nothing about, like Hoppe and Gio, who are real warriors.

And our Women kickoff in about 3 1/2 hours, yikes, I don't even know how I can to get to sleep to try to get a couple hours in...

 

So, where the number crunchers at? Up to 13 or 14 in FIFA rankings?