Gold Cup Squad and Expectations

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by theboogeyman, Mar 29, 2021.

  1. An Unpaved Road

    An Unpaved Road Member+

    Mar 22, 2006
    Club:
    --other--
    My expectation was reaching the final and that has been met. I expected a few more comfortable wins, but then again I also didn't expect only one goal conceded through five games (and a penalty at that). If they can pull off one more win, man, that'd be an awesome result to lift another trophy so soon after the Nations League win. Will be a huge challenge, though, and realistically keeping it closely contested might be a achievement in it's own right. Really I can't even begin to predict how this one is going to go.
     
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  2. The Clientele

    The Clientele Member+

    Portland Timbers
    Jun 25, 2005
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don’t watch Turner in MLS. The guy is a revelation to me. Great player. I’m pretty comfortable with him in front of the net.
     
  3. adam tash

    adam tash Member+

    Jul 12, 2013
    Barcelona, Spain
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    just look at the winger position - tyler boyd's club situation is weak hes not playing - he did play well in turkey first division to close out last season. woulda been perfect, doubt he woulda turned it down. Same with Sabbi - not sure he really needed to be in denmark. even a player like aribiyi - who played pretty well in greek first division last season - and who just signed in turkey second division couldve been a player who wouldve benefitted from a good chance. then you have players like lynden gooch - who looked pretty solid in his usmnt appearance(s)...to me he was a better arriola who actually has end product- so what he plays in league one....hes a solid player and central to his team.

    the winger position on the roster sucks.....i have a hard time belieiving all 4 of those players (a) wouldnt come or (b) wouldnt have been upgrades.

    we saw that 2 second division euro players - moore and hoppe - have been amonsgt the best in the squad...and moore has since been linked to la liga and hoppe to the EPL. these callups and chances matter. official tourneys are big time opportunities.

    "not taking it seriously" is exactly my probelm with the approach.....if you pick the right players it has serious consequence for the pool and team moving forward over the course of years...it all adds up. wasting spots would be okay if there werent alternatives...but there are plenty.
     
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  4. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I didn't think much of Mueller last night.

    The MNT has aggressive full-backs, so the ideal formation is 3-4-3. If Zimmerman hadn't got injured I think we would have used this against Jamaica and Qatar.
     
  5. adam tash

    adam tash Member+

    Jul 12, 2013
    Barcelona, Spain
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    his form has dipped. its a common pattern when a player gets national team play, does well and then doesnt get called in more.

    happens a lot. but you cant go off of one game.
     
  6. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He hasn't played well all season until the last couple of games. He's only played a full 90 minutes for Orlando twice.

    Playing 'North of The Wall' won't get him much attention and he'll be 28 by the time his contract with Hibs is up.
     
  7. Calling BS

    Calling BS Member+

    Orlando City
    United States
    Jan 25, 2020
    That CR is disinterested narrative is just made up BS to excuse away good performances.
     
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  8. Deadtigers

    Deadtigers Member+

    Jul 23, 2015
    Independent Republic of the Bronx, NY
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ghana
    I agree. Looking horrible against Haiti, lucky for the early goal and hanging on against a Canada team that would be ravaged by injury. Two smash and grabs against Jamaica and Qatar (who dominated in every facet except scoreboard and missed a pen). Is not a success. Especially as the number 2 power in the region and Tourney to begin with. Winning ugly is cool and all but w you win does count.
     
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  9. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I think you have to have expectations for the summer as a whole.

    1) Win the NL with the A team.

    2) At least make it to the finals of the GC with the B team.

    3) Try out lots of new players.


    If you asked me in January what I wanted for the summer, I would have been completely satisfied with that.
     
  10. An Unpaved Road

    An Unpaved Road Member+

    Mar 22, 2006
    Club:
    --other--
    My acceptable level of achievement was winning one of the Nations League or the Gold Cup. If we take both I'll be floored and as confident about qualifying as I have ever been for a U.S. side.
     
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  11. Aconti2

    Aconti2 Member

    Apr 10, 2011
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He is a revolution actually.
     
  12. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    BigSoccer Dad Joke achievement unlocked
     
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  13. Patrick167

    Patrick167 Member+

    Dortmund
    United States
    May 4, 2017
    The biggest failing is not trying Hoppe at the 9. Especially, since we wasted the Canada game with a double 9 formation where he wasn't even one of them. A small thing, but kind of crazy we will play 6 games and still wonder if he could do it. Or more exactly, wonder if a guy that plays striker at this club, seems technically able to do it, could maybe do it as well as Sargent.
     
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  14. ifsteve

    ifsteve Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Jul 7, 2013
    MS and ID
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah but what none of us know is what they did during training. For all we know they used him at the 9 in training and just think his skills work better wide.
     
  15. la torre

    la torre Member+

    Dec 27, 2008
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Biggest failings so far:
    1. failure to try Hoppe as a 9. He's looked ok as a winger, but so what? We have 4-5 excellent wingers already.
    2. Failure to try Sands at the 6. Could he be up upgrade to Acosta who IMO isn't great in possession and can be foul prone? We'll never know.

    Biggest successes:
    1. Matt Turner could legitimately be our #1 option at GK.
    2. Robinson has looked very solid and could be a useful addition to the A-team. Tonight will be a pretty good barometer of that.
    3. It seems Berhalter has finally made a decision that we have better options than Yeuill. Yeuill is young and could improve, but for now he shouldn't be getting called into the national team.

    I'm not really taking any more than that out of the tournament. Shaq Moore has been ok, but we are well stocked at RB and I think Cannon is better. A lot of guys have had some decent moments, but aren't really good enough **yet** to help the A-squad (Busio, Vines, Dike, etc). Veterans like Zardes, Lletget and Roldan have all been solid/unexciting. Most of the teams in the Ocho will have better players in their corresponding positions so I wouldn't be terribly excited to have to rely on any of them.
     
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  16. Calling BS

    Calling BS Member+

    Orlando City
    United States
    Jan 25, 2020
    I’m with you on that. Hoppe was the player I was most excited to see play with the Nats, BUT it seems we are struggling to find players on this roster that can play on the left wing (surprise, surprise)
     
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  17. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Exactly... the line within Concacaf is always making the final. One trophy was the bar for the summer, and not only did they get two, but they beat Mexico both times.

    And new players were tried out, and many found to be useful pieces. The only downside is that we didn't get to try out even more players because of a few questionable selections and bad roster construction (and don't forget crashing out of Olympic qualifying, another huge missed opportunity to try out players and get them tournament experience). But if that's the worst thing, obviously it was a great summer overall.

     
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  18. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm not sure anyone expected the US to go through the tournament conceding just 1 goal, especially considering who was available after Zimmerman went down.
     
  19. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    If the beginning of the gold cup was about expanding the pool, then the end of the gold cup is about narrowing it. Given Berhalter’s approach to selection – it takes a while to play your way in and a while to play your way out – I don’t think we’re going to see much shift.

    For the next few months it will be about who gets minutes in qualifiers. For those who don’t, they’ll need to do well at the club level to stay in the pool and there are some iffy club situations.

    The obvious: Lewis and Yeuill have played themselves out and probably Arriola, given the depth at that position. Robinson played himself in and Turner played himself into minutes.

    But the two positions that I was really interested in didn’t do much to settle themselves. At the 9, Dike didn’t do anything to help his case so it’s back to Orlando or wherever. If I had to guess, qualifiers are still going to be Sargent starting with Zardes off the bench, flip for second game, flip back for the third. BigSoccer is going to have a meltdown when Hoppe gets snubbed, but he doesn’t make the top four at the wide positions and he never got the chance to show whether he can hold down the 9. [@la-torre and @xbhaskarx 's point above about the missed opportunity] He’s obviously talented, so I’m not in any way saying he’s out of the pool, it’s just that minutes will be hard to find. He needs to focus on his club situation.

    The 8 is the other position, and for me, neither Busio nor Williamson impressed. Both showed moments of quality, and they are both players for the future, but Berhalter sees this position more in terms of floor than ceiling, and neither did enough to pass Lletget (even though he didn’t do anything either). Given the crowded schedule, I think one of them will get minutes unless Berhalter becomes more aggressive and moves Reyna into the middle. Busio needs to get a fast start in Venice in stay in the conversation.

    Overall, I think the process worked as it was supposed to. But I’m probably a little disappointed that some of the players I thought might do better didn’t quite break out.
     
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  20. theboogeyman

    theboogeyman Member+

    Jun 21, 2010
    Agree here. Dike and Busio were the guys who I was most excited to see, but neither really impressed.

    I like our depth at center back, now, and feel a lot better about Vines at left back, too.
     
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  21. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hoppe as a backup for Reyna, if he produces at club level.
     
  22. Roger Allaway

    Roger Allaway Member+

    Apr 22, 2009
    Warminster, Pa.
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd rather see Weah as a backup for Reyna, Hoppe as a backup for Pulisic and Aaronson as a backup for Musah.
     
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  23. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    From July 1, after the preliminary 60 roster but before the actual tournament roster was announced...
    With the Gold Cup over, I'm feeling pretty good about my pre-tournament list of guys who shouldn't have been on the roster.... slightly concerning that brilliant coaches can't see what's obvious to a random internet dumb@ss like me, though.
    Oh well I guess it's even more impressive to win a trophy with one arm tied behind our backs by bad player selection / roster construction??
     
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  24. tomásbernal

    tomásbernal Member+

    Sep 4, 2007
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have a really strong feeling that after the last 2 months (NL and Gold Cup) Berhalter might change up his formations with the A team. He's done a lot of formational tinkering, and the Gold Cup indicates he's willing and able to put a full team of players on the field in ways that improve the team overall.

    Playing Hoppe how he did is testament to that, really. Hoppe may be a good 9 for the US (nobody knows yet), but the guy ran his balls off at whatever you want to call that position (11ish?) he played this tournament, and surely earned a shitload of respect in doing so.
     
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  25. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thats a good way to view it. I would absolutely prefer it if Greg moved on from players that dont work faster. We have a deep pool, and we cant be wasting minutes on guys who are never gonna get there.
     
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