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

It was a young US squad that seemed weak at first but to improve with each passing game.

None of the star players like McKennie or Pulisic were there so adding those guys to this group may help immensely in WCQ. Glad the USA beat Mexico!

 

Will you can it lol.

 

*Handshake from Predator*

 

I felt like we were on the right track after the Gold Cup in 2019 but these past two trophy wins do feel like something significant. Honestly reminds me of a condensed form of 2009-2011 when it became apparent Mexico had stepped above us.

 

Yep, that’s me.

 

According to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_seeding

In 2018 the pots went according to FIFA rankings. That would be fair.
In 2014, the Pot A was the host plus the top 7.
I can't see a reason they would change that, so I assume that Pot 1 will be Qatar plus the Top 7 qualified nations. There is no "We have to bury the US" involved there at all.

But after Pot 1, I agree that it's unknown what will be the procedure

 

Player Ratings:

Matt Turner - 9 - perfect all night. He has made his case for #1 and it would be a shame if a better club doesn’t snatch him up.

Reggie Cannon - 5 - he wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t good either. In a tournament where Cannon was hoping to emerge as a leader, he did not accomplish that.

Miles Robinson - 10 - legendary performance. Very Eddie Pope-like style. I was wrong about him in a very good way. He became progressively more consistent as the tournament went on.

James Sands - 6 - I believe the shame about this tournament is that Sands did not get the chance to prove that he might be an elite #6. But he showed he’s a shaky center back, even if he can fill in a pinch. Still, he’s a possession powerhouse and works his ass off. His problem is that he might just lack that elite athleticism and concentration to be a rock at center back.

George Bello - 7 - I was very nervous about Bello being thrown into the fire against the best right winger in CONCACAF but he held his own and still had enough to get in the attack.

Kelyn Acosta - 10 - the Mexecutioner was amazing last night. He played like he was a world class player last night. Absolutely legendary performance.

Eryk Williamson - 7 - I thought he started out slow but he become a legit threat in the second half. We need to see more. I like his passing, physicality, and possession on the ball.

Sebastian Lletget - 6 - He just ran out of gas but you can’t say he didn’t bust his ass and provided leadership. Still, he needs to quit taking set pieces.

Paul Arriola - 5.5 - I won’t knock him too much but he’s got to finish his chances. That said, he busted his ass all game and you have to credit that.

Matthew Hoppe - 7.5 - So much energy, confidence, and talent. I wanted to see him get a shot at the 9, but I think that’ll come. He proved he needs to belong in the program. Yet, he’s got to look for the pass, at times.

Gyasi Zardes - 7 - Warrior like performance. Although he never really threatened to score. What he does well is that he hunts down defenders and presses like hell. He emerged as a leader this tournament.

—————-
Sam Vines - 6.5 - He didn’t necessarily offer much going forward but he did exactly what you wanted him to do... shut that side down. And he did that.

Shaq Moore - 6.5 - He was such an improvement over Cannon. Moore is the Acosta of right backs... so much heart and athleticism. That said, he didn’t change the game, but he locked down that side.

Cristian Roldan - 6.5 - Made a positive impact as soon as he entered the game. I did not rate Roldan before, but I do now.

Gianluca Busio - 6 - He did some things good, but you want to see him grow physically as he matures. I hope he transfers to Venezia and adds some meat to his bones to become a more complete player.

Niko Gioacchini - 6 - He’s got to find a better club, but he’s such a spark plug that’s not to bring on.

Henry Kessler - NR

Gregg Berhalter - 10 - Love him or hate him... he took a B/C team... made them into a team and won the damn Gold Cup with heart, grit, skill, and risk.

 

Not much has changed. I actually like Berhalter, despite his limitations, and it's clear our players respond well to him, which is very much to his credit. I also feel I'm pretty realistic about our player pool, its talent level, and our world cup chances - regardless of the coach we have.

Winning the Gold Cup is satisfying - you play tournaments to win them - but I remain focused on WC qualification, which to me takes precedence. We won the Gold Cup in 2017, then failed to qualify, and although I feel we are strong favorites to qualify for Qatar this time, we are nothing like 100% to do so.

The lingering question is what did we - and more importantly, coach Berhalter - learn from this tournament. I'll have to outline what I learned and what he should have learned in a separate post.

Finally, I watched last night from start to finish, and I'm very happy we won. Distinctly from many here, though, while I always enjoy our beating Mexico, I feel no animus toward Mexican people/fans, or their players/teams, who are our sporting rivals, not our enemies.

 

@The Clientele ... the comparison resonates with me...the swagger, style, confidence. I love that in the late stages of the game, he was smiling and clearly loving The Moment...while you could see the Mexican team tighten and tighten as the pressure mounted. Hoppe seems fearless and hopefully he won't lose that as expectations rise.

Yes, he has a long way (50+ goals for the USMNT needed) to go to shine Clint's shoes...but the talent level is commensurate.

Plus, Hoppe actually backtracks down the wing to provide support for the cornerbacks. I loved Dempsey but he was like a 1970s NBA all-star who paid scant attention to defense.

 

now updated with visual aid

 

I agree and I'm usually more on the pollyanish side. I remember when the USMNT rose to a ridiculous single-digit rating when they hadn't beaten anyone of consequence. When they thump the Netherlands or Germany in a friendly...or we go to the WC quarters...then we can speak of them as top 10 material.

But hyyyuuuuugely excited about the future...and about the talent behind this talent. The country is producing more talent, and it's being signed by the top leagues, in far greater numbers than ever.

 

You are right. My “I cant really believe it” cynicism is kicking in. That mix of past performances is older, like 2002 or 2006

 

part of the problem...and I was thinking this as I watched....especially for the MLSers is that they literally have no experience playing at that level of intensity and little time on the ball.

Its like a trial by fire...and some of them really caught on...i would say acosta played the best game Ive ever seen from him....the higher level made him raise his level somehow.

Some of the players dont seem like they will ever be up to it, for instance arriola.

But its hard to tell just how they will adapt. because it is a moment for grwoth in these games. Almost all of the players seem ripe for improvement if they can play at a higher intensity level regularly.

what I think would be bad is if the team in the word cup is totally unfamiliar with that level of intensity to start the tourney. they need to be able to crush teams they are better than not grind out 1-0 to save enrgy for the knockouts...those are the teams that go far.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_seeding

TLDR: they seeded by rank last time. No reason not to do it again.

BTW, in your last example, Qatar and South Kore can't be in the same group.

 

funny you should say that - i persoanlly attended a match under klinsman when the us beat germany and had a 4-1 ead at one point in the game...and i also saw the us beat netherlands in amsterdam (zardes scored in that one fwiw) ....

this team has more talent than people realize....just need the results to show it now.

 

who cares? we do better when we don't get any respect!

 

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/fuera-tata.2115578/page-2

Too funny. As predicted the pitchforks are out for Tata.

 

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves talking about beating Netherlands and such. Just freaking qualify for Qatar.

I'm also not too obsessed with possession. I do want it to be not as lopsided, but I would be happy if our defending becomes much less pants on fire chaotic and our counters more precise and lethal. We can get there, and they slowly did start to seem more comfortable as the game went on.

 

While Dos Santos is obviously not a US teammate, he IS a teammate. The relationships in the team are of utmost importance and go beyond the game in front of us. Lletget was demonstrating his commitment to a teammate. while that particular moment may not have any consequence to the US team in particular at that time it does give a small picture of how he treats and sees his teammates (USMNT and club). That is important and that overall attitude within this team, I believe, is one of the reasons that we were able to win this game. Those players care about each other. You could see it in the joy after the game. They were happy for each other....not just for themselves.

 

Atlanta might want to pump the brakes on hiring Fonseca. All they would need to do is quietly usher Bocanegra out the door, and they might have their new coach available and ready to come back in days.

 

The xg comparison indicates the US didn't get significantly out-played among the outfield players. And goalkeeper is a legal position on the field.

By request, the final xG numbers from the Gold Cup final.

USMNT had one more shot and about 0.4 more xG in extra time than Mexico did. pic.twitter.com/iZh7UIvwPk

— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) August 2, 2021

 

I'll be right back. Heading to the Mexico board for some light reading.

 

Probably with the one of Alexi Lalas wearing a wedding dress...

 

Awesome win for the team. I was not able to watch any games because I’m up in the mtns with considerably slow internet. I read every article and stay tuned to big soccer, and it’s many posters opinions. I always feel like some of our fans attempt to adopt a sort of English style based scrutiny of their team. We can’t seem to live in the moment. This team over performed but already we have the “let me play devils advocate” guy(s) chiming in. Enjoy the win.

The player pool for the WCQs will be fun to watch play out. If a player has proved themselves in Nats uniform they deserve a shot more than a promising young unproven nat talent. Brooks needs a consistent CB partner, I was hoping for Richards but now I’m excited to see Robinson in that pairing. We needed to solidify our backups or our 65-90 minute help and I’m hoping this gold cup gave us that opportunity.

 

It has not been much remarked upon and maybe I am not in the majority in thinking so, but I thought Busio played very well against Mexico.

I also think Williamson's contributions are a bit underrated. It seemed that part of his assignment was to shadow Herrera for much of the game. Herrera had a fairly quiet match. Btw I think he deserves his best player award. He was a beast earlier in the tournament. And it is to Williamson's credit and the credit of the other mids that he had a quiet game against us.