The first wasn't soft at all. That's basically the exact foul that DOGSO is written for. Clear red. The second I don't even think was a foul. Defender got ball. (disclaimer, I played defense).
Well, you are going by Miles first game with the NT. He played timidly, but once Zman got hurt, Miles had nobody to lean on and decided to sink or swim, the kid became a Michael Phelps of the grass.
I think he can. The correct quote should be "No chance in hell Sargent moves to the right place for that header that Pepi made today"
His hard for someone else to take their place when they don't see the pitch. like the catch-22 "Coach: Kid, you need experience to play. Kid: But you don't let me play. Coach: You are not ready because you lack experience"
Bottom line: If you're El Salvador and you're sitting at a -4 after four matches, you're in deep doo-doo.
He has demonic energy. It isn't sexy but it is highly effective. Arriola can be on my team every day of the week.
Panama put 3 bulges in the auld onion against them, in spite of Pinnock being available. Mexico put 2 bulges like the US, but was 1 higher in the xg, and I didn't see that game but wonder if Jamaica was as adventurous at Azteca. It was a weak offensive performance, full stop, especially in the 1st half when Jamaica made us break them down.
I mean, he's super young. He can and almost certainly will improve. But he's not a complete player right now.
Bill Connelly's model also has a substantial difference in xG. He has 2.49 - .26 which feels more like the game anyway. I'm not sure the differences in the models. We focus a lot on the offense, but whether it is .16 or .26 ... Jamaica had almost no chances. #USMNT 2, JAMAICA 0* Midfield dominated whole game, attacking urgency showed up after halftime* Pepi's the story, and hell yeah for that, but soooo many guys did their jobs extremely well* THIS. THIS IS THE TEAM I WAS HOPING TO SEE IN QUALIFYING. pic.twitter.com/02hE8APn6e— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) October 8, 2021
Bedoya was a Pitbull when defending. Arriola is a pest that can be muscled away. Arriola is faster than Bedoya ever was. Both of them have good engines. Bedoya had offense moves. Arriola only knows to go fast in a straight line. Bedoya was and still is a lot smarter soccer player than Arriola.
Not going to happen. When GB singles out Arriola in interviews as having a good game, you know what comes next.
Missing either of those DOGSO calls would cause you to fail an upgrade assessment. The first one was a blatant DOGSO. A cheap, cynical takedown that had zero chance to play the ball. As one of the more veteran referees said in the in-game analysis, this is the exact type of foul that caused the DOGSO law to end up on the books. The second one is only being debated because of the myth that getting the ball completely negates the referee's ability to call a foul. The Jamaican player comes from behind and clearly fouls Aaronson with his trailing leg. This type of foul is starting to actually be sanctioned as serious foul play (and a straight red card) more and more after fouls like the one that sidelined DeBruyne at the Euros and what happened to Harvey Elliott. (Side note - don't take anything players say at face value. Even though Elliott said he didn't think it was a dangerous tackle, it absolutely was). If you go to the Referee forum on this site, those who care about this stuff and are actually officiating matches are pretty united that both are completely defensible as sendoffs.
Why do we go to a comedian for computer models? Their job is to yank our chains. In all seriousness, I saw another model who even had our xg for the 1st half at .08. So it would have taken us over 6 games to score against an actual organized d. Concerning to say the least, w/ the next home game v. CR. Their last 3 games away from home they haven't allowed a goal. Kaylor Navas mans the net. So we have to put a more creative player or two in the front 4 to manufacture enough chances to rely on putting the ball in the back of the net. Otherwise we're going to regret.
On a team full of young guys who are still gettin the mental side of the game down, a player like Arriola or Roldan or Lleget can be the factor that stabilizes the field and establishes the standard for everyone else. That’s exactly what happened in this game.
is there a way to get Pulisic, Pepi, Reyna, McKennie, Adams, and Aaronson on the field all at the same time without losing the bite the team needs?
Weah’s cross was fine. Zardes was late to get his foot out. I think Pepi scores that and the header. Zardes needs to at least score one of those. If he’s not scoring he doesn’t bring much to the team.
I'm always going to be concerned about scoring against a bunker, but yesterday's game doesn't bring concerns, if that makes sense. I thought we effectively ran the offense over most of the first half. We lost some possession later in it, and some intensity, leading to less chances. But we can't handwave away the two red cards. Or the breakaway where Robinson just botched the cross to Arriola. Or the breakaway where Dest held onto the ball and missed a cutting (Aaronson, I think? but will have to rewatch). We also had a free kick unrelated to the red card, and a bunch of corners. Of all that, yes, I suppose we can stress about execution by our outside backs and we absolutely should look at just some terrible corner play ... but from a scheme perspective I don't think the halves differed that much. There's always concerns about the execution of the final ball. That's literally the issue every team in the world struggles with. So I get that ... but I don't think it was tactical. So, yes, I have concerns about breaking down a really competent bunker. Every team struggles with that. I wouldn't be shocked if there hadn't been a single goal scored in WCQ so far across all teams that wasn't a set piece or on a counter. But I also don't think the lack of a goal in the first half is really indicative of that. Actually scoring either requires a massive mistake on the defense or a precise execution, and we just didn't have the latter going and the former happened twice but the ref screwed us.
Sure you drop Musah but I don't think we want to do that either. Or Adams at RB, and we all know how excited people are about that it.
Well, compare him (8 goals in 39 appearances) to Mason Mount who can't shoot either and has 4 international goals in 24 appearances as of early September. Mount may be the better technician, but IMHO, Arriola brings more that is useful to his team's effort than does Mount.