Canada is destroying this Panama team right now. GB royally f**** up that game with his moronic changes and mentality.
Imagine not having Weah just careen down that right side all game. Imagine it. We almost didnt have it.
Agree for the most part, but have a few quibbles: - the original plan to start Arriola over Weah - choosing Steffen over Turner.....Steffen was poorly positioned on the CR goal, which is a reflection of his rustiness. - bringing in Busio (even though he played well) when you're trying to protect a lead, instead of more defensive midfielders like Roldan and Acosta.
Certainly, with Pulisic and Reyna available. Aaronson and Weah off the bench would be great. Busio was terrific in limited minutes.
For almost as long as I've been watching USA soccer, there's been a timidity in playing through the center properly. It's one of the big differences between a top club side and how we usually play. When they get into the box, they default to playing it wide and then mindlessly crossing. When we had Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore, there was more of an ability to play through traffic and find the space there. With this group, we haven't seen that yet. As I mentioned in my other post, Wes and Dest had a couple moments where they tried to play in that space. Generally we just seem too afraid of losing possession though. Looking ahead to Qatar, this could be an area where Reyna or Pulisic is vital. I haven't been following the MLS season, but I also have Caden Clark as a guy who can potentially do some damage in that area of the field. I don't want to turn this into a love letter to Altidore, but he was MUCH better in that zone that people maybe realized, and it's something that we need to eventually get from Pepi/Dike/whoever, because we can't be so stale in the final third against good teams.
Musah is legit. He just needs a better engine. He can take challenges that other players can't. He makes things happen. I'm worried about Mckennie. The kid is not playing as he did a year ago. What's up with him.
Once again, speaking as someone who played keeper at a d1 school (and definitely never progressed beyond that) sometimes you get caught between the player being an inch away from touching the ball and going the opposite direction and going after the initial pass/shot. Steffen played for the attacker to do what attackers generally do and go after the ball. I personally don't think Turner saves that, nor Navas on the other end.
one more thought- can you freaking believe gregg has gone his entire tenure up until a month ago without regularly using antonee robinson?
A few thoughts from the peanut gallery: Dest was fantastic. He was flying in both directions. He'd be man of the match for me *without the goal*. And the goal was spectacular. Musah. I just love watching him play. Jedi was great. If he could get a cross in, he'd be all-world. Richards. It's hard to comment on him without commenting on Gregg mismanaging his introduction to the team so badly. I thought his class showed in a tough situation. Aaronson: Making it extremely hard to pick who sits with our full team. He's had an excellent 3 game series. Greggggg: meh. whatever. These guys are good enough to win in spite of him - if he is at least willing to play our goods. Props to Arriola taking one for the team. Sidenote: I think this was one of the most technically skilled US teams I've seen. Wes was probably the weakest link. Well, at least until Mr. Zardes showed up
I liked it because the best defense sometimes is a good offense. Acosta is probably shell shocked from Panama still and Roldan was equally shit.
I've always said I've seen some Ozil-like qualities to Reyna's game, and Mesut was pretty good at unlocking the defense in the final third. Another possibility is playing Pulisic behind the striker. It's a tough decision because he's our best winger by some distance, but he's also one of the only players who can create space in that area of the field. We saw in the Honduras game before he went off injured how his intent and quality in that area can create problems. Once defenders start to worry about that and overcommit, it unlocks the other stuff. It's going to be a decision for Gregg and his team because it really depends on how they want to play. If we go with a true 10 or a withdrawn second striker, either Pulisic or Reyna could be viable, but present different qualities.
I thought Busio was excellent. It struck me he put Costa Rica on their heels. The guy is a good passer and has vision. Plays like an Italian!
amazing what happens when you start your best 11 available (hint only 2 MLS players on the field) ..... just sayin ... amazing goal by Dest ... just fun watching Musah, Dest, Weah and Aronson play possession and keep away from the Old Men. Adams and Wes were pretty good backbone tonight ... outstanding ball movement ... Busio is Mr. Calm on the ball ... hint - don't play a bunch of mid 30 year old players against our utes ....
Okay, how about this. Turner is not good enough as a keeper to be an international #1. Steffan is the superior shot stopper and miles ahead with the ball at his feet. I didn't move any goalposts. I added that you need a keeper that doesn't give you a heart attack with the ball at his feet.
Aaronson has a Peterbilt engine. He can play at a high level for a 90 if you let him. I like the starting lineup. I like the CB pairing they are fast and are able to clean up their own mistakes. They need to play cleaner going forward. Miles has forward speed, very impressive. I wonder if we will continue to see this pairing or is just one and done.
Nah. That was kind of a freak goal where Steffen was screened by a player that normally would be way offside. And he did well other than that. He made some good saves and his distribution helped create several attacks. Busio came in and helped possess the ball against a visibly gassed Costa Rica. I thought that worked well. But Arriola, yeah, that was bad. Divine intervention corrected that one for us.
theres not enough room on the roster for such limited niche players....there are too many better, more complete options in the pool.
Crowd - 10 - They were loud and in the game the whole time. Steffen - 4 - What a horrible game. He let the ball roll into the net. But afterwards settled in. This is Steffen’s problem - his propensity for mental lapses. Dest - 9 - Hate that he had to come out of the game. Best game from him for the USMNT. Great goal! Richards - 5 - Struggled in his WCQ debut but he wasn’t terrible. Seems a little too like-for-like with Robinson. Miles - 6 - For the most part, he was good. But he made a couple bonehead mistakes that we were fortunate didn’t get punished. Jedi - 7- He’s such an outlet for us on that left side. If his crossing was a little better he would be out of this world. Adams - 7 - He’s such a critically important for us. Although Davies rightfully gets a lot of hype as the best player in CONCACAF... Adams is the one who has the right to challenge him as most important player. McKennie - 6 - He was excellent in spurts and never terrible. But for a Juventus level player, I expect more consistent quality. Musah - 9 - Mannnnnn.... what a performance. He has Messi like control of the ball. Easily, the best on the ball in North America... perhaps ever. That first touch is phenomenal. Aaronson - 6.5 - I love his hustle which makes a difference for us. But his final ball was lacking today. Weah - 6 - Can we all agree that we don’t like own goals? Such a great goal that the keeper had no chance on. Pepi - 6 - He didn’t get a goal but there’s no doubt that he’s our starting striker. —————————————————- Hoppe - 6 - He hustled but didn’t do much else. Hopefully he goes back to Mallorca and will be ready to go in the next window. Busio - 8 - He came off the bench and made an instant impact. So much so, I should stress that he came on after Hoppe yet when I thought about not rating Hoppe, I couldn’t fathom not giving Busio a lot of credit.... him and De la Torre are definitely in the picture for next window. Oh, and thank God Busio wasn’t marking Watson. That’s like watching a five year old get into the arena with Clubber Lang. Yedlin - 7 - He came off the bench and did what he needed to do. Zardes - 7 - This is Zardes game. When you don’t need creativity... just hustle and muscle.... bring on Zardes. Zimmerman - 6.5 - He did everything he needed to close out the game. A true leader for this team.
Excellent match from Busio, that should pretty much wrap up LLETGETS call ups, no need for that backpass merchant. SL would’ve have fit in well with that CR team. Old, slow can’t push forward.
I don't think he was commanding his position like before. The way he plays he can easily be replaced with a more technical player. We need the 2-way player that he can be.
So we will end the night three points clear of 4th place (Panama at 8 points, along with possibly El Salvador). If we had drawn in Panama we’d be 6 points clear of 4th place Panama on the live table. Big missed opportunity.
What match were you watching that Richards is the lowest rated on the team when he had no bad giveaways and made a great tackle to save a 1 on 1 shot with the keeper. lol
I agree that Busio played well, BUT.....I like that sub much more when we need a goal, not when we're trying to prevent one. Don't forget, Busio looked in over his head during the Gold Cup, and tonight we were playing an old and slow Costa Rica team at the end of a three-match window. Not sure that sub works out quite as well against Mexico, for example.