Not "comfortable" in that we couldn't get that third goal (and gave up that ridiculous goal in the opening minute), but we were the better team on the night. The right team won. Was there some expectation of an easy win?
who knows? It is possible that Turner would never have stopped the shot because the initial play (coming out to clear with his head) that Steffan made would have gone wrong for Turner. That being said, I would have stuck with Turner (unless there is something that Berhalter saw in practice or whatever that convinced him Steffan was actually the better keeper. Imo, keeper is a position that you don't rotate. If he felt he was going to put Steffan in because he has better feet and he could be used more in that role against CR, well I get it but I still think that is overthinking a bit. I personally believe that Arriola was a poor choice due to the fact that he is a player that depends upon energy and work rate and after 180 minutes, I would have expected that to be compromised. I would have started Hoppe over Weah. As it is, I think Weah played better than against Panama but overall wasn't very good. Can't argue with him causing the og though. Take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I am just one of a few billion on the internet with an opinion. The only thing I know for a fact is that I don't know $h!^
I like him in La Liga, because that emphasizes his touch. If he continues to improve that aspect, Musah could be a real superstar, surpassing Pulisic levels, even. He plays a little like Clarence Seedorf, already. If he gets to that level, then we are in business.
Fair feedback. I work way too much. And I’m married with a couple of dogs… Being married, at least in my case, means I have less free time. I’d really like to catch some of those games. Maybe I’ll take you up on that!
The famous handball from the head in 2000 in CR? I still remember Berhalter protesting that one. I still remember one writer's take: " and then, to everyone's astonishment, including the home crowd, the ref signaled a PK for a handball...." now moments before Frankie Hejduk had plastered a guy in the box and got away with it ( " I never touched him" he said after the game, but we all saw it Frankie, on live TV )so it was a make up call. I also remember Claudio attempting to kill the ref....and getting suspended for several games.
Yeah whatever dude. I’m not going to engage on this topic any further as to not derail the thread. Matt Turner makes saves day in/day out. Zack Steffen rides the pine, day in/day out. I have no bias towards Turner or Steffen. I simply watch USMNT games. Today I saw a soft goal given up with Steffen between the posts. Saturday, I saw Turner make a diving save across goal and with good technique push the ball wide. Also, something that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, I’ve seen opponents put in good shots just wide, and I see that Matt Turner had the goal covered still if it was on target. I’d be happy to concede ball playing skills if Steffen was even good at that! But he is not, and the day Turner flubs one and gifts a goal perhaps I will change my mind. But that hasn’t happened and I don’t expect that it will
The only thing that really worries me at this point is our set piece defending. We were very shaky at that aspect of the game in Panama, and didn't look much better against Costa Rica. Note that Mexico just scored off a corner in El Salvador.....
I think a double pivot goal of Adams and one of Musah or McKennie in the double pivot (Adams is the more defensive of the two) with Reyna in the 10 is very intriguing.
Gotcha. I have similar problems, except the dogs, I prefer wildlife, less work and better for the planet. My trick is to watch the replays late at night, and speed watch some of them. It is great that they are all archived for at least a week or so.
It would be easier to assess if he was required to do much shot-stopping but Man City rarely plays him against opposition that's much trouble for them. The overvaluation of Steffen's distribution is similar to Gregg's prioritization of "disorganize the opponent with the ball" from the 6, only people give it a pass because "but, Man City!" That said, it's mostly a wash. We aren't talking about a difference like Navas and the Costa Rican backup here. I just prefer the GK who is playing every week. January will be interesting....
One thing about Steffen is that he’s definitely not the better shot stopper, that’s pretty clear cut and backed up by tons of data. He is better at distribution and more broadly at what the Athletic termed “room defense.” If he was playing regularly I’d probably have him as the starter. But he’s not and it leads to him giving up goals like the one he did tonight.
Hard to wrap my head around all the Steffen advocacy on here. He's out of form, an inferior shot-stopper to Turner even when he is, and not all that great with his feet, as he has shown repeatedly. Turner's good! He makes saves Steffen doesn't! This isn't all that hard. Also will stick up for Wes. Far from flawless, but the guy was ever-present in the midfield today. Combing with Adams/Musah, making runs out of the middle, even hitting the long diagonal balls our other middies shy away from -- it was all there. He was the engine, in a way that was a strong contrast from the invisible man Lleget on Sunday. Exactly what we needed. Also was pleased to see Pepi make an impact even when he's not scoring goals. Those little touches in midfield were sublime, and exactly what some of us (myself included!) had been hoping Sargent would bring to the squad. The guy's grip on the #9 tightened this window.
McKennie was the worst player today. He improved after a particularly bad first ~25 minutes, but his touch was worse than what people often claim about Zardes, and he was the most responsible party for the goal (he didn't even bother coming close to halfway tracking the runner that scored). The rest of the team was pretty good, and improved as they wore down the Ticos. By the time Berhalter made subs in the 2nd half the Ticos had nothing in the tank, so it doesn't really tell us much about our subs (in terms of how they might have played when the Ticos were full of energy in the first half). Good game, still need more quality attacking chances from the team. Definitely dominated much of the game. Aside from the goal (ugh), Steffen had a solid game. It was nice to have his good feet and short passing (though it was fairly minimal, overall, as the Costa Ricans tired pretty quickly). I liked the CB pairing--which is what I expected for today. Both CBs played well and were confident. They need more time together, for sure. Miles remains my #1 CB. He's very calm all the time, good with the ball at his feet, very fast, a great tackler. Richards looks to project as a similar type CB, but I think M. Robinson is currently the better player. Dest, for another game, played much more within himself and chose his moments well. Fantastic goal, of course. Great to see this after seeing him hero-balling for a few games. This is what we need from him. A. Robinson played well. He's got a good head on his shoulders. His passing can sometimes leave something to be desired, but he doesn't often make mistakes that put us in dangerous positions. I just want better passing/crossing. His decision-making about when to get forward and "try shit" is quality. I've addressed McKennie already. Adams had another really good game--and I was really concerned early on that he might be forced to take a yellow and sit for Mexico. He avoided that, thankfully. Musah had his best game yet, I think. His ability to drive the ball at times was very good. He's still raw and doesn't seem to see more of the field than what's in front of him, but he'll (hopefully) get there as he gets more experience. He dropped off in influence in the 2nd half and was gassed by the 60-something minute. Fantastic first half, though. Pepi was largely unable to get involved. For about 45 minutes of the game (between later first half and into the 2nd) our team was creating a whole lot of offense, but he was largely uninvolved. Maybe if I rewatch I'll see that he was instrumental somehow, but as of first viewing I didn't see much. He was more involved in the 2nd half (as the whole team had more action in the attacking third). Weah was mediocre in the first half, and much better in the 2nd. There was one play in the first half where I thought he really needed to make a diagonal run towards goal to give Dest an option but he remained static out left and Dest had to pull back, and the opportunity was wasted. He's got to make that run. His work rate in the 2nd half really came alive, and he performed more to my expectations of him. The goal (which I don't think will be credited to him as his shot first hit the post then came off the keeper into the net) was pure speed and power, and was exactly what I expect with him. I'll credit him with the goal even if the official stat credits an own goal. Aaronson is a maniac. I'm still, every game I watch him play, amazed that the little f*cker can manage to play with the same intensity at the end of a game as he plays in the first minute. He's a wild card every game. He's so quick to recognize field position (of himself and others) even if there's some ping ping deflected ball stuff going on. Dude's the real deal, and it'll be a tough decision to keep him on the bench if and when Pulisic and Reyna are both available.
Yeah I like that. Idk how good Adams would be in that 8ish role. It might morph into a 6-8-10 instead of the 6-dual 8s
Every time I see him out there, I think “I can’t believe we landed him. What an incredible talent.” It feels like our opponents, when he turns and starts heading to goal, fear him a bit. I’m so glad he’s not playing against us!
I’m good with the performance. It was fun to watch. No more Lletget and Ariola please. Oh, and, fire Berhalter.
It was an awkward goal and it's hard to blame on the keeper. It was mostly McKennie's fault for not covering the guy who shot the ball. We could all guess as to whether Turner saves that (he might have, but he might have looked just as awkward as Steffen did).
And who was the keeper during that stretch? Who made fantastic saves a regular thing? Whose goals against percentage is .36 goals against? His only loss was an away goal.........own goal.......that no one was stopping. Literally not even in the same discussion in terms of infractions. Turner's was a speeding ticket. Steffen's was a DUI.