yes ! another example of needing to use your depth to sustain the quality. you just cannot run your best 16 in the ground and expect to get far in this tourney.
And for GGG, when he brought Ferreira, the main expectation was to press the Dutch (GGG claims why he take Ferreira rather than Pepi), but Dutch just bypass the build up from the back, which make things got awkward.
You don't think MMA plays a part in some of those reasons? I understand you have always thought highly of MMA but I think after a certain point you have to put some of the blame on 1/3rd of the group when we fail to be creative for such a long time.
Go back and watch the replays and you'll see that it's a lot more than one simple diagonal. I'm not saying that they're very creative, but they create more than the "nothing" that some of you are saying, and they are without question the strength of this side. They are the reason that we made it to the knock out round having controlled the ball against everyone. They are the reason we conceded only once until today. Any manager worth his salary would've built around them this cycle, and without knowing for sure yet what we've got in 2026, I bet they're still at the heart of what we do next cycle as well. It would be nice if Gio takes it up a level, and it would be really, really nice if we can develop a 9 or three that can put away the crosses and open things up for Pulisic and Reyna/Weah/Aaronson/whomever else. We're not going to be a semifinal or better side until we get that 9 from somewhere. Hardly anyone has a consistently great attack without a consistently good center forward, As it stands now we require Pulisic and Weah to make magic instead of simply making good plays.
I generally agree, but at the same time, I think there was no justification for taking Wright over Pepi. His club career hasn’t been anything special, and he’d done literally nothing for the USMNT to deserve a call up. if I were Pepi seeing Wright be lazy against Iran, and Ferreira struggle today, I would’ve been really frustrated thinking that I deserved to be there, and would’ve done better than both.
Watching Adams jog on the first goal was so uncharacteristic of him. It showed how much tired he was after three games.
I want to note that the xG wasn't all that different between the two teams. At halftime it was exactly equal at 0.48 for both teams. At the end of the game, it was 1.77 for the Netherlands and 1.51 for the US. Both teams had high percentage chances. The Dutch finished theirs, aided by slack marking. We didn't finish ours.
Such as? If you want to die on "Scally, who is not a left back, should have been in the game.", go ahead. I can't prove it right or wrong.
Did you actually watch the game or the tournament? Because we don't execute well even with clear open goals. MMA is not a super creative midfield, but it creates more than nothing. And if you are analyzing what cost us this game, the midfield's lack of creativity is way down the list.
Not this sh*t again. I understand folks liked his analysis on ESPN a few WC's ago, but look at his actual managerial record...incredibly mediocre.
I don’t really understand how they only had 0.48 at half. Both first half goals were pretty simple finishes.
I'm analyzing the flaws of this team that have been present in nearly every game we've played for 3 years.
Maybe. On talent/potential, add Landon to the 2014 squad and a Jozy who doesn't blow out his hammy and that's a damn good team.
Thing is, we didn’t run our best 16 into the ground. Reyna played less than 60 minutes. Aaronson didn’t get a start. Scally didn’t play. CCV played one match. We ran our top 8-10 into the ground by underusing 10-16.
Dude literally ran it in Columbus for years. In fact, if you go back to January 2019, everyone assumed we'd be in it with Pulisic playing the Higuain role and questioning whether that was the right fit.
Yes, but neither was Pepi's. Berhalter gave Pepi every chance to show him something, and he didn't. We had a bunch of mediocre options, and he made a judgment call as to which mediocrity to take. I happen to think it was the wrong mediocrity, and I think most of us agree with that. But they were all mediocrities: Pepi, Wright, Sargent, Ferreira, Pefok, probably Vasquez. We can't be expected to make the final 8 as a minimum with that group of center forwards, and we can't expect to make the semifinals or better next time if we don't upgrade at that critical spot. Our side is good enough almost everywhere else to go that far at home.
klinsmann did the same idiocy as well..... but Berhalter has sooo many mire options to choose from. this alone should be enough to get GB canned. I pray it is.
Shots from those spots on the field are usually defended. Our absent defense turned those into golas that should be 0.25 chances.
I know some would like to think these guys are invincible, but physiology is real. Adams was gassed. At a certain point, the body can’t maintain the same level of intensity… We rode MMA hard. All three of those guys looked exhausted today.