Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal all on their day, are interesting sides out of CAF, not saying they're better, but those legit CAF sides can beat anyone when on their game. Ivory Coast got eliminated by Cameroon in the group stage, they both have 4 wins, but Ivory Coast inexplicably dropped points in Mozambique (maybe its not inexplicable now that they've tied Lesotho on the road as well in Cup of Nations qualifying). I do think CAF sides, on their day, can play with anyone. Cameroon tied Serbia and beat Brazil at the WC. Ghana played Portugal well in a thriller, and beat group winner South Korea. Senegal played Dutch even up, not finishing their chances, than the Dutch finished two after the 83rd minute, they then beat an Ecuador side that largely outplayed the Dutch. Face planted against England after being the better side for the first 30 but again, failing to finish their chances. That Morocco side that didn't lose a game until they faced France in the semi's (kinda funny that they didn't give up a goal till that game other than the OG they gave up against Canada). Not sure how we would do against those guys, but yeah, w/things so in flux, I don't see a lot of teams better than us either, especially when we're healthy and playing to our abilities. I still believe Italy can be scary, i think Denmark is legit and just coming off a bad tourney (their Euro '21 and NL '21-'22 says as much), Portugal, when they've got their ---- together are also legit. Trying to think of any other ones....
I'm pushing back against the idea that this result represents a step up in American soccer performances (or, really, that there's enough of a track record to draw that conclusion). Are you saying that this represents a big step up from 9 months ago?
I wouldn't take anything out of it. Consider Ferreira's experience from last summer, missed several easy chances, got in his head, scored a goal, started to relax, missed another sitter, got visibly frustrated, then got going and scored, what, 4? Grenada doesn't tell you anything, and the field doesn't help either. Just take the positives as just better than negatives or neutrals and forget everything else. We play a team that we only beat on aggregate across 3 games the previous 20 months or so 2-1 in El Salvador. They're not good, but they're great grinders. Let's see if we can beat the spell they/Perez put on us circa '21-'22.
It's also kind of funny, as many of the same people talking up their favorite players for their performance in this game were harsh on Jesus Ferreira while scoring 4 against this same team. Zero consistency. Very little to take from this game other than we did not defend well as a team during the first 1/3 of this game against a team that should not have been able to give us much of a problem defensively. Oh, and a certain player that we spend far too much time talking about was completely uninspiring in a game that should have been a showcase for him.
I just want top clarify again for me. I do not think it is a big step up. I said it is a small step. It‘s still a step. You can‘t skip or assume steps. For me it‘s the way we controlled the match in a cohesive professional manner. We really don‘t do that away from home even against these teams. We are doing it at youth level now in CONCACAF. That is new, it‘s real and it‘s just another step.
I would say "improvement" not "a big step up"... and the icing on the cake: - We didn't have our starting DM or even backup DM - Controlled the game from start to finish - Our best player played great and looked like a leader - Crappy field as is often the case in these types of games at Concacaf minnows, but for that it wasn't unwatchable, and we even got out with no injuries
Great game overall. Pulisic was on his game and created every opportunity while he was on the field. A A Ron Son scored but needs to hit the gym. Gio did ok in his first game back since the soap opera. A lot to be desired considering the opponent. Pepi welcome back glad to see him score. Weston can do it all and is one of the few that will try the special things against concacaf teams. LDT nothing fancy but was clean and did what he was supposed to do. Wouldn't mind seeing him in a 3 man midfield. Auston, Alejandro and Taylor welcome to the senior team. Glad to see Scally start. Hudson did great, still need to find a full-time manager. El Salvador will be a better measuring stick.
We should get these results, but we've rarely done it away in the past, and even when we did it was usually pretty ugly and the result of a big fitness advantage in the second half. It's a good professional performance, the kind we've always wanted but usually haven't gotten away from home.
Obviously, not a whole lot to learn from that game. Zendejas is a nice player. No matter who plays number 9, we don't involve them enough. Didn't like some of our one-on-one tackling, and couple guys are still lightweights on the ball.
That is just silly. The W6-0 in 2016 WCQ was a dominant walk in the park from a B team (no MB90 or JJ with rookie Kellyn Acosta starting at LB) where the US were never pressed.
That 6-0 v St Vincent was the previous biggest away win for the MNT. We also beat Cuba 4-0 in the first round of the last CNL. Game was played in the Cayman Islands, IIRC, so kind of a weird "away" game. The game at Barbados was from the hex semis in 2000. Final score looks flattering but the US needed a win to advance to the hex and it was 0-0 in the 60th minute, then Barbados hit the bar, and then finally we got a goal and the floodgates opened. So while it's not unheard of that we rout an opponent away in Concacaf, it's not typical. Most of our games are close: Grenada 2-3 US in WCQ 2004; Antigua and Barbuda 1-2 US in WCQ semis 2012 (needed a late EJ goal to win); Barbados 0-1 US WCQ 2008; Cuba 0-1 US in WCQ semis 2004.
I think Gio was ok, just not getting the ball. Took up some good positions but ultimately never got the ball because we could dribble through them pretty easily. Not all that good overall but not bad either. I also feel like this was one of the best fields we’ve played away on against an island team. It was slick but didn’t have those divots all over. Pulisic was able to actually dribble without the ball taking a random bounce. That said, I like goals.
I was beginning to think no one liked Reynolds. They would look right at him when he was very open and then not pass it to him. McKenzie especially. I think the coach straightened that out at half time because he saw a lot more of the ball in the second half and grew into it. Scally and Pulisic were dealing the first half on the left but Scally needs to work on his left for crosses instead of cutting everything back to his right. That may work on minnows but better teams won't allow much of that. Gio was fine. There wasn't room to dribble in the middles so he orchestrated. Zendejas took the baton from Pulisic and dealt more pain from that left wing spot. Crafty, combined and had some high quality shots. Someone earlier said their keeper was bad but he was really more inconsistent. He saved two great saves for Zendejas. Booth was showing nerves but was active while I liked some of Johhny's passes. He looks better and more calm although I need to see more against better teams. Not sure what to make of Dike. Felt his teammates should have looked for him more but maybe it's lack of time and timing.
I'm too lazy to post a list but here's a good article on that very topic: https://bolavip.com/en/soccer/usmnt...-a-soccer-game-watch-here--20201116-0013.html An 8-0 pasting of Barbados in 2008 seems to be the biggest mismatch.
Some people are enjoying the free flowing style that no longer chained to a stupid-but-think-it-is-smartass system. Others disagree.
Tier 1: Pulisic Dude is far and away the most talented player we have, and maybe have ever had. If they call fouls, he is literally unstoppable as we saw tonight. Just dominant. Involved in nearly every key sequence before he left. Tier 2: Zendejas Uh oh, look out. After Pulisic went off, he was involved in nearly every key play. He’s a diverse offensive machine and his ability to create and strike from literally everywhere in the final third with both feet will be extremely valuable. Tier 3: McKennie, Pepi, De La Torre, Aaronson All four of these guys had solid games in their own ways. When McKennie went off the field the other team was emboldened to charge into the midfield, which says a lot.
Cardoso skipped a cross field ball from the dual pivot to the left wing over 50 yards that popped the receiving foot with precision and a little English. His shot on goal was also a ridiculous hit that showed how Brazilians do it. He’s not just a player, he’s a Brazilian player…an athlete with both skill and audacious creativity. He looks like he has grown in confidence and awareness, Probably belongs in a top 3 league.
Watching from about the 40th minute on it felt obvious to me that the biggest difference between the way Hudson managed this game and the way that Berhalter would have is that Hudson encouraged his players to look to open things up and look for opportunities first, not being overly concerned about transition defense. And I think it showed, for both better and worse. But given the circumstances, I'm ok with that. We were playing an opponent that all 11 of our guys on the pitch represent enough of a mismatch with all 11 of theirs that taking some risks to score goals wasn't too dangerous. The guys in the back, though it wasn't their greatest game, were able to handle most of what was thrown at them just fine, enough to justify letting the team think "create chances first, defend later."
I think we've kind of been there a while. Last cycle he was a bit offensively underwhelming, but our last manager was a "keep team shape first and foremost" kind of guy, which benefits a guy like Tyler a lot, but less so Pulisic. He was basically the guy in Qatar, though. He and Tyler both. To really excel, we were always going to need that to be the case. He is our best player.
As far as his play, Gio was extremely meh in my opinion. That being said, I really don't care too much about his play in the game. I think we all know what he can do. This camp, imo, is all about repairing his relationship with the team. There's a lot going on and it may take a while. Complicating things I believe is that Reyna seems very reserved (obviously it's hard to be sure when I've never been within 50 miles of him and have only seen glimpses on tv). Anyway, reserved people often are mistaken as being unfriendly or worse when it really isn't the case....and it isn't like that is a trait that is easy to turn on off and it isn't easy to fake it. A guy with a friendly outgoing personality, like McKennie would probably have a much easier time of this than Reyna. This first camp is likely to be very awkward for Reyna. I hate it when people try to read too much into body language etc through the tv (or even in person at a game). People used to do it all the time with Deuce and I don't think any player cared more. Anyway....back on topic: I'm going to (probably) unfairly analyze Reyna's body language.... after the goal celebrations, Reyna seemed like he was trying to particpate but felt uncomfortable and was kind of on the outside looking in. The thought that goes through my mind is that I hope one of the leaders on the team helps him reintegrate (Ream, McKennie or someone else?). As far as his on field performance, I didn't see the effort and hunger that I hoped for but am going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Pulisic was just levels above here. Just silly. Should not have come out for the 2nd half (or McKennie either), but glad he got a goal out of it. I'll just go ahead and old school ratings it... Pulisic - 9; Levels McKennie - 7.5; Cool goals and solid elesewhere Pepi - 7.5; nice finishes, good Trusty - 6.5; couple of good sequences Reynolds - 6.5; kinda quiet, but then pretty impressive Turner - 6; One very good save and not much else to do Scally - 6; Involved a lot, but not that incisive LDLT - 6; Aloof early, but had some cutting edge late Reyna - 5.5 - OK McKenzie - 5.5 - Nothing much to say Aaronson - 5 - besides the goal, pretty bad , if we're being honest. Musah - 5.5; ... Dike - 5.5, couple of good runs Booth - 5, too many hit and hope crosses Zendejas - 7, Me likey Johnny - 6, good