Post-match: USA v Grenada 3/24

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by OWN(yewu)ED, Mar 24, 2023.

  1. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    The highlight for me was the panoramic view of the hillsides. Quite picturesque. I hope the players appreciated the views and got lots of photos.
     
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  2. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    I just thought early on that he would also be a defensively sound if not imposing midfielder, and he's just never quite been that guy for us, even though we could definitely have used a guy like that, a defensively-adequate DM who can ping the ball around. That's what Berhalter was hoping for out of Bradley and Yueill early last cycle.
     
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  3. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    I think that he is officially approaching the LD/Dempsey zone.

    When I have time I’ll look at the statistical comparison, but he showed up extremely well in the last World Cup. In retrospect, he was fantastic at the World Cup.
     
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  4. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    He has some truly elite characteristics and is worth moving around to find a place to include him.
     
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  5. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    Now that he has been given a start, he has been given the benefit of the doubt and showed preference by the organization.

    At this point they can move him to the background and let him naturally ingratiate himself with his play over time rather than forcing him out there with him not being mentally (and maybe physically) ready to participate.

    The thing with his parents has to be super embarrassing. Give the dude some time with his club. Let him earn his way in like everyone else and go from there.
     
  6. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    Anyone get a count of Pulisic’s splits and megs in this one? Pure filth on top of filth. Like my little brother’s bedroom filth.
     
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  7. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i was laughing about that a few times- scally was doing a passable antonio valencia imitation, just refusing to use his weaker foot. but it really illustrated how much time and room on the ball we had. they tried to congest the middle but werent effectively pressuring individually at all.

    i do think they effectively chopped and pulled enough to take reyna out of it, though- and they did their best to do the same to pulisic but you saw both ends of the spectrum of mature and immature games from those two.
     
  8. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    putting all the cumulative baggage aside, i think reyna was underwhelming simply because when hes getting knocked around he shows his immaturity as a player by (somehow) both trying too much and being passive. he may be a concacaf road guy at some point but hes a pretty terrible fit at this point.

    and that was in pretty stark contrast tonight because i thought we gave a really mature performance. pulisic, mckennie and de la torre in particular. in addition i thought hudson managed this fantastically.

    i dont know if he adds a lot to the team tactically, how he would possibly be as a full time manager but he got the right mix of vets and "newer" guys to support that. he didnt send us out to defend, he just put guys in their spots (with the slight exception of scally) and let them play.

    ive said it over and over but we arent starting over here. i mentioned wes, luca and puli as being pretty much flawless while not trying too much- they dont need to. we dont have to press and defend like our lives depend on it. aaronson didnt get super involved, i thought turner was a little shaky. the backline was goodish overall and more than good enough for grenada.

    i thought scally and trusty were better than reynolds and mckenzie, just in the very basic job they had to do in this one. i thought pepi was a little disappointing in that a lot of combining play stopped with him, i just dont think hes at the speed of thought/play as pulisic/reyna primarily- but when he wasnt shocked a ball actually ended up on his foot in the box he did well.

    i thought booth looked exactly like a guy getting his first cap in the run of play, but his corners were all fantastic. but apparently puli is going to take every fk until the end of time...

    anyways, it met- exactly- my expectations. looking forward to see if hudson get it so right again on monday.
     
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  9. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    that goalkeeper was determined to not let in more than 7 goals lol
     
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  10. kruck

    kruck Member+

    Jan 12, 2008
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    SV Werder Bremen
    Seems like a big deal to be the No.1 seed for the NL semifinal and face Panama rather then Canada.. anyone know how that is shaping up?
     
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  11. la torre

    la torre Member+

    Dec 27, 2008
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Johnny looks like he’s grown into his body. Looked much more coordinated and less gangly.

    I would have liked to see Pepi get more touches considering how we dominated the game.

    scally looked more ready to contribute than Reynolds. Likewise Zendejas vs Booth.

    much of the game was played at half speed against an outmatched opponent, so not really too much to be taken from the game.
     
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  12. ShayG

    ShayG Member

    Celtic
    United States
    Aug 9, 2021
    Agree that not much can be taken as to how the team would fare against a higher level opponent.

    But I did like seeing second tier guys —Scally, LDLT, Reynolds—showing well. Good for the depth of the squad. And I liked seeing Gio running around making and receiving passes. His wack situation will take some time to resolve but it looks like he, and the team, are making progress.

    Knee jerk reaction, these guys look like they are forming as a team. We’ll see if that opinion survives Monday’s game.
     
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  13. ChrisSSBB

    ChrisSSBB Member+

    Jun 22, 2005
    DE
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Grenada was bad. They had a couple of guys in attack who could play. As example, the assist from LDLT to Pepi was nice but if you freeze the frame below at 0:00 you an see that goal was 80% Grenada. How many things can you do wrong defensively? Holy mackerel.

     
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  14. dams

    dams Member+

    United States
    Dec 22, 2018
    #89 dams, Mar 25, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2023
    The WC clearly showed us that it is not sustainable to have a team that solely relies on MMA. Grenada was one datapoint, against a weak team, but is a bit of a roadmap that suggests that we can have a team that is still highly functional, when someone is injured or needs to be rotated. We have no way of knowing for sure, but my hunch is that the goals might not have been as free flowing last night with an MMA midfield. I'm really looking forward to seeing different midfield looks relative to last cycle with this team against stronger competition.

    I felt that the attack and midfield were pretty cohesive last night. Understandably, the back 4 in general looked a bit disconnected from the rest of the team. I like what Hudson did in his defensive substitution patterns though. It was unlikely that Grenada were going to be much of a threat and he got some much needed minutes for those guys. My guess / hope is that with the starting defenders playing, ball progression out of the back will be a bit more seamless against El Salvador.

    I think it was a mistake playing Scally on the left. He clearly feels more comfortable on the right. I'm presuming Dest will start against El Salvador. I'd like to see Scally subbed in at the 60 or 70 mark on the right depending on how everything is going,
     
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  15. um_chili

    um_chili Member+

    Jun 3, 2002
    Losanjealous
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is a great question. I poked around a bit but couldn't find how the semifinal seeding is fixed.

    For what it's worth, we're currently the top first-placed team. Both Mexico (group A) and Panama (group B) have seven points, but we have a far greater goal differential (+11 vs +7 for Panama and +5 for Mexico). Honduras currently leads Group C ahead of Canada but Canada has played one more game, so if Canada beats Martinique then they'd qualify by tying or beating Honduras.

    ChatGPT says they'll use a random draw, but ChatGPT also said I have a PhD from UC Berkeley (not even close to true), so the veracity is suspect.
     
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  16. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    for Pepi and others, I’m glad they had that confidence booster game.
     
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  17. RefIADad

    RefIADad Member+

    United States
    Aug 18, 2017
    Des Moines, IA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I’m not going to take a lot tactically or individually, but I will say that it was refreshing to see a US team go on the road against a Caribbean minnow and just boat race them early, that just doesn’t happen often. It did remind me of watching the U20s just own the game from the opening kickoff in the CONCACAF qualifier last summer, and that’s a positive.

    We’ve seen plenty of these games become nailbiters. It was fun to not experience that.
     
  18. nobody

    nobody Member+

    Jun 20, 2000
    Nice to see them put away a minnow early but hard to know what it means. We have the talent now that we should be able to roll over lesser teams playing an open style. But, we can't play that loose in midfield against real competition. We had some issues with guys lacking familiarity.

    I've rarely see an individual player look so clearly better than everyone else than Pulisic last night.

    Defense was fine enough in back but we let them run through the middle too often. Midfield defense was often shakey. Spacing looked uncertain. Individually, Luca was decent connecting things, McKennie a bit sloppy but made big plays to get goals. Gio came too deep where he couldn't do much. The few times he got the ball further forward was slightly better but he was a touch off all night and was trying to be too intricate in crowded spaces on a bumpy field.

    Pepi looked much cleaner than Dike up top. Aaronson had moments. Zendejas looked aggressive and sharp although I'm sure he would like to get the chance he had saved back. Trusty looked good when needed. McKenzie fine if a bit below Trusty for me. Scally passing forward instead of always looking to dribble was effective. Reynolds was fine if more conservative than expected.

    El Salvador should at least offer some resistance next game. It will be interesting to see if we get a bit more conservative in that one or if we just keep playing run and gun.
     
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  19. dams

    dams Member+

    United States
    Dec 22, 2018
    El Salvador will probably play compact and try and hit us on the counter so we will definitely need to be aware. I'm hoping that we continue to see the free flowing attack though. I want to see a convincing win, no grinding out a 1-0 win for 0-0 tie. If we win fairly easily by multiple goals then I will be happy.

    It will be interesting to see how(if) he rotates starters in the midfield.
     
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  20. Master O

    Master O Member+

    Jul 7, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Since the US will be playing El Salvador in the USA on an actual field and not a mudpit, the USA should have an easier time actually moving the ball around the field.
     
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  21. FC Tallavana

    FC Tallavana Member+

    Jul 1, 2004
    La Quinta
    I don’t view DLT as second tier. I have a feeling he is going to go down as one of the better midfielders in USMNT history.
     
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  22. nobody

    nobody Member+

    Jun 20, 2000
    I'm curious about how much the guys tonight are considered the starters. Forwards and midfield looked close although Musah started on the bench. In defense, both fullbacks and at least one center back look more likely to be backups. I think he let a few guys relax due to the level of competition.
     
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  23. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Scally and Pulisic made it work this game, but I don’t like the idea I’d having an inverted winger and inverted fullback playing in the same side together. This why I’d rather see Scally on the right long term since Pulisic isn’t going anywhere.
     
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  24. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think Berhalter definitely sacrificed some more free flowing attacking for defensive solidity and it’s not an uncommon tradeoff. The Athleric did a good article recently about how Man City is attacking much differently with Haaland and one of the consequences is they have less control and their defense is worse and they are giving up more goals.

    In this game it was hard to tell how much of it was this and how much of it was playing without any sort of defensive midfielder.
     
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  25. cyberthoth

    cyberthoth Member+

    Nashville SC
    Aug 7, 2000
    Nashville, TN
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's an interesting point of view and really you can make that case.

    To me he's clearly behind all three members of MMA and historically he's behind Reyna, Bradley, and Jones. I rate O'brien better as well (he had the potential to be the top of this list) but his career was so short that DLT can overtake him so that's 7th all time for DLT as a reachable ceiling maybe.

    I wasn't watching during the Harkes days so I really can't speak to how he compared to DLT in the CM role. When all is said and done I think Musah will be our all time best CM of this group.
     

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