a few thoughts: 1. USSF needs to lead CONCACAAF to establish a quantitative field rating comparison and they should pre inspect fields 30 days out ... if the field is not up to a certain standard then move the game to a neutral site. Yes I know it would be very inconvenient but these fields are just unacceptable for a professional athlete. 2. beat up a minnow on the road - as we should do ... best part was that the last 15 mins of the match all the players continued to attack. We could have just sat back and passed the ball around ala tika taka ... but we did not. Good. 3. this match should tell Flo the striker spot is wide open for him. Dike is big but just does not move well or anticipate. Pepi could be good - but he is just not there yet. We need a quality striker and Flo could be that man. 4. Glad to see Grenada did not try to hurt Pulisic ... but he just ripped them apart .. at a couple of times they slotted 4 players to try and contain him. 5. Gio - good to see him there - and with the men - but he seemed still a little disinterested ... I wonder if when CP came off they should have slid him over to that wing position. 6.Nice to know that BA can shoot. 7. Wes still needs to drop 10-15 pounds. 8. Good workout for most of the squad. 9. Scally looked very good. 10. Booth definitely does not like to underhit his crossing .... 11. Zendejas looks like absolute quality - will he match up against better opposition? Time will tell. 12.Will be a much better barometer against the Sallies on Monday.
pretty obvious what is about ... let the game on the field do the talking ... and off the pitch don't talk ...
It may be good for Hudson to sit him for this one just to test his reaction given the fact that he looked lackadaisical out there.
Yes, totally this. Regardless of the quality of Grenada, it's just not common to go into a Concacaf field and come away with a win like this. There's been some really good talent in the past and still a 7-1 win away is pretty salty.
I am firmly with you. CP is really something special. Gio has some maturing to do. But Cardoso and Zendejas have such quality in key ways - that they both need to really get a serious starting look. That goal Zendejas scored would have been hard for Courtois to stop. Absolutely perfectly hit and placed (slightly knuckling 1 foot off the ground and then dives to bounce right where it is the hardest for a keeper to stop) - reminded me precisely of how Preki would strike the ball long ago. Cardoso has real quality as you pointed out ... that cross field pss was excellent. If we could add Flo to this mix - and get Weah and Tyler back ... this is a very deep squad. And young.
Gio was fine. I had high expectations for him in this game so I was a little disappointed in the moment but also have to say a criticism I've had of Gio in the past was that he didn't always make the easy pass and went for a hard shot. I do feel he didn't Plat selfishly which was nice. Luca looked good going forward and a bit shaky defensively though could have been the field. Also felt Reynolds got caught put of position a few times. Either way this was the game to get guys experience in so there will be ups and downs. And while people will say we should beat the minnows badly, while I do agree, I've seen way too many times where we underperformed against teams we should dominate so I will never take a showing like this for granted
Yunus needs a stable coaching situation at Valencia .. he was doing better under Gattuso - until Gattuso started to lose - and got sacked. He has all the tools ... just needs a stable operating environment to go to the next level.
That seems kind of unlikely since Pulisic was the one who did the interview. Given that, it doesn’t seem likely that he could be doing some secret “don’t talk off the pitch” celebration and laughing about it.
Some thoughts before I read or listen to anything: Grenada is pretty bad and they didn't bunker at all, so it is going to be hard to take too much from this. Also, we were up so much early and the intensity level was never really there ... felt like a friendly. That said, I've seen some reactions highlighting certain players having poor games, like McKenzie, Aaronson, Booth, Scally. I don't really see it at all. I'll read through but I can't say Aaronson, for example, had a bad game because he lost the ball a couple of times. He also had a good finish and forced the turnover that led directly to Zendejas' goal and also defended when the whole midfield was basically disinterested. Tactically, we did experiment, but not exactly in the way people entirely wanted. It wasn't really a 4231 -- it played out more like a 2323 in attack, and the midfield basically played a lot in terms of positioning like the 433 we usually play. It's just that the lone six basically rotated (and did so kinda poorly, but Grenada). Reyna was forward, but there were usually two CMs very forward and engaged in the attack -- usually LDLT and Reyna but sometimes Weston as well. What we did do that was different in a material matter was two things -- one, we allowed our front seven to both attack more and swing into wide numerical overloads. It's basically impossible to evaluate this -- it helped the offense but it also led to the opposing goal. But Grenada's defense was awful ... and I don't know IF the midfield would recover but none of the starting three seemed all that interested in defending at all. We know they can, but they just didn't. And so that beggars the question that we still can't answer -- can we overload in attack without being too exposed? The other material tactical change was Pulisic really playing as a winger with a defensive FB behind him. I was really happy to see him really fill that role and space well, even if, again, they couldn't guard him. But we've had him play so much in the half space, and I think he gets bogged down at times in there. And if we're ever going to be play more attacking CMs, Pulisic needs to be able to forward more forward and wide, and this was a nice checkmark for that. Also, kudos to Christian -- he's one of just a couple of players whose motor is basically always there. That said, while I think Scally played well and had a very solid game ... I just really want a left back with a strong left foot. It's not on Scally at all, but there's just a lot of opportunities missed there with someone who just can't bring that element into play very often. That's part of why I wanted to see him at RB this window -- maybe as a sub, but I doubt they brought Dest this far to not start. I think player evals are fairly useless in this, but of the newer guys, I liked both Trusty and Reynolds' generally solidity and professionalism. I don't really know how to say, but while neither were spectacular, they were in the right places, the right times 99% of the time even those both were in spots where they weren't going to get much action. I still very much want to see Zendejas versus stronger teams, but I really, really love his ability to put effective strikes on goal when unpressured. It's still a question of what he can do against good defenses, but when the ball dropped to him, he didn't scuff it, and since we don't really have strong finishers, that's an asset that I don't think many, if any of our guys have. Pepi's finish on goal #2 was nice as well. On Gio, I don't think he was nearly as uninvolved or low effort as some I have heard ... but I hope everyone can figure out the solve to this because he just wasn't having any fun at all. I don't mean in the "not celebrating with his teammates" sense -- I wasn't even looking, but he just seemed down. This has got to be tough for him, but I do wish he had brought some more energy, even if, like, many of his teammates weren't exactly flying around either. Let's hope the El Salvador match is harder and he has a better chance to actually bring it in a match where you'd need some fire.
The midfield both roved extensively out of good defensive positioning but also didn't really try on defense much at all. If you watch the ball, much of our team is back, but none of the three midfielders makes it into the box and all three are lightly jogging. De la Torre watches the passer just go by him, McKennie is lazily behind the play on the other side, and Reyna basically enters one of the shots at the very end, he's so far out of the play. Meanwhile, the RW is basically where the LCM should be in defending. Some of it was tactical choice which allowed for numbers in attack. And some of it was effort against a weak opponent.
Kyle Martino had a Gio-type performance today. He has lots of good insight, but I never feel like Kyle has done any preparation or really wants to be there. It's almost like he's just sort of winging it and jumping in once in a while. They have got to find a PBP announcer that can get him going.
The biggest fundamental difference between the two matches is that we tactically played much more offensively aggressive in terms of numbers. That showed in a bit more positively in offense -- though much of the scoring gap was some pretty poor Grenada defense, and it showed worse in defense, though that's exacerbated by a lack of effort, frankly. But in June, we scored 5 on 25 shots and 10 SOG and gave up only 3 shots and 0 SOG. 68% possession. And yesterday, we scored 7 on 19 shots and 12 SOG and gave up 7 shots, 3 SOG, and a goal (and frankly a fantastic Turner save from giving up 2). 69% possesion. It's great this was on the road, which is a plus, but I'm not seeing a material quality of win change. There was definitely a stylistic change. In June, they basically never threatened. We looked pretty soft yesterday at times.
the TNT coverage is pretty lacking. I know they are still new so getting it all sorted out though. What's up with the replays during the run of play? I like Walsh and Beasley and Foudy when she's on, but Martino and the other guy are just not that good.
I agree with you that Gio just looked like he wasn’t enjoying himself. He actually looked really unhappy, which is somewhat worrying. I hope he can re-integrate with the team, and start enjoying being with this team again. He’s a young guy, and it’s probably a tough situation for him, but we need him to find his way and ultimately play to his potential.
The defense was terrible and we shouldn't expect that ... but at the same time the execution by Luca and Pepi was great.
I don't think this game was a positive data point on the whole "we can defend without MMA" path. Our midfield was pretty lazy, so I don't think it is tactically definitive. But our midfield was easy to get through because they rarely bothered to be there.
The replay choices were ... interesting. It honestly felt like this was a CONCACAF feed because the direction choices seemed right out of like a CONCACAF youth tournament.
Some of that will be on Gio, but some of that needs to be on the other players as well. It worried me a bit that Adams and Weah aren't in this camp, so we need the McKennie and Pulisics to step up as leaders and make sure he's welcome on and off the pitch. Tim Ream can't do that -- he's old and not one of the cool kids (no offense, Tim). Hudson can't do that. It's more Christian's team than ever ... and so he needs to bring in all the players. It's a different responsiblity.
we don’t really have a choice in this tier A system of nations league. I applaud Concacafs attempt to create parity by setting up a competition like this. We need our minnows to have a punchers chance. But If under performing teams in Tier B like Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Cuba could improve then perhaps Tier As competition would look more like the Hex.
It felt like they kept cutting to replays while the game was underway. It was pretty bad but it was also probably the CONCACAF feed
Yeah, I think that’s right. It’s pretty clear that Pulisic and McKennie are the “cool kids,” with Pulisic seen as the team leader and coach’s pick. That’s as it should be, but it does mean Pulisic and, to a lesser extent, McKennie, have some responsibility to make sure everyone, including Gio, is included and made to feel part of the team. I noticed after Pulisic’s goal, Gio came over and did a quick fist bump with Pulisic, so at least Gio was making the effort there. Hopefully Pulisic will help bridge the gap with him.
against a team that has provided more than half of ferreiras career production in a comp that concludes in of the vaunted "two trophies" some of yall are awfully dismissive all of a sudden...
I've been saying for years the USA should file formal protests to FIFA regarding Concacaf officiating and field conditions. No European or South American team would tolerate the antics the US routinely has to encounter in Concacaf.