There also seems to be a well-thought out plan on how to rotate over the window. I'm guessing the non-goalies who went 90 (Aaronson and the defenders) will not start against ES. That means Musah, Dest, Miles, Ream and Jedi come in. With Pulisic, Pepi, Reyna, McKennie, LDLT starying in as starters. That's your best team for this cycle. It will be a more solid team defensively than the more experimental lineup we ran out against Grenada.
Who has suggested Hudson for the full time position? I haven’t seen that. I think people are recognizing that he’s doing well for an interim manager. But that’s it.
i think its important to look at this as more than a "new coach bump", and i absolutely share your concerns about any actual tactics and game management from hudson. i think its a little more complex than bora-to-sampson though, because berhalters "system" actively restricted players individually. and while that elevates the bottom end it lessens the impact of the top. the biggest change weve seen is simply putting guys in their spots and letting them play. there isnt much tactical input to evaluate. that and, of course, selection. i eagerly anticipate the "people said bradley was going to start forever too" responses, but if gregg had been rehired this roster wouldnt have included trusty or zedejas or booth, it would be long and arriola and roldan. and thats not to say we wont see arriola (at least) again- but with stronger depth players selection is going to look (and, in fact be) better. i think this is fair in terms of tempering whats actually happened, but "double standard" is pretty expected nonsense. our long term outlook hasnt greatly improved and we havent done anything with hudson we shouldnt have done before- alas berhalter wouldnt have this roster, would have played defensively, would have pressed relentlessly and for what? roughly the same result. only without getting more quality guys a look and actual minutes while using the same team in both matches, increasing both wear and minutes all in the name of grossly overplaying for the sake of...what exactly? of course i dont think hudson is making a serious push for the full time gig, but is him winning "two trophies" simply by selecting the right players and letting them play without saddling them with 9 different pressing cues for any given scenario out of the question? without using the forward position as an extra midfielder to press anddefend? without using inferior options because hes more familiar with them? i dont think it remotely is. so what then? does that make him a great manager? or does it show that we have a really good team, made up of really good players- with a pool larger and deeper than gregg deemed as worthy of exploring? that maybe- just maybe- berhalters perfectly competent tenure that exceeded absolutely nothing us soccer accomplished literally decades ago wasnt quite the miraculous job some want to say it was? i dont think hudsons the guy, nothing in his resume says hes the guy. he hasnt added some new wrinkle that really has us on the verge of kicking it into a higher level- other than making common sense, unbiased selections and managing simple scenarios (ie scally on the left isnt ideal, but minutes are, and it also got minutes for another deserving player). i dont think its an impossible task to find someone who can both recognize our best players and tactically improve them as a team. hudson has shown the former (though a whopping 3 matches) while berhalter came well short there while falling well short on the latter- sacrificing individual and top-end ability for a consistent slightly above average. we can do better. but this is a refreshing...hudson may be muzak in an elevator, but at least its a song you like.
I've stated prior that I don't think Hudson should be named the coach, but I do think it helps him to be more free with his choices because he knows he's most likely NOT going to be the coach. Zero pressure. He knows he's got a good group of talent, they mostly know what to do and all he has to do is a little tinkering here and there, be supportive and talk them up and motivate them and be their friend. That's why I think his callups and such have been good and frankly great for the fans. Helps a bit to be the "manager" with zero pressure on you really.
And it’s just validating for fans to see someone trying the stuff that so many called for trying over these last years. I remain conv8nced that we can have great defense and something better than a punch less offense, and that our depth players can play.
Lads, it’s Grenada. Definitely some revisionism about Berhalter going on because we mostly got tired of him by the end. We had multiple games like this over the past cycle. We practically secured qualification with a 5-1 beating of Panama. I like the freedom he gave the team against Grenada but I hope it was because it was Grenada. Might need a more tactical approach against El Salvador, as they’ve been harder to break down under Perez. Two critiques from this last game for me is we need someone to play the 6, even in a pivot. Hopefully we do that next game. Then Gio and Aaronson seemed completely lost and struggled to get involved. Was it because they were lost or because everything went through Pulisic who dominated?
I think you also have to consider that a full time coach may use games against minnows to work on certain problem areas for down the road. Like a glorified scrimmage. Sure scoring needs help more than anything but I'm not sure success against Grenada shows anything unless it's new wrinkles for the future. An interim don't need to plan for anything more than the next game if there's two in a window. I do like Hudson's demeanor where he seems very affable. Of course than contrasts with his flameout and comments at Colorado but I'm guessing he was very stressed and maybe he's learned from it. BTW - GB seemed to have a good eye for assistants with three now head coaches in MLS so should Hudson get another chance like Luchi?
I've been someone who has beat the defensive drum for a while, but I'd say that I don't think this was a good game for that kind of evaluation. I just really didn't see a ton of effort from the midfield to defend, and if Tyler had shown that level of urgency, I don't really think it matters. A more defensive midfielder will help, but I wouldn't say we couldn't figure something out with more of a double pivot or a rotating 6. That said, I suspect that group doesn't have Gio and Luca be two of the three against a quality team. Against Grenada, they could have done better. In the end, I still struggle with bringing McKennie off the field. I don't think they looked lost at all. Yes, they were less involved. But that is in large part because the ball was going through Pulisic. What I would like to see, particularly between Pulisic and Reyna, is any kind of interplay. They played quite a bit together in 2021 before Reyna got hurt, and are playing now, but I really can't remember any meaningful plays that were executed with both of them. Part of that is that Reyna really doesn't move much without the ball. I don't think it is personal, but regardless of where you play guys, you have to figure that out.
Your comfort level with Anthony Hudson heading into the summer as the man in charge? #FutbolAmericas Full 🎥 https://t.co/fpfQGfHSQp @ESPNPlus @SebiSalazarFUT pic.twitter.com/apmf3KNEjh— herculez gomez (@herculezg) March 28, 2023
My take is that Hudson is doing well as an interim coach but does not have the profile for 2026. Which should be a very reasonable take but internet.
At the half yesterday Hudson said the team didn't have control of the game which I think was the most constructive cirticism he could make and I guess he did something about that at HT. Control the game first, then try to get the score. Don't try to score at any cost if it means losing control v. ES. I hated the way Hudson approached Jan camp but the March window wasn't bad at all imo. Let's see how he does v. Mexico with MLS players. I think he will have one day of training with a totally new team. Interesting problem.
For all the talk we got from Berhalter about his "group", it seemed to me that Hudson's camp seemed a lot happier.
A good coach has to know how to balance assets with liabilities. I don't think they teach this. Coaches have to have a feel for it. For example, I would not use Reyna without McKennie. Reyna is vulnerable to "bullying" while McKennie protects even if he is having a bad day. Think Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors. From what I can tell, Hudson is good at that.
Like I said.....but internet. Too many takes trying to relitigate what Berhalter did or didn't do. Time to look forward. At this point it should be obvious that we want to work on final third patterns without breaking what the group already has in culture and positional play. That's not either Berhalter or Hudson.
But internet. So, in the following scenario, would you become Hudson in?. Balogun commits. The USMNT 🇺🇸 wins the Nations League and Gold Cup over the summer with Anthony Hudson in charge.. Berhalter, Marsch and Curtin are the only other options— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) March 28, 2023
Hudson achievements 2009 USL Play-off West Asia third place Qualification for 2015 Asia Cup 2016 Oceania champs and 2017 Confed Cup qualification 2018 WC Oceania qualifier winner (bounced by Peru in playoffs)
I think Hudson coming in and the team not missing a beat gives credence to the idea that it is the players more than the coach that determines the outcome. Berhalter took this team exactly where the talent would lead you to believe they would end up, and I presume Hudson would similarly hit par with the player pool. Neither is a great coach, but neither is so incompetent to screw it up too badly either. That describes a lot of coaches out there.
Perez knew our weakness was midfield and dominated there. Hudson at the half said we were not in control. Perez set his block up to play v. the midfield because he knew it was a midfield that couldnt progress the ball. From that point of view, what could we do but defend? It was reminiscent of the WC. ES ran out of gas in the 2nd half - that was the downside to Perez' tactics and the US subs made the difference. ES didn't have the legs to go after McKennie in the 2nd half and gave him time from central deep position where he had time to execute (a little like Iran's mistake although Iran ceded space in midfield just over the halfway line in their own end, unlike Holland and Wales). Pepi had come on and knew what to do. Game, set, match. Hudson was the guy who traded a boatload to bring Acosta to Denver which got him fired there a year later. I say that just based on timeline, not an inside knowledge of Rapids. I think he is beginning to understand the whole problem with the USA mdifield of MMA . (and Adams will be out thru the summer, likely, recovering from hammy surgery.) What is Hudson's job? A) Easy 5 - just gotta pick 'em ------puli/paredes/morris-----------pepi et al-----paredes/weah -----------------------reyna/ldlt-(off)---aaronson (def)/booth B) Hard 5 ----------------------no adams -no pass--old guy-------Miles---bench guy at club The main problem? How do you pick B so that A gets the ball in a position to score. I'll feel a whole lot better if AR gets to ManCity as was rumored in Jan. He won't get outta there without learning to pass. There's work to be done getting the back 5 right before kick off in 2026.
There's zero doubt that I would prefer Berhalter to Anthony Hudson. I don't think that will the two we are choosing from though.