Missed the game due to work, but just watched the highlights…. Man, New Zealand goalkeeper had 3 horrendous mistakes.
You thought so? I thought the first 75 minutes were poor from both sides. Fans in this forum are actually underestimating their side for once. I’ve watched nearly every game of this tournament, and the USA matches up well with Uruguay. I would be more concerned about Gambia, as I think they will go through.
Also, to speak to New Zealand’s perception in this tournament; they drew Uzbekistan, who just pushed Euro finalists Israel to the absolute brink in their round of 16 match. NZ is not as poor as people in this board are making them out to be.
I think it's an open question how much of our impressive play is weaker competition and how much is improved skill and ability. I also think a few guys could put a data point out there in terms of defense. I am super interested to see if we can actually play this level of possession against some of the top teams. And I am super interested to see how players like McGlynn and Craig hold up against better offenses. More so than the W/L. I don't think it is definitive either way, but it is interesting.
Was that down to their lack of execution, or the quality of the USA? Personally, I think it was more of the latter.
When they did press, they had some success. That tells me they played scared and were no hindrance to the US as a result. I’m sure you saw the match, they were happy to sit and watch even after being down multiple goals.
I thought we did a good job drawing their defensive lines forward and hitting those line-splitting passes. Maybe they lost shape some when they moved up. Their coach kept yelling for them to move up and be more aggressive. I was surprised to hear this. Seemed to open them up. Craig and McGlynn carved them up.
They would start out in a nice conservative compact shape. And basically our defense just held the ball until they lost that shape. It was an impressively mature display of patience. And then we tore them up. It will be interesting to see how we handle a better team.
The technical ability of our team is impressive-way better than typical USA teams. I enjoy watching them play.
No, he thought it was going wide. He clearly could have extended to reach it and pulled back to let it go out of bounds. Clear mistake.
Good question, considering there no official diplomatic relations between the two countries. I still don't see Tunisia getting past Brazil though.
NZ played us pretty solidly until they gave up the second goal. They should have had us down a goal early and the US struggled with both their physicality and their counter attack. Diego Luna was very good in this game because of his unique mix of skill, aggression, and scrappy toughness. I think that Obed Vargas and Halliday were also good for this game, but they didn’t get on until later.
What we are seeing isn’t just skill (technical ability), its a culture change. The players now believe that they can keep the ball and dictate terms against anyone. That is a direct byproduct of the Stewart/Berhalter era and what we saw from the senior team in the last World Cup. No more clear, scramble, clear, hit, and hope. We are looking to control the game with the ball, which allows for skill players to do their thing to both keep possession and create chances. This is what we all hoped would happen during the time between Couva and Qatar.
They had two decent chances before we had a single decent chance. That’s not how the US coach drew it up, but it is how the Kiwi coach drew it up.
I like Halliday wide right in the formation we were playing better than Gomez. I also like the combination of an inverted wide attacking player and a wide midfielder playing on the side of his stronger foot just behind him. Paredes on the right along with Halliday. Maybe Sullivan as a sub for Halliday if we are chasing a goal. Cowell on the left along with Wiley or Gomez.