2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup - USA vs Uruguay - 6/4 5:00 PM EST (Pre-match/PBP/Post-game)

Aaronson wouldn't have made any difference in this matchup. He's hyped up because of a few Bundesliga cameos off the bench, but he would've been getting bullied by the Uruguay defenders lol

 

I'll say this for Uruguay .... it seems like every challenge, whether it's us vs. them, or them vs. us, Uru comes away with ball. It's almost like the embodiment of a Lineker quote.

 

If I were a betting person I would take that bet and even give about 5:1 odds.

Uruguay does not look that good at all. But they do play, at least today, very smart soccer.

However Italy does look pretty good.

 

Gaga looks like the best GK prospect in a long time

 

When we had the dogs.

 

Full time: Uruguay 2, USA 0

 

Tourneys where they've done worse than this have provided a number of contributors to the senior national team. They all do. And it's increasingly more true with the academy system. Players should be viewed as individuals and also not expected to be finished products.

It warrants further note that several players were adjudged too good or not experienced enough as youth internationals to have joined this team. So you always need to look at the broader pool when it comes to what is being produced.

 

Looked like two of our guys were offsides.

I will say one thing, what this game underlined for me was how thoroughly I want no part of Marsch. I know that's a weird take, but I want a great tactician, not some jack--- obsessed with his <expletive> system above all. I want a guy that can look at our pool, and come up with a variety of ideas for different types of opponents. When you watch a coach missing 1/3 of his team and working with 48 hours less rest like this Uruguay guy come up with a clinic like this, it just reminds you of how important and relevant quality coaching and execution is.

Not an indictment of Varas, I like Varas plenty and felt he had our guys playing great this cycle, it's more guys like Marsch and guys like Berhalter honestly that I want no part of. I want more flexibility than that. I want a guy who can come in up against it like Uruguay was in this match and come up with some great ideas on how to produce goals and shut us down like Uruguay did despite their disadvantages.

 

I’d heard that. And keepers have long windows. But he spilled one he shouldn’t have and he didn’t look agile on the own goal. Not his fault, but I didn’t see anything special today.

 

Rough game to have everybody play poorly.

Halladay was a black hole offensively which made decision to start him look awful, but man everybody had poor touches, poor passes, and seemed flat footed.

First goal Che was flat footed on a deflection and then went in for a slide tackle when he shouldn't have and made the recovery even tougher and the 2nd goal... just rough luck for Wynder.

End of the day though we just don't have anybody aside from Cowell that will consistently shoot and that bit us.

 

No, a loss is a loss. I can feel your issues towards Argentinian's. That's my issue with you.

To be honest becoming hosts for a u20 tournament is not a big thing. If we were being objective, Israel would have not been allowed to play. They qualified fair and square. They would have not been given the joy of beating Brazil. AFA offering a second venue to play so the tournament can take place, really is a small issue to the larger picture. To you it's shameless and weasely, but that's more your perceptions and perspective. Tres bien!

It was exciting hosting the tournament and watching the team play, even though they were poor. But people like you have to be the way you are.

For context, Brazil hosted the u17 tournament also in 2019, after failining to qualify, and went on to win it.

 

Uruguay vs Italy in the finals. Bet.

Maybe not the best game to point this out on but I still agree.

 

Uruguay showed the guile and composure that we rarely display in pressure games. We have improved considerably technically but still lack game awareness, positional discipline, and soccer smarts. Paredes looked good - I wish he had started. I think we found Luna's ceiling. His little tricks aren't going to work against better defenders. Craig had some very nice diagonals and line splitting passes. Che on the other hand . . . I think there are a few players that may break through to the senior team, maybe two or three. That's not unusual, of course.

 

Will some of these guys get or continue to get caps? Sure. Is anyone on that field going to raise the ceiling of the full Nats? No.

I guess the first is contributing, but it’s not really what I meant.

 

USA was scared and passive

Uruguay was dominant and brave

thats really the whole story

 

I think the US was its own worst enemy.
Sloppy play. Mishit and miscontrolled balls, misjudged defensive plays. A lot of standing around when we had the ball.

 

Well we gifted them a goal, and took away a sure goal from Cowell…

Bottom line is no improvement from previous tournaments. We did well against crap opponents and then stumbled at the first real test.

7 - The United States has been eliminated in each of their last seven quarterfinal appearances at the U20 World Cup dating back to 1993, with five of those coming at the hands of CONMEBOL opposition. Groundhog. pic.twitter.com/8rO5heCHvk

— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) June 4, 2023

Mikey Varas did well up until this point but today he messed up so many different aspects that maybe he shouldn’t be coaching the Olympic team…

 

Passive offside if they get out of the way or hide behind the opponent. That wasn't aware by Pukstas.

I feel like Varas did precisely what you're talking about, but then he just didn't make adjustments once it wasn't working, and took a 1-size fits all approach. He force-fit after that system was generally tailored to his starters. But the 343 has a significant flaw that it's hard to build up out of and cover space if those 2 in the middle get isolated. Having a strong press ameliorates that. But we didn't really have the personnel. They were more a possession-style unit. It worked great against Ecuador and the first 15 here vs. Uruguay. But they figured out those long diagonals were coming. We needed our plan B's and C's to work. The setup made that tenuous and we didn't have the personnel to create solutions anyhow.

 

We're not playing the senior team. Uruguay wasn't particular large or physical in this game.

Paxten is simply a better player than Luna, and he's actually quite effective in the final third. I don't think Luna played terribly, but the idea that Paxten would have been ineffective is also wrong.

 

well - a good lesson for our players and coaching

Uruguay has a mindset and they stick with it to the hilt.

tough defending

no nonsense approach

ruthless when they have to attack and ruthless when they choose to defend

3M people in between Argentina and Brazil and they know they simply have to be tougher mentally than their opponents because they don’t have the plethora of players to develop

I think Diego is the only player we have that truly gets it …

I think Mikey did ok this tourney but needed to come up with a plan to deal with Uruguay

We need better coaching however to go with our academy growth

My pick is Italy Uruguay and Italy wins it all

and both Italy and Uruguay are mentally so tough

just sayin

Paxton would have helped but hard to tell if he would have been faster or more physical than Cowell

 

Uruguay realized that 3/4 pressure would generate a turnover. Only 1/4 pressure on Wiley. And that the US didn’t really know how to create a shot. Once you realize that, it’s pretty easy to play with confidence.

Plus Wydner had a horror show.

 

Good thing we have more then just today to go on.

 

Later, when i look back at this match I will probably get nauseated all over again. But I do not think the players have most of the blame. They were placed on the field with no real idea how to attack Uruguay. They tried, I believe over tried, the super long diagonal ball but created nothing out of it to speak of, but it did look pretty, and they seemed to be no real backup plan, if there really was a primary plan to start with.

With this U20 mob the MLS will have another generation of players to watch screw things up over and over.

 

the knowledge of your opponents strengths and weaknesses (3/4 pressure and deny Cowell and Luna) is good coaching …. The US has a history of imploding and Uruguay planned for this.

 

Right, you usually get 2 or 3 guys at best transitioning to the senior team. And in this case, there are 2 guys: Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna, who are just over a month too old to be eligible for this U-20 team, so they are effectively part of this age pool, and are basically at the top of the pyramid already. Plus the guys who were not released for this tournament. It is pretty crowded at the top in this age range, particularly when you also consider the guys just a year or two older.