Not a whole lot there, which is to be expected for a game against Brazil. Got beat on the goal, had that nice recovery you mentioned (which would have been a definite goal...not sure how he couldn't catch Costa but caught that player easily from farther behind), and a nice cross on the run later in the match. His game is better than the highlights (lowlights?) of Long vs. Venezuela. Some want to find explanations and defenses for everything. Dunno if it's affection for the USSF, relations with Egg, or simply eternal optimism and positivity, but trying to use Brazil as some kind of logical rationale for excluding Robinson for 2 years is simply ridiculous.
Brazil targeted him and he only got beat on that one play. How many times did he win the ball or force them back? One thing I forgot to add in the last post... Why do we want a stay at home defender behind Pulisic? He likes to cut in and and an overlapping back opens up space for him. Did Berhalter watch the USMNT prior to becoming coach? He didnt seem to use any of the matches in 2018 to help make decisions. He must have missed the Costa Rica game with Pulisic stranded out wide on the right with Zusi not overlapping or just to slow to get there. I cant think of game Long has played that I would say was better than Robinson against Brazil. The other game that people want to use defend him being excluded is the Jamiaca match. Can someone explain why this was lineup/formation after supposedly having "the system"? Hoe did he expect anybody to play well with that crap CM? Seriously, WTF is that? -------------------------sargent-------------------------- ------------Mihaelovic------Roldan----------------- Robinson--------------------------------------Arriola ------------------Trap----------Yeuill-------------------- -----------Ream----Gonzalez---Miazga---------- --------------------------sargent--------------------------
I went back and watched a couple of Robinson’s national team performances. His best performance was against France in the 1-1 draw. He locked down his side and showed some good things going forward. He was shaky against Colombia and Brazil, but not as bad as some people remember. He had assists against Bolivia, Mexico, and Colombia. The worst I’ve ever seen him play is vs. Egypt with the U23s last year. I was shocked to see how bad he looked when I watched his all touches. He had an off game against Jamaica, but so did almost everyone else. He looked confused and lacked confidence on the ball, which is unlike him. He looked indecisive when dribbling and kept losing the ball, which doesn’t happen when he plays for Wigan (I watch most of his games, all 8 after the restart). While he didn’t play well, I think you can chalk some of that up to the fact that they only had a day or two of training to work on the system. He also made a bunch of great runs that were missed by Trapp and Mihailovic because they held onto the ball for way too long. His struggles with the national team are overstated, but he definitely has struggled at times. Because USMNT fans generally don’t watch championship games, this small sample size of data points created a negative perception of Robinson. If you actually watch his games, you see why AC Milan wanted to buy him and why he’s probably moving to the premier league. He’s a dynamic attacking left back with the athletic potential to become a lockdown defender. Sure, he’s a weird player and can be shaky at times, but we’re about to have a pure left back in a top 5 league. When is the last time that happened? USMNT fans should be ecstatic
Yeah GGG certainly didn't do our boy Sarge any favors either by deciding to give him his start in that game.
Is anyone not excited? I'm excited. I'm not sure I'm estatic, but I'm not estatic about say, Josh Sargent, and he's in a Top 5 league, played decently for the national team and is younger than Robinson also at a position of need. Maybe I just don't get estatic. Perhaps I am entirely misjudging Robinson, but I'm not completely there that we should be entirely restructuring around Robinson in terms of style and influencing choices at other positions. Am I excited to see him called in? Am I estatic that this may mean the end of Lovitz ever being called in again? Am I very excited to see how he interacts with Pulisic (expectation: nice to have someone to provide width and build-up; not entirely sure the interaction with a flexible CAM isn't better)? Absolutely. But I think he has strengths and weaknesses and I don't put him in the same level of player as the fundamental core yet. Hope I'm wrong.
Robinson gave up the goal. We would have beat France if he hadn't done that. Parker bailed him out v. France.
Robinson was poor against Brazil. It's not worth defending. Brazil was far superior to the US all over that field though and we didn't have anyone else to stick there likely to fare much better. Maybe Ream would have looked slightly less vulnerable since he'd have never left his own half, but Robinson got smoked in a game when we had no other option that wouldn't have. We get upset about poor games and act like there is some generic level we need or we jettison a player. In some spots, that level isn't all that high because of poor options. Left back is one of those positions. There is no point in comparing Robinson to some imaginary player we absolutely do not have that would would have shut down Brazil. And, that was two years ago. Players, especially players at his age, are rapidly improving (if they're ever going to be any good anyway). He was not good in a very difficult game, likely no worse than other options and he's young, improving and has a skill set we lack. It should be a simple call, regardless what happened two years ago against a team that outclassed us completely all over the field.
Also, I don't think we need restructuring to fit in Roboinson or any other left back that moves forward. That would have been true with Berhalter's original plan to act a fool on the right hand side and then get scared and tell the left back to just stay home. The right back nonsense looks happily fading from site and we're currently looking for options that can go forward on either side if possible from what I can tell of the current state of things.
My big issue is that it's not the same/similar for all players. Go check out Long's performance against Venezuela. Worse than Robinson, against a worse team than Brazil. But he's basically guaranteed the starting spot until "someone wins it from him", even though nobody else is really getting that chance. Robinson, on the other hand, is ignored for two years because he got beat by Costa. This isn't even mentioning our LB options are much worse than our CB options. Again - I don't think most reasonable fans use these arguments. I think it's the only thing Egg/USSF supporters can find to somewhat legitimize a truly bizarre situation that doesn't really make any sense.
Since when did allowing an attacker to get a cross off translate to being poor? That seems like a very high bar, especially for a 21 yo. I thought he showed pretty well the rest of the game.
It is broader than that. Certain posters have guys they like who can do no wrong and others that a single mistake blows up tona huge thing. It has been going on for a long time. Then there are lazy posters that just accept the narrative that he was poor. Let's think of some examples. Mckennie was solely responsible for the goal in the GC. Pulisic didnt do anything against Canada and deserved to be subbed off. Brooks at Costa Rica. FJ didnt do anything vs Costa Rica and was rightfully left off the next roster. Somehow Cameron was blamed for the first goal against CR when it was actually Ream and Howard. You see a trend?
I agree with much of the last couple posts. One poor game against a top opponent for a guy standing out in a position of need is far from disqualifying. Lots of our guys have poor games and keep getting called in. All players make mistakes. I just don't think you have to pretend Robinson had anything other than a poor game against Brazil to make a strong case for him. And it was more than just letting one cross get in. It was obvious if you watch the game and not just clips that Brazil identified his side as the weak point to attack. You are never having a good time of it if the opponent has decided their best chance to score is to keep going at you.
That was a 7 minute clip of him above. I think 7 minutes encapsulates a player's game pretty well, vs. a 2 minute "best of" clip. They attacked him routinely, and he got roasted once, held up well enough the rest of the time. I would never watch that and think "sheesh, this guy was likely the worst player on the field", especially against a team like Brazil. And I think as bsky states, allowing a cross doesn't necessarily mean it's 100% your fault. Lots of crosses get put in, few turn into goals. Certainly a bad play on his part, but CBs never escape blame on goals (or maybe even the RB, because the cross went far post I think). Regardless - talking about one friendly from 2 years ago is exactly what the Egg/USSF supporters want. Get into semantics rather than focusing on the macro view, which is he should have been a part of the team since then. On the bright side, Egg seems to have been in contact, along with US doctors and McBride, so I think they are putting in the effort there. Assume we'll see him in the squad from here out...he seems the perfect compliment to Pulisic on the left side, as he can overlap routinely, and it seems his crossing might be decent.
Waaay too much is created for good or bad over small sample size performances, especially in friendlies, and often way too far back in time. On one hand, there's the above. I still think Robinson needs defensive improvement, but not because Costa roasted him 2 years ago. Ancient history against a vastly superior opponent that would have roasted basically anyone we have if put in the same situation. (Now, perhaps a more conservative gameplan there...) On the other, man, I watched some of the US-France 2018 game that is constantly held up as this amazing performance and a reason for Julian Green to get called in or why even Dave Sarachan was better than Berhalter, etc. We got whooped. France could have -- should have -- won that 4-0. They missed so many good chances and Steffen had a couple of masterful saves. Our goal was on a stupid mistake that Green took good advantage of but it wasn't like we created it. That game was our best case scenario and we barely got away with a draw.
Find me ONE player in history. On any team in history. Who never had a bad game? In fact who didn't have a handful of bad games if they had any kind of a career. Cherry picking bad performances is the same as cherry picking good performances. Guys should get selected for the USMNT on two criteria. And yes its really that simple. 1. Their overall body of work. 2. That body of work compared to their peer group.
Yes they can if they're of the Pirlo hard, low and pinpoint variety. No if they're of the higher balloon variety. Not many Pirlos out there that guy in his prime could pinpoint anything from anywhere and was worth hiding his defensive failings. No one we have is close but I am interested in how Tessman develops just because he at least has that potential with both feet.
Back to our lack of a Pirlo to play the Pirlo role, the other problem created that is just starting to crop up is that by keeping Yueill or someone similar (Bradley/Trapp) at the six, you really limit who you play in the other midfield roles as well. With Adams/McKennie in the other two spots, you may just be able to get away with it since you're fielding two other defensive minded players who cover ground and defend well, even if you are asking them to oddly cover for someone behind them. Now, let's say we get beyond Adams and McKennie for the other two spots, maybe one is injured, maybe you want to try out some other options. Who's next that can both play the more advanced role and cover back? You want to get Aaronson on the field? Well, keep your no-defense 6 out there and now you've got another defensive liability to worry about. Are you going to get whichever of Adams/McKennie is left to provide cover for them both.... and do it from an advanced position? The knock on effects of this midfield setup go beyond just the lack of a player for that role, it gets into a lack of players to support it.
Again, we are talking about teams that can buy any player. Why would they start a defensively weak DM? They wouldn't. But that doesn't mean they don't play with a DLP. Or the idea of running possession through someone who can hit a certain type of pass is not a good idea. I divorced the system from the USMNT player pool because it has been more than obvious that Bradley/Trapp don't play enough defense or offense to make it work. Yueill hasn't really been tested. Adams has not been tried. If we could find a defensively strong DM who could also play make, would the system be a good one? My only point is maybe that player is McKennie and just nobody thinks of him that way except possibly Wagner and Husinhutl.
Leaving aside that there has ever been only 1 Pirlo and he was never used to beat a bunker, please explain exactly how a DLP beats a compact 4-4-2 or even worse a 5-4-1 bunker? There is a bank of 4 just outside the defensive 18 and a 2nd bank 15 to 20 yards ahead. The DLP hits a driven ball diagonally left, the 2 blocks move left. The DLP drives the ball diagonally right, the 2 blocks move right. No advantage. This is basic stuff, you don't beat a bunker with long balls, you beat a bunker with individual creativity and short quick combinations that pulls the bunker out of shape.
He stepped up to stop a guy dribbling towards goal. He should’ve won the ball, but the attack still could’ve been stopped with better communication. Parker should step out and close the crosser down and then Trapp should rotate back. That goal was more on Parker in my opinion.
This whole thing is so freaking dumb. Even if you're of the opinion Yeuill is right around the best 11 (i'm not), you're spot on in that it just doesn't work without him. Bradley was literally one of the worst players in the MLS Is Back tournament. Not hyperbole. He was horrendous. Even his biggest fans on this site have capitulated at this point. Nobody thinks he should be in the 23, never mind the starting lineup. Trapp isn't much better. You're building a system where those are the only 3 who can be on the field, for some reason. Only 1 is anywhere close to being qualified to be on the field, and I'd argue he's a 3rd/4th backup in CM. Our best MFs behind Adams/Wes are Holmes, Reyna, Morales, Pomykal, Aaronson. None of those guys is going to play that role, and they should be mostly in front of Adams/Wes. There is really no other legitimate talking point about the US team unless this ridiculous system, that in no way matches the best talent we have, is abandoned. PS - Reyna was planted in the center of the pitch today. Dropped real deep sometimes, but generally underneath Haaland. He should be our 10.
Another great point here. How do slow looping long diagonals, never mind Pirlo-style bullets, do anything against a bunker? As you said, a bunker needs quick 1-2s, Arsenal in its peak under Wenger style. We have that capability with Reyna/Morris/CP/anyone else playing off Sargent/Jozy. We have Robinson and/or Dest overlapping when required. If anything, we're at the point with talent where we're likely better offensively than defensively. Some random player sitting close to midfield hitting a cross field pass ain't accomplishing anything.
I'll just have to say you never watched Pirlo play in his prime. He could spot a runner and put a laser right in the spot only that player could get to for an easy goal. If they didn't play him honest he'd just shoot from anywhere. He really was amazing in his prime and worth putting Gattuso and another scrapper around him so he could concentrate on what he and very few others ever could do. It's not bad mouthing our pool to say we don't have anyone like him because no one else does either and may never again.
I would add a third point: Current form. Michael Bradley has an excellent overall body of work compared to his peer group, but his form is terrible and will almost certainly not recover due to his age.