Bradley, McKennie, Morris, Altidore, and Arriola started in the front 6 in the Gold Cup final. Very little in the way of creativity.
Vancuver had a player from S. America that went to Mexico. Vancover threatened to take it to court but worked out something and basically let him go for pennies on the dollar (sorry can't remember his name). The one from FC Dallas I remember well. Fabian Castillo was a very fast dribbling machine. FC Dallas wanted him to finish the year and they had a deal worked out to send him to Club America I think. He didn't want to wait and instead high tailed it to Turkey. More threats and blather but he never came back. If a player really wants to leave and especially if they are on their options on near MLS can't or won't really do much. Heck most of us think Long was never the same after missing a chance to go to England. There's an art to selling at the right time.
whom do you consider creative? Lletget? again, our attack will be driven by Pulisic, Reyna, dest and the contributors being morris, Jozy, zardes, McKennie, and adams. We can create via defensive pressure and dead balls (where we have a chance to be truly elite). to me the question is how do we stop Jiminez and his compatriots? I’d rather have long than Miazga just to cover for Brooks and have adams as a shield in front. I’d like to push a bit higher than a low block but understand the thought process. TL;DR we’re not going to match Mexico’s creativity but we are far more athletic and rangy and should use that to our advantage. We happen to have more skills than prior versions of the USMNT too.
Saucedo, Pulisic, Reyna, Holmes, Lletget, Pomykal, Ferreira. US hasn't shown any kind of consistent ability to create offense through defensive pressure. That's been almost as big a pipe dream as dominating teams through possession.
When have we applied consistent defensive pressure? Not in the past 3-4 years - I think that was a function of building around Bradley as a CM. our historical success was predicated on defensive pressure and integrity mixed with Reyna and a lethal counter-attack player.
Are we really projecting Bofo in the same category as the others mentioned? SMH. Can’t wait for this virus to die.
I lived in Mexico City for 4 years. The bolded is always true with regards to the Mexican national team.
Options on the right wing are Yedlin, Boyd, Arriola, Holmes, Bofo, Mueller, Morris, Pulisic, Reyna, Finlay.
We're projecting Bofo over the goobers like Arriola. The side opposite Morris has been underperforming for a looooong time...
Long has excellent pace and range. Hasn't been in form though. As Dave said-- https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/the-aaron-long-journey-from-usl-to-the-usmnt/
he’s fast and can sweep up anything that gets by Brooks. His deficiencies in ball handling dovetail with brook’s strengths so there’s a balance there.
Long is inexperienced and unproven. His speed can be useful in "recovery" defending, but he doesnt read the game and anticipate plays well at all. Miazga is a much more calming influence than Long. If you want a more mobile partner, then Alvarado is a more experienced option.
I’d be happy to re-look at Alvarado as a partner for brooks but I don’t think of him as a defensively focused speed partner. we don’t need a calming influence as a partner for brooks - we need a CD partner that bolsters the defensive side as that’s brook’s developmental area.
Long has 17 caps, so isn't inexperienced. Tough to claim Miazga as a calming influence when his biggest statistical weakness is in the area of 'concentration', calculated as frequency of errors leading to shots on goal. His other statistical weakness is in tackling. In addition, depth behind Brooks is important, given his injury and form history.