First New York City academy player to score in the World Cup. Plus first New York City academy player.
Time to come back to earth a bit. As entertaining and enjoyable as this game was to watch, especially the ball movement and the footwork from the U.S. players, I expected Poch, given his background as a former defender, to have the team a bit more organized at the back. There were a few ugly moments that had me genuinely worried. . That said, when you consider what the U.S. has produced on the pitch in previous years, this team is clearly in good hands and heading in the right direction. The football at times was genuinely beautiful, and performances like this at a World Cup can only help grow the game, inspiring a new generation of kids in the U.S. to choose to play this sport over others.
I too wonder about the back line based on the last three matches. Ream’s lack of pace and quickness is what it is, and we are stuck with it. He played well last night with that caveat. Richards and he haven’t had much time together. And Adams does not look in peak form. If this team is analytical about their mistakes then these things can be improved. Freeman has been a big help. And there is something about Tillman at that deeper midfield spot that just switched on a light for this team.
How much time do they need together? Started together 6 times in the Gold Cup, 3 times in Copa America, a couple of times in the Nations League plus a few friendlies.
Our 54 ELO points gained was the most ELO points we gained since we gained 65 from a 2-0 win over Spain in the Confederations Cup in South Africa on June 24, 2009. Spain entered that game first, and Paraguay entered yesterday in 30th. We gained 58 points from the 2-0 win over Mexico in the World Cup on June 17, 2002, but that did not make up for the 66 points we lost from the game before. We entered with the worst ELO in the group if you do not give us 100 points for home field. Now we tied Paraguay and Ukraine for 26th with 1,780 points, and Australia has 1,777. Turkiye leads the group and is 13th in the world with 1,911. We passed Canada and Panama to move from fourth to second in Concacaf. FIFA thinks we are much better than ELO does. In ELO, we have 19 spots gained in the last year. That is tied for the fourth most spots gained, and the most spots gained by a team in the top 30. Winning by 3 could be useful. It would be nice to go into the last game above Turkiye or tied on points with a better goal differential so that we can win the group with a draw. We have to hope that Paraguay plays better against Turkiye than against us.
Like a lot of people on here have been following this team since Italia '90. For me this is the best performance ever in a World Cup, which makes it the best performance by the US Men EVER. I have seen us control matches, like Algeria in '10, and I have seen us score goals like Portugal in '02 but I have never seen us both control a game, and score goals with such ease. Really impressive. Was also inspiring to see the players embrace the moment rather than shrink from it. Poch now has to worry about over confidence, which is a nice problem to have, and the band wagoners will be expecting the same against the Kangaroos, and we know that's not how this sport works, but still the perfect way to start the tournament.
Guys I want to know what you think? I see you guys remind me a lot of Russia 2018. Have good players and chemistry but also over performing emotionally and scoring more than usual especially against inferior teams because of home advantage. Here’s my predictions for the rest of the way for USA: USA beats Australia either 2-1 or 3-1. You’ll have to earn it this time. You won’t break Australia down for the first half but will early in the second half and then finish them off with momentum. Turkey 3-1 USA: USA has a slightly off game, because they might be a bit tired and gassed. They might also rest some players for knockouts, especially if they’re on cards. This game reveals the ceiling. USA advances as second place: USA faces Egypt in Round of 32 and wins 3-1 or 3-2. It’s very competitive and USA is frustrated but they prevail in the end. In Round of 16, USA loses narrowly to Austria after a hard fought match. Plays well, scores, and fights hard, but the ceiling is revealed here. Austria wins 3-2 maybe. Thoughts? What do you think?
I think you have us scoring to many goals. Would be surprised if we score 3 goals or more in another match this tournament. That's not a criticism of the US just an acceptance of how tournament football usually pans out. I think we should expect to get to the round of 16, with a Quarterfinal birth an unquestioned success.
Australia is not stupidly going to play open the way Paraguay did. If Australia is smart, they're going to foul the USA until it's black and blue, instead of red, white, and blue.
If we roll out the same starting lineup, and the back line has done some diagnostics on themselves, I expect a clear win. Even if it’s a hack-a-thon.
I agree, but I think the USA will break them down in second half. Afterwards the game might be open and the USA might score another with Australia finding one on the counter. It ends 2-1 I think.
Here are my thoughts that no one asked for: almost as a good a game as I’ve ever seen our guys play. I’d argue that the loss to Germany on 2002 might be better given the competition, but I ‘d probably put this ahead of Portugal, where we were dominated and hanging on to dear life in the second half. Close though. Poch got the starting eleven right. Ream’s lack of speed still makes me nervous but I don’t really think we have a cb better than him. Anyway, that first half was magnificent and everyone was playing at a very high level. Second half was pretty good too. Outside of the play where four or five of our guys sort of switched off and they got a bounce, it wasn’t like Paraguay was doing much. My biggest hot take of the game, and I’m prepared for the down votes, is neither Weah nor Reyna really impressed me. Weah was a sloppy, running into people, giving away unnecessary fouls, plenty of energy with no thought or direction. Ok, yeah Reyna has incredible skill and we once again saw it. But before that he was chirping, whining, jogging, which to me shows nothing for him has changed much. Putting him on in the last 10-15, ok sure but I don’t want to see him more than that really. Berhalter and Pepi did alright but are not starters. basically our starting 11 is pretty damn good on their day. We are think though and I don’t trust our bench, but still, putside the real big boys, most teams don’t have any real depth. The bench guys will get some time and you just hope they live up to the moment.
This was the football we've been longing for. He got the 11 right. The outside backs played fantastic which added to the attack and helped us with a lot of space and angles. Our attackers were making great runs. My main critique is, in the 2nd half, the center backs allowed the ball to bounce instead of comanding headers. They had 3-4 times where the wrestling match with the striker tied us and the ball bounced. This allows for a scruffy goal like the one they scored. Otherewise, i agree with above post, bench was underwealming. I'd look at Aaronson next game for energy and changeup for an attacker. Thought Pulisic was unguardable, Balogun was perfection with both the goals and the combinations with McKenny and crew. That trio was sharp. Dest added width and strength on the right. A major part of our evening was attack and then don't let them out of the back with the ball. We won the ball high up the pitch so many times. This was fun!!!