Yeah this is pretty much what I saw. They were paying a different game than us. We caught them a couple of times early with our press, but after the first water break, they really controlled most of the game. I also don't think this window is the end of the world for us. We really need to get lucky with injuries though. We still don't have the depth we need.
It can't help, but I'd question the first part of that. Uruguay? England in the World Cup? Canada in Nations League?
IF it comes down to one of Johnny or Morris, who are you choosing? Me? I'm going with Morris. Now, are you going with Morris or Roldan? That's a hard decision for me, but my gut right now is saying..... Morris by a nose.
Agreed - I also think he was trying to get Pulisic off the schneid. Pulisic seems healthy but not as sharp in his passes and shots as he usually is. He took extra touches several times, including the shot from the left, which enabled the defender to close down, and was late feeding McKennie at the top of the box on a break, leaving the ball at Weston's feet. He's clearly pressing. He just missed the goal to the left on the shot from the 18'. Hoping he gets going with Milan in the final 8 games this season. The good news is that he's not our only scoring option. We can't rely on one player offensively.
Admittedly 5-1 is a beating but that was not a full strength Uruguay team. A 0-0 draw doesn’t qualify as “standout” to me. I can’t even remember the Canada game. This group has talent but are less than the sum of their parts.
Based on today, I'd pick Morris. He's got good presence, makes good decisions, doesn't rush. He has more upside than Roldan. And Johnny is still an enigma. Hugely talented and a key player at Atletico but I haven't seen it yet for the US.
I think I agree with pretty much all of this. However, I'm not particularly frustrated. Perhaps it's because I didn't expect the team to make a massive leap. We're where we were last World Cup with a bit more talent but in all the wrong places. We should get out of the group, and from there, we will (eventually) play someone much better than us like Portugal. We'll need to play really well. We'll need to play hard and we'll need to focus and I have questions on all that ... but playing hard and focusing won't also be enough on its own. I don't think that changes even if we had played better today.
We could argue all this but I'd just say, if we pick nits here, the sample size of games where we could have had a standout is going to be really low. I have two thoughts: I don't disagree but I do wonder if some of the issues will be cleared up quickly with two weeks of practice before the World Cup. Some of this on the defensive side seems basic enough to be fixable It's far easier to be more than the sum of your parts when your parts don't add up to much. As the talent and expectations grow, there's always more downside than upside. I agree this team does not play well together all the time right now -- I think it has had its good games -- but I also think expecting it to play above its talent at the same level some prior US teams did is an unreasonable expectation. I'm not saying that's your expectation ... but I do see a lot of fans think that it's normal for a team to play above its talent. We have enough talent now that we should fist target to playing to talent.
I think this is fair, and it’s a definitely fair point that the pre WC camp should hopefully bring role clarity for the roster and more cohesion. I agree re playing to talent but if we can’t do that I’d settle for turning our games into a rockfight where they just outwork and out hustle the opposition backed by a home crowd. No style points in a tournament; it’s the final exam. Go win games and show some fight and be a tough out
Overall, I don’t really expect much from this group and they probably lose to the first or second opponent in the knockouts.
On that first goal, do you think Freeman should deserve a bit of blame on that Wes turnover or nah. He didn’t have the best of touches on that.. Also, I was not sure why there was no CDM back there on that first goal after Trusty got beat. Tessmann is too invisible. He’s disappointed me. Was coaching a factor on that second goal since they said the set up seemed off on that corner. Joao Felix should not have that much time to slot that kick in.
The only thing that I will really be annoyed with is if we lack fight. At this point, the talent is the talent, and if we miss a shot or someone has a howler ... hey, that's life. But if give up a goal because someone was jogging when they should have been sprinting, or someone didn't communicate on a corner or whatever ... ... This group has never actually been very consistent in any of this. WCQ was an adventure because of it, and people wanted to chalk it up to Berhalter. But the Jekyll/Hyde act has continued under Pochettino. It's not the coach; it's the players.
It seems evident that Pat is going to have a strong chance of making it with how low Pepi is on the depth chart with the scant minutes he got. I think Pepi’s the odd man out. Let’s hope Trusty isn’t hurt too bad. Also, considering how critical you have been of Tillman in the past, says something when you give praise to it which I agree with.
It's not a great pass, for sure. But Wes' attempt seems rather lackadaisical to me and it's also backwards -- when he had an open teammate parallel to him. I have a big pet peeve that if you are going to hit a ball that you aren't controlling well or are under too much pressure ... hit it forward because at least you can immediately counter press. I don't know, either and the replays weren't clear about where everyone was coming from. Not a great window for Tanner. I think he's a good player and he's going to be there in June. I do think the tactics against Belgium didn't help him. Poch seemed set this window on playing him very deep, and sometimes basically as a CB ... but he's better getting forward IMO. Shrug. It seems someone was in the wrong place, no? Coaching or a player error? Those things can overlap.
I'd take Pepi over Wright, but you are likely right. My biggest issue with Tillman has always been his level of aggression and activity. He's solved that defensively for the US. I don't know that he'll ever be a guy to try and take over, but he is a very good player as is.
It’s just disappointing with this game. That’s the tone after this game. Not frustration, but disappointment. Arfsten got the second half and didn’t see his name mentioned here in the second half. He wasn’t beat like he was against Belgium, but I don’t remember what he did good in this second half. Wish this team had better left back depth and a better winger room.
Press was a lot better. Honestly, have to do better with the turnovers we created with the press. Midfield has to do better once the ball is turned over. I think the two biggest winners were Trusty and Morris
Poch's explanation was basically just that after so many changes from both teams, it's hard to adjust/keep straight set piece assignments. (Even after that explanation I couldn't figure out if he was saying that was a coaching or player error.)
#USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino following tonight’s 2-0 loss to Portugal: “Belgium and Portugal both have top-100 players, some players playing that top 100. I think we don't have [that].”— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) April 1, 2026
I think we can all see the writing on the wall. We have little to be optimistic about and it now seems possible that we get grouped.