I do not know what anyone else feels but this match and the one vs New Zealand are still virtually worthless. It is not a "garbage" team but rather it is a familiar team. We do NOT have our new coach in place and we are playing teams that have no surprises, except maybe quality, that makes the games effectively meaningless. If we wanted to evaluate players then we should have players that need evaluation but, except for the 'keeper, our lineup looks remarkably like what we lost with in the Copa. We need to find new players for many, maybe most, positions and we need to devise a system to fit the players we do end up with. We have a small number of matches to evaluate players and we have now wasted two, no matter what happens in the second. Of course it could be a directive from the incoming coach, assuming he does not reconsider, and he may just want to have no disruptions to what his final plan will be. I do wonder why we rarely play friendlies against teams from Asia or Africa. But it is USA soccer and what fans want or think we need is meaningless. We just are led by incompetents choosing incompetents. I hope we have gotten lucky and actually have a head coach this time around. One thing is pretty clear. Right now, win or lose, we are playing ugly poor soccer and it is becoming a lot less fun to watch USA men's matches. At least the women are fun to watch again after recovering from Vlatko's incompetence.
Ream said something similar "We need to get back to really taking much more pride in wearing the jersey," said Tim Ream after a dismal 2-1 defeat by Canada in which, simply put, the #USMNT did not look up for it.@PaulTenorio on a team who still have everything to prove before the 2026 World Cup.— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 8, 2024 Tim Ream said the USMNT players have to do better following the 2-1 loss to Canada 🎙️"You can't coach intensity. At the end of the day, you have to look in the mirror...Everybody can get to a certain point physically, but can you deal with the ups and downs mentally?And can… pic.twitter.com/9wTf5fpVGq— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) September 8, 2024 As did Walker Zimmerman at the Olympics Walker Zimmerman believes the biggest thing his younger Olympic teammates will take away is appreciation for representing the USA -- something he said has begun to slip in the US men's player pool. Raw candor from the veteran in the mixed zone. pic.twitter.com/4jJUivnG9n— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) August 2, 2024 I’m not quite sure how you fix this though. Sort of has to come from within. And our guys definitely seem like they don’t bring it when they feel like they don’t have a game they need to take seriously.
New Zealand is still a team that will likely qualify for the World Cup and who we could play. And the friendly schedule has more to do with availability of various teams more than anything else. When good teams are available we’ve gotten good friendlies from teams around the world. This window Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand are basically the only teams available. The next opportunity for friendlies against different opponents will be in the summer before the Gold Cup and fall of 2025. This chart gives a good rundown of who is available when https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2023/10/11170620/USMNT-windows@2x.png
The creativity comment at the end wasn't about Tillman. It was a lack of creative tactical choices in the build up -- on Varas and in prior matches, Berhalter. Exacerbated by a midfield that didn't even try to find holes in the press. My bad on not being clear.
In hindsight I would have preferred to have seen us go with a more experimental roster leaving the core guys in Europe till October. Given we don’t have Pochettino in place yet there’s not a ton we would have been to accomplish this window other than give new guys looks (players like Luna, Gutierrez, etc).
No because they claimed these things for actual competitive matches like the gold cup or nations leagues, not a random friendly while everyone waits for our new coach
I understand this was an interim manager but can someone tell me, if there is any other nation that has had as many matches in the last 10 years managed by caretakers?! It speaks to Fed incompetence and wasting of the precious time a national team develops.
How many international windows do we have remaining, between this one, and the 2026 World Cup which is the most important moment for soccer in this country's history?
Ream should stop talking about "pride in the shirt" code words and worry about not passing the ball to the other team and not letting Tani just waltz by him to goal as if Ream was not there.
I mean Brazil basically sat around for two years with an interim manager on the hope of Ancelotti. Whatever people think of USSF it’s one of the better run federations around the world. There’s a significant amount of corruption and incompetence across federations globally. Don’t think we are the only people mad at our federation For everyone who thinks Jesse Marsch’s remarks about US Soccer are harsh… we give you Roy Keane talking about FA of Ireland 🇮🇪😂 pic.twitter.com/WFFboGjVCq— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) September 8, 2024 England also just appointed an interim manager indefinitely btw (who is basically their equivalent of Varas) while they wait around for the hope of Pep or Klopp.
It comes off differently with Varas because he is simply a stand-in for this single window. He does not need to cultivate good vibes with these players, nor does he bear responsibility for their development as a squad to this point. If he were the actual coach, I would have a very different take on this -- like when Sigi Schmid, as the full-time head coach, trashed the U20 side in 2005, I think. Or when Caleb Porter did the same with the U-23 team a dozen or so years ago. I lost tons of respect for them because they were the guys charged with working out those kinks with the team and its individual players. Yet they both threw the players under the bus. Varas stepped in for 5 minutes to coach the team for a window while waiting for Poch's paperwork to clear. He can say whatever the hell he wants. He is in the perfect spot to tell these prima donnas what's up.
You agreed (apparently) that Canada has "quality" but is too "familiar" for your liking. If a team has quality, then playing them is not meaningless during a friendly window. With that dismissiveness, you have essentially allowed the perfect to be the enemy of the good. For example, you mention that the US has not played Asian or African teams enough, lowkey bemoaning why we aren't playing a team from those regions. Asia is using this window for World Cup qualifying. Who were we going to play? Africa is using this window for Africa Cup of Nations qualifying. Who were we going to play? South America is using this window for World Cup qualifying. Who were we going to play? Europe is using this window for Nations League group play. Who were we going to play? We scraped up who we could find to play, from what was a very limited list of teams available AND willing to fly to the US for a game. And so far, the first team we convinced to show up on these shores, familiar or not, beat us like we stole something. With marginally better finishing for Canada, we get routed. Knocking the fed for the opponent seems a bit absurd under the circumstances. The game itself was not worthless, and if the people running the show think that yesterday's game was worthless, it would tell me all I need to know about why we seem to be circling the drain at the moment.
The irony is that not too long ago, there was an awful lot of talk about improving the mentality of our players...how playing in Europe where guys "would kick you in the shins during practice" (or words to that effect), was an important key to building that mentality, but the reality was that the old guard had it's faults but lack of heart wasn't normally something that was questioned. Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is an argument against going to Europe...I'm just pointing out some of the irony. I doubt I am the only one that sees it. One of the benefits of having guys that are perhaps a bit less talented but overachievers is that they have always had to fight for what they have and often turn out to be the best leaders in the team. Of course it is also nice when you have a talented overachiever that has a chip on his shoulder. like Deuce for instance but I digress....
I could understand Varas's irritation as this had been a chance for him to showcase himself. But this was a friendly at an awkward time of the year for the euro-based guys. And he was just the interim coach. The problem wasn't the effort from the US. Canada simply played liked their lives depended on it. And Bombito. I haven't seen a defender tilt the field, like he had done, since Prime Time in his prime. In the first half, the US carved out 3-4 dangerous attacking movement that should have put a man through on goal. But Bombito did not care. Dude could give Mbappe a couple of steps. Hopefully, Poch clears away the rot of complacency that had crept into the team.
The thing is not like these guys don’t play hard with their clubs or that they didn’t play hard at the World Cup. But when there’s a team or game they think is beneath them they definitely don’t bring the same level of intensity. And we’re not good enough for that and we haven’t earned that. But what’s more when you watch a team like Argentina, they definitely have better players, but those guys play hard and with intensity in a way that doesn’t compare.
The irony if there is one has zero to do with Europe and more to do with the team culture that has been put in place over the last 5 years. Many like to talk about the "team culture" that Berhalter put in place, well here it is. Excuses were made over and over in the name of a certain kind of "team culture" well here it is. It is lifeless, white bread, and often heartless, soulless and without personality. I said early in Berhalter's tenure that Jermaine and Deuce would not fit into the kumba ya, white picket fence "team culture" that GGG wanted while weeding out any swagger, any personality or any conflict. GGG developed a neutered mentality, I hope Poch restores the swagger, personality, and mentality of the squad.
Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey, both guys who might actually do something about it if the opposing team kept taking cheap shots at our best attacking players... too bad neither went to Europe where they could develop that mentality
I might have to go back and look at the play, but when it happened I felt two things, Ream missed the time to play Johnny early and then forced a ball to him after he’d been siting in that space too long. I felt it was hit hard because it was forced in last second. I think that’s why Johnny freaked out and tried to play a one touch pass (you would hope a player playing in Spain would have more composure in there, but....), I also think Johnny May have thought Ream was going to Lund as the time to him had passed and the ball came to him unexpectedly (I’m sure we have all been there).
Morris outplayed him already. If Johnny doesn’t pick his game up, Morris and Tessmann are coming to take that spot.
Can we name names, though? Who are Ream and Zimmerman talking about? It’s not Pulisic, Weston or Tyler, is it? If it isn’t, then why aren’t those three echoing Ream and getting it figured out.
It’s the players. Nobody had to tell Michael Jordan it was game time. Every exhibition game was a chance for him to dominate his challengers. The same goes for countless guys in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. They play to win and they play for legacy. Our national team players no longer have the mentality that the guys in our other pro team sports have. Its the players. We have a couple of guys with a similar mentality and then the drop off is steep.
Indeed. Is it more disheartening to think its mentality or that this group of Canadians played better, are more talented, were better coached, and just flat out beat us? Saying the problem is mentality masks a more disheartening problem. The team isn't as good as people think it is. Our depth of quality isn't as good as people think it is. Blaming mentality seems like an easy excuse. It might be true, or partially true. I do think its important to note that we made 5 changes to the squad that faced Uruguay in Copa America. Turner, Antonee, McKennie, Adams, and Reyna. 7 changes from what Berhalter has been considering his "A" team. Dest and Weah also didn't play in the Uruguay game (Weah suspended and Dest injured). So this was a team with a number of backups playing. Now, they're backups we're hoping are "upwardly mobile." We hope Johnny, for instance, develops into more than just Adams' backup. But he's clearly not there yet. How often do we think we've started a midfield trio of Johnny, Musah, and Tillman???? People want a complete re-evaluation of the pool now that Berhalter is gone. Well....................you're getting it. Part of that is learning is giving guys an opportunity to fail and fall flat on their faces. And friendlies are the time to do that. Some guys will fail. Others will step up and earn more time. Schulte and Morris are two that did that on Saturday.