Morris was a player born and raised in the US who always wanted to play for the US. He’s not really a loss from Canada in terms of being someone they had a realistic chance of getting.
And yet people were not thrilled in qualifying when players like Paul Arriola and Christian Roldan were getting callups. Paul Arriola for instance is definitely someone who plays with intensity but people were not happy when he was getting minutes in important qualifiers.
Essentially, he has been dropped for Ismael Kone, who is now signed with Marseille. Very talented player, Kone.
https://t.co/KGTkMoJxqh pic.twitter.com/BIJTjPU8eA— Daniel (@DanielSmith1022) September 9, 2024 Deuce had more dog in him than our whole starting 11 does now.
This game was always going to mean more Marsch and Canada. And that's fine. They brought the intensity normally seen in competitive matches. That doesn't mean the US needed to.
I would've rather seen more domestic-based players called up for these two matches. These two friendly games are completely irrelevant and the travel to/from the US/Europe takes a huge toll on you physically. I would rather see these guys get some rest.
Again. 1. Marsch and co took this far more seriously than the US was ever going to. 2. Marsch even game-planned for this matched. WTF. 3. Bombito. There were a few a disappointing player performances, but that's what friendlies are for: you want to find out who can ball. I'm not sure how this is a re-evaluation of the pool when the coach was just one of Berhalter's former underlings running the same damn system.
This team also showed lack of focus on real games. For example, they gave up a goal vs. Costa Rica during WCQ. Kind of similar like vs. Jamaica in NL semi.
Our program is not at the level to take matches off. We've earned nothing. And we'll get nothing with this approach.
The window for this generation to exceed expectations with a signature tournament is quickly closing. By the time 2030 comes around I predict we’ll have a completely new starting eleven. A few guys will still be on the team but will be backups by then.
Except it’s not a video game. Nor was this a competitive match. In fairyland world every player gives 100% every match. In real life this was a relatively meaningless game under a single window interim coach during a transition period. That doesn’t mean I don’t wish we saw more from the team. But I can deal in reality. Some here literally have no context outside the 90 mins. I can’t tell if it’s emotion or they’re being serious.
I say this knowing full well he gave up a PK in the world cup, but the one "MLS Lifer" I think we do miss is Walker Zimmerman. Just seems like he tends to be a calming influence for the backline. With Arriola and Roldan? I wanted them to succeed so bad as they both seem so likable. But the lack of physical skills just held them back at least in the roles they were asked to play with the US. I do think there are some young MLS players that would improve the mentality on the team, but I also think guys like Tessmann, Maloney, Aiden (whose with the team now), and a healthy Sargent also change the makeup of the team as well... hell once healthy I'd say give Busio another look
Zimmerman was very good last cycle for the national team and I liked what he showed at the Olympics. He’s been a bit banged up as of late or I think he’d have gotten more time. I’m not against bringing guys with more grit/intensity from MLS. But when people raise that as an issue there many such players on qualifying rosters and there was alot of unhappiness about it.
I mentioned earlier, I'm not sure if any other nation has had in terms of coaching for as often as we have over the last decade. So that upset me but I figured we're playing Subs and seven positions with a new coach coming in who will most likely be watching that game so the idea that combination didn't work doesn't surprise me but to be out hustle is an excusable. I don't care if you have a donkey touch, the fact that somebody beat you to the ball is the problem. Not talking on defense, not getting back.
east Texas ... enough said ... junkyard dog ... take my food (my starting position) and I will rip your head off .... so who in our current roster of 25 has the mentality? in the past - only Jermaine and Gooch from what I could recall. this is why I said that this crop is just soft. I can't imagine Deuce waving his arms and looking at the ref ... he would just store it away for future legal retribution ...
Sometimes it is difficult to gauge intensity from a distance. I wish I had a nickel for each time someone questioned Deuce's motivation based upon his body language. What you are describing, of course is a will to win. What are you willing to do to win? It doesn't have to be fight in the literal sense. are you willing to make that 2nd end to end in the 90th minute when your legs are giving out? Think harder. I'm sure you can think of a few others. Start with some of the guys that had a little less talent but still made themselves important parts of the team. how about DeMerit? let's start with him. Think about what he had to do to make the team, let alone become a starter. when you get done with those with less pedigree, start thinking about a few of the more prominent players like McBride, Don't leave out Bocanegra, or Beas.... I'm not really going to make an argument one way or another against the mentality of the current players. I'm too far removed to feel comfortable with that and few of them have a body of work to judge them on. I will use my hindsight on them. I do believe that the players and coaches are better positioned to make that judgement. All I can do is hope they make the right adjustments. It's up to the team leaders and coaches. Coaches, of course, impose consequences if individual players do not respond appropriately.
As a Canadian I was hesitant to jump in your thread here, but I wanted to make a couple of points. First, we definitely took this match seriously. Beyond a rivalry and Marsch's own personal motivation, Marsch is still very early in his tenure, guys are still earning their roles and we all knew the 1957 drought… given who you were missing and an interim manager it felt like ‘if not now, when?’ That being said, it was still a friendly. The result was not the be-all and end-all. In the Copa QF we started veterans Osorio and Laryea. Saturday Marsch gave Choinière and Ahmed starts in those roles instead. It worked out great, but it could have gone the other way too with two very inexperienced players. It would have made sense to bring in a left-footed (and superior) Kamal Miller for left-footed Cornelius, but instead we subbed in right-footed Joel Waterman an shuffled the backline because Waterman hadn’t gotten game time under Marsch and Miller has. If this was a competitive match I don’t think those decisions would have been the same. I’m not that concerned about the results in friendlies, but I absolutely care about the performance and this was a big match for us because I have no idea what kinds of friendlies we’re going to get here going forward. We need to make the most of the competitive matches we get in the next two years. It looks like Canada is going to play a club side (in addition to playing Panama) in the October window. Mexico is doing the same. I don’t know if there’s anyone to play in November. So this is a big window for us. Speaking about guys who have that dog in them. Richie Laryea had a kid, was released by Orlando and went to Toronto and an unsigned camp invite. Since that series of events he’s completely changed and plays like the opposition is trying to take food off of his table. Moise Bombito wears 64 in honour of the number of the city bus he took to get to school and practice, to remember his roots. Tajon Buchanan left home and moved with his coach because his family was worried about him without that positive influence in his life. Those guys all also played in the NCAA. They've all had a long road to get to where they are. I think it helps. And Bombito is a good example. Just over two years ago he was transferring from a community college in Iowa to the University of New Hampshire. A lot can change in two years. No one knew who Ismael Koné was in 2020 and in 2022 he's playing in the World Cup. I think the U.S. has a ton of talent and I think you’re going to come good in 2026. There are some worries in the back, but you can mask those to an extent with structure and hard work. And unearthing a serviceable central defender out of the blue is a lot easier than magically finding a game-changing No. 10. You can’t structure and tactics your way to creating offence… but I think there is plenty of offensive talent in this group. Look at Canada in the Nations League final in Vegas. Just lifeless, flat garbage. And they were the same in the semi and managed to win, but the malaise was clearly there under Herdman… but a new manager and some new faces and suddenly everything looks a lot better 14 months later. I fully believe you’ll be looking back at the Copa in a year and feeling the same way.
Bingo. Colombia is playing above their talent because they are killers every. single. game. And I'd note that the programs that tend to win things actually don't take matches off very often, either. The ones that do, like say Brazil, have been (relative) disappointments for about two decades. Which is about the same time the game transitioned to one in which everyone was fit and running. Weird. Being prepared for a game is a skill that the best players and teams have.