I will say this....................................Bradley played a whole lot of dangerous balls from his deep-lying midfield position that were completely wasted by the attackers last night. He had a gorgeous one out to the Pulisic on the left wing in the first half. He did have some bad give-aways. Nowhere near as bad as Christian Roldan. Roldan might as well have been wearing a Canada jersey. I'm no Michael Bradley fan. At this stage in his career anyway. But as I was watching that game last night, at no point did I think he was THE problem. Roldan's performance was horrific. The attacking players were doing literally nothing. They looked lost. I don't understand what Lovitz thought he was doing. And this morning I once again see people making Michael Bradley the scapegoat. When you ask folks who's healthy that they'd play instead of Michael Bradley at the #6, they really struggle. They say "oh, anybody else from MLS." Then they struggle to identify who that is. We started Chris Durkin for our U20 World Cup team, who got circles run around him by Nigerian teenagers. He's a squad rotation player right now for a poor Belgian team. Edwin Cerrillo started there at the U20 World Cup for a game. Most of this season he's been playing in the second USL division for North Texas SC. USL League One. Come on people. Don't tell me oft-injured Russell Canouse is the answer to our problems. I have eyeballs. Who is it that you want to call up to play the #6. Chris Cappis? On one of the worst teams in the Danish League? He wasn't picked for our recent U20 World Cup team. People will say we should try Darlington Nagbe. But they were the same people trashing Nagbe for his performances with the national team, and couldn't wait to get rid of him.
Michael Bradley was not the sole or even single biggest problem last night but his presence on the field impacts several other positions because of his massive liabilities. And I enjoy your posts but the argument that "there is no one else" is not valid because we don't try anyone else. We tried Jackson Yuell and he looked better than Bradley against Uruguay and certainly dominated a weak opponent like you would expect him to. He's an answer but there are others. Adams (I know you said healthy) Yuell McKennie (who Dave Sarachan played there with good results) Danny Williams Servania Parks Old man Geoff Cameron still plays there for QPR! You don't think he'd like a chance to come back and outperform Bradley? There are issues with all of them outside of the top 3 (and even McKennie has some questions) but there are also serious issues with Bradley continuing in that role. We had a lot of time to experiment and find out if those guys can do it at this level and we wasted the entirety of it under Gregg by playing Bradley and Trapp essentially every available minute until recently.
Mike turned over the ball on the 1st Canadian goal. Who should be the six ahead of Bradley: 1. Adams 2. Morales 3. Yueil 4. Servania That wasn't even hard. The latter two have had better seasons than Bradley has.
Bradley is the 66th ranked American MLS player according to WhoScored. He has zero responsibilities on the field, and is never the problem (all the way back to last Hex) due to this. What are the constants between last Hex and this awful current version of the USMNT? Alternatives - Canouse (11th American per WS), McKennie at 6 full time, Cameron, Nagbe, Morales, Adams, Dax (24th rated), Bedoya, All of these players can play defense, all are rated higher than Bradley. And this doesn't even include some of the younger guys (no clue on Cappis, not a big Durkin fan).
bradley might be perfectly capable, but it seems telling that literally no midfield configuration that includes him plays better than ones that dont
Danny Williams plays on a bad team in Cyprus. He can't run anymore. McKennie and Parks aren't #6s. They're #8s. They do not play the role Berhalter is asking for in that position. So we've narrowed your list down to Jackson Yuell, Brandon Servania, and Geoff Cameron. Geoff Cameron? I'm sorry. According to transfermarkt he's played 3 games this year at the CM position. The rest have been at CB for QPR. Those three you think are the answer to our problem at the #6 position. That should tell us the position we're in. Jackson Yuell, on a non-MLS playoff team. Brandon Servania, a kid for the 7th best team in the Western Conference, and a player even older and slower than Michael Bradley. I watched every FCD game this season. There's no way Servania is ready for the USMNT. No way. There are no easy answers. That's what I'm trying to say. Now, I don't mind if any of the guys you've suggested are tried out there. But other than Adams, there's not much there....................
Morales and Adams are hurt. Canouse only recently returned from injury. McKennie isn't a #6. Bedoya isn't a #6. I don't consider Nagbe a #6. Those guys do not play the position that Berhalter is looking for there. Your answer is Dax McCarty. That's the big solution. Dax McCarty. That's who we should start instead of Michael Bradley. Dax McCarty? Really. Dax McCarty. You're coming at me with Dax McCarty as the great hope. That should be a great barometer for how there really aren't good options.
What does Adams have to do with it (?) ... he is in competition for the right back spot, not the #6. And before anyone says that Adams only played there once under Gregg, let's remember that is only because of injury. Adams was called in to play right back again, but left with the adductor injury. Our manager is a moron.
If not being able to run eliminates someone from contention how the hell is Bradley still starting....he sure as heck hasn't been able to run for a VERY long time, and EVERYONE (including our rivals) knows it. Not sure what your goal is in defending his selection, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I could careless who gets the start or if they have zero caps at this point, anyone besides Bradley would make more sense at this point.
Aside from Mexico, Concacaf teams are fielding MLS-level talent or lower. Canada fielded an all-MLS central midfield. Yet, Brandon Servania, who-aged 20-is a starter for an MLS playoff team, and who also started in the U20 WC knockout round victory against France, can't start against Canada? Jackson Yueill is already in the National Team. So far, he hasn't shown MB's incompetence in possesion.
the whole idea we can sacrifice defensive bite for diagonal distribution at the 6 is madness and has been for a long time
Guys nobody else is good enough. Just like 2017. So silly offering options who are all rated better than MB. They don't exist, they can't run, they can't play defense, they haven't led a team through the Hex...
if something clearly isnt working do you just keeping suffering or do you get creative and try other things. if the former you might be gregg berhalter
Watch it again. Yes, he lost it, but we won it back and then we gave it away again. I think it was Ream.
I'd take Morales over Bradley BUT he's only played 20 minutes since returning from injury. At the time the roster was being composed he still had not played and was, so far we knew, injured.
This isn’t about the getting the ball to people, long diagonal switch, wannabe Pirlo, no defensive responsibility stuff you seem to be grading him on his offensive game, because like all of us you have been brainwashed to think that’s the job of the 6 now and that it’s somehow sensible, it’s not. Bradley is a dumpster fire defensively. He’s a luxury player we can’t afford, particularly in that spot. Play him further up the pitch if you absolutely have to play him, but put any number of people at the 6 who can 1v1 defend and put an actual tackle in.
Morales is not currently injured and came on in the last match prior to the international break. Canouse has been back 6 weeks and started the last 5 matches before the international break at RB! McKennie and Bedoya have both played the #6 for club and country. So has Joe Corona. Kellyn Acosta was a starter in the double pivot for Arena. Even Perry Kitchen is ranked higher than MB90 and Trapp in MLS
Morales has played 20 minutes since his return, and was still listed as injured until two weeks ago, when the squad for these games was being composed.
MF Michael Bradley, 3 -- A tough night for Bradley. He made the mistake that ultimately led to the Ream giveaway and the Canada goal. There were other giveaways as well and little passing to move things forward. MF Cristian Roldan, 2 -- Was lucky that his early first-half giveaway to Jonathan David went unpunished. So many lost balls, which you simply can't have from someone playing his position in midfield. MF Weston McKennie, 3 -- It is hard for the U.S. to function at any type of level if McKennie is untidy in possession and that was the case Tuesday with the Schalke man. Passes were either too heavy or too soft. https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...cyedlin-each-2-10-in-nightmare-loss-to-canada
But who would pass diagonally?? Sheesh, nothing else really matters. Because when you play possession based soccer and actively tell your players not to hit long passes to runner it makes sense to have a guy who’s only viable skill at this point is to hit over the top passes. This team would really fall apart without that one or two passes over the top to an isolated runner with no outs that is being double teamed.