Post-match: Trinidad & Tobago vs. USA - November 20, 2023

Yay?

more underachieving. Depressing.

 

Things I liked:
The drums
Pepi and Balo together
Jedi

Things I didn't like:
The drums
Brendan taking shots all night long, usually involving balls of some sort or another
I feel like I'm forgetting something...

 

Really? Damn, we must of had some pretty shit post World Cup years then.

 

We really qualified to Copa America..

An achievement for sure…

 

Jedi was his usual studly self.

Tillman was very good in his 30 minute shift.

 

Berhalter says the USMNT were going to bring Reyna & Dest off at halftime for Zendejas & Scally as planned subs. Says that both were warming up before the red card. (? from @thegoalkeeper)

— Jason Anderson (@JasonDCsoccer) November 21, 2023

 

In the modern era (since 1990 WCQ), Sergiño Dest is the first USMNT player to get two red cards in a calendar year. 🟥🟥

— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) November 21, 2023

but also

Say what you will about Dest there aren't many players in the world capable of doing something that weird

— watke (@watke_) November 21, 2023

 

There were no stand out players. Jedi was as close as it came. But there were a ton of very bad performances. I am not sure how many other people are as concerned as I am but Balogun has had two atrocious games in a row. His hold up play is very subpar... and his first touch is lacking. Aaronson proved yet again that he only plays well when the other team is gassed and he comes in as a late sub. Too many poor performances to count. SO many inexplicable passes backwards to T&T to start their breaks. It was laughable. But the Red Card changed everything. So while the vast majoirty of the players would get a score of 5 or less from me I would give Dest a.... zero-point-zero. Completely unacceptable. I hope the entire team pulls him aside and rips him a new one. Just brutal.


One last note, IMO, we are in need of an elite GK and Turner is not that guy. That second goal was easily savable for a Pro.

 

Congratulations to Matt Turner. He just solidified his place on the NF bench.

 

Unprofessional all the way around. Sure, Dest’s meltdown was the cherry on top for the whole night, but the whole team, except for Jedi, just terrible.

Berhalter did NOT have this team ready tonight and we got out played and beaten by the 99th place team in the world and a team that’s fielded by a bunch of USL1 players.

Nothing positive to say. This team should be disappointed in themselves.

 

We have some real problems. This team does not play cohesively enough (which must fall in good part on the coaches). But we also have a bunch of guys who play like they are too good for this level, and thus end up playing far below the level of expectations. That is borne out by the attitudes we continually see from guys who come into this team, from fringe players like Matt Miazga to "stars" like Reyna and Dest. I am beginning to think that an uncomfortably high percentage of the team (if only 25%) do not respect US soccer. And I am not talking about the Federation (USSF). I am talking about the institution/concept of soccer in the United States.

 

What are the chances Dest knew that and thought he might as well go out in a blaze of glory?

 

Tab Ramos on the #USMNT via Peacock:

"Every coach needs time, even during a second cycle. But as the games have been played, the team hasn't grown. I think we've been expecting more."

— Felipe Cárdenas (@FelipeCar) November 21, 2023

 

Tillman was pretty good. But yeah, it was weak sauce. Dest botched everything with the dumb --- red but General Egg needs to be able to actually lead men and get them fighting at halftime. Instead they came out dour, miserable and quickly gave up another goal and actually put Copa America under the teensy eensiest of a threat.

Pathetic by Dest, pathetic by General Egg, and super alarming for this cycle. I have zero faith that Egg will put this team in position to win. Hopefully they can win inspite of having him in command, but I'm highly skeptical. I'm as miserable as I was watching the US women's team stick with the idiot after the olympics in '21 when it was patently obvious he couldn't hack it. Well, we're rushing head long down the same idiot road but at least the women were smart enough to kick him to the curb after a disappointing Cup. Not so the men.

I co-sign a March 2 game pink slip for Dest unless he mea culpa's. I am not remotely in favor of any kind of extended ban. He had zero reds from what I can recall '20-'March '23, so as long as that trend line returns, we don't need to extend the punishment beyond the march window and I'd only do that if he was a ---- in the locker room.

 

Time to start valuing players who've delivered for us in the past. Otherwise you can expect results like we got this camp & you aren't in position to complain about it.

 

If they really didn't care they wouldn't show up, a la Tim Chandler (don't @ME @HHF). But I do think, especially knowing that a 4-1 loss still "gets the job done", they aren't necessarily going 100%. The field conditions don't help in that regard at all.

But this is CONCACAF and we've been doing this for 40 years. You'd think we'd figure it out a little bit by now.

 

Personally, I would have given Tab the team over Egg in '18, and that's even though I felt his lineup decisions cost us the QF's in the '19 U20's. Tab coached a lot of these kids and tended to maximize their potential in the shirt other than that one game. Berhalter has done nothing of the kind except in a Nations League and Gold Cup tourney in '21. Its not that I think Tab is some genius, but I actively think Egg is a governor on the "gas" pedal of this car and it's been obvious since day 1.

 

I am so psyched for the second Berhalter administration.

Struggling to beat the 10-man version of the world's 99th-ranked team, then losing to that team. Hell yeah, Gregg's back.

 

As stupid as dest was for those saying he was our worst player….do you realize he was the one who dropped a cross perfectly for a Jedi header? Those saying he should be banished never played top level sports. This isn’t rec. this happens in pro sports. MLB players go off on refs, Giannis gets a technical, sits on a court side chair and claps at the ref, then gets thrown out. These guys are millionaires and you’re saying you’d make him sit on the bus at halftime? Like wtf. This isn’t some shitty high school team. Dest will, or should, apologize and the team should move on.
Berhalter not pulling a striker after that is completely indefensible as well.

 

We were woefully unprepared to play with 10. Why take off Gio when he is your best possession player and free kick taker, and you have 2 strikers and Aaronson stinking it up? A decent team would have put in 4 or 5 on us. One of the most pathetic nights of US soccer in recent memory.

 

He should look every player in the eyes and give a heartfelt apology. What he's actually going to do is post a highlight video of himself to Instagram.

 

He probably did. Maybe he even was conscious and said F it, I'm taking a ridiculous meaningless Yellow here. I'm fine with that. Childish, but whatever. Blow the kiss to ref was walking the line, but then be done with it. Can't be that stupid/selfish/or whatever adjective you want to use after that.

Curious to know what Turner was saying to Dest. Maybe it was, "Don't Worry, I'll take some heat off you"