U20s vs. RSA, Oct. 5, 2025 (Pre-/PBP/Post-Match Thread)

Soma was turning around and passing back time after time. He might have made 2-3 forward passes. SA was a short team and, probably, Marko expected us to dominate in the air, what was actually happening, but we just weren't able to score.
Their keeper was the difference.

 

I'm going to go ahead and read absolutely nothing into this result. This wasn't just "a lot of changes" to our lineup -- it was all the changes we could make with our 21 man roster. I think we started every single outfield player who didn't start against France. With the exception of Wynder, this might have been the worst possible lineup available for this game (I like Cremaschi in general, but as a 10 in front of Corcoran & Soma?). We can talk about the tactics, but I don't think either of those transition goals happen with our starters on the field, and then we're all here talking about how important gritty 1-0 wins are.

Sure, winning is always preferable to losing, but we topped the group, and we're about as well rested as we possibly could be going into the elimination round. It wasn't pretty, but mission accomplished.

 

So this pretty much confirms what this group is as a team and what they can do. They are a dominant and controlling team with issues scoring. What I don't know is if the occasional mistakes in the back only happen when the stakes are low or if that can happen in the knockout rounds. I think, though, that this group has enough tools to finally make it past QFs if they can score. However, scoring is pretty dependent on the midfield and I can see us crashing out in the first knockout round as well even though I think it's unlikely against this Italy.

 

Saw your post and then just watched the first half before heading to work. I agree with your statements except the comments about Soma.

If you are going to post statistics for these young men, you should be at least approximately correct. Since you commented on Soma, I tracked him and had the below passing stats for only the first half.

Passes Back - 10

Passes to the side - 4

Passes forward - 16 (including 2 long passes which landed right on the player's boot)

 

The bigger issue is our holding midfielder only had that amount of passes in a match in which the USA had 66% of the ball. Then again, Soma is a great ball retainer but isn't really the create from deep type of midfielder. Neither is Raines for that matter. This is why I believe it is tactical instruction that forces the ball wide most of the time.

 

South Africa was also protecting the middle and giving the outside. The defenders decided to take the safe path. They need to learn to pass up the middle even when there are defenders there. This will open even more space outside and also straight up the middle.

Hopefully, staff and team learn from this.

 

While they are not a typical Italy team by any measure, they did give Argentina trouble on the counter, especially in the first half. They have not been as capable of possessing the ball as you would expect an Italy team to be, but they have size and some athleticism, and they are scrappy, even to the point of being kind of chippy. They have some size and athleticism. I would expect a tight close game, kind of like France for the first 7o or so minutes. The US might have the better of it, but they will have some trouble creating chances and will have to watch Italy's counters.

 

D’OH!

 

I don't have much faith in Beaudry.

Hopefully he won't read this, I wish him the best

 

The problem with passing outside when it was open, was not passing there, but the fact that the crosses were horrendous.

I didn't see the whole game, see my last post, but from what I saw every single cross was flat, and not a single one was drawn back to the top of the box for an onrushing teammate…

And they didn't really attempt to pass the ball back for a better opportunity or angle to play the ball into the box either.

That's not good wide play.

 

Should just have said too few forward passes.

Raines though is a pure DM. Very Adams like, quick and fast, covering from side to side, and taking pressure of defenders. With Soma and Corcoran we were actually playing with two slow CMs, and while Corcoran's crossing ablility was on display, Soma's retaining wasn't as SA weren't putting much pressure anyway, pulling back and then sending long balls to their sprinters on the wings. As a result their FBs/Wingers were outplaying ours, both Gozo, and Brennan had very limted success, Miller wasn't faster than his FB either, and Campbell had another disaster.

 

The truth is that I had some "what if" thoughts about Kochen leaving last minute but the nature of these tournaments is playing who you have and observing development.

 

Yeah, exactly why I think they played into SA hands yesterday. I've made my opinion on Adams clear over the years. For me he is the single biggest reason our NT can't take the next step. If you want that type of guy in a game against an opponent that is clearly better than you and you know they will have the ball, fine. But against a team in which you are clearly superior I'd much prefer Soma or Corcoran. It was like he wanted Soma to play like Raines yesterday. Keep it simple, retain the ball, but nothing dangerous in the form of forward passes. The team needed a midfielder to help retain the ball in the final third instead of wild cross after wild cross. The tactics were built like Raines was playing when we had superior on the ball players all over the field.

 

I wrote about the U-20 WC where U.S. team lost to South Africa 2-1 but won Group E
- Loss of momentum, or chance to fix weaknesses?
- Bad transitional defending
- 235-58 edge in completed passes in attacking half, 46-6 edge in touches in the opposing box, but 0 goals from the run… pic.twitter.com/WOKrDk4zL3

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) October 6, 2025

- 235-58 edge in completed passes in attacking half, 46-6 edge in touches in the opposing box, but 0 goals from the run of play

 

Better Soma, better Corcoran. Corcoran is McGlynn, if that, Soma just isn't good enough. We still nowhere close to JOB - Claudio of 2002. Adams, when healthy, makes a roster of any NT in the world, just as a situational sub.

 

Not all weaknesses are fixable. We don't have finishers on this team. Cremaschi is a leading scorer and the best player, but a good finisher would have scored 8 goals out of his chances by now. And the goal was butted home rather than headed home.
On another hand Campbell should be off the field and for me Beaudry as well.

 

I watched the first half. They are a well-coached team, but still not as good as the 2019 team, that had Richards, Dest, CCV, Weah, and a few others.

 

Richards, Dest, Weah, McKenzie, Araujo...Soto, Llanez, Gloster, Durkin. The winds of fortune blow colloquially.

Poor old Paxton Pomykal. 36 minutes in the last 2 seasons due to his knee surgery and after effects.

 

Don't see that much difference. Most of 2019 guys are barely MLS level. With Dest we got lucky. If we had Kochen and Banks this one would have been better.

 

Cremaschi is a #8. Can't expect him to score the goals of a #9. Being co-leading scorer for the tournament is probably about as good as you could've expected right now.

 

Fully agree. As I said he is the best player on the team. Not having anyone who can consistently finish isn't what he should be blamed for, but that's how this team is.

 

Cremaschi also has most shots on target.

 

That chart shows how when you watch a team you don't realize other teams have the same problems yours does and they may be even worse. Seeing your team all the time just makes it seem like all your team has is warts.

 

People, it's not that bad.

We got the first goal and then got complacent for the rest of the half. I'm not that worried because this game was a dead rubber. The boys can mentalize themselves as much as they want but subconsciously they will be more relaxed. If anything, this shows the team that they need to be 100% ready.

 

Cremaschi has most/all of the technical traits you look for in a legit footballer but his lack of pace is pretty evident which will make it difficult to excel at the highest level.