Wow, Miles even was rotated. But not Arriola somehow. Let's just hope their mudders were mudders, and their fathers were mudders, because this is a major dip in talent. Musah is the big surprise, as far as an addition. I can see it workin& either way. On paper it helps our ball pro&ression. I like that combo w/ Seb. But can Musah do it on a rainy ni&ht in Panama? I like that players more or less complement each other, and they can fit the roles on the field, even if there's a theoretical talent dip. Hope Zimmerman can handle Panama's speed w/ less d-mid protection. And Bello doesn't fall asleep (but what were you gonna do?)
I think that Berhalter can only be this bold with the rotations with the benefit of FIFA allowing 5 substitutions in World Cup qualifiers. Substitutes: 13-Sean Johnson, 2-Sergiño Dest, 4-Tyler Adams, 8-Gianluca Busio, 10-Cristian Roldan, 11-Brenden Aaronson, 12-Miles Robinson, 14-Luca de la Torre, 15-Chris Richards, 16-Ricardo Pepi, 19-Matthew Hoppe, 22-DeAndre Yedlin Even if you take out the 12th man (Busio or LDLT), the bench is arguably a better XI than the subs.
This lineup is like a bad dream. Hope I’m proven wrong and they get the job done, at least the subs, but over half of the startling lineup should be fringe players…Moore(?!), Bello, Acosta, Lleget, Zardes, Arriola…that’s 6, Weah and Zimmerman kind of are as well. I know we have injuries but surely our talent pool isn’t that dire. This is like an off year Gold Cup team.
It seems pretty clear to me that GGG has Richards starting against Costa Rica -- and that he wants Robinson to start alongside him. So he is rotating to give Miles some rest, rather than have him starting another 3 games in the window. Remember, he had to be rested for club after the last window. I would rather not burn out players when we have good options. I don't see McKenzie starting as controversial. To me it was always only a matter of whether he was starting next to Zimmerman, or next to Miles (in which case I would have expected Zimmerman to be starting alongside Richards in the final game of the window).
Panama's starting XI: Mejia; Murillo, Escobar, Cummings, Davis; Quintero, Godoy, Gondola, Martinez; Barcenas, Blackburn I might have a few guys out of position, but 9 out of 11 also started on Thursday against El Salvador, with Gondola and Martinez coming in for Ayarza and Rodriguez
As I was anticipating the game earlier today I was thinking through the interesting tactical decisions the teams have to make. It seemed to me then that the most likely match is a dull, cagey affair because both teams should be pretty darn happy with a draw. But there's always a chance the US would push the issue, with the potential 6-point lead over 4th place too much to pass up. Lineup looks like the former, that we're good with a draw. This looks like a hustle-and-hard-work lineup, rather than an inspire-and-create lineup. Probably the smart play, but not the most exciting. Maybe they'll surprise us.
hoppe for weahs tendons and ligaments is my only real complaint. either way they are/would have been the sole threat (well, behind set piece). i guess take heart in the calvary ready to come on?
Bruce Arena occasionally had the cojones to rotate heavily like this. Every one plays - I hope it pays off.
Only surprise to me is Arriola. People seem to think Gregg is rotating just for rotations sake, but we can press our depth advantage by maintaining higher energy. This is basically the Gold Cup final squad + Weah, Musah and McKenzie. Trust them to get the job done. Not as much here but certainly on twitter I get the vibe that people would rather see the team fail so they get to be smarter than the coach...this is what failing to qualify last time does to a fanbase.
A chance to put World Cup qualifying to bed (put us in the drivers seat) and this is the lineup he trots out. He really has no clue
I truly hope that there is no one out there rooting for the team to fail to be smarter than the coach... that’s cutting off your nose to spite your face. But complaining about a line up before the game starts is our rights as fans. And I’ll love it to death if Shaq Moore and McKenzie both score a hat trick tonight. That said, this game was made for Arriola!
another thing thats interesting is that this is- wingers aside- like-for-like for whatever you think the first 11 should be, and that difference of having two actual wide players isnt a negative. so the quality question is completely valid. i think injury prone players on a wet, crappy pitch is a valid concern. but this is as simple, straightforward and non-cutesy as it gets, which is a clear positive for me.
There were rumors that it was going to rain all week. 81 degrees at kickoff is manageable though the pitch will be sh*te.
Moore has been one of the more consistently high level performers in the whole group. This game is going to be mud wrestling. The line up looks like a mud wrestling kind of line up.