Weah isn't match fit having played 62 minutes all season. Soto is playing in the Dutch second division, which features reserve teams, plus the US already had 3 debutants. I expect Weah will get a longer outing and Soto will get a few minutes against Panama. I think the reason he chose Lletget was that he understands Berhalter's "principles" (whatever they are), which he's trying to instill into the team. I don't think Musah would know or care who Lletget is. I'm not defending him choosing Lletget, I was amazed to see any MLS players in the squad given that Britain is a seething Covid-19 hotspot.
Pulisic's replacement and LA has been terrible and didn't make the playoffs. All Lletget is going to do is go home and sit around. (Not making light of COVID, just a reflection of the situation).
My main point initially was Berhalter's decision making. Understand his reasoning behind it. Just don't agree with it. Honestly thought Haji Wright should have gotten a call up. Also don't think we have enough time to implement Berhalter's system. They meet 3/4 times a year. Not enough time. Need to put your best players out there and keep it simple. Just my opinion, but you need players that can score. False 9 works with Clubs with players like Messi, not Lleget. Humbly speaking
NYCFC has scored 29 goals in their last 10 matches playing with a false 9 but I'm assuming GB wanted someone who could impart his experience in the attack.
We’re in a unique circumstance where a Barca and/or Sevilla player could be benched for an MLS player just because the position the MLS guy plays is so inadequate. The MLS pool is so thin at that same position that nobody has distinguished themself there for nearly 4 years. So do you put the fantastic Barca kid on to get experience with the other core players or do you play an MLS also-ran? Seems like a decision as obvious as playing young Kobe Bryant instead of Craig Ehlo. Lleget was brought in for leadership. He was going to be on the field and likely will be in the next one, even if they have to move him to left central right middle wing back forward. Formations matter very little. The players flow and interchange very freely in this set up. Also, here’s a major world breaking bit of info: this camp is not about finding a striker or creating a system forward. I know that’s tough to discern given that the only true forward in this bunch is a 20-year old getting some 2nd division minutes in Holland, but this shouldn’t be that tough. Niko is a hybrid forward/wing much like Jordan Morris...he’s not going to check back to the ball and filter it wide. If the choice is to play Konrad or Soto, I’m playing Konrad. Konrad is making the game day roster at Barca and has been extremely loyal to the program. Soto is playing lesser football and is of two minds. Konrad is the better player and he has shown commitment.
I think that have further established that Steffen, Dest, Adams, Brooks and McKennie are auto starters. The US had 60% of possession but Brooks and Adams made sure it wasn't a case of the US playing the ball around in their own half. Pulisic is in of course but as he's always injured it would be good to have someone like Musah as backup (for now). Reyna will fit in very quickly and I'd make Morris an auto-starter, not just for his pace and athleticism but also because of his versatility. He can play real 9, false 9, inside forward or winger. Problem positions are LB and RCB, hopefully Richards can fill the latter. Not sure about Dest as LB just because he looked so good on the right.
Apparently you haven't seen the latest scouting report from BS: "Morris is slow, lacks athleticism, and can do exactly one thing." Hopefully Berhalter got the dossier, at least. Phew. That was a close one.
Steffen is our best GK and the deserved starter, in my opinion, but the longer he spends sitting on the Man City bench, and the more rust sets in, the more his spot comes up for grabs. It's an inexact science with no set formula, but form matters. That said, while he wasn't seriously tested much, he was fine yesterday. His distribution seems a little lacking in confidence, but his goalkeeping was good, so that's good for now. Frankly I like Musah even more as a central midfielder, I think his presence helped McK and Adams play as more than the sum of their parts, but he does play winger with Valencia and I can see how you might want to try him there with us, especially if Pulisic isn't around. But this central midfield is SO good that I really think that takes precedence. Just around the time that I was writing on here that I was disappointed that Reyna--a player that I am very keen on--hadn't found a way into the game, Reyna begin to find a way into the game. I wouldn't say that it was a good game for him, but he impressed me in being able to finally find it for a while with a bunch of strangers in his very first cap. His game, more than most, is about playmaking and combining, and so having a bunch of scrubs that you don't know as your fellow forwards is particularly disadvantageous to his game, but I'm impressed with the fact that he was able to find his way into the match eventually anyway. We have to give him as much time as we can next game, too. Robinson is the left-footed Yedlin, and as much as we want a "real" LB, I don't have a lot of faith in him, to be honest. I'm not saying he's categorically not the guy, but I am saying that LB is still very much an open question as far as I'm concerned. As for the second center back, I think it's really up for grabs. No one has staked a particularly strong claim. Long had been doing fairly well for a bit, but he's had a lackluster year. Miazga has the tools, and he has his moments, but he's always been prone to a poor decision or two a game, which is why he's stalled at the level that he's at in his European career. If Richards breaks through at Bayern he becomes the obvious guy, but that's a really, really hard team to break through with.
There is obviously a non-zero chance that Richards breaks through at Bayern; that said, I would consider his chances as even becoming CB3 there at < 10%. That said, even if he breaks through at a Brooksian level at a club like Wolfsburg he becomes the 2nd guy -- I find that to be pretty probably so we're looking good there. Next season is huge for him and frankly I'd prefer he go on loan come January to a CB-needy top-flight team; though it'll be hard to walk in and start at midseason in the BL (might have to go 2BL which isn't very...exciting).
Now that I think about it... there is some sort of characteristic that these Berhalter USMNT teams seem to share. They always seem a bit slow to make decisions and reticent to go forward. You'll see some good individual stuff and then some good combination stuff every once in a while but it all seems to stop just as soon as it starts. The players look as if they are encumbered by a system. At the same time, they don't seem to know where to go with the ball. I do realize that this is just game after not having played in a long time. It just looked a lot like other games before with GB in which we looked like this and were toothless in the final third.
It was the same under Klinsmann, Arena and Sarachan. Reyna and KdlF were the main culprits. They kept cutting inside instead of trying to get to the goal line. What people seem to be forgetting is just how young and inexperienced this team is. We had 4 players eligible for the U19 team playing in the 5 attacking positions. 8 of the starting 11 are eligible for The Olympics. Not only that but these players all play in different systems. Berhalter had two days with them. Two days!
Good points: Especially with regard to the the youth of the team and inexperience playing together and lack of preparation time. However, I didn't think that they looked that way under Bruce Arena 1.0. Quite the opposite, in fact.
To be more specific, I didn't think that they looked like they were always looking over their shoulders under Bruce Arena 1.0 who took them to the WC Quarters. Under Klinsmann, however, I definitely agree that they looked like they were held down by a system.
I understand varying opinions on his place in the pecking order, but the first thing I recall being instantly struck by when Morris came on the scene years back was his combination of strength and speed. He immediately stood out for his physicality and his directness with a few gaps in his skill set. Whatever your opinion of Morris, he's not short on physical gifts that he brings to the proceedings. He's strong, fast and direct. He'll come in useful if not in the first 11 as one of the first attacking options off the bench.