US-Mexico, the coaching and subs

Subs were up, including Chris Richards who may have been intended to take out Robinson, at the moment the second caution happened.

 

Confirming that Berhalter is no dummy but (often, imo) too slow on the trigger.

 

Are you trying to say Berhalter should have known to the second when M Rob was going to get that 2nd yellow? He could have gotten it any moment after the first one. The lengths to which posters try to criticize the coach (not just Gregg, but any coach) is ridiculous.

 

I will rep you everyday for the rest of your life for working Joe Strummer into a US Soccer thread. My two great loves combined.

 

I'm a fan. Always have been. Doesn't mean he has no flaws or hasn't had to learn and adjust, although I was confident he would. One thing I didn't expect was how his man management has really won guys over and built an incredible team spirit.

These guys fight. And when they fail, they listen and adjust. Contrast that with how dispirited Mexico looked under Tata last night.

 

Qualifying is a long process. You have to expect that we will have a few guys mis games from yellow card accumulation. If you go that long without any of your players getting a couple yellows, you're not being aggressive enough. I have no problem with those guys sitting out a game and I can't blame Berhalter for not taking them out. He can't save them forever.

 

Well, one of us is being ridiculous. From the moment MRob got his first YC onward, Berhalter should have been thinking, "I'll sub him out at the right moment." Berhalter understands/understood the rationale - not sure why you cannot.

When McKennie scored (at 86'), Berhalter should have shouted, "Chris, you're in!" Here, a few extra minutes was costly.

Again, it is very common to sub out a field player who is carrying a yellow. Leaving a carded player in is one of those 'mistakes' that often goes unpunished - for one thing refs can be reluctant to issue a second one. And yes, it's not always a clear mistake to leave a player in. Every decision has to be made in the context of available options.

 

I would agree with all this as a general principle, but I would make an exception for losing multiple key players at the same time.

"Midfield star Weston McKennie received a yellow card, giving him two in the 14-match competition, while center back Miles Robinson was dealt two in the second half, resulting in a red card and a sending off. McKennie's accumulation and Robinson's ejection mean both will be unavailable for Tuesday's qualifier in Jamaica. Any player who accumulates two yellow cards over the course of the competition is forced to miss the subsequent match. McKennie, Tyler Adams and DeAndre Yedlin were the U.S. players carrying yellows into Friday's match vs. El Tri. John Brooks and Jordan Pefok also picked up yellows earlier in qualifying, but they are not in this camp."

The players to protect were McKennie, Adams and Yedlin, plus MRob once he was carded.

Once McKennie got carded (and therefore suspended), there was no point in pulling him, but Adams might have been pulled (at any point) so that we wouldn't be missing McKennie and Adams for the same game (Jamaica).

 

One of the worst things about message boards are the posters who want to tell everyone else how to feel, rather than just expressing their own views. Whenever you feel the urge to write something like “No, THIS is the right balance of optimism and pessimism,” probably just step away from the keyboard.

 

Not traditional I'll grant you that. Just plain nuts is more like it. Sub a center back and a goal keeper. Insane. The one thing that might have made sense was to get Pulisic back out but he also needs to play minutes and you can't sub a guy everytime you think the other team may target him. If that's the case you'd never even play Pulisic.

 

richards was standing there waiting to come in when miles got his second yellow- that was killer. subbing a sub and/or changing keepers is gonna be a no for me, dog.

mckennie and adams was interesting- theres an alternate timeline where wes isnt a blockhead about covid protocols and he is a perfect captain for us.

i feel that way (for many reasons, including) because hes always been the first one in when another team trucks one of our guys. some people dont like that, hes been labelled a hothead a for that- i love it. love it. and i see that as a very captain thing to do.

but its also true that your captain has to say on the pitch. so i guess its all worked out.

that said musah going off was the "big" decision for me- getting fresh legs in the middle is clearly a good idea and wes already had his second yellow. it was basically "resting" musah for jamaica or protecting adams- and in the moment i was livid it wasnt the latter.

thats yet another call gregg got completely right on the night. he trusted adams, and got musah at least a little break.

 

I probably should not have conflated the two (GK and CB). I only remember a GK being subbed out (for having received a caution) once, and that was when the GK had a beef with the referee and was begging to be tossed.

CBs I've certainly seen pulled on an early YC, sometimes at HT, although it's generally not explicitly said that's why they were pulled.

Also, I think if five subs are allowed (in a game that cannot go to extra time/PKs), that changes the equation (in favor of an early hook).

 

I’m not sure exactly when Berhalter told Richards he was going in, but it does take some time to get the referee to permit subs to enter. Hell, even after the red card stoppage with Richards standing on the line, he wasn’t immediately permitted to enter. Five minutes between goal and red isn’t an indication that Berhalter was asleep at the switch.

 

thats essentially what he did, though. chris had to run in a couple of circles, the little bibs can be tricky, the ruckus from the yellow probably took a minute of game time and subs arent instantaneous.

richards was standing there a couple or three minutes before there was a stoppage.

 

There was a stoppage when McKennie scored his goal.

 

From the moment Miles received his first YC, Richards should have been warmed up and prepped. That 2nd YC could have come at 0-0, or at 1-0. Thankfully, it came at 2-0. Richards could/should have subbed on at least during the goal celebration.

 

so you changed your tune about not using Pulisic as a sub. Lol.

 

i have not, but feel free to think you totally pwned me.

 

Nah, Gregg and CP did that

 

I'm not sure I get the finally on some of these roster decisions.

For one, aside from potentially Weah/Arriola (and despite the three starts last window, the actual minutes speak to a much tighter depth chart than "3 starts" implies), this been the lineup, excepting injuries, that Berhalter has more or less wanted.

He's been a big MMA guy. He took a long time to come around on Jedi, but Jedi's been locked in all WCQ.

Panama was rotation, not his first team. This lineup wasn't a huge shock.

And I see a bunch of folks clapping themselves on the back, but I will point out that Zimmerman was FANTASTIC, and honestly, given Brooks' recent track record, I'm sorry, but I'm glad he didn't start this game.

 

Is it even possible to get a sub set up to go out in between the goal and the kickoff?

 

We're up 2-0. Why are you not criticizing M Rob for making that high risk tackle? If he would have been smarter he wouldn't have been as aggressive and gotten that 2nd yellow. Players need to know how to play with a yellow. We're up 2-0 with 1 minute to go. No need to be aggressive. That's on M Rob, not Gregg. The coaches cannot save the players from their dumb mistakes nor can they sub off every player that gets a yellow the minute after the get carded. Greg isn't perfect but M Rob made a dumb play in the 90th minute when we were up 2-0. That's 100% on him.

 

I saw Mexico had 50.8 percent of the possession, but we led xG 2.1_ or 2.2_ (the tenths digit was 1 or 2 and I don't remember the hundredth digits) to 0.7_ (I don't remember the hundredths digit).