When he was playing the 6, the Serbs could play the counter through our midfield at will. When Acosta replaced him at the 6, we were much more defensively solid. He was fine defensively as an 8, but not as a 6. It was a very clear difference.
Agree with just about everything. I'd add that I thought Gomez showed some promise, especially once he and Cowell got the formations figured out a bit. Morris to me, not impressed. Felt a bit like he was a black hole and gave the ball away quite a bit. Slonina, obviously, has a lot of talent and as a keeper being only 18...
If only there was something that could have been done to mitigate that, like have a 3-week camp instead of 1.
Are you sure that didn't have anything to do w/ playing alongside Sonora and Pomykal who got caught out of position defensively a lot? He was expected to be a 1-man wrecking crew, and sort of was for a while. I mean maybe you missed him flying in to recover for teammates and break up a play one time after another. It happened fast. They eventually got thru as Serbia figured out to swiftly pass w/ their triangles 1 against 3, and after Morris tired. I saw elite destroyer ability that translates against just about anyone in regard. It was evocative of Adams, maybe just not in as wide of space. Maybe Gattuso in the analog. But he doesn't even have Tyler's passing ability, yet, let alone Gattusos. Tyler used to be pretty sus (maybe never Morris bad). He's still only alright.
He's a long, long way from an elite destroyer. Has a nose for the ball, but lacks the quickness and the range. Just seeing him playing along side Acosta should be instructive. One player's got that part of the game such that the others can trust him. The other simply doesn't.
You're not adjusting for the variable of Acosta getting to play w/ Morris & Williamson, as opposed to Morris w/ Pomykal and Sonora. Acosta didn't have to cover nearly as much range because his teammates were more than holding up their end of the bargain.
I'm talking about the players themselves and the way that they play. Acosta is a much higher level destroyer than Morris. Acosta can cover for others. Morris can't. It really is that simple.
I guess I liked Pomykal more than others, but I dont know how much of that was me wanting to see him succeed after all the injury troubles. Id say step in the right direction nonetheless. Want to see more.
He was really important in that critical early stage of the game when we went from not being able to progress the ball past the defensive midfield in the first five minutes to dominating them for a spell until the Vazquez goal. Then... he was just porous. That midfield triangle was the anti-MMA.
More negatives than positives for me unfortunately. To me only Zendejas, Cowell and possibly Vazquez looked like they’re ready to contribute to the full senior team anytime soon. Vazquez just by virtue of he’s a 9 who scored. Zendejas and Cowell showed some real attacking class. Now on to the negatives: Morris: Maybe I just have an borderline irrational dislike for this guys game. From the dangerous handball that could have been a penalty in the first few minutes, to recklessly dummying the ball for your CB at the top of your own box, I’ve seen enough of this guy. Every time he won the ball he seemed to give it right back with a bad pass. Zimmerman: For a first choice CB you would expect better. One big mistake led to the first goal - the point of the wall is to actually block the shot if possible. Also had one of his classic passes directly to the other team for a dangerous counter, and stepped up and got caught out of position which led to another dangerous break. Gomez: The way they talked him up on the ISWT pod, you’d think he’d be on his way to challenging Jedi for the starting spot soon. Instead he looks 2 years away from being 2 years away. Pomykal: What happened to this dude? He was bossing at the youth level. Now he looks like a poor man’s Aidan Morris. Hoppe: Mr Invisible, he did absolutely nothing.
Just back to the hotel. I missed most of the PBP commentary, outside of halftime and the first 10 minutes or so of the 2nd half, but I disagreed with a lot of what I saw. Let me start with Jalen Neal. Great first half. I saw people saying he was out of position all half. Nope. He was cleaning up tons of other players messes (particularly Gomez's and Pomykal's). Another said that he could not pass forward. Nope. The players in the midfield (particularly Sonora and Pomykal) weren't moving into space to receive the ball from Zimmerman or Neal, so the ball went the only place it COULD go. He had a horrid 10 minutes to open the 2nd half. But otherwise was good. I see lots of promise there, so I am encouraged. Cowell and Zendejas were joys to watch. Zendejas is more of a pressure player and man does he do that well! Created numerous good opportunities simply by being a pest. Great to see his commitment. Cowell -- well, damn. He started slow. But picked it up about 15 minutes in and just kept growing. I hope that he has turned a corner, because we need that kind of explosiveness. It is a crying shame that he did not get his goal (or two). I am a little worried about what I saw from Gomez. He looked the exact same player as the one I saw at the Galaxy's stadium in December 2021, against Bosnia & Herzogovina. I expected him to make some progress, but he is still VERY young. He definitely needs to improve his defending. He lost too many 1 v 1s and generally seemed lost back there -- which is the same thing I would say about Gressel. Many will see the cross for the goal and think that he was good, but he really wasn't. He lost nearly all his challenges and got caught out several times (and got saved by Neal on one of them). He is a good player. But he is a play by the numbers type guy, without the athleticism to make a difference. Liked what I saw from Vasquez in the 1st half, and it is what I expected. He is a service guy. You give him good service and he will score. Hoppe? Ugh. Completely invisible to me. I would have warranted more attention from defenders if I had trotted out on the field than Hoppe needed. What in the world is going on with him? Sonora was just too tentative and his touch was off. It is his first time with the group though, so I don't want to be too harsh. But he needs to be more proactive. I was disappointed with Pomykal because he refused to look forward and kept getting stripped of the ball in terrible positions in the middle of the field. It's how we ended up giving up the free kick for the goal, but it happened several other times as well. Morris was a lot better but uneven. I thought he was very good in the 1st half and then faded a bit in the 2nd half. Dejuan Jones started horribly and then became a menace. I did not see that coming. Arriola looked pretty darn decent in his minutes. Williamson and Acosta were mixed for me. Bottom line, I enjoyed this game. For people who say that these camps are meaningless, I just don't know what to tell you. I think some pretty good data was garnered from this game, with 1 to go. Pleased to have been there and looking forward to a good effort on Saturday.
I used to rate him highly but I've seen nothing in about 2 years which suggests Pomykal is on a trajectory to fulfill his original promise. His talent doesn't stand out anymore. But I don't mind him getting looks with the NT in the hope it helps trigger a career resurrection.
I mostly agree with you. Tyler has better defensive "range" than Morris. But I disagree on the passing angle. I thought Morris, before he faded, showed decent passing. The problem was that his other midfielders were nowhere to be found in support. That was also Neal's and Zimmerman's issue. Sonora was not moving and demanding the ball, nor was Pomykal. It makes sense with Sonora as Hudson has apparently mentioned his lack of fitness. But, at the game, it was painfully obvious how he was not moving at the speed that others needed him to.
He was also a backpass/squarepass machine, along with Pomykal. Morris has the Chris Armas range of passing. Say what you will about Sonora .... he got the ball and passed it forward, breaking the occasional line in the process.
I know that I'm the Grinch of January Camp. But ultimately, I can't really imagine many of these new/inexperienced guys being on the 2026 team. Zendejas was good over the final 30 minutes, but I don't see him beating out Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Aaronson, Paredes, Tillman or Djordje. Cade Cowell was his usual tease. Vasquez, maybe and Slonina down the road, and that's it so far. The value of the January Camp nowadays is to remind us how subpar MLS has become (in fairness, by selling its players and prospects, and the improvement of the USMNT). It just takes more now to be competitive for the first team. Glad to have a game to watch again, and the game and the performances were better than J-camps past.
Hey to all - been lurking for a bit but thought that I'd make my first post. Fun to watch some of the up and comers get some time. More so that in years past, I felt like there are more guys with on ball skills. And the off ball stuff I think is more correctable or teachable. Hence my high hopes for Cowell. I think he's got a chance to be special. It was nice to see them get Gressel out there with likely no real future on the team. Looking forward to seeing what a new coach implements in terms of formation. I contended for a long time that it's gonna be really challenging to find a 9 with this style of play unless the player is truly special. Seems so easy to get lost in this tactical approach.
Match Ratings: GK Slonina: 6 - Not the best with his feet, not really at fault for the goals. LB Gomez: 5.5 - Ran a ton and took up good spots but rarely impacted. CB Neal: 5 - Pretty heinous blunder of inaction on the second goal. Needs to get stronger, but showed really comfort on the ball while playing on his weak foot. CB Zimmerman: 5 - Jumped out of the way inexplicably on the first goal and looked jittery overall RB Gressel: 5.5 - Gorgeous cross on the goal but looked way off the pace defensively. CM Morris: 5 - Had some nice sequences with Sonora and a pretty threatening long shot but needed to show more urgency on the ball and without it. Hopefully the first half was more indicative of his level. CM Pomykal: 4 - Below the athletic minimum and not Pirlo. Really struggled to keep up with the game. CM Sonora: 5 - Was the protagonist when the US midfield looked best from 19’-45’ but was pretty poor outside of that. Too lightweight for anything besides a ‘10’ role. LW Cowell: 7.5 - Dynamic and threatening throughout. His first touch was solid tonight. RW Zendejas: 7.5 - Carried the US on his back after Cowell left the pitch. Pressed relentlessly throughout. A meaningful debut. ST Vasquez: 6 - Excellent headed goal. Very little contribution otherwise. Subs CB Long: 6 - Solidly quiet RB Jones: 6.5 - Made a pretty bad error failing to clear in a fairly obvious situation, but was a big positive otherwise. Took advantage of the space Zendejas created. CM Acosta: 5.5 - Nothing too shameful. CM Williamson: 5 - Had a hideous counter-starting giveaway and was the opposite of calm but did work his tail off. LW Arriola: 5 - Largely anonymous except for another mishit shot. ST Hoppe: 4 - A spectator.
OK, I'll be that guy ...... it took Aaron Long less than a minute to hit a pop fly to midfield that ended up in the back of the net. Why is he here?
Got back a bit ago. - There was a “fan” near us who yelled all of the bad takes one could gather from USMNT Twitter during several stretches of the game, specifically targeting Aidan Morris and the coach. These are the kinds of guys I would pay to see an old Mexico fan pummel with a vomit cup at a clash with El Tri. The area was full of well-meaning Serbian fans and the guy came off like Yoko Ono. Thanks for being the ugly American, docheguy. -Cade Cowell is ready for prime time. This is the year of the flowing locks. He was the best player on the field today. - Alex Zendejas is legit. His skill in tight spaces in the final third is something that is not otherwise in the player pool at his position. He probes and exploits tiny bits of space…runs circles around guys. Very heady, strategically smart, and has a fantastic first touch. I came away from this wondering if he becomes a first team player nearly immediately. His only downside is that he is diminutive, but he is strong on the ball and held his own against the hulking beasts of Serbia. - Jones…very intriguing. After the final whistle, the Serbian left back spent some time scouring the sideline for his jock. - Soñora is small in person and took some time to find the game. However, his ability to hold the ball and pass the ball was very evident. Interested to see him again on Saturday. - Gomez has filled out his frame and has become a good athlete to match his high level of skill. He is a relentless player. As a left back with that kind of package, you have to wonder if he doesn’t start popping up more in starting lineups. - Arriola is a fantastic athlete. He is an explosive, fast, and powerful player who plays at a high intensity. You can really see the difference between the athleticism of players in person and Arriola was one of the top athletes on the field. - Vasquez…congrats on the goal! Get a couple more on Saturday.