Pre-match: USA v Australia Game 2 6/19 3 pm ET

US can clinch first after two games if both of their following happens: 1) win next match and 2) Turkey doesn’t win either of their matches. Being able to rest players and avoid yellow card accumulation would be nice.

 

That would be quite a joy for us being able to rest our team.

 

I don't get this at all. If he picks up a 2nd yellow vs Türkiye, he misses a knockout match. That is what you want to avoid at all costs.

If he gets one vs the Aussies and misses the last group game, then you can adjust. I guess the nightmare scenario is he gets a yellow and we lose anyway and then lose to Türkiye, but I think with that GD, we are in pretty good shape with 3 pts.

We have a full week off. Play your horses. Get to 6 pts. Advance. Then make tactical choices vs Türkiye. The path for finishing 2nd is not that much more difficult than 1st. Harder at 32, but might be easier at 16.

After today, we'll have a good idea about how the Aussies will approach things.

We do play first next Friday though.

 

Aren't yellow cards reset after group in this WC? Meaning if Adams only accumulates a total of 2 yellows (not in one match) he won't be suspended for R32? Not sure if I have this rule change right. As it is, would have been cooler if Adams made it out of this match without a YC.

 

Yellow card accumulation is wiped out, but a suspension is not

 

They were dirty in the friendly. But not really bunkering or strong defensively.

 

Then the decision on Adams for next match is an easy one!

 

you play Adams all the group games, but sub him out around minute 70 if we’re up or down a goal.
Problem is we should have brought an extra midfielder instead of Scally or Miles. Morris or Tessman.

 

I WILL BE THERE FOR THIS ONE.

 

The things I'd be worried about:

• There's no way they play as open as Paraguay, no matter the result against Turkey. They can basically lock in points relative to Paraguay with a tie or a small loss. We were great, but a bunker is difficult for anyone.
• My #1 issue is the team being able to play with that intensity and fire after a big win, and after that first game. Clearly, they turned it on ... and I'm much more hopeful they can do it again ... but they've been so inconsistent I wouldn't bet everything on it. And that counterpress is our biggest way to stop counters.
• I'm far more worried about our ability to defend set pieces or if we sit back than I am fast counter attacks, but I realize I don't know much about Australia's attack (which wasn't impressive against us in the fall) including their new Italian guy. Do you? Is there real speed there? Maybe @Sebsasour can help.

 

Gio can't play next to Adams and be half as productive as Tillman.

It's gio and Weston who are at the same spot. Right now I prefer Weston start

 

I like Gio a lot but the idea of Gio doing the work Tillman put in for 90 minutes is kind of funny. He can obviously do the possession work, but that's only a part of the job.

Agree ... but if you are going to give Weston a game off (and I'm not sure you need to), Australia and a likely more defensive / counter game is a better pick for Reyna than Turkiye.

 

Agree he starts every meaningful game, that said if we beat Australia and Turkey doesn't win at least 1 of their first 2 games we would clinch the group after match day 2. Not likely but possible. In that scenario I would fully rotate the squad against Turkey, get everyone on the field who hasn't already played (start Turner and put in Brady at HT), and anyone on a card doesn't play at all.

 

Our counter press was ferocious in the first half, just really crazy impressive. That's not Gio...at all. If Reyna would be to start, it would be for Wes, and you have to think that it could only be against Australia. It's not likely we would face another team where it would make much sense, on paper at least. With a week between games I'd be really surprised if Gio starts at all, TBH. Poch has surprised us before though, so we will see.

I think a strong argument can be made for Gio to finish off any game where we are not getting run off the field. Whether we are ahead or looking for a goal, doesn't matter to me. He just really brings a lot to the table in the possession game. Irregardless of the goal, he helped kill off the game last night IMO.

 

This is really astute analysis of the Paraguay game and it will be interesting to see how Pochettino adjusts his tactics against a very different Australia.

 

No Australian has ever been shy about being insane. They even get portrayed as insane quite often in the movies and on TV. (See certain characters named "Dundee" or "Max") Shoot even in "On the Beach" many Australians are portrayed as insane to one degree or another.

Australian athletes have also exhibited a fair share of insanity.
So, based on the lack of sanity Australia often shows, it would not surprise me if they do try to play straight up, at least until we score a couple. And should they score first it could become VERY hard for the USA to score as Australia will have great confidence and they already have pretty good/great athletes.
All it takes is one break early and we could be in deep doo doo.

What we need to do is play like this is the most important match we have ever played or will ever play.
The Paraguay match was great but we need to take all pressure off us early so we can rotate players as much or more than we did in the last match. Not for rest as this WC is playing like a club season with a week or so between matches, but for experience. If our regulars and most of the probable subs can get in good playing time when we play in the knockouts everyone will be ready and THAT is what we need most.

 

Some good observations there. Obvious conclusion is that we need to be ready for Australia to press the hell out of our CBs.

 

Yes, that guy is spot on. We will have to see what happens when the opponent does not cooperate with our tactics, counters them, and tries to exploit our weaknesses -- and there are weaknesses. That could happen against Australia and Turkiye, but I am sure that it will happen in the knockout stages.

 

Do you rest Tyler Adams, who is on yellow? Do you rest Pulisic and Balogun? Do you play Haji Wright who previously got a brace against the Aussies? What of Brenden Aaronson and Alex Zendejas?
How do you counter Australia's similar 3-4-2-1?

 

I think Poch will welcome a press. Yes, there's risk, but the whole point of having five non-CBs in the build up (or six including the other side) is that with that many options, someone is open.

Yes, a really strong pressing team can press that, but then they are open in the back for people running behind ... and we've got speed.

If I'm an opposition coach, unless I have a much better team, I'm trying to frustrate the US team, not get them moving up and down. Does Australia have the horses to high press us?

 

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE. Ohhh baby.