Post-match: USA v Bolivia -June 23, 2024 - Copa America

I don't think Bolivia even came close to getting close to scoring, so by that measure, Ream was pretty good. To my eye, he was drawn away from the middle a couple of times, which I found concerning.

 

I just want to see one game where we look in sync.

 

The truly sh!tty thing about faux's sh!tty coverage is that they're buying the rights to a lot of tournaments.

Yet, their PBP announcing teams and pre/post/halftime teams all suck out loud.

IOW, they've bought a lot of rights, but they haven't done much to provide a good broadcast. Since they've bought a lot, we're all gonna have to drink in the sucktitude of their sh!tty announcing.

 

As someone who was there, my view was he had a pretty good game. Defensively he was solid. Negative was a couple of poor passes that didn’t seem like his usual self.

 

I think he had 2 bad passes. It’s too many, but compared to Richards having like 6 or 7, Ream looked better of the two to me. Ream’s defense looked solid — though not too much was asked. He had one excellent step up tackle at about midfield that killed a potential start to transition. Unlike Richards, at least I wouldn’t expect any other US CB to have done better.

 

That was a powerful left-footed for Balogun's goal. I didn't know he had that in his locker. Hmmmm.

 

Richards is getting a lot of forgiveness because he's young and in Europe, but so far in the friendlies and in this game he's been poor.

 

Tillman hasn't played since the game against Colombia. Maybe Berhalter realized how useless he is at this level.

 

Be patient, you will, I’m sure.

Edit: Though I’m not sure I will. May I ask how old you are?

 

Or maybe he realized there were others performing better at the moment. Why crap on a player who hasn't played in a couple games in this thread?

 

To that I say that not many coaches have written, in permanent marker, the name of a 36 year old CB, do they?

Having Ream being able to move in minute 90 vs a REAL opponent >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> him being able to bumslay the 84th ranked team in minute 90. I'd rather have Ream's lungs and legs available against, say, Colombia or Brasil, than against Bolivia.

And to that, I think about Mbappe and his injury, and how royally fvkced the USMNT would be if a serious injury were to occur to its best player. There was nothing to gain, but potentially all to lose by keeping CP in vs an inferior (but scrappy) foe.


Berhalter's stoopid (mis)use of the bench lead to a knackered side to face the Netherlands in Qatar. And, it appears that his stoopid (mis)use of the bench is happening again here.

Tournament management is a skill that most halfway intelligent managers can learn. Alas, here we are, with a manager that doesn't look like he's learned anything in now his second tour of duty.

 

expecting Gregg to "learn" or "change" much is a lot like expecting a staving dog to pass up a big T-Bone. Neither has much chance of happening, but if I had to bet on one of those I would pick the dog.

 

Agree on Richards. I think he is generally good in most areas except passing...primarily those passes from deep toward a midfielder or forward in central area of field. I say toward, because far too many went to an opposing player. Good news is it is fixable. Bad news is it ain't fixed yet. I think he will be an exceptional CB when he gets that straightened out.

 

I wonder if the quietness of Wes’ last few outings has anything to do Gio playing so deep.

 

A solid if unspectacular start.

Pulisic is balling and that is a very good sign.

 

Really good strike.

 

I really wanted the third goal because I felt like at that point we could take Pulisic off.

 

Though I do think a big part of this was just Bolivia being bad. We had some bad giveaways that put them in good positions and they cojod do absolutely nothing with it.

 

Puli was up and down for a stint with the NT in part due to the Chelsea fiasco. Just blew hot and cold and at times just didn't show up.

But now entering his prime he has taken his game to a level well above the rest of the pool. He's arguably hit a tier of quality no American has touched when you consider the last 10 months in its totality. Although I'd put Clint's 2012 season in the convo.

We really need someone else to move above the "potential" discussion. We need another legit x factor. For a few years we've been talking about all the talent in this squad. But now Puli has separated himself from it rather than others rising to the occasion. He carried the squad in Qatar, carried the squad thru large chunks of the 2018 cycle, and now halfway thru 2024 he's still carrying the squad. Not a single other player has stepped up as a reliable goal scorer or creator. An incredible % of this team's success/failure is reliant on a goal creation from Puli.

Two more club seasons prior to the WC so hopefully someone else takes that step. I'm not talking about general improvement/maturing. We need someone else to make a clear stake as the #2 player in the squad. Adams is incredibly important but I'm referring a difference maker in the attack/production.

 

My wife actually watched 60% of the game with me tonight. She doesn’t watch soccer much. She likes it, but she isn’t like the rest of us maniacs on these forums. She said the most interesting thing: they don’t look as good as the 2014 team. I said, “they don’t?” She replied, “no, they kind of look like they’re just all over the place and not on the same page.”

As a team, that was not a good game. There were some great moments, but it was not a good game.

Berhalter has his “boys”. That’s great for him and his boys. It’s not great for the team. I don’t care how much Fox shows interview snippets of Adams expressing his love of Berhalter, that love isn’t there for many of the guys on that team, and it shows. Seriously, when your striker, who isn’t scoring goals, but is botching Rabonas in front of the goal, is that “running through brick walls for your coach and team” or is it something else? For me, a striker has to be putting balls in the net, busting his ass defensively, and helping create by doing all of the “easy” stuff.

I would “love” a guy who started me every game despite how well I play, too.

 

We are tied with Uruguay on goal difference.

 

My Positives:

— Pulisic feeling it. I remember when people used to say he was a bad shooter and only scored off of tap ins. Over the last 12-18 months he has become quite the mad bomber. With his close control that addition is a powerful thing.
— ARob seemed more comfortable than the last matches. Hopefully that’s not because we played a bad team.
— Balo, CP, Weah and to a lesser extent Wes, seem to be getting familiar with each other and are developing some nice combination play. Again, hopefully that not just an artifact of playing a bad team.
— Scally still looking adequate at LB. Weah still looks better for the US than he does for his clubs.
— Tyler got some action. Before his injury I thought his forward passing and vision had steadily improved (albeit from a low starting point). And I thought he had some nice looks last night, despite the one noticeable giveaway.
— Pepi was good, IMO. Yes he put too many shots right at the keeper, but that’s just rust. He was in scoring position a LOT, and usually finding the corners has been his forte. Sarge better capitalize when and if he gets a shot before ‘26 because I think Pepi is a competitor and Gregg seems to want to give Balo the presumptive starts for now.

My negatives

— Richards has been a good passing CB through most of his career. Not sure what is causing the regression there but I hope someone figures it out and fixes it. Especially if (as it appears) Ream is destined to be his partner back there.
— Wes and Gio were solid but just solid. I can’t help but think that we have it backwards with Wes being regularly more froward than Gio. I suppose Gregg thinks that a strong passing/possession deep MF protects the back line, and perhaps that is right. But it also takes our most creative/vision guy away from the final third of attack. And it doesn’t seem to use Wes’ skill set to its fullest either.
— I would have liked to see CP get more of a rest. Bolivia was never going to take points from that match.
— Richards aside, ball movement out of the back can still slow to a crawl at times. Not sure why that is such a constant. I know Gregg REALLY wants the possession in his philosophy, so maybe our guys have a skewed risk/reward calculator in their minds.

 

1. This was a comfortable, if flawed, performance. As others have pointed out, we were sloppy with the ball at times and should have finished better, but Bolivia never troubled us and we controlled the game from start to finish.

2. We are still ponderous in attack and don’t create enough high-quality chances. It’s notable that the goals came from a training ground set piece and a fast break - neither characteristic of Berhalter ball. I would like to see more of the ball played quickly up the middle in transition to find Balogun in space, rather than hopeful crosses to a congested box after a dozen lateral passes. It’s good to see set pieces result in goals two games in a row, though.

3. Weirdly the midfield was a void. McKennie was extremely quiet and Reyna I felt didn’t see enough of the ball. Adams was fine but not especially impactful. We lacked that metronome quality in the middle and the team seemed to avoid combinations in the middle third. Puzzling.

4. I expect the team will execute better against Panama. The pressure is eased after a good start. Panama presumably will be playing for a draw and hoping to snatch a counterattacking goal. It would be great to score early again.

 

This is kinda funny. My wife never watches soccer, and literally I mean never. She happened to watch the second half with me last night. Her comment was that the "US looks like the much better team but they are not very good at putting the ball in the goal, are they?"