I get it, you want the US to be an attractive attacking soccer team. We don’t have the players for that - our best hope for success is excellent solid defense. Having four purely offensive players and no ball-winners is a recipe for getting crushed. We are not that good at the international level and our national style isn’t based upon possession or attacking play. Look at our stats, we need to give up less goals more than we need to score more. You want us to emulate Mexico; I want us to consistently beat them.
The line up presented was very balanced. It was very similar to what we put out at the Copa in 16 and conceded few goals except for the beating we took from Argentina without 3 starter, most notably Jones. It actually is very similar to what Bradley used to do with six defenders and four attackers. A defensive advantage relative to the 2010 cycle team is that the front 4 in the group all do more work without the ball. As much as we need to sure up our defense, we desperately need to improve offensively to create scoring opportunities beyond relying on counters and set pieces. We will need to do that to beat any well coached team at the level of Mexico and beyond. They arent the exact players I would pick, but it is generally a nice foundation to build from as it lends itself to be as defensive or offensive as we want based on how many of the dmids and outside backs we push forward. Id think it would line up more like this... -------Wood Sargent Weah ------------------Pulisic ----------McKennie Adam Robinson EPB Miazga Yedlin
All these friendlies have shown is that we need a system change. If Robinson is our best bet on the left, then we need to play 3 in the back and let him and Yedlin run the touchlines as WBs. Our CB group is far superior to our FB group, but the people we have playing FB (and several others who can attack but are not solid defenders can back them up) are much better suited to be WBs. The new coach needs to find a system that works with this personnel - install it, and then COACH THEM UP on how to play it. Unless we find a couple of superior FBs lieing around, this system does not compute with this player pool.
In these friendlies where the results are meaningless, it's important to: (1) Play the young kids (2) Let them go out and do their best (3) Let them fail (4) Review the game film and point out their mistakes to them (5) Reiterate the points on the training ground (6) Rinse, repeat This is how players get better. People that obsess about the friendly results, scream bloody murder when we don't win, scream bloody murder when the players make mistakes, and want us to play only the most experienced players ... just interfere with this process and should not be listened to. It is these attitudes which are why the US team rarely wins anything. It's why we don't get better. It's why we don't create better players. Please people, just stay out of the way! The time for criticism is in games that really matter: WCQ, WC, GC !!
The idea I"m seeing around here that Miazga isn't "mobile" is head-scratch-worthy. I almost managed to get in a second viewing and have to say Miazga was motm for me. At the very end he has a clearance over the bar to save the situation from being 5-2 and ealier in the game he slid across the goal line to clear a ball that was going into goal behind Brooks. Miazga is in the lead for Captaincy imo.
Any CB pairing would have looked bad in that defensive structure. It doesn't concern me at all, since the new manager will bring a new structure and a change in midfield players. Yeah, Julian is a 2nd division player for all the reasons USMNT fans should like. He has some weaknesses in his game he needs to work on, and in order to do that he needs playing time. Would you prefer he sit on the bench in Bund 1? Apparently, Weah, chose to stay at PSG rather than take a transfer for more playing time. I'd rather he spent the time getting first team minutes.
This is an OLD and TIRED excuse. We don't have attacking players, because we repeatedly keep putting guys like Trapp, Acosta, Bradley, Roldan, Gyazes, Corona, Rubin, etc on the field. These guys don't know how to attack nor are they able to defend the midfield. Adam, McKennie, and Morales are more than capable of playing defensive mids and ball winners. Now put guys like Weah, Wood, Pulisic, Sargent, Amon, Parks, and Gall on the field together and see what that attack can do.
And Sarachan got an F on all those points. Weah did not get off the bench in France. Amon didn't see the field against Columbia. Because we needed to see the young prospects in Acosta, Bradley, and Saief. I really don't get the hype in Saief. He never impressed me during his minutes with the USMNT. This guy is a 25 year old, he's not some 18/19 year old young prospect.
winning the ball is half the job. The other half is knowing what to do with the ball we just won. Two you got wrong, imo: Roldan does know how to attack. 'Finishing" is listed as one of his strengths on WS, b.t.w. (and his rep was really as a dmid with a bull dog tackle). As far as Trapp is concerned, I think you have to get him away from Berhalter and his system and exploit his passing prowess. Vanney would turn him into a star in Toronto if they could off load Bradley.
It took guts to put that ball over the bar to save the goal. Many would have passed knowing they could have an own goal on their record if it failed. That's a Captain in my book.
Other than CP, who is a proven difference maker on offense? None of them are good enough at this point to really challenge good teams. Trying to attack good teams with minor league attacking players is a recipe for disaster. Until we have world class attackers, we have to play a conservative game and counter-attack (which our attacking players including CP are actually suited for)
Miazga covers a lot of ground, so he's mobile. What he's not is agile. But he's still a lot more agile than JAB, who often has the grace of a giraffe drinking water when a little dribbling demon turns him.
I think a lot of fans would rather he go back in time and magically make Donovan part of the 2014 squad instead of him. It's the only thing which explains the criticisms of him completely out of proportion to how he plays.
You make a fair point here. He does deserve some criticism. I think maybe he was thinking a bit about his own a$$ here. I was actually thinking the same thing during the Colombia game. However, looking at video from his time at Gent, he seems a bold and courageous player with some dribbling flair.
USMNT Clips @USMNTClips U.S. goes a full calendar year without giving up more than 2 goals or having a disappointing loss to anyone. Bradley comes back, they give up 4 goals. Hmmm 8:08 PM - 11 Oct 2018
Bradley was bad. The fullbacks were bad. Saief was bad. The rest wasn't that bad. Julian+Weah is a pairing I like, but of course Colombia is just better than us. Sometimes one has to man up and admit it.
If an MLS player had Green's league stats, fans would laugh at suggestions that they should be called into the NT. Green still has that Bayern pixie-dust, despite having thousands of minutes of being a bad second division player.
Green not sexy enough for you? Green doesn't have the worthless stats on which you base your opinion? Green is a BAD 2nd division player? Tell us more.... There's nothing I dislike more than playing the "what if" game but if JG was on a decent MLS side, he would be one of the best midfielders in the league.
You and I have always agreed on this point. Simply throwing two 6'4" guys back at CB and saying "done" is simply not good enough. Pairings actually matter. Long-term, this pairing (Miazga/Brooks) is not going to get us where we want to go.
I can't understand how some disregard stats for attacking mids. Goals win games. For a team to be good, they need attacking players who consistently produce goals and assists. Green has now played 2754 minutes for Greuther Furth (the equivalent of a full MLS season worth of minutes), he has 4 goals and 2 assists. I think if a player played those big minutes and had those stats in MLS, they would've been benched way before they could reach that many minutes. What has this guy ever shown to be called in? Certainly not those stats. Not his stats at the previous club that didn't even use him. Green's stats for the USA aren't even that great either. 4 goals in 649 minutes. Not so good that it overrides him being so mediocre at the club level. I'd argue that the NT stats don't paint a great picture. He's scored two out of nowhere goals against Belgium and France. Put him against that level of talent on a consistent basis, and he would be way outclassed. He's outclassed in the 2. Bundesliga.