McKennie started out a bit flat, but he grew as the game went on. He started to play like the game was an official game. If he brings that type of intensity, we are going to have a good chance to advance.
First: we know Pulisic, Adams, McKennie and Balogun are starting in game 1. two: I’m not clear on who should start along Pulisic in attack. Malik is up and down, and often quiet. Gio has his moments but has no match play over last 12 months. Brendan is a hard worker but doesn’t have the technical finesse. Weah is a speed demon who can get on through balls but not known for his passing. Haji hasn’t been given a chance next to Pulisic behind a striker. having seen them all, I’d actually go with Gio as the starter against Paraguay, and hope for that moment of magic.
Who played more advanced in this game - Weston or Malik? Poch had Tilman at DM and McKennie advanced - but it should have been flipped in my opinion. Get Malik closer to goal, and give Weston more defensive responsibilities.
Even if Richards can’t go against Paraguay, I don’t see him being as important as he would be against Turkey and (hopefully) the games after. Edit: if he can’t go again, it better be Trusty or McKenzie
Oh no doubt Turner has the propensity for for the disappointing just as much as the amazing. But in form Turner tends to stay decently in form. This is most confident Turner im awhile imo.
Nonsense, Tillman had 4 tackles in that match while Adams made 9!. Tessmann would have had 0 or maybe 1.
The lack of true depth at CM on the roster spurred some doubt in me on Pochettino, but I do generally credit him with spotting weaknesses and making the necessary changes. I hope he sees what I see, which is that Balogun, McKennie, and Weah are not ready for prime time and should start on the bench. They just don't have the skill for this level. Plenty of athleticism, but the skill is lacking. I'm also puzzled that Poch goes with a 3-4-3 against non-Euro teams but a 4-2-3-1 against Euro teams. He may still be tinkering with his best lineup or he could be disguising his true tactics, but I think it's because he feels like he needs more bodies in the middle of the field. Thus far, though, he's been choosing the wrong midfield combinations against the Euro teams.
First half was great. Early goal sucked. Freese didn’t set up well but mostly it’s on whoever lost Havertz (likely MRob). But the way we fought back was great to watch and we probably had the better of the play overall. Second half was disappointing. Conceded early on, got zero shots til about 80min. The final 15min were good, thought we could have scored but again the final ball let us down. The good is that we hung in with an elite team, didn’t get pinned back and have to hold on for dear life. The less good is that we didn’t create many (any?) chances from the run of play, so pretty much the opposite of what happened with Senegal. We’ve got to find a way to break down defenses better; we’re not going to get a golazo like that every game. I actually think our defense was a bit cleaner than vs Senegal, not as many mistakes—but being a truly elite team Germany punished those mistakes twice (vs Senegal once—the gaffe by MRob/Brady was so bad I consider it more a gift goal than a converted opportunity). But there you have it—even though we were competent in defense, Germany was able to punish our mistakes enough to win. Overall though I’m happy with how these last two games went. We did well enough against an elite team and beat a team one echelon down. Our group stage foes won’t be at the level of these two teams, so hopefully we can replicate this form (and historically there’s a pretty good correlation between how we do in the WC warmup games and how the WC goes, though 22 is a notable exception). The obvious wild card, as so many have said, is Richards. Put him in there and the defense improves immensely. I will continue to say hosanas to Nuestra Senora de los pies lesionados to intervene on our behalf. Please do the same with your deity of choice.
Are we supposed to believe that Tyler Adams is some sort of naif? Even grizzled vets someone commit dumb fouls.
And Tolkin got injured a few months ago and Lund had a poor season. We should be happy that Arfsten has gotten so many reps over the last year and has done so well in that time (and continues to show improvement at his club). The way Poch clearly is going to play, Arfsten, Dest and Weah will have limited defensive responsibilities.
How about a perfectly normal looking guy from Aachen that you didn’t hear or see do anything incriminating on the TV?
I just rewatched the play a bunch of times in slow-mo--Haavertz was Ream's man, but Miles' man (cleverly) runs laterally directly behind Ream, cutting him off from tracking Haavertz. That seems to have been the purpose of the run. Haavertz was then freed from his defender, and Miles couldn't catch up. It was a very well-timed and well-executed play from Germany.
I encourage you to re-watch the play. When it happened, and in the replays they showed, I didn't see it either, and thought Miles had dropped the ball. On re-watch, that's not how it happened. See my post above.
And the sad thing, is that we are no less naïve than we were in 2002, when it arguably cost us that Germany game in the World Cup, as well. Dumb foul then, dumb foul now, free kick header…
Yeah, I thought it was a good final performance. It seemed we outplayed Germany for most of the game, and you replace one player in the lineup and it should have been a win. Even with the referee doing his best CONCACAF impression, it seemed we really had them on the back foot through most of it, and those yellow cards would be given in a real match with a real referee. My main concern is probably the same as everybody, CB, and that has been the case for a year. We may likely sink or swim on Chris Richards, which is unfortunate.
The free kick that led to ballacks goal was from a foul called on Eddie Lewis. It was a terrible call. Under pressure, Eddie turned with the ball. Frings ran up Eddie’s back and Dallas somehow called the foul on Eddie.
Copa America was only two years ago, we've seen that before. Wes has shown nothing for club or country since that makes it look like he can play a deeper, more disciplined, role. That's not necessarily a bad thing imo, just who he is.
Agreed. After the early Germany goal, my thinking was - oh no, this could be a disaster - what if we get clobbered and it kills our confidence going into the tournament. But thankfully we got our bearings and made it a very competitive match. But even if we got clobbered I don't think it would have *necessarily* killed our confidence. A good game against Paraguay and it might be largely forgotten. But I'm sure the Germany game (as will as the Portugal and Belgium) would be in the back of minds if we wind up playing another strong opponent like that. Despite the horrific start, this game actually turned out to be a confidence *builder* relative to the Portugal and Belgium games.
They don't give you the exact formula but they have explained the basics. All of these are using what is generally called a linear weights model. They assign a coefficient, positive or negative, to every recorded actions. Ideally, that coefficient has been created through a relationship with winning, but in most of these, it's tenuous. Then they start at 6.0 and add or subtract. A completed pass might be +.1 and an intercepted pass might be -.1. A goal might be +.9 or something. But it's very basic and there tends to be big biases towards goal scorers and assists (obviously), as well as players who complete a lot of passes regardless of whether they really create anything, and they tend to ignore good positional defending, off ball runs, etc.