Post-match: USA v. Japan - September 9, 2025 - International Friendly

Yeah I think Sargent isn’t making it. 3rd striker is probably between Downs, Pat, and Wright but uncertain about the latter with the rumors surrounding Wright and Poch from Derrick Richey. Balogun had a pretty emphatic performance for the first striker and Pulisic had a better game.
Not as high on Roldan’s performance as other people here. Blackmon played better this game in the back3, but I wish we saw Banks over Nathan freaking Harriel……. But maybe the knock is more serious. Arfsten always makes me nervous when he was on defense, but nice cross for the assist. Nice goal by Zendejas for the finish as well. Freeman had his ups and downs.
And I might be in the minority, but I’m not a Luna guy. Not that high on him.
Glad to see McGlynn’s left foot. He has a rocket, I just wish he was better and quicker athletically. Damn…….

 

I'm also not aware of any other country where supposed fans insist that their domestic league is a Ponzi scheme. The "MLS vs everyone crap" will end when those sorts of fans get the Sherman's March to the Sea treatment that's coming to them (metaphorically speaking).

 

I really like Arfsten in the attacking 3rd. Beyond that, I remain agnostic. Watching him, Pulisic and Zendejas work cooperatively in tight spaces was fun.

 

Seems pretty self explanatory. I don’t see the controversy, it was a good team effort, with Freese, Arfsten, and Freeman looking pretty much just as involved as a Pulisic or Balo for me.

 

Do we need a 3rd striker if Balogun and Pepi are healthy and in form. Like right now, who's more valuable as a late game sub, Sargent or McGlynn?

 

WHY play a Roldan when you should be building a squad comprised of guys who have a legit chance to make the WC? Roldan has NO chance of making the WC team. All that seems to be lost on our big name manager.

 

Did you want more Berhalter? I'm sure you'd be happy with that, right?

 

How big will the squads be at the World Cup? If 23, then I’d say we very well might only bring 2. But if it’s 27 or whatever, then i would definitely bring a 3rd.

I don’t think we need a striker out there all the time, but I think we’d need someone who was comfortable as a false 9, rather than just sticking a winger or center midfielder there. We do have guys who I think would fit that, namely Luna, Tillman, and Reyna. I’m sure there are a few others as well.

 

Arfsten looks better as a wingback unsurprisingly. He makes way more sense if we do 3 ATB.

 

I don’t think 3ATB makes any sense for us and it looking fine tonight and our press a bit more effective I chalk up to the opponent playing their insert letter team, rather than our awesomeness.

Glad Balo produced. Seems obvious to me, but I’d like this starting 9 debate to be put to rest. Hopefully Pepi gets it going as well.

I like Freeman, I want him to be good for us, I like him at club, but I have no idea why anyone… everyone even, is praising him tonight. He was absolutely terrible going forward, he was where attacks went to die and when he wasn’t passing it directly to the opposition or inexplicably being offside for no reason, his few completed passes in the final third were sloooooow, unimaginative and killed whatever momentum we had.

Defensively he’s ok for us, nothing particularly special, I really don’t see any difference between he and Scally at this point.

 

For what it's worth, it looks like 6 of their starters tonight were called up for the last meaningful World Cup qualifier they played before they wrapped up qualification (Osako, Sekine, Nagatomo, Fujita, Maeda, and Ito), another one received minutes in 8 of the 9 prior qualifiers he was available for but was injured for that one camp (Ogawa), and another player started some games at the last AFC Asian Cup before being banished from the team due to sexual assault charges and only recently being recalled (Sano).

So 8 of the starters were probably B-team material -- i.e., with a good shot of making a first-choice roster but none of them would likely be in their first XI. There's one starter who's appeared in a couple qualifiers but seems kind of on the periphery (Suzuki). And then 2 of the starters (Araki and Mochizuki) don't seem to have gotten a real look on any first-choice squad until either the last set of qualifiers (that no longer mattered for them) or this very window.

So maybe a B minus team?

 

I'm with you. Freeman was....OK. He was good on defense, and he's impressed me defending in almost every cap. But going forward, there's not much there, there.

 

Do you not remember our two most recent World cups where we literally had a forward with a tournament ending injury. We need three forwards.

It's certainly a valid question if Haji's ability to play the wing gives him a leg up on Sargent who may be a slightly better forward but much worse winger, but regardless, we need three guys who can play the 9.

 

Of course it is possible that you are wrong...

 

We took 3 strikers last time and they all pretty much stunk. So, no not that excited to take "strikers" for the sake of "strikers". If we got 2 decent ones, plus Weah, Puli, Tillman, etc... we should be fine.

 

I thought we played much better. It did help we played against a "B" Japan side.
Freeman is growing on me. He has the size (6'3) of a forward. His speed is a tad slower than Weah, but he is way stronger. If I had to critique his game is that he is mainly a right-footed player. He nees to develop that left foot of his.
Balo was great with his patten checking the defender before reaching the ball. Textbook play of his game.
Zendejas is a little guy that gets hot and the cold. His biggest advantage is we don't have a backup for Weah. I wonder if we will ever see Freeman as a winger.
The players that I feel their stock is down are: Roldan, he is nowhere the level of a Mckennie or Musah or Reyna or Tillman. Dela Torre, I just don't like his conservative game. He plays like he doesn't want to make a mistake. Diego Luna looked pedestrian, sure he had a cute give and go, but we need someone that can control the game. He is not it. McGlynn has a nice compact game, but he relies on the game being open where he can use left foot. I don't see him making the final 23 unless Poch decides to take in MLS midfield to the WC.
Adams will make it, but he is a one trick pony. He is in the old mold of a destroyer but hardly gives you anything forward. You want to break a defense and but them in their heels? you need a 6 that can break that midfield line and force the defense to adjust.
Dest is playing too lose. He knows he is better than the competition, but he should be playing more serious and not put himself in situations that can get trapped.
I'm one that thinks Ream's time is done. He doesn't have recovery speed. At 36, he should be taken to the back of the barn for his final pasture.

We are 8+ months away from the WC and we are still playing musical chairs. I don't think we will do better than being second in our group and then a quick exit as always.

Cheers.

 

Scally does not get forward like that and doesn't not add anything close to what Freeman does in the attack. That said though, if we are going to be playing 3 in the back, Scally to me is a candidate for one of those CB slots and I think a case can be made that he'd be a favorite to start.

 

He's out for this cycle barring injury and even then he's probably out, the performances in March and September eliminated him from contention. I'm a Sargent guy, but honestly, that should be pretty clear at this point. It's Balo, Pepi and somebody else.

 

thank the soccer gods! we needed to not feel miserable after a real (friendlies are as real as weve got now) match for freaking months and months. this will probably be a mix of this match and the window...

obviously i have to address the opener- zero hesitation, decisive cut and first time cross from arfsten (not a shocking event, that would be) and an equally decisive take from zendejas (extremely shocking). didnt f around looking for an extra touch, just a clean, pure strike. gorgeous. i mean "best goals of the cycle compilation" level chefs kiss.

second goal, very similar in no hesitation or unneeded touches. perfect weight on the pass, patience and ruthlessly slotting it home.

the simplicity of our play a 3/4/3 is huge upgrade from our base style of play (since early summer). that loses a good bit of effectiveness when it becomes more a 3/4/1/2 because none of these guys were able to effect much when they move centrally. keeping the attacking 3 spread doesnt hinder overlaps in any way, and dropping one in doesnt fortify the middle. its just an unnecessary wrinkle imo.

full, no equivocation credit to poch for making the first changes when he did. zendejas and adams were fading fast. i dont know that id say any of them were especially effective, but dest and mcglynn presented danger and thats a big factor when youre controlling the match. its still shocking how ineffective mcglynn is at winning balls (and hes got a solid ass frame), but he did a very solid job chasing, just being there for the most part. like snake-eye says, sometimes just being there is half the battle.

despite the one sublime slipped pass tonight this was a bad window for luna. i dont know if it was the higher level of comp, how his club form is currently, etc. he still put in the work chasing, harrassing guys but he was just off. positionally, mostly, but he also didnt release the ball quickly enough and wasnt especially sharp when he did. im not saying anything close to banish him to siberia, thats just what i saw.

...but speaking of, i feel like ive seen enough of downs (barring a huge uptick with his club). hes not realistically competing for more than a very small role, and he just hasnt shown the ability to combine, get on the end of things just...nothing. and this includes "all" of his caps, and i would guess that is about 50 minutes total, but the baseline (for me) is wright- who brings outsized value in his ability to provide depth wide and up top. downs isnt anywhere close to wright.

and honestly, im convinced the wrist brace is just a permanent thing for him (like twellman) and i dont like that one bit.

i thought arfsten was- surprisingly- our weakest link in the first half (obvious exception aside). im fully aware he isnt a defensive player for col but ffs does he not even drop below his box to help build out? the few times here (and a handful of times in the gc) when hes had to directly defend he at least puts in a good effort to get any touch on the ball he can, he had one of those early in this one. but the positions he tried to take up, the angles he took to get there and then transition (or even turn) freaking blegh.

that said i think he has a very good case to stay in the team as a wing depth option. i know (well, i think i know) that hes right-footed, has he played much, if any, on the right? again, im not close to showing luna the door just yet but arfsten with no direct defensive responsibilities is an entirely different prospect than as a fb (no duh), but even a wingback we use with any of our faux-back 3 looks.

to flip to the other side, this was the most informative match for me freeman has played, and i think he very much is in the conversation for rb/rwb. i want you (the very few who are interested in actually talking soccer at all) to hear this for what it is- if that kid can learn to play soccer he can potentially be very, very good at soccer. what i saw really clearly in this one that i havent before is a very similar ability to jedi to recover.

and i want to be clear i put that 91% on poch in his usage. hes not suited to play that faux-cb role, full stop. thats just a waste of physical gifts. throughout the gc we used him there and as a pre-advanced rb (meaning his starting position was frequently above the halfway line). he wasnt ever in a position to actually advance the ball from a "standard" rb position (nor show that recover-ability). so back to that learning to play soccer thing- his final balls (and most passes in general) are atrocious. he got the ball (cleanly on balls played long as well as winning those balls over/through defenders who fully had position on him) into fantastic spots. consistently. i cant praise that highly enough from this match but i also cant say strongly enough he gave us less than nothing from those spots. to put as positive a spin as i can on that the time spent, the ability to have a lot of possession fully inside the attacking third.

but this is the first real test case i think we have of that goofy ass 90s "what if our best athletes played soccer?" nonsense. and i dont mean to imply that he doesnt have any positional sense, ability to read the game, etc (though we did see that more than a little in the gc- balls just bouncing over his head) but i saw huge, huge potential vs one specific but not-small weakness- someones got to drill that kid passing 8 hours a day for the next year. cause if he can learn to play soccer he can be very, very good at soccer.

for the most part, i think, everyone else was some degree of "as expected". roldan was a clear upgrade on seb tonight for exactly the reasons ive already given elsewhere. blackmon looks to be a lower, but fairly comparable level to the miles/long/zim band of guys weve had over the years- its too bad no one thought to use him 2, 3 years ago (or at the very least dont saddle him with ream in a back 4). but if we had a do-over from 3 years ago i still would have given actual opportunities and minutes to ccv, trusty, etc, which we never did. to at least know.

yeah, i dont think anything else was far outside of our individual spectrums.

the sheer rush of relief (endorphins are endorphins, amirite?) from this win is nice- i dont like being miserable all the time any more than any of you want to hear my miserable takes. i dont think this qualifies as a breakthough cause poch has dug such a deep hole. i was surprised japan played such a (relatively) weak team, i wasnt surprised they thought that would be more than enough and i was close to shocked at how worn down and...overwhelmed they seemed. they were grabbing jerseys, hands on knees etc pretty early in the match. very surprising lack of a challenge they presented overall. still, if poch calls in a reasonable roster (my confidence level in that happening remains at zero) and we are at least competitive (and not this advanced stat horseshit "competitive") then i can adjust my outlook accordingly.

 

@rgli13 CAPITALIZATION is your friend. So are apostrophes. And brevity.

 

Weird there's some low grades for Luna tonight. I've thought he's been overrated in the past, but tonight was one of my favorite performances from him. What the ******** do I know, I guess.

 

If Balo finished better and McGlynn could go more than, we'd win every game 5-2.

 

So it’s three at the back then…

 

Oh I forgot one of the more important points. It’s Freese’s job to lose now for the GK spot. He’s the starter.

 

The common wisdom was why should we put three center backs out there and force a worse player on the field sacrificing a midfielder, presumably our strength.

Turns out three center backs make them less vulnerable as individuals and really frees up a major strength of ours which is wing backs.