He has a history of choking in front of wide open scoring chance. Do you remember the shot he missed early in the match of the USMNT vs Netherland in WC2022? This is very similar to that miss.
apologies if this is a hot mess, im just trying to consolidate... i think its a systematic issue under berhalter. that line from "remember the titans" (attitude reflects leadership, captain) was just ringing in my head after the colombia match. it comes from him. its a weird mix of reserved confidence and big talk that rarely materializes (taking the game to opponents, for example). we come out flat, looking uninterested all the freaking time. for the most part we approach games that matter "better", but we arent consistently up and ready from the whistle across the board. this team has taken on the managers approach. hes not a rah rah guy, and we dont look it a whole lot of the time. that is the first guy- thank you- that did a bunch of games and was pretty cringe, but theres another guy i still cant place. i agree we shouldnt, but definitely "wont"? not sure where youre getting that confidence from... yeah, shocker. i was talking about you. it is, we will see it and youll deny that its happening or that you said it wouldnt.
wish I was young ... alas I did not remember that goal .... something in my memory told me it was a long range JMM shot ...
Bob Ley! Yeah, he really got into soccer as the years went on and became quite knowledgeable about it all. Props to him for going there.
You get it. We have some good CM's, more than we've ever had, and we're wasting them sticking to formations and personel that don't work. We can and should keep two guys covering the backline. Not only because our CB's are our weakest, though not weak, link, but because it also allows that line of three AM to flow and attack freely. I'm for BA>Weah for several reasons, but one important note is that all three of Puli, Gio, and BA can interchange along that line and have played at the highest level in any one of those roles. WHY wouldn't we want to explore this? We're wasting our attack forcing guys like Gio to track back because other guys aren't doing their job or are simply not able to. Shore up the CM's, let the AM's play! The last point is where I disagree, but not entirely. I believe Wes is vital to the team, but imo he would be best suited for his vibes/moral support and potential role off the bench. He could be our soccer version of a 6-th man.
appears to me that this match did not require Gregg to motivate the men ... they all collectively knew that the Colombia match did not reflect well on each of them .... they knew that they needed to perform much better in Hotlando ... the next match is part of a run for the record so I doubt they come out flat against Bolivia. They pragmatically know they need a good performance against Bolivia and Panama because Uruguay is Uruguay. I am just happy that the Defense did not ship goals .... I really don't care how as long as they minimize goals yielded ... Scally was the biggest positive surprise for me .. I really thought Vini would have a field day ... but Scally certainly held his own ... and Gio helped him out ... best long term point for Gio's career is to prove to the professional world that he can focus and play strong D. (He was part of the reason for that first Colombia goal ... he did not track back fast enough to help account for the mistake that Jedi made)
Yep, Keller's had two games like that: Brazil in '98, and Italy at the '06 WC. I only saw the '06 performance though, still wrapping up college life back then, and the only things you watched on tv back then while at Uni were The Simpsons, The X-Files, Seinfeld, and Friends (I was an X-Files and Seinfeld guy).
The US had an xG on Target of 1.57 to Brasil's 1.09. The US had an xG on Target of 0.67 to Colombia's 2.27 Different games. The difference in outcomes wasn't just down to chance.
There’s no need to rewatch it, but it wasn’t as bad as many on here made it out to be. We had a bad game plan and didn’t play well, but the score was 2-1 Colombia until the 77th minute, and it was an accurate reflection of the teams’ performances, imo. Things falling apart at the end distorted people’s views of the game.
When they broke the press finally and got a guy free in space, he actually stopped completely, put his foot on the ball and was looking around. Noooo! Break the press then attack, you have numbers, make them pay! But that’s just not Berhalter, he wants to hold on to the ball first and foremost and I just have to deal with that fact.
When Musah shot the firecracker that hit the woodwork, no US players attempted to run forward just in case there was a change to score if Allison made a mistake or hitting the woodwork. As bad as Turner's pass that led to the Brazil goal, Scally also needed to run back quicker to pressure Rodrygo. Pulisic should have scored in that wide open chance in front of the goal in the second half. Turner needs to build up his leg muscles. All his kick just falls right pass the midfield, and most of the time we lost possession after that.
I see you joined us yesterday, and have two posts so far - one calling Pulisic a choker, and this one. Welcome. I will never see another post of yours.
i get it, but yeah, we can just move past it. i think wes is a lot like donovan in one specific way- he disappears, or is just sloppy, or up and down...a lot. frequently. but like landon- tell me a big game we won without him? heres an even tougher one- name one he didnt materially contribute to us winning it? (rhetorical, its all good.) what i will say is i think we have enough guys showing enough- just enough- that we dont have to start wes (or tyler, for that matter) in every match. that hasnt been the case for very long. our pool has come a long way in a short period of time. ...not that the dingbats around here think so. its nothing acosta couldnt do, right guys?
You’re right about Wes being involved at a pivotal moment in the transition from the last cycle to this one, but like you also mentioned, does he have to start now? My strong opinion is that we’ve moved past needing him as a starter, and can now rely on guys who are a better fit. He is still a very useful tool to have, and can play a big role off the bench or even start when others aren’t available.
i completely agree that at 2-1 it was fine. not good, but fine. probably in a way less enthusiastic way than you do. but no, the last 20 minutes of that game wasnt perception. it didnt effect anyones cognitive thought. it was absolutely, unequivocally that bad. it didnt seem that bad- it was that bad. in this and every other realm of thought and being. it happened, we responded, throw it out. absolutely. but dont try to sneak in a ho hum on the way to the dumpster. it was every bit as bad as anyone could possibly say.
Against Bolivia and Panama the lines will be higher. But I agree we should work on keeping them compact. This is where our lack of speed in the back (excepting Jedi) can be a bit of a problem.
7 of 20 goal contributions against top 4 sides the in eredivisie, 3 goal contributions in 8 CL matches including Dortmund. So, no.
I'm just skeptical that this is down to Berhalter, or rather, I'm skeptical that it's the result of some facet of his personality or some other non-tangible explanation. These players all have pride and egos, most of them have had better careers than Berhalter, and they spend far more time being molded by their club coaches. That all makes me doubt that they show up for national team games and are lulled into a gametime stupor by Berhalter. If the team starts flat too often (and I think that's the case), then there should be some tangible explanation, and fixing those issues is 100% on Berhalter.
The great thing about these summer tournaments is that the team is together for several weeks before the tournament starts. They get a lot of repetitions in to tighten things up, and have time to get their mental focus set. Hopefully, the Colombia match was the "wake the f*ck up" call and they don't need any more. They all know how important this tournament is. It's the second most important tournament that any of these guys have played in, and the prestige that comes with playing well in such a tournament is high. I expect they'll be ready for each game.
We do this way too often. Take on all of the risk of breaking a press and then fail to push the advantage once we have it.