Roster selection was a complete failure. Substitutions were a complete failure. Egg is really bad. Really bad. Had he just chosen a better roster and made logical subs, he would have beaten what is a mediocre, or worse Mexican team.
This thread is hilarious. We lost 1-0, not 10-0. The main person at fault for the goal is pretty much getting a free pass. Tata worked GB in the 2nd half, but guess what? GB outcoached him on the first, we just didn’t finish our chances. We need a “rant and rave” forum for all the bed wetters here. Our fan base, at least in this thread, is miles worse than our coach, our Federation, and about on par with Bradley’s play. In the second half!
Now Holden is talking about we just don't have the same talent to compete with Mexico. Shut the hell up, Holden. We didn't lose this game because we didn't have the talent. God, one great thing about tonight is I can stop listening to him and Strong jabbering witlessly for the rest of the year.
We all deserved better than McKennie’s “effort” on the goal. Look, I love Weston, I think he’s great. But this is exactly what I meant a few posts up.
I'm amazed by how pessimistic everyone is....we had a good tournament and could have easily won tonight had we converted a few of our early chances. Yes, Mexico had more possession, but we had the better scoring chances. Our biggest issue is that our defenders are not comfortable with the ball, thus resulting in a stagnant attack when opponents bottle up the midfield. Too many backwards and sideways passes....not enough forwards ones.
interesting that not a single former US player turned broadcaster is willing to question GGG about his decisions .... Houston we still have a problem when the emperor has dropped his shorts and no one is willing to point it out.
Does anyone think that GGG can learn or will learn from this? This is very important. If he can't, there is no player that can make a difference if he is not up for selection. There is no player that can play his best and make a difference if played in some abstract position in addition to being surrounded by players that are unfamiliar with some abstract system. In the end, we will be our own worst enemy if everybody doesn't learn from this last month.
Disappointing but not totally awful. The first half was one of the better ones I've seen us play against Mexico in a competitive game. Multiple legit goal scoring chances and controlling possession for large stretches. Unfortunately it fell apart in the second. Can't say I'm surprised between the weight of history in this matchup and the troubling sub decisions. Although truth be told even though I would've preferred for Boyd to come on I wouldn't have been surprised if he was ineffective. He kind of fell back to down earth after his debut, and a poor man's CP in intent probably isn't going to help much when the actual CP was largely neutralized. Overall the tournament felt like a return to normalcy. I bet we qualify with relative ease and then contend to get out of a World Cup group via the usual hang-on-for-dear-life strategy.
My stock up/down take on the game (and really on the whole tournament): Up: --Pulisic. It's kind of weird to put him here, since he was expected to be our best attacking player, and he was. But I was a little worried with him coming off a not-so-great season at Dortmund and having the pressure of being THE GUY for the US. I thought he finished with a couple of very good games against Jamaica and Mexico, and I'm reassured about him taking up the Donovan/Dempsey mantle. --Miazga, Long, Zimmerman. For me, there were questions about all 3 prior to the tournament, but I thought they all had good games when called upon and solidified their places on the roster going forward. --Cannon. He looks like the total package at RB. He can defend reasonably well; he has good pace (even if not Yedlin fast); he's reasonably comfortable with the ball at his feet. His final ball is still lacking when he gets forward, but he can work on that. He's surpassed Lima in my book and is pushing Yedlin. --Arriola. We all know that his finishing lets him down, but he works relentlessly on both sides of the ball and combines well with Pulisic. May not be locked in as a starter, but solidified a spot in the 23, even if some younger guys start breaking through. --Altidore. The difference in hold up and link up play was night and day between when he was playing and when Zardes was. It's too bad he can't go 90. I hope one of the young guys does well enough to replace him soon, but I bet he's the default starter for at least another year or so. Hold: --McKennie. Some great performances. Some poor performances. I love his attitude, but he needs to be cleaner in possession and find a way to more consistently impact the game when the US is attacking. Hope he gets a full season at CM at Schalke to refine his game. --Bradley. We all saw his limitations tonight when confronted with a higher speed of play, but he was good against lesser teams and firmly established himself as preferable to Trapp. Still would start Adams over him, but I wouldn't object too strenuously to future call-ups. --Steffen. Some good saves, but even tonight, he didn't have a whole lot to do. Distribution with his feet is iffy, but at least he seemed more willing to play it long if he was at all uncertain. --Ream. Didn't have any horrible gaffes that resulted in goals and generally held up reasonably well against some pacy attackers these last two games. I'm OK with him as a placeholder LB until someone better steps up. --Boyd. Not sure what happened with him. Looked great against Venezuela and Guyana, pretty good against T&T, and then bad against Curacao, and we don't see him again, even though Morris didn't exactly light the world on fire as his replacement. I still wonder if he picked up a slight injury. --Roldan. I was ready to write him off, but he was somewhat useful in this late game, defensive winger role this past couple games. Still think he loses his place to someone like Lletget or Holmes, but I'm not totally opposed to future call-ups. --Berhalter. Accomplished the minimum expectation of making the final and losing a close one to Mexico. Some strange lineup, sub, and tactical choices, but at least bought himself some more time before really going on the hot seat. Down: --Gonzalez. Got the 1 start against Panama B and looked bad. Hopefully that's the last we see of him. --Lima. Looked good earlier in the tournament, but wasn't great against Curacao, and I'd say he's behind Cannon now. --Trapp. When Bradley looked like he did tonight, but he's still better than you, you've got problems. --Zardes. I appreciate his effort and that he gets in good positions, but even if one of the young guys isn't ready to take his spot yet, what about someone like Sapong, who also hustles, has better holdup play, and now has more goals this season? --Lovitz. I am not at all sure what he brings to the table. He didn't make any horrendously stupid plays that I recall, but seriously, what does he do? --Lewis and Mihailovic. Couldn't make anything happen against Panama and seems to have lost even a shot at a late game super sub role.
Not happy but not unexpected to me really. I felt coming in we were a Tyler Adams and a young striker away from winning it all. Some good moments and fight but we need to put 1 of those chances away. The subs however did send me into a rage. Cats are still nowhere to be found...
Let's be honest. That was a garbage Mexican team. If they had any skill in finishing, it could have been 4 or 5 goals in the second half. And that was the only decent team the U.S. played in the tournament. The federation cannot excuse Egg for that.
We had the players to compete. It showed in the first half. The other coach makes adjustments to give the edge to his team. Our coach responds by making his own adjustments that completely tank any chance we had. And somehow this is OK to you? Then you have the nerve to call out fans who are rightfully pissed off by mismanagement from a coach who couldn’t remotely sniff a job at any other halfway decent federation in the entire world? Pathetic. Pull your head out of the sand. Excuse makers like you make it an uphill battle in demanding the changes we need at the inept clown show that is our men’s federation.
I couldn't believe that Berhalter would bring on Lovitz. I was thinking that surely you'll go with your only real attacking option off the bench---Boyd. But I also thought Boyd would come on for Morris prior. Roldan worked his ass off like Arriola, and made a few good plays (including, almost magically, getting that corner very late). But Lovitz???? I mean, sure he could be more attacking than frickin Ream, but in the 83rd minute is that really what you do??? That one makes me angry. Also, the lack of a second half plan that includes how to deal with potential Tata changes pisses me off. I mean, you know the guy. You've gotta expect certain things to happen, and if they do then you've got your team prepped at halftime to adjust for them. For me, the switch of Pizarro to the US left was the catalyst--and Ream, for all of his decent play, was the pawn. This was obviously the weak space to attack, and they did, and Berhalter foolishly continued with what worked well for the first 45.
No, Bradley sits and Weston M drops to 6. Or Roldan plays for Bradley. That he kept playing, when he was obviously done at minute 50, is just damning of the fed. Anybody could see his leaden legs, his inability to win a tackle, his slow play. Obviously, GGG isn't allowed to sub him. How'd you like to coach in that circumstance?
This group played as well as it possibly could for long stretches but could not beat Mexico's B team. Progress!
Again, I will point out that if Adams were there, that just means that Cannon is on the bench because we know Adams is playing right back. At least that is the reality of Gregg's system. And we didn't lose this game because of the backline, so having Brooks wouldn't have really changed the paradigm here (yes, he is a better passer out of the back, but has some trouble against quick tricky attackers as well). So ultimately, the difference maker would be Sargent? C'mon Donovan, the problem was in midfield, and who is running that shop?
Broken record time, the game got out of hand once Weston lost his head after the cheap shot on Jozy. He let his emotion get the best of him and he stopped playing smart. He should learn from this game.