First half notes…. If this wasn’t a friendly, I’d say we’ve been a little too disjointed. But because this is a friendly, I’ll say that I appreciate us trying new things. Ratings: Turner - 6 He still looks shaky with his distribution but came up with a clean save. Lund - 5 He’s not bad, per se, but he’s no Jedi. Would like to see Wiley at the half. Richards - 5 Meh. Needs to be better with his passing. McKenzie - 6.5 I like this more composed version of him. Fossey - 7.5 Man of the half. Musah - 7 Slow start but grew into the half to be the main option for the team showing up for the ball. Morris - 6 I like his intensity but he hasn’t created anything either. Aaronson - 5 Meh. Not terrible. But not good enough to be our 10. Wright - 5.5 He’s a physical monster but need more out of him. Pepi - 5.5 Unlikely to be denied the goal. Not a RW. But I like his hustle. The talent is there. Balogun - 5.5 Need to be more threatening in the attack.
My subs at the half: Wiley (Lund) Tillman (Aaronson) Later Trusty (Richards), Johnny (Morris), De la Torre (Musah), Cowell (Pepi) *Rest Pulisic.
fossey doesnt look bad, but im not sure he looks good either. not bad in this crap is good though, i suppose... poch needs to sit down with musah and tell him he has every chance to get back into the team but its time to take a couple of windows off- he is playing horrifically for us. balo should just be dropped, im not sure he deserves an explanation. hes the poster boy for entitled, spoiled, no intensity, no work ethic, no fight, no interest in the team around him. not sure who to bring on here- maybe johnny, but it better not be for morris. luca, also for musah or aaronson i guess. tillman makes more sense. the only thing i want for sure is cowell on for balo (pepi central). the right isnt exactly cowells jam but you gotta take what you can get. pepi and haji are both doing fine. wiley at some point would be fun, nz arent any threat at all defensively so it can even be at lb even though he is absolutely not a lb at this level. or maybe we just go for 85% possession. thats just as good as winning, right?
Why rest Pulisic? This is the last match of this window and he is already, probably, not starting for Milan is their next match because of travel. He does not need the rest so, if he is not carrying a small injury, he should play.
I really hope Pochettino is going to teach our backups how to trap a ball that is hit straight to their feet. Really crucial skill to have when you're an international footballer.
Hold up play is a serious weakness across the board for our strikers. So many bad touches and flick-pass attempts... and Balogun is probably the worst of the bunch in this regard. His speed is legit and I like some of his other characteristics but he is not very good w/ his back to goal. The inability to serve a quality final ball continues to plague this group as well. We could easily be up 3 or 4-0 in this one w/ some better accuracy on the assist attempts... It would also have helped if the CR/AR didn't steal a completely legit goal from the US.
lund is a player out of time- he should have been in the fb rotation with dolo and hejduk in the early 90s. hes like a puppy version of hejduk (clearly a cat).
I gave see enough of that guy ..... forever, This team still smells of GB and is just plain boring. I want sarge and cowell NOW
I go back and forth…. The main reason I’m thinking is that I want the time to see what the fringe guys can do in this friendly. We already know what Pulisic can do. We need to see what are other dudes can do.
He is miles behind either of them, I've never seen a player made of wood, has Pinokio ever played soccer?
Anyone on this team that doesn’t have a large body of work that Poch can look at better care. There aren’t gonna be that many opportunities to replace players.
I mean, the offside call lets Balo off the hook. It wouldn't have been off with VAR, and he missed an otherwise great look at goal :/
it's all too cute in the build-up. We did a great job of breaking the pressure by going direct, and then Aaronson holds it up because there isn't a 100% passing opportunity despite multiple runners. Try shit.
I’ll be honest….i I was debating how to respond to this….then I’mrealized you typed “behind” and not “better than”. My response was going to be unkind.
At the half… Lund is the standout. He is the best crosser in the program. He had three world class crosses in the first half. He was probably the most influential player for the US. Aaronson is active and lively, but has trouble taking the game by the horns and becoming that constant threat he needs to be if he is the connector for the forwards. Morris is good because he’s smart and he is a QB out there. He’s always reading the defense and probing for paths to break lines. He’s conservative, but less so than other options at the position. Fossey is competent and has Scally beat in a couple of ways: he can dribble and he can pass. With Dest out, he is a good option for a player who can add to the attack. He should get some looks. The team is still having trouble generating shots and on the other end they are still having trouble giving the ball away cheaply and gifting chances. Not a good mix.