Post-match: USA vs Panama friendly 10/12 (R)

That was good, but not enough for a enough

 

I'm hoping that with Turner, a new atmosphere at club means a fresh start.

 

My brain actually agrees with my heart on this one. There was a lot for Poch to rip the team for tomorrow. Lots to point out. Lots of things to work on. This wasn't a really good game.

But players need to believe in the project. They need to believe in themselves and each other. Goals matter. Winning matters. He didn't have a great game, but Musah feels a lot better about himself and his place on this team after having scored, I guarantee you.

 

Great double save, and the manager spares him extra blushes by not playing through him. He looked quick and I worry a keeper loses those quick reactions without live games, so well done Matt.

 

It’s better than losing, or a New Zealand type draw, psychologically speaking, no doubt.

 

he also made the run to get put in.... his shot was on frame but nothing too threatening. I like the chaos Sargent and Aaronson created with all their pressure. It was nice to see. And when the ball was won, we tried to hit them quickly. In fact most of our dangerous plays where turnovers and transition play. There’s value to what Aaronson brings; it will be up to the coaches to figure out when to use it. Just like Tillman can create issues if we are going to float balls up the middle.

 

yep. A trend under GG was that team often played a much better 2nd game of the window. I hope we see the same thing for this window.

 

Nice to have a coach who respects the program enough to dress like a professional.

Even my wife noticed. What happened to the guy who wore a t shirt?

 

The result does not matter. Focus on the performance. The performance was not good. There were a few bright spots, however. Busio played well. Turner did OK. Musah got his first USMNT goal.

 

I'm not going to worry too much about the first performance...especially the first game in a short two game window with a brand new coach. I do expect to see a bit more tuesday but even then I'm not going to be too harsh.

They looked pretty good for the first part of the game but, just like under Berhalter, they dominated possession and looked like the better team but never really pressured and created a real shot on goal until Aaronson's shot which was saved...39ish minutes into the game that they had been "dominating".

Do I think it is fixable? Yes. It may take a few games but I have faith until I lose it.

 

Poch was wearing a t shirt under the coat. Should’ve hired Schmetzer obviously, who would’ve worn suit and tie.

 

Good, not great, but a start.
Panama doesn't suck? and they all knew the setting.
Jedi Ream partnership is nice, but has an expiration date.
Good game for turner. One armed save was excellent.
I liked that pulisic was playing quick and decisive. Not hero ball. I think if the the team reaches to meet him where he is rather than defer, we will begin to exceed the sum of our parts.
Excited for the next one.

 

This isn't the first time I've noticed their lousy production quality. They often zoom in when they shouldn't (and often for too long during live action), and don't zoom when they should. They show replays during live action too. And when the ball was on the far side of the field, it was hard to see who was who, and what was going on. The director doesn't seem to know the sport very well. Making matters even worse, I had a harder time with the audio than I did with the video. They drowned out the announcers with their crowd mics, and on the rare occasions that they didn't, the lead announcer's voice was always way louder than Martino's. They also drowned out a lot of the postgame comments with background music.

 

I couldn't believe this when I saw it, Sargent zero goals in the last five years? Had to look it up on Wikipedia and it is factually correct... his last three goals were against Cuba in 2019!!

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He's almost a reverse altidore '13-'14 at this point, everything's going in for club, nothings going in for country, that being said, it bears repeating the guy has basically logged virtually no minutes whatsoever since Window 1 of WC Qualifying, September '21, other than the 1.5 starts at the WC. But it is pretty insane, it feels like he has the finishing yips in the shirt, but when you dig a bit deeper you realize, the past five years he logged some minutes in fall '19, spring/summer '21, and at the WC, and that's largely it. It just feels like a lot more than that.

 

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Bajraktarevic is young and his game is hit-or-miss. He shows great promise, but he just couldn't perform well two games in a row. Perhaps as he gets older his game gets more consistent. I think the jury still out on him.

Now, Koleosho's game is more polished. The only way we can sell him a switch is if Puli switches to the right and Koleosho starts as a left winger.

 

Nope. According to the paper, they were at full strength. They just gave a lot of youngsters playing time.

 

Just watched England lost 1:2 at Wembley, I would take any 2:0 win any day beautiful or ugly whatever.

 

Tillman's first 3 touches, he lost the ball. I'm glad he continued to plug away until things started to to get better. He is not a high-energy bunny like Morris. Reyna is not either, but he does have a knack to be where the ball is going to be..

 

I just think people need to put an asterisk onto Sargent's run of inept play.

Not denying he's been a big fat nothing for half a decade however it is important to note that he's barely played at all during that half decade.

His windows where he started some matches since the winter of Covid's explosion ('19-'20) were....

March '21
June '21
September '21
September '22
World Cup '22

And that's it.
He did play a couple of minutes this summer, like 22 out of a possible 450, but the truth is, he has not started back to back games since the NL Semifinal and Final in '21, and other than the WC tune ups and WC itself, he hasn't featured in back to back windows since March/June of '21.

He's been out of the program other than stupidly getting a ticket (along with Ferreira and Wright) inexplicably over Pepi at the WC 2 years ago for the better part of 3.5 years.

I tend to think he'll look better with more reps with these guys, he can't be as on point as he's been with Norwich, and be utterly hopeless, I buy it, but at the same time, Pepi has 1000% earned the right to auto tickets, and while Balo is everyone's go to starter, he's certainly the next most locked in consistent option. Sargent and Wright are clearly a step or more behind.

Pepi had a rough run in March/June, but he was also the only striker scoring goals with any kind of consistency post WC '22 until Balo and Wright woke up last summer and spring respectively. It was Pepi who scored in the March '23 window, the June '23 window, the September '23 window, and the utterly ridiculous sqeaky bum stifler against T&T to open things up in the NL last November. He's been the one striker that generally produces window to window, that's why I was so happy he got it done making it 5 of the past 8 windows w/some goals, and in the windows he didn't score, by and large, he wasn't starting (Copa America, post Copa America ---- show of September, and the March '23 horror show). I don't expect him to suddenly start, but I'm hopeful this locks him in as the reserve striker.

 

England lost 2-1 to Greece at home, but Greece also had three other goals ruled offside and a goal line clearance where the ball was halfway across the line... so it seemed more like 6-1 lol

 

Give it time, it’s his first day on the job.

 

Okay but what sneakers did he wear??

 

I went to Univision with no Spanish whatsoever.