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

This is what drives me nuts about this fanbase.

When Sargent hadn't proven shit aside from signing with a Bundesliga team, people were screaming for him to be an auto-start and were furious if he was ever dropped.

He did not earn a regular starting spot in 2019 when people were doing that. He got his chance at the beginning of World Cup qualifying and laid a complete egg. He didn't score in the Bundi and EPL.

He took a step down to the Championship and did better, but not elite. He played okay at the World Cup but largely played a limited role that really didn't involve trying to score a ton.

And then he absolutely blew up at Norwich last year and became one of their best players. He obviously took a step forward as a player. You can see it in his play and in the stats.

He's been hurt for basically every camp since then ... but IT IS NOW our fanbase is done with him?

I mean, really? I don't think he's anywhere near to a clear #1, but the tweets quoted on the five years seems ignorant at best and malicious at worst. When he was a teenager who hadn't proven anything but had the Bundesliga STAMP, he was a required play.

Now that he's a MUCH better player, it's time to mock him?

 

On the good late move Panama created on our left we had then contained on their side but Pepi missed the read and pressed high onto a CB instead of collapsing square onto their open DM. They played a simple square pass inside and that keyed the move. Just one instance but Pepi has a history of having a better motor than mind for defense.

 

Sargent is our best defensive forward, and I don't think it is close. His sense of timing and angles combined with a strong work rate puts him far ahead. I think Pepi can get there. I'm not sure Balo or Wright will ever really have the mentality.

 

1st half:
USA .49 xG PAN .17 xG
56/44 possession

2nd half:
USA 1.22 xG PAN .73 xG
52/48 possession

 

I agree in sentiment, but I think Ream is almost certainly a starter for Poch right now, even if we are 100% healthy. Could be wrong.

Some of the guys, I don't know that we missed. I don't know that Richards outplays McKenzie here, or that Johnny is actually preferred over Morris, for example. I'm not sure we really missed Weah over Musah.

But the team is clearly drastically different without Dest. Provided he defends, Reyna can be transformational. McKennie is a chaos wildcard that defends and creates like no one else. And while I think Adams may be less preferred under Poch, his defensive upside is unmatched.

Healthy, it is a completely different team.

I also think it is interesting how focused the entire attack was on the Jedi / Pulisic combination. Oh, I only have 2-3 regular starters -- let me just force it up there.

 

That's better than I thought it would be. I saw one where we were basically even (a little behind!) but that seemed wrong.

Where did you get these?

 

All I know is, there were several times where I expected the ball to go wide or back, and it went forward instead to Busio or Morris, which was a pleasant surprisez at least to me. It could also be that I was really wanting to see something different and willed it into existence in my head. Like I said, I would like to see a heat map to either confirm or refute that impression.

 

I think you and @gogorath are making the same point (are you a sock? lol) and I will watch Sargent next time with passing lane defense in mind. But I have also noticed that Pepi is really good playing the tip of the spear, applying on the ball pressure. I've seen him dispossess CBs and CDMs many times. I haven't seen the same from Sargent, but we also haven't seen much from Sargent at all, so I hope we get more chances to see him in action. He's certainly earned it with his club play.

 

I agree that there was more forward movement -- especially in those situations where it wasn't transition, but we had passed a line or two and sort of had those "build up breaks" and we pushed it rather than pulling back.

I think people always overstated our reticence to go forward a bit in the past, but overall, I'd say more aggression.

But we really didn't attack the center. There were a lot of Berhalter games where we did so more -- like the T&T Nations League game at home where we went at it all the time (and failed until late).

We attacked the edges here, and that's okay. I think we did it smarter by coming in closer to the box and attacking the endline. But honestly, that was like 95% of our attacking movement.

 

Backwards passes:

Morris 12/78
Busio 10/46

 

It was enough that their interim coach immediately was removed from consideration for the full time job when he seemed like the front runner previously. Swung too much the other way of Southgate and his conservatism and put too many offensive players out there without defensive solidity behind them.

 

#USA in possession under Mauricio Pochettino vs #Panama

- 3-2 base
- Referencing the half space trying to get midfielders to jump
- Playing in behind when the back line is high and 10s can’t be found

Made with @LiveTagPro

https://t.co/q1Leglbk8Y

— Modern Football Analyst (@VideosModern) October 13, 2024

 

I think Sargent does a good job of cutting the field in half, making it easier for others to start to press. Better than Pepi right now. He didn’t look menacing pressuring the ball, the opposite, just a slight jog, but thinking about it now it’s probably by design.

 

not before, but Zendejas.

 

I don't rate Mckenzy as high as others do. I thought he did very little going forward, he deferred to Ream most times. Defensibly, he was solid until he got caught high on a beautiful pass that the forward botched the shot for the tie.

 

I'm traveling this weekend so no time for longer posts but what really stood out to me as an obvious change was the spacing and proximity of our mids and proximity of our lines.

Don't know how many times over the years I've said our lines aren't connected and our mids have no options on the ball. Or Puli is just iso'd out wide. American coaches don't understand this. There was a clear drilled intent here for a player receiving to be aware of where the advancing option should be and the intention to link/combine with that option(s) thru the lines. Chain reaction mapped out.

Good to see.

 

Looks like the back end of Cruyff's 3-4-3 box at Barcelona. The interesting thing was Musah's starting position when the ball was played over the top.

 

In buildup we created a 32 base with Musah and Jedi in the WB spaces. Musah tended to be a bit higher than Jedi. Unsure if that was by design, a response to where we were holding the ball, or just natural instincts. In buildup Scally tucked in as the RCB a bit (sometimes an RCB in a 3 can be a couple yards wider). Then when we advanced he would step onto the DM line and situationally overlap, I think mostly when ball side. In build Mark became the CCB. There were actually some GKs where Mark started higher than Joe and Tim in the pivot (sometimes he would rotate back before it was taken and the marking backs would split wider). Ream was the LCB in build and attack, he didn’t step or overlap like Scally.

Ahead of the backline Morris and Busio played as a double pivot and seemed to have equivalent duties when we pushed up into attack. Pulisic tucked in ahead of our LCM (usually Morris) and Brendo shifted right of center to create a box in midfield. Not exactly because usually the dual AMs were a little wider than the CMs to create diagonal passing lanes/not be stuck on the same vertical lines as the CM. Sometimes they would drop into CM or come inside into the middle.

On defense it was a 4231 with Pulisic at LM, Aaronson at AM, and Musah at RM. Because of Panama’s own use of WBs Musah tended to drop off and slide wide to cover the player in Panama’s LWB space. Brendo tended to shade right of center defensively, likely so he could be the one to fill that gap between Yunus and Josh and step to Panama’s LCB. At times it was Busio who would also step up on the right onto the CM or AM lines from DM also to fill a potential gap.

 

Dude! I’m sorry man!
I’m venting a little. You are right. I am just starting to get old and crankiness comes with that territory.

 

I've done more stats checking with my prevous post than I care to, so i won't fact check you (but I provided the link). It's 7.9 full games. I'd have liked to see a goal or two in that time, but those framing his lack of goal scoring in a 5 year window without context and suggesting he sucks is are being a bit disingenous. He deserves to be here.

 

This is very thoughtful. This tells me a lot about Pochettino. Maybe his greatest coaching quality is not tactics, but rather people management and psychology,

 

They are Opta numbers.

 

Rewatching some highlights, I do think a lot of people underrate what Busio and Morris just attempting vertical passes did... Heck there were a couple dangerous opportunities where Jedi/Pulisic had more space than they usually have on the left just because of Busio making a long pass.

The more I rewatch, and I know I called them out before but I do think Buso/Morris/McKenzie just added more balance to the team than we at least had in the last year.

 

I'd rather have him making dumb distribution choices and then excellent saves than having him butcher easy saves because he's trying to be a better distributer.