Post-match: USA vs Paraguay March 27th, 2018

Adams and Miazga are going to be key players for us. Some others showed bright spots at times.

 

Paraguay apparently doesn't understand what friendly means. Should have had at least 2 red cards.

It was nice to see these kids have more heart in a meaningless game then our entire team of veterans in the most important game in the history of our country.

*edit: And this team would have gotten us a result at T&T.

 

Oh, you mean Dave Sarcasm.

 

This is the first time Trapp has really impressed me, Delgado did some nice things, Wood was disappointing, Miazga was impressive, CCV was good but may be a bit limited speed wise, Villafana appears to be in good form, Nagbe is bipolar. Loved Saief and Adams.

Too bad we lost Gonzalez, a midfield of Adams and Mckennie at the 8 and Gonzalez at the 6 would have the highest work rate I have ever seen in a midfield.

 

Mr. interim manager should be fired immediately. Putting the W ahead of seeing as many players as possible play significant minutes was classic American youth coaching.

 

I bet those guys loved flying from Europe to get 0 minutes in a friendly lol. Nova and Weah barely got any minutes and nearly produced a goal in the few minutes they were on the field together.

 

I hope he's questioned about his sub reasoning in the post-game presser. I would like to know what his reasons were.

 

This was a very interesting game for gauging the future. The number one positive result was that the kids played like the pros that they are. I won't exactly gush about the quality but there was enough quality there that Paraguay had to bring out the full arsenal of dark arts to slow the game down. Paraguay are the masters of knowing how to do this. The fact that this young team dealt well with this is cause for satisfaction. A lot of positives but no really true stars in the making.

 

For as well as we played, I'm kinda disappointed we didn't get a goal that wasn't a penalty. We weren't exactly lighting up their goalkeeper either.

Of course, the substitution management was atrocious

 

I want to talk about Weah and Adams, and Kenny Saief, CCV, and Miazga

...but all I can think about is that pass by Marky Delgado ::swoon::

 

I like this team. Young, fast, tough.

 

- Adams displayed some leadership
- Delgado and Trapp alongside of him didn't look out of their depth in this match
- If only Miazga was transitioned to sooner as many suggested
- Steffen with a mixed bag but showed promise
- Saief with a very Fabian-esque performance for good and bad
- Sarachan was one of the top prospects out there...in part because he played so few to compete with him.
- Novakovich, look at that stride, so fluid and fast, he was achieving the perfect body symmetry out there before he got too full of himself.

 

I still don't think Trapp can deal with a press.

Novakovich should of gotten more time. He's a big men with a eye for goal, good feet/technique, and he seems to t know how to use his gait ont he run.

That play he had with Weah at the end would he been botched with someone like Zardes (an I was one of the first Zardes supporters).

I think Adams is real in midfield.

Delgado played as expected. True glue guy.

Saeif has place with the full tea for now on.

People eed to stop maligning nagbe becasue he didn't got to Barcelona and dominate champs lague with Messi.

 

My porridge is too hot...my porridge is too cold. Never enough to cry about. Not the best game we ever played, but I like winning. Saw some guys step up and others utilize their limited time well. Bobby Wood got no service and he is used to that. DY was not used as a crosser and Wood suffered. Looks as though we have ballers that can split the D and move to goal.

 

Steffen: Stopped everything that came at him, and had several good long balls out. A couple of iffy moments with the ball at his feet, and he missed a punch (may have been fouled), but otherwise a good performance. Candidate to take over the #1 jersey?

Yedlin: Pretty much what we expect these days. Solid defensively, a threat moving forward, not special with the ball at his feet.

CCV: No major problems, ok with the ball. The one foul towards the end in a bad spot wasn't even a foul.

Miazga: Really commanded the game, anchored the line. Great positioning and feet on a couple of Almiron runs when he was isolated. Above-average distribution, if not great.

Villafana: Again, what we expect. Reluctant to overlap, and not a real threat when he underlapped. Still can't believe he went 90. Caught out a few times defensively, and generally pretty mediocre passing/dribbling.

Trapp: Had a couple of nice tackles and interceptions, and generally covered our advancing players nicely. Sprayed the ball around laterally very well, could have been a touch more incisive. Pretty much what you need and require from a 6, but not much more. Seemed to also lead the midfield well, and was our chief communicator.

Nagbe: Rinse and repeat. A few special moments punctuated by moments that could have been special(er). Like when he cut inside from the left, opened up his defender and had space for a shot inside the 18... only to lay the ball off to the top of the box to no one in particular. Was part of our best chance before the penalty, and again displayed silky ball retention skills, and that one great pass across the field early in game.

Adams: He was all over the place, making plays down both wings with the ball, and winning it back. Used the time and space Paraguay gave us in the middle better than the other mids. His willingness to make that lung-bursting run through the middle of the field gave us our goal. Great game from a guy who doesn't always look super at home in the center of the field.

Delgado: If Adams was all over, Delgado some managed to be everywhere else. He filled the gaps very well and showed excellent pressing and ball recovery skills after we would lose possession. Good passing, and the direct pass that led to Adams' breakaway required confidence and technique. Played really well for a center mid who didn't have much of the ball.

Saeif: You could see the skill, and he grew into the game in the second half. A few more poor passes than is really acceptable, although a lot of those came when Villafana was not quite in the right spot or available as an outlet. He looked good out wide and tucking in, and knew when to be where. I liked his direct play, and think he's a more "American" version of Nagbe.

Wood: Not his game. Hopefully the goal helps him, but he contributed little to nothing in possession, and didn't really manage to stretch the defense, which is usually his most redeeming quality. Dude needs to find his mojo.

Rubin: Not too much to write about, although he did take advantage of tired legs on the dribble a couple of times.

Novakovich: Really legged out that goal-scoring chance, should've layed it off to Rubin. A couple of decent hold-up plays. Did more than Wood in fewer minutes.

Weah: Looked a bit tentative, but actually recovered the ball a few times, made a couple of good runs, and had a couple of good passes. Didn't look out of place, would've been a goal threat if he'd received more time.

Roldan: Jersey was untucked when he came in. Really sloppy there.

Sarachan: Meh. Needed to see minutes for Robinson at the very least. We know what Villafana brings. No reason not to use all of your subs. That said, we looked organized defensively. Probably the only tactical-level positive to take away from the game.

 

I wanna see what some combo of McKennie, Parks and Adams can do.

And I wanna see what some combo of Pulisic, Saief and Johannsson can do.

Weah, Sargent, Nova and perhaps Siebatcheu hopefully become what I think they can.

 

You can say that again. somebody needs to tell him scared money don't make money.

2 8s and 6 in the middle of a 4141. Poor use of bench by only subbing 4 and not subbing til 70, I mean I was saddened. This was an exception game. go out and win 4-2 and make people talk about the win, not this turd.

 

<insert gif of man laughing>

You expect pressing questions from the US soccer press? You must me be new here.

 

Stock up/down take on the game:

Stock up:
--Adams: Looks like he's getting comfortable with the speed of play at this level and was a clear difference maker for the first time
--Delgado: Played his usual game of keeping things clean and simple and added that great pass to spring Adams. Probably has jumped Roldan on the depth chart.
--Saief: Gets his first start, doesn't necessarily look like a superstar, but looks like a guy who starts for a good Euro club...with a good left foot. So, that puts him in the mix to start for the US.
--Nagbe: I was ready to write him off and not give him any more call-ups, and while I'm not totally convinced otherwise, his control in sticky situations was something to behold at times and is rare in our pool. I wouldn't make him a default starter, but I'm OK calling him up again.
--Villafana: Provided his normal couple of nice contributions to the attacking buildup and looked much more solid defensively than he did towards the end of qualifying. Would have been nice to see Robinson, but Villafana making it clear he's not giving away the spot.

Hold:
--Trapp: Showed that his performance against Bosnia wasn't a fluke. He didn't have as many memorable passes going forward, but had some key defensive interventions.
--Miazga: Still looks like one of the starters at CB and gets a little more comfortable each game
--CCV: Still looks like he could be a starter or top backup at CB going forward. Might have problems with quicker, more agile forwards
Yedlin: Didn't do anything to put his role as the starting RB into doubt
--Steffen: Didn't have much to do, but was shaky on the one header that went just wide and the one cross that dropped in the area. Did well, though, to be aware on that last second FK.
--Weah: Looked a bit nervous, but had a couple nice plays in his handful of minutes
--Novakovich: Wasn't able to hold up a long ball to relieve pressure and didn't take his one chance (and didn't square it to the open guy on the far side), but did show surprising wheels to get the chance in the first place
--Rubin: A little bit loose in touches, but had one very nice pass to spring someone on the left wing. Career seems to be continuing its rise from the dead.

Stock down:
--Wood: Scored the PK, but wasn't nearly as effective overall as Sapong was the past couple games
--Roldan: Didn't really get much time to make an impact while the other CMs looked good

 

Proud of the effort. I think this team qualifies out of CONCACAF last cycle. Not surprising that good things happen when...

- you actually bring some role players along and don't choose a USMNT all star team. Delgado executed his role well and props to @Excellency for advocating for him all along.

- you play players that are willing and able to put in a modicum of effort. Too many lazy, entitled players and arrogant coaches on that last failure of a squad. Tyler Adams has more heart than 2/3 of last years' starters combined.

- you have some respect for your opponent and actually game plan for their strengths and weaknesses instead of assuming showing up will be enough.

 

I think we saw a team with pretty good balance. Heavy on youth and inexperience, but with fire, ideas, and tenacity. Take 50% of this team, sprinkle in a few more reliable veterans and we would be in the World Cup.

No, I'm not forgetting about it completely. There just is not a way US Soccer leadership can excuse or deflect their way out of long term responsibility. Sunil was a band leader, but I'll be damned if the rest of the old horns get by without notice and that includes Sarachan, Williams, and Dan Flynn.

It's arrogant to call an inexperienced group like this, game managing a win in a meaningless (although, clearly competitive) friendly, and not maximize available game time to reward upcoming talented players.

We don't need to run guys at 100% for 90 minutes in a game like this to make some sort of statement. That gets players hurt.

 

Not quite as new as you, but I'd like to think I'm still young.

 

To be fair Nokah botched that cause Rubin was breaking his neck to be open for the pass and was. However a greedy striker is nothing new and sometimes a positive.