The most important takeaway, just like after September's matches, is that it's time to hire a US national team manager and put him or her in place for next month's matches. Best of luck to Sarachan in your future endeavors.
Not his fault in the slightest. The actual predictable thing is USMNT fans going out of their way to bash Bradley.
Sorry guys I just woke up, I couldn’t stay awake. I’m watching a real soccer game now Mexico vs Chile.
Cannon is the revelation from this game. He didn't put a foot wrong, and had his head in the game for 80 minutes. Cue Yedlin subbing in for him … Yedlin has been poor for a while and cannot defend. It is early, but as I said a couple of days ago, the entire backline competition should be open.
I liked the midfield trio. They were organized defensively, held possession better than anyone else, and contributed to some attacks. The attackers were erratic. Sargent was the best of the trio. He had the least rookie mistakes, and got a goal. Defenders were good (and Guzan), aside from Sweat. As bad as Sweat was, he wasn't at fault for any goals. We only gave up 2-3 good chances, so while we didn't have much possession or many chances, we made it an ugly game. Thats the best we can do at this point. We don't have the talent to do better. I think when you take all of this into consideration, we played well and it was a good result.
Quick Thoughts: Sargent - MOTM for me. More comfortable on the ball than any of the midfielders. You could look at that as either a good thing or a bad thing. This kid is going to be a key player for us. My only gripe is that he doesn't offer a lot of stylistic contrast to our other top strikers (i.e. Wood and Altidore). I would argue that they're all somewhat similar in terms of what they do, though Sargent may be the best on the ball. Weah - Worst game I've seen him play in the USA shirt. He has useful abilities, but was simply poor in this game. Gave away the ball, missed a potential tap-in on Wood's low cross, lacked composure, and generally was a waste man. Green - Too small and static to be a great striker. Lacks speed for a wide man. You can see why he's a second tier player. We have to find better options than him. I'd rather see Zardes or even Manneh in this position. Amon - Looks like an athletic specimen, but didn't show much skill or footballing ability. I'll second what I said about Green: These minutes would be better spent on alternatives like Zardes or Manneh. They may not be great, but they have more to offer. CMs - Trapp was active at times. The other two starters were not bad, but did not have standout moments. If we're being honest, Delgado and Acosta are just journeyman types who don't appear to offer a lot of standout traits at the top level. You don't get the exciting moments that someone like Adams can provide. Defense - These fullbacks aren't international quality. Sweat in particular is too slow and offensively limited to contribute at a high level. The CBs had a strong match, all things considered. You'd like to see Yedlin not make that mistake at the end, given his experience. Overall, even though it wasn't a terrible performance or result, you're hoping for players to prove themselves in these games and I just didn't see a lot of guys out there who I'd want on the plane to Qatar. The dropoff from our A team to this bunch is fairly significant.
Stopped watching after 1st half. The USMNT is atrocious without Pulisic, McKinnie and Adams. The lack of possession, the long balls are a killer. The US has to learn how to play soccer. Peru just can't finish, except for Flores, who was left uncovered by Yedlin, who isn't a defender.
The second he subbed in we stopped attacking. There was a 10 second stretch I saw him misplace two passes. Was the goal his fault. No. Was our play the last 15 mins. Yes. He’s a center midfielder and that’s where our play comes from.
My biggest takeaway is that Reggie Cannon may soon challenge Yedlin for the starting RB position if given a fair chance. He was good tonight and has been very good in MLS all season..
I think we see once again that Trapp is a much better on field leader than Bradley, and a needed player in the side. Trapp-led teams are very organized, and the players know their responsibility. He's an extra coach on the field. We've played seven games with Trapp in the lineup (and the captain) since the start of the year. We've given up seven goals in those games. We've played two games without him in the lineup, we've given up four goals in those two games.
The USA won't be on a plane to Qatar at all the way things are going. The federation's so incompetent I expect them to bungle the coaching search and the subsequent WC qualification campaign.
We're going to do fine as long as people like Adams, Sargent, Miazga, McKennie, and Pulisic stay healthy and continue to improve. However, it's clear that we still lack depth and technical attacking players, two things that have been an issue for a long time.
Cannon and Weah played great....SMART and "in-your-face". Sargent got lucky on the goal but looks to be one for the future as well. Trapp, Sweat, Delgado, SOOO tentative and awkward....personally, I would never play them again. Although, they all did play better in the first 20-30 minutes of the second half.....there's just more promising players at all of their positions, imo. really hoping if it is berhalter that he doesnt stan trapp on everyone..... yedlin and bradley were downgrades but they were supposed to be upgrades...the irony is bittersweet. CCV and Long were stout...peru shouldnt have scored even the one goal they did.... not having bradley's lazy ass in front of the backline made a huge difference to the team defense. amon...is YOUNG.....but he showed flashes....won the free kick that led to the us goal....the speed of play is new to him and it showed. hopefully he will adjust (i think he will)...and once he does...if he can play that final ball at speed he will be a weapon. green is slow...and he kills counterattacks with aplomb....i think sarachan has been stressing possession and it makes the players tentative on the break...either way, very curious to know what is going on in his head during attacking sequences b/c it leaves a lot to be desired. i hope sarachan is not allowed to be a youth us coach....send him to usl or lower, please or college (would be ideal, imo)
It’s fair not to put the goals against directly on MB. I also think it’s fair to say that we’re not receiving much if any any benefit from his veteran leadership when he’s on the pitch. To be clear, I’m not discussing his play but rather the poise of the team when he plays (as one would expect a team who touts “veteran experience” to actually benefit when such leadership is playing).
Respectfully disagree with almost everything you just said. The two things I agree on is that Sargent is a player and Sweat was very poor (especially in the first half) and clearly isn't cut out for this level.
Sooooooo many give-aways. Delgado was really bad about this. Acosta was pretty bad too. I guess this comes from playing in MLS. Amon is too raw. Love Sweat's effort but a couple of real yikes moments. If Sargent turns into brian Ching it will be a success. He has great vision, but the touch is not consistent. Bradley has never tackled. Even when he was quick enough too. Yedlin should be embarrassed. Long, Vickers and Guzan were fine. Green had one nice hold up but seemed slow. Need a coach and some effort at building the A roster.
Exactly. Yedlin was marking NO ONE. So what he should have been marking was the exact space that he allowed Flores to run into. He did neither. Delgado was not great, but that goal was on Yedlin.