Post-match: USA vs Uruguay Friendly 11/18 (R)

The big winner tonight: The manager.

 

MLS haters in shambles. That was a strong Uruguay team too.

 

A laugher against a traditionally strong team is always welcome.
I have no idea what it means long term.

 

A little over a year ago I was thinking that we weren't deep enough for a good World Cup run. Now I'm getting hope again.

 

The friendlies are basically our world cup qualifiers so players are playing like it's a job interview for the world cup.

 

Coach is happy that we have a very deep bench. This WC every team should have 30 man roster for more games than normal.

 

Standout match of the Poch era thus far in terms of the run of play being a delight to watch. Minus the latter portions when some shenanigans were setting in passing across the board was clever and purposeful. Finishing was ruthless as it needs to be against opposition like this. Prime MOTM candidates were obviously Berhalter and Freeman. I can’t help but think their Gold Cup experience helped them get to tonight.

 

Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa reportedly told one of his players that playing in MLS "makes players lazy" & that they must play elsewhere to make his squads.

His Uruguay side is currently down 4-1 at halftime to the United States & all four goals were scored by MLS players pic.twitter.com/X6yY0uOEYi

— Adam Booker (@abooker17) November 19, 2025

 

I guess we’ll wait until fall of ‘26 to bring back Musah and Cardoso.
Did not see that coming a year ago.

 

Coach will make a hard decision to drop some like Survivor game...

 

I don't know about that, but it feels good that we have a team that will play "all-in" when the team is short handed, and have a chance of getting a good result.

I wasn't expecting this scoreline, at all.
There were very few times when it looked like we lost the plot. Giving up their goal was one of the few times.

 

Remarkable. A comprehensive win against a really good side. I think there's going to be a Tony Sanneh moment at the World Cup. Berhalter might fit the bill; maybe Tessmann. Freeman was outstanding. As I said in the game thread, the coach deserves great credit. He out-thought his mentor. Players knew where to be and where to move. I love the toughness we brought to both games. I'm still concerned about the centerbacks, but I thought Trusty did well. As someone said, some good players will not be going to the WC. That's progress.

 

I had a feeling we could walk Uruguay tonight, we’re ascending and they’re struggling.
But never with that starting eleven. Lightning in a bottle or a sign of something bigger.

 

Seb was excellent today, he was really good. Always looking to turn up field and attack. His defense was rock solid. The dude just earned himself a spot on the March roster.

Looks like Freeman could develop into a star.

How does Pulisic fit into this when he comes back? I imagine that he is going to be a handful, but there is no room for his captain America schtick on this team.

How does Jedi fit in, what about Timo? We have some really solid wing backs now.

We also have a bunch of really good midfielders, some of them are going to be disappointed.

We are starting to develop some real depth. Interesting times to be a USMNT fan for sure.

 

Of the "bubble" players, I thought that Berhalter, Freeman, and Tessman helped themselves, Tolkin and Aidan Morris neither helped not hurt themselves, Trusty did nothing to help himself, and Aaronson hurt himself.

Biggest issue is still the lack of WC-level keepers....Freese basically gifted Uruguay their goal by coming out of the net unnecessarily, failing to communicate his intent to his defenders, missing the ball, and therefore leaving himself way out of position.

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/6uZ2TVk9s3

— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) November 19, 2025

This is the midfield duo that shut down a dangerous Uruguay squad.

 

Alex Freeman has BIG potential.

 

Yeah. That's the correct Sanneh comparison.

 

What is this?

You sound very dramatic.

 

That freeman goal was insane

 

Sanneh came a bit out of nowhere in 2002 when he was 30ish. That's why I mention Seb and Tessmann - slightly older players who made a jump in performance.

 

Puli is our best player, but at times with the national team he tries to do way too much on his own. He needs to approach playing with the national team more like he does when he is at club. I think he will and I think he will have a huge WC, but I do worry that he might derail the momentum that we are building if he tries to put too much on his shoulders.

 

When I saw the lineup I mostly was interested in how our center backs played out of pressure, and how Freeman would look playing the Scally.

On the first item, it’s an incomplete, right, because we progressed the ball like it was 11v9. One thing I noted is that often they tried to defend us 1v1 in space, regardless of which Yank had the ball. And some of our guys are terrific dribblers and they showed it. We didn’t have to pass through the press because we won a million one v ones.

Freeman, wow, don’t know how it could have gone any better.

Berhalter’s development in this calendar year has few if any historical precedents. From (for me) a complete outsider to an inch away from being a rotational starter, a guy who might get a start in match day 2.

As for the development point, if you’re thinking, hey Superdave, what about Freeman, the guy you literally mentioned in the first sentence…that’s different. fFreeman had almost no record in the pros, that happens. Berhalter had over 100 MLS appearances.

Was I wrong to have such a low opinion of him a year ago, or has he really improved like this? If he was a baseball player you’d assume PEDs.

Appreciate the sentiment, but it’s way too early. Enjoy the performance.

 

Elite MLS players are basically on the level of bottom half of the tables of the Top-5 aside from the Prem.