Not hard actually. Out of all of those you only list Reyna as not optimized ins a 4-3-3 but I remember at U17 level he mostly play left winger so this is a recent development where he can "only" play a 10 in a 4-2-3-1. I think given more time he would be fine as a winger in a 4-3-3 with a lot of freedom to cut inside and interchange with one of the kids in the 4-3-3. Surely either Musah or McKennie have shown enough to swap and do well wide right. And there may be teams or situations where a 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2 is required for a whole game or because of what has happened in a game. I am just so ready to see the real team together and as healthy as possible. Get well Morris, Pomykal, Ledezma (and anyone I've overlooked or gets hurt after this).
It's more challenging than you suggest. Reyna might've done well as a winger against kids. This is a much higher level than that. I think most would agree that his game looks a lot better now as an inside player than outside player. Musah also doesn't play well out wide. I think he's looked out of his depth most of this season playing a regular role at winger for Valencia. Valencia would probably be more successful playing him less. However, he's only 18 years old, playing in a top league, and playing out of position, so I'm not criticizing his potential. I do think though that what we see is that his game is much better suited to playing centrally. McKennie can play that role where he starts in a wide position, but he doesn't play it like a traditional winger. He's also been a central midfielder for his whole career, as far as I'm aware. I think there are ways to sort this out, but I think it's harder than you suggest. It's likely not a problem down the road because it's likely not all these players are players we must have in the lineup for the foreseeable future. Some others will pass them and take their places. Building the current USMNT, I think these are the five building blocks in midfield/attack you are working with as the key players, and then you fill in the others around them.
I'd argue that if you're playing Musah on the wing, I don't think he'd beat out Weah in that spot. If you need to get all five on the field, I'd probably have Reyna as a winger. If I relax that requirement, I think the lineup is changing due to competition. Right now, Pulisic, Steffen, Adams, McKennie are guys who are playing regardless of matchups. Brooks and Dest are right there, and I suspect that they are, but I can see a world where that might not be true. Feels crazy, but might be because they both have some clear weaknesses and issues with bad runs of form. Reyna, Musah and perhaps a couple others are close to this list (like Weah for me), but suffer more from distinct competition in their roles than necessary failing. Richards, if and when defensive consistency is proven, will likely vault up the list, though he has a couple of things to prove. But almost anyone could fall off if someone else passes you.
I think Weah is creeping up on a player who needs to be in the lineup (that category that the others are in), but I think there's a bigger pressing need at CF than winger. I also like his game better as a CF, so I think Musah's spot, even as a winger, is a little safer right now than you believe. Morris is injured, so that eliminates probably the other big option in those positions. I'm not really seeing a must start player at CF right now, so I'd play the in-form Weah there.
Agree. His best asset as a pro has been feeding through balls to a striker who makes excellent runs. He has a great skill set across the board, but his best relative to others is definitely in tighter spaces and making that incisive pass in the middle. Reyna does have finishing ability, which lends itself to the inside forward position. But he's much more comfortable getting the ball and passing than making runs behind the defense. He's the passer, not the receiver. He's incredibly fast, which is why he gets put at winger. But he's lacking in end product and that's a challenge when we are asking for goals from our wingers. I like him in the middle much more, where he's like a super fast Nagbe who doesn't lose the ball, aggressively moves forward, plays hard defense but doesn't have the final third skills. McKennie needs a somewhat freer role. He's also just a riskier player, so you need him to head forward. And you are missing something if he isn't in attack. The winger isn't insane ... but I'm not sure it works, either. Agree. I just think people might have to come to terms with a more fluid set of best XI -- some of these guys may not start in every situation. I think you also have to think about how they integrate with the striker. If Reyna is playing a 10 role, I'm not sure a striker like Sargent works as well. He's likely looking for someone who plays more like Zardes/Hoppe, etc. But our best striker may end up being someone more like Sargent. And so on.
And this is where it gets complex. Weah is great at making runs behind the defense. He's great at pressing. He's pretty good with the ball facing forward. He's fantastic on the break. He's not great in the air. He's not great with his back to goal. I don't know how effective he is finding space in the box against a bunker as opposed to the runs he makes now with more space. So he's got like half the skills. But if you want him coming back, drawing the CBs up into the midfield, helping with the build up, receiving long balls in the air ... I dunno. Probably not Weah. Better than Zardes, but not Sargent. But he'd be a spectacular winger playing OFF that Sargent-style guy. We aren't going to be able to play everyone at their best position. We have to find the best combination of skills, and that can be relative to competition. I think this team should look quite a bit different home versus El Salvador than at Azteca. I don't think we're at a talent level where we can just roll out and dominate.
This is a good and interesting discussion and it only complicates more if someone like Aaronson takes a leap forward in the next 12 months. As mentioned a little, I think the opponent will also play a large role in deciding formations and tactics. Reyna has not been great when he gets isolated in a wide role. You could in essence attempt something like a 4-3-2-1, where Reyna and Pulisic play as the 2. Giving them the freedom to work outside or stay more centrally. This gives Musah and Wes the ability to push forward in the wider channels while also creating opportunities for the full-backs to work into those areas as well. The challenge is that can quickly turn into a 4-5-1 if Pulisic and Reyna get wide and no one is pushing through the center of the midfield. It's all interesting to think about.....for now
I think Weah would sort of be a forward in this setup as a winger who moves from widish to the central while making runs behind. Either say Sargent when he comes into midfield with his back to the ball or Pulisic on the other side attacking with the ball can pass to a streaking Weah. Now if Reyna is one of the wingers it makes sense to play Weah at the 9. As you all say it's complicated but a good complicated. Mix and match based on form, situation, opponent, health cards. Haven't ever had such good quality players and depth to do this before. They actually setup nicely as a dangerous tournament team because of it.
This is only an isolated game comparison, but how could you possibly prefer this 1363684029107593216 is not a valid tweet id over this 1365035259256045570 is not a valid tweet id Sargent spends half of the game standing next to the CB’s trying to occupy space. The other half of the game he’s on the ground trying to muscle his way to fouls. Weah makes quick decisions when he receives the ball and explodes into space. Everything is quick. I’m not against a big lumbering CF, but only if they score goals. I’m not sure we’re at the point where a 21 year old Bundesliga starter doesn’t make the senior NT, but at some point we will be good enough where a player who doesn’t play well in this situation won’t make the NT. For the time being, Weah is absolutely in the lineup over Sargent IMO.
I don't prefer any. Very impressive. They both carry equally devastated expressions on their faces while holding heads in their hands.
That completely misses the point, but I’ll post it anyway. I’m not going to complain about Sargent scoring a goal (also having a goal and assist called back by VAR). I wish we saw it more often. I think the reason we don’t is what I explained. 1365419765385334787 is not a valid tweet id
It’s not that I disagree but look at the balls being played and the runs being made in the two. The style of soccer Kohfeldt plays is big sam level regressive. If Josh makes the run he doesn’t get played in like Tim. Josh has to come in way to deep for a striker to get on the ball, but then nobody runs off it. It looks like they’re gaslighting josh out there, it makes so little sense. Tim is running in, and getting played. If Tim comes in deep to receive the ball he has two wingers, another striker, and a central midfielder run in behind. But I do to prefer to watch Tim Weah type strikers they make the game more enjoyable. I also am starting to think Josh would be better utilized in the Thomas Mueller roll.
If you post highlights of one of sargents worst performances all year then it’s a bit unfair and thus your point is lost. not too mention to ignoring the role they both play in the specific tactics of their team. They are certainly different players but to me it’ll depend more on the type of opponent we are playing and the other 10 players on the field to determine who will complement better.
I took two games in the span of a week. Neither played that well. I didn't try to find the best from Weah and worst from Sargent. That might've been one of Sargent's worst games, but it's not like his average game is that much better. He still struggles to move off the ball, he still spends too much time trying to occupy the CB's instead of actually making them work, and he rarely gets himself involved in the offense. That my point was understood about the differences in what they bring from those two videos illustrates my point pretty well. It's not a hard one to understand. We can agree to disagree, if you'd like. I personally don't see how Sargent is an option to start right now, if we want to win games. It doesn't matter the style of game. I'm not selecting a striker to start who has been so anemic offensively this season. He's a player I think we reluctantly need to carry on the roster because we don't have too many players playing at the level he does regularly, but he's not a player in form. He's a player who I think we'd like to have 3/4 better options than but we probably have less than that.
I understand what you are saying, but I also thought that video was being a little charitable to Sargent trying to show one or two runs he made that didn't get played in. That happens for every striker during the course of the game. If thats the best tape you've got to show for from a game, you aren't being effective enough with your runs. It's not like these are inherently terrible players he plays with. Are Bremen players on average much, if any, worse than Lille players? I know Lille is having a great season and Bremen is mid table, but this idea that Sargent plays with inherently worse footballers than him who can't keep up with his is a little silly, given Weah is playing with players who probably aren't all too different on average than the ones that Sargent plays with, and we see much more of a fluidity and pace to his play. It's not even that Weah is faster. When I say he plays with more pace, it's that his speed of thought is faster, he makes defenders work more, and he contributes more. He plays much more efficiently. Sargent will back his way into a CB and fall to the ground looking for a foul, which he might or might not get, but he takes himself out of the play, and that doesn't cause any danger to the defense. People will use that to say he's working so hard in a positive sense, and that means he's playing well despite not getting service to score. Meanwhile, there are two teammates who have more Bundesliga goals this season. It's not like a Hoppe situation where he was scoring 1/2 or more of the team's goals. Werder Bremen might not score much, but Sargent is part of why they don't, not a huge victim of that they don't. I'd like to see him work smart, not hard. I think he's at a point where how hard he works isn't showing any effectiveness. His game has to have more of a positive identity to it. Hopefully this is the type of thing that he learns with age, but I also would be remiss if I didn't mention that his finishing and ability to find the ball in the penalty area was supposed to be a strength coming from the youth game. His game seems to be going in the wrong direction trying to become a worker-bee style of CF. It's a little disconcerting.
I like that Weah is potentially competing with Sargent as a 9, but I don't think comparing the tactics or the competition they face for Lille/Bremen is very useful.
Musah accepting an invitation to this camp will go a long way to convincing me that the recruiting job is just about done. To be made official this summer. Yunus Musah liking the Jamaica match announcement you love to see it pic.twitter.com/2ILYXS23QF— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) March 1, 2021
Here, for those who partake, is a (hopefully accurate) tracker of MNT callups by birth year through the March roster. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17xb1g8Jd2bWrXU4g3fXX1aC4A3EQcKYir1ZtHXXGoT8/edit?usp=sharing
This month’s #USMNT squad fast facts:▸ Averaging 23 years, 27 days and 11 caps▸ 16 players age 22 and under▸ Players from clubs in 10 countries: 🏴, 🇩🇪, 🇺🇸, 🇦🇹, 🇧🇪, 🇫🇷, 🇪🇸, 🇮🇹, 🇵🇹 & 🇳🇱📝: https://t.co/VrtmTgAWWF pic.twitter.com/XLD4DfIKM0— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) March 17, 2021 First call ups since moving to Europe for Dike, Aaronson, and Reynolds. EPB finally called back into the USMNT. Luca de la Torre is also back. Gioacchini and Otasowie somehow retain a place in the NT. No KDLF this time around. Still no spot for Wright. No McKennie because he has a slight injury. No Booth yet, although he's also injured. No Hoppe yet.
Seems like the most-interesting changes for the second game (based on the guys with asterisks) are up top, since only Niko G., Dike and Pulisic will be left. Kreis said Siebatcheu and Hoppe missed out due to for availability issues.
Berhalter on Matthew Hoppe "was a player who could have only played in the first game... he's one of those guys who just didn't work out because of a numbers game because of that." #USMNT— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 17, 2021 Berhalter said he advocated for Efra Alvarez to play for Mexico this window so that he can evaluate both sides. He said he will follow up with him after the window. #USMNT— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 17, 2021
Will anyone be added before the second game? Seems like the team will be down to only 19 players if I'm counting right.