OT: GOLD CUP
- Thread starter AreYouNUTS
- Start date
oops I mean GUYANA...AWFULIt's early but Berhalter has shown himself to be an Ash type coach. Didn't love his roster selection for the tourney and then of course Tyler Adams gets hurt and he's forced out. I didn't love the starting 11 for this match either but even then our talent is too strong for Guyana. Pulisic is just so good.
This is seriously awful. I mean I get it, sometimes you don’t get all the breaks on shots, but we are not even dominating play and that’s scary.
Why was Sargent left off the roster? That is when I knew Berhalter was a problem. Left off the U21 so figured he was guaranteed GC.
Any good pressing team will cause our back line to make mistakes - they're just shaky. And we generally just don't finish well. Could've easily had 3 goals in the first half (and surprisingly, Pulisic was guilty of not converting two of them (I love his game, but he needs to do better). Nice goal there by Boyd, though.
Let's see how the team plays in these next two matches before we bury the coach after his first competitive match.
Enjoyed watching Tab Ramos’s U20 team. Hopefully Tab gets his chance in the future.
Too many players being shuffled on and off the roster and in and out of the lineup. Notice the great teams have a consistent core of players and make very few changes to their roster and lineups. We’ve been in flux for years and it shows.
4-0 is a good win, not great.
USA needs to dominate the group and then see how it goes in the knockout stage.
I get scared when Zardes starts.
I am hoping the team can gel and make progress this cup.
We need at least one more dynamic play maker.
I think Pulistic is a great talent, but he does need to work on finishing.
Hopefully that comes with more playing time.
USA needs to dominate the group and then see how it goes in the knockout stage.
I get scared when Zardes starts.
I am hoping the team can gel and make progress this cup.
We need at least one more dynamic play maker.
I think Pulistic is a great talent, but he does need to work on finishing.
Hopefully that comes with more playing time.
1) we FINALLY played a decent half; 1st one in the last 3 matches
2) Pulistik needs an “I AM THE MAN” type is statement game. Soon.
3) agree with the poster talking about the roster shuffling
4) do we honestly not have anyone better than Zardes?
5) I still don’t understand how Tab is not the head coach
2) Pulistik needs an “I AM THE MAN” type is statement game. Soon.
3) agree with the poster talking about the roster shuffling
4) do we honestly not have anyone better than Zardes?
5) I still don’t understand how Tab is not the head coach
I know nothing about Boyd, but he certainly stood out as the player of the game for me. We have so few guys who convert chances well with well-placed shots in the run of play and both his goals were great examples of that (yes the 2nd took a deflection off the defender that may have helped, although I think it was going to elude the keeper anyway). That's what I also liked about Arriola's goal - was perfectly placed (and that's what I always liked about Dempsey - he just knew how to score). Agree with NUTS on Zardes - we can do better.
Most of our lineup shuffling takes place in friendlies which are supposed to be used for just that. Last night was our first competitive game in 20 months and it was against a weak opponent. You probably will not see a consistent lineup until WC Qualifying begins(next year I presume) as the new coach figures out his roster.
Almost all UNMNT games, even the friendlies, are televised whereas most of the great (read Europe and South America) friendlies are not. My guess is those teams rest their stars when playing in a meaningless game but we are not watching on television.
Is Boyd the player that played for New Zealand in the youth teams and recently switched to play with the USA?
Yes he is.
Would have loved to see Sargent last night but we left him off the roster. Where is Bobby Wood?
They also border the Caribbean Sea, which I guess technically qualifies them.
The real answer is that they would be thoroughly non-competitive in COMNEBOL. Whereas in CONCACAF, there are smaller minnows on which they can dine.
Why is Australia considered part of Asia? That's a reverse situation - they lacked competition in the Oceania region.
Yea was curious as well... Confirmed here: https://heavy.com/sports/2019/06/why-is-guyana-in-concacaf-gold-cup-usmnt/
They consider themselves to be more "Caribbean" than "South American." Same with Suriname and French Guiana, plus they can at least be competitive to some extent in CONCACAF, but would never be competitive in SA.
IIRC, Sargent's chances were damaged by the injury to the versatile Sebastian Lleget, who would have provided cover at multiple positions. Without Lleget, Berhalter felt he could only carry two strikers, and Sargent apparently is #3.
Wood was never a consideration. He wasn't even included on the 40 man provisional roster. He was in poor form for his German team, and hadn't made the game day roster in two months.
It's hard to get excited about a team that starts Zardes and Michael Bradley. We HAVE to do better than that at those critical positions. If we're going to go young and fast, where is Weah and Bobby Wood seems to be the only creative striker we have. I can never explain why our skill (primarily 1st touch) is historically so bad. Overall, I do think the squad is getting better.
It is interesting how the women have more overlapping runs and better off-ball movement. Playing together for years does matter.
First off let me say you cannot judge this team on Guyana game because their best starter is in the English 6th division. But I am still wholly unimpressed with the start of this regime since day 1.
Berhalter is trying to implement a system that took Pep almost a year to introduce (with world class players). Not sure how that’s possible with our player pool and with our guys getting together a few days every few months.
This wasnt a glamorous job to take (which is why the search went on so long) but thanks to Berhalters brother being the CEO of the federation he got the nod. Even so, he’s made matters worse trying to implement this system.
It would be very easy to come into the side and slot our top 6/7 players in their natural position and tinker from there. Instead we are playing guys out of position (USMNT broken record) and in some cases benching some of our stronger talent to do it. He should’ve came in and done the following:
Pulisic LW/LM
Steffen GK
Yedlin RB
Adams CM
McKennie CM
Brooks CB
Altidore ST
Granted injuries have impacted him to some extent. But even before that he has basically banished Yedlin to the bench to move Adams into his specialty RB role to make his 451 343 system go. Think about that. In one swoop he taken his two most established and regularly playing club team players and moved them around or off the field.
I’m not sold on Berhalter at all. The player pool is not going to do him any favors either. I like some of the pieces around but for this team to do anything this cycle he needs to get these 6/7 slotted and hope the u18s and u20s produces a couple 20-22 yr olds by 2022 good enough to make the squad. But he’s making his job even harder. I’m not calling for him to try out new things just for the sake of it like some people do because I’m one of the people trying to eradicate the ridiculous concept that the USMNT is development ground.
Berhalter is trying to implement a system that took Pep almost a year to introduce (with world class players). Not sure how that’s possible with our player pool and with our guys getting together a few days every few months.
This wasnt a glamorous job to take (which is why the search went on so long) but thanks to Berhalters brother being the CEO of the federation he got the nod. Even so, he’s made matters worse trying to implement this system.
It would be very easy to come into the side and slot our top 6/7 players in their natural position and tinker from there. Instead we are playing guys out of position (USMNT broken record) and in some cases benching some of our stronger talent to do it. He should’ve came in and done the following:
Pulisic LW/LM
Steffen GK
Yedlin RB
Adams CM
McKennie CM
Brooks CB
Altidore ST
Granted injuries have impacted him to some extent. But even before that he has basically banished Yedlin to the bench to move Adams into his specialty RB role to make his 451 343 system go. Think about that. In one swoop he taken his two most established and regularly playing club team players and moved them around or off the field.
I’m not sold on Berhalter at all. The player pool is not going to do him any favors either. I like some of the pieces around but for this team to do anything this cycle he needs to get these 6/7 slotted and hope the u18s and u20s produces a couple 20-22 yr olds by 2022 good enough to make the squad. But he’s making his job even harder. I’m not calling for him to try out new things just for the sake of it like some people do because I’m one of the people trying to eradicate the ridiculous concept that the USMNT is development ground.
My son won the BMX gold cup qualifier this weekend for six intermediate. Thanks for starting a thread!!
Venezuela drew Brazil’s A team tonight. I didn’t like the way we lost, but losing to Venezuela wasn’t a bad loss.
A hater? Because we played AWFUL in the 1st half and I called it like I saw it (and always have)???
Just watched the DVR, after spending the day at Longwood Gardens in PA (nice place on a gorgeous day). Best US performance in a long time IMO, as T&T is better than Guyana. Really crisp passing, with several perfectly executed 3 and 4 pass, one-touch sequences, which is something we don't often see. Have to give Pulisic a lot of credit for setting that tone - he's just so good on the ball and with his passes, creating havoc for the other team. Best player on the team and on his way to being the best US player ever.
Some really pretty goals tonight and if the keeper hadn't made a couple of great saves, it could've been 8-0. Have to also give Zardes credit, too, for a couple of nice goals and almost a hat trick. And Long with two from the back was a huge surprise. Still a couple of loose defensive plays, but a great win. Let's see how we do against the better teams, though, before getting too wound up.
Some really pretty goals tonight and if the keeper hadn't made a couple of great saves, it could've been 8-0. Have to also give Zardes credit, too, for a couple of nice goals and almost a hat trick. And Long with two from the back was a huge surprise. Still a couple of loose defensive plays, but a great win. Let's see how we do against the better teams, though, before getting too wound up.