USMNT Fall 2023 - Spring 2024: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
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Pretty close to a straight red there. Extremely dangerous and reckless but got lucky he didn’t catch all of Wes.
dude tried his damndest to win the title for Dortmund in half an hour down 2-0, it’s really mind boggling
They can give the yellow after a review? I’m not complaining, just didn’t know that was possible.
The PL hasn’t been super kind to our guys. Maybe he can join everyone else in Italy.
so, there’s like at least a 50-50 chance they’re doing it intentionally to get the match stopped early right?
Yes. Absolutely. It always happens in the last 10 minutes when Mexico is behind.
He badly wants you know that he doesn't want to manage the team but also that if he were he'd be much better than Berhalter
Same one they've been doing for years when the opposing keeper takes a goal kick.
Just go to his Instagram. He usually has one up on his stories the following day. They’re glorious.
That was more of a street fight than a soccer game, but it was still glorious. The field conditions might have played a role in the style of play, but this was two rivals just going at it.
The USMNT under GGG again outplays a team that comes at them. I am incredibly curious to see how they hold up against Uruguay in the Copa America because that is a team that focuses on defense and happy to concede possession, and they are significantly better than anyone in CONCACAF. But I'll give GGG credit for this one. I still think he's a bit of a one trick pony who adds in a small wrinkle every once in a while, but that trick definitely works against Mexico. Until Mexico gets it through their heads that they cannot go toe-to-toe against this USMNT, they will continue to underperform. The US is just solidly better across the field right now, and it looks like that will continue into the foreseeable future. The worst thing that can happen for El Tri is to actually win a game against the US playing like this because it will justify in their minds the style of play. Their fans' behavior make them so easy to dislike. The chant is much more obvious when they are losing, and at least a portion of them are trying to get the match ended. It's disgusting. They've already had an empty stadium punishment. I'd rather toss them out of a tournament now. Not the Copa America, but a Gold Cup or the Nations League. It will never happen because of $$$, but that's where I would like CONCACAF to go.
- Tim Ream still has it. I was disappointed again with Chris Richards, but his play in London has been much better lately so I am not concerned about his future. Ream is such a smart player, and even though some of his passes went array he can still ping it.
- Dest is such a factor with his one-on-one abilities. There was a noticeable drop in Mexico, both their players and their fans, after he tore through them that first time (the move that ended with his left footed shot). You need players who can do that when the field is choppy and the opponent is so aggressive. He lost track of that ball in the box the Martin got to, but I thought he still recovered well from that and would have blocked the shot had it been remotely close to on target.
- Adams looked like his old self. Defensively strong, cutting down Mexican attacks, not taking risks with the ball. Then that goal. I'm so happy to see him back. Johnny looked like a deer in headlights for like 10 minutes then settled in to his game too, which is more about being in the right spot and intercepting passes. I don't like it when he and Ream are on the field together and on the same side. They are both tall and slow. There was one point late in the game when Chucky had the ball and just sped past them both.
- CP, Weston, and Tim are so solid for the USMNT. Pulisic blowing by his defender to set up the second goal was a thing of beauty, and he went to his left on the lefthand side which he doesn't do often. Tim didn't get the ball much but was effective when he did and helped out a lot on defense.
- Haji Wright put in a shift. It was pure grunt work, but it was needed. In GGG's system it's always going to be hard for the striker to figure much in the attack. But he did is job well in occupying both CBs.
- Gio showed up again. I hope he uses this loan to NF as a learning experience that he needs to have the right fit with a team/manager. He's so talented. I thought his work rate was great and he really worked hard on defense. His jersey was absolutely covered with grass stains by the time he was subbed off, and he really took Edson Alvarez out of the game mentally (and honestly that yellow for Edson could easily have been a red). I've seen some people dislike how Gregg used him, dropping so deep as often as he did, but I thought it was a smart move. GGG knew Mexico would come out hyper aggressive, so he had one of his top playmakers drop back to ease the pressure a bit.
The USMNT under GGG again outplays a team that comes at them. I am incredibly curious to see how they hold up against Uruguay in the Copa America because that is a team that focuses on defense and happy to concede possession, and they are significantly better than anyone in CONCACAF. But I'll give GGG credit for this one. I still think he's a bit of a one trick pony who adds in a small wrinkle every once in a while, but that trick definitely works against Mexico. Until Mexico gets it through their heads that they cannot go toe-to-toe against this USMNT, they will continue to underperform. The US is just solidly better across the field right now, and it looks like that will continue into the foreseeable future. The worst thing that can happen for El Tri is to actually win a game against the US playing like this because it will justify in their minds the style of play. Their fans' behavior make them so easy to dislike. The chant is much more obvious when they are losing, and at least a portion of them are trying to get the match ended. It's disgusting. They've already had an empty stadium punishment. I'd rather toss them out of a tournament now. Not the Copa America, but a Gold Cup or the Nations League. It will never happen because of $$$, but that's where I would like CONCACAF to go.
Honestly, I think Mexico already have internalized that they can’t play how they want to play against this US team. They were going so direct and bypassing the midfield so much, not their traditional style at all.
If I had their midfield, I'd try to bypass them too, at least against the US. Their second-best midfielder, Luis Chavez, plays in Russia. Chiquito looks good for Pachuca (from what I hear) but never as good for El Tri. And Guardado and HH got old. They're facing a USA who's 5 deep in guys who can dribble, pass, move and challenge better than anyone on their side except maybe Edson, and frankly I'd pick a couple of our guys over him at this point too.
Gio just totally outclassing the entire field out there. How in god's name did he get enough power on that shot? Nevermind the placement, despite having to kick it while jumping in the air. And I'm not even sure if that was the most ridiculous athletic move he made all evening, it just happened to matter the most to the outcome. Dude was dropping 40-yard field-switch dimes and juking defenders out of their shoes. I feel like Mexican players and fans largely know what to expect from Pulisic, and they feel like they can more or less contain him (he's still effective, obviously, but he's not mauling them every time). They are terrified of Gio though, ever since that slaloming run in the Azteca where he dribbled like 8 guys in a row, some of them twice. For decades, they've relied on "OK, the Americans might be more athletic, but we have better technique and tactical cohesion and we can beat them by our press and better combination play". That was the wake-up call of, oh shit, we have nobody in that guy's league, or anywhere close to it. And Forest lets him rot on the bench.
Not to mention that the press has been so ineffective against us the last few times around that they largely abandoned it last night in favor of what looked like a 5-4-1 mid-block. We started our "press resistant XI" last night - I cackled when I saw the RAM midfield on the lineup - Reyna Adams McKennie - and realized this was the first time we could really deploy that in a game. Witness the power of this fully armed and operational battle-station, etc.
Who was it who said Uriel Antuna looked like the most dangerous guy on the field for Mexico in the semi? He was subbed out with the lowest rating on the team, had 11 touches in like 70 minutes and was 3 of 7 in completing passes. Completely non-threatening. Chucky Lozano was outclassed too, but at least he was running his ass off out there and took some pride in the proceedings. Gonna be a long plane flight to Eindhoven for him with Malik and Dest there, though. Hey Chucky remember when I did some beach-soccer moves and got past you and 2 other guys? Hey Chucky remember when I juked you and you fell over in the middle of the field?
Man what a night.
That's true. I meant more on their relative high press. Even when they dialed it back, they were too aggressively defending.