https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0157ea6f-b798-41fa-96db-2e56b1e23247Equalizer for Mexico.
EDIT: And 2 minutes later, a second.
I'm sick of the Antonee hate. Yeah, his crossing needs work. But there's nobody in our pool who's remotely close to taking his spot.Robinson has his merits but at the end of the day he's the platonic ideal of the stereotypical Champo player.
I agree. My comment wasn't hate. His profile is a classic Champo player.I'm sick of the Antonee hate. Yeah, his crossing needs work. But there's nobody in our pool who's remotely close to taking his spot.
Hate is strong, but I see wayyyyy too much criticism in general of that man. He is a HUGE player for us.I agree. My comment wasn't hate. His profile is a classic Champo player.
He did however love the “whistle and sprint to the spot of the foul immediately to assert his authority” move.Did this ref know that cards are a thing? The 35 fouls certainly did not help the game flow elegantly for either team.
Brilliant breakaway goal from Jonathan David put the game away … Mo Salah would have been proud of it. Laser 40 yard pass , taken in mid sprint , headed for control and chipped the onrushing keeper. WowI missed the early goal, but Canada is enduring typical Honduran "hospitality". In control, but job is only half done. I remember a 8-0 defeat in the same venue not so many years ago, so the difference is marked.
Bild is reporting that Berhalter “is said to have problems with the basic conduct” exhibited by Brooks (as translated by Derek Rae). The article also excoriated Brooks for his recent form on the field.
View: https://twitter.com/raecomm/status/1486749727848865795
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/the-usmnt-s-pulisic-problem-lessons-learned-from-el-salvador-what-to-expect-at-cHe’s added nothing when playing inverted like that, and actually ends up breaking the US shape in build-up by making the field smaller and pushing at least one, and sometimes two of the US central midfielders out of the middle. El Salvador were playing a diamond, and with Pulisic checking deep like that, and Ferreira playing as a false 9, Yunus Musah had basically no choice but to drop deep and wide, basically outside of La Selecta’s defensive shape.
That renders Musah – the best US ball-progressor – ineffective by creating an overload in a pretty useless spot of the field, and puts Pulisic in a position where he’s just going to go into the hurt locker again and again and again. He’ll draw some fouls that way, but he’ll also turn the ball over a ton and what he’ll never do is create useful width or depth of the sort that Weah’s excelled at.
So above, when I said that “most of them understand the system and apply it,” there’s one guy I’m thinking of who just doesn’t seem to get it.
I texted a buddy of mine at halftime that the US had to scrap the dual pivot and trip 8 formation. That midfield was just way too congested with Ferreira as the false 9 and CP playing Musah's position. I'm really curious if this was part of the game plan or if CP was just doing it on his own (or did Gregg tell CP that he was free to do his own thing?). At times it was ridiculous seeing where Jedi was in relation to Pulisic and Ferreira. El Salvador's best chance, the one for Roldan, stemmed from that. Zim (who generally I thought passed well) made an ill advised pass up to Dest, which ES ended up with and broke quickly. Jedi was so far up the field because nobody from the US was there, which left Richards stuck covering two attackers.Doyle has a pretty good breakdown on what went wrong for Pulisic and what could potentially fix it.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/the-usmnt-s-pulisic-problem-lessons-learned-from-el-salvador-what-to-expect-at-c
I'm not totally in love with xG as a predictive stat, but 2-0 or 3-0 probably was warranted. When I think about all 11 players, the only one that I thought was poor was Pulisic. I know some people are lower on Ferreira, but I thought in terms of what he was being asked to do, he was fine. I do think his inclusion in the starting 11 was and still is a headscratcher given how the US played. Especially in the first half, the bulk of the attack was coming from the right side. Crosses could have been better, but who was going to be on the end of those crosses anyways? Pulisic wasn't there, Ferreira is a false 9, McKennie was playing on the right side as well. I know this is borderline heresy, but I think even starting Zardes would be defensible over Ferreira with this all taken into account.xG was approximately 3 - 0 in the game. If the U.S. had won 3 - 0, there would be a lot less concern I think, though I'm sure we'd still be worried about Pulisic.
(Of course, it can't be entirely untangled from lineup decisions, e.g. does Pepi finish the chance that Ferreira botched, or even if he does finish it, does he create it in the first place?)
Doyle has a pretty good breakdown on what went wrong for Pulisic and what could potentially fix it.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/the-usmnt-s-pulisic-problem-lessons-learned-from-el-salvador-what-to-expect-at-c
I texted a buddy of mine at halftime that the US had to scrap the dual pivot and trip 8 formation. That midfield was just way too congested with Ferreira as the false 9 and CP playing Musah's position. I'm really curious if this was part of the game plan or if CP was just doing it on his own (or did Gregg tell CP that he was free to do his own thing?). At times it was ridiculous seeing where Jedi was in relation to Pulisic and Ferreira. El Salvador's best chance, the one for Roldan, stemmed from that. Zim (who generally I thought passed well) made an ill advised pass up to Dest, which ES ended up with and broke quickly. Jedi was so far up the field because nobody from the US was there, which left Richards stuck covering two attackers.
Overall the win is great but the performance was just ok. Adams did well in the destroyer role but definitely gave the ball away too much. It almost looked like ES was intentionally giving him space and he didn't know what to do with it. CP was poor, and Ferreira I thought was ok for what he is and is being asked to do, but missed the chances. CBs were fine, Dest was active and looked energized to me, as was Weah. The midfield was too packed and easy to defend.
I think Gregg gets too cute with the setup. Just play a predictable 4-3-3 and force the opponent to stop you. Who cares if they know CP is playing wide left as an inverted winger and Pepi is playing as a true 9? Don't screw around with it. Having Pulisic drop so far inside and back along with a false 9 just made it way too easy on that El Salvador defense.
Separately I've been really impressed by Hugo Perez. Why can't we get coaches like that for the USMNT?
The Doyle article is really informative. CP just seems lost in his current role. As noted in the gamethread (this thread?) and this article, he does better on the right. I get he is competing with Weah out there, but , as great as Weah has been, you need to optimize CP.I'm not totally in love with xG as a predictive stat, but 2-0 or 3-0 probably was warranted. When I think about all 11 players, the only one that I thought was poor was Pulisic. I know some people are lower on Ferreira, but I thought in terms of what he was being asked to do, he was fine. I do think his inclusion in the starting 11 was and still is a headscratcher given how the US played. Especially in the first half, the bulk of the attack was coming from the right side. Crosses could have been better, but who was going to be on the end of those crosses anyways? Pulisic wasn't there, Ferreira is a false 9, McKennie was playing on the right side as well. I know this is borderline heresy, but I think even starting Zardes would be defensible over Ferreira with this all taken into account.
Changing gears and looking ahead to Canada, I desperately want a win tomorrow night. I want Canada and their fans to be reminded who the top dogs are in the region. No Davies (which sucks and I hope he fully recovers), no Eustaquio, long flight home from Honduras. For me, start Pepi, staple CP out wide left, and switch McKennie and Musah. Idc who the CBs are as long as it is 2 of Richards/Zim/Miles. Canada is undefeated in qualifying, and I want that to end in front of their home fans. Yes, I know a draw is probably acceptable to both teams, but f that.
That’s lively stuff, but like a lot of Berhalter‘s tactical plans, it relies on a lot more training and familiarity than a national team typically has to implement well. And given the number of injuries and disruptions this squad has seen, they just aren’t fluid in the approach yet.I think the approximate attacking shape Berhalter is aiming for is basically five spread across the front (left back, left forward, center forward, right forward, right back) with the two 8s (McKennie and Musah) supporting and having the freedom to interchange with any of the front-line players.
In the hypothetical first choice lineup he probably does displace Weah, although I could see form arguments to the contrary depending who’s doing how well.If Gio is ever healthy and fit, where does he end up? Weah out, CP pushed right, Gio more central in the kind of role CP was attempting to fill the other night?
It reminds me a lot of what Klopp does at Liverpool. The part that confuses me is CP supposedly being stronger on the right when much of the press about what’s going wrong for him at Chelsea is his being used out of position - ie not on the left. Pretty sure there’s an athletic article from the last week or so saying the same.I think the approximate attacking shape Berhalter is aiming for is basically five spread across the front (left back, left forward, center forward, right forward, right back) with the two 8s (McKennie and Musah) supporting and having the freedom to interchange with any of the front-line players.
Out of curiosity I checked to see if US Bank Field was free, but it looks like they have some kitchen and bathroom expo that week.So how much colder does St. Paul need to get before it’s criminally negligent to play that game outdoors? Columbus at 30 degrees was a non-issue, but this is single digit temps with negative windchill.
68 yards wide is a postage stamp. Concacaf won’t allow NYCFC to host home matches at Yankee Stadium because their pitch is 70 yards wide, so I have no idea how Soccer Canada snuck this one by the authorities.Before we even get to St. Paul, today's game is going to have shitshow conditions. Extremely narrow field, rock-hard turf.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/briansciaretta/status/1487812317844844545
I’m sorry but this shit is a joke. There needs to be some sort of baseline temp or something that needs to be met for the game to be played. Playing these games in this weather just makes no sense. Up in Canada and the game St. Paul should not be allowed to happen.Before we even get to St. Paul, today's game is going to have shitshow conditions. Extremely narrow field, rock-hard turf.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/briansciaretta/status/1487812317844844545
Apparently there was a miscommunication and it's actually 68 meters (~74 yards). So, that's good I guess.68 yards wide is a postage stamp. Concacaf won’t allow NYCFC to host home matches at Yankee Stadium because their pitch is 70 yards wide, so I have no idea how Soccer Canada snuck this one by the authorities.