USMNT Fall 2023 - Spring 2024: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
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The Athletic reporting Tyler Adams had hamstring surgery, out until February.
I’m starting to worry that his body just isn’t built for the rigors of football at the highest levels. Maybe he can find the right training regimen to get past the injuries? I really hope so.
I’m starting to worry that his body just isn’t built for the rigors of football at the highest levels. Maybe he can find the right training regimen to get past the injuries? I really hope so.
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He still has plenty of time to recover for this cycle but yeah, he’s gotta figure something out. On the bright side it seems unlikely we will be asking for a hard 90 from him/our midfielders in general moving forward especially if the LDLTs and Johnnys of the world can keep developing.
In the meantime, Gio Gio Gio.
In the meantime, Gio Gio Gio.
Long as he's healthy for the March window and NL Finals so we can get him some reps with the team before Copa America in June, I'll live with it, but he's not doing himself any favors with his club situation especially if they stay bottom without him contributing.
If we’re looking for data points on how Gregg 2nd cycle might not be Gregg 1st cycle and what he and Matt Crocker spent days talking about, this might be one.
https://football-italia.net/contes-ex-assistant-at-tottenham-gives-verdict-on-usa-stars-in-milan-juventus/
Seeing a traditional US strength annoyingly become more of a weakness last cycle and responding by hiring one of the more widely respected world coaches in that area is a very encouraging move to me.
https://football-italia.net/contes-ex-assistant-at-tottenham-gives-verdict-on-usa-stars-in-milan-juventus/
Spurs had 19 goals off set pieces in his season, which was a PL record.
Seeing a traditional US strength annoyingly become more of a weakness last cycle and responding by hiring one of the more widely respected world coaches in that area is a very encouraging move to me.
Bournemouth screwed up. They had a decent manager but went for the Shiny Object and it’s not working. The only reason I’m not writing them off is that with the possible exception of Burnley the promoted sides are worse.
Let the record state: Michael Bradley played his last game as a professional last night.
Bradley played for the USMNT 151 times from 2006-2019, third most of all time behind Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan. His 17 goals for the USMNT are t-10 all time, alongside DMB and Earnie Stewart.
Bradley was drafted by the MetroStars in 2004 at age 16 in the low rounds of the draft, thought by some to be a nepotistic pick by his father Bob. However, he earned a transfer to Heerenveen by the end of the 2005 season. In 2006-07 he was the understudy to Paul Bosvelt and moved into the starting lineup the following year after Bosvelt retired. This was Bradley's big breakout, when he scored 19 goals across all competitions. Heerenveen had a really fun team that year and Bradley feasted on late runs into the box.
Bradley was off to Borussia Mönchengladbach the next season, where he spent 2.5 years, plus another half a season on an ill-fated loan to Aston Villa. Having fallen somewhat out of favor with Gladbach, he moved to Serie A with Chievo for a season, before getting the move to Roma. In his second season, the arrival of Kevin Strootman pushed him down the depth chart to a rotational role, and in January he moved to Toronto FC in what was then a very shocking move for $10m.
Bradley went on to spend the final ten club seasons of his career at Toronto, where he's a club legend. His arrival coincided with Toronto's only successful period in their history. Along with Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, who arrived in 2015, the team made the playoffs for the first time in the club's 9th season in the league and went on to set the league points record in 2017. In 2018, the club went on an epic run in CONCACAF Champions League in which they eliminated both Tigres and Club América, but tragically fell just short of a lesser Chivas team in the final and failed to become the first MLS team to win the tournament.
For the USMNT, Bradley played in two World Cups, the Confederations Cup, five Gold Cups, the 2008 Olympics, and a U-20 World Cup. He was also part of the team that lost in Couva in 2017.
At the start of his NT career, Bradley was seen as an all-action player with a hothead streak and, in the online USMNT fan universe, his role in the USMNT was heavily debated with many accusations of nepotism. His role with the team varied over the years. Beginning as as a box-to-box midfielder, Klinsmann deployed Bradley as a 10 for a while through the 2014 World Cup. Later, Bradley transitioned to becoming a 6 for club and country. I always thought he was at his best as an 8, the way he played in the first half of his career, but perhaps he didn't have the legs for that as he aged.
In any case, Bradley has his fans, but was clearly less beloved than most of the other stars with so many caps to their name and who played central roles for the team for as long as Bradley did. In part it's because for newer fans, Bradley is mostly associated with the debacle in Couva. In part, it's because a lot of Bradley's NT career coincided with a time when the NT pool was weak, so his reputation was somewhat tarred by association. In part, maybe it's because his peak wasn't as long or as high as a Dempsey or Donovan. In part, it's because his public-facing persona in interviews and such is (IMO) very guarded and uncharismatic.
Bradley has discussed going into coaching like his father. I'll be curious to see how it goes. Based on some aspects of how his career has gone, I'd worry about his ability to get buy-in from and man-manage the squad. Many players have hinted or outright said that they find him to be an obnoxious know-it-all who doesn't often listen to others. On the other hand, he's adopted a monk-like approach to being a student of the game at times in his career; in particular, I'm thinking of his spartan apartment adjacent to Gladbach's stadium.
Anyway. The occasion merits someone noting it.
Bradley played for the USMNT 151 times from 2006-2019, third most of all time behind Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan. His 17 goals for the USMNT are t-10 all time, alongside DMB and Earnie Stewart.
Bradley was drafted by the MetroStars in 2004 at age 16 in the low rounds of the draft, thought by some to be a nepotistic pick by his father Bob. However, he earned a transfer to Heerenveen by the end of the 2005 season. In 2006-07 he was the understudy to Paul Bosvelt and moved into the starting lineup the following year after Bosvelt retired. This was Bradley's big breakout, when he scored 19 goals across all competitions. Heerenveen had a really fun team that year and Bradley feasted on late runs into the box.
Bradley was off to Borussia Mönchengladbach the next season, where he spent 2.5 years, plus another half a season on an ill-fated loan to Aston Villa. Having fallen somewhat out of favor with Gladbach, he moved to Serie A with Chievo for a season, before getting the move to Roma. In his second season, the arrival of Kevin Strootman pushed him down the depth chart to a rotational role, and in January he moved to Toronto FC in what was then a very shocking move for $10m.
Bradley went on to spend the final ten club seasons of his career at Toronto, where he's a club legend. His arrival coincided with Toronto's only successful period in their history. Along with Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, who arrived in 2015, the team made the playoffs for the first time in the club's 9th season in the league and went on to set the league points record in 2017. In 2018, the club went on an epic run in CONCACAF Champions League in which they eliminated both Tigres and Club América, but tragically fell just short of a lesser Chivas team in the final and failed to become the first MLS team to win the tournament.
For the USMNT, Bradley played in two World Cups, the Confederations Cup, five Gold Cups, the 2008 Olympics, and a U-20 World Cup. He was also part of the team that lost in Couva in 2017.
At the start of his NT career, Bradley was seen as an all-action player with a hothead streak and, in the online USMNT fan universe, his role in the USMNT was heavily debated with many accusations of nepotism. His role with the team varied over the years. Beginning as as a box-to-box midfielder, Klinsmann deployed Bradley as a 10 for a while through the 2014 World Cup. Later, Bradley transitioned to becoming a 6 for club and country. I always thought he was at his best as an 8, the way he played in the first half of his career, but perhaps he didn't have the legs for that as he aged.
In any case, Bradley has his fans, but was clearly less beloved than most of the other stars with so many caps to their name and who played central roles for the team for as long as Bradley did. In part it's because for newer fans, Bradley is mostly associated with the debacle in Couva. In part, it's because a lot of Bradley's NT career coincided with a time when the NT pool was weak, so his reputation was somewhat tarred by association. In part, maybe it's because his peak wasn't as long or as high as a Dempsey or Donovan. In part, it's because his public-facing persona in interviews and such is (IMO) very guarded and uncharismatic.
Bradley has discussed going into coaching like his father. I'll be curious to see how it goes. Based on some aspects of how his career has gone, I'd worry about his ability to get buy-in from and man-manage the squad. Many players have hinted or outright said that they find him to be an obnoxious know-it-all who doesn't often listen to others. On the other hand, he's adopted a monk-like approach to being a student of the game at times in his career; in particular, I'm thinking of his spartan apartment adjacent to Gladbach's stadium.
Anyway. The occasion merits someone noting it.
He may have been on the field for our greatest humiliation, but he was also not just on the field but a key driver in arguably our greatest triumph, beating Spain in that 2009 Confed Cup (and then coming close to beating Brazil too). The 2010 World Cup team was also probably the second best squad we've ever fielded and he was essential for us then.
He was visibly diminished by 2014 but then hung on as a pro for another decade. I guess we're used to career declines coming faster, but by the time he moved back to MLS, he'd been playing high level soccer for nearly a decade. Maybe he was just worn out.
He was visibly diminished by 2014 but then hung on as a pro for another decade. I guess we're used to career declines coming faster, but by the time he moved back to MLS, he'd been playing high level soccer for nearly a decade. Maybe he was just worn out.
Olympic hopeful striker McGuire sent him off with a goal that was frankly rude to do to someone during their send off game.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDPC8YZvmU
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDPC8YZvmU
ugh, just now I remember that he missed the final against Brazil because of a really thin red card late in the match against Spain (the third weak red we received in the tournament IIRC).
BTW the live match commentary (back when ESPN had a human providing running commentary) is still available on their site. Fun read.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/commentary/_/gameId/270153
The only thing I have missed about him over the last few years is his weird accent.
Definitely a player who took a lot of undeserved shit for much much larger sins with the player pool and sometimes the coaching. But also always felt like an unfulfilled promise type of guy—ultimately I think that is probably unfair, essentially we probably viewed him similarly to how we view our current crop of young talent and that's probably just not fair in hindsight. We also perpetually struggled to pull together a credible midfield around him. How many passes did he receive only to have no teammates around him, or to have all of them run away from him, it wasn't great. Then by the end of his USMNT he was the king of the pass back. Prodigious, 40, 50, 60 yard pass backs.
The Slovenia goal was brilliant and essential. Lots of ups and downs. I remember the freeze-frame review of his turnover against Portugal that led to the late backbreaking equalizer.
Maybe we will be graced with his weird accent in a prominent setting once more. As an American player-turned-coach he is instantly in the running to manage the squad every time there is an opening for the next 30 years.
Definitely a player who took a lot of undeserved shit for much much larger sins with the player pool and sometimes the coaching. But also always felt like an unfulfilled promise type of guy—ultimately I think that is probably unfair, essentially we probably viewed him similarly to how we view our current crop of young talent and that's probably just not fair in hindsight. We also perpetually struggled to pull together a credible midfield around him. How many passes did he receive only to have no teammates around him, or to have all of them run away from him, it wasn't great. Then by the end of his USMNT he was the king of the pass back. Prodigious, 40, 50, 60 yard pass backs.
The Slovenia goal was brilliant and essential. Lots of ups and downs. I remember the freeze-frame review of his turnover against Portugal that led to the late backbreaking equalizer.
Maybe we will be graced with his weird accent in a prominent setting once more. As an American player-turned-coach he is instantly in the running to manage the squad every time there is an opening for the next 30 years.
As an individual, I think Bradley probably came close to maxing out his abilities as a player. He's from all accounts a true soccer obsessive and a very hard worker. I don't think you could draw much more blood from that stone.
From a team perspective, we could have gotten more out of him if the player pool were different. He never meshed well with Jermaine Jones, creating a partnership that was forever less than the sum of its parts. He was shunted into midfield roles to which he was not well-suited due to a lack of talent in certain areas. Bradley-as-a-10 was always tough. After Beckerman went away, we didn't have any good options at the 6, and some of the issues that @Jed Zeppelin mentioned cropped up there — ponderous distribution that worked against the USMNT's weaknesses trying to attack a set defense. He also never had the athleticism and lateral mobility to be a great defensive 6.
From a team perspective, we could have gotten more out of him if the player pool were different. He never meshed well with Jermaine Jones, creating a partnership that was forever less than the sum of its parts. He was shunted into midfield roles to which he was not well-suited due to a lack of talent in certain areas. Bradley-as-a-10 was always tough. After Beckerman went away, we didn't have any good options at the 6, and some of the issues that @Jed Zeppelin mentioned cropped up there — ponderous distribution that worked against the USMNT's weaknesses trying to attack a set defense. He also never had the athleticism and lateral mobility to be a great defensive 6.
Just checked back on Gaga's performances. It's been brutal at Eupen. They're mid table—14 points from 13 matches, -10 differential—and Slonina has allowed all 27 of their goals.
But that's pretty much exactly what xG predicts, and since Gaga hasn't lost his place to Abdul Nurudeen (remember him as Ghana's starting keeper), the manager isn't putting blame on Slonina.
On the upside, Gaga is averaging 1.5 defensive action outside the box per match, double what he did for Chicago, and is well ahead of his MLS pace for touches, passes of all lengths, and throws. He's really developing some sweeper keeper and ball playing skills while also getting a ton of shot stopping practice.
But that's pretty much exactly what xG predicts, and since Gaga hasn't lost his place to Abdul Nurudeen (remember him as Ghana's starting keeper), the manager isn't putting blame on Slonina.
On the upside, Gaga is averaging 1.5 defensive action outside the box per match, double what he did for Chicago, and is well ahead of his MLS pace for touches, passes of all lengths, and throws. He's really developing some sweeper keeper and ball playing skills while also getting a ton of shot stopping practice.
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Looks like Johnny Soccer has withdrawn from the upcoming camp, which is a bummer because I thought he was in line for some serious playing time.
https://x.com/usmnt/status/1724079765584290283?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ
On the positive side, it means that GGG won’t have to leave any players behind. He called 24 players to the camp but only 23 can be on the official roster. I assumed Paxten would have been the odd man out, but that was only a guess.
https://x.com/usmnt/status/1724079765584290283?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ
On the positive side, it means that GGG won’t have to leave any players behind. He called 24 players to the camp but only 23 can be on the official roster. I assumed Paxten would have been the odd man out, but that was only a guess.
He was tied for fifth in goals scored last season in La Liga with names like Moratta and Griezmann. He’s doing ok now with Lazio but I think he’s generally off the bench type behind Immobile, though I admittedly don’t watch as much Serie A as I used to. He won’t make the Argentina squad but would absolutely be in the mix for the USMNT A team, regardless of how you define it.
Musah McKennie double pivot, Tillman at the 10 to start, Gio on the wing opposite Paredes? Seems like we ought to use Gio centrally, but who's the next-up winger?
CB pairing is strong on passing but light on athleticism, guessing we're betting on having most of the ball. Bit surprised we're leaving Richards on the bench though.
CB pairing is strong on passing but light on athleticism, guessing we're betting on having most of the ball. Bit surprised we're leaving Richards on the bench though.
On this roster, it would be either of the Aaronsons or Zendejas.
I don't think you'd start Tillman and Reyna together against really tough team, but against T&T it could be fun to watch both of them cook.
Shit - I had the anthem on mute and noticed the guys on the team laughing and making weird faces. What happened?
She held the last note a beat longer than Dest (?) was ready for, and he jumped the gun on the run out. Looked like they were giving him shit for it.
wouldn’t mind just lumping more balls into the box. These guys aren’t exactly 2016 Leicester when it comes to mopping up and starting counterattacks.
In spite of all his time in Europe he has to be the most American player to ever exist. Fast and strong and incredible work ethic and he just mindlessly fires crosses in. No real culture in his game just a very very willing overlap and a percentages game at best
Which alone makes him probably the best LB we've ever had. Given that Fabian Johnson and John O'Brien were too good to play their club position for the USA. And with due apologies to Beasley.
The “chances” keep falling to Tillman and Paredes and they’re not able to exploit much. Berhalter wont do it but id rather see them let Dest and Robinson provide all the width and bring another ST on with Balogun with Reyna behind them. It’s gonna take a clever pass to a finisher or a cross to get one in it looks like
It's not going to take some all-time shot to beat the T&T keeper. If they're giving you space from 20 yards, have a go.
Edit: Just let Dest cook and keep Tillman from getting in the way.
Edit: Just let Dest cook and keep Tillman from getting in the way.
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I do like that it looks like Reyna and McKennie switched sides. Gio was playing pretty well but he has decided his left foot is only something to stand on so it was slowing everything down for him to look inside. Plus probably he and Dest have a chance of combining for something to unlock the back line
lol wut
it doesn’t matter if the defender touches the ball first if the ball is still there and playable
it doesn’t matter if the defender touches the ball first if the ball is still there and playable
Getting a toe on the ball first doesn't mean you can undercut him and prevent McKennie from trying to gain possession. I don't get that reversal.