...and if that game gets you so jazzed you can't fall asleep, the U20 team coincidentally plays the Venezuela U20 team 4 hours later, starting at 2AM ET! They're flying Pulisic out to South Korea at mach 6 so he can start both games.
USMNT: To Rüssia With Love
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
US with a ton of possession but can't create good chances, then concede a corner and surrender a goal.
It's like watching Liverpool.
It's like watching Liverpool.
Ugh, 1-0 Venezuela after a poor clearance following a corner.
I think the US has looked a bit better on the whole but the attackers aren't quite in sync and so we haven't been able to create much real danger.
I think the US has looked a bit better on the whole but the attackers aren't quite in sync and so we haven't been able to create much real danger.
Wood isn't at his best. Not enough movement up front overall. Some rough touches by Johnson, Yedlin, and Dempsey. Need much better services from the wing or a different mode of attack. Nagbe as good as ever on the ball, think that's our best avenue right now. The slow set up and cross isn't really working.
Cameron was immense that half. Playing long balls to feet, dribbling. Defended well as well.
Dempsey had the best half chances but they didn't create much. Yedlin is hopelessly one footed right now, he's too easy to deal with because he doesn't trust his left
Dempsey had the best half chances but they didn't create much. Yedlin is hopelessly one footed right now, he's too easy to deal with because he doesn't trust his left
56th minute, Hedges on for Brooks for his second cap and first since 2015. Happy for Hedges, but I'd like to see some changes in the midfield.
Ream and Acosta on for Johnson and Dempsey.
US now playing in a 3-5-2 with Pulisic moving up top. The US was functionally in a 3-5-2 on offense for much of this match given how high the fullbacks were at times and how deep Bradley was dropping. Bradley definitely needs to be more proactive now instead of slowing the game down.
US now playing in a 3-5-2 with Pulisic moving up top. The US was functionally in a 3-5-2 on offense for much of this match given how high the fullbacks were at times and how deep Bradley was dropping. Bradley definitely needs to be more proactive now instead of slowing the game down.
Morris on for Nagbe now.
Hedges(?) beats the Venezuelan GK to a header off the corner but it goes wide. GK now down.
Hedges(?) beats the Venezuelan GK to a header off the corner but it goes wide. GK now down.
Zusi on for Yedlin in stoppage time just before a corner kick that Gonzalez powerfully heads wide.
1-1 FT. A mediocre at best performance from the US. They will need to be sharper on Thursday against T&T.
I thought Wood's first touch consistently let him down today, though he was not the only one who had problems in that department. The midfield was disjointed; Johnson had a bad game, Nagbe and Bradley collectively needed to push the game harder. The US allowed Venezuela time to organize its defense, which made things harder on themselves than they needed to be. Morris doesn't seem to be very effective against teams who defend deep. Hedges and Acosta largely did well. Cameron was very good.
An 18 year old is clearly our best player. Pulisic is already in a place where he was clearly annoyed with how his teammates were performing, which I like.
I thought Wood's first touch consistently let him down today, though he was not the only one who had problems in that department. The midfield was disjointed; Johnson had a bad game, Nagbe and Bradley collectively needed to push the game harder. The US allowed Venezuela time to organize its defense, which made things harder on themselves than they needed to be. Morris doesn't seem to be very effective against teams who defend deep. Hedges and Acosta largely did well. Cameron was very good.
An 18 year old is clearly our best player. Pulisic is already in a place where he was clearly annoyed with how his teammates were performing, which I like.
At halftime, the USSF announced a massive 40-man roster for the Gold Cup. The release is here.
The roster is heavily MLS/Mexico based in order to look at new players and give established Euro-based national team players a break from NT duty. The only Euro-based regular on the roster is Pulisic.
Gold Cup squads are the typical 23, but as an added twist, teams that qualify for the quarterfinals can replace up to six players with other guys on the provisional roster. I'd expect some of the MLS NT regulars to be held in reserve until the knockout rounds.
GK
Joe Bendik (Orlando), Jesse Gonzalez (Dallas), Brad Guzan (Atlanta), Bill Hamid (DC), Tim Howard (Colorado), Sean Johnson (NYCFC)
Gonzalez is an intriguing name here because he played for Mexico at the 2015 U20 World Cup. He'd have to file a one-time switch to play for the US, but Stu Holden is reporting that he'll suit up for the US if called upon this summer. He's not ready to challenge for the #1 shirt for the NT, but he's someone I'd like to see added to the pool. The last U20 cohort had a really strong group of US-developed GKs (along with Steffen and Horvath), all born in 1995.
I also note that David Bingham has played himself out of Arena's summer plans following a rough start to the season with San Jose. I'd like to someone other than Guzan/Howard get the nod for the group stage, probably Hamid or Gonzalez.
Horvath might have been nice here, but I think Arena doesn't want to take him away from what could be a crucial preseason battle for the starting job at Brugge.
RB
Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Matt Polster (Chicago), Graham Zusi (KC)
Slim pickings here with no Yedlin or Chandler. Zusi is a known quantity and Lichaj basically is too, despite not getting much NT attention during the Klinsmann years. Polster is now playing RB for Chicago after spending most of his first two pro seasons at CM. He's gotten good reviews this season once he returned from injury, but I'm unsure of his upside.
CB
Matt Besler (KC), Steve Birnbaum (DC), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Matt Hedges (Dallas), Matt Miazga (Chelsea), Jonathan Spector (Orlando)
I'd love to see a Hedges/Miazga combo. I get the feeling that Bruce is high on Hedges and wants to give him an opportunity to move up the ladder. Miazga might pair well with him in the same way that Zimmerman pairs well with Hedges at the club level.
LB
Greg Garza (Atlanta), Justin Morrow (Toronto), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna)
I'm not a fan of Garza at the NT level, as I think he simply lacks the pace to be effective. In an alternate universe, Morrow might have been a decent but unspectacular backup LB for the US over the last five years. At the end of the day, Villafaña has been decent enough for the NT and neither of the other two are young high-upside types likely to take his job.
CM
Kellyn Acosta (Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia), Michael Bradley (Toronto), Joe Corona (Tijuana), Dax McCarty (Chicago), Cristian Roldan (Seattle), Wil Trapp (Columbus)
Acosta and Roldan are the most interesting youngsters here, but unfortunately neither are the prototypical #6 that we need to push Bradley in his current role. Still, I'd expect Acosta, at least, to be given a big chance here. We do have some interesting DM types in the pipeline, but they won't be ready by 2018 so I think we're going to have to ride out Bradley and McCarty.
AM
Paul Arriola (Tijuana), Tommy McNamara (NYCFC), Darlington Nagbe (Portland), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Kelyn Rowe (NE), Kenny Saeif (Gent), Gyasi Zardes (LA)
Saeif is a 23 year old Israeli-American winger who has been with Gent for three years. He played in the CL two seasons ago and extensively in the EL this past year. He has represented Israeli at the U19 and U21 levels and played in senior team friendlies, but he's not fully cap-tied. Holden reported that he's in the process of filing a one-time switch. If true, there's little doubt that he'll be on the Gold Cup roster. I'm not sure exactly how good he is, but since we don't have a ton of NT-level wingers available right now, it's worth a shot.
I hope that Rowe gets a shot, as I think he's raised his game in recent times.
Emerson Hyndman would have been good here, but he's injured.
FW
Juan Agudelo (NE), Jozy Altidore (Toronto), Clint Dempsey (Seattle), Dom Dwyer (KC), Jordan Morris (Seattle), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia), Chris Wondolowski (SJ)
Arena just had to sneak Wondo onto this preliminary roster, didn't he?
Dwyer was recently naturalized and is now eligible for the US. I'd like to focus on him, Agudelo, Morris, and Sapong. Bring in Jozy and/or Clint for the knockouts as needed.
The roster is heavily MLS/Mexico based in order to look at new players and give established Euro-based national team players a break from NT duty. The only Euro-based regular on the roster is Pulisic.
Gold Cup squads are the typical 23, but as an added twist, teams that qualify for the quarterfinals can replace up to six players with other guys on the provisional roster. I'd expect some of the MLS NT regulars to be held in reserve until the knockout rounds.
GK
Joe Bendik (Orlando), Jesse Gonzalez (Dallas), Brad Guzan (Atlanta), Bill Hamid (DC), Tim Howard (Colorado), Sean Johnson (NYCFC)
Gonzalez is an intriguing name here because he played for Mexico at the 2015 U20 World Cup. He'd have to file a one-time switch to play for the US, but Stu Holden is reporting that he'll suit up for the US if called upon this summer. He's not ready to challenge for the #1 shirt for the NT, but he's someone I'd like to see added to the pool. The last U20 cohort had a really strong group of US-developed GKs (along with Steffen and Horvath), all born in 1995.
I also note that David Bingham has played himself out of Arena's summer plans following a rough start to the season with San Jose. I'd like to someone other than Guzan/Howard get the nod for the group stage, probably Hamid or Gonzalez.
Horvath might have been nice here, but I think Arena doesn't want to take him away from what could be a crucial preseason battle for the starting job at Brugge.
RB
Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Matt Polster (Chicago), Graham Zusi (KC)
Slim pickings here with no Yedlin or Chandler. Zusi is a known quantity and Lichaj basically is too, despite not getting much NT attention during the Klinsmann years. Polster is now playing RB for Chicago after spending most of his first two pro seasons at CM. He's gotten good reviews this season once he returned from injury, but I'm unsure of his upside.
CB
Matt Besler (KC), Steve Birnbaum (DC), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Matt Hedges (Dallas), Matt Miazga (Chelsea), Jonathan Spector (Orlando)
I'd love to see a Hedges/Miazga combo. I get the feeling that Bruce is high on Hedges and wants to give him an opportunity to move up the ladder. Miazga might pair well with him in the same way that Zimmerman pairs well with Hedges at the club level.
LB
Greg Garza (Atlanta), Justin Morrow (Toronto), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna)
I'm not a fan of Garza at the NT level, as I think he simply lacks the pace to be effective. In an alternate universe, Morrow might have been a decent but unspectacular backup LB for the US over the last five years. At the end of the day, Villafaña has been decent enough for the NT and neither of the other two are young high-upside types likely to take his job.
CM
Kellyn Acosta (Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia), Michael Bradley (Toronto), Joe Corona (Tijuana), Dax McCarty (Chicago), Cristian Roldan (Seattle), Wil Trapp (Columbus)
Acosta and Roldan are the most interesting youngsters here, but unfortunately neither are the prototypical #6 that we need to push Bradley in his current role. Still, I'd expect Acosta, at least, to be given a big chance here. We do have some interesting DM types in the pipeline, but they won't be ready by 2018 so I think we're going to have to ride out Bradley and McCarty.
AM
Paul Arriola (Tijuana), Tommy McNamara (NYCFC), Darlington Nagbe (Portland), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Kelyn Rowe (NE), Kenny Saeif (Gent), Gyasi Zardes (LA)
Saeif is a 23 year old Israeli-American winger who has been with Gent for three years. He played in the CL two seasons ago and extensively in the EL this past year. He has represented Israeli at the U19 and U21 levels and played in senior team friendlies, but he's not fully cap-tied. Holden reported that he's in the process of filing a one-time switch. If true, there's little doubt that he'll be on the Gold Cup roster. I'm not sure exactly how good he is, but since we don't have a ton of NT-level wingers available right now, it's worth a shot.
I hope that Rowe gets a shot, as I think he's raised his game in recent times.
Emerson Hyndman would have been good here, but he's injured.
FW
Juan Agudelo (NE), Jozy Altidore (Toronto), Clint Dempsey (Seattle), Dom Dwyer (KC), Jordan Morris (Seattle), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia), Chris Wondolowski (SJ)
Arena just had to sneak Wondo onto this preliminary roster, didn't he?
Dwyer was recently naturalized and is now eligible for the US. I'd like to focus on him, Agudelo, Morris, and Sapong. Bring in Jozy and/or Clint for the knockouts as needed.
U20s lose to Venezuela 2-1 in extra time. I didn't stay up for the game, but from what I've read this morning Venezuela dominated the game and probably should have won in 90 minutes. For the US, EPB apparently missed a golden opportunity to win the game with a stoppage time header.
Ah, well. Good effort from this team to make the QF without quite a few top players. Venezuela has gotten good results all tournament and had five days of rest to the US' three.
Some commentary here:
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/06/04/armchair-analyst-us-bow-out-venezuela-u-20-world-cup-quarterfinals
This part is for @Monbo Jumbo
Ah, well. Good effort from this team to make the QF without quite a few top players. Venezuela has gotten good results all tournament and had five days of rest to the US' three.
Some commentary here:
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/06/04/armchair-analyst-us-bow-out-venezuela-u-20-world-cup-quarterfinals
This part is for @Monbo Jumbo
I watched the U20's on DVR this morning. Venezuela absolutely manhandled them so it was a deserved result. Klinsmann actually kept them in it with a few really good saves. All that said, EPB had a clear header where the keeper came out and didn't get there. Absolutely anything on frame would have scored in the 90th minute and taken a gift win. I turned to my son and he Wondo'd it.
It was a nice run nonetheless and I thought a few guys (like Derrick Jones) really emerged.
It was a nice run nonetheless and I thought a few guys (like Derrick Jones) really emerged.
Venezuela is through to the U20 WC final, by the way - they defeated Uruguay and will play England, who came from a goal down to defeat Italy 3-1, in the final. Venezuela is the worst footballing nation in South America at the senior level, of course, and I've heard of maybe two players in the England U20 squad...all of which makes it hard to really care about the USA U20 performance in the context of the senior national team. Like, at all.
Have you seen Venezuela at this tournament? They are actually good and have beat (and shut out) Germany, Mexico, and Japan before they beat the US and got by Uruguay on PKs. The quality of a given YNT is only loosely correlated to the quality of country's senior NT. IIRC Venezuela's current U20s have also spent an inordinate amount of time together as a unit.
As for England, well, those players have the misfortune of being in EPL academies, so obviously they aren't actually given the chance to play for the first team regardless of how good they are.
Youth national team results should always be taken with a grain of salt, but relying on name recognition for countries and players rarely reveals much of the story at any given tournament.
Lineup:
It's the same team that started in the Venezuela friendly except Altidore comes in for Bobby Wood. That makes sense to me; Wood wasn't very good (I don't think he's 100% healthy) and I think Altidore's skill set is a better fit for the opponent.
Hopefully Bradley doesn't spend the game dropping super deep again. Brooks and Cameron are both solid enough passers, so Bradley needs to stay a little higher and don't let the game slow down too much.
It's the same team that started in the Venezuela friendly except Altidore comes in for Bobby Wood. That makes sense to me; Wood wasn't very good (I don't think he's 100% healthy) and I think Altidore's skill set is a better fit for the opponent.
Hopefully Bradley doesn't spend the game dropping super deep again. Brooks and Cameron are both solid enough passers, so Bradley needs to stay a little higher and don't let the game slow down too much.
Cameron, Brooks, Bradley, and Altidore will be suspended for Mexico if they get a yellow tonight.
Subs according to the USSF are:
Substitutes: 12-Brad Guzan, 22-Nick Rimando, 3-Omar Gonzalez, 5-Tim Ream 7-DaMarcus Beasley, 9-Bobby Wood, 11-Alejandro Bedoya, 13-Dax McCarty, 14-Paul Arriola, 16-Kellyn Acosta, 18-Jordan Morris 19-Graham Zusi
Which means that Horvath, Besler, and Hedges are the guys who didn't dress.
Subs according to the USSF are:
Substitutes: 12-Brad Guzan, 22-Nick Rimando, 3-Omar Gonzalez, 5-Tim Ream 7-DaMarcus Beasley, 9-Bobby Wood, 11-Alejandro Bedoya, 13-Dax McCarty, 14-Paul Arriola, 16-Kellyn Acosta, 18-Jordan Morris 19-Graham Zusi
Which means that Horvath, Besler, and Hedges are the guys who didn't dress.
The US is now looking slightly more dangerous. Clint shot just high from outside the box, some nice interplay between Dempsey, Nagbe, and Yedlin on the right wing resulted in a dangerous cross. No particularly strong chances yet, though.
Dempsey & Pulisic both starting to roam looking for the ball.
Dempsey & Pulisic both starting to roam looking for the ball.
The US is finding the game now, moving the ball a bit better & quicker, and creating more danger.
I like Villafaña's ability to consistent hit solid, driven crosses. Yedlin has been productive on his flank, too.
I like Villafaña's ability to consistent hit solid, driven crosses. Yedlin has been productive on his flank, too.
I think our goal is coming sooner rather than later, just as long as we don't fall asleep on a set piece either way
To be fair, I'd probably shy out of an aerial challenge with a 300 lb striker too
Wow. Nice blast from Villafaña is saved, Dempsey keeps it in play, Villafaña's cross results in a powerful header from Altidore that's also saved.
I honestly can never take the Us team seriously when Bradley still starts every game
Their midfield is doing absolutely zero, we should be able to continue to get the ball in their end and create chances. Still terrified of conceding on some garbage aerial ball though.
Bradley is a box-to-box mid who thinks he's a DM. When you have a Bradley+Pulisic central midfield without a boring workhorse like Bedoya tasked to pinch in and help out on D, it's exploitable. We still haven't adequately replaced Beckerman and it shows.
Amazing watching him fight the urge to pass it back all the way every time he touches the ball.
Wouldn't mind s/Jozy/Wood, we need Wood to combine with Pulisic/Dempsey more than we need Jozy dropping back in midfield to carry the ball