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Message: [QUOTE="Forza Azzurri, post: 3598284, member: 1452"] Was finally able to watch the game yesterday. This post nails it. I literally got chills at points watching us ping the ball around like we were Germany or Spain. Never, ever seen that from a US team. Only small quibble is that Lleget was bad because he was playing out of position. I do not understand that tactic at all. We had a group of guys who barely know each other and you play with a false nine? Having a true number nine allows the team to play more simply, which is exactly what a group of guys who do not know each other need. Playing with a false nine, and doing it well, is hard. And IM nailed why it did not work. Too many guys occupying the same space. Agree on Robinson. Not on the same level as the rest of the team. Maybe move Dest to the left so Cannon can play RB? Musah is a beast. Dest is sick. So young. So much talent. The future looks really bright. Regarding Berhalter, I tend to give coaches more rope than most, regardless of sport. I just think "Get rid of the coach" is an overly simplistic solution. I will say that the concerns I had about Berhalter, and which are elucidated in the USMNT 2018 thread, remain. He is a club and a system coach. Club coaches get lots of time with their teams to implement their system. A National team coach is a whole different ball of wax. A National team coach needs to be able to make decisions with much more limited information and has to be able to translate club-level skills to the national team level taking into account the differences in personnel around that player at the club level vs the National Team. Not easy. I believe it requires more of a feel. Does Berhalter have that? Don't know. This team is also brutally young. How does Berhalter keep these guys on an even keel when things are not going well? Reyna had a tough game and he lost it and should have gotten a yellow when he went after the Wales player. In a World Cup, a stupid yellow can be the difference between playing in, and watching, a quarterfinal match. In Concacaf, the fields are terrible; the refs are terrible; the other teams, other than Mexico and Costa Rica, want to play Rugby. Guys need to keep their cool and composure and be smart. If Dest starts dancing on the ball against Honduras, somebody will take him out with a two-footed, studs-up tackle - and the ref will just call it a simple foul. Lots of talent. Lots of questions. Stay tuned. Unfortunately, I don't think Panama will tell us anything. Like to see us play an "A" team from a Poland, Sweden or Norway to get a better idea of where this young group stands. [/QUOTE]

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