2021 USMNT Thread

[IthacaMatt]

We are on the verge of becoming a stalwart internationally. The WC failure was a huge set back though. I have a lot of optimism for this cycle and Qatar.

In a way, not making 2018 worked out. It led to a clean break with all those old guys, a few of whom might still be around. It opened up the player pool, and gave the opportunity to all these young guys.

I admit that it hurt from a popularity and fan support perspective. The USMNT just fell off the radar for a year and a half. But that allowed this entirely new team to take shape.

I, too, am optimistic about Qatar, and super-optimistic about 2026 here on home soil. These guys should all be in their prime.

 

[Alsacs]

He makes these threads insufferable.

I doubt there are many people that can say less about a game in more posts.

I am going nowhere buddy. You can enjoy MLS all you want. That is the crux of it. I can’t stand MLS on the USMNT and will pound that until the team stops using inferior players:
The US federation has used the national team in conjunction with MLS way too long.
Thankfully that isn’t going to happen anymore thanks to SUM.

My frustration is with managers we select and players we continue to use instead of evolving.
Sorry you don’t like my posts. The federation can and should do better.

Klinsmann was arrogant but had the proper mindset.
Hiring MLS American managers has been part of the problem.
Whomever suggested hiring one of the two Americans managing in Europe was on the right track.

You say I say less about the game it’s more you don’t like what I say. Your knowledge of the game isn’t drastically more than mine. You just don’t like what I say. If you weren’t upset we were outplayed by freaking Canada today I don’t know what to say. It’s a trend when we don’t have our A team and that isn’t good.
End of message.

 

[ForCuseSake]

why in God's name would the US be playing the B team in the Gold Cup?

they didnt make the last World Cup, if im them, id be taking this as serious as the Euro's take the Euro.

is this why we always suck?

we take shlit off when we should be practice/playing??

Winning the Gold Cup would be a bit like winning the NFC East the past few years if the division winner didn’t make the playoffs.

It’s great to beat your regional rivals but ultimately it means nothing toward winning a WC.

USMNT lack of WC success is a confluence of talent, coaching, culture and federation support. Too much to get into in one post.

It’s not so much that they don’t take stuff seriously enough. They choose to let their top talent (mostly Europe based) take the summer off rather than play in a meaningless tourney.

(It’s like having your franchise QB only play one series in each preseason game or give them one quarter in the last one).

 

[DeGrozz]

I am going nowhere buddy. You can enjoy MLS all you want. That is the crux of it. I can’t stand MLS on the USMNT and will pound that until the team stops using inferior players:
The US federation has used the national team in conjunction with MLS way too long.
Thankfully that isn’t going to happen anymore thanks to SUM.

My frustration is with managers we select and players we continue to use instead of evolving.
Sorry you don’t like my posts. The federation can and should do better.

Klinsmann was arrogant but had the proper mindset.
Hiring MLS American managers has been part of the problem.
Whomever suggested hiring one of the two Americans managing in Europe was on the right track.

You say I say less about the game it’s more you don’t like what I say. Your knowledge of the game isn’t drastically more than mine. You just don’t like what I say. If you weren’t upset we were outplayed by freaking Canada today I don’t know what to say. It’s a trend when we don’t have our A team and that isn’t good.
End of message.

It's the same post again. Coaching bad. Players bad. Results bad.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I am going nowhere buddy. You can enjoy MLS all you want. That is the crux of it. I can’t stand MLS on the USMNT and will pound that until the team stops using inferior players:
The US federation has used the national team in conjunction with MLS way too long.

Let me ask a pretty obvious question: what alternative to using MLS players have we had in the past?

At no point in our soccer history have we had this many players based in Europe. Before Klinsmann started recruiting over there, there were maybe 5 guys, on average, playing in Europe.

How do you build a team out of 5 or 10 guys, many of whom were not good enough to get regular playing time on their European club teams?

 

[KaiserUEO]

Winning the Gold Cup would be a bit like winning the NFC East the past few years if the division winner didn’t make the playoffs.

It’s great to beat your regional rivals but ultimately it means nothing toward winning a WC.

USMNT lack of WC success is a confluence of talent, coaching, culture and federation support. Too much to get into in one post.

It’s not so much that they don’t take stuff seriously enough. They choose to let their top talent (mostly Europe based) take the summer off rather than play in a meaningless tourney.

(It’s like having your franchise QB only play one series in each preseason game or give them one quarter in the last one).

so why is any International tournament...meaningless??

friendlies are meaningless.

if we dont take every tournament seriously, how can we ever get out of the round of 16...provided we can actually qualify???

 

[Orangezoo]

so why is any International tournament...meaningless??

friendlies are meaningless.

if we dont take every tournament seriously, how can we ever get out of the round of 16...provided we can actually qualify???

To be fair 'international" is a stretch when these are Concacaf tournaments. The Gold Cup includes territories that don't even ever have a shot at the WC because they are just that, a territory not a nation. Outside of more time on the pitch you don't get much value playing your first team in every tournament where you have a shot to play Mexico along with the underwhelming Central American sides. Give me more tourneys with South American sides regularly and then that is a different story and a better ongoing litmus test for the first team.

The other piece here is that the qualifiers are far different than the cups. The cups are played usually in the U.S. and or Mexico on quality fields. Qualifiers in other countries are at times as hostile as it gets playing on awful fields sometimes. Guatemala is a pushover in Kansas City but not so much on their rocky and wet field during WCQ.

There needs to be more international tournaments we can play in between the WC and qualifiers that is truly international not just our immediate northern and southern neighbors and Caribbean nations.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

It seems like you're forgetting that these guys are only auditioning to be end-of-the-roster guys in World Cup qualifying. They don't all have to be perfect - or even good enough for the first team.

But there are guys on the team who can help us during qualifying, and so far it's 3 wins out of 3. They haven't played great, but they are getting results. That's important, too.

We had plenty of experienced guys in 2018 qualifying and they just didn't turn up in the big moments.

Great post. Only four carryovers from the Nations League roster to the Gold Cup roster.

Means 4 guys from our top 23, and I would argue all four are in the bottom half of our top 23, with the other 19 occupying spots 24-42 in the talent pool.

I like the use of different formations, even when they don't work, and the different player combinations.

I like the fact that we continue to try to play our way out of pressure and, when feasible, high press.

The USMNT, under Berhalter, is now actually doing all the things that Klinsmann said that he wanted the team to do.

I thought yesterday's game completely turned when Zimmerman had to be subbed out for Pines. Pines not nearly as good with the ball at his feet and our distribution suffered. I also think Berhalter was more hesitant to high press with Pines. The way he had set up the formation, it was Pines and Robinson against Canada's two up top, when the ball turned over, and Pines is really inexperienced. A high press is also like the 2-3 zone. Everyone has to be on the same page. Just having one guy be a half a second late in his assignment can be the difference between getting a turnover and having a 2 v 2 jailbreak going the other way. And you can see that our high press, especially this team, is not the machine that Italy or Spain are.

I also really liked the fact that the team, despite being so inexperienced, did not make that fatal mistake and was able to close the game out. For a team that has so few combined caps, that was impressive. When legs tire, discipline goes and discipline goes faster with inexperienced players because it is not as ingrained in their muscle memory. Canada clearly does not have a great team but they are much better than they used to be and they do have size, speed, ability and physicality, especially up top.

Anyone who watched the Euros knows that, with the way yellows are handed out like candy at Halloween, closing out a game is not nearly as easy as it was 20-40 years ago when cynical fouls were merely free kicks and only egregious fouls were yellows.

Today, pretty much any foul that stops forward momentum, especially at the end of games, is a yellow. That puts much more pressure on a team trying to defend a lead late in games.

I watched Lalas lambast the performance. Considering the roster, and its inexperience, I don't think it was warranted, especially because I believe the Zimmerman injury really impacted the game.

Survive and advance and prepare for next Sunday.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I watched Lalas lambast the performance. Considering the roster, and its inexperience, I don't think it was warranted, especially because I believe the Zimmerman injury really impacted the game.

Survive and advance and prepare for next Sunday.

Hercules Gomez on ESPN absolutely hammered them, too.

Yes, they didn't look "convincing". Yes, they didn't dominate Canada.

But this is far from our first team that we are running out there. Most of the roster against Canada had fewer than 10 (!) caps.

Like you, Forza, I feel like this is about trial under fire, as new guys adjust to the format / tactics of the national team, in competitive games with a trophy at stake, even if it's only the 'NIT' version of this summer's competition.

Win and move on. So far, they're doing that with really inexperienced guys. No complaints from me.

 

[KaiserUEO]

i guess my point is that the NHL, NBA, MLB and certainly the NFL...didnt build their sport by playing JV teams on national television v international competition.

no wonder no one cares about soccer and no wonder we cant qualify for the WC.

 

[Alsacs]

so why is any International tournament...meaningless??

friendlies are meaningless.

if we dont take every tournament seriously, how can we ever get out of the round of 16...provided we can actually qualify???

Every confederation in FIFA has a regional tournament. Europe and South America, Asia, do it every 4 years.
Africa and CONCACAF(N and C America do it every 2 years)

These regional tournaments are done mainly for contential pride.
CONCACAF can only realistically hold their tournaments in USA, Canada or Mexico.

Prior to 2017 the tournament in the CONCACAF had some value as a the champion of the tournament the year after a World Cup would guarantee the champ a spot in the Confederations Cup which FIFA would hold the year before a World Cup in the World Cup host country as a trial run.
You would have the host, the reigning WC champion, and 6 contentential champions from each confederation play in 2 groups of 4 and have a mini-WC.

The USA had its best success in a Men’s FIFA tournament at the 2009 Confederations Cup.
We lost our first 2 matches to Italy and Brazil but beat Egypt and got help from Brazil over Italy to qualify for the semi finals.

Where the USA beat the world’s number 1 Spain 2-0 in one of the biggest upsets of alltime. Spain had the world record longest winning streak and Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard played outstanding and we beat Spain.

In the Final against Brazil the US scored 2 goals in the first half and were up 2-0 at halftime.
Brazil made some subs and a Brazil 3 goal second half and we lost 3-2 in the final.

The Gold Cup is useless now without the confederations cup berth. The Euro competition has a lot of pride because the quality and depth of teams in the tournament plus its 2 years before the WC except this year.

If CONCACAF didn’t treat it like a cash grab they would make it every 4 years if they wanted it to be more prestigious.
Their have been 15 Gold Cups and only 3 winners Mexico-8 Times, USA 6 times and Canada won it in 2000.

The region used to invite teams from other regions but stopped doing that until this year. Qatar was invited into the tournament this year with a deal CONCACAF made with Asian federation to share strategies and help Qatar who is the reigning Asian Cup region champion get preparation for next year’s WC.

WC 2022 is the last WC that will only be 32 teams with 8 groups of 4.

2026 will be 48 teams with 16 groups of 3 teams.

CONCACAF wants the smaller confederations to grow which would be good. Jamaica and Canada are getting better. It’s still though Mexico and USA at the top and Costa Rica 3rd.


The Gold Cup is during the MLS season it’s kinda pointless now and MLS has really helped the rest of CONCACAF except Mexico a lot.

In 2016 the South American federation held the Copa America 100th anniversary tournament in the USA.

10 COMEBOL teams and 6 CONCACAF teams.

It was a huge success.
It should be done like the EURO competition honestly.
It would help the US soccer federation.

The USA used to get invited into the Copa America but they offended the South America federation in 2007 when they sent a bad roster and prioritized the Gold Cup after that the USA wasn’t invited till 2016 when it was done in the USA.

 

[ForCuseSake]

i guess my point is that the NHL, NBA, MLB and certainly the NFL...didnt build their sport by playing JV teams on national television v international competition.

no wonder no one cares about soccer and no wonder we cant qualify for the WC.

Well, we invented 3/4 of those sports so it was pretty easy to build those global powerhouse leagues. The 4th (NHL) would've died on the vine if it hadn't migrated south to include mostly U.S. cities.

One of the reasons it's tough to get traction is MLS doesn't play on the same schedule as the other (European/South American) big club leagues. Soccer ain't a summer sport in the rest of the world.

To your eariler post about my characterization of the GC being meaningless...The GC is CONCACAF's (our regional soccer governing body) attempt to stage a Euro like tournament (every 4 years, off WC cycle). One of the problems with this is that CONCACAF is top heavy mostly dominated by Mexico and U.S.

Not as top heavy as AFC East was 2000 - 2016 but not far off in the eyes of global soccer. It's basically Mexico, the U.S. (and to a lesser extent Costa Rica) - the rest have stunk for decades to the point of wondering how hard those countries actually try.

We'll qualify for the WC in 2022. Failure to qualify for the 2018 WC will prove to be an aberration.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Great post. Only four carryovers from the Nations League roster to the Gold Cup roster.

Means 4 guys from our top 23, and I would argue all four are in the bottom half of our top 23, with the other 19 occupying spots 24-42 in the talent pool.

I like the use of different formations, even when they don't work, and the different player combinations.

I like the fact that we continue to try to play our way out of pressure and, when feasible, high press.

The USMNT, under Berhalter, is now actually doing all the things that Klinsmann said that he wanted the team to do.

I thought yesterday's game completely turned when Zimmerman had to be subbed out for Pines. Pines not nearly as good with the ball at his feet and our distribution suffered. I also think Berhalter was more hesitant to high press with Pines. The way he had set up the formation, it was Pines and Robinson against Canada's two up top, when the ball turned over, and Pines is really inexperienced. A high press is also like the 2-3 zone. Everyone has to be on the same page. Just having one guy be a half a second late in his assignment can be the difference between getting a turnover and having a 2 v 2 jailbreak going the other way. And you can see that our high press, especially this team, is not the machine that Italy or Spain are.

I also really liked the fact that the team, despite being so inexperienced, did not make that fatal mistake and was able to close the game out. For a team that has so few combined caps, that was impressive. When legs tire, discipline goes and discipline goes faster with inexperienced players because it is not as ingrained in their muscle memory. Canada clearly does not have a great team but they are much better than they used to be and they do have size, speed, ability and physicality, especially up top.

Anyone who watched the Euros knows that, with the way yellows are handed out like candy at Halloween, closing out a game is not nearly as easy as it was 20-40 years ago when cynical fouls were merely free kicks and only egregious fouls were yellows.

Today, pretty much any foul that stops forward momentum, especially at the end of games, is a yellow. That puts much more pressure on a team trying to defend a lead late in games.

I watched Lalas lambast the performance. Considering the roster, and its inexperience, I don't think it was warranted, especially because I believe the Zimmerman injury really impacted the game.

Survive and advance and prepare for next Sunday.

Always appreciate your astute analysis.

Two caveats for my armchair take on Berhalter so far...

I've missed a few USMNT appearances in the past 6 months (yesterday's game was the first USMNT game I've watched in a while).

It's awesome to see the team jump opponents early on and finish (they've scored early in quite a few of their recent matches) and I think this may contribute to my confusion/criticism.

But...I still don't quite understand what Berhalter's strategy (or philosophy) is. Does he have a set system/strategy that is being implemented or is he simply trying to get the player pool accustomed to the likelihood of attempting multiple formations to accommodate different strategies?

I'm not advocating for picking one approach and sticking to it, he just seems to be all over the place and I rarely can see if it's in response to what the opposition is doing on the pitch. Much of that is likely due to my lack of soccer savvy, but I could see it plain as day when I watched Mancini adjust his formation after half time in the final against England.

 

[Alsacs]

Let me ask a pretty obvious question: what alternative to using MLS players have we had in the past?

At no point in our soccer history have we had this many players based in Europe. Before Klinsmann started recruiting over there, there were maybe 5 guys, on average, playing in Europe.

How do you build a team out of 5 or 10 guys, many of whom were not good enough to get regular playing time on their European club teams?

The roster selection isn’t ideal because the Nations Cup and WCQ all wrapped together because of Covid.

I just don’t like using players I know aren’t going to be capable of helping the National team if we have yellow card suspensions or injuries.

Their clearly were some MLS guys I like whom have Europe in their future.

The national team should never play a game at home against Canada and get less than 50% of the possession without a red card.
Our guys couldn’t even keep the ball yesterday.
If that was strategic then it’s dumb. I get we got an injury but so did Canada. Canada was without their 2 best players as well. It’s not a really good team.
They outworked us and their tactics were better.
I like Moore,Busco Dike. We have some young guys but too many guys with heavy touches playing now. That is bad development for a program like the USA.
I wouldn’t be shocked if we lose to Jamaica or Costa Rica next Sunday.

 

[Orangezoo]

Great post. Only four carryovers from the Nations League roster to the Gold Cup roster.

Means 4 guys from our top 23, and I would argue all four are in the bottom half of our top 23, with the other 19 occupying spots 24-42 in the talent pool.

I like the use of different formations, even when they don't work, and the different player combinations.

I like the fact that we continue to try to play our way out of pressure and, when feasible, high press.

The USMNT, under Berhalter, is now actually doing all the things that Klinsmann said that he wanted the team to do.

I thought yesterday's game completely turned when Zimmerman had to be subbed out for Pines. Pines not nearly as good with the ball at his feet and our distribution suffered. I also think Berhalter was more hesitant to high press with Pines. The way he had set up the formation, it was Pines and Robinson against Canada's two up top, when the ball turned over, and Pines is really inexperienced. A high press is also like the 2-3 zone. Everyone has to be on the same page. Just having one guy be a half a second late in his assignment can be the difference between getting a turnover and having a 2 v 2 jailbreak going the other way. And you can see that our high press, especially this team, is not the machine that Italy or Spain are.

I also really liked the fact that the team, despite being so inexperienced, did not make that fatal mistake and was able to close the game out. For a team that has so few combined caps, that was impressive. When legs tire, discipline goes and discipline goes faster with inexperienced players because it is not as ingrained in their muscle memory. Canada clearly does not have a great team but they are much better than they used to be and they do have size, speed, ability and physicality, especially up top.

Anyone who watched the Euros knows that, with the way yellows are handed out like candy at Halloween, closing out a game is not nearly as easy as it was 20-40 years ago when cynical fouls were merely free kicks and only egregious fouls were yellows.

Today, pretty much any foul that stops forward momentum, especially at the end of games, is a yellow. That puts much more pressure on a team trying to defend a lead late in games.

I watched Lalas lambast the performance. Considering the roster, and its inexperience, I don't think it was warranted, especially because I believe the Zimmerman injury really impacted the game.

Survive and advance and prepare for next Sunday.

I am not quite as forgiving with Berhalter as you nor even as close to as critical as Lalas. I have mixed emotions over the experimentation with formations. There is such a limited amount of time to get a group to play together that it's really hard to install a system during WCQ while you have experimented in all the lead up friendlies and cups.

Also you can play with formations while also sticking to a similar gameplan but that also has not been the case. Berhalter inherited a talent pool that no other USMNT coach has ever had and thus a challenge to go with that given the options are not lacking vs the previous teams where you really couldn't go with the more attack minded style of play and had to set up defensively against quality opponents.

As for the depth- I think it's critical more for sustainability and not allowing the talent pool to get stale more than anything. If the officiating in the past 3 tournaments, Euro included is an indicator for what is to come, I would be thrilled as it's been a long time since I have seen them let so much go.

Good points on the high press with Pines. He definitely was a weak spot and nearly gave away a couple goals. I liked how they used Busio far more in the previous game then vs Canada. Yes it was a better opponent and yes Pines was really weak on the ball but still I hated seeing everything run through the wings while having almost no overlapping runs or service to those runs. If you aren't going to use Busio as he should be and have him pushing up so high leaving nobody in the midfield, then he is useless.

Again I get it's experimentation but some of it seems wasteful at times.

I do think at the end of this Gold Cup the goal of identifying some guys to fill things out will be accomplished. Busio, Dike, Hoppe, Sands, Moore, Robinson and maybe even Turner who I feel has been steady back there all should have a chance to fight for a spot. Maybe you still give Zimmerman a look too.. maybe.

 

[upperdeck]

Feels like if we have some ball control we actually can score a bit on set pieces and in transition now and as they play more together actually do some damage against teams sitting back.. But still that D on the back end just gives away the ball so much you can see us playing well and losing 3-2 games to solid teams

 

[cusefan88]

Soccer had made it. An out and out message board battle on a Syracuse fan site. This, my friends, is how the USMNT will improve because there's more eyes and scrutiny. Look at the teams that have won the WC. Major football cultures and obsessions.

My two cents on Lalas: He's a performance artist now. Much better analysts out there.

 

[IthacaMatt]

My two cents on Lalas: He's a performance artist now. Much better analysts out there.

Alexi Lalas has become the Bill Walton of soccer announcers.

Personally, that's ok with me. He is knowledgeable about MLS, in particular.

ESPN's coverage of the Nations League was awful. Their on air talent is the weakest.

Fox is getting better; really improved since Champions League by getting rid of Kate Abdo for the US games. She knows nothing about the sport, and is just the "pretty girl" who should be a sideline reporter, not a host in the studio.

NBC SN remains the best coverage of football, in my opinion.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Alexi Lalas has become the Bill Walton of soccer announcers.

Personally, that's ok with me. He is knowledgeable about MLS, in particular.

ESPN's coverage of the Nations League was awful. Their on air talent is the weakest.

Fox is getting better; really improved since Champions League by getting rid of Kate Abdo for the US games. She knows nothing about the sport, and is just the "pretty girl" who should be a sideline reporter, not a host in the studio.

NBC SN remains the best coverage of football, in my opinion.

As someone who basically hates soccer, yet loves the WC and will root for the US soccer team when they play….give me more Lalas. He is what us haters need, a clown prince to keep us interested in that boring ass sport.

 

[Alsacs]

Alexi Lalas has become the Bill Walton of soccer announcers.

Personally, that's ok with me. He is knowledgeable about MLS, in particular.

ESPN's coverage of the Nations League was awful. Their on air talent is the weakest.

Fox is getting better; really improved since Champions League by getting rid of Kate Abdo for the US games. She knows nothing about the sport, and is just the "pretty girl" who should be a sideline reporter, not a host in the studio.

NBC SN remains the best coverage of football, in my opinion.

ESPN didn’t do the Natjons League that was CBS SN.

Lalas is a clown but he isn’t close to the level of clown Walton is.
ESPN did better coverage of US Soccer till they lost the WC to Fox.

I really don’t care for Fox soccer coverage.

I like Ian Darke calling the matches and he works for ESPN.

NBC does a great job with the EPL.
They didn’t do a good job when they got US Soccer matches.

The Champions League coverage has been awful for a while now.

ESPN is getting La Liga hopefully they can get Darke to do matches there as he likes to do EPL.

I am not fan of ESPN but I hope they get the WC back after 2026.
Fox soccer coverage sucks.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I really don’t care for Fox soccer coverage.

I like Ian Darke calling the matches and he works for ESPN.

The Champions League coverage has been awful for a while now.

ESPN is getting La Liga hopefully they can get Darke to do matches there as he likes to do EPL.

Fox soccer coverage sucks.

I think the Fox guys know MLS, so when we get regional competitions, they are better informed. They are better at identifying opposing players because half of them have played in our league.

I like Ian Darke, too. Does a nice job. John Champion and Stuart Robson are pretty good, too. I like Julie Foudy in the studio. She's very sharp.

 

[IthacaMatt]

But...I still don't quite understand what Berhalter's strategy (or philosophy) is. Does he have a set system/strategy that is being implemented or is he simply trying to get the player pool accustomed to the likelihood of attempting multiple formations to accommodate different strategies?

I might compare him to Gareth Southgate, the England coach, or maybe Thomas Teucal, Chelsea coach (formerly at PSG).

Both of those guys play 3 at the back on defense, with a couple shielding defensive midfielders. Having the extra defensive cover allows those defenders to take turns getting forward into midfield when the opportunity presents itself.

Offensively, they start in the back and want to draw the defense on to you, much like you want them to really blitz if you call the screen pass in American football. That's the idea, draw them on to you to create passing lanes or openings in between the defense. So the offense usually transitions from the defense up the middle as the defense connects to the midfield, and then play it out to the wings, where there may be more open space.

Then you try to get an extra guy over there to enable you to get the ball upfield with a series of one-two passes up the sidelines. When defenses bunch up in the middle, the easiest way to get the ball upfield is using the sidelines or the long diagonal pass.

That's kind of how they all coach - modern winning football, post tika taka: Solid defensive base, upfield pressure to try to force turnovers. Play out of the back on offense, try to hit on the counter attack from your defense. Play big on set pieces.

That's the formula. Klinsmann wanted to play this way. We are actually doing it fairly well right now, especially with our top guys. Our ball retention is miles better, when you take into account all these young guys in Europe. They are top class on the ball.

 

[ForCuseSake]

I might compare him to Gareth Southgate, the England coach, or maybe Thomas Teucal, Chelsea coach (formerly at PSG).

Both of those guys play 3 at the back on defense, with a couple shielding defensive midfielders. Having the extra defensive cover allows those defenders to take turns getting forward into midfield when the opportunity presents itself.

Offensively, they start in the back and want to draw the defense on to you, much like you want them to really blitz if you call the screen pass in American football. That's the idea, draw them on to you to create passing lanes or openings in between the defense. So the offense usually transitions from the defense up the middle as the defense connects to the midfield, and then play it out to the wings, where there may be more open space.

Then you try to get an extra guy over there to enable you to get the ball upfield with a series of one-two passes up the sidelines. When defenses bunch up in the middle, the easiest way to get the ball upfield is using the sidelines or the long diagonal pass.

That's kind of how they all coach - modern winning football, post tika taka: Solid defensive base, upfield pressure to try to force turnovers. Play out of the back on offense, try to hit on the counter attack from your defense. Play big on set pieces.

That's the formula. Klinsmann wanted to play this way. We are actually doing it fairly well right now, especially with our top guys. Our ball retention is miles better, when you take into account all these young guys in Europe. They are top class on the ball.

I wish I’d seen more of what you described against Canada.

US played the ball out of the back with some dicey turnovers that would’ve been cashed in quite easily by a stronger opponent.

We didn’t seem to have capable wing play to takes advantage of Canada owning the middle of the field. The middle could’ve been called the QEW with how much traffic they controlled.

I applaud the approach to emulate that style, I just didn’t see it enough to recognize it.

I saw a lot of booted clears to relieve pressure (perhaps due to an errant pass or poor touch) and a willingness fo stay compact defensively rather than a high press.

 

[ForCuseSake]

As someone who basically hates soccer, yet loves the WC and will root for the US soccer team when they play….give me more Lalas. He is what us haters need, a clown prince to keep us interested in that boring ass sport.

I understand what you mean.

I feel the same way about baseball (hate it - boring AF). Maybe I’d tolerate it better if I found a Lalas equivalent.

 

[KaiserUEO]

I understand what you mean.

I feel the same way about baseball (hate it - boring AF). Maybe I’d tolerate it better if I found a Lalas equivalent.

That’s a hard task.

Baseball is very regional and the good regional teams have that ‘clown prince’ or ‘voice’ for decades. It’s the National broadcasts we all hate.

I’ve found I can almost sync up John & Suzyn to broadcasts by using the apps instead of the radio and just pausing Shlit all around till I get it close.

my generation remembers Lalas and his hair, he needs to go full Walton and it will be awesome.