2021 USMNT Thread

[Forza Azzurri]

I definitely agree that the list we can't beat is shrinking. Watching the Euros and Copa America this year further sealed that for me even further. Maybe 2030 is a little early but I think we aren't too much past that if it takes longer and mainly because the athlete pool and growing interest for the sport in this country is increasing every year and by a multiple of 3 or 4.

When the youth talent is growing faster than even the most obsessed of soccer heads can have a target lock on them in this country then you know we are in the right direction at least.

Yes, but is the coaching keeping up?

And how many of the elite academies, other than the MLS ones, are now freeeeee (have to add the extra Es as the system does not like the word free, apparently)?

There are now 120 elite academies but if 100 of them are still pay to play, that severely limits the demographic.

And can the pay to play academies afford to emphasize development rather than winning?

Vast majority of parents have no idea whether training is good, or not, so they define success as winning.

It is an ugly cycle.

These are the things I worry about.

Can a homegrown kid, with elite talent, also have an elite understanding of the game and can he get that education domestically or does he still have to go to Europe to get it?

A kid who comes out of La Masia or De Toekomst has an elite soccer education. How does our academy education stack up?

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I think it's going to be really critical that at a minimum they qualify and even further they have a good showing in Qatar.

I say that because committing to this system is long term and as we know without results comes impatience. Also, getting the talent pool to the point where the B team is full of talent playing in Europe as well is a key milestone. If the US can get there then they can realistically be ready to threaten for WC titles by the time 2030 rolls around. Obviously crazy things can happen prior to that but outside an anomaly to me this seems the most realistic runway. Also, unlike say Belgium, once we have a system and talent pool flowing the drop offs shouldn't be severe.

One other thing.

My patience and "happiness" with Berhalter is based on what he is trying (emphasis on trying) to do and the knowledge of how long that takes.

What I do not yet know is if he can get it done.

Can he be our Mancini?

Jury is still out on that question.

Getting it done, IMO, means:

A) Can he both teach and implement a modern system to the point where we can successfully play the way we want to play against most teams?
B) But still have the pragmatism, and adjust, both pre-game and in-game,, when it is clear that we will not be able to play the way we want to play and still get a result.

Both are critical.

Mancini almost blew the Euros because he thought Italy could play Spanish football against Spain. So, even really good coaches can get that wrong. To his credit, he adjusted for the second half.

Southgate caught a lot of flack for not playing more attacking football against Italy but did he really have the midfield to dominate play? I, for one, don't think so. Unless you are la Roja, outpossessing Verratti, Jorginho and Barella is a tough ask.

 

[cusefan88]

They could have the entire arena but it’s not like playing in El Salvador on their terribly managed pitch and their fans bombarding our team hotel with noise.

Totally agree. If they play in DC they should win but still I would be fine with a draw.

 

[cusefan88]

Yes, but is the coaching keeping up?

And how many of the elite academies, other than the MLS ones, are now freeeeee (have to add the extra Es as the system does not like the word free, apparently)?

There are now 120 elite academies but if 100 of them are still pay to play, that severely limits the demographic.

And can the pay to play academies afford to emphasize development rather than winning?

Vast majority of parents have no idea whether training is good, or not, so they define success as winning.

It is an ugly cycle.

These are the things I worry about.

Can a homegrown kid, with elite talent, also have an elite understanding of the game and can he get that education domestically or does he still have to go to Europe to get it?

A kid who comes out of La Masia or De Toekomst has an elite soccer education. How does our academy education stack up?

If you look at the "A" team most of the guys ran away from MLS as soon as they could. Only Adams and Steffen played decent minutes. So that part is still a work in progress.

 

[DeGrozz]

The drunken tactics talk here was incredible. I've always loved watching soccer games but have never really understood the tactics around it outside of some pretty primitive stuff I learned from video games or random videos I had seen on YouTube so really appreciate that stuff.

That's kinda the reason I took the time to post it -- the guy seemed genuinely interested in hearing at least the theory behind the style of play.

Full transparency though -- I didn't figure out 95+% of that out by watching games or youtube videos or from playing the game for the majority of my life either, kudos to the people who can though.

 

[Alsacs]

The drunken tactics talk here was incredible. I've always loved watching soccer games but have never really understood the tactics around it outside of some pretty primitive stuff I learned from video games or random videos I had seen on YouTube so really appreciate that stuff.

Formation and tactics basically tell you though how a manager wants to play. I mean they obviously adjust to their roster but they matter.
These CONCACAF teams hurt the USA in friendlies because they don’t play the same tactics they do in official matches. Which is why I like playing non-CONCACAF teams in friendlies because they to play similar to how they normally do with just more subbing.

 

[Alsacs]

One other thing.

My patience and "happiness" with Berhalter is based on what he is trying (emphasis on trying) to do and the knowledge of how long that takes.

What I do not yet know is if he can get it done.

Can he be our Mancini?

Jury is still out on that question.

Getting it done, IMO, means:

A) Can he both teach and implement a modern system to the point where we can successfully play the way we want to play against most teams?
B) But still have the pragmatism, and adjust, both pre-game and in-game,, when it is clear that we will not be able to play the way we want to play and still get a result.

Both are critical.

Mancini almost blew the Euros because he thought Italy could play Spanish football against Spain. So, even really good coaches can get that wrong. To his credit, he adjusted for the second half.

Southgate caught a lot of flack for not playing more attacking football against Italy but did he really have the midfield to dominate play? I, for one, don't think so. Unless you are la Roja, outpossessing Verratti, Jorginho and Barella is a tough ask.

Klinsmann talked the exact same game as Berhalter. I really don’t get this.
Klinsmann wanted the American system to be blown up and he did a lot more than people give him credit for blowing up the old system and the young players we have now.
Klinsmann just ticked off the players with how he was a snake around them.

 

[cusefan88]

Klinsmann talked the exact same game as Berhalter. I really don’t get this.
Klinsmann wanted the American system to be blown up and he did a lot more than people give him credit for blowing up the old system and the young players we have now.
Klinsmann just ticked off the players with how he was a snake around them.

I think in a different world he would have made a good Technical Director...until he advocating for pro/rel and Don Garber assassinates him.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Klinsmann talked the exact same game as Berhalter. I really don’t get this.
Klinsmann wanted the American system to be blown up and he did a lot more than people give him credit for blowing up the old system and the young players we have now.
Klinsmann just ticked off the players with how he was a snake around them.

He talked the same game. He just never tried to actually implement it.

To be fair, I think our young talent is much better than what Klinsmann had to work with and I don't think he would have been successful if he had tried to implement it.

However, I'm not sure he could impIement it. I don't think he was the greatest tactician. Some of his choices were head-scratching at times.

But I am not one of those guys who thinks he did a terrible job.

 

[cusefan88]

Looking like no US venues. However playing at El Salvador behind closed doors should mean three points.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Pepi with an impressive hat trick for Dallas tonight. Could be really really special.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The issue Berhalter is going to run into is that this is a pretty good (and widely used) strategy across the club level. Teams press the ball more, hold a higher line, and generally play a more aggressive style of defense -- the name of the game is to defensively force your opponent to make an error and capitalize on it.

That's why I'm not so down on Berhalter. He is trying to teach a team of young guys to play the way all the best clubs in Europe now play. This is what Klinsmann had hoped to do. This will help more US players move to Europe, too, since they are playing a more modern style of football.

At the international level, teams have less time together, their defensive tactics are less complex, and you'll have a bend, but not break defensive motto -- including holding a deeper back-4 line like what you see in many of the South American leagues that have a more wide-open level of play and playing a softer press.

While I sort of agree with this, that teams with less time together need simpler defensive set ups to avoid catastrophic mistakes; this is why I generally favor 3 at the back. You have that insurance policy of the extra centerback.

But when you see how a team like Italy, who exemplified the bunker mentality for generations, has created a modern, exciting style of football under Roberto Mancini, and you see that the "club game" can work at the International level, too. We already see it in the pressing high up the pitch. The risk of doing that is that your defenders may get exposed, hence 3 at the back is a great solution, especially when you don't have 2 world class center backs to anchor your defense.

 

[IthacaMatt]

He talked the same game. He just never tried to actually implement it.

To be fair, I think our young talent is much better than what Klinsmann had to work with and I don't think he would have been successful if he had tried to implement it.

However, I'm not sure he could impIement it. I don't think he was the greatest tactician. Some of his choices were head-scratching at times.

But I am not one of those guys who thinks he did a terrible job.

Klinsmann was naive; he thought players "expressing themselves" would find their way, that they would "figure it out".

Berhalter tells them, "if you make this pass, then the next guy will have these options". He's coaching the offense like Antonio Conte; scripted motions that are repeated over and over until all the players know where they need to be, and where the passes should be coming from.

 

[cusefan88]

Pepi with an impressive hat trick for Dallas tonight. Could be really really special.

Going to be a fight to keep him. If I had to put money on it, 2/3 of Pepi, Araujo (LA Galaxy), and Ochoa (RSL) will choose Mexico.

 

[Alsacs]

Looking like no US venues. However playing at El Salvador behind closed doors should mean three points.

This literally makes no sense. How can FIFA be this stupid.

So they will put players in a dangerous health environment rather a safer place.

 

[DeGrozz]

Would love to see another game with a sub-1 xGa.

 

[SUfanNC]

Funky start. Looking a little jittery

 

[Orangezoo]

Couple things-

This game shows why you have to have guys like McKennie and Brooks when playing in qualifiers. Jamaica trying to win this being physical.

Dike is the largest man out there and is way too tentative to use that physicality. Losing too many battles by being too tentative.

Overall this has been about Jamaica fouling until they call it and our guys just not getting into the game.

 

[Orangezoo]

Much better second half even if still fairly ugly. Had Jamaica chasing and finally tried to match the physicality.

 

[SUfanNC]

Too many bad passes from the back. Trying to squeeze into small windows. Or just not good passes

 

[IthacaMatt]

Much better second half even if still fairly ugly. Had Jamaica chasing and finally tried to match the physicality.

Pretty good games from Acosta, Shaq Moore, Busio, Miles Robinson and the goalkeeper.

Hoppe was the biggest threat offensively, but had a rough patch in the 10-15 minutes leading up to the goal, with 3 or 4 careless turnovers or misplaced passes in a row.

Lleget had a fair to poor game. He, too, as he tired was making poor passes all over the place. Sands with an inconsistent game, as well.

People know nothing about Qatar, but this is not a walk-over. They are the holding Asian Champions. Here are the highlights against Granada from the group stage. They won 4-0, but looked like they could have scored 7 or 8.

As we continue to grind out wins, not even playing that well, Berhalter's system and tactical changes are looking better and better to me.

 

[DeGrozz]

Ha - the semi-finals are the 4 hosts of the next two World Cups.

 

[cusefan88]

Dallas should not be allowed to host a game. Their field since At&t stadium opened has been consistently terrible.

I know the world cup they are putting grass down for every venue but it needs be much better than what i saw last night.

 

[Orangezoo]

Pretty good games from Acosta, Shaq Moore, Busio, Miles Robinson and the goalkeeper.

Hoppe was the biggest threat offensively, but had a rough patch in the 10-15 minutes leading up to the goal, with 3 or 4 careless turnovers or misplaced passes in a row.

Lleget had a fair to poor game. He, too, as he tired was making poor passes all over the place. Sands with an inconsistent game, as well.

People know nothing about Qatar, but this is not a walk-over. They are the holding Asian Champions. Here are the highlights against Granada from the group stage. They won 4-0, but looked like they could have scored 7 or 8.

As we continue to grind out wins, not even playing that well, Berhalter's system and tactical changes are looking better and better to me.

I felt Moore was up and down as well. A lot of miscommunication on that right side at times . Hoppe's first touch let him down a lot that second half but kid brings a ton of quality and has great instincts in front of goal.

Robinson, Busio and Acosta definitely looked good. Acosta was the one guy who came in and matched the physicality and asserted himself in the midfield in the second half and once that happened a goal was imminent.

I really hope Dike has a rebound game vs Qatar. He has been Jozy like these past two games in not using his strength and being sloppy and passive.

Qatar is dangerous. They are not very impressive defensively but they have some speed and good finishers.

 

[cusefan88]

I felt Moore was up and down as well. A lot of miscommunication on that right side at times . Hoppe's first touch let him down a lot that second half but kid brings a ton of quality and has great instincts in front of goal.

Robinson, Busio and Acosta definitely looked good. Acosta was the one guy who came in and matched the physicality and asserted himself in the midfield in the second half and once that happened a goal was imminent.

I really hope Dike has a rebound game vs Qatar. He has been Jozy like these past two games in not using his strength and being sloppy and passive.

Qatar is dangerous. They are not very impressive defensively but they have some speed and good finishers.

They will be clinical in front of goal if the chances are there.