2023 USMNT

[OrangeFoo]

Well... it's better to win poorly than not win at all.

I think we learned a LOT from this match:
- The midfield of Zendejas, Mihalovic and Gressel was really really bad. Zendejas probably shouldn't see the field again for the B team. I'll give Mihalovic the benefit of the doubt because I do see some quality there. Gressel might have quality, but is too slow to get any space at this level.
- Busio deserves a shot at the A team... but I still think he's too light weight to start. Maybe he can challenge de la Torre? He has brilliant moments, but also some really horrific ones. He needs to settle his club career.
- Vazquez brings a physical, dynamic presence at striker that no one else in the pool does right now. Sorry, Pepe, I'd rather see Vazquez off the bench. Or even playing with Balogun
- Ferrera continues to be consistent in making ZERO impact against halfway decent teams. I guess you can blame the midfield but Vazquez had to deal with similar dynamics and does nothing but create chances with his direct play
- Sands was solid... but he's not A-team material given the quality of the players ahead of him at his position. He would have been an automatic starter a decade ago. It's amazing how far the US talent has come.
- Reynolds is a revelation... he started the tournament playing CB and is now dominating as RB both going forward and playing D. It's too bad he can't play LB. He also needs to settle his club career.
- The cross from the Jones kid to Vazquez was a thing of beauty... and he seems pretty solid on D although he does make a few errors here and there. Maybe he gets a shot to back up Jedi?
- Love the energy Cowell brings... if he can slow the game down and let others play off his pace and athleticism he could be a huge X-factor. I think he should get a shot at the A team backing up Pulisic and Weah.
- I'm really curious to see if Neal gets another game given how poor he was tonight. It was telling he got subbed off with Robinson just getting back from injury and not cleared for 120 next to him.
- The bloom has come of the Callghan rose a bit... I thought he got the starting midfield all kinds of wrong.

 

[OrangeFoo]

After a whole week of training, I thought we would have seen a more fluid offense. Canada, even without their European players, have a well-organized press which we saw against Cuba.

We could have used a guy like Ricardo Pepi, who has 7 goals in 16 appearances, and played pretty well in Europe last year with 12 goals in 29 games. But I guess he's in pre-season now at PSV Eindhoven.

Yeah... gold cup timing is pretty piss poor. I hope Copa starts early enough next year so that they can get the full A-team. I think the big issue is the midfield stunk... not striker.

 

[cusefan88]

Yeah... gold cup timing is pretty piss poor. I hope Copa starts early enough next year so that they can get the full A-team. I think the big issue is the midfield stunk... not striker.

It's a two roster summer next year with Copa and Olympics (Under 23 with 3 slots for overage players) being played.

Some ppl claim the usmnt fanbase is becoming toxic and too critical. I say a lot of fans have smartened up and know what good football looks like. The leaders of the sport in this country can't sell the same BS anymore. Pressure and expectations will help.

 

[upperdeck]

Panama is a tough ask for this group.. But even the canada game once the 2nd half rolled on they pretty much took over except for the one canada sub winger who was trouble on the long outlets.

need to put home some chances for sure

 

[OrangeFoo]

Panama is a tough ask for this group.. But even the canada game once the 2nd half rolled on they pretty much took over except for the one canada sub winger who was trouble on the long outlets.

need to put home some chances for sure

It would be nice to see Vazquez start. I'd be okay going with a 4-1-3-2 with Sands as the 1 and Mihalovic, Cunningham/Morris and Busio as the 3 and Ferrera next to Vazquez.

 

[sutomcat]

Saw regulation. Had to go to sleep after that so my comments are only on the first 90 minutes.

Agree with a lot of what has already been said.

Thought Robinson had a really good game on the back line. When he was in, almost all the quality attacks the US was able to make were initiated by him. He can really pass it well.

But he had one handball and could have been called for another. Has to learn to keep his arms down on plays in the box. Still a very encouraging effort from him.

Thought Jones was very suspect for most of the game. Certainly the first half. He either kicked the ball backwards or made an awful pass forward when he got the ball. Did not look comfortable. That said, the pass to Vasquez was sublime. He appears to be a terrific athlete and it seemed like he got better and better as the game went on.

#20 on defense did not have a good game. Made a bad pass that was intercepted and almost turned into a breakaway. Seemed timid too often. Did make a few nice plays too but when you play in the middle, you have to dominate the field.

Vasquez looked good. Real good. More please.

Kamel Miller (#4) for Canada, an SU alum, looked really good and might have been their best player. One of the few that played fairly clean.

Hope they look better against Panama tonight. Game is on FS1 at 7:30 pm for those who do not know.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I saw a great graphic on Twitter today. Because of Messi moving to MLS, there have been a couple articles trying to predict his impact. Never mind that Miami has no supporting cast around him right now, and are in literally last place.

But these articles are predicting his expected impact to be about on par with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for LAFC - around 30 goal contributions per year. Sounds like a step back from his peak years at Barca, obviously, but that would still be one of the top 5 seasons ever in MLS.

In arriving at these numbers, some advanced analytics guys compared player movement across the top 20 leagues and came up with a rating of how well a player's stats "translate" to a new league, a new competition.

This is a worldwide rating. Interesting stuff, to see the "tax" in projecting a player's stats to another league. Bundesliga to Premier League, for example, shows that German players' stats usually go down by 17% in England.

 

[cusefan88]

I saw a great graphic on Twitter today. Because of Messi moving to MLS, there have been a couple articles trying to predict his impact. Never mind that Miami has no supporting cast around him right now, and are in literally last place.

But these articles are predicting his expected impact to be about on par with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for LAFC - around 30 goal contributions per year. Sounds like a step back from his peak years at Barca, obviously, but that would still be one of the top 5 seasons ever in MLS.

In arriving at these numbers, some advanced analytics guys compared player movement across the top 20 leagues and came up with a rating of how well a player's stats "translate" to a new league, a new competition.

This is a worldwide rating. Interesting stuff, to see the "tax" in projecting a player's stats to another league. Bundesliga to Premier League, for example, shows that German players' stats usually go down by 17% in England.


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It's tough to translate because you got a guy like Hany Mukhtar who was bang average and is now an MVP type guy.

 

[Orangezoo]

B2b ET. Even for the B team I would love to not see Morris or Miazga ever again. Miazgas poor headers and bad clearances are so frustrating

 

[djcon57]

B2b ET. Even for the B team I would love to not see Morris or Miazga ever again. Miazgas poor headers and bad clearances are so frustrating

Yeah. I’ve seen enough of Miazga for good

 

[Orangezoo]

Tired legs but still pathetic defending on that goal. You just can't give that up. Energy level with Miazga and Morris has sucked and quality overall you can just see it fall off.

 

[Orangezoo]

Ok so I think Ferreira has taken the step up. A lot of quality moments tonight.

 

[djcon57]

Ok so I think Ferreira has taken the step up. A lot of quality moments tonight.

I’m still concerned when he plays a non concacaf team but he’s absolutely number 3 at worst

 

[Orangezoo]

I’m still concerned when he plays a non concacaf team but he’s absolutely number 3 at worst

Which to me is perfect. He has enough quality and a nose for goal to not be a lame duck sub for the A team. I agree need to see against others but some of his play I feel can translate. It's been quick and with purpose vs playing around with it.

 

[Orangezoo]

The moment Miazga pulled that dbag stunt after his PK I knew karma was gonna do it's thing. Good riddance I hope. Panama deserved it. Had to figure the B team would slip up again. Didn't get another trophy but learned a bit about a few guys. Enough B team for a while.

 

[PoppyHart]

Guess it’s time to unload those tix for the finals. Go Tri.

 

[OrangeFoo]

The nats biggest weakness is creating chances and scoring goals. We have some players on the A team who are pretty good, but the fall off to the A team backups is pretty large, but then the fall off to the B team is astronomically large. None of the front 6 on this squad should sniff the A team other than maybe Busio and Ferreira. Cowell is one for the future and maybe Vazquez just to try something different, but that’s about it.

 

[Orangezoo]

The nats biggest weakness is creating chances and scoring goals. We have some players on the A team who are pretty good, but the fall off to the A team backups is pretty large, but then the fall off to the B team is astronomically large. None of the front 6 on this squad should sniff the A team other than maybe Busio and Ferreira. Cowell is one for the future and maybe Vazquez just to try something different, but that’s about it.

The talent pool isn't now nor has been the issue the past few years. It's been proper use, injuries and tactics. Big thing about the B team is that like the A team it's very young. Outside of Turner there isn't much glue/experience to drive them through all of this. Past few gold cups we've had the older guys to lean on, and many of us were lamenting not just going younger. Now we have all the youth and are probably a bit too critical.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Well, some character building for the new group of players at the Gold Cup.
Disappointed with the loss, naturally. But I'm not sure that this team was good enough top-to-bottom to win it, if we're being honest.

In goal, Matt Turner with another penalty save that gave us some hope, but it was really his error that gave up the goal, by coming out too far to try to steal that long ball. He would have done better to just make his body big, and make the guy shoot around him. Turner did have the yips a few times in this game, after being pretty outstanding throughout the rest of the tournament.

On defense, this team was never the same after Jalen Neal, the 19 year old, got hurt in the group stage. He was our best central defender, although Coach Callaghan did them no favors by playing, I believe, 4 different center back pairings in 5 games.

Aaron Long was poor, especially in the first half when he faced planted while trying to get back to defend a Panama fast break.

Miles Robinson never showed us his best throughout the tournament. Yes, he is recovering from injury and had to be nursed through his minutes. But he was careless with the ball a lot. Yes, the fields were dry and played slow, but he was worse than others.

MIazga was poor earlier in the tournament, but had a pretty good game coming off the bench against Panama.

DeJuan Jones was better in the group stage than he was in the knock out rounds. The coach probably wanted him to remain solid and not take too many chances. He's a quality player, though. We'll see more of him in the coming years. He seems the best candidate to back up Antonee Robinson, at this point, probably, over Reggie Cannon and Shaq Moore.

Sergino Dest generally had a good tournament in the Nations League, and should hold down the starting spot. But Bryan Reynolds was a big discovery, even if he did wear down a bit by his 5th game in 2 1/2 weeks. I think DeAndre Yedlin is a very good veteran to keep in the mix. He's especially useful when you want to see out a game.

In midfield, James Sands had a terrific tournament. He got over-run a bit by Jamaica in the first game, but grew into the squad and was a midfield anchor by the end, with the most interceptions and break-ups of anyone in the squad. We are deep in midfield, but if someone gets hurt, he's a solid guy to have at the DM spot. The new "Kellyn Acosta" kind of guy to have on the roster.

Some people questioned how good Gianluca Busio was coming into this tournament. I think we got a really good look at him. He is calm in possession, and can either play in deep midfield to set the pace of the offense and help advance it from the center backs. Or he can play more forward on the right side of a midfield three. He makes really good through passes, has nice touch on the ball, and is very composed. Some might say that he could work harder on defense, and maybe he could be in better condition. But he did play the majority of minutes for 5 games and also became an anchor on this squad. He's not a starter in our Best 11, but he should make a 23 or 25 man roster.

Djordje Mihailovic is an MLS caliber of player. He had some good moments, but he also had a lot of stray passes. Again, the fields were dry and slow and not very good. But everyone played on the bad pitches, not just him. He doesn't make the squad on the A team.

In the attack, Jesus Ferreira got "a goal that mattered" to tie the game late versus Panama, and his 7 goals were supplemented by some excellent link-up play, as he dropped into midfield to find the game. I think he has a great nose for the ball, and knows how to find open spaces.

At 5-9, with quick thinking and quick reactions, he strikes me as the kind of smaller attacking forward that you would play off a target man in a traditional 4-4-2. He's a Chicarito kind of player up front. And that's sort of what Callaghan did by starting both him and Brandon Vazquez vs. Panama. Panama had 2/3 of the first half possession, so Vazquez never really got into this game.

Vaquez showed that he can score off the bench against tired players (much like Cade Cowell). He didn't show that he's any better than Ricardo Pepi, Darryl Dike, Jordan Pefok or even Josh Sergeant. I'm not too impressed, although I guess I should be more forgiving since the guy scored 3 goals off the bench in 4 relief appearances.

People who failed their auditions: Alan Soñora, Aidan Morris, Alex Zendejas. We'll see Zendejas again relatively soon, because he has some skills, but we might not see the other 2 for quite some time.

Jordan Morris and Julian Dressel didn't do very much to make me feel like we have to include them on future rosters, unless none of the European guys are available in that window.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I’m still concerned when he plays a non concacaf team but he’s absolutely number 3 at worst

His real value is going to be playing the number 10 when Reyna gets hurt again.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The nats biggest weakness is creating chances and scoring goals. We have some players on the A team who are pretty good, but the fall off to the A team backups is pretty large, but then the fall off to the B team is astronomically large. None of the front 6 on this squad should sniff the A team other than maybe Busio and Ferreira. Cowell is one for the future and maybe Vazquez just to try something different, but that’s about it.

"None of the front six should sniff the A team" - well, except maybe there's a role for 4 of them. LOL. That's all that this tournament was for, building depth.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The talent pool isn't now nor has been the issue the past few years. It's been proper use, injuries and tactics. Big thing about the B team is that like the A team it's very young. Outside of Turner there isn't much glue/experience to drive them through all of this. Past few gold cups we've had the older guys to lean on, and many of us were lamenting not just going younger. Now we have all the youth and are probably a bit too critical.

Good balanced take. Whether it's the B Team OR the A Team, we have the youngest teams at every tournament these past 2 or 3 years. This team is going to get much better between now and 2026.

 

[Orangezoo]

Good balanced take. Whether it's the B Team OR the A Team, we have the youngest teams at every tournament these past 2 or 3 years. This team is going to get much better between now and 2026.

Yep. One other side note is Panama under Christiansen is a much improved side despite having less talent than they have previously. Granted that's a relative comment but still the Dane has brought some stability back in.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Yep. One other side note is Panama under Christiansen is a much improved side despite having less talent than they have previously. Granted that's a relative comment but still the Dane has brought some stability back in.

And I would add that Jamaica is greatly improved. Their strategy of seeking out Premier League dual nationals is a brilliant strategy, and has already netted them a really impressive attack.

Edit: I just read an article that says, aside from Demari Gray, Mikhail Antonio and Leon Bailey, the Jamaican football federation has Mason Holgate, Ivan Toney, Andre Gray, Isaac Hayden, Nathan Redmond, and a handful of English Championship players who have recently requested Jamaican passports so they can play for the Reggae Boyz.

In addition, there are about 30 Jamaican nationals playing throughout Europe, and another 10 or so in MLS.

 

[IthacaMatt]

To accompany my post-mortem on the Gold Cup (and the summer), here is my personal 25 man USMNT Roster.

I would like to see us play a 4-2-3-1, which I think would give us a bit more defensive shield against the better teams. But that means leaving out a good midfielder or a good attacker. This team has a lot of flexibility in terms of formations, and cover for people at other spots.

Here's my current A Team Roster, when everyone is healthy and fit.

Center Forward: (1) Folarin Balogun, (2) Ricardo Pepi

Left Wing: (1) Christian Pulisic, (2) Josh Sargeant

Number 10: (1) Gio Reyna, (2) Jesus Ferreira

Right Wing: (1) Tim Weah, (2) Brendan Aaronson

Left Defensive Midfielder: (1) Tyler Adams, (2) Yunus Musah, (3) James Sands

Right Defensive Midfielder: (1) Weston McKennie, (2) Gianluca Busio

Left Back: (1) Antonee Robinson, (2) DeJuan Jones / Shaq Moore

Left Center Back: (1) Tim Ream, (2) Chris Richards / Mark McKenzie / Jalen Neal

Right Center Back: (1) Walker Zimmerman, (2) Miles Robinson

Right Back: (1) Sergino Dest, (2) Bryan Reynolds, (3) DeAndre Yedlin, (4) Joe Scally

Goal Keeper: (1) Matt Turner, (2) Zach Steffen, (3) Ethan Horvath

Your thoughts? There are a LOT of good players in our squad.