USMNT - Greg Berhalter Takes Over

[Alsacs]

Tyler Adams has withdrawn from the US Gold Cup squad.
GB didn’t think he was recovered from his injury.

 

[DeGrozz]

The league is fine. It’s AAA soccer compared to the big leagues.
Just like European basketball compared to the NBA.

The problem is the league isn’t developing world class talent for the USA. It’s developing talent for the other CONCACAF teams to get better against us.

The coaches in the MLS are not going to elevate the US to be a consistent world class team.
Of course their are outliers who are better than average.
The USSF went cheap post-Klinsmann.
Klinsmann was an awful manager Joachim Low did all the tactical work for Klinsmann when he managed Germany. However Klinsmann had the right idea for what the direction the US Soccer team should go towards.
Problem is Klinsmann sucked and he lost the team after he kept Donovan off the roster in the WC 2014 out of spite.

US Soccer needs a manager who will develop the skills of the players. Player development has to get better. The problem IMO started when guys like Michael Bradley took MLS money to play here over developing into better players over in Europe.

That is the problem I have with MLS. I don’t blame a player for taking money to play in North America over in Italy but the league isn’t world class and doesn’t challenge the players. Hopefully the league gets better and the Mexican league partnership helps the American teams.

If MLS wants to be taken more seriously by myself then it should.

1.Play a season like the European leagues do. Home/home with every team and if you want to do a playoff off that fine.
2. Play August thru May like the rest of the world.
The NFL is done by January and then can take a winter break like the cold weather countries do overseas.
3. Institute a promotion/Relegation system. If teams can’t take being relegated then win enough.

MLS only survives now because they are financially disciplined and that is smart but it shows the league’s problem. Teams that want to spend more can’t and not all teams have to use their max DP slots if they don’t want too.

At one point you'll be sp*tting all over coaches, players, and leagues, then on the next you'll make bizarre claims like national team coaches develop 'skill' (they don't) or that there's a coach out there that will make us consistently 'world class' (sure...). You'll praise a team, coached by Tab Ramos of all people (he's been terrible for 6 years now), for their technical capabilities, then complain about domestic development even though 2/3rds of the players on the team you are praising came through a US development academy.

To top it all off, you pretend that the reason you don't support the domestic teams that you complain about is because they take the wrong three months off during the year, they play some teams one time too many, and there's no pro/rel. I'm sure if the Revs were playing a late-February game Tulsa FC in MLS 2 you'd be the first in line for tickets...

 

[Alsacs]

At one point you'll be sp*tting all over coaches, players, and leagues, then on the next you'll make bizarre claims like national team coaches develop 'skill' (they don't) or that there's a coach out there that will make us consistently 'world class' (sure...). You'll praise a team, coached by Tab Ramos of all people (he's been terrible for 6 years now), for their technical capabilities, then complain about domestic development even though 2/3rds of the players on the team you are praising came through a US development academy.

To top it all off, you pretend that the reason you don't support the domestic teams that you complain about is because they take the wrong three months off during the year, they play some teams one time too many, and there's no pro/rel. I'm sure if the Revs were playing a late-February game Tulsa FC in MLS 2 you'd be the first in line for tickets...

The players I praise are developed by the MLS academies then they go overseas to get better.
Of course they are going to be found by the academies that isn’t the issue.
The issue is our best players IMO shouldn’t be playing in MLS.

They should be playing in the best leagues in the world which are in Europe.
The MLS isn’t garbage it’s just inferior compared to the best leagues in Europe.
I don’t have to buy tickets to Revs-Tulsa game in MLS 2 to prove my point. The MLS plays a calendar that is different from the rest of the world.
March to October is different from August to May.

The rest of the stuff about the manager developing talent is stuff we are just not going to agree about.

I am down on the MLS because I think the league hurts the national team. I am honestly glad the league isn’t getting better but the schedule isn’t the same for every team and their are too many playoff teams.

 

[DeGrozz]

It's stuff like that which is so hard to understand --

You're down on the MLS because you think it hurts the national team? Do you think Tyler Adams would have been better off playing on Poughkeepsie's varsity team at 18 years old rather than training under a future champions league manager? Matt Miazga playing at Rutgers rather than lining up alongside a future EPL back in Tim Ream? Steffen giving up on soccer after being cut by Freiberg II rather than going to MLS which was his only chance to play?

I would understand if you ever made a clear point about the claims that proved your actually watched more than one or two matches a year -- but I haven't really heard any points about how the MLS hurts the national team and it feels like it's the "Michael Bradley came back after being benched at Roma and Jozy came back after being shunned at Sunderland for only scoring a couple goals in 50+ appearances" arguments all over again.

But I guess maybe someday we'll start playing soccer in December and February in the northeast and midwest so it's okay for you to start supporting the development of the game in the US.

Edit: Whoops - I should have @'ed you Alsacs -- it's bad internet decorum to get into stupid debates and not let people know you're responding to them.

 

[Alsacs]

It's stuff like that which is so hard to understand --

You're down on the MLS because you think it hurts the national team? Do you think Tyler Adams would have been better off playing on Poughkeepsie's varsity team at 18 years old rather than training under a future champions league manager? Matt Miazga playing at Rutgers rather than lining up alongside a future EPL back in Tim Ream? Steffen giving up on soccer after being cut by Freiberg II rather than going to MLS which was his only chance to play?

I would understand if you ever made a clear point about the claims that proved your actually watched more than one or two matches a year -- but I haven't really heard any points about how the MLS hurts the national team and it feels like it's the "Michael Bradley came back after being benched at Roma and Jozy came back after being shunned at Sunderland for only scoring a couple goals in 50+ appearances" arguments all over again.

But I guess maybe someday we'll start playing soccer in December and February in the northeast and midwest so it's okay for you to start supporting the development of the game in the US.

Edit: Whoops - I should have @'ed you Alsacs -- it's bad internet decorum to get into stupid debates and not let people know you're responding to them.

You aren’t a jerk so I take no offense to you calling out my opinions.
I watch MLS matches of the week but I have no problem admitting my knowledge of the league at whole isn’t strong.
I think the league is a lot better than it was a decade ago.
My problem with the league is that USA soccer isn’t developing world class player from the league.
That is really it.
We have a difference of opinion I don’t get offended when someone disagrees with me when it’s an actual difference of opinions as I get plenty wrong.

I hope MLS catches Liga MX that would help American soccer. I want an MLS team to make the Club World Cup. It’s just hasn’t happened. MLS teams have very loyal fanbases.
The hiring of Berhalter from MLS just reeked of the USSF continuing the status quo after the Klinsmann experiment.
That’s just my issue.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The league is fine. It’s AAA soccer compared to the big leagues.
Just like European basketball compared to the NBA.

The problem is the league isn’t developing world class talent for the USA. It’s developing talent for the other CONCACAF teams to get better against us.

The coaches in the MLS are not going to elevate the US to be a consistent world class team.
Of course their are outliers who are better than average.
The USSF went cheap post-Klinsmann.
Klinsmann was an awful manager Joachim Low did all the tactical work for Klinsmann when he managed Germany. However Klinsmann had the right idea for what the direction the US Soccer team should go towards.
Problem is Klinsmann sucked and he lost the team after he kept Donovan off the roster in the WC 2014 out of spite.

US Soccer needs a manager who will develop the skills of the players. Player development has to get better. The problem IMO started when guys like Michael Bradley took MLS money to play here over developing into better players over in Europe.

That is the problem I have with MLS. I don’t blame a player for taking money to play in North America over in Italy but the league isn’t world class and doesn’t challenge the players. Hopefully the league gets better and the Mexican league partnership helps the American teams.

If MLS wants to be taken more seriously by myself then it should.

1.Play a season like the European leagues do. Home/home with every team and if you want to do a playoff off that fine.
2. Play August thru May like the rest of the world.
The NFL is done by January and then can take a winter break like the cold weather countries do overseas.
3. Institute a promotion/Relegation system. If teams can’t take being relegated then win enough.

MLS only survives now because they are financially disciplined and that is smart but it shows the league’s problem. Teams that want to spend more can’t and not all teams have to use their max DP slots if they don’t want too.

There are already too many teams. There really ought to be relegation, because like you and others have said, there is not enough incentive to invest in quality players. Too many owners look at their franchise like a long-term guaranteed investment.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

The roster is an issue, and the coaching staff has left us with little faith moving forward.

That said, they can shock us and run out the remaining schedule in June, go 3-0 in favorable fashion, and position themselves for a strong finish to the year.

Or, we can say they might as well make the roster full of under 23 players and play for the future

I think we need to have a little more patience before declaring that GB is not the answer.

Let him get his best players in place and figure out what system they should play.

Just getting the full complement of players in camp for the two friendlies and the Gold Cup has been an adventure.

Then, once we get into World Cup qualifying, if the results aren't there, we can crucify him.

I watched both friendlies. Very painful. One thing that does appear obvious to me is that Will Trapp is not an answer. I seem to remember him appearing in a couple of friendlies under Saracen and getting absolutely overrun.

 

[Alsacs]

This team needs energy.
Zardes and Arriola are killing this team up front.

 

[Alsacs]

Arriola nice shot and score.
Good that he woke up as he struggled early.

 

[Alsacs]

Zardes over Sargent is just surprising.
The guy has the heaviest first touch I can remember seeing from a forward.

 

[storange]

Zardes over Sargent is just surprising.
The guy has the heaviest first touch I can remember seeing from a forward.

Sargent looked like crap against Jamaica. But yea Zardes has not been impressive at all with Nats.

 

[SUfanNC]

Should have 2 goals. Not great 1st half but some opportunities

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

We’ve spent far too much of this match not looking like the far superior side and we clearly lack a true #9 in this lineup. I don’t mind Gyasi as a split the back two runner but as the aerial threat on these crosses from Lima and Boyd he’s useless.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

And that may be the greatest header of Gyasi’s career

 

[Alsacs]

And that may be the greatest header of Gyasi’s career

Definitely best result.
I am still worried about him as the lone striker.
In the bigger games I want Altidore in his spot.

 

[DeGrozz]

2015-2017: Gyasi Zardes struggles mightly in LA's attack trying to play the ball through him in the center of the field. He score like 3 goals/year during that stretch.

2018: Greg Berhalter figures out that Gyasi is actually a pretty smart player positionally, and is a proficient scorer finding space on balls played from the wings. He scores like 20 goals that season.

2019: Greg Berhalter tries to play the ball through Zardes in the center of the field. What?

Maybe he wants to play a style that Zardes isn't his long-term plan for and he'd rather create that identity with the rest of the team now? IDK - it doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The players I praise are developed by the MLS academies then they go overseas to get better.
Of course they are going to be found by the academies that isn’t the issue.
The issue is our best players IMO shouldn’t be playing in MLS.

They should be playing in the best leagues in the world which are in Europe.
The MLS isn’t garbage it’s just inferior compared to the best leagues in Europe.
I don’t have to buy tickets to Revs-Tulsa game in MLS 2 to prove my point. The MLS plays a calendar that is different from the rest of the world.
March to October is different from August to May.

The rest of the stuff about the manager developing talent is stuff we are just not going to agree about.

I am down on the MLS because I think the league hurts the national team. I am honestly glad the league isn’t getting better but the schedule isn’t the same for every team and their are too many playoff teams.

The calendar stuff evolved the way it did in the US because other professional leagues have a lock on the fall and winter in this country. The only sports from roughly May to August are baseball, tennis and golf. There were far fewer soccer-specific stadiums back in the day, as well, when the "US Calendar" first came to be.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

2015-2017: Gyasi Zardes struggles mightly in LA's attack trying to play the ball through him in the center of the field. He score like 3 goals/year during that stretch.

2018: Greg Berhalter figures out that Gyasi is actually a pretty smart player positionally, and is a proficient scorer finding space on balls played from the wings. He scores like 20 goals that season.

2019: Greg Berhalter tries to play the ball through Zardes in the center of the field. What?

Maybe he wants to play a style that Zardes isn't his long-term plan for and he'd rather create that identity with the rest of the team now? IDK - it doesn't make much sense to me.

DVRed the game watched it last night.

Ouch.

Zardes clearly not a traditional #9, as you point out. I cannot imagine the original game plan was to play through Zardes checking in between the lines. I did not count one time where he was successfully able to hold up play. I have to think the original game plan was to not have Zardes involved in the build-up but rather relying upon him to be receiving balls from Boyd/Arriola/Pulisic/Lima from out wide which, as you point out, is more in line with his strengths. Why he wasn't subbed out at halftime for Altidore (do we even have anyone else on the roster who can receive a ball between the lines an hold up play?) is beyond me unless Altidore was hurt (announcers did keep alluding to a knock - without any details).

Although he altered the tactics somewhat by having Lima play high on the right-hand side, rather than tucked in with the 6, I just don't think the US is going to be able to do that consistently. If you are going to transition to 3 in the back, with one central center-back in the middle and the other two providing spacing out wide and the 6 essentially as a second center-back/playmaker, you SIMPLY CANNOT GIVE THE BALL AWAY IN THE MIDFIELD. So, what do we do consistently last night????? Give the ball away cheaply in the midfield. <Sigh>. Guyana wasn't able to punish us but if Mexico is consistently coming at us in 3 v 3 or 4 v 3 after careless turnovers, it is going to be a long night.

Bradly did not have a good night but, when Guyana pressed up on Bradley and forced either Zimmerman or Long to become a distributor, it got worse.

I know he wanted to use Adams in the role of a hybrid outside back/6, which both provides more cover and an extra distributor, but is there anyone on our roster who can actually play that role? If not, I don't think that Bradley has enough bite and pace anymore to be a single cover. Trapp certainly can't.

We also, collectively, showed precious little ability to break their high press other than by going over the top. That really defeats the purpose of the entire tactical setup, doesn't it?

Further up the field, I thought that Lima, Arriola, Boyd and Pulisic were all able to do damage on the flanks but, for the most part, the crosses or that final ball were lacking. I thought, Boyd did the best job of picking people out on crosses. I know he set Arriola up with a wide open header on a silver platter. Did he also deliver the ball that Pulisic botched? Arriola was terrible in this regard, consistently overhitting the ball.

I thought Boyd was our best player last night. Pulisic started brightly but faded. Arriola was Arriola. High energy. Sometimes dangerous but inconsistent. McKinnie had that beautiful ball to Arriola but was not as impactful as I thought he could have been. Probably should have been booked as, at one point, he had 6 of our 8 fouls. Nothing overtly card-worthy but simply accumulation.

I am most interested to see what adjustments GB makes going into game two.

 

[cusefan88]

IMO anything short of playing Mexico in the Final is unacceptable.

 

[IthacaMatt]

DVRed the game watched it last night.

Ouch.

Zardes clearly not a traditional #9, as you point out. I cannot imagine the original game plan was to play through Zardes checking in between the lines. I did not count one time where he was successfully able to hold up play. I have to think the original game plan was to not have Zardes involved in the build-up but rather relying upon him to be receiving balls from Boyd/Arriola/Pulisic/Lima from out wide which, as you point out, is more in line with his strengths. Why he wasn't subbed out at halftime for Altidore (do we even have anyone else on the roster who can receive a ball between the lines an hold up play?) is beyond me unless Altidore was hurt (announcers did keep alluding to a knock - without any details).

Although he altered the tactics somewhat by having Lima play high on the right-hand side, rather than tucked in with the 6, I just don't think the US is going to be able to do that consistently. If you are going to transition to 3 in the back, with one central center-back in the middle and the other two providing spacing out wide and the 6 essentially as a second center-back/playmaker, you SIMPLY CANNOT GIVE THE BALL AWAY IN THE MIDFIELD. So, what do we do consistently last night????? Give the ball away cheaply in the midfield. <Sigh>. Guyana wasn't able to punish us but if Mexico is consistently coming at us in 3 v 3 or 4 v 3 after careless turnovers, it is going to be a long night.

Bradly did not have a good night but, when Guyana pressed up on Bradley and forced either Zimmerman or Long to become a distributor, it got worse.

I know he wanted to use Adams in the role of a hybrid outside back/6, which both provides more cover and an extra distributor, but is there anyone on our roster who can actually play that role? If not, I don't think that Bradley has enough bite and pace anymore to be a single cover. Trapp certainly can't.

We also, collectively, showed precious little ability to break their high press other than by going over the top. That really defeats the purpose of the entire tactical setup, doesn't it?

Further up the field, I thought that Lima, Arriola, Boyd and Pulisic were all able to do damage on the flanks but, for the most part, the crosses or that final ball were lacking. I thought, Boyd did the best job of picking people out on crosses. I know he set Arriola up with a wide open header on a silver platter. Did he also deliver the ball that Pulisic botched? Arriola was terrible in this regard, consistently overhitting the ball.

I thought Boyd was our best player last night. Pulisic started brightly but faded. Arriola was Arriola. High energy. Sometimes dangerous but inconsistent. McKinnie had that beautiful ball to Arriola but was not as impactful as I thought he could have been. Probably should have been booked as, at one point, he had 6 of our 8 fouls. Nothing overtly card-worthy but simply accumulation.

I am most interested to see what adjustments GB makes going into game two.

It's really clear that we need to play a 4-2-3-1 or perhaps a 3-5-2 against the better teams, precisely to shore up the cover for the central defenders, and to have more bodies in the midfield. The US still needs to be a bit more defensive.

Berhalter may like to play wide for attacking purposes, but if you can't play the ball from the back through the midfield and then get it out to the wings, then the formation obviously doesn't work. Too many of our young players just don't have the necessary on-ball skills to be in a 4-3-3, and we don't have the single midfield destroyer to play the 4-1-4-1.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

It's really clear that we need to play a 4-2-3-1 or perhaps a 3-5-2 against the better teams, precisely to shore up the cover for the central defenders, and to have more bodies in the midfield. The US still needs to be a bit more defensive.

Berhalter may like to play wide for attacking purposes, but if you can't play the ball from the back through the midfield and then get it out to the wings, then the formation obviously doesn't work. Too many of our young players just don't have the necessary on-ball skills to be in a 4-3-3, and we don't have the single midfield destroyer to play the 4-1-4-1.

Yes, I agree with you which is why I am interested to see what adjustments he makes for the T&T game...

 

[Forza Azzurri]

2015-2017: Gyasi Zardes struggles mightly in LA's attack trying to play the ball through him in the center of the field. He score like 3 goals/year during that stretch.

2018: Greg Berhalter figures out that Gyasi is actually a pretty smart player positionally, and is a proficient scorer finding space on balls played from the wings. He scores like 20 goals that season.

2019: Greg Berhalter tries to play the ball through Zardes in the center of the field. What?

Maybe he wants to play a style that Zardes isn't his long-term plan for and he'd rather create that identity with the rest of the team now? IDK - it doesn't make much sense to me.

Questions:

Who tucked in with Trapp on Columbus?

How was he able to get away with Trapp playing the 6 at Columbus? Who provided the physical cover?

 

[cusefan88]

Questions:

Who tucked in with Trapp on Columbus?

How was he able to get away with Trapp playing the 6 at Columbus? Who provided the physical cover?

I think it's Artur? But also MLS doesn't have the consistent quality to punish his mistakes.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I think it's Artur? But also MLS doesn't have the consistent quality to punish his mistakes.

Artur is a mid? So Berhalter did not use the hybrid with Columbus?

 

[Forza Azzurri]

It's really clear that we need to play a 4-2-3-1 or perhaps a 3-5-2 against the better teams, precisely to shore up the cover for the central defenders, and to have more bodies in the midfield. The US still needs to be a bit more defensive.

Berhalter may like to play wide for attacking purposes, but if you can't play the ball from the back through the midfield and then get it out to the wings, then the formation obviously doesn't work. Too many of our young players just don't have the necessary on-ball skills to be in a 4-3-3, and we don't have the single midfield destroyer to play the 4-1-4-1.

So play McKinnie alongside either Trapp or Bradley...if you want to keeep Pulisic wide, Arriola comes off and someone has to come on and play the attracking mid...who? Roldan?