USMNT - Greg Berhalter Takes Over

[IthacaMatt]

Really?

How many times did the same back four start in one of the 6 friendlies that started vs Guyana?

Answer. Zero

How many times did the same midfield start in one of the 6 friendlies that started against Guyana?

Answer. Zero

How many times did the same attack start in one of the 6 friendlies that started against Guyana?

Answer. Once (and that was back in March vs Chile)

In fact, the largest number of starters in a friendly that overlapped with the starting eleven in the Guyana game was the Venezuela game with 7 (6 field players). That is a lot of changes. Almost half the field line-up.

In the Jamaica game it was three (2 field players). That was a game 13 days before the start of the Gold Cup.

How can you have any idea what he wants to do when it is clear he is still trying to figure out who his best eleven are?

You cannot know what you want to do until you know who your personnel are.

If you have determined what you want to do before you choose your players, you are a lousy coach.

This is clearly the experimentation phase.

If you are so convinced that you know what he wants to do with his starting eleven, formation and tactics, please explain it to me because, frankly, I have no idea.

Jesus, calm down.
Just because the personnel are changed from game to game doesn't mean that they call different plays, so to speak. They tried to play out of the back with several players who were not very good at it. But that was "THE PLAN".

They try to play the ball into the midfield and then quickly to the sidelines, and are rather direct looking for the pass upfield. Not "Route 1", but kind of what Sarri was trying to do at Chelsea - possession based, but don't knock it around aimlessly, try to play it forward with incisive passes.

They would like to press up high, but they haven't had their full squad, and honestly, with such long seasons for club teams, with all the International breaks, managing the health of the squad is important. So maybe they shouldn't play a pressing game just yet, when so many of these young guys are trying to get over injuries.

Now, that said, if Berhalter was going to be the coach, you didn't need to keep Saracen in the job for 18 months. That was about 9 months too long. Berhalter's system, to the extent he has been able to implement any in only six months, is another 6-9 months away from maturing and turning into whatever it will be.

As for the idea that you have to mold your philosophy to suit your personnel, that's not how it usually works. Usually coaches have an approach; their own blueprint, and then they recruit players to play those pre-determined roles. Plus, he doesn't work with national team players more than a couple weeks at a time for 3/4 of the International breaks.

So, you can't try out different formations based on different personnel when you've only just started the job. You have had people review the talents and skills of about 70 players in the last 2 years, and then he only had about 2 weeks to put his first team together, and even among the younger guys, several key ones, like Yedlin and Brooks, to name just a couple from Europe, aren't on the Gold Cup team.

So to say (a) you don't know his planned approach; (b) whatever his approach is has to be determined by his players, most of whom he hasn't been able to work with yet; and (c) he's terrible and needs to be fired already; well, I understand how you feel after those 2 friendlies, and the aimless waste of time that the national federation put fans through. But I don't think you can take out all that frustration on Berhalter yet. He seems tactically ahead of Klinsmann already, and maybe lacks the anti-European bias of Bruce Arena.

 

[orangenauburn]

Something tells me we come out in great form and take a 2-0 decision tonight

 

[ForCuseSake]

Up and down in the early going, fun watch.

Bradley has lead feet so far - heavy touches and slow moving.

 

[Alsacs]

Going to need Altidore at the halftime.
IMO.
T&T captain sadly went down early and is coming out.

 

[Alsacs]

These T&T players are exaggerating every single piece of contact they are receiving.

 

[orangenauburn]

Almost gave up one late first half, nice first half all in and all

 

[orangenauburn]

Zardes is killing me smalls

 

[ForCuseSake]

McKennie is serving up some great balls.

Great service in dangerous spots.

 

[Alsacs]

McKennie is serving up some great balls.

Great service in dangerous spots.

He is the second most talented player on this roster behind Pulisic.
He has played on both sides tonight and is a good playmaker when these CONCACAF refs don’t call fouls on him.

 

[ForCuseSake]

He is the second most talented player on this roster behind Pulisic.
He has played on both sides tonight and is a good playmaker when these CONCACAF refs don’t call fouls on him.

Agreed. Pulisic is great fun to watch.

If only the US had a finisher - something we’ve always lacked. Clint Dempsey in his prime was the closest and he was quite average.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Almost gave up a brutal equalizer on that TnT counter.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Agreed. Pulisic is great fun to watch.

If only the US had a finisher - something we’ve always lacked. Clint Dempsey in his prime was the closest and he was quite average.

Quite average? You must’ve watched a different Clint Dempsey than I did.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Quite average? You must’ve watched a different Clint Dempsey than I did.

Clint was a great player. He was an average striker compared to international strikers.

Had a great run at Fulham. But let’s not pretend he was a top 10 EPL striker at any point during his stint in that league.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Zardes comin outta the booth in a big way.

 

[orangenauburn]

Zardes comin outta the booth in a big way.

Ya know. Killing me

 

[Alsacs]

Quite average? You must’ve watched a different Clint Dempsey than I did.

He is talking about number 9.
Dempsey was a great player but he wasn’t a number 9.
We don’t have a number 9 playing in this match the closest to that we got is Jozy Altidore.

If the USA had a Sergio Aguerio or Roman Lukaku is what he is talking about. We lack a pure striker.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Clint was a great player. He was an average striker compared to international strikers.

Had a great run at Fulham. But let’s not pretend he was a top 10 EPL striker at any point during his stint in that league.

He was the leading goal scorer for a Fulham team that qualified for the Europa League (almost unthinkable now) and was the club’s player of the year. The next season (and the year before he left for Spurs) he finished 4th in league player of the year voting. His stint in England was underrated because we didn’t have the Premier League coverage we do now.

 

[Alsacs]

He was the leading goal scorer for a Fulham team that qualified for the Europa League (almost unthinkable now) and was the club’s player of the year. The next season (and the year before he left for Spurs) he finished 4th in league player of the year voting. His stint in England was underrated because we didn’t have the Premier League coverage we do now.

Deuce was a great player but he played the position Pulisic plays.
He wasn’t a striker. He was a playmaker who could score he wasn’t getting service he did it all.

 

[ForCuseSake]

He is talking about number 9.
Dempsey was a great player but he wasn’t a number 9.
We don’t have a number 9 playing in this match the closest to that we got is Jozy Altidore.

If the USA had a Sergio Aguerio or Roman Lukaku is what he is talking about. We lack a pure striker.

This.

 

[orangenauburn]

Think we are ok on goal differential?

 

[Alsacs]

Gotta give GB a lot of credit the team came out and just dominated the last 30 minutes.
That was an amazing amount of goals and glad Zardes got a couple.

This performance though is nothing but respect for the manager who has gotten complaints so he deserves credit for the adjustments.

 

[IthacaMatt]

McKennie is serving up some great balls.

Great service in dangerous spots.

He is a talent, and he's got some fire. You need a guy like that in your midfield.

I think a few guys have cemented themselves as central to this new squad. We know probably about 6 or 7 guys who will make the next World Cup squad. That's progress.

The offense looked very good tonight, and Walker Zimmerman brings a sense of calm back there.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

He is a talent, and he's got some fire. You need a guy like that in your midfield.

I think a few guys have cemented themselves as central to this new squad. We know probably about 6 or 7 guys who will make the next World Cup squad. That's progress.

The offense looked very good tonight, and Walker Zimmerman brings a sense of calm back there.

One of the youth directors at Schalke was quoted that he believes McKennie is destined to be their captain at some point down the road. He’s been overshadowed most of his young career but he’s going to be excellent for us if he stays healthy.

 

[IthacaMatt]

So far in a couple games, Pulisic removed a lot of questions after not even playing 90 minutes total in the last year or so. Nice to see him healthy. I hope he can stay that way.

Weston McKennie is part of the team, period. He's Bradley's replacement in about a year. Bradley still serves a purpose to instill some toughness in these young guys.

Tyler Boyd, the New Zealand dual citizen, is a very good right winger and takes a nice set piece. He is in the mix until further notice. Glad we have him.

Walker Zimmerman has looked the part defensively. He and John Brooks and who else? Aaron Long had a great night, but I don't think we've seen enough of him yet.

Paul Arriola has really grown as a player, and although he might not be the kind of guy who is going to start on a Premier League team, he fits with what they're trying to do pretty well and is growing in stature and confidence.

You have to figure DeAndre Yedlin is still the first choice at right back, if he can stay healthy long enough to show Berhalter what he can do. Tim Weah is also going to be in the mix on this team, once qualifying gets underway.

There are a bunch of guys who are possibles, but have nothing locked down:

Midfielders: Sebastian Lletget, Kenny Saief, Kellyn Acosta, Tyler Adams and Djorde Mihailovic seem to make up the ones I'd like to see more of.

Attacking players: Josh Sergeant, Julian Green (I guess ...), Jordan Morris had a good game, Zardes showed composure on that first goal, which really helped his confidence. Altidore is still the best we've got. I don't see Bobby Moore as more than a guy to run at tired defenders in the last 20 minutes.

Defenders: Matt Miazga is still so young, he just needs coaching. But boy, he was terrible in those friendlies. Is there still a place for Omar Gonzalez? Maybe. I have a hard time seeing Tim Ream still being a starter on this team a year from now. There's that young center back on the U23 team that looks really impressive. We have to keep an eye out for him.

Zach Steffen makes stops but I'm still not sold on him for what Berhalter wants to do. Can he play it out from the back with his feet? He throws a decent outlet pass. Bill Hamid still seems like a better shot stopper to me. We'll see if he gets a chance.

Tonight went just about perfect after the first 30 minutes. Panama will be another step up in the next game. When is that, Tuesday night?

I wonder if he's going to rest Pulisic and McKennie, since they are both coming off injuries, and we are through to the knock out rounds.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

As for the idea that you have to mold your philosophy to suit your personnel, that's not how it usually works. Usually coaches have an approach; their own blueprint, and then they recruit players to play those pre-determined roles. Plus, he doesn't work with national team players more than a couple weeks at a time for 3/4 of the International breaks.

He is already doing this by adjusting to playing without Adams...with nobody else to slide into that RB/DM role, he went with a more traditional outside back and slotted Lima higher up the field. With Ream, Arriola and Pulisic already on the left, he had McKinnie shade more to the right as the 8 to provide support to Boyd and Lima..That is called adjusting your philosophy to suit your personnel.

So to say (a) you don't know his planned approach;

I'll say it again. 6 Friendlies and never the same starting 11 with myriad line-up changes for each friendly, no way you can know his planned approach.

(b) whatever his approach is has to be determined by his players, most of whom he hasn't been able to work with yet; and

See my response above.

(c) he's terrible and needs to be fired already;

I never said this. How can you judge whether a coach will be successful or not after 6 friendlies? Other posters were saying he wasn't the right guy for the job. Not sure how they had any idea why.