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Message: [QUOTE="Forza Azzurri, post: 3045759, member: 1452"] That lineup was absolutely the smart thing to do if you want to have the legs to get to, and win, the final. In fact, if our second 11 can't beat Curacao, we have real issues. If I'm Berhalter, I trot out the same 11 and save my starting 11 for the semis and finals. He won't do that but he should. Panama also man-marked Trapp, forcing him to drop behind the centerbacks to receive the ball. No way to initiate from that deep. This forces the centerbacks to initiate. Do we have a center back on the roster or in the country who is comfortable playing the play-making role of a deep-laying 6 because, so far, I haven't seen it. Makes it clear why Berhalter wants a right back who can also initiate, You cannot man-mark both. I like Trapp when he can get on the ball but they pretty much marked him out of the game last night. Perhaps a pairing with Adams would allow Trapp to see more of the ball. I liked what Trapp did with the ball the few times he was able to receive it up the field without a guy stuck to him like glue. It also provides more cover for the inevitably numerous turnovers in the middle of the field. I think pushing the right back far up the field and leaving the 3 centerbacks and the 6 to defend the counter is suicide. The teams we have played so far are really poor and couldn't make us pay. I think Mexico will absolutely shred us if we try to play this way against them. We just turn the ball over in dangerous areas way too much. I hate to say it but Zardes has to start. Jozy just cannot go the full 90 yet. At full-fitness, it is a no-brainer that Jozy starts. Look at the difference between his hold-up play and Zardes. Zardes had one opportunity to hold-up play last night and he got knocked right off the ball, just like against Guyana. Nobody is knocking Altidore off the ball without fouling him. Altidore HAS to be more clinical at finishing. That left-footed shot right at the keeper had to be in the back of the net. Man, our crosses are awful. It doesn't seem to matter who is delivering them, we simply cannot cross the ball. It is a problem. I did NOT like bringing Pulisic into the game while it was still level. You saw what Panama did to him the moment he broke away into space. That foul is a yellow card anywhere in the world except in Concacaf. You simply cannot put your best player at risk in a meaningless game with the poor refereeing that we see here in Concacaf. If I'm Chelsea, I'm livid. Berhalter has to be smarter in this regard. You shouldn't have to bring on your only world-class player to beat Panama. I literally held my breathe everytime he touched the ball. The reality is that none of the 3 teams on our side of the bracket have any business beating us and I think we can get away with the formation and tactics we have been using. If we do get to the final and see either Mexico or Costa Rica, I will be interested to see if Berhalter adjusts and, if not, whether we can actually play a halfway-decent team that way. I don't think we can. [/QUOTE]

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