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USMNT surrenders late goal to draw with Peru

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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — For the second straight game, the U.S. Men’s National Team took a lead after halftime. For the second straight game, the U.S. failed to hold onto it.

A young and reserve-filled U.S. team was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with a mixed Peru side at Pratt & Whitney Stadium on a cold Tuesday night, as a late goal from Edison Flores canceled out Josh Sargent’s opener. Sargent had scored for the Americans four minutes after the break off a well-worked set piece, but Flores took advantage of a napping DeAndre Yedlin to fire home from close range in the 85th minute.

The draw in front of 24,959 fans saw the U.S. finish its October camp with a draw and a loss following last week’s 4-2 defeat to Colombia.

Sargent struck gold for the young U.S. in the 49th minute, collecting a low free kick pass from Kellyn Acosta and taking a deflected shot that skipped past Peru goalkeeper Jose Carvallo.

The Peruvians’ best chances came afterwards, as head coach Ricardo Gareca made a number of changes in search of the equalizer.

Andy Polo came close to pulling the Peruvians level in the 75th minute when he took advantage of the space in front of him and rifled a shot from far that smacked off the crossbar. Raul Ruidiaz tried to follow up with a header on the aerial rebound, but it went high.

Just when it looked like the Americans might hold on for the victory, Peru found an equalizer five minutes from the death. Polo hit a pinpoint low cross to the back post on the play,  Flores made no mistake by racing past Yedlin to the ball and converting from point-blank range.

The U.S. is back in action next month with a pair of friendlies in Europe against England and Italy.

Comments

  1. Some ESPN Deportes guy tweeted that Tab Ramos is going to be named the new USMNT manager. Take it for what its worth, its a tweet from the Spanish language side and not on any official ESPN account.

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  2. Well, the first half was pretty bad by the US. They looked like a lot of young kids who had never played together. They looked 100% better in the second half and played like an actual team. Long, CCV and Cannon were pleasant surprises. I just have to wonder why Sweat was even brought in since he is 27 and a late bloomer; doesn’t even have that much MLS experience,. Considering we were missing some of our best players against a WC quality squad, it was a good outcome and provides hope for the future. My major complaint is the lack of playing time for Novakovich. Why bring in an inform striker from the Dutch first division and then not play him at all? Wood for Sargent? Makes no sense. We still have no idea of Novakovich’s ability at the international level.

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    • I didn’t realize that Long is 26. Showed he could be useful this cycle, but a lot of younger guys with higher ceilings coming along. He’s almost the same age as Besler when he got his first US cap, so not out of the realm of possibilities but Besler was closer to the WC when he made his debut. I think a lot of these guys will do well against CONCACAF teams even Mexico and Costa Rica, but I think fans want us to be more competitive outside the region.

      Reply
  3. while he’s still here… A TRIBUTE TO DAVE SARACHAN
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “IT HASN’T BEEN PRETTY OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS, BUT YOU CAN SEE HOW IT’S ALL COMING TOGETHER” – DON LAMB
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_1CeDgJrLc
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    How interim coach Dave Sarachan earned the trust of the USMNT’s next generation
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/interim-coach-dave-sarachan-earned-trust-usmnts-next-generation-140019585.html
    “fatherly” – says wil trapp
    “down-to-earth”, “relaxed” “you want to play for [him]”- says tyler adams
    ~
    ““Off the field, I can have a normal conversation with Dave about anything,” continued Adams. I can talk to him about girls, whatever. It’s amazing to have a coach like that. Once we’re on the field it’s all about work and representing our country in the right way, but off the field he lets us have our downtime. He’s found the right mix. Because I’m with a coach who I can have a good relationship with very easily, I feel like my integration progress has been seamless into the team.”” – tyler adams
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “19 players have gotten their national team debuts under Sarachan. In 10 matches.” – panda
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    my two cents: can you now see the greatness of this man? what he did for usa soccer? one year ago, we hit bottom. and here we are, one year later, and we are cheering on an exciting usa team that didn’t even exist one year ago. i don’t mind if people point out his flaws. perhaps his tactics and substitutions are not the perfect ones? i don’t mind if we point out his flaws as long as we realize WHAT A GREAT GIFT this man has given us. in one year, he TURNED THE SHIP AROUND. do you see it? surely, the next coach will be “smarter” about things like tactics and substitutions, but he wouldn’t be in such a rosy position (with so many young players to choose from) if dave sarachan hadn’t taken a coaching paradigm that had existed for so many years in usa soccer AND TURNED IT UPSIDE DOWN.

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  4. Sweat is a no.
    Long, CCV and Cannon deserve more looks.
    Trapp is still a no for me. I cant count how many times when not in possession hes standing in space and a player 2 or 3 yards away from him received a pass and turned up field. Hes doesnt make incisive passes, isnt a destroyer defensively. He seems good at recycling possession when not under pressure and not much else. With that said, he looked better than Bradley when Bradley came on late. More mobile, more aggressive with similar skills
    Delgado might be better than Acosta in the middle but he doesnt take free kicks and doesnt beat anyone off the dribble. Id put him in the not ready/maybe 4th or 5th option as a CM category.
    Weah has a lot of tools especially in the final 18 but he needs more game time/loan to improve. He needs to learn to find the game more, drop to get involved Hes behind Pulisic significantly at the same age but thats not a criticism. He has a place moving forward.
    Amon is not ready. But i want to see more of him.
    Sargeant is the best hold up striker we have in the pool. He is calm on the ball, makes good runs, and is a litttle quicker than i initially thought. Combines well with others and has me excited for the future at that position.
    Yedlin…ugh. what are you doing on that cross?
    This game missed adams and mckennie and i cant wait to see those 2 with sargeant, weah and pulisic in the same game.
    Next set of friendlies i want to see
    Sergeant
    Weah Green Pulisic
    Adams McKennie
    Robinson Brooks Miazga Yedlin

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    • Solid takes. I pretty much agree with all these points. At some point, I’d like to see one of these guys step forward and become the leader and the guy demanding the ball. I realize this is unrealistic given the amount of experimenting going on, but it did feel on a number of occasions over the last few games that our guys in MF were looking for somebody to take charge in moving the ball between the lines (for better or worse, it seemed like they were looking for MB at times). Acosta was the only guy in my view who attempted to assert himself in this way, albeit with mixed results.

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      • i hope for berhalter, marsch or perhaps armas to be our next usmnt coach why? because i like the teams they put on the field in columbus and new york (red bulls). two teams characterized by teamwork, modern tactics, a systematic approach (interchangeable parts), pressing, fitness and speed. did i say that well? that’s what i’d like our usmnt to look like in a year’s time, and that’s why i hope for one of these guys (berhalter, marsch or armas) to be the next usmnt coach. their teams DON’T have one guy in the middle demanding the ball. yes? we’ve all seen columbus and red bulls games, yes? they don’t have a player in such a role because they don’t need one. because they HAVE A SYSTEM. they have teamwork. i like that much better for our usmnt.

    • I think that would be my first choice lineup right now too. Exciting that these guys are so young and have such high ceilings. Equally depressing that there isn’t guys in their prime and veterans that are better right now.

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    • whatever system you play in, you need midfielders who aren’t afraid to show for the ball and compete as the game wears on and they get fouled from behind and roughed up, whatever system you play. Acosta did it the entire time he was out there, and had his run for a while out there in the second half, pleasantly surprising. Delgado showed all night too, but turned it over way more without bite on D; Acosta came out and fouled hard to start the game…awesome. He’s come a long way. Agree with the OP’s read on Trapp altho I think he broke up a lot more of the Peru attack through positioning/anticipation than given credit for, and all three of these midfielders helped in that regard seemed to me. Aside form Sargent tho, very few runs and open options to play to for the midfield; whereas the problem used to be the backline had no one to play to consistently in midfield out of the back, last night it was the front line seemed to me, aside from Sargent

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    • Well said. When we can pull a full team, that’s the lineup that should be the default…at least up to qualifications. Consistency is what we need now.

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  5. Officially going to start the Arsene Wenger rumors. Berhalter is just a smoke screen.
    “I believe that [I’ll] start again on January 1,” he said. “I don’t know yet [where I’m headed]. I am rested, and I am ready to work again.
    He added: “There are associations, national teams;

    Starting in January✅
    Speaks English ✅
    Long record with young players✅
    Mentions options w/national teams✅

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    • Honestly, he’s the only big name international coach that I think makes sense. If you’re willing to coach in Japan for a few years, going to the US seems very doable. And with the wave of youngsters we have, Wenger has the ability to shepherd them and ready to play as a unit.

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    • I don’t think a big-time manager makes sense for this cycle. Next cycle when Pulisic, McKennie, Sargent, Weah, Adams are all in their mid to late twenties and in theory in their prime and could make a run at something then maybe. There are ton of guys who are doing well in the German and English youth levels that would be ready for that cycle as well.

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      • Right- it only makes sense to have a really good manager when you have solid, more experienced players. Lesser managers are better than great managers for weaker teams. Or is the argument that our young snowflake players need someone who understands “the American” player (aka MLS lackey).

      • The argument is if you are 68 and a big name manager you aren’t going to take a project who is likely to be no better than a first-round knockout squad by the end of your term. You are looking for a squad with a chance to win something bigger than a Gold Cup during your tenure.

    • My only concern is that Wenger would be pretty old by the next WC.(72). Still, if we’re going to pass on Martino, he’d be a far better choice than any MLS coach. Would Stewart offer him the job and would he want the job? Stewart seems intent on choosing an American, so I doubt it is likely to come to fruition.

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      • For the record I am making a huge leap by connecting Wenger to the job. Purely meant for fun speculation.
        If there was ever a chance we could get him we should snap him up without hesitation. A manager of his experience and success would be huge compared to Berhalter who seems to have the job coming his way. I think Berhalter could be solid if/when it becomes official, but its a bit underwhelming to wait 13+ months for a decent career MLS coach to take over

      • I don’t understand why you don’t consider that Tata passed on us. You keep saying we passed on Martino. Just because he was willing to manage for a boatload of money (one of the top 10 salaries in the world according to one source I found) from Arthur Blank doesn’t mean he is interested in the US. Being forced out in Argentina in the middle of the cycle left him with few international options now those options are open.

  6. Are you kidding late subs had a great impact they let in a goal which the kids had worked extremely hard to prevent. The veteran leadership brought into game showed the kids something ,they showed them how to give up goals , by being lazy! The whole bag of crap from the last cycle just keeps keeping on.

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  7. When you take their bench also into consideration this was a Peru ?? team that had played Netherlands, France and Germany. So not able to break this young USMNT ?? down speaks volumes for Sweat, Long, Carter-Vicks and Cannon as this Peru ?? team has been playing together for a while and had a respectable showing at the world Cup.

    If this same team was able to be fielded with |Adams and McKennie| for |Delgado and Trapp| can you imagine the possibilities that they would have created?

    It would be nice to see something different with an ALL YOUNG CORP (sink or swim) against powerhouses England and Italy

    ————————-Sargent—————————

    Amon——————Pulisic——————–Weah

    ———–Adams—————-McKennie————-

    Acosta——-XXXX————-XXXX——-Cannon

    OR


    ————————-Sargent—————————

    Weah——————-Green——————-Pulisic

    ———–Adams—————-McKennie————-

    Acosta——-XXXX————-XXXX——-Cannon

    OR even


    —–Weah———Sargent/Green——Pulisic

    ——Saief———-McKennie———–Adams

    XXXX———XXXX———-XXXX——Cannon

    Either way it goes, the only way is up from here, as we are still at a point where we are fielding veterans that come in and have absolutely ZERO impact on the game. Hopefully with the new coach there are better days to come

    USA!!!!!! ?? ?? ??

    Reply
    • I think there may be some question as to the availability if NYRB and FCD are still alive in the playoffs (not sure US Soccer would fly guys across the pond for friendlies despite being allowed too). Also, will Weah, Amon, and Sargent be with the U20s at WC qualifying? I don’t think you bypass Yedlin for one bad play after sitting for 84 minutes especially against England.
      ——————————————————————–
      I think your lineups are good for March, just not sure it will happen in November. I’m really on the fence on Saief, if he’s not starting over the next month, I don’t need him to start against England or Italy. He’s starting to look like a youtube warrior to me, looks great in his highlights and then you watch and are like is that the same guy.

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    • Two more names that will hopefully be in mix within the next 12 months: Haji Wright is kind of a forgotten man, but he is playing well with Schalke II and will probably be with their first team over the winter break. Carleton should break through over the next several months. I think they could both play big parts in this youth revolution. These players are much better with higher ceilings than both Saief and Green and play similar position (Wright for Saeif, Carleton for Green).
      —-
      It hasn’t been pretty over the last several months, but you can see how it’s all coming together.

      I’m sold on Weah at this level. He has a long way to go, but he seems up to the task. I’ve always been sold on Sargent. Adams, McKennie, and Pulisic have proven their worth already. Durkin is progressing really well and could easily be the future at the 6. Can’t wait until all of these guys are playing together!!

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      • Keep in mind Schalke II plays in the 5th division, so a rung below where Sargent is playing for Bremen. Haji did little last year in 2.Bundesliga so I’m not sure about a move to the big club in January.
        —————————————————————
        Carleton still just switches off for long stretches of the game, and then makes one big play and you remember oh yeah he’s good. He can’t do that if he wants USMNT minutes. Hopefully, a new manager in ATL helps, but they’re already talking about replacements for Almiron which I thought was supposed to be Carleton. If I had to choose a U20 AM for a match today I’d take Alvarez and wouldn’t think twice about it. But I do see Los Dos more often because they are on late after my kids no longer control the tv.

      • Haji is playing at a low level, but he dominates that level and is clearly ready for more. He is a Schalke player, and that counts for something. He was dynamite for our youth teams and that counts for something. Not playing much for Sandhausen was not a good season for him, but we don’t know what went into that, and it’s always going to be really hard for a 19 year old on loan to break into a squad. I think he’s much more talented than Saeif with a much higher ceiling. Not saying that his future with the national team is a slam dunk, but I do think that he fits right in with this youth movement, and, in my opinion, he is capable.

        Carleton is a special player. No creative player is going to be involved in the game for 100% of the time. That is just the nature of that role. He still needs to get consistent first division minutes, but that should be coming within the next 8-10 months. He is a special special player. Again, much more talented than Green with a much higher ceiling. He is a peer of Sargent and Weah (and Durkin), and he was ahead of at least two of them just a few sort months ago. He will be in the fold soon, and he will add the creative spark that this team desperately needs.

        I agree on Alvarez, but he is a Mexico player… for the time being at least.

      • Also, thinking that you would have to choose one of Carleton OR Alvarez is disappointing. I’d have the type of quality that those two have all of the field if it were available.

      • There’s no doubt that Carleton looked great on the youth US teams, but I don’t see how you can project him to be up there with Weah and others when he doesn’t even play much in MLS while Weah, for example, is in the first 18 or 21 of one of the top teams in Europe. Do you see Carleton practice or something? I hope you are right, but I think your optimism is misplaced until we see him consistently start on a first division team. As for Wright, I remember when he was the best on our U-15 team and we hadn’t even heard of McKennie and Pulisic. I fear Wright has plateaued. He really hasn’t progressed much in Germany like I hoped he would. I think Green looks like the better option going into WC qualifying than the players you mention,. As for Saief, I think even Zardes is a better option. At least he has speed to be a good winger and has shown some goal scoring ability. I doubt that the Belgian league is any better than MLS, either.

      • Don are you telling me if you put Green on ATL 2 that he wouldn’t do better than 2 goals and 2 assists over half a USL season? Green at age 18 scored 15 goals in the Regionaliga which would seem to at least be comparable to the USL. I don’t question Carleton’s talent I question his attitude, he seems almost disinterested this season, as if he knows Tata isn’t going to play him this year so why really try. This is also perception and speculation about someone I’ve never met, but he just doesn’t look like he has the “grind” that others his age are exhibiting. Even Kunga has had a better ATL2 season. I hope he turns the switch because he plays a position that the US rarely has quality in.

      • johnny – I’ve watched a lot of ATL2 this season and a lot of Carleton with them and all of his minutes in MLS. First of all, he has been pretty spectacular with the limited minutes he’s had in MLS. Tata doesn’t think he’s physically ready for the league yet, which is a shame, but that takes nothing away from his quality or potential. Carleton is a SPECIAL player. Go watch his last assist for ATL (I think against Charleston)… special (btw – Carleton had two assists in that game, both to Romario Williams, a first team player).

        His time with ATL2 has been valuable in terms of his development as a pro, but it’s done nothing for his tactical or technical development. Just about all of the lineups that he’s played with there this season have been extremely limited in talent. He is a creator and needs good players around him to thrive. For that reason, he would be in the same position if not even closer to first team football if he were at PSG instead of Weah. The entire world would know about him if he were on a roster like that with a coach who felt he was ready. As we both know, that is not the case. Nevertheless, there have been no signs whatsoever of the attitude issue that you insinuate.

        Carleton is waiting patiently in what has to be a frustrating situation. He’s also playing hard and working for his teammates and trying his best to get them involved. In the Tampa Bay game recently, he was having an off night. In something like the 83rd, he took a knock as he tracked back and made a tackle one of their big center mids (he actually fouled him in the process). It looked like he was going to need to come out, but he came back with his most inspired play of night leading his team back to get the equalizer with hardly any time left.

        I disagree with your statement about Kunga having a better season than Carleton. In comparison to Carleton, Kunga’s season has been significantly less remarkable. It has only been recently that Kunga has shown the type of potential that he showed as a youth player. Until the last game, where he scored two brilliant goals, he has been largely ineffective scoring 3 goals in 30 games as a forward and not creating much at all off the dribble, which was his calling card as a youth payer. Whereas he clearly needs more time to develop in the lower leagues, Carleton’s problem is the opposite.

        When the kid gets his chance, he’s going to leapfrog a lot of the players that are ahead of him now. No doubt in my mind he’s that good. That includes Green, who has a fraction the creativity that AC has. I’m not just talking flash either. Carleton is full of substance, and his overall locker has a lot more in it than Green’s does regardless of where they have played or are playing now.

      • Don: I really hope you are right. I admit I quit watching ATL when Carleton was moved out so I’ve missed those last couple that they snuck him back into. I do think sometimes he looks too much for that special play when the simple play would work but as you point out ATL2 kind of calls for special or they don’t do much. I only meant Kunga has better stats not that he is a better player. As for Green he looked like a special player when he was playing against youngsters and never weres for Bayern U19s and IIs so to say that Carleton with 96 MLS minutes is a better player is really just based on hope. Granted depth is a factor at their positions but I’m not sure the “physically ready” holds up considering Tata has put Bello out there for almost double the minutes. I hope you are right and he’s lighting up MLS next season and he’s playing in the Nations League matches next Fall.

      • Cheers, johnny. I never saw much of Green or in Green when he was younger. Looked like a nice little player, but that’s all I would say of the limited minutes that I saw of him. My opinion of Carleton is different, and I am on record as saying I think he is the most creative player that we have ever produced (mostly because of his passing ability). I hope I’m right, too, but we won’t have any clue on that for some time. I couldn’t find a clip of his assist vs. Charleston, but it’s seriously worth some digging if you can find it.

        Last point I’d say is that it was not only easier for Bello to get into the 11 before AC at ATL, but also that the competition that Green is facing at Gruether is less than what he is facing at ATL. None of that really matters in the long run, and I am a little skeptical of Tata’s excuse also, so we’ll see… If it’s not happening next season for Carleton, I’ll have to take a hard look at what might be off with my evaluation.

      • Hah, I haven’t seen Gruether either but I would bet Almiron, Villaba, and Barco could probably start for them. How many of those guys are not with ATL next season may determine how quickly Carleton moves into the USMNT. Of course, we’ve also thought ATL was going to sell the young South Americans, maybe the plan is to get Carleton to the U20 WC and then sell him instead. By keeping his minutes down scouts don’t have much tape let alone bad tape to bring down the price. Conspiracy theories, I’m reading lower case letters and Joe Dirt too much.

      • It’s all interesting to wonder about… To get back to bizzy’s orginal post about best 11’s, here’s mine (assuming we are projecting 8-12 months from now for these players to grow and for the new coach to settle in).

        Sargent
        Pulisic————Carleton
        Nagbe—McKennie
        Parks/Durkin/Trapp/Bradley
        Acosta–Brooks–Carter Vickers–Adams
        Steffen

      • There’s a lot of best case scenerios in there for some of those young guys to be ready in 8 to 12 months, but hey maybe we are due some good luck. A put on the other thread you posted this on but you know Lee Nguyen is 32 right?

      • True, but all of these players have shown a really high ceiling close to elite “word class” status. More than a couple of them are already in that category for their age group — even if they don’t stay in the company, they will have better pedigrees than most of our previous generations’ players.

        I bet 3-4 of these players don’t work out to contribute much to the national team for various reasons, but I think the core of the national team is here, and that this core has serious potential to go far AND play beautiful soccer. There are probably five or so players who we don’t have much of a clue about right now (maybe Gall and Novakovich types), and another handful of players like Scally, Reyna, Bello, Alvarez [please, please, please!!], Las, etc. who are coming through the youth ranks who will make up the 30 man roster in 2022 and leading into 2026.

        This generation is unquestionable much much much more talented than those that came before it. The BIGGGG question is what types of players are going to be coming behind this generation?? The kids who are 10-14 years old who are coming up in an even much more advanced and developed system than what the current group came through……

  8. Marky Delgado was awful and acted like he was terrified/scared the whole game. Grow a pair, if you want to play at this level.

    Reply
  9. Thoughts from the stands in Hartford…
    – The striker and two attacking mids were teenagers. I cannot recall such a young attacking lineup.
    – Lots of opportunities with 3 starting mids out with injuries. I think some good impressions were made given the quality of the opposition.
    – Lots of errant passes and shaky play to open the game. Not a surprise given the inexperienced lineup. The US settled down after 15-20 minutes and had better possession.
    – The US as a whole played aggressive defense. Peru struggled to find space, which was good to see with this makeshift lineup.
    – It was also good to see the back line pass their way up field rather than a long clearance after gaining possession.
    – I was surprised Amon was pulled early. He played pretty well for his first game. He just needs seasoning to improve his game. This US selection had to boost his confidence. Hopefully he moves to a more competitive league when the opportunity is there.
    – Sargent and Weah are very good, and both will only get better. If Amon continues to improve, that is a potent offense. Amon and Weah excel at pace, which Sargent lacks, But Sargent has very good tactical awareness for a teen, and creates space for teammates better than I expected.
    – One can see where Acosta may soon hit a ceiling in MLS. I would not be surprised to see a good club in Europe make an offer. I can see the same happening to Cannon in another year or two.
    – Long and Cannon should get further looks with the Nats for the back line. Sweat is likely on the margins.

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    • As for Amon, only Weah and CCV went 90+ of the Euro contingent and neither are playing regular first-team minutes currently. I think Sarachan was just trying to not push those guys that need to get on transatlantic flights today and then play Saturday.

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  10. Because I’m an old, crotchety, cynic, I assumed Sargent would be over hyped. That kid could be our best player in two years. No, I did not forget about Christian Pulisic, His ability on the ball is really good. I was watching him and not the ball on the CK. His move to get open was brilliant.

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    • I was very impressed by Sarg as well. I’ve been a proponent of letting him start to establish himself in Germany before bringing him into the National team, but I have changed my mind. He needs to be part of the squad moving forward. I don’t want to get too excited, because I remember thinking Jordan Morris reminded me of a young Charlie Davies a few years ago, so things can change quickly. However, I thought he played pretty well and can see why people are excited for the player he could become.

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  11. The number of bad passes in the first half was so infuriating….For all the talent we supposedly have, no one can possess the ball and keep it well…..

    Don’t understand why novakovich didn’t come in….why wood?….was nova injured?

    trap needs to play with a partner to be relatively effective…..peru goal came from a delgado errant pass….

    personally, i already want traps, delgado, acosta and sweat gone….too many errors….and guan cannot be an option to work from the back, he has terrible feet…..

    done ranting…

    Reply
    • Sarachan’s subs have been questionable for his entire reign. He is valuing “results” over spreading playing time around. We can’t speak specifically for any player since we don’t know the injury situation, but we do know some things. He never or almost never makes halftime changes. He never uses all 6 subs. He rarely makes more than 1-2 changes before the 70th min. He also has regularly subbed in experienced, defensive minded players late in games to preserve leads rather than test a younger guy and see if he will stand up to the task.
      This is the exact time to put players to the test and I don’t think he has done as well as he should have.

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      • First off, my complaint about Sarachan is more to do with substitutions, not the players he has called in. I do not believe he has taken full advantage of the opportunities to get every player quality minutes.
        Secondly, that stat of national team debuts is misleading at best. We had an incredibly old squad that was long overdue for major turnover, quality young players coming through the ranks and no competitive games for 18 months. There is not a coach in the world who would have done any less than Sarachan has in terms of giving debuts to players. I don’t mean that as a criticism, but it’s not really anything for him to hang his hat on either.

  12. Not sure about some of those late subs. I get trying to show the young guys what it takes to close out the game, but it was largely the vets that were making mistakes. Not that there was a lot available on the roster for Sarachan to work with (or choose in the first place). Here is a place where Nagbe might have a place going forward. We could have used his ability to keep the ball and draws fouls late. I would have understood Bradley for Trapp, to keep the defensive shape, but putting both deep holding DMs on the pitch at the same time wasn’t just parking the bus it was parking it putting it on blocks and cutting the gas line. There was literally no path to go forward.
    ————————————————————————
    Sweat put in effort but not skilled enough passing or dribbling.
    ————————————————————————
    Amon showed some things, was a second late on a lot of passes that could have made things really difficult for Peru. Hope he can make the jump to a higher league by next January (2020).
    ————————————————————————
    Long I thought did a nice job, no complaints teamed well with CCV
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    Cannon showed toughness and the ability to get forward, maybe not as athletic as Moore, but better defensively, but Peru is good but not France.
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    Reply
    • Yup. Agreed with you on most all of the above. For me, the guy who outplayed my (admittedly low) expectations the most was Cannon. Kept things tidy on his side (Peru preferred to attack through our left channel…. this will probably we a recurring theme for the indefinite future), got forward opportunistically and most importantly looked very comfortable confident for a young player earning his first cap. Certainly did enough to earn a look going forward.
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      Re Sweat– yeah it was nice to see him throw in a few good tackles and have a mostly credible second half. As you say, the effort was there…. but unfortunately he just doesn’t have the tools to be a contributor nor the youth to be considered a development project.

      Reply
  13. “A young and reserve-filled U.S. team”
    dear franco panizo,
    friend, this is not our bench. THIS IS OUR STARTING TEAM. there is a youth movement in the usmnt, did you not notice? there aren’t any older players. THERE ARE OUR PLAYERS. jozy is not here. but who else is missing? please do us a big favor? please read about and learn more about the youth movement at us soccer and then could you please acknowledge the youth movement when you write your future pieces? much appreciated if you could. thank you.

    Reply
  14. – our lines looked better. specifically, in the first half acosta was too far back (between sweat and long, no good). in the second half, he played in front of the back four level with trapp. then our lines looked good.
    – sargent shows his class and pedigree. THAT’S OUR STRIKER!
    – amon is winning my heart with his forward play.
    – i think i’m also liking delgado.
    – guzan was totally solid. atlanta is leading the shield race in mls and guzan is their starting ‘keeper. and tonight he showed us he has all the tools and he wants it. let him compete for the job with steffen, i say. if you’re good enough, you’re not too young or too old, i say.
    – at the end, peru outclassed us a little bit but i wouldn’t read too much into that.
    – dave sarachan assembled this group of kids together and i truly and honestly can’t wait for berhalter to teach them his system. IT’S GOING TO BE AWESOME!

    Reply

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