It was sloppy at times and not many fans were there to witness it, but Gregg Berhalter opened his tenure as U.S. Men’s National Team head coach with a victory.
Djordje Mihailovic, Walker Zimmerman, and Christian Ramirez scored for the USMNT as they took down Panama by a 3-0 score.
The USMNT did well to create chances with some excellent attacking moves throughout the first half. Mihailovic provided the long awaited opening goal in the 40th minute on a play that began with Nick Lima picking out a wide run from Corey Baird. The reigning MLS Rookie of the Year played a perfect pass to Mihailovic, who had no trouble blasting a shot past Eddie Roberts.
The insurance goal came in the 80th minute thanks to another strong play by Lima. Panama tried to break out following a corner, but the San Jose Earthquakes defender put in a hard tackle to win the ball back. He then took a couple touches before playing a picture perfect cross for Zimmerman, who finished the chance with ease.
Ramirez added a third in the 89th minute to finish out the scoreline. He was left wide open to tap in a Jonathan Lewis cross.
Despite the goals, the USMNT did struggle to finish at times during the match. They had 17 total shots, but many were well off target and could have been better hit. Others were from open chances but were straight into the keeper. The two late goals made up for the misses however in what turned out to be a positive start to the Gregg Berhalter era.
The USMNT has one more friendly to conclude January Camp. They will travel up to San Jose to take on Costa Rica on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. eastern time.
Can people quit making this an emotional thing of a long time good servant or supposed Bradley Haters? He was with the first team in October. He started Colombia and played 90 and we lost 2-4. He subbed in Peru we blew a lead and tied 1-1. In both of those games he did not distinguish himself and we didn’t get results. And I could be mean and start listing Hex games before that. Oh, but we beat Panama B, delete the memory banks.
For some perspective
Jan 28 2018 USA vs Bosnia 0-0
Jan 29 2017 USA vs Serbia 0-0
Jan 31 2016 USA vs Iceland 3-2 Birnbaum in 90th
All of these games were also against the countries 2nd or 3rd level players for the most part just like Panama.
A prediction of what could be against Ecuador on Mar. 22. if Berhalter wanted to bring back the 3-1-4-2 using Adams as the RB/CM combo player.
———————-Altidore—-Pulisic——————————
Weah—————McKennie———(Adams)Holmes——
——————–Bradley——————————–
-Garza———–Brooks——-Miazga—-Adams————-
———————Steffen——————————————-
Subs: Horvath, Dest, Long, Lima, Yedlin, CCV, Gall, Green, Mihailovic, Sargent, Amon, Roldan
Pulisic Sargent Weah
McKennie Green
Adams
Moore Long Parker Lima
Steffen
Bench:
Horvath
Johnson
Cannon
Miazga
Brooks
Holmes
Robinson
Amon
Lletget
Saief
Wood
Jozy
I prefer experiments but this would be the starting unit of choice.
My main takeaway from this game was that the team actually looked good. Despite it being a young group with little experience playing together…they played really well and dominated Panama. I remember these January camp games usually being very hard to watch. This game was much better than the Jan camp games of the past. I think this is indicative of a deeper player pool with all around better players…exciting times.
I thought it was a more attacking formation than often used in camp cupcake or ground round GC games, but also a fairly soft opponent.
group round
It is nice to see the Bradley haters choke on their own words a bit. I think Bradley is great, but I also believe the reason he is still so much in the picture at his age is that the younger players, including Trapp, have not displayed the tactical and positional awareness he has. Further, they seem unable to put themselves in positions where teammates can find them with a pass, especially when they are under pressure. For the US to rely on Bradley for more than a year or two while others grow into that position would not bode well for 2022. That growth must first be demonstrated with their clubs, not with “tryouts” with the full USMNT, although that will happen when someone (McKinnie, Adams, ?) actually performs that role for his club team reliably.
I certainly agree in that there are times when younger players are very clearly looking for Bradley when under pressure. Somebody else (McKennie/Adams/whoever) needs to step up and become *that guy* before we are really capable of saying we’ve moved on from Bradley.
If this is for a year or two why bother. It makes no sense to plug a player in to pull them back out before we even start qualifying. Put the effort in the players who need to assume that role. I say that as someone who is not a Bradley Hater. I liked him back in the day and he was solid against a poor opponent, but this is not even close to a simulation of what he would face normally, and we know from recent experience what that looked like. So it papers over problems that need to be fixed and in practical terms we weren’t winning papering it over this way before so why now.
Lots of talk about it being a Panama B/C team. When you look at the US team that played last night how many of them would be on the roster if we had a qualifier in March? Other than Steffen most of the starters last night would not make the 23 man roster much less see the field. Is anyone last night beating out Yedlin, Brooks, Miiazga, Robinson, Adams, McKennie, Pulisic, Weah, Green or Sargent?
A big problem with the USMNT is we seem on certain players still stuck on this idea of keeping around (too long) players who used to be big game guys rather than finding and developing the next generation of them. About every big game last cycle we lost. The big game security blankets you reached for last time didn’t work. Are you really thinking that just stick Bradley in Berhalter’s formation and we’ll go back to beating CR or Mexico? It’s a nostalgia trap. You need to find the next generation of players who actually have a chance to do that. Going backwards presages nothing but more backwards results.
To be clear, Bradley doesn’t suck. But you could send him in to Port of Spain or a Mexico playoff or GC against Jamaica or Panama or CA against SA, and game after big game we lost. I am confused how you think that changes going back to the well. I could understand the “but who else” mentality if it wasn’t year 1 of a 4-1/2 year cycle. There are plenty of elses.
Michael Bradley will go down as one of the best american born national team players US ever had. For the 2-3 season he spent playing in Italy, he was easily one of the top 10 CDM’s in the world. Give the man the respect he deserves.
We have a coach who has a vision of how he would like this team to play. As a part of that vision, GB requires a deep lying CDM who can receive the ball from the DEF and circulate to the MID/FWD’s. There are only two players in the current US National Team pool who have the ability to do that; Will Trap and Michael Bradley. Adams and Mckennie are great ball winners and great at late runs into the box. However, they lack the ability to circulate the ball.
Unless someone emerges, MB will remain a part of this team.
” For the 2-3 season he spent playing in Italy, he was easily one of the top 10 CDM’s in the world.”…..and Freddy Adu was compared to Lionel Messi at one time. Hahahahaha, I guess its a matter of perception……that’s what “dreams” are made of ??
LOL ”was easily one of the top 10 CDM’s in the world”… He was so world class, he struggled to be a consistent starter for good, but not amazing Roma. I do rip on Bradley a lot because of what happened with the NATs… his performances and his Captaincy. If we were a legit soccer nation, he would have done the dignified thing and retired from international play. Does anyone think he will be a better option than are younger guys coming up or (even others in their prime) in 4 years? No. I agree he one of the all time greats for the NATs. I never thought his playing time was about Nepotism. I was dissappointed he moved to MLS in his prime and underperformed on a stacked TFC (1 title in 5 years?). Sunday, he played well against a shitty opponent that was never going to attack hard and test his defensive postition. He had fresh legs which made a huge difference as well. I can live with him hanging around for a year or so since he won’t retire, but beyond that he is taking away oppurtunities from others.
I’ll never understand this mentality that said player was taking minutes away from some one else. No, he’s not taking away time from anyone, players have to earn their minutes and if we continue to have younger options who play abroad and are not seeing the field then why should they be called no less see significant minutes?? Until we have players abroad playing consistently then the senior team should continue calling in and playing the players who are, where they ply their trade should be irrelevant if playing time isn’t happening
The parts people are ignoring are (a) he won’t get this much time to make those passes on offense and (b) he’s going to have to cover far more ground far more often. Basically, level and speed of play. If we are honest the more dated parts of this debate date back to when he was in fact playing those good teams and struggling. I defended Bradley last year because we had no practical choice other than him last cycle, and while he struggled he was the best of a bad lot. That is not how I see this cycle. When he was on an A team field in November he didn’t look like this. How quickly we forget I guess. And then the deal is he’s 31, how long do you expect this to last, and isn’t the more efficient use of our time trying to train up replacements than grabbing for the security blanket. You only get so many games and you can’t do both. And to me we should already know the big game endgame of this gambit, which, as with GC 2015/CA 2016/playoff is whatever level he can handle he was losing quality for big games already last cycle. Guess we’ll just relearn last cycle again.
I for one expect it to last a good while simply considering that Bradley has had a year of rest, or not playing with the NT and Club for extended periods of time. Bradley has been playing soccer non stop for both club and country since he was what, 21? Landon went through the same thing, as did Clint Dempsey at the end of their careers! Anyone without a narrative or seeking to diminish a player just cause would see that and could sympathise with that premise!
“Without a narrative?” I used to be chair of the Bradley fan club so to speak. He is not that player anymore. It is dangerous to treat a player like they are still great based on one B team game. Did you miss the November friendlies? That’s how he looks against good A teams, which you will start to see in GC and LoN — and which you saw in the Hex before.
Maybe having a structured system helps a player like Bradley. There didn’t seem to be much of a plan with the previous two managers, despite both wanting to use Bradley as a key figure. I have to think it’s easier to perform when you know what’s expected of you rather than trying to “figure it out” on the fly.
Steffen and Johnson both played well — and had to stop more balls than I felt comfortable about for playing Panama B. I thought Lima played well — but wasn’t having to stay in a back role most of the time. Lovitz had problems. I thought Bradley did a good imitation of his old deep lying distributor role, and made a nice cut off on a dangerous throughball — I also think that won’t work as well against better opposition, though it may be useful off the bench. I thought Zardes was a nightmare and both late goals came from other more efficient players through his channel — ironically he needs to go back wide or disappear, because Panama B will be towards the easy end of our games and he couldn’t handle this as a central striker (regardless how he poaches for Columbus). Others I would bring back, Zimmerman, Long, Mihailovic, Baird, and the true forwards. To me these games are not so much about W and L as do we look organized (yes) and finding some players to bring over to A team camps. I think it’s dangerous to make one game into a comeback or a career. As we saw with Sargent but also Robinson, bring them back and see what happens in a second, tougher set of games. I will say as a US fan it was nice to win for a change, but these games are more about individuals making impressions. The two often go together — winning and performance — but for the B team it’s more important which specific players looked good because you won’t see this unit again.
i can see already the necessity of a drinking game for usage of “between lines”
Overall I liked what I saw. Playing out of the back and linking thru midfield well and players actively trying to create triangles and maintain possession. The first half was better than the second imo from what I saw even though the scoreline of the second half was better. We did actively press when the ball turned over, did this more in the first half though imo opinion and less in the second half. As far as the style and system go so far so good, but and a big but it was a Panama B/C team at home so hard to really gauge how this performance translates, but the intent and system/style were evident and that’s what I’m going to take away from the game.
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A couple other points. Lima played very well IMO and not just on his tackle and assist highlight. Having the RB cut in to play as a second deep lying CM on offense and then transition back to a more traditional RB positionally on defense was definitely different. How this translates with our pool and higher level players such as Yedlin is interesting. But I’d be willing to see if it works again against higher level competition since it worked so well last night. Also, how does this wrinkle effect the rest of the back line. Basically the LB stays home on offense and plays as a left sided CB, that would fit Tim Ream but that also pushes Brooks more centrally. it could work I don’t know just playing chess with the pieces if GB intends to make this RB wrinkle part of the style/system. It does get more players forward in attacking position on offense and transitions to a more traditional back for on defense so I’d like to see it again against a higher level opposition. However, we might not want to use this wrinkle if that opposition has a killer LW or LB.
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On Bradley, he played well. Showed some of the old Bradley last night, was making mostly forward passes and even ran down a defender for 30-40 yards in the second half. However, that’s what we should be expecting from a #6 and we shouldn’t have to be excited to finally see a #6 play this way when its supposed to be there at a minimum. Also, and this is big, Bradley was given all the time and space in the world to pick out passes and think for hours about where he wanted to go with the ball because Panama wasn’t pressing much at all. Panama just sat back and let us maintain possession for much of the game and their game plan was to beat us on a counter and play for a draw. Had Panama been pressing us how would have MB dealt with that pressure? From past experience we can infer he wouldn’t have looked as good and given his tendencies under more pressure we can also infer less forward passing and less linking overall thru the midfield. GB got the player and tactics right for this match but that also is due to the other manager’s tactics of sitting back and allowing us to maintain possession with lots of time on the ball and no press. I want to see how our MF performs given the new style/system with an opposing MF pressing us. Do we devolve back to back passing and hoof ball? Or do we attack their press with one two touch passing and linking and shred them as they leave their back four unshielded.
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Again, overall I liked what I saw from the system and approach philosophically. It was attacking football. I want to see how we react in the system against a more high pressure opposition and also an opposition who has teeth when we turn the ball over too. Also eager to see who he calls up and uses and where positionally our Euro based players fit in. I was having a little fun thinking if our A team players where here and if this touch was cleaner or this pass had connected or this finish was better, jeez we created enough scoring opportunities for the this match to have been 5-0 or more.
To your point about the amount of time and space MB had on the ball last night, there was a point in the second half where Panama pressed and MB made a panicked back pass to nobody that could’ve easily led to a goal against better opposition. It’s a pass he’s made on several occasions before.
Agree Shaggie, it almost felt like the opposing manager put his game plan together assuming MB was not going to be starting by now every opposition manager in the region knows the scouting report on MB and knows to not give him time and space and simply pressing him turns our MF into crap. So, when we started MB it threw all this off and things opened up that first half for him. However, Panama did come out pressing a little more, but they still weren’t committed to it, in the first part of the second half and that also coincided with our worst looking part of the game for us IMO and lead to a few shaky moments as we adjusted to their change. Still it wasn’t a lot of pressing by them even in the second half but when they did it definitely slowed our MF passing and linking and lead to some dangerous giveaways like you mentioned.
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This issue with dealing with pressure and his reactions is nothing new with MB. He’s very good given time and space and allowed to pick out passes to the forward lines and play making CMs in front of him, but for five or more years now every opposition manager knows that he struggles dealing and working out of pressure and like clockwork he gets no time on the ball. I do have one thought though on that increase time and space if indeed my speculation is wrong on the opposition manager being caught off guard with the MB start and that is…
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GB using the RB to tuck in as a second deep lying CM alongside MB creates a numbers and matchup problem further up the field for their defense, ie it cause their CBs and DMs to sit deeper to cover the 5 or more attackers we are sending forward into their third and this creates that space deeper in MF for MB to operate. If this is GB design and plan its brilliant and love it. If he can create this numbers/matchup problems in their third and thereby create that MF space and time for our deep lying CMs to operate while at the same time not exposing us to deadly counter attacks against better opposition, ie Mexico then even better but that would be my worry with this setup is that same space being created is easily attackable by the opposition on a counterattack as well and a team like Mexico or an elite European team or SA team would shred us with that space.
I actually coach this system and it’s a lot of fun. Bradley as that anchor mid does not have to do as much overall work because he has 4 mids in front of him – two attacking center midshipmen’s and two wide mids. The defenders don’t necessarily have to move up – just distribute and support. So it’s good for him right now. For WC? We’ll see. On the offensive side of things, you have to have wingers who will work hard especially in transition. A big positive is the midfield triangle with double playmakers. I could see Sargent, Weah, Pulisic finding good opportunities in different spots. Not to mention Adams and McKennie. The three back solves a bit of our weak left back problem, though not entirely. It could work long term.
Jeremy head injury took him out the game. I got my lip busted open in a game in high school in 2009. Was very cautious to not reinjure it.
He hit a nice cross early but let’s be real, when you get Weah, Green, Pulisic, etc. on those wings the players we used last night are going to be pretty irrelevant. The people who saw the field at wing forward will be fighting for playing time there. The ones who can also play mid in this scheme will have a better chance of making a roster. I feel like the keepers (meaning Johnson), backs, and center mids are in a more competitive position for long term roles, as those positions are more open or thinner. Less lauded players like Amon who are truer (and faster) wide players may also have something to say about who is on the roster.
I agree with you bro
It’s a start. Maybe Costa Rica will be a better test to measure the team.. Too often didn’t move the ball quickly enough and it always drives me crazy when you have a possible attack broken up by a back pass that accomplishes only one thing–to break up the attack. With a more attacking mind set they probably could have created another half dozen chances and even with what they did create the could have easily scored another 2 or 3 goals. Some decent play, but it was helped by the low quality of the opposition. Not reassuring when they had trouble with the high press in the second half. I thought Lletget looked good on a couple of occasions. His stint reminded me why he seemed to be a promising play maker in the past, before his injury. I’m anxious to see the team in the games in March when, hopefully, we have most all of our European players
As you said some moments when things weren’t quite right but that’s too be expected with the new manager and players having been on break leading into camp. It will be interesting to see if those things are fixed for CR.
About what most of us expected in this match. Panama sat back and defended with 10 behind the ball and encouraged the US to get sucked in so that they could counter. With the lack of form and chemistry the US did OK, but needed to be more ruthless in the final 3rd and needed to shift the attack more quickly.
I quickly tired of Twellman constantly sucking up to Bradley. Stating multiple times that Bradley playing the CDM role would allow Adams to play the role that Lima played tonight.
Maybe it’s me, but I’d rather have Adams & McKennie (2 Bundesliga CMs) playing at their natural position with Yedlin (an EPL RB) playing the Lima roll; than having Bradley as a starter. Bradley may still have a role to play with this team, but when everyone is available he’s a Bench guy (at best).
Mihailovic was a bright spot for me. A bit more seasoning and he could be a nice attacking sub for the US. He should get a chance to cut his teeth with the U-23 qualification than get brought back next January as a more complete player.
Overall no-one stood out enough for me to consider them a Got to Have once the Europeans are available. However, Steffen, Zimmerman, Long, Baird, Mihailovic, Bradley, & Zardes didn’t hurt their standings either.
You have to understand a little bit of the system to get at what Twellman is trying to say. Yes, technically Lima was the RB, but for Berhalter the RB (Afful at Columbus) pushes forward tucking inside of the RW when possession is established as another CM which allows the CAM (Higuain for Columbus, Mihailovic tonight) to push further up as a second striker. When possession is lost the RB slides back from the central midfield into the traditional outside defender. McKennie and Adams are not #6s, the role that Bradley played tonight is not their natural position no more than it was Bradley’s natural position 5 years ago. They are better in the #8 role where they can play as Roldan did tonight making late runs into the box. Both Adams and McKennie need to play with another DM, they are not at this point in their careers best suited to play the lone #6 role. Yedlin’s skill set is to be athletic and make runs down the flank and put in crosses, and his crossing has only gotten marginally better. If you want a RB to keep possession, be involved in the offense, and still be able to cover defensively I think its open for debate if that is Yedlin (no matter what league he plays in). I don’t know that we need to read to much into one match, with a full complement of players Pulisic could be that RW player and be well suited doing the tucking in with Yedlin outside of him, but it is not insane when you look at how Berhalter has used his RB in the past to consider Adams. Bradley had no legs by August last season, he looked spry tonight, but how he holds up over the course of the season will determine how useful he is for USMNT going forward.
Today Tyler Adams seemed to be playing something a lot like a #6 and the match commentator seemed to think he was playing that role. As for McKe4nnie, he started out last year mostly as a 6, but Schalke seem to be moving him around to several spots. One game a few weeks ago they seemed to have him as a CAM, so there’s no telling what his club position is. Whatever, although I’m not strongly pro or anti-Bradley, there is no reason why we need him. We have enough good, younger and speedier midfielders than Bradley and he won’t be around for 2022, so why play him much now?
Gary didn’t see today’s RBL match but they ustplay with 2 6s so Adams would have freedom to move forward without exposing the backline or leaving the lines disconnected. Bradley was playing tonight as a lone Dm playing almost always as the deepest midfielder although not as deep as Trapp with a Columbus. I think we get to caught in this “natural position” argument when that often has asbmuch to do with your clubs manager and roster as it does your skill set. Look at Weah, most American fans call him a winger because they first saw him with the U20s. Well his squad had a guy named josh Sargent at CF so to get both on the field Weah went wide. PSG and I believe now Celtic have played him as CF. The noble thing would be for Bradley to announce his international retirement because until he does Berhalter is obliged to call in his best available players and play those who are the best in camp.
“Bradley may still have a role to play with this team, but when everyone is available he’s a Bench guy (at best)”……thank you, thank you, thank you Lost in space. We only need Michael on the team in a supportive capacity, and coming off the bench to see games out after we have ALREADY established a lead.
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“….the role that Bradley played tonight is not their natural position no more than it was Bradley’s natural position 5 years ago.”….. Johnnyrazor, Michael Bradley shouldn’t be on the USMNT for any RECENT position he picked up because anything RECENT about Michael Bradley is far from stellar. Everybody agree’s he was a shadow of himself last season (even Twellman) and he is ONLY DETERIORATING. He is not a fraction of the player he use to be (and back then we was that exceptional anyway), so what gives? ?
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You really want veteran leadership? You really want current knowledge about the game and what to expect at the highest level? You want EPL / Championship experience and a path to what it takes both mentally and physically? You need someone to teach our young core to know how to maintain yourself, body and soul, to play well into your mid 30’s (and not be washed out by 29-30)? CAMERON is the way to go. Geoff Cameron is more experienced, stronger, faster and more dynamic or reactive (as a DM, a CM, definitely a CB or RB) CURRENTLY than Michael Bradley, and would be more effective holding a position in front of our back-line. He has played and maintained at a higher level than Michael Bradley, and with that comes loads of experience that our young players need to learn and mimic ….fight for a spot, day in day out, on teams that would cut you if you didn’t perform, know what is to be a professional in the best leagues in the world….not coming back home and being a professional jogger in MLS. So, if a player like that, with that much soccer wealth, knowledge and experience is nowhere to be found on the team, why is Michael Bradley in camp or has a major role on the team??? ?.
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How can you fail miserably as a team captain, be the one leading while we experienced one of the worst disappointment in USMNT history, have a far from stellar 2018 MLS season, do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OUTSTANDING IN MLS for the last couple of seasons (not Bundesliga, not 2. Bundesliga , not EPL, not Championship league, not Serie A, not La Liga…….nothing outstanding in MLS), jogging around the field looking busy with 0 goals and 5 assists in 2018, 0 goals and 2 assists in 2017, 1 goal and 5 assists in 2016……..HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO STILL BE RELEVANT for the USMNT???? ?……HOW???? ?
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One thing that I think has been lost in the qualification debacle is Cameron’s role. Isn’t it true that he threatened to leave the team entirely when he found out he would not be starting the Panama game? If that reporting is true then I do not believe he should be a part of the team moving forward. He absolutely should have been playing over Omar, but to leave the team in their hour of need bc you lost your starting spot is shameful. Its that lack of commitment to the greater good of the team that was a big part of our downfall.
Remember Trinidad and Tobago . Bradley can wear a USMNT jersey if he’s sitting at a bar. That about it. Made the most basic pass every touch . Best play was defensive running down a counter in the 2nd half . Let’s move on . Tyler Adams . John brooks . Pulisic . Anybody but Bradley in the middle
Your bias is showing. Bradley played a whole bunch of aggressive forward passes that led to some good attacking plays. To say he only played the safe pass is to acknowledge you either didn’t watch a lot of the match or you just can’t stand him.
Agree with Panda. Bradley made more incisive upfield passes than any other midfielder. He was constantly providing support and was crucial in the way we kept possession. Whether he or anyone else we have can do that against tougher competition remains to be seen.
usually you say “one game can mislead’ about a young player, but in this case i think Panama B flatters Bradley and we need to be cautious to avoid repeating last cycle’s lessons. we already know whether he can “do that” from last cycle, i swear, this is nuts. in particular i don’t buy him covering that ground he did once, all game, against a better, faster opponent. we already saw last cycle his issues being the lone mid back on an island defending against jailbreaks. you should already see the 433 is going to produce more jailbreaks. i am not a fan of any role based on age. you will have to pull back out the jenga block too soon again. but if we’re going to be realistic, at most he should be up for some kind of “closer” role subbing in for an Adams or McKennie who has the speed and youth to cover the ground the 6 will need to do in this formation.
We also need to be careful continuing to doubt a player that has given more great service to the NT, than not. All i keep seeing is certain fans crying about how they detest Bradley’s continuing inclusion with the NT but GB has already stated he will be a part of the set up until he isn’t, which i nor anyone else should have a problem with as long as he’s playing well. Listen, it’s no secret Bradley had a down year last year, and i’m prepared to chalk it up to tired legs when you consider he has been playing non stop for club and country since he was what, 21?! Donovan and Dempsey both went through this, Bradley’s just came at the wrong time. This idea that “he should do the noble thing an retire” is about as ignorant a statement as ive ever seen, and furthermore a problem with our program all along has been the coddling of certain players or giving them spots when they aren’t earned. We should not be calling in players just because they are in europe, or for that matter because they are in MLS(or any other league), especially if they aren’t playing regularly because the NT is not the time or place to develop players, that’s done at club level.
I admire Sarachan for his approach to giving minutes to a slew of youth players that were and weren’t playing regularly at club, in an attempt to rejuvenate the program which certainly seems to have worked in spots, but that time should end now with GC, Nations League and other important games around the corner. It’s time to start focusing in on the players that can turn this thing around now, and the ones that have some maturing to do at club level can fall in line when they are ready to contribute consistently!
Good start. I’ll take it.
WOW…talk about changing things around and different player selections ?. OK Panama’s team was not solid, and the players were ALL HOME BASED (not to mention young)….
FW Abdiel Arroyo (age 25) Panama – Árabe Unido
FW Ernesto Sinclair (age 29) Panama – Costa del Este
GK Eddie Roberts (age 24) Panama – CAI La Chorrera
DF Fidel Escobar (age 24) Panama – Sporting San Miguelito
DF Francisco Palacios (age 28) Panama – San Francisco
DF Guillermo Benítez (age 19) Panama – Plaza Amador
DF Édgar Góndola (age 25) Panama – Costa del Este
MF Adalberto Carrasquilla (age 20) Panama – Tauro
MF Omar Browne (age 24) Panama – CAI La Chorrera
MF Luis Cañate (age 22) Panama – Árabe Unido
MF Ernesto Walker (age 19) Panama – Plaza Amador
…..but when was the last time we COMPLETELY dominated a National team, any National team ???
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And what was up with Berhalter’s player placement???? ?
Playing Djordje Mihailovic, a CM / CAM as a forward?
Playing Jeremy Ebobisse, a CF as a LEFT winger?
Playing Corey Baird, a CF / LM / LW as a RIGHT winger?
Playing Nick Lima, a RB as a RIGHT central mifielder?
Walker Zimmerman playing high up the field that lead to a goal
Playing with Bradley on the Field?
A guess I shouldn’t complain as it seemed like target practice out there. Maybe Panama were just as confused with the USMNT setup as I was lol ??.
There was a corner kick, which was way Zimmerman was upfield.
Ah…you are correct Sir,
Zimmermann was upfield for the corner which never quite got cleared. I found it more telling that he and Ramirez both scored in that 9 channel within about 10 minutes after Zardes kept losing balls and glancing headers outside the post all night. and that’s the one you leave OFF the list?
I sure as hell didn’t see Zardes lose any balls, matter of fact he held the ball up extremely well and brought others into the run of play with some nice layoffs. Did he squander scoring chances off of headers, absolutely, but let’s keep it real instead of making up stuff because you don’t think he should be in the team smh
I am sure the Bradley haters will weigh in.
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Here is food for thought, even Taylor Twellman managed to explain that the talk was that Bradley was the most technical player in camp and the one with the best soccer sense.
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For those who might like a bit of history, Bradley played his first USMNT game vs Venezuela in 2006 in the second of 3 friendlies prior to the 2006 WC and was the last player cut for the 2006 WC. Josh Wolff started the Venezuela game while Berhalter was called into the squad that day as a replacement for the injured Cory Gibbs.
Bradley’s 2nd substitute appearance was against Latvia in the last of the WC send-off games. Wolff and Behrhalter were unused subs.
“even Taylor Twellman managed to explain that the talk was that Bradley was the most technical player in camp”….lol?, with all those KIDS in camp he better be, that’s why he is there. A former captain of the USMNT, among these kids, he SHOULD AT LEAST be “the most technical player” as most of these players were making their debut but it won’t be like that with the “A” team tho ?
and at this stage of his career he’s still more technical than both McKennie and Adams, so what’s your point? Does he have the engine he used to, nope(although he sure looked like he could still run in the Panama game on one sequence), but that can be mitigated with positioning and high soccer IQ, which we know Bradley has!
the deal is that Panama B — like Paraguay or Bolivia for Sarachan — is not going to be the test of the tactics and personnel. bradley generally made smart passes and had a very nice cut off on a dangerous attack. but what about when we’re playing some speedy much better team and he’s trying to cover all that ground that 433 is going to leave open. i do think this should put him in the mix as a backup. but if the idea is to be the starting 6 for this new cycle, he couldn’t defend on an island last time.
Haven’t you been going on for months saying how Panama is far too tough an opponent for this game? You asked for cupcake opponents to try out new tactics and then say the solid display of Bradley means nothing bc of the weak opposition?
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I do 100% agree that if Bradley is to be the #6 then he cannot be left alone back there. If the goal is to have Adams/Mckennie in the center with him they can make up for his lack of mobility. The midfield of Bradley with Arriola, Nagbe and Pulisic was a failed formula of 2017.
you’re just playing rhetorical games with me, not really addressing my substance. i did obviously overrate the opposition. but are you then suggesting i have to review what i saw based on the tougher opposition i expected? this was a soft opponent. it was probably a good entry point for testing players and the formation as i wanted, despite my prior concerns. however i think i have also made the point that you ease into it, ratchet up a bit, test again, ratchet up a bit, test again, ratchet up a bit, and keep testing. if you read what i said in a few different posts here, i gave bradley credit at this level but expressed concern about his ability in more challenging contests, which I think longer term history supports. i said y’all can toss him out there as a 6 but i would only bother as a sub. you seem to disagree and think he should start. well, we can relearn the lesson of depending on his ageing legs if that happens. it’s not that he can’t shift the ball side to side in many games or possess under pressure. what it became is as he got older he had more giveaway long passes and then couldn’t mop up by himself as a 6. The idea in Berhalter’s formation is to spread the formation, not hand him a bunch of helpers to cover his ground for him. You do that it turns into the Houston Dynamo with the flanks wide open with no mid cover and their attackers all the way through to the wing backs each time down.
I don’t necessarily think Bradley should start but do believe he is a member of our best 18 (in contention to start for sure).
A #6 does not have to cover a huge amount of ground to be successful. This is especially true if he is a member of a midfield 3 with two other workhorses.
If the plan is to anchor our midfield with 1 guy and release the rest of the midfield to get forward all the time then Bradley is not the right guy. As you said he cannot cover the ground for it. If we have a more conservative approach then he can certainly play that role with Mckennie and/or Adams working alongside him. He could easily play similarly to 2014 Beckerman w/ Jones and Bradley doing much of the running.
(1) It’s a 433 and in tough games they are going to have to cover defensive ground fast regardless how you organize the triangle. (2) I don’t want our tactics dictated by trying to squeeze the lemon of playing Bradley back there alone. (3) I felt like we were more competitive in our recent big games when we had an attacking push other teams had to respect. (4) Berhalter described the formation last night as two #10s. If that holds nightly then there is a single 6 who needs to be physically capable of that role. I know Bradley is a bright guy who several years ago would be tailor made. I just think last night we already looked a little defensively shaky and it will only get tougher. (5) I expect to see someone more like Adams in the starting role. (6) And then I think you look at, is this a game where Bradley’s positive qualities can be used as a closer without exposing his negative qualities. Tired opponent. Slow opponent. Opponent made for his cerebral approach. If we are playing Panama A or CR or maybe even Mexico, no, he shouldn’t even see the field, someone will torch us for it. The US fans need to quit confusing “best players” with “best players for building towards 4 years from now” or “best players for the tactics that night.” Bradley is a pretty good player I defended last year. But that defense was more from a standpoint of “who else were we going to play last cycle,” when he was still the best of bad prime age mids. Now we have many kids in. I am not sold he remains our best option, or even a reasonable risk in many serious games. I think he is fine in these kind of games but these are not what stands between us and Qatar. And if we are smart we are spending our time this cycle preparing for those kind of games and not trying to squeeze Bradley for a few more months.
Berhalter also said in a recent interview that he believes the key to the international game is who can make the fewest mistakes. This definitely signals a more conservative approach. I don’t disagree with you that there will be games where Bradley is not going to be right for the moment. There will absolutely be games where he should start though too. Much will depend on how Berhalter plans to set up the team on a permanent basis. You’ve got to think that Pulisic, Adams and Mckennie are penciled in as starters. How we plan to deploy those 3 will dictate much of where others will fit in the puzzle.
We’ll see when we get to those games won’t we?! And, it’s not like he has never done it before, because he has and a pretty high level. If people want to kill Bradleys entire career off of ONE year then have at it, but I’m not prepared to castigate that man for the failures of an entire federation, and i would like to believe we are all better than that! It’s been almost a year now, it’s time to move on from Couva and the failed qualification!
Do you think there is more history to suggest that Bradley can’t do whatever it is you think he can’t do, or is there less history, because i’d argue he’s played at a high level more than he hasn’t. One bad year doesn’t change that! Or maybe it does to some people!
The biggest question that remains unanswered at this point is why on earth was this match played at University of Phoenix Stadium?
Kinda weird no doubt. Possible that it was just a case of a good deal to re-use the same turf that had been put down for the Fiesta Bowl Seems that USSF/Berhalter made a conscious choice to avoid the traditional venue for the camp/friendly (i.e. Carson CA / StubHub Center). So they went south to Chula Vista for the camp, and rather than use a badly out-of-season pitch like we usually see in the January LA friendly, they went to AZ. Meh. Empty thought the stadium was, I have to say the larger, nicer pitch made this a more watchable event than the usual January friendly…..
inside baseball business stuff who cares