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USMNT downs Ecuador to continue unbeaten start under Berhalter

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The U.S. Men’s National Team didn’t have its most dominant attacking performance on Thursday, but it came out on top with a victory.

A deflected shot in the 81st minute off the boot of Gyasi Zardes handed the USMNT a 1-0 win over Ecuador, making it three wins in three games under head coach Gregg Berhalter.

Zardes used some space and was able to rifle a shot on goal in what was a quiet performance by the Columbus Crew man. Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez lost track of the ball which deflected off Robert Arboleda and sneaked under the goalpost to break the deadlock.

Up to that point, the USMNT lacked the final product in front of goal with Zardes and Jordan Morris being held in check. Christian Pulisic played his traditional No. 10 role for the first time under Berhalter and created some chances before being subbed off in the second-half.

Dominguez made the only save in the match in the first-half, keeping out Paul Arriola from point-blank range. A lay-off pass from Pulisic allowed the streaking Arriola to run onto it, but Dominguez made himself big and repelled the chance.

USMNT fans will be holding their breaths after Weston McKennie had to depart after the hour mark. The midfielder looked to have injured his ankle after landing awkwardly following an aerial duel.

Sean Johnson got his first start for the USMNT in six years but was not forced into a single save. Wil Trapp was a lively performer as well in midfield, before having to exit in the 59th minute due to a left thigh contusion.

Berhalter became the first USMNT head coach since Bob Bradley to win his first three matches in charge.

The USMNT concludes its set of friendlies on March 26th against Chile in Houston.

Comments

  1. This was the kind of opposition that needs a brute as a CF. Connor Casey, is the only one I recall on the USMNT who could fire a shot on target while there were 3 or 4 defenders kicking him, but he had other traits that were not quite so good. Altidore physically looks like the guy who could do that, but he fails to do anything close to that consistently.

    That said, it is hard to play soccer when the other team refuses to play. Ecuador kept 7 men in the PA most of the game, so much so that over the last 30 minutes, Brooks, Long and Ream were playing within 35 yards of Equador’s goal and with little risk that Ecuador would get behind them. Ecuador did not even seem to put a single attacker on the half-way line as a target for long balls and to keep the US defenders honest. There were 21 of the 22 players inside 35 yards from the Ecuador goal. Ecuador played so deep that Johnson was very lonely! Over most of the game, he was 50 yards from the nearest player on either team.

    I recall a similar game with a different result involving Princeton and Columbia Universities. Bob Bradley, the coach of PU, was beside himself with anger when Columbia basically packed all but one player into their penalty area and left only their star, a CF on Iceland’s national team, up top. In what was probably Columbia’s only shot, he scored late in the game. I have never before or since seen Bob so angry after a game.

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  2. To work the combinations in they need more technical players. It felt in between a defend and counter strategy where you would want more pure speed on the field, and a Dutch style 433 where you’d want more technique to combine and work into the box. We’d get down their end, if we didn’t just whack a cross in, we’d try and work some combo play in, but for lack of skill it would usually blow up. They lacked a 10 but also attackers with a little more finesse. I watch Dortmund regularly and I know Pulisic regularly combo works from the wings with them. But for us it devolved into wingers trying to 1 on 1 like Early Dempsey. And Ecuador had numbers back where if you faked the first one the guy behind him angled you off.

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    • Either more technical where they can work through a pile, or faster where they get behind the defense. I’d be curious if you had Weah and Sargent if this comes out as close. It called for a little more scalpel or jetpack. To be blunt, this was the same problem Klinsi faced when he tried to make this a passing team c. 2011, was how to not just possess but get the ball to people in dangerous spots. Under Klinsi at first we would knock it around a bunch but not find Jozy and 0-0 or 1-0. He saw the writing on the wall and went to 3 DMs for Brazil and thereafter, which is the tactics most remember. But when his DMs aged out he didn’t have a new plan.

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  3. Sure, Ecuador bunkered. It may have seemed like we were unable to work that mid but reality is things would have been much more effective have we had Tyler Adams in the CM. Tyler works those small spaces, dictates pace. Trapp and bradley when in pressure they pass back or laterally, and when they receive the ball facing towards their gaol they don’t turn and make that forward pass and instead kick it back to the keeper. Tyler adams turns pushes that pace and makes that pass forward. I watch Tyler every weekend in the Bundesliga and he is a world class CM and to not use him causes us to play in a manner that we can’t brake down teams. If you haven’t had the chance to watch him, do please. Tyler in the middle would change the team

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    We need a better target forward, it seems Zardes becomes very timid when with the national team, I have no idea why. He missed a sitter and got lucky on that goal. We need to give a chance to a real poacher.

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    • Like most frowards, Zardes operates best when he has a bit of space. On the goal, he had 30 yards in the center og the attacking half. LLetget who found him with the pass deserves credit for that, it was so seldom any forward was open, it was unexpected/

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      • He’s a winger, is why. I loved playing in space. So I played as a wing mid or fullback. I don’t think the goal on a 433 where we get the ball out wide early and cross is the striker abandoning his post to go back into the midfield and find space. I also feel like if a central striker is not getting the ball much — and he wasn’t — part of his job if not showing to ball is make some diagonal runs and drag defenders off the central perch, to open space for others or the weak side.

    • Is apt. I thought our problem was reminiscent of my Houston Dynamo who play a similar 433. We lack a 10. So the strategy is basically early balls wide and then wide balls crossed in. Zardes was technically sharper on the ball the few times he touched it, but the few times he touched it reflected his inability to be found. On the one ball across he could have poached — which I think was whistled offsides on Morris anyway — he whiffed right in front of net and the left wing got the shot. I also feel like choosing TrappBradley over Adams at the 6 spot, while allowing for the odd long ball wide that their fans tout, would in a more competitive game weaken the midfield defense. You can say that of a lot of his back and mid choices, that in a bunker game they were effective, but that I wouldn’t pick those people if we were under any strain and had to defend.

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    • Agree 100%…I also feel Pulisic should be out wide where his speed and ability to dribble at defenders and send in dangerous crosses creates constant opportunities.

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      • Yes, Pulisic is good with very quick feet and he can beat more than a couple defenders, but not 4 or 5 like he too often faced in the middle. Move him out wide where there is at least a little space to use his magic.

    • I think we need to relax and give it a little more time, McKennie and Morris were in each other’s space for most of the first half. The left side looked better because one Arriola and Pulisic have played together, and two Arriola had three weeks to learn the system (Morris and McKennie had 3 days).
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      The 10s and the wings are supposed to be switching in and out, and we saw Pulisic outside quite a bit. Pulisic was not very effective when outside last night either, some of that due to Arriola not being great inside. Better timing between those partnerships on either side will improve the chances.
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      We need to see Trapp when he needs to do more defensively but if he is moving the ball around like he was last night he definitely has a future.
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      I don’t mind seeing the Sargent-Weah wing lineup, but we saw Ecuador’s one shot came from Morris ball watching. I worry that playing these wing forwards having to do a lot of defending instead wing midfielders.
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      Someone should give Dario Gomez, Sarachan’s number because playing 4 defenders and 3 DMs is not a very good way to get results.

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      • Watch Dortmund to see what Pulisic requires out on that wing. We got kind of stuck in old school wing patterns of either crosses or Dempsey-style running at the back and taking him on. What was less apparent or effective was trying a la Dortmund to short-pass and combo your way into the 18 and get easier shots. We occasionally tried but the personnel lacked the chops to execute it and keep possession. It requires more running off the ball than we do, maybe more speed than we fielded, and maybe more skill than we maintained on the field. I do think if you put Green, Weah, Sargent, and some others out there then we can play with more pace and technique. This was a fairly lumbering and workmanlike unit. The passing looked sharp way back but they also were being left alone.

  4. So Arriola missed a sitter, and the ref blew an offside call, so this game could have easily been 3-0. Ecuador didn’t press us but most concacaf teams won’t either especially on the road so grinding out these types of results will decide qualification.

    In my opinion this game mostly just confirmed some things I think we already know. 1) the US can dominate possession against teams that sit back but we struggle to score against teams playing 10 behind the ball. I think this problem will get solved based on the chance the US did create under the circumstances and when you substitute Weah for Morris and Sargent for Zardes. 2) Trapp is a good passer when not pressed but I’m not sold on him against teams that actually challenge his athleticism in defense. 3) Tim Ream isn’t the answer at LB. I get why he get’s opportunities but he is good for 1+ mistake a game the leads to scoring chances for the other team. In tournaments and high stakes qualifying games this is unacceptable. 4) I think Pulisic will help us score more set piece goals this cycle then we did last. His service on set pieces is improved from what we had been getting and I believe it will start paying dividends soon.

    There are some questions I think we still don’t have an answer to, 1) how will this system do against teams that can competently press and counter attack? 2) is Pulisic better in the middle or out wide? 3) who will play LB for us? 4) can Trapp be a competent member of the team against a team that makes him put in work defensively?

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    • Agree on Ream. Thought we might get our first USMNT match ever without a Tim Ream Brain Fart and wa-la! almost handed Ecuador a goal with a horrendous backpass that fortunately Brooks cut-off after the Ecuadorian guy got it caught up in his feet.

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    • You could say the same about Omar, Villafana, Miazga, Cameron, and Robinson. Brooks might go a few games without one and then have four in one game.

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      • The players save Amon who were real choices were either left off (eg, Green) — and there were senior players and not U23s and U20s who that was done to, several — or were with U23 like Weah and Sargent. I didn’t sense the U20 was any particular drain, as most of them are not senior capped. I have advocated cap tying de la Fuente as a dual national.

    • IV: Of course we haven’t had any opportunity to cap-tie him and won’t until the Gold Cup, unless you were calling to cap him when he was 16 and playing for Barcelona’s U17 B squad. I don’t see Berhalter calling up a 17-year-old who has played 12 minutes in the Spanish 3rd division, using him in the U20 WC would force him to file a one time switch though. With the GC starting as the U20 WC ends its unlikely he’d play in both so you are looking at Septemeber 6 as the next opportunity to actually tie him to the US.

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      • My point is not rush him up but really the opposite, that you’re overselling the degree to which he or much of anyone else on that team was with that team at our expense. There was maybe one capped player with them. There was maybe one other player I’ve thought should be fast tracked due to dual national issues — not necessarily because he is ready — but because we could lose a fight waiting until his future arrives. My point is it wasn’t the U20s that weakened the team. If anything, it was U23. And to me even that argument leaves out the half dozen or so quality senior age players like Green that are aged out of YNT play and were just not called.

  5. Definitely not convinced. GB is not putting players in their best positions.

    Trapp played well but will be a huge defensive liability vs. better opposition. Adams should play in that deep midfield spot. Lima was far superior in the hybrid right back position than Adams. Morris is wasted wide right. He’ll never get to tuck inside, get in the box and score, even when the ball is wide left, because the middle becomes so cluttered with 4 other players. Pulisic has no space to turn and go at defenders. McKennie was getting in everyone’s way. Ream will get torched against better opposition. You can say that Ecuador was packing it in, but that is what all of CONCACAF is going to do.

    Besides all this the US has not solved their biggest problem over the last 8 years: Lack of tempo and urgency.

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    • It says something to me when a coach in friendlies is getting traction primarily when he makes subs. The conventional take is that “the game opened up” or “things changed when the subs went in.” And sometimes that is the dynamic. But sometimes it feels like the wrong people were picked and that’s why the team took off. In previous games when he pulled Zardes we’d start scoring. The team looks drilled but the selections are off. GB probably won’t look bad because just getting us systematized will get you results in this kind of game. But it will be interesting in the late rounds of GC, LoN, Copa America if that happens. I mean, my response to this on a certain level was we beat this team 2-1 last time so this didn’t feel like progress.

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  6. Hard to tell much other than we’re looking better…and still have a ways to go.

    Ecuador is not a pack of chumps and I have never, ever seen a South American team sit in and just bunker like that against the USA before. While that wasn’t their best squad they were still clearly aware they were outclassed and just tried to play for a draw and nick a result off a mistake or free kick, and that’s a compliment.

    So far I’ve liked what Berhalter’s trying to implement. He obviously has clear ideas, he obviously knows the personnel he likes and wants, and there seems to be a lot left of upside left to get. The real acid test will be: does the USA continue to improve as the team collectively grasps Berhalter’s system and better personnel continues to cycle through and claim spots, or will exploitable shortcomings appear over time? Dunno.

    Early returns remain encouraging, though.

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  7. Ecuador wasn’t really trying offensively and still had a couple of legitimate chances. My starting LB needs to play that ball up or out immediately, please don’t turn inside with it.
    Not sure this game proved anything other than it’s better to be lucky than good. I hope the Chilean side attacks more and we are more responsive . Trapp did look good. Our backs were aided by a non aggression pact by the Ecuadorian midfield.

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    • Turning inside with the ball is perfectly OK, but do not put a soft roller across the 18 where the opposing forward can get it unmolested. That ball must be played with plenty of pace and at least toward a teammate. That Ecuador forward did not receive a better pass from a teammate all game, and he should have scored.

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  8. I was at the game and standing close to where Adams started at RB. I was paying close attention to him and GB’s plan of having him pinch inside when we had possession. That happened zero times during the first 15 minutes, as he was playing a very traditional outside back role up to that point. Then either GB gave him a signal, or it was decided in advance that TA would start moving forward at the 15 minute mark. In either case, it was a noticeable shift, and I think it was a positive move. I don’t know that it destabilized Ecuador because they were already defending with 10 men behind the ball, but it gave us a better shape.

    The other comment is that I thought Arriola was our best offensive player. He made the smart runs to receive the diagonal balls all night long. He was usually the reason the US got into good attacking positions. I think his defender was asleep a few times, but still. I didn’t see the same kind of effort from Morris or Zardes.

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    • I agree that Arriola displayed a good soccer brain, he was constantly open and he tried to connect to teammates in scoring positions. What I did not like is that most of his crosses (all but one?) were blind crosses and went straight to someone in a yellow shirt. If he wants to stay with the USMNT, he simply must improve the quality of his final pass (or shot). I also thought that Ecuador gave him a lot of space after he received the ball so he had a lot of time to get his head up and assess the situation. I am not convinced that better teams will give him so much so easily.

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    • With only 2 days to train, and considering how detailed oriented the system seems to be, we were never going to see a polished performance but there were still things to be excited about.

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  9. What a lame performance by Ecuador. They didn’t even make an attempt to push forward the entire game. What exactly did they learn about their team?! I can reluctantly understand a complete park the bus strategy against a better team in a real competition, but to do this in a friendly? Seriously? I hope we don’t schedule them again. For us, I guess it did expose our weak area in this new team we’re building, and that’s the front line. I thought Morris was dreadful, hopefully someone else starts in his spot next game. Arriola and Zardes weren’t much better, aside from the one nice layoff by Zardes they really lacked the movement and clever touches needed to break down a team that plays that way. Pulisic is good enough to begin to break down an opponent, but he can’t do it by himself and needs other players to combine with. Also, we need some guys with quality shots from distance to start shooting the ball more. Finally, despite all the hate I see on our blogs and message boards, Trapp was very very good.

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    • Because they didnt attack. Lets hope Chili comes to play then we’ll see. Bradley got to jog around and otherwise did little. Im not a Trapp believer yet but know Bradley is finished. While GB doesnt see it is beyond me

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      • Ecuador spent so little time trying to attack and when they did they kept 7 players back. Neither Trapp not Bradley had much to do, especially Bradley since in the last 30 minutes Ecuador retreated even deeper. Except for very rare moments they could have bee replaced by traffic cones and the back line of the US would not have noticed any difference. There were simply no attacks going through midfield for either to break up. Maybe not 100% of Ecuador’s attacks were long balls bypassing the midfielders, but it was a very high percentage, especially at the end. Neither Trapp nor Bradley had much to do so it is hard to say if they stunk the place up or if they played well,

  10. That game summed up Tim Ream well. Solid defending. Good ball movement but his calmness on the ball is also his weakness. Sometimes he has to get rid of it!

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    • He definitely tried to get too cute at the end there…..that assist though is why he will still get opportunities going forward, there was some quick thinking behind it and a precise pass

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  11. I actually think the system looks good. Tyler Adams gets us from the back third to the middle/front third very well, and Brooks and Long are very good. Ream made that error at the end, and so did Bradley, but I can’t say I’m surprised there. That front line will not be our line in major tournaments. It will be Pulisic and Weah out wide, Sargent in center.
    Equador, while they did concede space, really worked hard collectively to limit chances. I think we moved the ball pretty well against them, with some more work to do there, Going forward we may need a number 10. Pulisic should be out wide, in my view. I’m hoping Reyna progresses quickly.

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  12. Pulisic looked flat out bad. Lost the ball continually and had no confidence or plan when he got it. Chelsea way over spent. If he’s our future then it’s really bleak. The only thing worse was Twellman’s complete misunderstanding of what GB was trying to do tonight. Especially with regards to Adams. Our midfield looked scared to make mistakes and erred on the side of negative play instead of positive 99.9%. Looked like we had 6 Michael Bradleys on the pitch. Zardes had a few good touches but with a true #9 we could have played more balls into his feet to be held up for combo play. McKenzie, Trapp, Adams and Long looked solid. Goodbye Tim Ream. Go away you are rubbish. Arriola another solid game, please finish. Lastly, Pulisic has proven he cannot be the center piece. Run him on the left or right and look elsewhere for a #9. Let’s hope GB has more planned bc right now we look very pedestrian, have no identity and nothing waiting in the wings to breathe life into this group. And please don’t say Josh Sergeant, we have plenty of guys who can run fast and jump high. Oh yeah, maybe Timothy Weah is the answer but still not a true #9.

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  13. Pulisic seemed upset he was taken off the field. He played bad ad lost the all everytime. I hope Weston is okay the way he landed on his ankle looked extra painful.

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    • Salazar said he signaled to come off with I believe he said an abdominal tweak. I thought he looked fatigued, he went 90 Sat. Then traveled and 60 tonight after a month lay-off.

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  14. It was not the number chances that I had hoped it would create nor the destruction that others had predicted. I think that’s why it’s so quiet, not a lot of match points to talk about because of the bunkering and not a lot of mistakes to gloat about either.

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    • we can’t get ourselves too caught up in this performancre although there were some positives because at the end of the day they only had 2 days to train for seems to be a really detail oriented scheme. Let’s give it some time, but more to the point let’s see if they progress versus the chileans on tuesday

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  15. Been coming on SBI for almost 10 years now. I’ve never seen it with this few comments after a NT game a hour after an anticipated friendly like this. Makes me sad.

    So thoughts, all three teams we’ve played so far have shown very little desire to press and have been happy to sit deep. All three have been at best B teams. All three have had zero teeth offensively at wing and up top. So it’s hard to get a real feel for how these performances will translate when the game means something more than a payday for the other federation.

    That said. Tactically I’m still cautiously optimistic that what we’re trying could work given time and better more technical players in certain spots. I think GBs player selection is a big problem. He seems to value at this point players who know his style over more technically gifted players. The lack of first touch in our front three was terrible. I’m hoping he plans to transition these players out once the more gifts European based players have the system but a lot of those guys weren’t even called in so how can they learn the system if they’re not in camp? I think longer term his system has a much higher ceiling if he brought in the more technically gifted players playing in Europe and struggling thru a few camps as they learn which isn’t too hard these are pro players they watch film and learn tactics for a living. Using Zardes, Morris, Trapp, Arriola, and MB as anything more than injury cover second stringers is unacceptable to me with some of the talent we are ignoring playing at higher levels overseas.

    I’m still very worried we might be seeing GB developing his core group already and he’s already showing us who are his favorites. If he really think Zardes is the best most in form striker in the pool then shoot me know please. If he thinks we don’t have better options at the DM position than Trapp then double cap me to head while your at it just to make sure because I don’t want to watch more of that.

    I think if he gets the selection right these tactics with time could be ok but again we haven’t played real competition yet who press defensively or have teeth in attack and wide to punish certain spaces/gaps not just our right flank too.

    On concern tactically I am noticing that as these team sit deep and stay very compact all we do to try to unlock is have Trapp or MB play a field switching ball to the other wing who should be in space. This should find that wing with space to run at a defender and make a cross into the box but these past few games that is not happening the first move in the sequence happens the long switching pass is made but usually come to nothing without even a cross. Guys like Morris and Arriola aren’t technical enough to to receive and turn that ball into space to run onto quickly enough, they need to chest it down take another touch and another before running at a defender ie three touches and space is closed down by that time opportunity over. We have other wing options that can make this system work when a team sits deep like this but they don’t play in MLS.

    I want this to work. I want us to dominate Concacaf and live up to this golden generation we are licking into at the moment. I’m still withholding final judgment at the moment but I my concerns about the roster selection and player evaluation but I am cautiously optimistic about things tactically but want to see how this works against a team with more teeth than my great grandma.

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    • Also it felt like Ecuador just want to get their Disney on and could care less about today’s game other than not getting injured. Anyone wanna check their players IGs tomorrow or Saturday I bet they’ll be doing selfies at MGM and Epcot.

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      • Joe, sounds like we are more in agreement than opposition. My problem was not so much the front three, though, but the entry passes or lack of them. I think the main problem was moving the ball quickly from midfield to the top of the box. Too often the pass would go to the wing, then back, then maybe the middle before going back out, all at a leisurely pace. The front 3 really had little service and we needed a midfielder who could attack centrally and draw the defense to him, leaving more room for the forwards.

      • Gary. I think we were seeing the same thing. Ecuador was playing very compact in CM and giving us the space wide thereby limiting how much time and space Pulisic and Mckennie would have on the ball in comparison to Trapp deeper in CM or Arriola and Morris on the wings. Had Arriola or Morris been better and quicker at taking the long cross field passes down out of the air and turning them forward on a first touch this system would have looked a lot better. First step, how is the defense playing us, okay their compact and deep centrally so switch it wide to a wing in space. Second step wing needs to control the ball with first touch and make a positive first touch to get down the wing ball at his feet with the intent to cross or drop off a pass to someone else run into the box. Its the second part that was lacking, Trapp to his credit did execute the cross field passing well its just not my preferred pass, I prefer linking thru MF than long switching overhead passes. When those wings need three touches to properly control the ball before turning forward it gives their defender time to close the space that was there before the pass was made. Had the defense been less compact centrally I think and at least hope that Trapp and Adams would have been trying to find more balls thru center to Pulisic and McKennie on the ground abd I will be watching future games to see how we adapt based on how opposing defense play us. I actually prefer the linking thru MF type passing myself rather than long cross field switches that GB system seems to prefer because I think they’re higher percentage and play to our strengths but Ecuador weren’t giving us that space yesterday but were giving that space to the opposite side wing we just couldn’t control the ball quickly enough to make something positive out of it.

    • Trapp was good in the first half, and Zardes touch was pretty good tonight just struggled for service. Needed a little more of that shoot from 25 to 30 yards in the first half and make defenders at least guess instead of just sitting on the dribble. Granted January camp was a lower quality opponent (Ecuador beat Panama in November) but if you look at the long-range shots that Roldan, Mihailovic, and Lima took it creates more chances than waiting for the perfect ball.
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      I still think Altidore is the guy if he recovers from injury. I still think GGG brings Sargent for the GC if Bremen is ok with it, so that he can get 3 or 4 weeks to learn the system. Weah for me beats out Morris but he has to get on the field the next two months. The thing about the more offensive wings you suggest is they really aren’t any good at defending (Morris isn’t either) so that adds a different worry. I’d be ok with both Sargent and Weah as wings for the group stage of the GC.
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      I’m not sure who these higher quality DM’s overseas are either. Morales, he’s more cover for Adams to me. Williams can’t get fit, either can Chandler.
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      The good thing is we only have a couple of days to wait to find out, Chile has not been very good since the Confederations Cup in 2017. They lost 3-0 to Peru a couple of days before the US drew 1-1 with them last fall
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      Ecuador was ranked 13th in the world before Copa America, they are now ranked 58th. I didn’t even know you could fall that fast. That puts them just ahead of Finland and Bolivia.

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      • Johnny. I’m doing my upmost best to give GB a fair shake and chance here. I’m cautiously optimistic about our new system/style but I have my problems with it too and beginning to get bad feeling in my gut about playing some of our most talented players away from where they play at an outstanding level with their club in top leagues for the purpose of adapting these top talents to the system rather than adapting our system to our top talents.

        We are being blessed with a golden generation in CM and we need to max it out. Maybe GB is doing that I haven’t given my final say and haven’t seen enough yet to really say after 3 games against B squads, but it does concern me that we’re moving top guys out of position and using lower league guys where those guys play at club just to fit the system all the while not calling in other players starting and getting plenty of minutes in top leagues overseas who could at a bare minimum serve as reliable backups if needed. Ignoring talent is what bothers me most and I’ve been very consistent with this as a major problem in our federation going back years even prior to 2017 WCQ problems.

        On that Altidore comment… Are you just trolling me or do you really believe that? He had two goals last Hex both in that Panama game right before the TnT disaster. I like his hold up and passing too but I need a goal scorer at striker man.

    • The criticism you have of some the players tonight do not jive with the game. While those general criticisms have applied in the past, tonight Zardes did okay and Trapp did well. Zardes just had almost no service. As for technical ability, it is not the be all and end all you make it out to be. Pulisic tried to show off his ability and get tricky and just succeeded in losing possession most of the time. The problem tonight, and with teams that bunker in, is not technical ability, but the speed of play. You don’t beat a defense like that with tricky dribbling. We needed to move the ball around much faster and have better movement off the ball in order to create gaps and channels in the defense to exploit. Most all of the time our ball movement was so slow that it was no problem for the defense to adjust and react. Paradoxically, our best opportunities seemed to come from the old fashioned US style of long ball over the top. One thing that Johnny said that annoys me frequently is too often we try to get the perfect shot. We should be shooting any time there is an opening from within the box. That’s how Zardes scored–a lucky deflection. Also, if the other team thinks you will shoot from anywhere, they cannot sit back as much and have to come out and thus leaves space open to attack.

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      • Gary when referring to technical ability I am referring to a players first touch, accuracy and quickness of passing, positioning, and dribbling/holding abilities. Essentially it’s their ability to accurately control and manipulate the ball. To clarify it does not mean doing Neymar type dribbling tricks. The front three lacked this last night. As you said things seemed slow and passing want quick enough which is basically the same thing I’m saying I’m just calling it a lack of a technical ability and have my doubt the players we had in attack on the front three had the ability to control, touch and quickly make the passes need to speed it up all while maintaining control and not putting in a bad first touch losing possession.

  16. There is almost nothing to be learned from this match. I hope and assume that this is not how
    Bwerhalter’s system is supposed to work. Tonight can best be described as slow and boring..One good thing is that Trapp’s long passing was excellent.

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    • Was that the US’s fault or Ecuador’s though? It was like they went into half time and said: “Hey we aren’t going to score so let’s see if we can grind out a draw.” Certainly, some entertaining moments in the first half just couldn’t find the final ball, second half after the bus was parked and put up on blocks we couldn’t find the pass before the final pass.

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      • Even if the boring game was due to Ecuador, we need to figure out how to defeat the strategy since the lesser teams in CONCACAF are sure to use it against us, as they have done in the past. Kicking the ball around a lot from the midfield to about 15 yards forward and then back, as we spent much of our time doing, is not the way to win. Fine if all you want is a draw. Zardes was lucky to score. About a year ago Belgium played Costa Rica in a friendly and CR bunkered in like this. Belgium showed how to win a game like that.(final was 4-1) And while Lukaku was a big reason, their tactics were much better than ours tonight. Crosses from the wings and the quick through pass to a winger breaking in behind the defense finally cracked CR open. Tonight we mostly held the ball from much further out while Belgium moved in closer and attacked relentlessly. Berhalter and the team should study that game. And Yes, I know that Belgium is a lot better than us, but we should be better than CR or this Ecuador team and have won more convincingly than we did. Don’t get me wrong, though, I realize that a major part of the problem is implementing a new system and putting together a team with both domestic and foreign players for the first time in ages. However, as I think about ti, Berhalters style is more suited to an open game than a closed one like this.

      • After the January match Berhalter said something like “now we have tape” I think that’s the takeaway here is now those guys have something to sit down with Berhalter and staff and say this was good this was not what we want or this needs to be quicker. We looked a lot of times to be thinking instead of playing. I think this contributes to that slowness you talked about. Just watching it live it felt like some of the rotations were off, like we were getting too much in each other’s space (maybe I just think that because Twellman kept whining about it though).

    • Bro, they practiced for 2 days together, so anyone expecting this to be a polished performance was kidding themselves. We have to take all of these early games with a grain of salt. US fans are in such a rush to be successful now but people don’t realixze that the entire pool needs to be overhauled and a system implemented, which Greg has done a good job of so far..baby steps folks!

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      • Oh come on, Ronnie! All these fans were told back when they became fans that the U.S. absolutely will win a World Cup in the next 25 years…well it’s been 25 years for a lot of them!
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        MUST HAVE RESULTS! *pounds podium*
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        It is a bit insufferable at times. It’s a process…especially considering a lot of that talent is extremely young for the int’l game…can’t just throw them all to the fire….what good would that do?

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