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Berhalter not going to ‘scrap all the plans’ after consecutive USMNT losses

The fun didn’t last long for head coach Gregg Berhalter and the USMNT in the first-ever team appearance at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday.

Heading into the Gold Cup next week, the coach was looking for more answers than questions as the squad shapes up to an ideal starting XI, but found himself owning his first two losses in charge of the USMNT.

The afternoon saw the Americans struggle to stay in the game against a clinical Venezuelan side that made the most out of opportunities rather than dominating the offensive metrics, taking a 3-0 halftime lead to the final whistle.

“It’s really tough after a result like this to come in and start making excuses. I don’t really want to do that but what I’d say is we’re still getting guys where they need to be, and we’re not there yet,” Berhalter said. “That’s pretty clear so we’re going to keep working on it.”

While the Americans opened up the afternoon looking sharp and earning corners, Venezuela halted all optimism after punching in bunches with goals at the 16′, 30′, and 36′ minute marks. The succession of goals exposed a variety of issues for a team trying to find its form ahead of the Gold Cup.

“Let’s talk about it. The first goal is an irregular goal. he’s offsides, the third goal is offsides. I don’t think we responded well from it,” Berhalter said. “We gave up the goals, I didn’t love the response, then the second thing is that for 90 minutes we didn’t compete on the level we needed to compete on,”

Although VAR wasn’t utilized in the friendly matchup, Berhalter’s remarks about a lack of responses are apt. Across the squad, there were some hard performances and the rapid rotation didn’t leave much opportunity for anyone to redeem themselves.

“You want more competitiveness I think, it starts with putting guys in good positions to make tackles and win duels.”

Too, it may take getting the right personnel on the field. A little star power may have gone a long way with respect to Christian Pulisic and Michael Bradley’s absences. Despite joining the team a little later than ideal, getting them active could have been a possibility in a game where Berhalter utilized five substitutions, allowing a handful of players to get active with short shifts.

“What we expect from the guys is that when we picked this squad is that we have 23 players and that we can perform at a similar level,” Berhalter said.

“I think it would be doing the guys that played a discredit saying that we’re just waiting for other players. The guys worked hard, they gave what they had. We came up short it doesn’t mean that now we’re going to come in and scrap all the plans,”

While a proper final “tune-up” would ideally showcase some of his ideal plans, the reality is Berhalter can’t say a lot has gone right in the last week and he’s out of time to experiment in a low-stakes capacity.

Moving on to Gold Cup action, The USMNT open its campaign against Guyana at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota on June, 18th.

Comments

  1. no Lletget is a big blow. I still see no other midfielders in the pool who show centrally for the ball all game long and have the wherewithal to win those battles consistently enough. as the game wears on, it gets worse, and this has been an issue for the USMNT tryin g to play this possession style; it can be done but you need the horses to do it, not just the desire to play that way. the domino effect is the backline playing out gets into trouble but not their fault imo. I would play longer balls and bypass the midfield defenders too as much as possible until the midfielders show they can do it so teammates actually believe in them that they can. none of this has happened throughout this style change that began, you know, by what’s his name. These are, btw, the same talking points from years and years ago…….

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    • I agree, especially with players like Trapp and Roldan, and then Bradley being recalled. That is the biggest LOL. Altidore I can understand since we have nobody who has scoring record like his but the 3 others are never going to be above MLS level.

      Bradley has regressed since his return from Roma. It shows.

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  2. Okay so Jamaica qualified 1 time apparently for the WC in 1998. Twellman was saying they never qualified. Looks lile he and I were wrong.

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  3. TwoMileRule – on the money, with today’s assessment. How yourself and Johnny Razor deal with the contradictories of some of the other commenters, I have know idea, but I will take the time to read either of your comments. I always feel like, I learn something new, or a can research a player after both of you have posted!

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  4. TK – I respect, the fact you have managerial experience and you have lived outside the US. …but you’ve are not represented the, Ol heads, meaning any1, who was been watching USMNT, 25 years, or better. You’ve been watching since the 70s, and in all 10 threads of comments, NEVER once, mentioned formation. USMNT for almost 30 years has been grooming players to fit in 4–4-2, or some variation, 4-1-4-1, or a 4-4-1-1. None of the youth coaches use this formation, since JK input, in 2011. ( Hackworths U17s, Tab Ramos U20s, a the new U17s coach Wicky). “Always laughed, @ folks who tried to toss Jozy, out of our program.” “Shows real cluelessness.” Julian Green? Meh?. From the 10, or attacking position, when the ball, turns over on US defensive 3rd , Julian Green can see the ball, & the CBs feet. CB passes to the 6, or box-2-box midfielder, box out the closest defender, receive the ball @ his feet, turn on the run, & get the ball up the pitch, to the next player. If no defender, near him, he keeps the ball, and attacks. That’s called situational awareness! I don’t care if he plays for Greuther Furth, himself & B. Wood are two prime examples of players, who play better for their country, then their domestic clubs! WE might start viewing your comments like we do Joe Dirts & Imperative Voice.

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    • Fairjudge- I understand your frustration about Tata. I’ve lived in the last 2 years, 10 years in central FLA, & 7 years Atl prior. Tata didn’t speak to the local press, until a year and half. He doesn’t speak English, well, nor does he want to coach in a language his uncomfortable speaking. The sports/talk radio & other media outlets interview players weekly. The difficulty in communication from Tata has been well discussed, here in the A. Don’t know why you’re hung up on this talking point?!

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    • Speaking of formations, I think one of the issues I have with GB so far is that he is over obsessed on formation and approaches national team duties as if he’s managing a club. He seems intent on sticking with a system and then forcing players to work in such a system.

      Here’s the thing for soccer countries like the US though: we don’t have a great pool of talent, for example like a France or a Germany, where there are literally hundreds of players playing in top European clubs to choose from at each position – so there if a manager wants to “impose” a system, chances are there is international level talent around to support the vision.

      And in club soccer, well you can go out and buy players to fit your system.

      So in the US, because of the fact we only have a handful of what we can objectively consider above average players (by that I mean guys who have somewhat demonstrated they can perform in the top 3 leagues in the world under pressure, namely FJ, Brooks, Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, and perhaps Yedlin; unfortunate the 2 defenders are injured), we don’t have the luxury of forcing formation and tactics where our best players are not played in their best roles.

      Really, a US manager needs to find a way to build a tactical formation revolving around the top guys, and figure out with the other sub-par players in the pool how to complete the puzzle to allow our only world class talent to express themselves fully. It’s the only way we can really have a chance to compete.

      So when you see GB putting Adams at RB to accommodate his vision of a trash player like Trapp (who btw wouldn’t sniff the bench in 2nd division England) commanding the midfield, well excuse me, but that’s just incompetence and nepotism from his Columbus years.

      Our current midfield should be something like Adams, Mckennie, Pulisic and FJ (it has been documented on SBI that GB intentionally did not call him in, NOT that FJ closed the door for the GC https://sbisoccer.com/2019/03/gregg-berhalters-desire-to-look-at-younger-usmnt-options-leaves-fabian-johnson-excluded) for example, and then we have something half decent. We do miss our best defensive midfielder ever though, Jermaine Jones – not many profiles in our current pool that get close to his talent and skillset unfortunately.

      Because, quite frankly, Roldal, Trapp and Arriola are just so poor it’s painfu to watch – it’s embarrassing even. At the end of the day, GB seems to have poor talent evaluation, sorry – look at the garbage he called up for the Jamaica game (Mihalovic??? how can you even consider that guy for a call-up right now, why waste a spot to take a look at him?). And leaving off Wooten, the only guy we have who’s been scoring goals lately is another blunder… etc… So far, very poor roster choices by GB, too obsessed with his “plan” whatever that is.

      Saving grace is that the Gold Cup is ultimately quite a weak competition, so that we can still save face and achieve something if we get some momentum blowing out crap teams in the round group and if Pulisic is on his game.

      However, if the US embarrasses itself at the GC (anything short of a tight loss in the final would be pretty bad), then hopefully we’ll pull the plug on the GB experiment and hire someone who actually has achieved success – GB failed miserably in his only European experience and his MLS resume isn’t that crazy either and he had never managed internationally – – quite a gamble, don’t you think? Or else we’re in for a painful ride.

      I’m fair play, so let’s see what this group can muster during their first official competition.

      Go USA.

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  5. My issue with GB and the federation is that we spent more than a year playing young prospects that are special and once GB comes in he thinks is better to have MLSers with more time playing than kids that are training and some playing at a higher level. What a waste of a year, back to square one.

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  6. Imperative Voice- JK won the 2013 GC, then left Lando off, the 2014 WC roster. Have you forgotten? Berhalter didn’t have just one moment, he was a consistent starter for USMNT @ CB. USMNT wasn’t in a 3-4-3 vs Venezuela. When a RB tucks in the midfield, the formation becomes 3-2-4-1. I can disagree with someone, and still see their point of view. …but WE have no clue what you are watching?! Don’t know why, Joe Dirt agrees with on 100 percent of the time!? Let the rest of us, find out, both of you, are 12 year olds stealing 12pack of High Life’s from your local gas station, and drop comments on SBI. WE. check on info, you put out here!!

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    • Joe Dirt- In your point 1) you mentioned about 5 different players with their minutes in parenthesis. In your point 2) you want Tim Weah on the GC roster. Weah started all 5 matches @ the U20 WC. 5 x 90 minutes = 450 minutes. In less then a week, you want him to fly from France from a youth tournament to participate in GC with grown, growns? Seems to me, someone has been watching to many super hero movies. Both of you, are predictable after every US lost, and your comments are BORING. I don’t feel any wiser when I read your, and IVs comments. To reference, Anchorman -Ron Burgundy – “Stop talking for awhile!” Fantana- “Take a few plays off, Champ!”

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      • U mad bro? Ad hominems? Been posting here since sometime around 2010, not stopping anytime now. Not my fav but if it’s the last can at the bottom of the cooler at a summer bbq damn right I’m cracking open that High Life.

      • By the way, disagreement is what makes the comments section what it is. Do you really want everyone to have the same opinion? The more diverse points of view and opinions we have on the board the better it is for everyone and makes this site what it has always been a place where fans can come and discuss American soccer. Back in the BB days there was definitely some heated discussions here and that is what makes it great. Whether it’s politics or religion or now even soccer we can’t seem to have civil disagreements anymore, forget soccer this trend is not good for us culturally.

    • Your formational grasp is weak. You basically identify the defensive formation but not the way it looks on offense. And you also miss that on defense that RB is not back with the others helping out, which was key when were giving up goals. But perseverate about xs and os. And my point was that in the most recent cycle JK lost his GC and then BA won. I think the latter can be discounted since we didn’t qualify 2 months later. But the point in terms of JK keeping his job is that was almost half a decade before when he got fired. And to me the real GC is the one first half of the cycle where teams run out their first choices, not the second half one where most teams are eliminated from qualifying and experiment. JK won the same watered down version BA did. Whoop de dooo. Come up with new ideas and a new coach.

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  7. I like reading futbol articles, I also like reading comment section & finding tid- bits of info, that I might have missed, or just didn’t know. This comment section today, boy… boy, boy,boy! Ton of CONTRADICTIONS, from the same commenters. It’s ok to rant! It’s ok to be frustrated. It’s ok if you want your team to win. It’s ok to say whatever you want. What’s not ok? Is when commenters, give false info, just to prove a point. Or as a whole, we get hung up on the same talking points. I’m going to dispel some of these, for people like me, who take the time to read articles & the comment section to hear a different point of view.

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    • 1) Nick Lima NEVER EVER played LB in YNTs, or as a pro! He’s a RB to his strongest foot. Don’t know where the talking point came from… Lichaj is the 1rst right-footed play to be competent in playing LB, but he’s not getting forward. Jaylin Lindsey is the only player to excel @ being a right-footed LB.

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      • After the 2015 GC loss, Fabian Johnson specifically said, he didn’t want to play on CONCACAF pitches, PERIOD. He didn’t want to travel over to North America for qualifying. “When the team qualifies, for the WC, call me!” You want THAT attitude on a team, you are rooting for? I don’t! Don’t like favoritism towards MLSers, but a guy, who doesn’t want to work, and wants the credit for it. Yeah, sure! Let’s put in a request for ‘em. Timmy Chandler didn’t want to play for the US, after 2012, and JK still kept calling him to the squad, 4 years later. This stuff was reported on. This caused a riff with SOME dual-nationals. Both of these, players I like, but they are German born, no connection to tradition, or this country. Thus, only chose the US, because there was no way, they would’ve made a WC roster for Germany!

  8. As bad as things are I don’t think people get that Venezuela’s recent results include:

    1-2 Colombia
    0-1 Argentina
    1-1 Ecuador
    1-3 Mexico

    Similarly, Jamaica:

    0-1 Costa Rica
    0-3 El Salvador
    0-3 Ecuador

    I heard mention of how VEN’s U20s did but I count maybe 5 players off their whole roster who were 22 or younger, 3 of whom started. Rondon with the double is 29 y/o. but Savarino was on the U20 team (and plays for RSL to the extent this spiral has become a MLS beatdown excuse).

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  9. Why is everyone acting surprised? Some of us on here have been talking about a Bradley or Trapp midfield for years. It didn’t work then and it is not going to work now. Simple, and its not just them. Not even Pep Guardiola could save us with this selection or group of players. With our current line-up teams don’t need to put much thought in facing us. 1) Include SPEED into your line-up, be it MLS or USL, or better yet strong dynamic players from third-world lower leagues 2) Rush them, pressure them …..and the USMNT not only have their hands full but they lose composure and make mistakes on the ball. Our strong suit use to be fitness, counter-attacks and set-pieces……how did we get to this??? You can’t field weak or slow players for possession and we are not good enough to keep possession, you can’t field weak or slow players that play in a system that works best with dynamic players AROUND THEM when we have no dynamic players on the USMNT. Players in the past relied on key attributes…..Howard – Positioning /Vision in Goal, Donovan – speed/Vision/Ball-control, Beasley – speed/Heart/Ball-control, Dempsey – Skill/Heart/Ball-control, Mcbride – Stamina/Heart/Ball-control…..you knew EXACTLY what you were getting when these players were on the field. So why are we all acting surprised when we see bad first touches, loss of possession, loss of 50/50 challenges, lack of quickness to the ball, lack of speed on the team etc. USMNT are being dominated by physical attributes and we don’t have the quality on this team (from better experience, better skill, better positioning) or the response to neutralize these physical attributes. Can you imagine what will happen when we meet Tata and Mexico (….that’s if we get by Panama and T&T)?!!!!!

    “Great expectations lead to great disappointments”……don’t expect trophies anytime soon

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    • I have been pretty consistent on my instance that Bradley is (much) better than Trapp, almost to the point that people disregarded my comments. It is not that Bradley is that good, he is getting slower by the year and never was a player capable of dribbling in tight spaces. But what he did bring to the team and it is something no one else did is constant movement to be an open option for any teammate under pressure. Some scoffed at that by calling him “Sir jogs a lot”, but that simply proved they did not know what they were seeing. He is the kind of player every other player wants to play with because you can count on him to be available and when so few other USMNT players seemed to be able to fulfill even a tiny part of that role on a consistent basis, he remains valuable. It is no accident that over the last several years, he has consistently been the player who receives the most passes from teammates on the USMNT.

      I think Adams has some of the features of Bradley and he is younger and faster, but he does not deliver the same quality Bradley is capable of. McKinnie seems to also have the work rate to be open, but not quite the soccer brain to be consistently be available on time.

      I hope someone younger steps up to fill Bradley’s role and the two I mentioned are possibilities, but Trapp never was.

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      • Dennis my point exactly…..an excellent football mind without the physical attributes to go with it, WHICH IS THE PROBLEM we currently have. MB is only a shadow of his former self and is a liability now in the center for the USMNT (and you will see it in the GC) because he is only GOOD FOR ONE THING, PASSING (So, what happens when it’s time to defend, to chase players down, to take players on one-v-one, to counter?!!!). To compare Michael Bradley to Tyler Adams in their current form means you have no clue what you are talking about. As far as passing, relieving pressure, dribbling, controlling the midfield you can’t even compare his current form to Darlington Nagbe. DN is the heart beat for ATL, quick on the ball, difficult to bump off the ball, very dynamic going forward and is one of the Best US PLAYERS in MLS……..and would run circles around Bradley.

        I will say it again, JK used Bradley and failed, Arena used Bradley and failed….now Berhalter comes along, after two horrible showings, after exposing how weak our midfield is with Trapp, thinks he has a trump card in his back pocket with Michael Bradley…..watch what happens

      • Bradley is not quite ready for the old folks home like you would have us believe. In many ways he is pretty much the same as he always was, but with a better capability of reading the game. That said, his weaknesses are mostly in tight spaces, and I think he plays a bit too conservatively.

        Still even Adams who is a special player does not make himself available for teammates’ passes as well or in as timely a manner as Bradley does. In truth, the US needs more players with that ability; when Spain was its peak, it had 4 or 5 players available for a pass most of the time. When the US is without its one player (Bradley) who is always available, the team falls off. Adams will get better and so will McKinnie and Sargent who also seem to know were to move to at least some of the time. But the US will continue to struggle against good (and average) teams so long as only one player is consistently open, no matter who it is. (Success in WC 2014 was in no small part because Beckermann was on the team and provided a 2nd option.)

  10. So a guy who couldn’t cut it in the Swedish 1st Division, who may have benefited from cronyism with his selection, is using players past their prime, and MLS favorites who have already proven they don’t have what it takes to succeed internationally, while leaving Bundesliga players like Alfredo Morales and stars of the future like Josh Sargent off the team, while playing Tyler Adams out of position.

    Okay, they won some games during Camp Cupcake, but now it’s like watching the ‘90 team get destroyed by Czechoslovakia. Is anyone really surprised?

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    • In his defense he has managed to lose the first game to a Caribbean nation on US soil since the Moon Landing, while obtaining our first loss ever vs. Venezuela – not just a loss, an utter spanking, because you might as well lose big when setting precedents!

      At least we’re making history under GB!

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    • @TK – ah yes of course how could I forget!! 2nd loss since the moon landing then!

      JK was pretty good at setting history too!

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  11. U.S. Soccer is to blame they hired another bad coach and didn’t event talk to Martino after a great year with Atlanta united and knowledge first hand of the American player. Our best identity will be solid defense and getting teams on the counter attack this changes though with talented players but should always be an attribute when can use. Berhalter is making excuses and is starting to deflect critism very early with exclusion of sargent and two straight loses with him not able to motivate his players and his bad tactics. We don’t have a talented back three to play out of the back not even a back four and that showed several times last night. Because berhalter wants to play out of the back is the reason why steffen decided to play out of thw back he should have cleared the ball but gave it right to the opposition and caused the first goal. US FANS SHOULDN’T ATTEND GAMES IF THE US TEAM SHOWS FAILURE IN SHOW OF PROTEST.WE SHOULD NOT PUT UP WITH THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE BY US SOCCER. WE MISSED THE WORLD CUP BC US SOCCER DIDN’T FIRE KLINSSMAN AFTER THAT TERRIBLE FINAL TO MEXICO WHERE THEY GAVE UP POSSESSION 70% AND LOOSING 3-2 WITH EARLY DEFENSIVE BLUNDERS.FIRE BERHALTER ASAP WHEN THE NEXT BLUNDER COMES WHICH I BELIEVE WILL BE THIS TOURNAMENT!.Sorry I’m just mad at the lack of progress and I know we can do much much better.

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    • I agree about Martino. The only thing with him is US Soccer knew this was a project and were looking for a coach to commit for the long term and Martino has never had a job that lasted longer than 2 years.

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      • I stand corrected but that makes 1 out of 13 jobs that lasted more than 2 years. I would have loved Martino as the coach, if he was interested but it’s a mute point now.

  12. When your response to heartbreaking failure is to sit on your hands and quite literally do nothing for a year………… this is what you get. You can be sure at least some of the competition had direction, focus goals and were hard at work. Why US Soccer would think we’re at the level to give everyone a head start- especially considering those circumstances is mind boggling.

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  13. I hate to say this, but I think blame goes to the fans. The US soccer fan has craved a brand of football that is more creative and more attacking. We had a former coach who touted Barcelona as the model. Thirty years of top quality international soccer from our country, yet we have never really cemented our identity. I think a lot of It has to do with this grass is greener on the other side mentality. There is always something better, there is always someone better, to show us the way.

    Nobody can agree on a style, when in reality, style is something more ingrained in the populous. We as a nation, just have not been able to find it. A big country like ours is going to have a lot of different opinions about how things are run. And the reality is, US Soccer is a cadre.

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    • You are blind and have no credibility for blaming the fans. We had no say who was coach. You should be going off on the president Gulati Menion who is the same as him. We have European players that can play a possession style thats why fans want more. But no Berhalter and you blind self think trotting out Trapp and Roldan as starters is not whats wrong when it is!!!

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      • mystery space, I don’t know what you think you know, but youre advocating taking players who play in Europe and because in your mind they are better in possession, they should be called in. And by taking these European journeymen, you think we are going to compete with the best teams in the world, playing toe to toe with them. Do you think Leicester city won the EPL, maybe the best league in the world, by playing attacking football? You and I both know the answer. They won by playing great defense, and counter attacking, and winning set pieces, and converting those. Mysterious, after your comments, I blame you even more now. At least in another post, you admitted that a guy like chandler, a European player, has difficulty with the travel, and the heat, and probably the mosquitoes also. What’s credible about taking a lesser army into battle against a superior foe, and fighting them at their own game? I take it you have never read sun tzu.

    • @dikranovich I think the fans get to share some blame, but certainly are not are solely to blame. But the naive yet eager USA soccer fans pre JK wanted something we don’t have, craved for it in the Barca era when TV finally started bringing all of this to the USA 24/7 as enjoyed elsewhere in the world for generations. Naive USA soccer fans would watch Barca and see what they could do, and they actually believed we could just decide to play like that too. I made this point way back when, as JK was being crowned by so many so prematurely, that politics and false hope supported by the fans and their pocketbooks were driving us in the wrong direction, along with weak leadership following the cry from the fans to ‘play prettier’ and ignorantly believing what JK was selling. I don’t BLAME the fans, they were pawns whose emotions were used by JK to get complete control in a game USA fans were just learning. Gulati and co. were unable to make sense of it all and are the biggest failures imo. All JK did was promise to deliver what the fans wanted, and Gulati went ape for it and was LOVED by JK supporters for making the move, praised even LOL!! Whether JK could deliver or not, or better, whether what he promised was attainable or not, not important. Many of us, just here at SBI, raised all of these red flags. But he promised it. And he was chosen. And he we are, left arguing between players who play in Europe or MLS, not about the team and the best players for the team. That’s another JK gift, as he instituted that divider in the locker room. But the fans, they CRAVED for what JK was selling, big time, and ussoccer wasn’t deaf to that. Heck, they were praised for the move

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  14. The anchor with Berhalter is overall the players are not clean on the ball and accurate with distribution. These are his given for the player pool and the reason why most of the players have limited success at club teams. Who in yesterday’s group is considered a top player at their club team? The 6 and 8 spots do not hold the ball, win duels, and make quick unlocking passes. The back four (2,3,4,&5 spots) are poor passers. Watch how often back passes or side to side passes are played in the air when it should be played on the ground quickly. The first touch by players receiving passes from the back require the ball to be settled or the worst habit of playing the ball in the air for a self pass to settled receiving a ball. Any team scouting would want to press this team playing the ball out of he back with so much time to close them down!

    The midfielders including the wide spots and forward again lack being clean on the ball overall passing is not accurate and poorly timed. Frantic best describes the attack. Primarily built around around energy and lacking overall cohesion and control with the ball. You get the sense when the ball is played wide with some space the team thinks it’s a small victory? However, the lack of ball control and cohesion leaves limited options. No available passing triangles and the same near post and far post runs. Jozy Altidore has the best field vision and accuracy on this roster and suddenly the sum of the parts look worthy of being dangerous. However, the surrounding cast is wasteful with exploiting space and lacks cohesion in small spaces.

    It is too easy to call out players by name and say they suck or are thrash but payers actions on the field speak for themselves. Players in their mid to late twenties are not all of a sudden going to develop a great first touch, or accurate quick passes.

    Overall continuity needs to start in the defensive third and translate into the attack. Until this team has better midfielders who can hunt the ball and win it, break down defenses on the dribble and pass, make unlocking passes, pop up in dangerous spots in the offensive third, most of all be diligently ruthless every time around the ball. By the way Adams and Mckennie have a lot to add to theirs games to be a difference

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    • Adams literally did this during the 2nd half of the season with RB Leipzig when he was on the field. It wasn’t a fluke that when Adams was healty/fit, he was starting. Having him play RB on the USMNT instead of CDM/CM where his club team plays him doest nothing for the US. He won’t be involved as much except when they play it out of the back.

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  15. Had anyone seen anywhere that Berhalter didn’t ask Chandler and Fabian to participate this summer? Why does everyone assume they weren’t considered? My understanding is that he went over to talk to Fabian after he was hired.

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  16. I don’t think people got the wake up call so I am phoning the front desk for you. This guy should already be canned. Jamaica lost 3-0 to El Salvador recently. Venezuela has a lot of losses the past year. We did not run into red hot teams. They were simply organized and functional. Losing to Jamaica who lost to ES suggests we are not even at Hex level and may have a difficult test in this GC group round. Time to wake up. Needs to happen fast because qualifying starts soon.

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    • Also bear in mind this is a coach with mid-table history, no trophies, and a system coach whose system appears to be a malfunctioning mismatch to the pool. If the system doesn’t work then the system coach is useless. I doubt that with our talent we should look as bad as we do. So if the system coach has done this to us, showing him the door is easy peazy. Don’t be frightened. Don’t fart around like we did with Klinsi. What do your eyes tell you?

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      • Seconded. I have 30 years of high level management under my built. I don’t belive in making hasty and harsh decisions on a whim. This one is getting to the point of “this isn’t working”, “we don’t see the changes coming that can make this work long term”, bite the bullet and move on. Our talent pool isn’t great, but there are enoug pieces there to be effective on a few fronts. This is a mess.

      • Put differently, if he’s by quote here not going to change, and what he offers doesn’t work…..hmm…

      • We will see next match if he can’t change at all. It’s coming quick. Talking is one thing…..what a person does is quite another. Right now we don’t know for sure if he is just staying on message, or if he can’t help himself. The proof is what he does, not the PR in what he says. Again, we will find out soon enough over these next couple of weeks.
        He isn’t in charge of an internet thread or a FIFA video game. You can make real changes while trying to play a certain way…with modifications. You can’t just say, eveything I have said and done isn’t working let’s start from scratch!!! The whole black and white idiocy of net arguing is mindless. Again, we will find out soon enough. There are some obvious things he can do. I suspect he will cover the Trapp problem w Bradley….and little else. We shall see.

    • Firing after a few friendly games is absolutely the wrong move. I was not jumping for joy with his hire initially, but let’s be realistic here. He hasn’t had an opportunity to coach a meaningful game yet. If you’re unwilling to let the Gold Cup play out before making a call that’s the definition of hasty.
      There hasn’t been much to be excited about so far, and if we crash out short of the final I’d say his job is in jeopardy. However, we really need to pump the breaks before getting all bent out of shape for some poor friendly games.

      Reply
      • What about firing a guy 2 games into the campaign (Lost against 2 of most difficult teams: Mexico & CR, in World Cup qualification)? I mean JK won the Gold Cup too, for what its worth.

        They replaced him with Arena, with an opportunity to get a maximum of 24 points from 8 remaining games; dropping points vs Panama, Honudras, T&T. You call that the correct decision? CEO of any company in the world would have been fired for making such a poor decision.

      • He tied a struggling Chile team that Mexico beat. He got his brains kicked in by a Venezuela team that lost to Mexico a few days before. He lost to a Jamaica team beaten by El Salvador last year, and who were fielding mostly USL and NPL (Jamaican league) level players. His formation is jacked up and not working. His selection is way off from what it should be. He is leaving key young players off the team. This all paints a bleak OBJECTIVE picture to fair minded people. What ray of sunshine are you exactly holding out for me, please? What have you seen in the past 3 games of 1 goal for and 5 against and 1 tie and 2 losses that I have missed, or that is a functioning work in progress? Speaking of trusting people wanting to back seat drive.

      • JK did not win the GC. You are confused. JK had a run of failure headed into last qualifying. 4th in GC 2015 at home losing to Jamaica and Panama. Lost the regional playoff to Mexico. 4th in Copa America at home. Lost to Guatemala in the qualifying semis and struggled to advance. Then loses the first two final round qualifiers. Do you want to re-think your argument now? If you read the articles USSF wanted to pull the plug after GC and kept punting the decision or waiting on sick executives to have surgery and recover. I in fact think they farted around.

      • I meant the 2017 GC. I get he won the 2013 version. That doesn’t save your job in 2016 after a run of failure in the following cycle. The poster was trying to say he should have kept his job after losing the first two Hex games, and I thought implying he won a GC that cycle. He didn’t.

  17. OK. I waited. Wish Marsch would have been the coach but he is clearly looking at 2026 IMO. Was a whole lot of eh here when GB was hired. I waited on Bradley and he has proven to be pretty damn good.Simple fixes for now…..Trapp isn’t good enough.It’ obvious. Keep playing him and you derve all the scorn u will get…especially w somone like Adams here. No brainer. I get the Adams at fullback IF u had a decent Trapp otion. You don’t. MB is on his last legs and isn’t a solution for the cycle. Deserve to be butchered and your job called for if u don’t fix this. Immediate upgrade for whole midfield and team. Need a LB? Lima is good enoug looking at his SJ play there and our options. Trottong out Ream, dead spot Ream is abig problem. Steffen can’t make good decisions. Not even close. The natural instincts are not there. Need to stop if pressure in numbers is very high. He doesn’t get it. Sorry. Right there you have three easy fixes that change the teams complexion for the better.
    If Pep G tried to run his system with these players guess what would happen?
    Throwing the towel in completely wouldn’t help at this point, but minor tweaks are out also.
    There has to be a personnel change in spots and a basic operating change in areas, and take it from there.
    If GB wants to turn everyoine against him, and if he wants to keep living up to every bad thought folks had of him…..then keep rolling Trapp out there. That will do it.
    What bothers me most is that I don’t see what he is trying to do? Wrk towards 2022 or now?
    Maybe the plan is to slowly intergrate up w the U23’s, and then 20’s. That makes sense, but sometimes u have to take the immediate environment into consideration. This one is bad, and the need to lean on young, a bit raw/unproven, shoukd be more prevalent.

    We are gonna see what GB is made of right now. A few tweaks will help the team, and will put some fans minds at ease because it will tell us you see what we all see. You will make changes that are needed after giving them a shot. If you can’t……bite the bullet and fire him right after the tourney. Can’t afford to wait again. To think US Soccer waited over a year and a half and we start behind because of it. Sigh.

    Reply
    • Agree with most everything you and IV above are saying. I don’t think GB is under near as much pressure right now as we the fans think he is though. There was barely a blip in the major sport media about the last two games. Soccer media here is almost non existant and therefore there is very little pressure on GB right now in my opinion. Which of course is a real shame. We as the fans don’t deserve watch and paying for this inept management of our beloved NT.

      Mistakes that GB should be held to fire on are:

      1) Not calling in players with 1000+ minutes of Budesliga or Eredivise playing time at positions of real need such as FJ(1019′), Morales(1525′), Novakovich(2353″) and instead calling in and playing players with lower quality in Arriola, Trapp/Roldan, Zardes/Morris. He must be held to the fire for ignoring players. EPB also had 1563′ in the Eredivise this past season.

      2) Not integrating in our highest ceiling youth such as Sargent(Werder Bremen) and Timothy Weah(PSG) are the two that stand out. They could have been useful at positions we are thin at in quality even if they are raw and unpolished. Even being in the full camp and sitting the bench would be better for their future development as NT players, yes I know that means missing some preseason but getting them familiar with playing with the rest of the NT is important too.

      3) Several players he did call up to the prelim 40 are working their way back to fitness but others with the same issue were overlooked. This could be about the severity of the injury but it also could be GB’s preference. For instance even though he hasn’t played in almost a year Chandler was practicing and made Frankfurts bench a few time in April and May and subbed in for one Bundesliga game too, RB is obviously a position we are thin at with Yedlin’s injury. I think it would have made sense to call TC into the prelim 40 to let him compete with the others at the very least given his extensive experience and quality in the Bundesliga in years past. Maybe he wouldn’t have shown well in practice and gotten cut anyway but at least we would have had a look. Same goes for Bobby Wood(1181′ in Bundesliga this season) here in my opinion. Call him to the 40 and see if he can work his way back to fitness. We could easily shuffle a few names off the prelim 40 for these players and have added Weah to the 40 and had better options here if a few showed well in practice.

      4) Completely agree if he keeps using either of MB or Trapp at the 6 role with Adams in the form he’s been in for the past few months that is really a glaring mistake. You don’t shift one of your top three players for an over the hill vet who quit in Couva and a player who has the talent of a rec league player. Using Adams at iRB is asking him to play essentially 3 positions, RB when in defense, 8 when on offense, and covering for Trapp and MBs deficiencies defensively at 6. Our midfield is getting overrun by the likes of Jamaica’s B squad and Venezuela what we have been using in MF is not working. Yet we have some of our most gifted and talent MF prospects in years in McKennie and Adams. If the coach cannot find a way to make that work well you find a new coach not try out lesser quality players at a lower tier league.

      Again I’m upset with the roster decisions being made and GB needs to be held accountable for his these decisions especially ignoring the likes of FJ, Morales, and Novakovich given their minutes played at a high level this year and they fill positional holes we lack quality in. However, watching over the past decades I’m pretty sure USSF is in no hurry to make a change even if we were to crash out of the GC group. They will keep selling the narrative of a lost generation and empty player pool all while ignoring players racking up minutes in quality leagues overseas. Watching Gulati sitting next to Cordeiro during the U20 match Saturday tell me nothing at USSF has really changed and neither of them really pull the strings but like to sit there as dignitaries. Things are getting really bad within our Federation. It is going to take someone calling people out and risking either their playing career or future within USSF before this ever changes and not sure that would even do it. We should all have our eyes to 2021 or 22 when the current marketing rights contract between SUM and USSF expires. That’s our next battle for the long term guys.

      Reply
  18. Cant fire the players so the easy target is always the coach. A cliche.
    With that said, it is necessary to judge GB after this tourney.

    Losing 2 friendlies at home, ahead of GC is real bad. Not qualifying for a world cup – when a win at home vs CR or tie/win at T&T seals it – is 100 xs worse. Perspective.

    Full disclosure, only saw highlights.

    Long was apparently not fit. But Id rather him have a rough go in a friendly with the big picture in mind.

    Steffen – dont care what tactics are being asked of you, basic instincts need to be there. 1) in doubt, kick it out. 2) not up the middle while in your defensive 3rd. Grade level stuff.

    Hoped to play for City some day? Well, you better straighten up those decision making skills while on the ball. Pep threw out Hart who was established.

    Im with people that hate GBs post game comments. But do we have real leaders on this team? Players need to step up. Real leaders on the field. not a coachs pet like Trapp. Guy is like Charlie from mighty ducks. Should be on the bench, helping.

    I look at that roster, we are missing leadership. Have been for a while. I think this is where “the lost generation” has really come into fruition. Bradley is a so called leader but is a robot.

    Where is our captain?

    Reply
    • I hate picking on single players. I hate doing the internet rage thing. This average guy I have never seen is clearly the answer!!!!!! That avergae guy would be great with this coach!!!!! Blah, blah, blah. I have followed US soccer since the early 70’s when it couldn’t muster USL money, attention or support. That being said THE TRAPP THING IS FN GLARING IMO.
      Adams in for Trapp. End of story. If you keep Bradlet there and play Admas wide it is a shirt term fix against eh comp. Not good enough. End of story. When a Bundesliga team starts mocking you then something should click in your head. In case folks missed it Leipzigs twitter account questioned fullback Adams. To many times fans rant about one average player over another. Yawn. One coach will make the same guys look great. Yawn. This Adams deal is obvious and it’s bad….real bad. I live in south eastern Mass where academics in comfortable suburbia have al the world’s answers. They all come from classrroms and books while having zero first hand knowledge about anything. GB is coming across as one of those out of touch academics right now. Prove u aren’t Greg, Make the changes that are obvious.

      Reply
      • With you. Although, I understand the Adams positioning. Look, the kid is going to excel no matter where you put him. He will be a leader soon, I love his story.

        A club always will prefer consistency in a player’s positioning as it is in their best interest.
        And doubt RBL pay much attention to our tactics, they just see the position on paper.

        The position and tactics that Berhalter is trying, puts Adams in an attack minded full back that can really off foot the defense. He comes into the attack from the back which is really hard to mark. It is very Phillip Lahm-esque and can break down defenses.
        I like it.

        I’ve seen many comments about Adams being in a pinching RB to cover for a slow Bradley/Trapp. I dont believe that. In theory, the tactics provide more triangles on the field. In the past, we would see a gulf of space between Bradley and the attack. (partly his fault but mostly the fault of the formation).

        Pre-Jamaica game, I saw an improvement of Bradley’s play due to this.
        He wasnt taking the ball off of the CB’s foot.

        If Bradley fails at CDM, then yes, if Adams is our best CDM, he should go there. I also wonder if McKennie should be there. I know his preferred position is up field but I’ll be honest, i havent seen an example that warrants that (since the Portugal game). For Schalke, his effectiveness was in the defensive end.

        Did not watch the full Venezula game. But based on the recaps read and highlights watched and watching the Jamaica game, i havent seen much of a tactical game plan being executed. So what I said about Adams is all based on what I saw in March and with Lima in the winter.

        We have a week to go.
        I’m not a fanboy of Berhalter and was pissed about the process (or lack of) to hire him.
        But I saw stuff in the winter that was smart and addressed weaknesses that we had.

        If we cannot execute a gameplan for whatever reason, than its all freaking theory – to your point. So let’s see if this team can get its act together.

        Aside from losing to Mexico in a tight final, if we do not win it, I agree with folks that USSF need to act swiftly. This tourney is a litmus test for qualification.

    • Can’t disagree with any of this.I agree that GB has done things that make alot of sense and are smart overall. My major frustration is that we do not have many difference makers/impact players. These assets have to be used in a way that their ability can be mazimized. There will always be injuries to deal with, so getting all of these guys at once will be tough no matter what. I get. theoretically, what GB wants to do w Adams at right back. Many coaches around the world use hybrid system, whatever u want to call it, that will use a player like Adams this way. However, you need the other parts to be competent enough to allow it. I don’t see it here, outside of relying on MB, and who knows when we will find a replacemnt for him. What I do see is that Trapp will not get over the hump. He is what he is at this point in this career.
      A Trapp type can work with better players around him, but to rely on him the way GB does isn’t going to work. That’s my concern. I don’t belive in unicorn/imternet fixes, but Adams for Trapp, Lima at Left back, and putting a collar of Steffan are afundamentally sound place to start. Then try working from there. Adams is simply to valuable to this team to continue this experiment at this point IMO. I also believe that McKennie would work better further up the field for the US. We have precious few guys who can drive the play right now, so I would rather see him there, but that is just specualtion time. The biggest, easiest fix for me is Adams for Trapp. Playing MB there for the GC is fine but it isn’t a long term solution. Gotta use what few bullets you have in the chamber well.

      Reply
  19. While we await the next escapade to unfold (win against Guyana won’t prove anything), think of these players that were passed up to assemble this team :

    Bobby Wood
    Fabian Johnson
    Tim Chandler
    Andew Wooten (17 goal scorer from 2.Bundesliga)

    Does anyone think these 4 could not have improved the current team?

    Reply
    • Wood was not good this year and not sure if he wanted to get his club situation sorted this summer rather than play in the Gold Cup. Chandler was injured most of the season and honestly hasn’t looked that great when he’s played for the national tram. Fabian would make a difference. But, Fabian has not really expressed any interest in playing internationally again. I would be shocked if we see him in a anything short of a World Cup qualifier.

      Reply
      • I think you’re wandering off into the line of obsession Berhalter does where club minutes are king. The offense looks like trash in part because several potentially productive players as good or better were left off in favor of MLS players who get their minutes. What is happening is both a disproof of Berhalter’s ego about his system broadly speaking, and to some extent a repudiation of the idea of club minutes as the metric. Many of our players are bit players in big leagues. I also think the club minutes thing ignores that we have some time in this camp to run players and get them fit.

      • Chandler made the bench in May against Chelsea for the Europa League games last month. He should have had a look. Also Chandler did not look good due to jet lag and also he played in hot climates in the states and in
        central America. I dont blame him for not being used to that only playing in Germany most his career.

    • Julian Green, Weah, Sargent, and on and on. You could fix our offensive problems just by starting attackers in the attacking positions and selecting the right people in the first place. Now, defense, that’s another question, but there is plenty of margin between Ream/Miazga/Long and our best backfield. And Steffen hasn’t shown well for this coach, either.

      Reply
      • There are a lot of managers that look at club minutes. But, I don’t think it should be the deciding factor. My point is that we don’t know all of the reasons for some guys not being included. Chandler probably decided he didn’t want to come over and play due to his injuries this season. It’s been well documented how he feels about traveling over here to play.

      • Weah and Sargeant sure. Julian Green….LOL. Say Wooten w the year he had and thats an argument. Green…yawn.

      • Julien Green scored on Belgium in the world cup and world champion France last season.I like people who can actually produce on the big stage. That makes you laugh????

      • I second the Voice’s claim on Green. The guy has been pretty decent vs. some pretty good teams when he’s dressed up for the USMNT. Also, I do believe he plays pretty consistently over in Germany, so putting him on the squad would have been a good idea.

        I don’t follow MLS as closely as I could lately, but is Acosta injured? He was seems a better option than some of the guys GB brought in, no? Or am I mis-remembering his performances with the US? In any case just to say there are better options even in MLS than guys like Arriola or Rodlan who look out of their depth vs. the Jamaicas of the world, so clearly we need to look somewhere else.

      • Fair question. I will clarify. I spend 4 to 5 months a year in Europe. 90 percent of the time in Germany. Try to make sure most of it is during the fall/winter/early spring mths so I can enjoy summer at home. This of course allows me to catch a lot of matches there. I have watched Julian play…. a lot. Some of it live. Yawn. If a goal five years ago (mishit no less), and a goal five years later is enough for you then fine. He wouldn’t make much of an impact in MLS. I say that confidently. Not much there. His ceiling is medicre bottom half B2. If you want what looks like a much better version of Green then we have Weah. He also works harder and seems to rise to big moments. For me Green is an after thought. If he was here, OK, if not, I sure as hell am not clamoring for him. That’s for certain.The player who I thought “earned” a look, and who is scoring goals is Wooten. Fast, aggressive and on form over close to a two year period. Real argument there IMO. Green….whatever.

      • We should be able to start and/or sub:

        Wood
        Pulisic
        Jozy
        Green
        Sargent
        Weah
        McKennie
        Holmes
        Saief
        Lletget
        Gall

        Plus in theory later on Soto, Pomykal, Mendez.

        It’s not just Green.

        He is so far off the right selection and lineup it’s not funny. A lot of the pro-GB people like to cherry pick Green and Wood off the list, because they didn’t have great years. Did GB’s club form bunch look any good? I want the people who have played well for the Nats, not for Salt Lake. He leaves off last years’ 3 top leading NT goalscorers with 6 total between them.

    • @Helium – agree. Not sure they are all 100% healthy (wood/chandler) or willing to continue international (FJ), but if they were available, than they are some of our better players in this pool. Especially FJ. A midfield with Adams, McKennie, FJ, and Pulisic actually looks like something.
      Not taking Wooten (the ONLY guy we have at striker actually, you know, scoring consistently for his club!) when you look at the striker list doesn’t make any sense at all.
      It really sucks that our 2 best defenders Yedlin and Brooks are injured, because we look very soft at the back. Here I’ll cut GB some slack, because there is really not a lot of talent for him to play with – it’s going to be rough going defensively for us in the near future.

      Reply
      • Wood
        Pulisic
        Jozy
        Green
        Sargent
        Weah
        McKennie
        Holmes
        Saief
        Lletget
        Gall

        Wood has always battled for the Nats and come up big on occasion. I would have zero issue wit him being here. Great for CONCACAF qualifying IMO.
        Pulisic. Of course. Why even mention him.
        Always laughed at the folks who tried to toss Jozy out of our program. Shows real cluelessness. Sure, maybe we had hoped for more and less injuries, but we need him.
        Green. As I said. Yawn. Internet he’s not here rage. Someone completely mediocre has to be better than this mediocre! Yawn.
        Sargent. Yup. Need to be more aggressive on youth here IMO.
        Weah. Yup. Kid has got soemthing. Don’t know where it will top out, but he has something no doubt.
        McKennie…of course.
        Holmes. At least he is aggressive and battles. Wooten is an older version of him in form. Duane needs to improve final production for club but we’ll take him for now and lets see what happens.
        Saief. Never the same since his injury. Unimpressed. Yawn.
        Lletgett. If he can stay healthy he has to be inc w the lack of creativity and comfort on the ball in the final third. Yup.
        Gall. Yawn.The kid has done very little at an average/poor level. Pure….he is different he has to be here! Sorry, Gall is pure net fantasy/frustration mode. People see a clip of a great goal or strike and go wow. They the extrapolate that he can do this all of the time. He must be here! Gall is a poor soccer player who can create a few moments of wow at a very low level. I’ll take Amon, Sabbi. Holmes, Wooten, Boyd (even from what little I have seen) all before I waste time on Gall.

      • I like Wooten’s numbers this year, but he’s 29. Thus I wouldn’t have him on the team for the same reason as a list of others who should age out this cycle. Bradley, Omar, etc. I might make a “Dempsey exception” if you are an integrated part of the team still producing in the national shirt. But he has 1 cap and 0 goals in it.

    • As soon as TK tried to dismiss Green’s goal at the world cup as a “mishit”, we could ignore everything else he said. I look at some of our other attacking players and I recall what I’ve seen from Green in NATs uniform in last year. he can actually play in tight spaces, hold possession, pass the ball, and go 1-1 with a slight chance of success. Is he a game changer who should be starting when all our healthy? I hope not. BUt, compare him to what I’ve seen Berhalter put out there- then yes- he should be part of the squad.

      Reply
      • It was not a clean strike. Off his ankle. Video is what it is. I’m sure the internet hordes will listen to your proclamations to ignore. Your opinion matters so much. I’ve only watched the kid play live several times over the last year. I guess all those scouts everywhere are missing his genius also. Run of the mill, bottom of B2 mediocrity. Yup…..he has t be here.
        LOL.

  20. GB using the lame “but it’s not fair they scored offsides goals” excuse to minimize the fact that these 2 games were the worst ever in recent memory for a US squad vs. weak to moderately OK opposition. Let’s be frank, Jamaica sucks and Venezuela is average (what have both done in the world cup lately?), and we got outclassed, outmuscled, out hustled, outplayed and especially, out coached.

    GB’s smugness “I have a plan I’m so much smarter than all of you” is really irritating.

    He lost all credibility in my eyes when he thinks Adams should be RB and then keeps selecting TRASH players like Trapp, Rodlan, Arriola, etc… These guys wouldn’t sniff the bench in a second rate Euro second division, and here they are starting all the games. If anyone things there is no one better than those 3 trash players, even in MLS, then it’s pretty sad. A guy like Morales is probably 10 times better than a Trapp… etc… But then this is also the coach that leaves off the roster the ONLY USA player scoring consistently in a decent league (Bundesliga 2 > MLS let’s be honest for one second), Wooten. We can’t score and yet the only in form guy we seem to have over in Europe we don’t bring in.

    Good thing the GC is full of super weak teams, so we actually have a shot if Pulisic shows up and stays healthy.

    GB needs to man up and realize his love fest with MLS garbage players (I’m NOT saying MLS is garbage but that the MLS guys GB brings in are the garbage, nuance) needs to end.

    But that’s what you get for bringing in a guy with no international coaching experience and actually, someone who’s never ever really won anything, even as an MLS coach!

    Reply
    • “Jamaica sucks and Venezuela is average (what have both done in the world cup lately?”

      What has the US done in the world cup lately?

      Reply
      • Let’s be real, part of what we are running into here is last year is international play time where teams try things. Even the spring is experimental where Berhalter got some results — but not Chile tellingly. But when it hits this summer teams are getting ready for the tournaments and they mean business. Whether for selection, formation, chemistry, hate for the coach, whatever all is going on, we look like chopped liver relative to marginal teams who flipped the switch to serious. I don’t even want to know what a serious team playing seriously would do to us right now, particularly when Berhalter isn’t even trying to match personnel to formation and vice versa.

      • The US’s recent WC failure doesn’t disqualify the fact that Jamaica is not a good team and that Venezuela is average-ish.

        GB’s is sticking to same plan that Arena used and that resulted in us missing the WC for the first time in ages: letting their gigantic egos get in the way of selecting better players from better leagues while sticking with mediocre form players from MLS.

        How garbage players like Trapp or an Arriola can be still start for our national team is a testament to GB’s stubbornness and will cost us if he doesn’t adapt quick.

        Tactically, as well, GB is showing serious limitations – Adams at RB, LMFOA!! Wasting our best midfielder since a younger Jermaine Jones is so wasteful and stupid! GB’s lack of real international experience at the level is blatant. He’s trying to manage a national team as he would his MLS clubs, with which he never won anything besides, and it shows.

        Why the US didn’t try and hire a real international level coach is a head scratching puzzle. If they absolutely wanted a US coach, then get a guy who knows the environment at least, like a Ramos, or someone who has done great things in MLS and won many trophies – i.e. shows they know how to win, at least…

      • Panda what type of troll response was that? Smh! ??Venezuela and Jamaica has never quualified for a world cup.

      • Dude, quit comparing Berhalter to Arena (or Klinsi, or even Sarachan IMO). This is the worst this team has looked in decades. Arena had the team semi-functional and lost 2 games in 18 tries. It wasn’t good enough but this is simply bad. If you can’t separate 5th place Hex from wouldn’t even make Hex because Jamaica lost to El Salvador…..Berhalter has work to do before he can even be compared to Arena. In fact this whole exercise should be a reminder that however little you think of Klinsi or Sarachan or Arena’s resumes, Berhalter’s is worse,

      • Mysterious, Jamaica has, in fact, qualified for the world cup. And I’m in no way trolling. We U.S. fans have a history of entitlement and self-aggrandizing, which is why people are saying the U.S. should beat those teams because we’re so great blah blah blah. Unfortunately, you don’t win matches based on how your team did in the past.

      • Jamaica has never qualified for a world cup stop lying!!! Notice how you didnt put the year if they so called qualified. Smh so many uncredible delusional people on this site. Jamaica qualified for a WC is a lie! The fans being blamed for GB and the mens team playing bad. Makes no sense, not being a scape goat as a fan, and very irrational smh!

    • Cakewalk? Guyana, sure. But T&T and Panama are just as good if not a little better than Jamaica. This team May not make it out of the group unless things drastically improve. I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m tired of excuses and the same players being called in like everyone else. I can understand Bradley, he should be on the squad, maybe not starting. But Morales, Wooten and others not getting called into camp? I’m off my soapbox.

      Reply
      • I am going to be interested what happens in group round — ie, if we advance — because we look so bad and the coach in this article sounds like he is doubling down. He doesn’t have the cajones to pull a Klinsi and change the team completely if that’s what it takes to fix them and save his job. So this may go down in flames worse than what people thought Couva was.

  21. Michael Bradley is not the answer, even though he may be a better passer than Will Trapp, who is not up for this level. We are in big trouble in that spot. I would probably go with Adams there in CM and roll the dice on Lima at RB.
    But here’s the Berhalter philosophy: RB Adams by tucking in helps Bradley’s awful tackling/agility in the center of the pitch. Ok but you are still covering for Bradley Not ideal. But in theory its ok. But what happened yesterday? Players seemed all over the place, especially defensively. What is going on in training? And the wide players yesterday…Slow!
    And Zardes “worked hard” but as usual nothing happened Ok I’m out before I weep openly.

    Reply
  22. These last 2 games have honestly been some of the worst performances I’ve seen from the US since the loss to T&T 2 years ago. Yes we were missing some of key players (Pulisic, Adams, Brooks, Yedlin), but Berhalter has already had 10 days in this camp to work with the players he called up….and there are very few new faces (Boyd & Holmes) to integrate. During qualifying he’ll have half that number of days to prep his team…so it’s not going to get any easier.
    Since the squad for this tournament is already set there isn’t much that can be actually done now. So not many “Plans” could be scrapped at this stage….Except possibly the hokey formation Berhalter has been trying, where the RB pinches into the CM.
    At this point the best we could field would be something along the following….

    ————————————-Jozy———————————-
    ——Boyd——————–Holmes———————–Pulisic—
    ——————-McKennie—————–Adams——————-
    ——Ream—————TBD————Miazga———–Lima—-
    ———————————Steffen————————————

    TBD: Long or Zimmerman
    Subs: Arriola, Zardes, Bradley, Morris

    Reply
    • You mean the Right B lock, as opposed to the left wing lock. Like the hockey analogy.
      Put Pulisic in the middle dropping back a bit and Holmes on the outside. Rather have Lima at left and whomever else is available at right back. If we don’t have anyone then Ream, bad gaffe a game it is. The performce of the team was so poor last match Ream’s almost disastrous giveaway when ot was 2-0 has been forgotten. Passing back to Miazga super casually without realizing the Ven player had read it a few seconds earlier. You can actually see ream go stiff when he realized it but Matt read it also and got in front of the attacker luckily. Guess with experience, even in a top league, some guys just can’t change.

      Reply
  23. During the in game commentary I think it was Stu Holden who said that Berhalter was frustrated about not being able to get all the players when he wanted them. Apparently he wasn’t aware that club teams don’t always willingly let their players loose for international duty. What is surprising to me is that this was news to Berhalter. Not a good sign when he apparently didn’t know about one of the most important and basic aspects of his new job.Now in this article he seems to be whining about this again. Also not encouraging is a coach who sees his team get soundly beaten and he responds by saying we’re not going to change anything. Last coach I saw that way was a pro football coach who lasted less than 2 years before getting the ax.

    Reply
    • I already had this response to him, Weah, Sargent, and the U23s. Notice they aren’t included in the summer U23 camp? He has a lot of off the cuff excuses. He seems unaware of basic roster rules and limitations. Calls in people he left off the 40 man. Mis-lineups. Mis-selects. Mis-formations. I mean what genius runs out his team in basically a 343 when they can’t stop my grandmother on defense? Or loads up his offense with DM players? Runs out Trapp every night? This isn’t Bornstein-favoritism cute. One isolated thing. This is completely lost the plot and he just got the job. FWIW on international experience people forget he was basically a career backup to Pope, Agoos, etc. He had one moment where an injury forced him on the field and he almost had a goal. He didn’t actually score. He played 2 World Cup games when we were going to every single tournament then. He was a marginal guy with no pro trophies who we exaggerated his value and hired of hopefulness. Next time hire someone with the actual resume.

      Reply
    • Another issue. He supposedly asked all three of our previous Nat coachs opinions about players. Don’t have a direct link but was told this by somone who is not prone to making stuff up. Sorry…..if true that is disturbing. He should have a very solid understanding of the player pool w the time he had. Running to others for basic advice is one thing….on the fundamentals of your team and it’s player?. Real managerial weakness there. Time to really worry…not internet rant and rave worry. Real worry.

      Reply
      • Interesting and informative that you bring up Tata and his problems with overseas players. While missing so many players, Tata beat Venezuela 3-1. Berhalter lost 3-0. Also, Tata has a lot of international experience, having coached both Paraguay and Argentina national teams. So, it’s likely that Tata’s comments are more in the form of observations while Berhalter’s sound more like whining. Also, when I see Mexico play, they look very organized. The US looks totally lost. Big difference.

      • You’re really stretching there. There is a lot of information about players than cannot be obtained simply from observing them play for other teams. Like how they train, how they fit into the group, their leadership skills, their response to criticism, how quickly they adapt to new formations, etc… I would be worried if he wasn’t having those conversations.

    • Being frustrated doesn’t mean that he wasn’t aware that it happens. It’s ridiculous to say they he didn’t know that. Berhalter has been around a long time and played internationally. We can disagree with him and criticize his decisions. But, saying that he didn’t realize that clubs don’t always release players is really ridiculous.

      Reply
      • Yup. All he said was he didn’t get just how hard the pushback would be. As our players get better over seas, and become better prospects in their youth systems, why the hell would that team want them to travel across the ocean, to sometimes play real questionable comp where injuries could easily occur? Happened w the U20’s alot recently and will happen more an more. Get used to it. Just look at how many Mex Euro players declined Tata. It “bewildered” him….his words. I’m a GM over there and I don’t want CP anywhere near a CCAF field or team….or my youth guys. Especually when you add the sometimes butchery they suffer with no penalty here. It’s only going to get harder.

      • Even if what you say is true, it is still disturbing that he is already looking for excuses, failing to consider making changes, and shows really poor decision making in player selection. All the signs are there for pending disaster.

      • Flaw in your argument is calling Yeuill to the senior team when not on the 40 man, and sending Weah and Sargent to the U23s in March (but not since). I think he talks a big game in the present tense but neither of these seem like well planned concepts where the player was appropriately scouted, sent to the correct team, or in terms of the younger players, whether fall access to them as U23s was even considered. I think he is in fact playing some catch up on understanding the levers and switches at his disposal and their practical limits. I also trust the idea he is a thorough details man but not that any value is coming of that. His selections are not exceptional, he is not turning over special rocks with hard video work beyond what a BS poster might figure out. And the team doesn’t seem to be blossoming in his system. And to the point here, he doesn’t show special aptitude at the rules and rosters part of the job. if anything he feels naive.

      • Also, part of the reason for hiring a MLS coach and NT adjacent type is the notion their learning curve will be short or nothing. That he would already know the players and have a strong sense of the written and unwritten rules he plays within. Instead he makes weird selections. And if I have to educate him into his job’s finer points — like you don’t always get the players you want — I could have done this with a foreign coach with a better resume. The only learning curve I grant we were supposed to have is his system and the thing is the players look worse at it not better. Nothing feels like it is curving in the right direction.

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