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Mexico edges USMNT to win 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup

The 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup came to a close on Sunday with the U.S. Men’s National Team falling to rivals Mexico in Chicago’s final.

Jonathan dos Santos’ second-half finish proved to be enough for Tata Martino’s side as they ran away 1-0 winners. It was El Tri’s eighth all-time Gold Cup Finals win, as they now own a 5-1 head-to-head record in finals over the U.S.

Christian Pulisic was denied by Guillermo Ochoa in the fourth-minute, before a deflection off a Mexican clearance almost flew back into El Tri’s goal.

Jozy Altidore had a great chance to give the USMNT an early lead, but he scuffed his effort wide of the goal on a breakaway just a few minutes later.

Paul Arriola and Pulisic each had attempts to break the deadlock later in the half, but could not get their efforts past Ochoa. Jonathan dos Santos had the best chance for El Tri, forcing Zack Steffen to dive to his left.

It was a fast start to the second-half as the USMNT had an effort cleared off the goal-line. Jordan Morris’ header was headed off the line by Andres Guardado, while Weston McKennie’s follow-up was blocked by Edson Alvarez.

However, constant pressure by El Tri was capped off by dos Santos’ clinical finish in the 73rd-minute. A layoff from Raul Jimenez to a rushing dos Santos allowed the L.A. Galaxy man to flick a left-footed shot off the crossbar and in.

Michael Bradley’s low cross forced Ochoa into a desperate save in the 87th-minute, before Cristian Roldan’s follow-up was blocked by Hector Moreno.

Ochoa finished with four saves on the night, while Zack Steffen made three for the USMNT.

It is the first major tournament for the USMNT under Gregg Berhalter, as the team now heads into a break. The team will be back in action this Fall for group stage play in the inaugural Concacaf Nations League.

 

Comments

  1. When Pulisic was involved, he was dynamic and dangerous. But when he wasn’t, he wasn’t. I think the fault for that lack of involvement lies in Mexico figuring out how to take both wide midfielders out of the game; Ariola by forcing him into a defensive role to help Ream and keeping him pinned along the touchline when he tried to go forward, Morris by well Morris basically disappeared on his own. That left only McKennie as an attack minded forward to link to Altidore and Pulisic or for Bradley to try to play to them directly, so they had to drop deeper to get the ball at all and that made it easy for the Mexican backs to deny them space. since they now had 4 backs to defend 2 forwards while the wide mids from the US were back playing defense or whatever it was Morris was doing. Cannon did some good work to get forward and his efforts did lead to breaking some of the Mexican pressure, but he did not have much help except in the sense that Long and Miazga did well covering for him when he went forward.

    Still Pulisic managed to have some moments dribbling through multiple defenders, but in the 2nd half his starting position was so deep it was never likely to yield a decent chance.

    Cannon looked very good and if he had had some help from Morris, he probably would have looked outstanding.

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  2. Hate losing to Mexico, no matter what.
    But….

    Good game, went toe to toe where we had stretches (primarily in the 1st half) where we took it to them. Jozy scores that early goal and who knows where this would have went.
    Morris header, ugh. That goes in, who knows.
    Losing 1-0 to Mexico in the final in basically an away game is not terrible.

    I get the critique on Berhalter’s subs. Lovitz for Ream? Not sure what that accomplised.
    No Boyd or Lewis? Lewis, for one, was brought for a presumably offensive spark.
    Zardes – I understood. Talent drop off but needed energy on the press to stop dominance.
    Roldan – i questioned that sub at first. But he did provide some grit, energy, and caused some opportunity out of nothing.

    I think we learned in this tourney which is what this was always about.
    We all know this but Bradley looks fine against minnow competition but in a high stakes game against Mexico (and beyond), he needs to be phased out. If nothing else, it is an age factor. This needs to be priority number 1 between now and qualification.
    If it’s Adams, in a direct replacement, abandoning the RB hybrid, so be it.
    Watching last night, this is the position where we lost out the most.
    Can’t afford to prolong this. Would rather lose friendlies while auditioning for the CDM spot.

    Reggie Cannon, eager to see if he was a flash in the pan or the real deal. I liked what I saw in the two games. Held up against Mexico, I thought.

    I feel really good about our CBs at the moment.
    2 goals against in 6 tourney games. Not bad. And that’s without Brooks.
    I think Brooks will have a fight for a starting spot going forward. Which is a great thing.

    McKennie and CP – saw these two really insert themselves as leaders.
    Add Adams into this young leadership trio and i think we will witness what we all crave, the next generation truly taking over. This mexico game gave McKennie exposure to games he will see in qualifying. I love McKennie’s intensity and I see him being our young Jermaine Jones. The rivarly with Mexico is catching fire again. Last cycle, the intensity was not there.

    Look, there are negatives that obviously exist. Always have.
    But this team is what it is during this transition period.
    Jamaica was a decent test but bummed we didnt get a chance to play CR.
    Hard to judge when you play the teams we did.

    I’m looking forward to seeing CP take his tourney form into Chelsea’s training camp and fight for a starting spot in the EPL.

    Looking forward to our young guys, like Sargent, Weah, and Soto progressing.
    We will have more young guns soon to join in time for qualifying.
    Until then……

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  3. All in all a much closer game than it probably shou’ve been. Player for player Mexico is better in every position. Maybe Pulisic make their team but I doubt he benches Pizarro, DosSantos, Guardado or any of the other missing players.

    People need to get a grip when blaming the coaching staff for the loss. Whatever plan they had almost worked against a much more talented team.
    There is no magic to this games. The team with the most talent wins most of the time. Blaming the coach for the loss is just plain ignorant.

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    • Hey Rob, gotta disagree on comment about CP maybe being a starter on that Mexican team and not beating out some of those guys mentioned.

      He was the most talented player on the field last night.
      He disapeared in stretches as we tried to get a grip on the game for much of the early 2nd half but he had individual brilliance at times.
      See that one dribble through half of the Mexican team?

      It’s a stupid argument and pointless for me to say but you plug him into that mexican lineup and the guy would be a world superstar playing for Real Madrid already. Seriously.

      Agree with everything else!

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    • Rob, I agree with most of your post, and agree Mexico is the more talented team right now. But if we’re picking the concacaf allstar team, then my first two picks are Pulisic and Adams. Now my next fifteen picks are all Mexican players with maybe Long and McKennie mixed in somewhere…

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  4. Beerholder demonstrated he is not fit to coach at the international level. The Mexican coach on the other hand, demonstrated he is. At halftime, Mexico adjusted and Beerholder’s best reply was to make subs that actually lessened our attacking impact.

    But then what do you expect when this a coach that summons trash players like Arriola, Morris, Roldan, Trapp, etc… Beerholder’s judgement is lacking, no wonder his teams have never really won anything besides.

    In the Beerholder era so far, each time we’ve played a team that actually has decent skill and players, we’ve been outclassed both on the field and on the bench – outcoached.

    Don’t look at any of the trash games we won against teams made up of USL and MLS and third division players – basically the whole Gold Cup aside from Mexico! But look to the Venezuela friendly and the Mexico game to see how wide a gap there is…

    So far, Beerholder has demonstrated zero ability to get it done vs. any team half decent on the World Stage.

    Still, CONCACAF WCQ is probably one of the easiest on the planet, so we should be OK, save a scare here and there, but man we need an influx of players playing in the top leagues in Europe to come in – hopefully the U20s making moves can stick and develop, plus a couple other guys we haven’t really heard of that will pop-in.

    This said, Pulisic is a game changer and when we get Brooks, Yedlin and Adams back, our starting 11 can be pretty interesting…. unless we call in Trapp and Arriola and Rodlan and co again!!

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    • Oh and I forgot to mention on the list of teams with half an ounce of skill outclassing us and outcoaching us… Curucao totally outplayed the US, this + Venuzuela + Mexico, should be definite red flags as to the GB era thus far. We bully our way through crap teams, but any team with tactical and technical acumen just embarrass us. Testament to both limited player talent and dubious/naive tactics.

      Let’s hope he can demonstrate some pragmatism and adjusts the squad for the start of WCQ…

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  5. Good game. Not a surprise that Bradley trailing the play again was how Mexico finally solved a D that was playing well. It happened the whole second half.
    The US, needs to look at players that can handle breakneck speed of play and make them play that way…..if not, move on.
    Bradley is a move on. Thanks for everything, good nat team career, move on.

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    • sorry bro, but that was McKennie that lazily trailed Dos Santos on that play for the winning goal, not Bradley. While i get that it’s the popular thing to do to always beat up on Bradley, and some of it earned, that goal last night was on Weston, who by the way had an overall poor game. There were postitves and negatives from this game, but things to build on for sure from this tourney in general. People can blame Greg for the head sratching ssubs in the second half, but this game was lost when the chances clear on goal by Altidore and Pulisic were not scored. Morris had a header cleared off the line and there was also a scramble drill that could have led to the goal if Mexcio weren’t so damn lucky. They won every 50/50 ball and to put it mildly, very fortunate to have won that game. Greg didn’t miss those chances, the players did, and while GB will have to come to grips with becoming a better manager on this level, the work that was put in by the team and the results have us going in the right direction.

      Results in friendlies must be taken with a grain of salt, real competition is what matters, so if people are going to whine about losing to Jamaica in a friendly, have the guts to then point out the positives when we beat them in a real game. People were saying we wouldn’t even make it out of the group, now the excuse is this team can only beat minnows and B teams, when we had 4 potential starters missing through injury as well, so not our strongest team either. there were definitely some players not called in that could have improved the team just in MLS, Nagbe for one comes to mind. You want to maintain possession in midfield and don’t call in possibly the best midfielder in the domestic league, so that was disappointing. Hopefully this game will be the last time we see consistent call ups for Bradley, Morris, Lovitz, Trapp, and Ream(although i thought Ream had a good tourney). It’s time to entrench some younger, more skillful players into the team and that’s with the idea of those younger options having taking hold of big minutes for their clubs, not loan deals in lesser leagues.

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  6. All in all, there’s no shame in losing to mexico 1-0. we played with them and the result could have easily went the other way. However, for as well as mckennie played against Jamaica, he was equally bad in this one, and when that’s your “captain” for the night it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the group. GB gotta pick an actual captain, not just pick names out of a hat. Ramos did the same crap with the u-20s, made McKenzie captain and he never played, that’s terrible. also really hope Zimmerman and boyd were hurt cause I have no idea why they weren’t included in the last couple matches. The future is bright, but so is mexicos future. Cant wait to see adams, brooks and yedlin back with the team, as well as integrating some more young guys like sargent, weah, etc. Also long and cannon balled last night, gotta be included in the A team for me.

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    • Thank you for some honest criticism of McKennie. All I’ve seen is everyone bashing the manager, the usual Bradley and Altidore hate, etc. Except in this one, it was McKennie that hurt us. I love his fight, but I think the Mexican players got in his head a little. He is a great talent, but is still working on consistency. The difference in our team when McKennie is on (TnT, Jamaica) and when he is not (Curacao, Mex) is significant. It’s probably unfair for him to shoulder such a load at his age, but that’s where the USMNT is at right now. Our lack of speed in the center of the field and on the left side were evident last night. Especially when adding some speed and athleticism (Cannon) neutralized Mexico on the other side.

      Reply
      • McKennie and Pulisic both had bad games TBH, because Mexico’s coach implemented great tactics to negate the US’ biggest potential threats. And because the rest of the team couldn’t pick up the slack, we were toothless. McKennie also had a sub-par technical performance besides, which made him all the more inefficient and useless in that tactical set-up. But when guys like Arriola or Morris or Bradley have as much impact as traffic cones, it’s too easy for Mexico to swarm around CP so that we have no imagination or ideas. GB was not deft at adapting, his subs and adjustments were awful.

  7. We had no midfield and we couldn’t score goals (even 1-V-1 with the goalkeeper)….hmmm I wonder why? Pulisic and McKennie had to drop sooooooo far back to get service…..hmmmm I wonder why? Out played, out coached out class but Mexico’s B Team

    The team failed and players take the criticism as a whole but in the mist of the failure you can see bright spots…..Cannon, Arriola, Long, Miazga….who looked like they were holding their own and actually trying. EVEN REAM that everyone looked down on, was breaking up plays, tackling and MAKING EXCELLENT PASSES up field……as a player physical enough to play CB, versatile enough to play LB and has the vision to pass / ability to actually defend as a DM, he would have been a better option than MB in front of the backline.

    Altidore and MB don’t have youth on their side, higher league experience, speed, dribbling skills or endurance anymore to close down players, create opportunities or to be CLOSE to Adams, Pulisic or McKennie’s level…..and those are the players we need on the USMNT. Morris and Trapp should have never been on the roster with players like Nagbe, Russell Canouse, Pomykal (who can play CAM, CM and RM), Brooks Lennon (who can play CF, RB and RW) etc available. When MB sucks and our midfield is getting over-runned and your best option is Roldan (who is better than trap)…..you know the USMNT beat ourselves, with poor player roster selection and inferior coaching.

    Let’s wait for WCQ …..this was Mexico’s B team. Get ready for more disappointments…..lol. Go Altidore, Go MOTM Bradley, Go USMNT, Go USA!!!!!!

    Reply
    • This wasn’t our A team either bro, and we should have won this game. But props to Mexico for hanging in there and getting some fortunate bounces, like they always seem to against us LOL

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      • Who exactly were you missing besides Brooks and Adams? Mexico was missing bigger pieces. Where is the US equivalent of a former Porto captain who is now at Atletico Madrid? Where is the equivalent of Vela who was nominated to player of the year in la liga and is on Pace to break MLS scoring record? Where is your Chucky equivalent that you are missing?

  8. This was the game where we missed Adams the most. His hustle and composure in the middle would have made a difference I think. Still, like others have said, we lack enough depth to compete with Mexico’s A team. We have 7-8 players good enough for that when we need 15. It’s time to do something about leftback, convert a player until we develop a real leftback. Hate to pick on Ream, because he is a good passer out of the back, and was pretty solid this tourney, but his lack of pace against the really speedy wingers kills us, as does his inability to get forward. I would try Cannon or Lima at leftback, or even Long, since we have both Zimmerman and Miazga (and Brooks). We can’t continue to offer such an easy and obvious place for teams to exploit.

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  9. Boyd should have been Morris replacement not Roldan. Why put a guy on the field when we need a spark who has not played all tournament but one game. Smh

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    • His poor substitutions epitomized how much GB was outcoached in the second half. TM switched Pizarro to Ream’s side and the US failed to adjust. WTF putting Lovitz on as a sub? If you were going to do it, you should have done it 20-30 minutes earlier as an adjustment to the Pizarro switch. Otherwise replace Arriola. He’s a middling CONCACAF player but not an international quality winger.

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  10. Tata 1 – GB 0
    I will admit, some players surprised me, but at the end of the day is anyone really surprised? Not only with the result tonite, but let’s face it – They are who they are, and they are who WE thought they are… I think this is about where all of us thought we’d be about 6 weeks ago.
    – GB is the coach like it or not, he did well getting them to improve as they went on, he ended up showing some flexibility, he did some good get some head scratching stuff, and tonite he got schooled. So how does he respond? Will be stay rigid in his system and pick “his” guys to fit his system, or does he bring in a different mix of guys to get ready for qualifying and be flexible to try and get the best players because we have to start qualifying… Not including the injured Adams, Brooks, Yedlin – but Nagbe, Green, Fabian Johnson, maybe Bobby Woods or a healthy Kenny Saief..
    Or does he go the opposite direction and a few of those guys never step foot on the pitch again?? Remember for all the drama that came with JK, he did resurrect Eddie Johnson, Beckerman, and Beasley…
    – He’s gotta get them playing with more urgency EVERY game!
    – I was pretty impressed with the way Long played, Cannon looked good, and I have NO idea why Boyd didn’t play. Arriola really plays hard surprised me a few times linking up with Pulisic, but he admits his biggest weakness – Turning that effort into results. CP is gonna carry us, but Adams is key- There’s a great article a few weeks ago (I think Matt Doyle) where he says Pulisic is our most valuable player, but Adams is our most important player..
    – He’s gotta get better depth in his midfield, and there are better options. If Arriola can’t finish, and Morris is a wing, and Boyd doesn’t play, and Zardes is wide right, and Jozy can’t go 90 minutes….wouldn’t a guy like Nagbe have been a better sub and push Pulisic up to the wing? We have to score goals-it’s like the best way to win……
    – And I wanna see some Emotion!! Is that possible?
    Can’t press the panic button on everything, what happens next is what matters..we can’t go to Honduras or Jamaica etc. without improvement, because concacrap is a nasty road and nobody ‘fraid of us no more..
    Overall I think we’re about what we thought..

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  11. The roster was never good enough, but after the pretournament friendly disasters the team had a good tournament and fought hard in the final. The verdict is still out on Berhalter although so far there is nothing to be excited about. He didn’t have a lot of time to build his Gold Cup team. It is still inexcusable US Soccer waited so long to hire him. Berhalter will now have to make big changes to the team to create something much deeper that can beat Mexico, run through the hex, and win games at a World Cup.

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    • I’d agree. At the end of the day that was a Mexico “B” squad and they were definitely (substantially) better than our nominal “A” squad by the end of the match.

      The good news is, this really isn’t the team I think we’re going to be playing three years from now, and I suspect a LOT of young players will force their way in between then and now. The guys standing in their way in a lot of cases are not behemoths.

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      • Not sure it’s fair to use nominal for ‘us” and not mexico,as we were missing potentially 4 starters through injury. And some of the players that Mexico didn’t call in aren’t necessarily starters to begin with. Listen, this was always Mexico’s final to lose and considering the disdain and pessimism surrounding the team before the tourney started I’d say we’re in a good place right now. GB hasn’t been giving much time at all with the pool, and when you think about how quickly the GC approached given Greg’s late hiring we can only look at this as a positive, callups aside. The callups were always going to be players that Greg had familiarity with and who could grasp his concepts quicker. I don’t suspect that we’ll see many of these players going forward with not many competitive games on the horizon. The Nations League, although in theory a competitive tourney set up, should be used to get more of the younger core some minutes together with another group of veterans, in the system. We have to keep expanding the pool and looking for better options, but it’s incumbent our youth players get real minutes at club level for any of this to matter!

  12. As a tangential note, I’d argue one guy whose stock did not rise during his absence for this gold cup was Yedlin. Anyone disagree?

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    • Gomer I think the answer has more to do with GB.. If he wants Phillip Lamm no matter what then Yedlins stock dropped, but if I had to pick I’d go with the starter in the PL over the guy that lost, then just won back, his MLS starting role..or a guy who didn’t originally make this roster with 3 gold cup games under his belt. Making him a wing on this team and overlooking him at RB would be a mistake.

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  13. Changes I’d like for Sept. friendlies:
    Adams-Trapp (duh)
    Gloster-Lovitz
    Pomykal-Mihailovic
    Weah-Morris
    Holmes-Lewis
    Sargent/Nova/Wood-Zardes whomever has a better start to their season. And of course hopefully Bradley announces his international retirement. He was pretty good in first half but had no legs in the 2nd. A little unlucky not to score off his low cross late.

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  14. Our “boys”(USNT) could been winning 3-0 against those “rats”!!!

    Why USSF does not cares about the “MEN PROGRAM”!? Millions dollars lost again because USSF!!

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    • Sure, because the USSF doesn’t care? What are you smoking? If there were a simple way to spend money or effort to make better players, everyone would be doing it.

      There is no magic formula, even Barcelona and Ajax who have outstanding youth programs graduate a precious few to their senior teams and at least in Barca’s case they recruit heavily to get quality youth players to start with, while Ajax draws more or less from an entire country and select from that.

      Because the US is so big any top-down system is likely doomed to failure. By striving to make rules to promote better soccer for youth teams (smaller teams, playing out of the back, etc.) they are doing what they can. The development of 14 to 18 year-olds should be in the hands of professional clubs and some MLS clubs (NY Red Bull, Real Salt Lake and Dallas for example) are doing a better job at that, but it is still a work in progress.

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      • I don’t smoke, smoking is bad.

        USSF continue invest cheapo MLS (expect Klinsmann) for USNT, no program for Olympic team (friendlies) and other youth teams, continue MX teams have too many friendlies against Euro club (which helps and MX teams), continue with when a coach reach a limit or regress USNT, instead firing. mexico is not far superior than USNT but U.S. Soccer inferior mindset.and mexico thinks everyone is inferior to mexico.

        Count how many mistakes were done by Beerholder in games: tactics, subs, squad, not correcting a weakness (like tonight with Arriola getting rape by Rodriguez). USSF will continue with Beerholder and ignore USNT fans.

  15. 1. Arriola was losing against Rodriguez, yet no correction there.
    2. Lame Jozy is better than Zardes. Why sub Jozy?
    3. Why start Morris? Clearly Boyd has higher IQ and good crosser.
    4. Roldan is proven to be useless International games.

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  16. Tough to stomach a loss like that in a final. While Mexico were probably the better team on the night (particularly the second half), the lion’s share of the high-value scoring opportunities actually fell to the US. Could’ve been different, but alas….
    *******************
    Agree w many of the observations here. Clearly a lack of depth in the talent pool is going to be a problem and the left back situation remains glaring. Our u-20 prospects provide hope here for the 2022 cycle but would not have changed anything tonight.
    ***************
    In the end it’s bitter to swallow but the tournament offered more to like than I expected. Lots of work to be done but we are on a decent path.

    Reply
    • Tata, made correction and continued to exploit USNT errors. It hurt because Martino won something in MLS while Greg won nothing with the Crew, yet USSF ignore Martino and signed Greg. It been 3-0 USNT in first half….oh dread.

      We need a Peckerman or Bielsa type for USNT.

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      • Tata had the money to spend on whatever players he wanted to bring in to help make AtlU a mega team. Berhalter was nevr given that type of money, and i’d argue he was hampstrung every year with money to spend on players. Greg was heralded because he always got more from less with his teams. Did he ever have another DP other than Higuain?

  17. I understand about players not getting playing time in europe thw u20s for the most part but still it doesn’t hurt to bring them in a guy like sebastian soto in frienlies deserves a chance also pomykal is needed desperately along with mendez who cares if they aren’t playing we need them badly at the senior level bradley won’t cut it Altidore hasn’t been fit even in 2014 world cup he wasn’t fit. I agree there was a system coach failure with players Klinnsman Arena and now berhalter showed the same problem we don’t have a great defensive mid and no good fowards something has got to give I don’t like berhalter I had been saying all along there is not midfield play in this team it’s all wing play. I wouldn’t mind Bob Bradley as head coach again we played our best soccer with him.

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    • Going forward for sure but none were available for this tournament because of the U20 WC. The big question going forward is do we bring in Pomykal,Dest, Gloster, etc for friendlies and NL this fall or do we send them to Olympic Qualifying. Personally I bring them to the NT not the U23s Olympics don’t matter if we aren’t in the WC.

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  18. It’s a data point. What we learned …
    1. Berhalter was hamstrung to counter Tata’s switch of Pizzaro. Partly by his own roster selection and partly by a country that cannot produce LBs and partly by injury. Also having your two slowest defenders on the same side made it very hard in the second half.
    2. The gap is pretty narrow, but Tata’s said there is no plan B so we better figure out how to beat their pressure.
    3. The first half shows we are on the right track but need to be a little less predictable, we’re understanding but it’s not second nature yet.
    Questions from tonight
    1. Boyd?
    2. Lovitz was our last ditch offense plan?

    Reply
      • Ironically LB is not a spot he looked to MLS for though. Not sure 31 year old converted LB is the answer for our 31 year old LB, I haven’t seen FJ play in two years. Best case Gloster becomes a regular starter for a first team and we transition through the NL and first round of qualifying.

      • What I’m saying on LB is an ongoing hole. It’s worth trying FJ out there again since he was our last solid option there and he played 1000+ minutes in a top 5 league. Just saying it’s worth exploring this option. Dani Alves is proving everyone wrong and Run DmB and Hejuk still had legs too. With the dearth of other options it’s worth a try at the very least until the younger prospects come along.

      • Sargent had his chance couldn’t win a spot. Holmes was called but got hurt. Amon and Green had bad seasons. I still think Boyd has to be fitness related, how does he go from starter 3 out of 4 to not on pitch. Weah needed to be at U20WC to get a deal out of PSG, he did more to help his situation than he would have playing against Guyana. J. Lewis is the bigger ? To me than Morris.

      • Ream had over 2000 EPL minutes and he was our worst defender, minutes in a top 5 league aren’t the only indicator.

      • Never been a Ream fan myself but in regards to the others playing significant minutes in a top 5 league how is it that non of those guys even got a call up yet from GB? How is it that players with 1000+ minutes in a top 5 league aren’t even worthy of a single call up under our new coach. By definition that’s being ignored. Im not suggesting the start or even be core player but how can not at least call them in to see where they are in relation to the rest of the group.

        As far Ream that is just one guy and I agree he’s a sub option at best for me but only as a CB since that’s primarily where he’s been playing this past season and his speed isn’t there to cover LB at international level. GB knows this but has him stay back so Tata sees this and switches Pizzaro in the second half so he can stay high up the field and this tactical misfire by GB and Tata’s counter completely wrecked this game in the second half. But you know this already I just want to eventually see you come around and stop apologizing for GBs deficiencies. At the same time I’ll give him credit on discovering Boyd and getting use out of Cannon and at the very least attempting get us to use a system that can create more shots and opportunities.

        My issue is with the group as a whole being ignored in favor of players who in my opinion lack the touch and passing ability to play at the international level unless it’s against a concacaf minnow. Credit to him on finding Boyd though but dang how’d he not use him.

    • Remember that Mexico was missing Herrera, Lozano, Tecatito, Aquino, Ayala and Damm. Those are players that give Mexico depth right now. They won the GC without key players. Berhalter has a pool that doesn’t have the same depth or is still a bit too green.

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      • FJ, Morales, Wood all with 1000+ minutes in Bundesliga this season not called. Novakovich or Sargent not even called, tell me you’d still want Zardes off the bench? Green, Holmes, Amon, Weah not called but Morris then seeing Roldan subbed in and Boyd not played? MB giving the call away in MF too? Other options are playing at higher levels and we keep ignoring these player then folks want to continue this player pool narrative? Guys let’s wake up here! If those sub decisions don’t say it all I can’t help you.

  19. This was a game that the US did well enough in the first half, but the 2nd half up to the goal was all Mexico. There was no single player who really was at fault for that bad stretch, the team pretty much shared the blame as Mexico just seemed a step quicker and a bit stronger all over the field.

    I think when Mexico upped the pressure at the start of the 2nd half, the US as a team was unable to find a response. Playing out of the back under pressure was never one of the US strengths and it showed tonight as Mexico locked them in for a long stretch.

    What to do about it? Probably the honest answer is to find better, faster players, but that is a lot easier to say than do; unlike club soccer, you can’t just go out and buy better talent. Calls for wholesale changes will probably be heard, but that is not a recipe for success, just a senseless lament. There are lots of professional scouts looking for the next players for the EPL, LaLiga, Serie A, the Bundesliga, etc.; they aren’t exactly out recruiting hundreds of budding US stars (or even 10) at the moment to fill those needs. When they do, I will be more positive about the US chances of real international success in the men’s game.

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    • To be fair they’re not signing the Mexican players either. Most of them are in Liga Mx if they do go to Europe it’s usually to Portugal or Netherlands.

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      • I agree, Mexico isn’t that much better than the USA. The first half and the US having the most dangerous scoring chances are evidence of that, but it the US wants to actually be a major player in international men’s soccer, it simply must have more talent. You can nibble at the edges with coaching changes and those coaches can try all sorts of different things, but until the talent is better, that will make only a small difference.

  20. You put in a defensive midfielder and then Zardes and to top that off bring in another left back who can’t get forward. C’mon GGG

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    • I agree, as if he was trying to preserve the score rather than trying to beat Mexico.

      Morris has shown everyone that he is just fast and with poor touch, and forcing passes when he should be making better decisions with his choice of passes. He does make good runs off the ball but decision making needs to be better.

      Agree on Boyd as others; come on, Roldan over Boyd, and then if that wasn’t bad enough of a decision, he puts on Lovitz as the 3rd sub. Really???

      Altidore should have stayed on. Zardes showed everyone (again) he is just MLS level and not good enough to play against Mexico.

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  21. How in the world are Roldan and Lovitz better than Boyd? We needed someone willing to go at defenders. Morris was nonexistant and yet Morris gets start over Boyd? much of the same. The coach lost this for us. Also, this “merry go round” captain thing is idiotic as well. No consistency whatsoever. Total failure

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  22. Sebastian Soto needed badly. It’s painful to be a usa supporter I was waiting since we were eliminated from the 2018 world cup. We should have one Jozy missed the clearest chance we had. I knew that berhalters wing play wouldnt get us a win vs better teams. Pullisic not ready to be a leader weston had a bad game all alpha and no soccer brains bradley showed tonight he is long gone physically and he was always unwilling to shot from midfield. U20 players need to mixed up asap ASAP!

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    • U20s need to actually play professional matches. If they can’t beat Venezuela and Ukraine U20s and got outplayed by Qatar they aren’t going to beat Mexico.

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  23. The USMNT is the only team I know who will put in a player:

    as a DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER that cannot defend
    as a CENTER FORWARD that cannot score goals
    How do we REALLY expect to win competitions and get to the next level?

    Against a Top Team like Mexico EVERY player needs to contribute and be on their A-game. If other players have to pick up your slack it changes the dynamics of the game. Like I have been saying……the USMNT WILL NOT WIN TROPHIES with Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore starting on the team. THEY JUST CANNOT DELIVER WHEN IT COUNTS!!! Klinsmann didn’t get it, Arena didn’t get it and now Berhalter, as his failures continue.

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    • What is your point? There is little question that Bradley and Altidore are who they are. But what is your answer for who is better? Adams is a great player, but he is very much different than Bradley, Trapp is not as good, pray tell who would play that role better? Altidore is still better than any of the alternatives tried and JK, Arena, Sarachan and GB have all used others, none fit the position as well. At least the US won all the games it was expected to and lost only 1-0 to a better team.

      When the little kids now aged 16 to 20 grow up they will supplant many of the players currently on this team, but it would be a joke to play them now given that the U-20s and U-17s hardly dominated in their age groups.

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      • Who is better?? hahhaha is that a trick question????

        TYLER ADAMS (BUNDESLIGA), ALFREDO MORALES (BUNDESLIGA, DARLINGTON NAGBE (MOST RECENT CM /DM TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH THE RIGHT COACH TATA MARTINO!!!), JOE CORONA, TIMOTHY WEAH (19), JOSH SARGENT, JULIAN GREEN (24), BOBBY WOOD, RUSSELL CANOUSE (24), KYLE SCOTT (21), PAXTON POMYKAL (19), , CHRIS DURKIN (19), JACKSON YUEILL (22), GEDION ZELALEM (22), ANDREW CARLETON (19), BRANDON VÁZQUEZ (20), CHRIS MUELLER (22), JEREMY EBOBISSE (22), PAXTON POMYKAL (19), RUSSELL CANOUSE (24), EMERSON HYNDMAN (23), KEATON PARKS (21), Fabrice-Jean Picault (28),


        How can we give our young midfielders a chance (Like Reggie Cannon, who wasn’t originally selected, got his chance) if “has-beens” like Bradley and Altidore keep taking up space. Michael Bradley or Altidore should have never made the team in the first place….they are not even the best in their positions IN MLS!!!!! To make matters worst GB brings a backup player who is similar to MB but sucks even more…What part of Bradley / Altidore is finished don’t you understand?? Who on GB roster was good enough not make the MLS ALLSTAR team???

        for the 1,000th time WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE WINNING COMPETITIONS ANYTIME SOON WITH ALTIDORE AND BRADLEY ON THE TEAM.

      • Bizzy, None of the players you named would play the role GB has him in better than Bradley. If you replace Bradley with any of those guys, the team dynamic will become different and while there will be more frenetic running around with some of them, lapse of attention with others, fewer intercepted passes, a loss of the ability to make quality service from distance, more or fewer tackles with others. etc. there is no guarantee the team will be any better. The only thing it would accomplish is to make you happy; probably something not high on GB’s list of things to do.

        Like it or not GB’s vision for the team is to have a midfielder sitting in front of a back 4 who can be available for short passes, maintain possession and make quality passes. Bradley may not be the world’s best at that, but he fits that role better than any of the players you named. Even Adams who I think is an outstanding player is not one to do what GB wants at that position, the others are inferior there as well.

        Now if your argument is that GB’s philosophy is poor, OK, but that is not Bradley’s fault. Get over your obsession with trashing Bradley and Altidore. Instead try to suggest ways to realign the team tactics that would improve things (and also cover-up the US lack of a LB).
        For example, a simple suggestion is a 3-5-2 with Adams and McKennie as the 2 deep central mids, Pulisic in the center, any of Long, Miazga, Zimmerman or Brooks as the back 3, maybe Ariola, Boyd, Cannon, or Weah as outside mids. The forwards are still a challenge, None of the guys who play there for their clubs are really lighting up the scoreboard.

        Historically the best scorers in MLS, (Vela, Ibrahimovic, and Drogba) scored about one goal per 90 minutes BWP, Wondo, and any others you want to name score about half as often. When some US player starts scoring like one of those 3, either in MLS or elsewhere, then the US will be on its way. Meanwhile, whining that Altidore is better or worse than Zardes, Wood, Sargent or anyone else is simply complaining that you do not like one or the other, kinda like arguing about moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

      • “Bizzy, None of the players you named would play the role GB has him in better than Bradley.”….then maybe he has to go because Bradley is only a fraction of the player he use to be and he is a liability in the usmnt midfield (as we saw yesterday lol)

        there will be more frenetic running around with some of them – correct and keeping up with the opponent

        fewer intercepted passes – that’s correct also, because most of those players are dynamic enough to create openings and opportunities as well as move the ball around

        a loss of the ability to make quality service from distance – if you are a good midfielder that can create openings and maintain possession (actually maintain possession hahaha) you don’t need long passes to win (ask Mexico lol)
        more or fewer tackles with others – you mean more tackle because they can actually get to the player to tackle lol

        “Like it or not GB’s vision for the team is to have a midfielder sitting in front of a back 4 who can be available for short passes, maintain possession and make quality passes.”……and Bradley couldn’t make the short passes, couldn’t maintain possession (to save his life) or make THE NECESSARY quality passes (steffen has to start playing the long balls lol) that why we got over run in the midfield (were you watching the game?).

        So as you can see Michael Bradley is not the player the USMNT needs going into the future…..you can say all you want about how I dislike Bradley and Altidore but one thing is for sure…..THEY HAVEN’T LET ME DOWN YET lol

      • Bizzy, Who was open for Bradley to pass short to? The only short options routinely available were to the backs who were then in no better position than he was. You cannot make passes to players who are not open when you need them and sadly the USMNT players have yet to develop the soccer brains to anticipate where to be to help teammates. Bradley (and the backs) were forced into making difficult passes towards players who were not quite open or to hit long balls. Mexico pressured the US backs in the 2nd half so they did not have the time to survey the field an hit long balls towards anyone in particular and since Bradley was the one player routinely available for a short pass, it was easy for Mexico to pressure him. They knew which player the others would look for and could close him down quickly. Despite that, Bradley did not often turn over the ball, but many of his passes ended up being 50-50 balls; the fault for that lies in the lack of movement in a timely fashion by players who should have been anticipating the play to be open. Removing Bradley from the field would NOT have made things better.

    • Bizzy: Bradley needs to be phased out virtually no one disagrees with that but McKennie was equally as bad last night with just as many give aways and not marking Dos Santos on the goal. Why are so many sure Adams can replace Bradley because he didn’t actually play to do anything wrong last night. Morales, Williams, and Chandler were pretty much panned and despised by American fans until they stopped getting called and now they’re loved. These guys on your list have to be better in their club play because you don’t develop in a week with national team.

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      • Johhnyrazor,
        I hear you but Bradley needs to drop out NOW so better, younger, your more experienced talent can come through. We have been talking about “phasing him out” for a long time but he is still on the team and the team still sucks in midfield. Everyone around him is over worked when Bradley is on the field because they have to pick up his slack, drop deep to get service or deep to make tackles. If its a passer we want that can at least tackle and play defend then maybe we can put Tim Ream at DM and things will be maybe even slightly better than the way they are now. I told you before, the game with Altidore and Bradley on the field means the USMNT struggle on marking and possession (they both can’t play defense and don’t have the speed or skill to create opportunities)…..AND WE ALL SAW THAT FIRST HAND. We struggled yes, the team as a whole didn’t play well I get it but even Arriola had to come all the way back to break up plays…the midfield was exhausted trying to cover for Bradley who got beaten over and over again and even started giving the ball away towards the end in midfield and to top that, we couldn’t score goals.

        Enough is enough those two need to go…..they are not superior MLS players let alone on the international stage. We need to give other players a chance, like Reggie Cannon (who got a call up and excelled) to prove themselves…..but we cant do that with “has-beens” in the way

      • I think your overstating Bradley’s effect, Arriola was tracking back because of Ream not Bradley, if anyone should have been covering for Bradley it would be CP. Altidore actually did everything except finish. He was defending even made a tackle or two deep in Mexico’s half. Held his own when pressuring and was involved in almost every chance we created. Just missed his chances which he needs to finish. The Mexican defense kept us pinned not anything Bradley was doing or wasn’t doing.

      • ” Altidore actually did everything except finish.”…..hahahaha, that like saying:

        Steffen did everything right but save the ball from going in the back of the net ?
        or
        Tim Ream did everything right but secure the left flank ?

        “The Mexican defense kept us pinned not anything Bradley was doing or wasn’t doing”….who is the link between defense and offense? Who is suppose to develop passing out of the back? Who is suppose to distribute the ball effectively and accurately (he is not there because of his defensive abilities that’s for sure?)?? Yup, you got it right Michael Jogging Bradley !!!!! hahahaha simply amazing….I guess our loss had nothing to do with anyone then, Mexico was just lucky, we’ll get them next time hahahaha ???

  24. Mexico owned the 2nd half and deserved the win. It seemed for about 20 minutes the US could not move the ball out of its defensive zone. If Mexico could shoot straight, I would have been worse.

    No one on the US side truly stood out today. Cannon made a few good runs, and has become a revelation. Surprising subs in Roldan and Lovitz when you need an offensive spark.

    There is still time before WCQ starts. There is opportunity for new players to push someone out of the pool and prove themselves.

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