The U.S. men’s national team failed to defeat Canada in its last two head-to-head meetings, but two first-half goals and a strong defensive showing helped B.J. Callaghan’s squad snap that streak on Sunday and repeat as Concacaf Nations League champions.
Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun both delivered their first USMNT goals while Gio Reyna registered two assists in a 2-0 finals victory over Canada at Allegiant Stadium. Matt Turner made four saves to preserve his second-consecutive clean sheet, while Yunus Musah was immaculate in midfield during his 90-minute shift.
The USMNT struck first in the 11th minute as Richards made Canada pay on a set piece. Reyna’s dangerous corner kick was met by Richards in the box, as the American defender headed past Milan Borjan for his first senior goal.
Balogun came close to doubling the USMNT’s lead in the 28th minute, sending his header over the crossbar from a tight angle.
However, Balogun would extend the USMNT’s lead to 3-0 in the 35th minute, sneaking behind the Canada backline and stroking home a through ball pass from Reyna. Reyna’s pass allowed Balogun to race into the box in stride, before the Arsenal product drilled a powerful shot past Borjan for his first international goal.
Turner denied both Stephen Eustaquio and Richie Laryea before halftime, keeping the Americans in front.
Borjan was tasked with diving and punching away Tim Weah’s long-range shot in the 43rd minute, as the USMNT continued to pile on the pressure.
Richards and Balogun both came close to scoring their second goals of the match in the second half. Richards’ powerful header struck the crossbar in the 56th minute before Balogun’s shot in the box was cleared off the line by Scott Kennedy.
Alphonso Davies and Cyle Larin both had good offensive chances as Canada tried to get back into the match, but neither could get their shots on target.
Johnny Cardoso, Ricardo Pepi, and Auston Trusty were among the second-half substitutions made by B.J. Callaghan as the USMNT grinded out the remainder of the clock.
The USMNT opens group stage at the Concacaf Gold Cup on Saturday, June 24 against Jamaica.
the formation switch to 4 2 3 1 for the 2nd half after Gio went out, the tactical switch to play more hold and counter…excellent. Callaghan didn’t go 5 backs until way later in the 2nd half
this kind of matchups/players/situations subbing and tactical setups and adjustments is key key key to any kind of deeper international tournament runs imo, and not just to do it, but to execute it, be prepared an ready to do it
GB started it, winning GC and Nations playing differently, but Callaghan’s team took it to another level in these 2 games
USSF is denying rumors we were considering shifting to a newer, more dramatic “mckennie neckline” on the shirts.
Question…how would you feel if you were Pepi, or Reyna, or some other deserving player left off the last WC roster upon hearing CP say he hopes GB was reappointed? Not sure how GB is going to mend the fences needed to be successful. Plus…he kicked his then GF, now wife, while drunk. It was a long time ago but still speak to character.
Pepi’s already said that it’s in the past.
Reyna (who was on the WC roster) hasn’t commented on it as far as I know, but if he keeps playing the way he played against Mexico and Canada, it doesn’t matter who coaches the team.
These are young guys who possibly have 2 or 3 World Cups in their futures. I’d think they are looking forward, not backward.
Canada is a pretty good team. Davies, David, Buchanan, Kone, Johnston are all 24 or younger. That’s a solid core. They are working hard on dual nationals especially Luca Koleosho. Herdman complained last night that the Federation is still not providing the support needed to push the team forward. They had that dispute last summer where they canceled a friendly. Herdman said coaches had to fundraise on their own to pay for charter flights. He’s done a great job building that group but if the federation doesn’t get on board it’s going to be hard.
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They got a big dose of their own medicine last night. In Hamilton, they got the early goal and then sat back and said break us down without a MF playmaker. Last night we scored early did the same back to them. Davies is their cheat code most nights but last night he just couldn’t get going and when he did get past Scally a couple times Zim, Richards, Musah, and Jedi were there to make sure nothing came of it. They had no other ideas after that, literally it was kick to Davies and everyone stand around, not unlike our give to Pulisic in Hamilton.
koleosho is probably still in play if we got off our meritocracy high horse. i realize it sounds early but he’ll be, what, 21 in 3 years? and even if his road to starting in short term would be hard, what you sell is quality and the long game. you just saw last night — if the coaching can stay out of the way — the changing of the guard. you can get on the lead car or you can pick the caboose. and you were born here. not a hard choice. do you want to “play” or do you want to “win.” you might be a sub at first but people get older or hurt, the current core will be hitting 30 c. 2030, and the last U-20 set he would be competing with was just “ok.” so he fights with aaronson, zendejas, and that crop for the backup slots.
i dunno you act like it’s harder to sell USA than it really is. safe place to live and work, improving team with dark horse chances, etc. he has some US YNT caps. we haven’t usually lost a bunch of these dual national fights and i’m not about to normalize it for a second or third rate coach.
no excuses, get stuck in like your assistants just did. personally i find look at us, look at them, decide, to be incredibly passive. i want the guys who want us. and given some of the junk at the end of the gold cup roster, i don’t think it’s hurting our victory chances to take some roster risks in service of experimentation or dual national lockdown. you leave off, say, cowell or morris — you call him in instead. if he balks, that’s your answer, to me. i want the ones who want us now. the ones who want to do a NT tour of options, to me, used to be the ones told when you get it sorted we have a shirt waiting but not for confused people. shirt is waiting now if you want it but you have to be “in.”
I find it adorable how you think because a guy doesn’t show up you think we didn’t ask.
maybe point kolosheo to his potential new coach’s own comments in the other article about how canada has low funding. something i had already intuited from their low-energy schedule.
we have called him for youth teams. i am talking senior. canada is bringing him into senior camps.
He’s actually chosen to play for Italy U19s in March. They’ll play the U19 Euros in July so he’s probably not going to skip that. But we did see Balo bolt but 20 g in Ligue1 is probably more deserving a full call than 2g in Spanish 4th Div. Minutes anytime soon would seem tough at any of his options. Hard to beat out Pulisic, Davies, Chiesa, and Gnoto. Nigeria would be the easiest but it’s probably the weakest of the four. He seems content this summer to hang with Italy. He is not on Canadian Gold Cup roster and I doubt it’s because they rate Shafelburg ahead of him.
Can’t wait for GB to bench Balogun for Ferreira! Jk
In all seriousness, I hope GB continues to roll out the Reyna, Weah, Pulisic, and Balogun quatuor. These guys can wreck havoc even vs top defenses in my opinion. Balogun in particular will be a beast for us I have no doubt. You can see he’s made of different stuff than the strikers we’ve had in our pool. Now we just need to stay healthy…
I do hope that USSF plans tons of games against TOP European sides, in Europe too (not just at home) so we don’t have deer in headlights moments like vs Holland in those knockout games.
Schedule friendlies vs Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, Portugal, etc… the more the merrier!
Beating Mexico and Canada at home is nice, sure. But it’s not enough to believe the team can make a deep run. Copa America should be and interesting litmus test.
Wow! Great two games, and no doubt USMNT is class of concacaf. At least right now. Pretty mature performance last night, particularly the way we closed the deal in the second half. It wasn’t pretty, but the 2nd half tactics were effective. Canada was occasionally dangerous, but there was only one play I remember (Larin inside the box) that I felt they could have scored. Still need depth in some areas, midfield comes to mind. Aaronson needs a reboot and DLT wasn’t effective last night. Jedi needs a backup. But most the other positions now are at least two deep. Exciting times! Keep it simple Coach Berhalter!
I continuously harp on fans overrating the player pool By this i mean they expect these young still developing players to play at the level of their potential and when they don’t they blame the tactics or the coaching.
These games, under the 3rd choice coach using virtually the same system that has been in play for 2-3 years, shows the development and maturation of the the players; that they are coming closer to playing to their full potential (this team had three players 20 years old and was and average age of 24 – basically an Olympic eligible squad). The time these players have spent with their clubs – whether playing or not i.e Dest, Pulisic, Reyna – has done it work. For at club level is where the development occurs, not in short national team stints. This core has leveled up.
I agree with pundits and commenters that say the next year – through Copa America – is critical for the coaching staff to level up as well. I have not been in the GB hate camp. I have been in the GB haters hate camp. I think they vitriol unloaded on the guy has been disproportionate to the mistakes made and the level at which the potential laden player pool could deliver. While not thinking GB is a great coach I’ve pushed back against unwarranted criticisms. However, now is the time to show that, as the players have matured with experience, that GB and co have also matured with experience. Despite still being young….the amount of experience should have them able to deliver on game plans and tactic implemented by this coaching staff. I will no longer put the onus on players for lack of execution. The talent and experience is there at every single position. It’s on the coaches to put them in a position for success. This team has top ten talent with depth…and now the experience…to truly play that way.
that was not the same system. you can stop there.
and three of the better players on the night were either subs, injury omits, or cuts last november. the sky didn’t fall playing them. we have 3 new stars. harrumph.
oh and btw i mean shock and dismay that was not GB out there last night. the team looked mediocre under GB. the team looked poor under hudson. give callaghan some credit. i have seen them have this type of verve maybe 2-3 times in the last cycle and 99% of the time they did not try to play this way. i wish.
lemme put it to you differently. crocker and gooch having hired the man want to have some lengthy sitdown before he’s allowed anywhere near them. i think they are out to reprogram the man. they for budget or whatever reasons didn’t want to go get a good coach. they want to try to coach their old coach. so the question will be when GB shows up in september has this evolved along the lines we have explored this year or do we backslide into playing keepaway by the corner flag and running our legs off in the first half by pressing high.
my personal experience this is not guaranteed. coaches often feel they are their own power space and people sometimes say what leaders want to hear. has GB learned or did he just say what he had to, to get the job? we shall see. but let’s not pretend callaghan was systemically a GB extension. his continuity was more personnel, and even that he took some risks GB wouldn’t.
+1
That Gregg spent his six months off traveling around Europe watching, talking to, and learning from managers seems to go against your view that he’s closed minded, rigid, and unwilling to change or grow. That one of the most accomplished and prestigious clubs in the western hemisphere had him as one of their top choices (#1 by reports from Mexican media) probably shows he knows quite a bit more about managing than you give him credit for.
to lob a thought grenade, based on what i just saw, he likely had these “ideas” already within his coaching circle. why did he never do them over the past 4-5 years? based on what i saw he didn’t need to do the grand tour, he needed to chat up his assistant. if that didn’t happen, or got overridden…..but now he’s getting religion? meh.
i think you’re trading on hope. he has a history of doing what he does dating back to hammarby. arena himself said the man needs to scout more and analyze numbers less, ie, watch them play instead of read. i am appropriately skeptical as we’re asking a tiger to change his stripes. i will believe it when i see it. i am not out to lunch in questioning whether the dude we just evolved “from” is somehow now the appropriate choice to implement and further evolve “towards.”
IMO if he wants to go out and further his soccer education, have at it, we shouldn’t be the guinea pigs for it. test it on someone else. i like objective choices over hope.
Campeones! Campeones! Campeones! Great performance by the team!
i liked the utter dominance of it all. that was not even close. i think that’s more on par with the pool quality. canada has a handful of good players. you mark them out and that’s that. don’t know why this has been so hard for 4 years.
Callaghan is my MVP
Couple of my own thoughts:
Timothy Weah – Isn’t just a pace guy who can take the top off a defense, he keeps showing he’s got an absolute howitzer for a foot and can send screamers in from distance. I was initially irritated with Lille for playing him as a wingback…how useful was that for us, though? We got away with bringing just three fullbacks – Gregg likes to bring five right backs because, well, fuckifIknow – and especially after Dest got that red against Mexico and Scally went down bringing just three could have bit us. But there’s Weah sliding to right back in a pinch…and keeping Davies under (some) control. You’d think scouts from the Prem and B1 will notice stuff like that.
Matt Turner – Just so good. Remember when his distribution out of the back was the biggest knock on him? Me neither. He’s as good as anybody we’ve had – including Tim Howard – as a shot-stopper, just snuffs most everything and makes it look routine…and his control of the box looks equally effortless. He’ll be a starting keeper in the Prem, and soon; even Arsenal won’t be able to keep him.
Speaking of Joe Scally, he looks like you’d expect a starter in the B1 to look. He’s obviously not nearly as good getting into the attack as Dest but he’s (by a lot) the better defender. He looks to me like a more technical version of Steve Cherundolo.
Musah as a 6: I know he thinks he’s an 8…I dunno about that. I think he may have just made himself a whole lot of money because he is a spectacular 6. He’s big, physical, athletic, fast, rangy, and can blow people up with tackles, and his ability to break lines from deep just changes the complexion of the game. How many counters started with Musah knifing up the middle the last two games? I love Tyler Adams but he may have himself a problem, especially with Gio settling in at the 10. Adams is still an automatic call-up if healthy…but is he a starter after what we saw the last two games?
Brendan Aaronson: The one bit of bad news. I thought a year ago there was a case to be made he was the top-performing player on the team. Last night he looked like a try-hard guy who was out of his league. He still buzzes around but his confidence seems shot and he was just way more erratic and ineffective than I’m used to seeing out of him. This was a bad, bad year for him and it shows. He needs a move and probably to a tactical league like Italy; I don’t think the brute physicality of the Championship is going to be good for him next year either.
Chris Richards: Our best CB by a mile and it’s not close. Wow. Does everything well. How is he not starting for Crystal Palace again?
There isn’t much difference between Miles and Chris at CB. Those two together are going to take our defense to the next level.
good stuff q
A looks like a shell of himself, just beaten down. Hope he gets out of England
Brened A that is
Yeah, I understood. Pulisic and Aaronson have always seemed to be Serie A type guys; they’re just too small and slight for the EPL…in the Prem if you’re slow, they run you down, if you’re short they jump over your head, and if you’re small they rough you up and kick you right off the field. Literally. Which is largely what happened to both guys.
But Serie A is just so tactical, and they like to slow the game down some and turn games into chess matches…and we’ve seen guys like Sebastian Giovinco, Marco Verrati, Lorenzo Insigne, etc. thrive there…even Pirlo looked like he should have had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth most of the time; if Pirlo was ever in a hurry I certainly never saw it.
re richards, people need to learn to watch tape — scout/watch how they play — as opposed to analyze stats — read how they play. i thought he looked good when used. the rest is then palace’s problem as long as he shows up here fit. ditto reyna. enough of the club form nonsense. how many times do we have to see it doesn’t correlate? talent is talent. your best backs are likely still your best backs no matter what club numbers game or personality conflict they trip into. only occasionally is a player literally going through a bobby wood situation where he can’t kick a ball straight and has been benched on merit. the fanboys act like they all are when most of the time it’s the opposite. a team has too much talent to use, someone loses out. that doesn’t make the player a loser all of a sudden other than in fanboy eyes.
re scally, you have to sit down and decide whether you want to take risks or get back to fundamentals. i like fundamentals. stick me 4 backs out there who can mark and i’ll be in any game i have scheduled no matter how good the opponent is. then trust the division of labor. attackers should not be picked to press. defenders defend. then pass it to attackers who take care of the offense. most good teams are set up that way. i don’t think our risks proved worth the squeeze. i thought holland abused our wingback risks.
to be real there might be a specific night it would be of value to send jedi and dest forward at low risk. but IMO it’s generally a punch down strategy more effective against weaker teams not of the sort we need to beat in a world cup. but IMO against better teams it’s not justified on cost-benefit. we take a lot of risk and ship some goals. we actually score very few off jedi and dest.
like i said during the game (and before), i see jedi as a solid defender when his risk ratio is set right. ditto scally. i think dest is a marking mess and should become some sort of wing swiss army solution, including at forward. i think dest can make the odd good play but against argentina or france you need 90 solid minutes and not a couple nice plays and then a lot of acid reflux.
Good Post quozeel. However, I share a different opinion on Turner. He did well at shot stopping and was good in this tournament in general but, in my opinion, was not very good on his feet at times the last two games. For example, in the last Gold Cup he was a monster both with his feet and at shot stopping. In this tournament, not so much. I believe he needs a transfer, so he can start. He’s a solid goalkeeper that should be starting somewhere-maybe in a lower level prem. side. I like Gio as a 10. Let’s see how Gio and Adams play together.
Well, he’s no Ederson or Manuel Neuer with his feet and probably never will be, but he definitely didn’t scare me every time the ball went back to him…and it used to. Turner’s improved a mile in that area. Arsenal’s clearly been really good for him there.
Thus far he seems oddly rust-free no matter how little Arsenal plays him, but can that continue if he rides the pine for another year? That does worry me.
turner is far and away the best keeper currently. maybe in a few years celentano emerges (or even gets called, not sure what that’s about) gaga gets more consistent, maybe horvath stops making gaffes, or steffen’s knee quits hurting, and we have a battle where distribution matters. as it stands you have 1 consistent quality shot stopper. winner by default.
Vacqui- Crocker ain’t even started the job (Aug 2) and you already know the private conversation he had with GB? (Huh?) Hollywood script writers are on strike, I think you would be good replacement. Your imagination is truly amazing. You really do like drama, even if you make it up as you go, holy Kreis! Speculation turned into projection that you try to pass on to the community as facts (otra vez). You really wasted my time with this one. I can’t say that about all your post. BJ used the 4-3-3 SYSTEM against El Tri & Canada. Gio didn’t play the 10, you can see this more clearly v Canada because Musah stayed centrally and further back than Gio & McKennie. In a 4-2-3-1, Gio would be in front of McKennie & Musah the majority of the time. The midfield trio stayed closer together because Canada is more athletic than El Tri. CP & Weah weren’t abusing their fullbacks, which allowed for the game to be played in the middle, instead of wide open. Unless you can enlighten me on the USSF structure, my reasoning for the Nats to keep BJ around is to audition for the Olympic coach spot. The Revello bka Toulon Tournament is a competition for U23s. Mexico, Panama, CR are participants. To give more context, those countries are not going to the Olympics. I enjoyed this match. I’m glad we are 2 x Champs. GC is next. Remember, this is the 1st GC that actually matters!! Let’s see if we can have more players make the GC best XI in their offseason.
I’d like to look at a heat map but Gio was playing a lot more like a 10, though I will concede he did drop back and defend from deeper more than a 10 usually does. But my take was we were playing what looked like a 4-3-3 without the ball and a 4-2-3-1 shape with it. When we had the ball, it generally stayed at Gio’s feet and he stayed central…he was pulling the strings and conducting, whatever. He and Aaronson were assuredly not playing the same role even though on a chalkboard you’d have them both listed as 8’s…it was obviously Aaronson’s job to harry and bother Davies and keep Scally from getting isolated; Aaronson wasn’t really a part of the attack.
What’s the term for that? An 8 and a half? We can quibble about the words but Gio was definitely allowed to do what he does well, which is be on the ball and make things happen.
It’s: It didn’t get much press but Southampton released Crocker. The info came out in the reporting on interviewing over 10 candidates beginning of last week. He’s started working full time for the US, but had been still in England working remotely until last week prior to NL semi.
i have often described gio as the 20x better LDLT used centrally. that’s how i would describe what he added this week. you have half baked sorts who talk about LDLT progressing the ball. reyna can actually do what they imagine LDLT is doing. he can grab the ball way back here, and run at the defense 30-40 yards, commit people, and send us behind. i agree with you that positioning wise he was not up in like trequartista/10 land properly understood. he wasn’t sitting under the CF like a second striker or even very high. however what he was doing by the dribbling was advancing the ball up into a similar position and then trying to act like one. so to me, while he may have been ordered to sit deep on defense, in some ways a 10 is as a 10 does. you give mckennie or musah the same ball, musah drifts it wide after bouncing off 2 tacklers, and mckennie attempts a long 6 type pass that maybe or maybe not finds anyone. they might be in a MF together but they function differently. the question is what characteristics do you want?
bluntly, right now i would favor reyna as the AM, musah and adams. i have actually been saying some variation on this for a couple years. mckennie doesn’t have a position. he would be great off the bench for a half trying to crash a box or hustle defense. i think he’s a sloppy 90′ mid and not our best DM type.
people can now remind me the sort of teams mckennie plays for which is besides the point. the pool is to the point most of the players can flash some club cred. it all cancels out. so who fits a position well.
“A 10 is as a 10 does.”
That’s very well put. On any team I’ve ever coached, the 10’s generally appointed themselves, you didn’t really have to tell them “hey, I want the ball at your feet” because they find it themselves and then go slaloming with it up the field anyhow no matter what you tell them to do, and because they make stuff happen with the ball, everybody is willing to give it to them. Me, I didn’t want too many of those guys on the field – actually, in my experience you can afford one and only one – but when that guy raises his hand, you go with it and don’t overcontrol. BJ didn’t.
Gregg…well. Hopefully he learned something from the last few games.
Regardless, I really liked the way Gio was playing: honest enough defensively he wasn’t a donut hole on the field, positive towards his teammates…and then, once the ball got to his feet, he’d become The Composer and go do his thing. And that is the guy we need him to be.
Q: greg had him typecast as a wing. greg then had him, probably correctly, as weah’s sub when so typecast. greg then had him splitting time with morris which becomes less defensible. at that point we start getting into his penchant for picking forwards to press more so than play offense. IMO the division of labor broke down, the offense was too undercooked. it became almost all defense and he didn’t have any concept how to get his 9 involved.
i first saw reyna playing U19 ball for dortmund and he was a central creator. i have been pushing this since. he’s simply the best of the type and i think every attack needs at least one — either a trequartista sitting behind 2 strikers, or a 10 behind a line. some sort of central creative impetus where everything doesn’t have to go wide for low percentage chances. i mean, i don’t get the passing/ possession fetish. i want france or argentina. speed downfield. or give it to a dynamic dribbler to create. anything other than slowly bring 11 men forward to play keepaway and turn out of any rushes we do get.
one reason i get at “do we watch games” is we already did this with reyna in 2021. i think he was off the bench but he had a similar game with mexico in that final. for some reason it went down the memory hole. i think it’s because buried beneath the surface this team under GB is fairly conservative and wants to revert backwards. in that 2021 mexico game we loosened up a bit as the game progressed after chasing early on. then when WCQ came we had reverted and over time ended up 3rd place.
so will we learn this time? i get having a fair amount of defense for elite soccer, but this is better with about 4-5 serious people attacking, and reyna is one of them as he can dribble people and then calm down enough to thread and weight the ball right. personally to me the solution is 4 dedicated marking backs, a good shotstopper keeper, and then a quality 6. then “leave the offense to us.” division of labor. for some reason under GB the forwards had to chase hard and the backs needed to play offense. which to me is kind of an out of control 1-1 recipe.
No one has ever argued that Gio isn’t better than Luca, when he wants to be and is healthy.
JR: no, sorry, what they have argued is “play gio wide, even as a sub, and play LDLT instead as an AM.” if gio is sitting while LDLT plays his other position, sorry, i see that as some mix of pigeonholing or precisely the incorrect depth charting you are denying. sorry but if the coach knows you can play wing and 10 and then subs in LDLT and morris i think you’re being not just sat but misevaluated and typecast. to suggest otherwise is to accept the typecast as true.
After tonight’s game you can add Joe Scally to the list of players GB has mismanaged. Given Scally’s public comments in what kind of manager USMNT needs (complete opposite of GB) I imagine he’ll be given Brooks treatment
Scally is very good and we could have used him in the WC. There is no way that Moore should have started over Scally. GB was just horrible. I am just hoping that the federation had a talk with GB and has him on some kind of leash, having delivered some strong ultimatums with respect to tactics and player selection. At this point, I have no confidence in this federation, though. Let’s see.
So is their any way we can just keep BJ at the job. He fielded a common sense lineup, got the team’s defense organized, solid on set pieces and playing simply yet effectively. In short he helped put our guys in a position to win, which is what a coach is supposed to do. The last thing we need is a genius with a system.
“So is there any way we can just keep BJ at the job.” I wish. I mean everyone wants a good BJ.
Bro grow up, not funny and straight disgusting.
Striker, maybe you should buy a sense of humor.
Striker: Agreed
Striker: By the way, Striker, I am grown and I am not your bro. If what I said bothered you so much that you needed to leave a comment, then you need to see a psychologist. Remember when everyone was smashing you to bits on virtually every post because your lack of soccer knowledge, and I encouraged you not to leave and hang in there? Well, you left by posting a rant and a half saying that you would never return because everyone was so mean to you. I felt bad for you. Now you are back but trying to be the Post police.
LOL!! Good for you Johnyboyrazor
LOL!!! Good for you Johnyboyrazor.
PeterP: your just better than that. I appreciate your soccer insight, just agreed with Striker the joke wasn’t necessary in the public space.
They should keep BJ around, if he wants to stay.
The old Gregg wouldn’t want to share the limelight but the new Gregg?
Complete speculation on my part but if Crocker is actually being straight forward and honest my guess is he tells Gregg he can come back but here are the new rules:
+ Keep up the good work with , for the most part, handling the locker room and the overall togetherness of the collective.
+ Keep your fucking mouth shut or go all Bob Bradley
+ Stay away from your “genius” tactical innovations. Keep it simple. Stop overthinking.
+ The strengths of your group are obvious. Utilize them.
Like using Gio centrally. Or giving Scally more than garbage minutes instead of using Shaq Moore at right back..
+ Actually collaborate with your assistants, maybe even listen to them. It’s not all about you.
+ Keep your head down and your mouth shut.
Original Gregg seemed to pretty much run his own ship warts and all.
Sequel Gregg may be working under different rules.
Crocker has him, I would think, under a much shorter leash.
The Gold Cup now matters because it will tell us a lot more about BJ as a manager. Different roster, different opposition.
If he does very well I like the idea that he could keep a lot of pressure on Gregg if he sticks around. or even if he doesn’t,
He can show what you can do with these players as long as you’re not a dumkopf. Because unlike Sarachan, he’ll be running these guys in a tournament. He could win two tournaments.
And do it playing maybe the most attractive soccer I’ve seen any USMNT play in I don’t know how long. My big thing for a while now is you need both the players and the manager working in unison. That’s what I saw these last two games.
Could Gregg have gotten this group to play like this and win so attractively? Maybe, but we’ll never know.
Actually, that’s a lie. Deep down most of you know it would not have happened under him because it was always about his vision and his system mattering MORE than the individual players.
100% agree with all of that.
Gregg’s a control freak, and he’s…joyless and rigid, I think are the best words. He overcoaches and overcontrols, and his preference for remaining wedded to favorites with less talent is obvious.
Would Gio have ever gotten the chance to show as a #10 – which I’ve always thought he was exclusively, period – or would Gio have remained in the doghouse, with Gregg remaining committed to co-8’s? Would Gregg have been able to convince Gio to work for the team and put in an honest shift even without the ball, and work on that godawful pissiness he always showed just entirely too much of before?
I’m with you. Doubtful.
Vac, I am just hoping that some MLS club doesn’t snatch BJ up. There is no way GB would have had these players playing this freely on the pitch. He would have used his old horseshoe tactics-then, have a player run down the right side and kick a cross to no one. GB really needs to collaborate with his assistants like you said. With respect to the Gold Cup, I believe the US will be going with a B-/C team. Canada and even Mexico will be leaving players out as well. I am not sure about Costa Rica or Panama, but the US should have a great chance to win it.
Callaghan said he would certainly consider staying on if that was offered to him. Seemed like that was his preference but maybe wanted to keep the door open if a job offer came from somewhere else.
to be real i preferred the day 2 lineup (give or take miles) to day 1. but it will be interesting if he is willing to accept an assistant role again or instead cashes in. the dynamo were able to keep their nextpro manager back at nextpro after he caretook the team end of last season with some success. but that sort of loyalty and biding of time can’t be routine.
Musah and Robinson each made multiple critical clearances in the 2nd half when the US started defending deep.
That tactic was not pretty, but it turned out to be effective. It did take away the advantage Canada might have had with Davies’ and Buchanan’s speed. Of course, it is possible that it wasn’t tactics that had the defense deep, so much as that the US midfield struggled with possession in the second half.
Canada is strongest as a counterattacking side. Twin dangerous center forwards in David and Larin, speedy wings in Buchanon and Davies and a tough defense.
Sometimes giving them possession and defending deep is a good thing. In basketball terms, they prefer transition offense versus a half court offense. They don’t really have a #10.
But they are tough no matter what the tactics.
They’re as athletic as we are, maybe more…if they ever do find that #10 they’re going to be lethal.
They’re still a mile better than Mexico right now, and the difference in coaching and team chemistry is night and day over what Mexico has right now too. Mexico’s broken; at no point on Thursday did it look like Mexico had a prayer of getting back into the game against us. But anybody watching last night could clearly see Canada had the capability of scoring two goals in about twenty seconds if we switched off.
the US switched it’s formation and tactics in the 2nd half with Gio out
went to 4 2 3 1 looking to counter as Canada tried so hard to get back into it pushing up its flanks
Robinson from the weakside making clearances was what he missed on in the World Cup
huge improveent
i thought they went to 5 backs. 3 CB plus weah and jedi. trusty for scally = 3 CB. then pushed weah back. looked 532 to me.
@IV, that was MUCH later in the half.2nd half started just like I said, for a while
i think they did precisely the right thing. sitting deep negated most of davies’ ability to get in behind. american fans these days have weird aesthetic hangups about such tactics. it worked, didn’t it? and we weren’t as pancaked/bunkered back, or stifled offensively, as the snobs suggest. it can in fact create the room to have fun in. the offense has that fun. defense hangs back. we aren’t denied fun by telling wingbacks, stay home. we divide the labor. save the overlaps for when it’s actually “on.”
Very good fluid soccer by the US vs Mexico and Canada. BJ made good adjustments (excellent back 5 choice), made the correct subs and put the correct line-up. The US dominated both Mexico and Canada in my opinion. Gio, Richards and Scally looked great. BJ blew both Mexico and Canada out of the water. Great job and congratulations US.
Boom! Kings we are again!
Reyna is vital and now we have our Adams replacement in Musah.
Reyna is on the transfer list for Dortmund and I think plenty of teams will be lining up for him.
the flaws in your thesis are as follows. (1) what do we do when adams comes back. (2) do you actually feel that comfortable with mckennie as an 8. i think you got proof of concept on musah as 6 but do you really think the MF is then mckennie and reyna.
and i say when adams comes back because if he’s 6 then someone’s ox gets gored. do we stick reyna, the stirring straw, back on the bench? or which of musah and mckennie gives way? see what i am saying? 4 guys, 3 slots. and with a team like ours that seems to do a lot based on club rep, they are all at decent clubs. several are at the same one, at least for now. maybe that promotes freer thinking……
Shout out to beachbum, you called it. Musah was an unsung hero tonight holding that mess together… I dunno if Johnny or Luca coulda maybe kicked it up a notch?? When aaronson went out it went from okay to uh oh but Musah deserves his props too..
Too be fair to those guys we stopped trying to have any possession when Johnny and Trusty came on.
True, but they both still looked like the game was too fast for them, Pepi as well when he came on.. IMO
Yeah I guess I agree. Not sure on Pepi since he was 1 on 3.
JR, he made 2 great hustle plays to disposess their last defender, I think one was a BS foul and the other he and CP got caught up. He’s got the hustle in him but I expected him to help drop back and run his tail off late..
I know I’m nitpicking, it’s been fun watching maybe our best 3 halves in a row with this group.
you are correct but only in a hyperprecise way. i think we were content to defend deep and seek the odd “chance.” i agree we weren’t as interested in possession. i just am concerned some folks treat indifference to possession as not trying to create. i felt like part of what i saw most of the week was a team trying harder to put the ball in dangerous spots — chances — over possessing for its own sake. the one period late first half mexico when it did briefly revert to berhalter ball farting around was probably the least effective part, but i think we had a lead already.
one could argue we showed two ways to milk clock, keepaway in game 1, 5 backs in game 2. the two tactics were probably properly selected. we had more game to kill in game 1. game 2 by the time we dropped some gears we had about 20′ left and you can just drop 5 back and dare them to pierce the shield. i wouldn’t do that for 60′ or more. and i think berhalter ball’s keepaway fetish is justified — JUST WHEN YOU HAVE A 2 GOAL LEAD. otherwise it’s a recipe for 0-0 and 1-1.
Bac: pepi had a goal the other day so i am not going to ding him the next time too bad if some high strung game turns out a little faster than he’s caught up to. to me i don’t think people realize how easily that can happen. he’s used to starting. he probably can adapt to tempo over time. it probably surprised him how quickly at that level an athletic opponent closes you down.
to me the answer is practice getting the ball off your feet faster. i generally think practice is overrated — i giggle at the people pushing running or effort (which IMO runs players into the ground over time) — but being technically sharp and prepared for the speed of play is one thing they are useful for. practice like you are being closed down in nothing flat even if your teammate isn’t doing it.
IV,
Yea I know Pepi looked good vs Mexico & like I said I was nitpicking…
Luca and Johnny to me looked just not up to speed, like the game was just too fast for them.
Among the starters the only one who didn’t look near the top of his game was BA – and I’m a huge BA fan.
Defensively his urgency was missed when he was subbed out (which I thought was a bit early), but overall not his best contribution over the two games
hey Bac, thank you
wish we could connect and have a couple beers some day
I know it’s a small sample size, but we just owned Mexico and Canada.. Yes Mexico isn’t what they usually are, but Canada was easily the best team during qualifying.
Yet they looked like that’s the “free-est” ( If thats a word) this group has looked.
Herc Gomez had a great quote: we just owned concacrap without Adams, Mckennie, Dest, Ream, and 1/2 of Gio with the interim to the interim coach
Well…. That was fun
Yes Bac, it was really fun!!!
+1!