The U.S. men’s national team was pushed to the brink by Canada in Sunday’s Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals, but outlasted its Northern neighbors in a dramatic penalty shootout.
Matt Turner made two penalty kick saves while Jesus Ferreira scored the deciding spot kick in a 3-2 shootout result. B.J. Callaghan’s squad needed to fight back in extra time, using a Scott Kennedy own goal to make it 2-2 after 120 minutes of action at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
Turner denied Canadian defender Steven Vitoria in the first round before also punching away Liam Fraser’s first-career penalty kick opportunity in the second round. Despite Brandon Vazquez’s miss in the first round, Cade Cowell, Gianluca Busio, and Ferreira all successfully scored past Dayne St. Clair.
Charles-Andreas Brym’s right-footed effort struck the crossbar which sealed the victory for the USMNT.
The USMNT was left off the hook early in first-half stoppage time after Canada pleaded for a penalty kick following Miles Robinson’s hand ball. However, Moise Bambito pushed Robinson into the Canada cross which negated the spot kick opportunity after a VAR check.
Gianluca Busio forced St. Clair into a key save in the 68th minute, creating room for a right-footed shot from point-blank range. However, St. Clair dove to his right to repel the Venezia midfielder from scoring his second goal of the tournament.
Vazquez came off the bench with the USMNT seeking a breakthrough goal and the FC Cincinnati man contributed greatly in that quest. Vazquez headed home DeJuan Jones’ cross in the box for a 1-0 USMNT lead in the 88th minute after sneaking in front of the Canada backline.
However, VAR ruled in favor of a Canada penalty kick in second-half stoppage time after a deflected pass ricocheted off of Robinson’s hand. Vitoria stepped up and blasted his penalty kick down the middle of Turner’s net for a 1-1 scoreline.
The USMNT upped its pressure in extra time and almost came up with a winning goal through Matt Miazga’s powerful header. Busio’s corner kick was headed towards goal by Miazga, but St. Clair punched the centerback’s effort over the bar to keep Canada level at 1-1.
St. Clair’s heroics kept Canada alive in the match and Jacob Shaffelburg would make the USMNT pay. Shaffelburg picked up possession at midfield and after dancing around Jesus Ferreira, the Nashville SC defender would unleash a powerful shot that deflected off Miazga and into the bottom-right corner for a 2-1 lead.
The USMNT would fight back though and benefit from its continued pressure in the 18-yard box. Miazga’s header eventually fell to the feet of Busio and despite St. Clair denying the midfielder’s shot, the rebound deflected off Kennedy and into the empty net.
Despite not making a single save in regulation or extra time, Turner came up clutch with two key saves in the shootout to help the USMNT advance to Wednesday’s semifinal round.
Panama will oppose the USMNT on Wednesday from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Cali. Mexico and Jamaica will square off on the other side of the bracket from the same venue.
I mentioned this earlier but I don’t how staying in the 4-3-3 when he moved Ferriera was BJs decision or (eh-em) a GB decision. I know someone will say it’s the same thing or it doesn’t matter, but why wouldn’t you go to a 4-2-3-1 and play Jesus in the hole.
I mean it not only woulda played to his strengths, but I think it would have been so much more effective. Yea Busio played well and got chances, but Busio and Sands woulda been a perfect duo at that point to cover 2 outside backs that were both the exhausted, I could name a few more examples but I had to vent
USMNT 2 vs CANADA (and Miles Robinson) 2 lol
This team has no CM on the team (in the 4-3-3 system) that has the ability to break lines, beat the press, turn up and dribble up field and create chances. None. We had a majority of the possession (approx. 70% possession, with only 8 shots on goal and a 82% BACK PASS RATING!!!!) but couldn’t do anything with it…….absolutely nothing. None of our central midfield players could break lines and turn up field and it almost cost us the game. If we were going to stick with the 4-3-3 system we should have brought in Luca de la Torre (as he is a sub for the first team anyway) to play that CM supplying/defending role.
With no CM in the group that can take on players, create changes (as well defend) IMO this group is begging for a 4-2-3-1 formation (Canada neutralized us with a 3-5-2 formation)
Vasquez
Cadwell / Ferreira / Yedlin
Sands / Mihailovic
Jones / Miazga / Neal / Reynolds
/ Turner /
Julian Gressel has never line-up higher than RM for Whitecaps (either RCM or RB) and it showed (same as Yedlin but he has shown to have more speed and distribution OVERLAPPING on the flank). Ferreira HAS TO BE ON THE FIELD in some capacity for the USMNT to win. If we are trying to spread the field, lob balls in from the wings and be a threat during set pieces, Vasquez has to be on the field also. We have zero speed and creativity on the right wing right now (with Morris and Gressel).
When the pressure was turned up nobody stepped up to the challenge. No one wanted to make mistakes or take on players and by doing so created mistakes or passed the ball consistently backwards. At this point we have to be proud of the team for grinding out a win at all cost…..but what will happen on Wednesday OR IF we meet Jamaica/Mexico?
Bizzy, every team the US could play the rest of the way thinks they are better than the US and won’t bunker hoping for PKs the way Canada did. While the US may struggle and lose, they don’t need to base their game plan on how Canada defended against them; they should base it on how they think their opponent is going to play them.
“…every team the US could play the rest of the way thinks they are better than the US and won’t bunker…:
Tele57 I’m not so sure about that when it comes to PANAMA. USMNT have turned into the “KING OF THE HILL” in CONCACAF and if we want to stay on top, we have to continue to be creative, intuitive, motivated and hungry. Panama will bunker and counter the us with speed…….Mexico will play conservatively in my opinion (as they have a lot to lose especially after Nations League) but JAMAICA, on the other hand, I’ll have to agree with you, if THEY make it through, WILL COME AT US HARD, as ON PAPER they are one of the strongest teams in this competition (Antonio – West Ham United /EPL, L. Bailey – Aston Villa/EPL, D. Gray – Everton/EPL, Reid – Fulham/EPL, Bell – Luton Town/Promoted EPL) hence rightfully so.
Kind of tired of this talk about B/C team. In the past two years at least 9 of these guys have been apart of the “A”team and seen significant minutes in Gold cups, WCQ and the World Cup itself. Busio, Sean John, Matt Turner, Sonora, Roldan, Yedlin, Robinson, Long, Ferreira, Sands, Jordan Morris.
Of those only Turner and Miles would be considered 1st choice starters (I’m not sure Miles is back to that level after year off for Achilles). Sonora had played 128 minutes before the GC (all coming outside Fifa windows). Morris played 3 mins at the WC, Roldan, Long, and Johnson played 0 mins. Busio 121 minutes since last GC 2 years ago. Sands 163 minutes since last GC 90 of those during El Cashico outside of FIFA window.
This is whip I would start against Panama:
Jesus,Vaz,Roldan
Zend,Sands,Busio
Jones,Miazga,Robo,Yedlin
Turner
Subs: Cowell, Morris, Mihailovich, Reynolds.
Makes me laugh some soccer talking heads are saying Canada deserved to win?.?.?.?.?.? Based on what? USMNT dominated possession, shots, shots on goal and overall play. Yes at times the USMNT didn’t play up to “your” perceived standards, but in no way would I say Canada deserved to win this game. If the US was considered poor…. Canada looked even worse.
Sometimes the game just doesn’t bounce your way all of the time. They fought got the go ahead goal, got knocked back with a circumstantial PK, and fought back in over time to tie the game, and won the game on PK’s. No you never want to see a game go to PK’s. Canada made it a slog which credit to them, but you need these type of games in tournament settings. Not every game is going to be a beautiful attacking display.
2Tone, I don’t get that either. The idea that Canada played great and the US sucked doesn’t make much sense to me. If the US sucked, Canada sucked worse. You don’t concede possession and bunker unless you think the other team is better. Their ta tics essentially acknowledge that their coach thinks the US had better players.
With a short rest and a long flight, game management will be key for Wednesday. BJ will undoubted check on his players before game time.
– You do not lose a lot in rotating some of the defense. There is not a deep talent drop between four CBs on the roster. Yedlin can cover for Reynolds, and Tolkin for Jones, if necessary.
– Sands has played every minute so far at #6, and has played well. There’s too much of a gap in the depth chart here, but Sands appears to be in great shape, and just has to continue his form. Ferreira is shown he also has great stamina, and can drop back into MF if needed. Maybe Busio can give you a full 90, but Mihailovic was pulled early, and may need to be that guy on Wednesday. Without Aiden Morris, we are at risk.
– While Zendejas has received due criticism, one cannot fault his effort. He can give you more quality minutes than a recovering Morris. Cowell is fresh and keeps the defense honest.
Let’s hope:
No extra time on Wednesday
Jamaica knocks off Mexico. Mexico has a massive home field advantage with the final in LA.
great post, thank you
we’ll see how BJ does it, but guessing the front 3 stay the same with the Cade and Vasquez duo super subbing same roles, depending on the game of course, and then we’ll see.
I wonder about Miles being tired and the kid Neal, so can Long and/or Miazga get it done? I hope Miazga scores a header on a set piece if he plays but I’d rather see Miles and Neal if they’re fit, but if they’re going to only be able to go so far, will be interesting to see when BJ uses them
here’s hoping!
The advantage BJ has in my eyes with the tired legs is more flexibility up front and at defense. Panama on paper is a better team than Canada, so having a pool of veteran defenders who are rested helps counter that. I’m not convinced Gressel matches up well with Panama, so perhaps a fresher Cowell gets the start. But, fine with the same front three and subbing patterns, with Morris also a 2nd half sub option. The wildcard really is Sands, who has played every minute of every game so far, and BJ realizes spare part Yueill is only an emergency option. As you said, should be interesting…
Not now, but next fall, GB must decide if he is going to actually use a striker or not.
Ferreira is not a big striker who can win crosses. Vazquez, Wright, Pefok, are Sargent and Pepi may be. They play in different leagues so the strike rate for their clubs is not a particularly useful guide. They need to be tested with the A-team wingers and mids to see which is best at providing hold-up play and actually finishing from the service the other A-teamers can provide against better teams.
I think if you are going to rely on Ferreira to score bunches of goals against better teams you will be disappointed.
Whoops somehow left Folarin off the list.
Flo is undoubtedly our #9 but Flo is 5’10, 146 pounds.
That is not “big striker” dimensions.
That’s Brenden Aaronson (5’10” 154 pounds) territory.
my theory is this is like an extended january camp where one gets to showcase their wares. (hence i encourage experiment) as such, more interesting for individual performances. for this game, turner, robinson, cowell, vazquez, jones, and then sands had a great play where he came back and stripped a ball. the first few of those are unsuprising “ringers” that add little to the sense of who might help A team. last few are information.
ferreira kind of disappeared. djordje and gressel didn’t do much, didn’t play bad, didn’t add much either. busio had “the goal” but it was pinball and he had so many wasted chances.
the ones who hurt themselves, reynolds, neal, zendejas, roldan. but the last 2 i am reminded that GB is soon to run the show and that’s who decides their continued presence.
I think Neil and Reynolds showed that is harder to play against a decent team than against St. Kitts or T&T.
When facing better opposition, Neil made some very bad back passes, one needlessly gave up a corner kick and another from which Canada somehow miraculously failed to score.
Reynolds found himself in foot races that he lost, backs must either be able to win those races or play smart enough to never be in a position to lose them.
I can’t recall any particularly bad defensive plays by Jones, but he did look susceptible in 1v1 defensive encounters. Of the backs Jones, I think, got the highest marks mostly due to his great service to Vazquez on the goal.
Someone needs to tie a bungee cord around Robinson’s arms in the penalty area..
If your game plan is to take it up the sidelines and put in crosses, then your lineup should have a target striker. Otherwise, the wings need to cut in or the mids need to come forward. JF was not the guy for this game plan.
+1
this is a long term critique of mine of this regime. they obsess about abstract goals numbers like a mediocre MLS team. they don’t even necessarily contextualize those numbers — for example, do 6 goals on minnows count more than 2 on good teams? do 15 goals in a soft defensive league count more than 5-10 in a good one?
worse, soccer is a 2 team game, and like you’re saying, they don’t seem to have thought about how the front 4-5 attacking players will work together to get the goals scored. or how can i exploit canada?
Ths finishing and the final ball were missing all over the field. Jones to Vasquez the best ball of the game but even when other good final balls were played the finishing was bad. Busio played well but also would have been the goat if a loss because of it. Canada always mucks everything up under Herdman pretty well looking to turn you over in the middle channel to counter, content to blast long and reset their D to set up the counter (Herdman ball) if nothing on. Herdman tries everything to deny the counter to the opposition, entire game plan revolves around that
If starting Gressel, then start Vasquez, but I doubt we see changes. Jesus and Zendejas were fine imo, tho I knew they’d take heat here. Alex better underneath tucked inside, maybe paired with Reynolds on one side to use that better?
But the final ball and finishing the problem imo across the board. Tired legs not subbed another one, but BJ has who he has on the roster
Turner the MOTM for me
When the team isn’t playing well, the GK almost has to be the MOTM in a win. 2 blocked PKs = 2 on the board.
The goat was Robinson with two handballs!
Neal had the second best pass next to Jones(what a pass!!!!)
he had zero recorded saves during the match, so team must not have played so terribly
After the Vazquez goal, the game should have been over. Canada didn’t even have a shot on goal until their second goal in extra time, I believe. Miles, had a stinker of a game with two handballs even though one was ruled out.
ok, but Busio missing wide open looks makes him not the MOTM for me, and almost the goat
that 2nd handball was bad luck imo, the ball popped up in an instant and hit him. yes a handball, but bad luck
we have some technicians who can shoot but (a) they were not on the provo list and (b) they are either in the “european B team black hole” or off the radar entirely. eg green can shoot but that’s not mattered for years to anyone but a few.
also, i don’t think people necessarily realize it’s a function of the lineup still. he’s still running out 2-3 DM lineups with Fs who are out there as much to press as anything else. don’t be surprised if they are “fairly arriola” themselves when they have to finish. just like when wondo got pressed into world cup duty in his era.
i mean, end of the game he has gressel and djordje yanked and roldan trying to hit balls into the box that instead launch counters. cowell was a plus but their whole personnel mentality makes sub decisions often 1 step forward 1 step back. miazga? nearly cost them the game. did they not watch the whole last cycle?
Gressell and Mihailovic were average at best and both were out of gas. Neal was making more mistakes as the game went and Robinson was on a minutes restriction (according to the announcers).
Green decline the 2021 Gold Cup because Furth wanted him in preseason no indication that wasn’t the case here. Honestly, I’m shocked we got Mihailovic, Busio, and Reynolds.
dude, what are you talking about “shocked?” under FIFA rules a regional championship is like a window friendly. they CANNOT TELL ME NO. the only exception is injury.
this is not an access issue, they can access who they want, this is either we don’t rate him or we’re “working with the teams.” that is to say, do they want them. but “working with the teams” is less convincing when they haven’t been called in years. be real, which do you think better explains green? they can barely be bothered.
fwiw, “working with the teams” is goofy unless they are copa america bound. i don’t need to kiss up to get window access. the rules give me that. and the rules give me this too.
but if you look at most of the foreign based, they are backups, or coming back from loan, or maybe being sold or loaned again. that says to me maybe we were timid and went only for ones with career issues. playing in serie b. back at roma from a loan when they’re about to ship him out again. etc. but the rules say they don’t have to be so shy.
nah i just think they aren’t green fans. and so i get to watch us sub in roldan or depending on a busio pinball to stay in the game.
side point but people keep insinuating green sucks or something. he had 7G 3A last season. he had 10G 3A two seasons ago. he had a rough year in between in B.1 but who among our players hasn’t. we have called in hoppe or sargent from germany for less than that.
his exclusion is particularly odd because i see some similarities between him and ferreira and jesus has come into fashion with the NT as we try some false 9 stuff or moving him around. green can similarly move around.
i think the real issue is he’s more like a striker or true 10 and if you watch us closely we often are running out more like 3 DM. but there too, callaghan tried reyna central. it worked. i am always hearing how x doesn’t fit scheme then we tweak the scheme for someone else in a way that fits the other guy. personally i think 3 DM is overdoing it. i think we could use mr. clutch. i think he’s versatile and technical like ferreira. i think if we play false 9s and actual 10s he fits the scheme better.
or i can watch us grind barely past canada B. two actual contests played to two regulation ties. hardly the stamp of approval on their choices.
This isn’t a video game, it’s people’s lives. It’s not that a club says “no”, it’s more like “we really want you here with us to compete for your spot”. You’re Julian Green you can go play in the GC and come back as the #3 guy on the depth chart or you can stay and maybe keep your regular playing time. USMNT doesn’t pay his bills, Furth does. He knows he’s not going to win a spot in the regular 16 (clearly not better than the guys in NL who played). So why would you come at age 28 and risk your job. Julian said he’d been in contact with Berhalter in the fall of ‘21, so I don’t know what’s happened after that. USSF will continue to bring the “C” team as long as they keep winning with it.
Glad for the guys we gutted out the win. Agree the lineup was very wrong for the opponent, needed speed on the wings. Changes will definitely be needed for the next game. Can any of the guys who just went 120min start on 2 days rest? Some big decisions for BJ, we saw in the world cup what happened with no rotation. This roster is looking really thin this morning with these considerations. For me, fresh legs would trump tactics, just due to the massive effort required last night. I would rotate heavily, hoping we can get thru Panama, and have something left for the final. It’s really only the central midfield areas that might suffer. Who starts for Busio and Sands?
Who starts for Busio & Sands? If this question is not rhetorical, here’s what I hope to see, or here’s what I would do. (In tournament play, I’d keep in mind, of my personnel in regards to the next opponent. Reggae Boys/El Tri! Without overlooking the current opponent my team is against). Busio & Sands still start for me vs Panama. Busio moves to LW, moving him closer to goal. Allowing him to make decisions inside the ‘18 vs in the midfield. Sands moves to LCB w/ Miazga @ RCB. Djordje, Yeuill, Roldan in the middle. Tolkin & Yedlin are the fullbacks. Vasquez & Gressel are the last 2 of the front 3.
4-3-3
Busio, Vasquez, Gressel
Djordje, Yueill, Roldan
Tolkin, Sands, Miazga, Yedlin
Turner
Subs- Cowell (Busio), Zendejas (Gressel) ‘60, no matter what. Miles (Sands) ‘70. I haven’t figured my 4th sub yet. I’d sub out Djorde if he’s showing fatigue physically or having mental lapses because of fatigue. Jesus gets the nod over A Mo. J Mo in the ‘80 for Vasquez. I’d start BVZ the next 2 matches and let him go for ‘90 if we get passed Panama. From quarterfinals to the end, it’s nothing but physical teams. Panama is going to foul and foul a lot more than Canada.
Great cross from Jones for Vazquez header.
Yet another Ferreira disappearing act vs a bit stiffer opposition than your carribean minions. He’s yet to prove he can be a threat against any opponent we don’t beat 5-0 easily. The WC showed he wasn’t ready. Today confirma it. Don’t start him vs Panama. That kid Cowell has more promise. Give him a chance. Same as Mihalovic – he’s not good enough for international play.
At the end of day, this B/C team is uninspiring and boring. Though they can still win this thing hopefully.
Have you noticed during Ferreira’s “disappearing acts” that the MF often just immediately plays the safe pass back to the CBs who then spend 5 minutes passing back and forth to each other then pass it back to a MF who doesn’t attempt to turn or play a progressive pass and immediately pass back to the CB or all the way back to Turner. You get a huge appreciation for Dest, McKennie, Reyna and Musah on nights like this and their ability to just dribble or combine around the opponent’s midfield. I’m not saying Ferreira was good he just never had a chance to have a good one. If you play so slow that Canada can get set in their lines even Balo would have struggled last night.
perhaps notice that in the actual contests as opposed to the 6-0 blowouts, ferreira disappears and vazquez knocks a goal in scrapping in the box. i think it has more to do with being prepared for a conventional poacher role than ferreira.
ferreira’s problem has been he’s an interesting theoretical false 9 for a wannabe pep scheme but the scheme doesn’t work and they don’t get him on the ball enough. to me he needs wings that invert some and go to goal who can combine with him. we kind of want the wings to play keepaway in the flag area. then play a long ball in.
vazquez is a lot sloppier than ferreira but he does the old school striker stuff that matches with the service they are getting. he gets in and heads or volleys or first time shoots. it doesn’t look pretty and it might even be more halting of offense than ferreira but it’s more effective against good teams.
i kind of like, however, the role he seems to have found this tournament, which is occasional swiss army knife. sometimes wing. sometimes 10. sometimes 9. which is in the spirit of a false 9 positionless system anyway. i do want him out there because like cowell things just seem to happen.
@johnnyrazor – sure Ferreira didn’t get good service. But for me I’ve never seen him do anything well in any real game vs tougher opponents. And he had his opportunities to prove something since he was at the WC. But every time in those big games he disappoints. Maybe he’s just a good MlS career guy and international play is just a step to high for him right now. Nothing wrong with that. Same goes for Mihalovic – never been impressed by him international level. Soft and predictable. They’re still young and obviously can improve, but right now I’m not seeing anything special that tells me “these guy will help in 2026”, so might as well explore other options while they develop and challenge themselves at club level.
Cowell and Vasquez imo have much more upside right now. and I would like to more of them with USMNT.
Wrong personnel in a wrong formation. USMNT got away with one tonight.
For the love of everything holy do not line up Zendejas and Gressel in a 4-3-3 against Panama. It’s fine to use Gressel for his service but you need an actual target striker for that.
What this tournament has shown me is that Zendejas is not a winger in the USMNT. He could be a good option as an attacking 8. Also has shown me that our wing depth for a 4–3-3 may not be very deep. Cowell has had moments that make you stand up and moments that make you go yep he needs more seasoning.
I wouldn’t be opposed to a formation change to a 3-5-2 against Panama. With Ferreira and Vazquez partnering. Cowell and Morris are both capable of playing in a two forward system as well. Anyways have to be better against Panama. BJ needs to get his formation and personnel right from the start.
Stats do show that the US was pretty much dominating the game though.
i wanted to see cowell and zendejas start just to run at them a while and tenderize them and see if we could get behind their backline. regardless of the end product. with ferreira who fits that kind of running game. then come with djordje, gressel, and vazquez at the end.
i feel like zendejas has played his way off the A team by how this summer has gone. personally i was skeptical because i thought his first january game was underwhelming. he then had a decent second cap. but i think that now looks like the outlier. this is why i am like try a few different people, give them some games, see what happens. this regime seems to adore 1 game wonders. to me until they do it more than once it’s not clear if you’re just seeing “grenada” or “st. kitts” more so than their actual talent.
the issue i see is the US once you’re “in,” and he got in, this bunch is slow to send you back “out.” regardless what we think of his recent efforts, to this regime, he was the starter last night. to me they need to just call sets of players to try, throw them out there a period of minutes, then compare everyone, quit trying to annoint the starters from a single game. zendejas may or may not even have a bench use and is still starting off like one decent appearance. go a little slower.
Bj got the lineup wrong. No speed to test the backline. Gressell for crosses but no target striker and Victoria and Miller are literally best at defending crosses. Gressell and Zendajas didn’t do anything tonight to reward Bj’s belief. Neither were bad, but neither were good. That allowed Canada belief and allowed them to bunker in in the second half. By the time Cowell and Vazquez came on there was much less space to get in behind. But Cowell’s “What if our best athletes played soccer style” really put them on the back foot.
——————
Can Ferreira and Busio go 90 Wednesday after 120 tonight because Panama has looked much tougher than Canada this tournament.
I’m not so sure he got the lineup wrong; he can only choose from the players on the roster. There is a pretty good sample size that shows at this level Cowell is better as a sub running at tired defenders and Gressel over Roldan or an injured Morris might make sense. Morris is probably only 45 minutes fit at best right now. It was Morris that again won a header in the box late to help them get the tie but if he started, he certainly would have needed a sub pretty early. It’s not like the team didn’t have chances. I think Busio missed two point blank chances pretty early in the game. While Cowell created chaos, he last touch, pass, or shot once again failed him on all occasions which is consistent with his play the whole tournament except one bright moment against Trinidad. Zendejas is probably starting because he isnoutplaying the competition significantly in training. This was probably his best game so far as the other three were pretty dreadful.
If you are going to insert Gressell who is not very good at all except for crosses, you start Vasquez and not the 5’2 Ferreira. This is not Ferreira’s game. Canada took advantage of this. This a typical GB ball.
Vazquez
After the T&T game, IV pointed out that Gressel and Vazquez should be playing together. I agreed. Why have Gressel who can serve the ball well try to hit smallish forwards when you have a 6’3″ striker on the bench?
Peter P, Ferriera is 5′-8″, the same height as Pele. I’m pretty sure Pele scored a lot of goals with his head. I agree that Ferriera isn’t good in the air but his height isn’t the issue. The game was so bad I don’t think I will rewatch but my recollection was that Gressel was picking players out and putting in dangerous balls and creating legitimate scoring opportunities. That is a far cry from Dest and Robinson banging in a bunch of aimless crosses to 6 defenders and a goalie with only one attacking player in the box.
tele: let’s be real. if we are going to whack crosses in a lot, on average, who is more likely to do something with it. i’m not saying a short guy can’t battle for headers and get the odd goal. i am average height and had a header goal in college and was decent in the air from playing basketball. i got beaten for like one header goal in college and that dude was taaaaaall.
but if we’re planning a scheme around it, 6′ 2″ and known for header goals vs. 5′ 8″ and only occasionally.
horses for courses. i’d prefer we keep the ball on the ground and feed the striker balls to feet. then flick and wall pass into the box. that fits ferreira. or get the ball to the endline and square balls to the spot. ditto.
but how often do we do that? which is a function of scheme and tendency. what are we trying to do. what do we like to do. i don’t know if we’re trying to be a cross-and-defend team but it ends up how we play a lot, especially on the B team.
this also gets into my scouting vs. analytics thing. we love numbers. i don’t think we think about how those numbers happen. to get those numbers it helps to play the same way that player is used to attacking. if the wide players want to play some other way then you need a striker to fit that. if that effort seems crude or undesirable or low efficiency for you, then you need to grab the team by the scruff of the neck until it plays how you want to that fits with ferreira or sargent or the more technical strikers. otherwise i’m watching slow strikers like sargent not staying with lead balls balogun gets, or shorter strikers like ferreira being hit tall header crosses that are better suited to pefok or vazquez.
some of this goes to what is the identity of the team and what is the attack plan. wanting to possess is not the same thing as scoring goals.
IV, if the game plan is to have your outside fullbacks whack aimless crosses from the end lines to the center of the box with one attacker there and six defenders like in road qualifying games, it doesn’t matter if the fwd is Vasquez, Ferriera, Zardes, Balogun, or Tiny Tim. The only way you are going to score like that is complete luck and if your game plan is to be “lucky” to win, it is probably not a very good game plan. The Vasquez goal against Jamaica was the reult of an aimless cross of the same vain that was very poorly taken. The two main differences were that the US had 5 players in the box waiting for a rebound matching the total number of players Jamaica had in the vicinity and the Jamaican defender made an inexplicably bad decision to try to play the ball at his chest level (most likely because he knew there was an attacking player to his right but disnt know the player had no chance at the ball). Vasquez did nothing special for that goal. Granted, Busio probably would have kicked it right to the goalie, Cowell probably 20 yards over the goal, and Roldan would have likely drilled it into a teammates face, but Tiny Tim would have scored just like Vasquez did. The Vasquez goal against Canada was not an aimless cross. Jones played a very good early ball from outside when he recognized that Vasquez was isolated on Vitoria. That was not Vasquez winning a ball amongst 6 defenders. Sending in aimless crosses was not the gameplan against Canada on Sunday. The number of crosses that Gressel hit was a result of Canada effectively nuetralizing Ferriera and Mahailovic’s ability to create chance through passing and ball distribution but he was trying to pick out players not just kicking the ball aimlessly. Would you say he played well if he just passed the ball backwards every time instead of trying to create dangerous opportunities. That would have looked a lot more like the Hamilton game.
Tele57,
Pele was fantastic in the air But Pele’s Brazil didn’t often score from the classic set piece header.
They were more interesting than that.
If being big and tall was all it took to deal with balls in the air, then why are there great NFL receivers, cornerbacks and safeties who are under 6 feet tall?
Why is every guy over 7 feet tall not a great rebounder in the NBA? Charles Barkley was 6’4″. Wes Unseld was 6’5.
Having the physical tools does not hurt especially in set piece scrums but you also need, vision, timing, strength, athleticism, guts, etc.
And not all headers are from set pieces or moonshots coming down that you have to out jump a guy for..
Vazquez’s goal was mostly about DeJuan’s cross. That cross just cleared the top of the defender’s head. Vazquez had to time his run perfectly to be exactly where Dejuan, who was behind Vazquez when he crossed the ball,.
In other words, that goal was all about the cross and Brandon’s vision, timing and heading skill. His height and size did not matter. Pulisic could have scored that goal.
Can Ferreira and Busio go 90 on Wednesday…? I think they can. I don’t think they’ll be as effective late in the game. I def don’t want to see that happen. Let me get that perfectly clear!! Jesus greatest asset in all the positive attributes he has is his stamina. The Olympic qualification tournament proved that and he’s been a 9 ever since. (Which I’ve always disagreed). Busio’ has built up his stamina since WCQ. Would I like them burnt out playing Panama and have nothing for the finals? Hell no!! Use up players like Roldan & Gressel. I hope to see Busio as a LW for ‘60, less running and punishment than in the midfield. I hope Jesus doesn’t start v Panama. I hope we have a 2 goal + lead so he can rest and be ready for the final. Being used as a 9, and a midfielder has got to be grueling physically especially playing without being subbed off. Correct me if I’m wrong, he’s played 480 minutes, right?!
Greg Valazquez did a comp of the 10 crosses that were played before Vazquez came on. Only 4 of them were high crosses. 4 times in 70 minutes roughly. (Wyscout does not count corners or free kicks as crosses.)
JR, because I seemed to be so far off from the majority on Gressel and Busio’s performance, I went back and rewatched the game to evaluate all of Gressell’s touches which turns out to be harder than I expected as I am not sure what entails a won dual and an incomplete pass. Here is what I got: 5 corners, 4 good 1 bad; 11 passes completed 2 backwards from advanced positions; 6 incomplete passes, 1 through Busio’s legs, 1 that Zendejas waited on; 3 free kicks 2 great, 1 okay; 4 crosses, 1 great, 2 bad, 1 blocked out for US throw in; 3 times won the ball back for the team; made a wide far post run keeping Miller from doubling Vasquez on his goal. His highlights were 1) set piece flick on corner played great to Mahailovic that led to great scoring opportunity by Ferriera 2) set Busio up at top of box for open look at goal but Busio took soft shot 3) set up Zendejas behind defense but Zendejas was slow, they got a corner kick 4) set up Busio behind defense but Busio crossed blindly to no one 5) great backheel to Busio at 18 where Busio fouled for free kick that Busio ended up taking- didn’t clear the wall but went out for a corner 6) great aerial cross to spot with 3 US and only 3 Canada leading to a great scoring opportunity where Busio probably rushed and extended getting off only a soft shot (Ahmed got hurt and when restarted it was Canada kick so I am guessing they called a foul so might not really have been a scoring chance) 7) allowed Vasquez to get isolated on Vitoria on the goal by his off the ball play 8) the game was bad on the 2nd watch as the first. After rewatching, I stand behind my opinion that Gressell was good. I think I was probably too harsh on Busio based on him missing several legitimate scoring opportunities with very soft shots. He had more bad plays than Gressel but was may more involved and did make a lot of good plays. Reynolds kind of had a nightmare which I didn’t really pick up on in real time. There were many players worse than Gressell and he actually contributed to a lot of the good scoring opportunities, however he actually had far fewer crosses than I remembered. I don’t think I will ever do this again.
Tele57 kudos to you for your diligence. A full rewatch is hard. I can rarely do more than a half. I checked Gressell’s stats on a Fotmob and SofaScore and they were pretty close to the same. I don’t think Gressell was bad he just wasn’t good. Or maybe better put he wasn’t put in a position to be good.
JR
The irony of the proposed Gressel to Brandon cross as a weapon was that they did get that weapon but the cross came from DeJuan Jones.
I don’t know how “high ” crosses are defined but Dejuan’s cross dropped in just over the leaping defender’s head and allowed Brandon to just run on to it. He didn’t have to “out-tall ” anyone.
I haven’t seen a ton of Brandon so I don’t know if he throws his weight around but what I noticed about him is that he’s an unconscious guilt free shooter. As a striker, he has no shame. They have to take their quarter, half and whole chances instantly. And he’s happy to do that.
Not exactly the US team’s finest moment. Lalas in his post game analysis was spot on. For those who didn’t see, especially in the first half, the US had an old bugaboo. Not enough movement off the ball and the ball moved much too slowly. All too often the US defensive backs would just make square passes or back passes. All too often a US player would get the ball and not know what to do with it. Although Canada was not much of an offensive threat, the US was lucky to win.
So very true Gary! US desperately needed a midfielder to take a touch into space and attack with a dribble or be brave and make an accurate pass into a dangerous space. Did not help not having a target for a striker most of the match. Good Canadian gameplan taking Ferreira out of the match by marking the midfield man to man and the midfield playing poorly until Busio picked it up!
Yeah, I hate to admit in when Alexi is right, but the speed of play for the US in the first half was nearly as bad as it was against Jamaica, woeful.
It is always hard to tell if it is the passers not passing forward or if the would be receivers not being in open spots that is the root cause, but I think it was a bit of both. Too many US players seemed to want to take 3 or more touches before passing the ball (often backwards!).
Players with the ball should pass the ball where someone should be; that usually gets the forwards finding those spots, or at least points out that the forwards were lacking and makes it easier for the coach to see what is wrong.
Many years ago when Bob Bradley was coaching a youth team, a very good young defender said he hated it when Bob played on his side in scrimmages. Why you might ask? The reason the young player said was that every time he won the ball, Bob would be open with a path to goal and he could not always get the ball to him.
I suspect the players know who was at fault for the slow play.
The second Canada goal doesn’t happen if a dead legged Reynolds was not on the field. Anyone paying attention knew any serious threat was going coming down his side after Schaflenburgermeister or whatever ran by him… and then did it again.
Literally thought the same thing! Reynolds’s over Yedlin to start but he was gassed and it was obvious.
True, but Jesus missed his chance to bring the guy down
Yo, did you not see Ferreira weak attempt to defend? Both Reynolds and Ferreira were gassed and Canada knew it. However, Laryea was gassed and the US should drive at him