The U.S. men’s national team faces European opposition for the first time since January with Germany opposing the Americans in East Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. ET).
Gregg Berhalter’s squad faces off with the Germans on the campus of the University of Connecticut in the first of two October friendlies. It will mark the first head-to-head showdown between the two countries since June 2015.
Several first-team starters are back in the USMNT fold this month with Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, and Weston McKennie all set for important minutes. Gio Reyna is included in his first camp under Berhalter since the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Lennard Maloney will be seeking his USMNT debut after previously representing both the United States and Germany at youth level.
Germany has struggled majorly this calendar year, which led to the firing of Hansi Flick in September and the hiring of Julian Nagelsmann. Jamal Musiala is a young phenom to watch for the Germans after rising into one of the key players at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
SBI will be providing coverage of the mouthwatering clash throughout the day so be sure to stay tuned as we provide updates, and analysis before, during and after the match.
Here is a rundown of SBI’s pre-match coverage:
- Weston McKennie believes the USMNT’s showdown with Germany is a “great opportunity” for the program. (LINK)
- Gio Reyna is back in the USMNT fold under Gregg Berhalter and admitted it’s been “completely normal”. (LINK)
- Who Should Start for the USMNT vs. Germany? (LINK)
- USMNT midfielder Yunus Musah admitted that patience helped him earn a growing role at club level with AC Milan. (LINK)
- Chris Richards is using his latest USMNT opportunity to “elevate” his game at the international level. (LINK)
- Lennard Maloney is the latest dual-national player to receive his USMNT opportunity this window. (LINK)
- Gregg Berhater is going to “be creative” with Gio Reyna is his return to the USMNT. (LINK)
SBI’s editorial staff will provide insight and analysis throughout the day in the comments section below. You are welcome to share your own pre-game and in-game thoughts and opinions as well.
Enjoy the action.
Tale of two halves. We were competitive, maybe even the better team, in the first half. Blown off the field in the second. Credit to Germany for bringing their best in that second, they looked fantastic. Havertz, Brandt, Muller come in as subs, holy smokes. But my goodness is it a serious trend now that we get outmaneuvered after halftime against the top teams (uhm top managers…). That has got to be worked out. Kudos to Gregg for getting guys to buy in, and setting us up for that first half. But man, come on, getting worked in the second again. Can we please get a tactical advisor for in-game stuff.
Same old same old. We have NEVER beaten a good Euro team under Berhalter.
Please let that sink in and ask yourself if you really believe it can change.
to me it’s the irony of a team that goes to lengths to mimic continental soccer that can’t beat anyone on the continent. but then the idea is to be acceptable to rush the Fraternity as opposed to win soccer games. most teams set up tactics to win ballgames as opposed to deliberately fighting their nature because they aspire to something else.
to me a half-brained college coach with this pool would counter with all the wide speed and talent. fly weah and aaronson down the line or reyna up the middle to set up puli, pepi, weston, and balogun in the box. why on earth with this roster would you play slow half court tentative soccer. this isn’t a bunch of spanish kids trained up at la masia to make 100 short passes and run circles. it’s generally athletes who can play soccer.
Well that didn’t end well. Long way to go still. I am not shocked Berhalter can’t seem to figure out his attack. Balogun barely touched the ball. We all know Balogun has quality. Berhalter needs to consider changing up the formation in order to get the attack going better. Also Germany as whole just understands spaial recognition much better than our guys do.
Balogun has barely touched the ball in almost every game he plays, and yet he occasionally manages something. Who runs their team to not find the 9? I mean, who else is a 433 team supposed to be funneling to? Let’s be real. While talking about how we are a baby Pep style possession team, it’s really a bunch of DMs like Klinsi’s Brazil empty bucket. They need to decide are we REALLY trying to play offense or are we just trying to bust up attacks then play for 1-0. If we want to play Musah Weston etc. then we should be playing for 1-0 with a lot more grinder types, especially in the back. If they want offense then some of the grinders gotta go and we need more Reyna types who will take people on, go to goal, set up teammates.
433 is not a defensive formation. The personnel are not like we are selling out to play offense. What is our identity? But maybe this is what happens when one hires a former center back to implement Pep ideas.
Also, as I said the other day about ACM, you watch them and they play like us but everything doesn’t go to the flag. Half the time the winger will spin off and invert instead of overlap wide. So there are options inside instead of take it wide and play keepaway.
GB change of formation in the second half was terrible. It’s the same old nonsense. The guy can’t beat one quality team.
I’m not a Berhalter fan and I wish he wasn’t rehired but Berhalter had about 1% responsibility for them losing. The German players are better than the US players. There was no one else he could have put in for Reyna that would have been playing anywhere near his capability. The drop off between the top US players and the next best is huge. That isn’t the case for Germany. The difference between Reyna and LDLT was competitive vs non-competitive.
I agree with all that. I will say this then why have Luca and Yunus switch spots. Yunus wasn’t having a great game but it looked on first watch that Yunus pushed up into the area Gio had been and Luca was deeper. Against the athleticism of physicality of Germany you’d want to leave the better defender deeper.
JR, Okay, 10%, but they would not have been competitve in the 2nd half either way. Germany could have scored a lot in first half also. Lots of holes in the central defense. McKennie is not a 6.
You are correct. We lost the midfield when Reyna left, and no Adams or Tillman to fill in that gap. I’m confident Reyna was on a minutes restriction, as he did well.
Bull!!! Bull!!!! It was 99% his fault as always. Just because you do not have Renyna does not mean you have to go wide and kick crosses. Balo was getting frustrated the whole because he wasn’t getting the ball when he made runs. GB got coached like he always does. The guy sucks!! After about 10 minutes of after the two goals, he made some changes but it was far too late as always. Who cares if the Germans have more talent that the US players? That doesn’t mean a dam thing. Klinsi beat Germany’s first team, which was way better than this Germany team with a less talented US side. The US was in this game until the second half. Why? Because that’s when GB gets out coached.
We did not lose the midfield when Reyna went out. We lost the midfield when the buffoon switched formations. He switched back how the players were playing in the first half by pushing Luca de la Tore up , but it was too late by then. Not having Reyna wasn’t our downfall, it was GB coaching. In the first half the Musa wasn’t going wide and fullbacks weren’t pushing up. In the Second half, GB went back by going wide and kicking crosses. Going wide was a gift for Germany; they exploited that hole; then, GB made the adjustment but it was too late. GB needs to put his most creative players on the field and shore up the defense by bringing in his best D and quit holding grudges. If GB can learn anything, it is stop going wide and kicking crosses. It’s too practicable, He is not taking advantage of creative best players. That’s another thing, he needs to not only play his most creative midfield but also has to give them the freedom to be creativein the middle. The only positive was that we showed we could hang and play with a side like Germany. Just because you don’t have Gio doesn’t mean you panic and go back to GB Ball.
Sorry about the typos.
Peter P.
Did the USMNT go wide by choice or were they forced wide by Germany?
Vacqui
Great question. Germany, what I could see did not have to make any adjustments. It was GB making the adjustment due to Reyna’s absence which open up some nice holes for the German side. Then he corrected himself which was good but too late. Hopefully he can learn from this.
so we have now “played to win” by starting the usual guys but got absolutely whooped and in doing so will have wasted a game trying to sort out who the XI are that might actually beat a team like Germany. please stow the coach-sycophancy or intellectual arrogance of assuming this is all sorted already. obviously isn’t.
There is no one on the bench that beats Germany if they are up for it, how do we know because we see them every week. We’ve played your 90s style sit and counter and we were punished severely. But yeah I’m sure starting Green, Holmes, and Romain Gall would have really tipped the balance.
quitter. you’re saying without saying we can’t beat them. then don’t bother lecturing the people who want to keep trying things and players.
You really think you can beat a team made of Bayern, Man City, Arsenal, Dortmund, Real Madrid and Barcelona players are going to get unlocked by some guy who can’t get off the bench at Coventry. What
They were just better, and their depth and experience definitely showed. But they were also definitely taking us seriously, which is new.
Good measuring-stick game and it showed a lot of potential…and it also showed us we’ve got a ways to go, both in terms of development and maturity (and in, cough, coaching) and also in terms of talent…we still need to upgrade some a couple places and let some of the younger guys progress. I wish we had opponents like this every window. That grows players up quick.
Not really disappointed. We scared them that first half. Athletically we were superior and you could see it was worrying them. We came out very ambitious with no fear and punched with a German team that was full of top-tier guys that was very much looking like the German team I’m used to seeing (and the same one that beat France 2-1 their last match).
Second half…well, hopefully it was a learning experience for Gregg.
I do think we’ve got a squad that can go a ways in Copa America next year.
JR: I repeat myself, quitter. Someone who is out of ideas shouldn’t be lecturing the rest of us who see such games as winnable. Yes, we can. What do you think 2009 confed cup was. This is half my issue with you fanboys, is like you want to play naive formations and go end to end and then when we lose oh well, they had better personnel. To me if Germany is going to walk it up I sit back, entice them forward, then play Balogun and Weah in behind them.
I mean Germany’s speed of play was like walking the ball up. You can’t stop a team walking the ball up? Really? Sit back and stay goal side. This is coaching 101. Why are we diving in all over the field on a team content to move the ball glacial pace?
The attack I am thinking of is stuff like the play where Weah blows by their defense wide off a Pulisic overlap. We have a ton of wing talent. We are not baby Peps as a team. We are not playing baby Pep mids. Fashionable nonsense. Play something that fits the personnel.
No, what I’m saying is you can’t play old tired tactics and expect to beat one of the brightest young minds in the game. You want to bunker, ok I’ll send my Champions League winning CBs on runs behind your backline to disorganize you and leave you tackling ghosts. If you sit back against teams like that you will eventually get picked apart. The US has to find ideas to get the ball back into the middle once it goes outside that’s how this team gets better. Being more diversified in its attack not putting old never weres or young never will be’s in front of guys that are.
IV you are the quiter with your old man get off my lawn bull crap. Complain about everything and I’ll always be right attitude. All we can do as a nation is play like Bora just hit it long and hope our fast guy can out run you. It’s not sustainable. It can win you one when Spain comes in and overlooks you, but when a great team is prepared and motivated to win it doesn’t. It certainly can’t win you four knockouts in a row. What came of Weah beating him up the line? Oh the Barcelona goalkeeper made a play so nothing.
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Our players need to get better if you don’t play Weah today does he learn that he has to have better crossing or another move because just blasting the ball across doesn’t do it against good defenses. Does Yunus not put in extra time on his finishing if Paxton Aaronson was out there getting run over today. Will Pulisic ever learn to or trust his teammates with combinations. We have good players not playing them because you want to see some player that can’t score in Portugal but you once saw for the U20s doesn’t make us better it just hides our deficiencies. If the C team couldn’t beat Jamaica, Panama or Canada how were they supposed to beat Germany?
IV-
Of course the game was winnable. But at this level the game is won and lost around the edges. Little things – there were some inexcusable turnovers that were mostly young guys making poor decisions and forcing stuff, turnovers that gifted them way too many freebie chances that kept them from feeling like they were being overrun. Weah in particular had some horrific ones I’m not used to seeing from him that first half…some of it was level, some seemed to be the fact we moved him and he wasn’t playing where he was used to playing. Our service into the box collectively remains very poor. Especially once Gio went out the lack of any kind of creative player was glaring. We squandered some chances with bad decisions or clumsy touches that the clinical Germans buried. Go back and watch that first half again – the chances were there, we just didn’t convert, and most of Germany’s chances came off bad turnovers from us. We continue to let Pulisic take corners and set pieces and he’s bad at both. He often fails to even beat the first man on a corner, which is inexcusable at his level. Add that kind of stuff up and there’s your margins.
It actually reminded me more than a bit of the Netherlands game – a lot of promise, mixed with a lot of naivety and more than a little sloppiness around the edges, and a clinical team that feasted on our mistakes. And this German team was better than that Dutch squad, by a fair bit, actually. Actually I think they’re the best team we’ve played since COVID…which is essentially when this group started.
JR: tired tactics? have you watched atleti? japan? all i am saying is give up the naive childish high press, concede some space, win the ball roughly midblock by gang-swarming. this is quite modern. all due respect to your nonsense but we see with ajax this year that without the right players naive attacking tactics are a good way to get obliterated. i know that sort of thing is popular and fashionable but it’s childlike and fundamentally unsound. to me it reminds me of some U12 dingbat who compounds his giveaway with getting beat on defense.
your hammering away about sending centerbacks forward is laughable. first, rudiger is a one-off. almost no one is like that. second, anyone who ever played CB knows that is asking for trouble. i rarely gave up goals in college but one time playing CB i went way forward like that, flubbed a pass where i didn’t like the angle my support took, goal in about 3 passes the other way. it’s naive. you can’t have played soccer long if you’re like send all the backs forward. you will get destroyed by a half competent counter when you make any mistakes.
and that’s not BUNKERING. bunkering is 11 in the box. if you can’t grasp an italian- or atleti-style approach where you get back then swarm then i can’t help you. i think the thing you miss is getting back is energy saving. but american soccer hasn’t been concerned with having legs at the end of a game for maybe a decade.
IV we did give up the high press that’s when we got tore apart. It’s like you don’t even watch any of the matches. I’m sorry we played a low block in the 2nd half how’d that work.
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It wasn’t just Rudiger both Hummels and Sule did it too. It was a tactic used to attack our low block, because it creates uncertainty over who goes with them. I know you only understand what your youth coach told you. Here’s another thing maybe you made a mistake going forward because you weren’t a international level CB! Maybe old washed up never really were CBs consider it naive but Nagelsman was German manager of the year at age 30 and won the Bundesliga at age 35 so maybe you shouldn’t be so dismissive of change. How does Atleti’s tactics work against CL teams? Seven years ago they came close and they’re still trying to beat teams that have changed and grown by playing the exact same way. What is it called when you do the exact same thing over and over and expect a different result?
Even at 2-1 it felt like it would end 2-2, now it feels like it might end up 5 or 6 to 1.
you’re the one who advocated this mess. all the fanboy all stars from all the right club teams getting played off the field at basically a walking pace by germany.
Total collapse! GB does not know how to adjust. With Reyna out, he goes back to his old- go wide and kick crosses. He just does not know how to make good adjustments. The guy stinks. It does help that Dest is horrible on D as well.
Who else do we have in our pool aside from maybe Malik Tillman – who is injured – who can play through the middle? We kick and run because against a good side (or even some mediocre ones) that’s all we can do when we lack that offensive string-puller. We all collectively got hung up on the fact that we didn’t have a 9 last cycle, but even bigger was the fact that we didn’t have a 10. We had one – for one half this game.
Luca de la Torre does a lot of things well. He is not a 10.
Scally isn’t playing LB
Shhh! It’s 2023 facts don’t matter.
Lol
Not a bad half, if you don’t like a player virtually everyone had a mistake or two but overall everyone also did good things. Entertaining, US certainly looked like they belong on the field. Have to get Balo more involved.
Also IV we’ll lose his mind if Berhalter starts implementing CBs making runs into the final third like Rudiger and Hummels have caused problems doing today.
Filth…golazo Puli!! Great goal!!!!
Look Scally at LB but you all played me like I was crazy for suggesting that! He never uses his left foot nonsense. Just like I called for CCV and Ream to pair versus Iran during WC and you all played me like I was crazy am we did that and won 1-0. Over people on this site if you dont like me cause of how i look I dont care thats your bigot problem!
Is that your real picture?
You never know what people post.
My friend, I’d say I agree with some of your posts and some not- and I would assume the same for anyone else with mine. I’d also assume some of my own opinions sometimes are and have been… wrong. I’d respectfully advise- don’t mistake one or two posts that disagree with you for ya’ll. No matter what anyone posts about anything, on any site, you can bet it will get dissenting views. The freaking Dalai Lama going to get trolled, you post the sky is blue- someone will disagree. No matter how valid- certainly your opinion about who plays where in a soccer match is fair game to be opposed? Comparing and contrasting viewpoints is pretty much what a forum is about, no?
The German Federation has answered this question. Due to scheduling congestion- NL, WCQ, Euros…this is the only chance for them to make it to North America before the 2026 WC.
Given the way Berhalter thinks, I think Bizzy has the starting 11 correct, albeit with one minor adjustment…Dest as LB and Scally as RB.
It’s Okay 2 Think, Pepi can definitely be a starter, but he has not played a lot of minutes for PSV this season ( Luuk de Jong can’t stop scoring! ) and he did not play at all in PSV’s last game before this window. Balogun has started for Monaco and is scoring. He is going to get the start.
Additionally, I agree with Bizzy…no way McKennie does not start in this game. I have not tracked Cardoso lately, but after a quick check, and since the last international window, he has started 3 of the last 6 games, in all competitions, for Internacional. A case can be made for him to start, but Berhalter will go with McKennie.
Dave P, I hear ya, and I thought the same thing, but as others on this thread have shared, an argument can be made for the friendly to take place stateside or on European soil. Ultimately, the world we live in is all about the Benjamins, so the game is going to be on US soil so US Soccer can get their money. The players are professionals, so respectfully speaking, they know how this works, so get on with it.
I’m looking forward to today’s game…let’s go!
Since the who’s starting vs Germany article was loaded, I’ll drop this here.
Weah, Pepi, CP
LDT, Cardoso, Musah
Lund, Miles, Richards, Dest
Turner
(I know it’s not going to happen)
I wonder if they’ll be more German flags than US flags since this is a game on US soil.
Love the line-up but no way McKennie starts on the bench. Christian Pulisic has been playing on the left with AC Milan and Weah has been playing on the right with McKennie at Juventus (in a 3-5-2 with Weah further ). Luca De La Torre started on the left in a 3 midfield Celta against Barcelona. I don’t know what GB will do or how he would arrange the players but like you I’ll like to see:
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_____Pulisic_____Balogun_____Weah
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______LDT________Musah_____McKennie
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Scally_____ Ream_____Richards______Dest
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__________________Turner
King Bizzy, CP isn’t starting over Raphael Leao! Lol CP is featuring at RW. Musah is playing RM and isn’t starting over a healthy Loftus-Cheek. Reijnders & Yacine Adli, who’s French and not related to Nacer Adli who’s Morocco-Belgium have been playing the 6. Both have been attacking midfielders for previous clubs. Weah is right footed just like Leao and doesn’t use his left foot. Example -How many goals has CP scored with his left foot for club/country in the past year?
LOL…. Do I know my selections or what. Apart from LDT and Reyna swap me and GB are on the same page
Germany would run through that midfield like crazy. LDT and Cardoso never played together 😂 but you get mad at me for suggesting Scally should be a LB and accuse me of being a troll when your comments on here, stay makeing no sense, your the troll you called Scally dumb when Gregg’s tactics are over complicated and easily able to be countered. smh
LDT played w/ Cardoso vs Canada as subs in the NL. Comments from intelligent people don’t make sense to dum people. Scally played LB vs Morocco and got smoked. Scally doesn’t play LB for club, especially not in a 4-3-3 system. You can’t name the last 4 LBs from WC winners Spain, Germany, France nor Argentina, let alone have any tactical, cultural or historical conversation with me about futbol. You got your feelings hurt by Vacqui when you suggested CCV start vs Iran and he thought otherwise. You got feelings hurt and posted ‘Ives don’t like me’ then shared your twitch channel. You were teammates w/ Lilburn’s own Sean Johnson when you played for Caleb Porter in college at Akron. You don’t know that Uncle Tom is just as offensive as the n word because when DC fan from SoCal called Earnie Stewart an Uncle Tom. You said ‘race has nothing to do with it’. Right after I posted an educational reply that post. You’ve been repping Afro-Latino ever since!! Miles Morales is Dominican; you’re Boricua! What am I missin? You have opinionated posts 100 percent of the time. Cool, do you!! No hate!! I watch more than 14 hours a week of this sport. In essence, I watch this sport like a part time job! If you want to have a substantive with me, you gonna have to step you game up!!! I see you a boy, and I raise you a man!!
I just can’t get over the fact that 44 out of 46 roster players had to travel overseas for this game. I hope Dejuan, Miles, and the US coaching staff are feeling nice and relaxed. Seriously couldn’t we have found a place to have a camp in Europe? Ok I’m sure there’s some ticket contract answer. Bollocks.
Why shouldn’t US fans get to see quality opponents like Germany and Ghana on home soil? It seems most of the time we are stuck with the same CONCAFAF opponents over and over, or the games of more interest are overseas. Let’s have more interesting matchups like these two going forward. Long overdue.
Oh, selfishly, for us, it’s great. And we really don’t have to worry about getting our guys prepped to play European teams on European soil since our guys almost all do that anyway, and since the next two big tournaments we play are going to be in the US anyway.
Still, that is a lot of travel for guys now well into their club seasons when maybe there didn’t have to be.
Furthermore, why shouldn’t the USSF try to pull in more revenue on home soil with attractive opponents? Aren’t the USMNT and USWNT games their main source of revenue? The game is, I believe, sold out. That wouldn’t happen with a Nations League matchup, certainly not in Hartford.
I’d expect a pro-US crowd. The US games there in the past drew favorably for the US. Perhaps in this case the US team would prefer a friendly crowd in this game, and tire of the games in the US against regional opponents cheer against the US. Here’s hoping for a interesting game for us fans….
I would agree, but we’re getting the copa america and the next world cup. What’s really sad is Mexico playing Ghana in Charlotte today. I’m sure that will sell out too, but I feel bad for Mexican fans in Mexico.
“Furthermore, why shouldn’t the USSF try to pull in more revenue on home soil with attractive opponents? ”
From a business standpoint “attractive opponents” are ones that draw a lot of fans. You might be surprised by how many of our CONCACAF opponents have a strong fan base in the US. If you played Mexico or Jamaica in Hartford, for an important Nations League game. you might be shocked by how many of their fans show up.
“I’d expect a pro-US crowd.”
Maybe.
The German Federation has answered this question. Due to scheduling congestion- NL, WCQ, Euros…this is the only chance for them to make it to North America before the 2026 WC.
I don’t think that means we have to play them.