Frustration was starting to seep into the U.S. men’s national team in its CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal matchup with Trinidad & Tobago, until a trio of late goals at Q2 Stadium helped ease any worries.
Ricardo Pepi, Antonee Robinson, and Gio Reyna all scored in the final 10 minutes to help Gregg Berhalter’s squad to a 3-0 first leg victory over the Soca Warriors. Noah Powder’s first-half ejection put Trinidad & Tobago in a major hole and despite Denzil Smith’s best efforts in goal, the Americans eventually broke through to earn a comfortable result.
The USMNT owned the majority of first-half possession, but were unable to truly test Smith in between the posts. Malik Tillman missed a pair of individual efforts while Sergino Dest also skied his right-footed opportunity.
Powder was sent off in the 38th minute after receiving a second yellow card for hacking down Weston McKennie. Powder received his first yellow card in the 18th minute for a foul on McKennie and the veteran midfielder was ejected just seven minutes before halftime.
However, the USMNT struggled to take advantage of the extra man advantage, being held goal-less going into halftime.
Yunus Musah’s long-range strike in the 57th minute looked destined to find the top-right corner, but Smith was up to the task to deny the AC Milan midfielder.
https://x.com/USMNT/status/1725354252946505915?s=20
The USMNT thought it had a penalty kick opportunity not long after but VAR overturned Oshane Nation’s decision. McKennie looked to have tripped by Daniel Phillips inside of the box, but Phillips’ slightest touch of the ball forced the penalty kick to be waived off.
Pepi entered the match in the 68th minute and would deliver the breakthrough goal in the 81st through a clever finish. Robinson’s dangerous cross from the left wing was flicked by Pepi past Smith for a 1-0 lead.
It marked Pepi’s first USMNT goal since Sept. 12 vs. Oman.
https://x.com/USMNT/status/1725360532054568977?s=20
Robinson’s powerful left-footed shot in the 86th minute doubled the Americans lead before Gio Reyna’s near post strike sealed the final score at 3-0 just three minutes later. Folarin Balogun’s through ball pass allowed Reyna to comfortably slot home his seventh international goal.
https://x.com/USMNT/status/1725362583861874784?s=20
The USMNT will close out its two-legged showdown with the Soca Warriors in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Monday, Nov. 20.
“Also our players need to take more risks shooting from distance. Seems we are just waiting for perfect square balls into the box or pretty combination plays in the box.”
H3,
Dest , at least twice shot from outside the box and so did Musah. The keeper proved up to it and when that happens , players to try other things. Their keeper was pretty solid all night.
And Jedi’s goal was shot from outisde the box.
That’s not enough for you?
for being pinned on their end we actually didn’t take a lot of “top of D” type shots. nor have we done so in general over recent years. there are exceptions (dest being an occasional one) but that’s the whole point. i think a lot of it is we’ve often used two-way types as 8s, and we could use some other attacking options who can shoot from distance. i suggest some (eg holmes and green) and get routinely shot down.
it’s not as simple as “take the shots” or tillman would have scored one.
No, we need to see it from attacking players. Dest is always going to be open to take those long distance shots because he’s coming from a deeper position and nobody is covering him. It’s a bonus if he and Jedi score, but I’m looking at players in attacking positions that should be taking more risks with their shot selection.
i suggested play dest UP TOP.
Quozzel,
So called “inferior ” teams have played a low block against the big boys for at least 60+ years for one reason.
Because it works.
Much better teams than our humble USMNT have problems with an LB
But I don’t know what you are bitching about. A 3-0 result vs a low block USL team like TNT means the USMNT got the job done..
Really, going into this I figured, if nothing else, if you keep going at them, right around 60-70 minutes, if not sooner, their legs will go and then it’s just a matter of time. At worst you come out of it at 0-0.
Pepi scores as a sub so much in great part because he’s a big, strong, highly motivated guy going against inferior and also exhausted defenders.
This is not rocket science. It’s not even calculus.
Tactically, you or BJ could have managed that result from this game
Despite all the negative comments wrt to Tillman, you have to admit he and Dest ware the only ones who in the first half were constantly in good positions to receive the ball. True enough, Tillman did nort do well when he got the ball, but unlike many others, he was not static of “hiding” amongst a bunch of defenders.
At least twice before the final 10 minutes the US played a hard square ball on the ground behind the defense, but since the defense was on the 6, it was pretty easy for the keeper. If the defense will not come out, playing behind them relies on a player charging forward to meet the ball. (That is not an easy task when 4 or 5 players are lined up on the 6 [obstruction that will never get called?] and the keeper has a clear line to the ball.)
all due respect but positioning is a moderate chunk of the game and a low bar. at this level most will be where they are supposed to and it’s what do you do with it. zendejas would have been right spot too. same problem after that.
to me nothing about tillman screams wing. i think the coach erred on the side of leaving as much of the lineup intact as possible. to me the best options should have been dest or musah (or reyna) but then he has to start moving bodies around and i think he wants consistency — despite germany.
Probably why Tillman didn’t play as a wing
Ball to feet, possession without a purpose does not work for our player pool. Playing this style works if you have players with individual skill to beat players 1-on-1 to create space.
We are not pulling anyone out of space and none of our players are running off the ball ball . This type of style is easy to defend against if we don’t have individually skilled players
Have to play ball into space or behind players quickly and force opposition to change shape. This will open up the game.
Also our players need to take more risks shooting from distance. Seems we are just waiting for perfect square balls into the box or pretty combination plays in the box.
“Also our players need to take more risks shooting from distance. Seems we are just waiting for perfect square balls into the box or pretty combination plays in the box.”
H3,
Dest , at least twice shot from outside the box and so did Musah. The keeper proved up to it and when that happens , players to try other things. Their keeper was pretty solid all night.
And Jedi’s goal was shot from outisde the box.
That’s not enough for you?
I saw in a newspaper writeup that 3G’s instructions to Pepi were to “get in the box and score.” You can’t say the man doesn’t understand the game. I’m sure Pepi appreciates the expert coaching he gets.
The guy gets criticized for over complicating tactics and now criticized for being too simple. Almost as if some people will never be happy.
JR, that is not not necessarily true. Some people are happy when they are complaining which is why they complain so much. I might be one of those people … but not about US soccer.
his instructions to one player need to meld with those to someone else. i am sorry but it’s an analytics silly-thing to believe soccer is as simple as you go run to square 20 and you go kick the ball to square 20.
to be fair, i thought the problem was more whatever he had in mind first half than the second. but i am watching mids pass up on interior balls into the box to hit predictable balls wide that just get lofted crossed in.
i explained a few weeks ago where ACM has a similar basic 433 but makes it work so much better because the wings are less predictable, sometimes they curl the play in, sometimes it goes wide. that gives you throughballs, balls behind the defense, combo play, etc. we play very predictable, tentative combo soccer. and to reference the post above, its only possible hope seems to be to run the other team’s legs off and score cheap goals late. which hasn’t worked on any team with quality, because, well, it’s too predictable and at the higher levels they will all be very fit.
as i said the other day the risk with GB is he repeatedly unlearns the things that worked the game before. it then looks just like it usually does. and like i explained other article, i think in this case part of it starts with the failed wing choices who couldn’t find the striker with two hands and a flashlight.
“as i said the other day the risk with GB is he repeatedly unlearns the things that worked the game before. it then looks just like it usually does. and like i explained other article, i think in this case part of it starts with the failed wing choices who couldn’t find the striker with two hands and a flashlight.”
Considering he is playing a different team and his own team is very different ( missing important pieces like Pulisic and Weah, his two top wingers) and the circumstances are different ( competitive vs. friendly) it’s hardly a shock that Gregg would approach a game with TNT different from a game with Germany, Ghana, Uzbekistan or Oman.
Boring game but the result was there in the end.
Poor decision from Gregg to start Tillman on a wing. He excels in a central role always. Would have been better off starting Aaronson instead. Also poorly managed first half from Gregg once we saw the shape of T&T we had to bring more width but we kept trying to force it down the middle.
Goes to show we’re not the same threat without Pulisic and we need to figure out a plan B when he’s not avail.
Would like to see us play in a 4-4-2 with Pepi and Balo up top at the same time.
Berhalter didn’t start Tillman on the wing, they ran a 4-2-2-2 formation with Tillman and Gio playing in between the lines so Dest an Robison could overlap. The problem is T&T bunkered tightly in a low block so the attack was static for most of the first half. They got it figured out in the second, albeit in the last 15 minutes, but the positive is we clearly aren’t beholden to the 4-3-3 like some would like to suggest, as Greg has shown that he can switch it up, to mixed results however lol
Ronnie, in all fairness, things were much better the entire 2nd half in terms of creating chances but the 2nd half was also riddled with poor execution as well until the very end.
T&T started with a 5-4-1 lineup, and most times had 11 players behind the ball. In the 6-0 loss to the US B team earlier this year, T&T was also defensive, but did not try to pack 11 players in front of the goal for 90 minutes. I think they realized playing the ‘A’ team was a different challenge, and needed an even more conservative strategy. That type of strategy just makes for a dull game, no matter the opponent.
Nobody truly stood out in this type of game, as to be expected when only one team is attacking. The positives?
– We got the result we needed, and should pass through without any problems on Sunday
– With Pulisic and Weah out, it gave valuable NT playing time to rising players like Parades and Tillman.
– Reyna went a full 90+ and was effective.
Time to give Pepi a start. At least they came away with the win.
Pepi is a great offensive sub. He scores goals as a sub.
And now you want to mess that up?
Why fix something that isn’t broke?
Because he deserves to start a match.
Just because he scores as a sub doesn’t mean he can’t score as a starter.
2tone,
Deserves got nothing to do with it.
Rick,
Scoring as a sub does not mean he can score as a starter. He’s a big tough powerful guy, at home in front of his family, taking on inferior defenders who are also exhausted. All of TNT was exhausted not just the defenders. A guy like Pepi is the last thing TNT wanted to see.
While, I don’t start Pepi until Flo completely proves he can’t hack it, I would like to try playing the two together more often.
I’m tired of being right all the time. When I saw the opening lineup I thought Paredes and Tillman was a mistake. The other day I wrote here that Reyna needs to be in the middle where he is much more effective. Kyle Martino noted in the 2nd half how the US was doing so much better with Reyna in the middle. It’s not rocket science, folks, when even I can see the obvious. And with all the crosses, there was only about 1 header that troubled the keeper. Maybe we should have included a striker good in the air like I suggested. A good team would have probably scored 4 or 5 by the time we scored 1.
“When I saw the opening lineup I thought Paredes and Tillman was a mistake.”
And now you KNOW it was a mistake.
And that is worth something isn’t it?
“And with all the crosses, there was only about 1 header that troubled the keeper. Maybe we should have included a striker good in the air like I suggested.”
You know, you can send in low crosses. They are great in a packed penalty area where you can maybe ping pong yourself an own goal.
And there is a thing called “second ball”. Send in enough crosses and sooner or later a defender, especially defenders who are not in better shape than you and who are already a man down is going to bungle one of them.
You only need one of those.
All things being equal, if the TNT players were in the same game shape as the USMNT guys this game is 0-0 or maybe 1-0. But they aren’t, so we just had to wait for them to run out of gas.. Even Gregg knew that.
Again, it’s a 90 + minute game. Scoring 3 goals in the first minute or 3 goals in the last minute ,as long as you shut them out, it all adds up to the same thing.
Anything else is just noise.
I will say that if Pulisic is healthy this game is 6-0. If Ariolla plays, maybe we lose.
“A good team would have probably scored 4 or 5 by the time we scored 1.”
What makes you think the USMNT is a good team?
They are a mediocre team.
But on the other hand, they did well tonight. TNT did an excellent job of packing it in.
You want context?
Since no one likes FIFA rankings there is a thing called ELO ratings:
Just today
#26 USMNT beat #106 TNT 3-0
#34 Norway beat #153 Faroe Islands 2-0
#6 Spain beat #91 Cyprus 3-1
#4 Portugal beat # 192 Lichtenstein 2-0
Norway was a friendly but the other two were Euro qualifiers. Never underestimate an alleged “minnow” when blood is on the line.
I’d say, in the greater scheme of things the USMNT did about a little bit above the minimum. That 3 goal cushion may prove real handy.
It was a boring game though frankly I had a little bet going on how many touches Matt would get. I thought it was fine. If anyone expects the USMNT, traditionally rusty in the first game back from a layoff, to turn on the style they are smoking too much of that recreational stuff.
The USMNT, for the neutral soccer purist, is a pretty dreadful thing to watch. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get a job done.
Well, I would certainly concede that the USMNT playing a really grim CONCACAF team like T&T is a dreadful thing to watch…and again, our lack of ability to break down a low block is genuinely painful.
Tillman did not cover himself in glory and obviously wasn’t the answer at right wing. My guess would be we’ll see Zendejas at right or left wing to start – why we didn’t play him today is something of a mystery since his best attribute is without question his ability to operate in the middle and half-spaces in the final third and his ability to combine in a shoebox which would all seem really useful to break down a low block – but, well, Gregg Berhalter. And you almost have to start Aaronson at the other…I am in no way writing off Kevin Paredes but he did not come across as a guy ready to contribute yet. If we had the personnel I’d personally be playing a 3-5-2 against the likes of T&T…but it’s hard to do that when you only brought two strikers.
And sorry, not bringing Jesus Ferreira was dumb. Even his worst detractors would admit he’s very effective at operating in tight areas against teams like T&T; the dude got back-to-back hat tricks against T&T and St. Kitts this past summer and that wasn’t an accident. Okay, so he’s the “Pirate of the Caribbean”…which is a backhanded complement if ever there was one. Awesome. Then why are we not bringing him when we absolutely must deal with a Caribbean squad?
Here, let me say this in a quiet voice: FERREIRA IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF PLAYER YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH A LOW BLOCK. Sometimes -or well, oftentimes – Gregg’s lack of pragmatism is…irksome. Use what you have, fella.
Weird. Not sure what happened with the italicized text there. Apologies. And head-scratching. -1 style points for quoz.
Consider me pre-chastised, and carry on.
Don’t forget that Sweden (23) lost 0-3 to Azerbaijan (120) also in a qualifier even though they were up a man for almost 40 minutes.
Q: I’m a big Ferreira fan, but his form has been off since GC. He also missed the last playoff game due to injury so probably wasn’t available even if Gregg wanted him. I wonder if all the minutes he’s played in the last 18 months finally caught up to him. I’m still hopeful someone in the Netherlands or Belgium buy him in March.
Quozzel,
So called “inferior ” teams have played a low block against the big boys for at least 60+ years for one reason.
Because it works.
Much better teams than our humble USMNT have problems with an LB
But I don’t know what you are bitching about. A 3-0 result vs a low block USL team like TNT means the USMNT got the job done..
Really, going into this I figured, if nothing else, if you keep going at them, right around 60-70 minutes, if not sooner, their legs will go and then it’s just a matter of time. At worst you come out of it at 0-0.
Pepi scores as a sub so much in great part because he’s a big, strong, highly motivated guy going against inferior and also exhausted defenders.
This is not rocket science. It’s not even calculus.
Tactically, you or BJ could have managed that result from this game
“I’m tired of being right all the time. ”
hahaha……after a horrible game that actually that made my day!
I get that approach but the statistics show hitting crosses to the head of a player in the box is a pretty low percentage play. Especially against a bunkered defense. It’s a pretty low possibility that Wright or Pefok would have faired much better at it than what we had. The mobile forward trying to peel off for the ball behind has a higher probability of producing. We had Balo several times but the weight of the pass wasn’t quite right or the foresight of the teammate to play the pass was lacking. There were two times Balo could have easily drawn a penalty but the ref was reluctant after having to overturn his first call.
I can guarantee Pefok would not have done better because he is injured and Wright, despite being tall, is quite bad in the air, whereas the trinidad players, while not playing at the highest level club teams, were strong and good in the air. Low driven balls are much more effective against a low block (what I call bunkering) looking for rebounds, flicks, fouls, and hand balls.
Gary, if it makes you feel better and will perk you up, you are wrong about Reyna. He played centrally the entire game and moved wide occasionally to find space.
the personnel carpet on this team rarely matches the tactical drapes. to repeat myself 100th time, if we’re gonna cross, start wingers who can drop a ball on a dime and vazquez. if we want balogun and pepi you need people to feed them either ball to feet or ball behind the line to run on. we instead prefer a fanboy all star team.
we also can’t seem to decide if we’re trying to play team defense or be an attacking soccer team. his mid choices are like we’re gonna defend all night. i thought that was a very tentative lineup like we were a little scared. of what? that was a weak opponent. that’s the team you put the attacking wingbacks out there with go-to-goal mids like reyna. as well as pure offense wings. it’s not like we have to play mexico later this window. it’s the same mediocre team twice. who we had drubbed several games straight between now and couva.
go for the neck. he almost repeated couva like he was scared of them. bass-ackwards.
like i was saying, to me the issue is for all the talk of “profiles” the team is highly personalized. it plays one way with reyna in. another out. it plays one way with weah in. another out. etc. go find some weah2 and reyna2s where we can play similarly all the time.
Worked a 12hr day, then an hour middle school band concert and that US performance was the worst part of my day. If we were that poor with our control on that pitch what can we expect in Trinidad. Gregg got the first half wrong with the lineup and formation, the players were mostly awful in the 2nd outside of Gio (who at times was also bad) Wes, and Pepi.
——————-
The question for Monday is can Levi Garcia score 3 g on his own without the US scoring. If I’m Trinidad I stick to my 5-4-1 but start Garcia up top and see if he can get one in the first half and put pressure on the US. Garcia’s the only attacking piece that’s looked threatening this summer or in Austin.
They were awful! Up a man for over 50 minutes. Lack of off the ball runs, poor technique on shots outside of the box (get your shoulders over the ball), passes were too slow, and speed of play was too slow. We do not have good crossers on this team (check out how poorly we did in crossing in the World Cup and this is still a weak point for this team yet it was the main point of attack. Also Balogun is not a striker known to score with his head). Tillman should have been subbed off at half time. His lack of intensity and poor focus meant he was never in synch with the team.
If GB was a good coach he would tell the players to shoot the ball at the goal but AWAY from the goalkeeper not directly to him. If not for his bad coaching this game would have been 7-0 easily.
All on the players
First half was kind of Gregg.
MoO,
“If GB was a good coach he would tell the players to shoot the ball at the goal but AWAY from the goalkeeper not directly to him.”
If I’m capping players from Monaco, PSV, Juve and so on, maybe I’m naive but I would like to think that they already know that.
Are you suggesting he told them to shoot directly at the keeper?
I’ve love to have been there if he said that to Pepi and Flo.
so many in the fanbase are so caught up in what sneakers Greg wears, the behind the back passes he makes on the sideline and probably what his health benefits are that they can’t ascertain anything else from watching the games. It’s weird and quite frankly pathetic how much attention is paid to Greg when you consider that these same people are the ones who like to prop up where our players are playing for their clubs, and how good they are, but then have the audacity to insinuate that Greg’s tactics and messaging to the team need to be perfect or else LOLOLOL
You need the coach to tell you that if you’re playing at a professional level?