The U.S. men’s national team welcomed 11 new players into its ranks during Saturday’s 1-0 friendly loss to Slovenia, and while many delivered strong shifts in San Antonio, the playmaking abilities of two were highlighted by head coach Gregg Berhalter.
Esmir Bajraktarevic and Diego Luna were among the bright spots for the USMNT in Saturday’s opening match of 2024. Luna started and played 77 minutes while Bajraktarevic came off the bench and played 29 minutes in the final period of the match.
Although the USMNT failed to find a tying goal against Slovenia, Berhalter praised his youthful team for coming together as a unit and delivering a hardworking shift over 90 minutes.
“The whole camp was about the collective,” Berhalter said postmatch. “It was about, how do you take a group of guys that have never played together and try to put them together and get them organized enough that they can represent themselves on a field in a proper way? And I think that was accomplished.
“I thought Diego Luna was aggressive all game,” he added. “The midfield, I think got into it more in the second half and ended up doing a good job…it was just about speed of play in the first half, the defensive transition moment that we had that gave up the goal wasn’t great. But overall, I’d say everyone had decent performances.”
Luna remained on the left side of Berhalter’s 4-2-3-1 formation while Bajraktarevic replaced Bernard Kamungo on the right side after the hour mark. A current Real Salt Lake first teamer, Luna created two offensive opportunities, while also drawing three fouls in his shift.
Bajraktarevic, 18, linked up with several teammates in his cameo, setting up John Tolkin for a pair of scoring chances while also coming close to finding the back of the net himself in the second half.
Both Luna and Bajraktarevic made things difficult for the Slovenian back line in the second half and deserved more from their individual outputs.
“Both have a lot of individual quality, both have the ability to combine, to dribble, take players one-v-one,” said Berhalter of Luna and Bajraktarevic. “If you think about it, in world soccer right now it’s very difficult to find one-v-one players, so it’s nice when you see that type of quality. What we do as coaches is encourage that. All week we’ve asked them to take players on and be aggressive, combining and getting in the penalty box. So, happy with their performance.
“Long term, we hope these are players that continue to progress, continue to make their mark at their club teams and perform at a high level,” he added. “And then hopefully it leads to more appearances with the senior national team.”
Heading into a busy 2024 schedule, Luna and Bajraktarevic are just two of Saturday’s debutants eager to make the USMNT’s Olympic squad this summer. Jack McGlynn, Sean Zawadzki, Patrick Schulte, and Duncan McGuire also made their senior debuts in Saturday’s match while experienced players like Aidan Morris and Miles Robinson are also eligible to feature in Paris.
U.S. Under-23 men’s national team head coach Marko Mitrovic will have plenty of key decisions to make ahead of July’s start of the Olympics, but Saturday’s performances from Luna, Bajraktarevic, and others will certainly be a positive for him to take.
“When you look at guys like Esmir and Diego, they certainly came in and show that they have a lot of individual ability, but they’re also hard-working, they also play for the team. So some really good talent there,” Berhalter said.
“When Jack McGlynn came in, I thought he had some good passing range, Aidan defensively I thought was excellent, breaking up a lot of plays,” he added. “So all in all, for them to experience what it is like to play at full senior level is valuable, and I think it’s going to help them as they move forward with the Olympic group.”
I think Luna is a very hard worker who can pressure and he can dribble, but I was unimpressed with his ability to combine with other players. Some commented he had good vision, but I didn’t see it. He did get a lot of the ball so we saw him a lot, but I din’t think it ever led to much.
i didn’t see many “finished pieces” out there we could use. esmir was lively but in a cowell sort of way in terms of finishing. kamungo created chances then shipped the loser. luna, to me, for all his time on the ball, would often end up just playing it wide, meh. i saw very little that you could take from this camp over to march games or this coming summer, at a senior level. i am sure several will be olympians but then that hints at the real purpose. but as a senior exercise it was wasted. january camps are often a mixed bag but usually there’s a few worth keeping in the rotation. i don’t see a one from this lot. that’s a horrible january to me.
With more and more guys going to Europe we’re likely to see that. Guys like Paredes, P.Aaronson, even Che or Wydner would be guys that in the past would have been prepping for MLS seasons and going to January camp. 5-10 years ago Pepi might not have been bought in Europe yet. Guys like Reggie Cannon and Bryan Reynolds might not have been bought in Europe 5-10 years ago. Our guys that are “rated” 30-50 are now a lot of them in Europe. Guys like Alex Mendez, Richie Ledezma, or Jose Gallegos would be playing in MLS and in consideration for January camp. This was about getting U23s another camp with a couple mentors that’s it. I don’t anyone came in thinking you’d find anyone to push out the top 15.
GGG sounded like he was coaching a bunch of toddlers:
“The whole camp was about the collective,” Berhalter said postmatch. “It was about, how do you take a group of guys that have never played together and try to put them together and get them organized enough that they can represent themselves on a field in a proper way? And I think that was accomplished.
first off, several of the guys were U20s together at which point are we really pretending they never saw each other before and you have to build rapport from zero.
second, january camps are always an exercise in team building but his efforts have been fairly pitiful. there was a time when we might win a january game 3-0. despite the fact it’s not a drilled first team. this is what coaches do.
third, but maybe it’s not what he does. to me his MLS teams were generally mediocre and the one exception was a 2015 team with higuain, kamara, and clark. so while trying to sell his team building he kind of plays to the level of what you hand him. which to me was always a sign of poor coaching ability.
fourth, not sure why the team doesn’t see this sort of talk as more insulting a la reyna. to me it’s intended to aggrandize a mediocre coach at the expense of the pool. my coaching is so great. my scheme is so brilliant. you need to take the time to learn it. if it doesn’t work, you need more learning time.
last, i thought this selection was simply subpar. not sure how that doesn’t reflect on the man. you had access to all of MLS, and this is what you came up with? it is a test of coaching abilities to play that hand but then most US coaches don’t make it so deliberately difficult, malfunctioning scheme, odd personnel choices, stubbornness.
In 2006 we beat Norway 5-0. Since then the only manager to win a January camp friendly by more than 2g was Gregg Berhalter who beat Panama 3-0 in 2019 and Trinidad 7-0 in 2021. It appears January camps began in 2003 with a 4-0 victory over Canada. So 3 g wins have happened 4 times in 21 years and Berhalter is responsible for 50% of those. The more you know!
Any Revs fans out there, is Esmir likely to get more playing time this season?
I hope so. I think it’s a bit tough given the roster and the formation. He’d be behind Buck on the right, Chancalay on the left, Borrero wherever he fits when he comes back. His game seems to me a lot like a slightly more direct Carles Gil, but he’s not at that level yet. And he just doesn’t fit the same role as Polster. Every time he’s out there he shows that he can play at that level, he’s just in a tough roster situation. Hopefully Porter will find some way of getting him on the field more.
Buck playing for England
@Striker91 Umm… yeah. But he also still plays for New England. And he’s a bit ahead of Esmir development-wise. So he’s one of the guys blocking Esmir from getting more minutes. Unless what you mean is Buck going to England would free up space for Esmir. That would work and I’d be fine with that.
Striker: did you see my other post : Tayvon Gray filed a switch to Jamaica, he is cap tied permanently to them because he played for US U17WC and Jamaican NT. I think it went unnoticed because he hadn’t played for the US since U17s. He had potential down the line but was way down the depth chart at RB, he probably made the right choice.
Yes i saw your comment I suffer from deep depression so it’s hard to reply sometimes. Had no idea he switched to Jamaica. Berhalther should have called up Baker-Whiting from Seattle Sounders instead of Shaq Moore.
I’d love to see Luna at the Olympics…but I’m wondering if we’ll see him at Copa America instead. Beyond Pulisic and Weah there’s slim pickings at winger in our pool at the moment unless Aaronson can regain his form and confidence.
I think Luna’s off to Europe by the end of the summer. Between MLS and either the Olympics or Copa America he’s going to get a lot of exposure and while the 10 spot has largely vanished from most European squads he’s adapted extremely well to playing as an inverted left winger, too. It only takes one scout to fall in love. I’m shocked it hasn’t happened already. RSL needs to include a hefty sell-on clause because I think his career is going to be more a long slow burn than a meteoric rise but I also think it could well end up on a Champions League side, and IMHO probably one of the big ones. He could end up being the gift that keeps right on giving, for RSL.
Bajraktarevic needs some more lead in his butt and I think he’s best served to spend at least this year in MLS. But once he puts on a bit of weight and strength I think he’s going to be Europe all the way as well. That guy’s legit.
I would rather see Luna as a 10 in a 4-2-3-1. I hope he becomes that for RSL. Really looking forward to Esmir getting more starts and playing rime for the Revs this season. A ton of skill.
I would too but most teams in Europe don’t use a 10 anymore. Initially I was unthrilled that Luna was being shoehorned into RSL’s 4-3-3 but it probably made him a lot more marketable because he did adapt well.
Diego is going to need to up his goal and assists production for him to be rated as well as you seem to think he should be.
Then again he may well be one of those guys who shows much better when surrounded by better players.
Just my belief is, he is, and IMHO what he does isn’t something a higher level is going to take away. We can quibble about the technical level of MLS (and it is improving but still a work in progress) but the league is absolutely fast, athletic, and physical and Luna still excels. He’s impossible to push off the ball because he’s basically a fast-moving fire hydrant – that’ll be true anywhere – and he plays on the turn as well as anybody in MLS. The ball pretty much stays glued to his feet. That’s the stuff that kills you when you rise in level.
So basically what you’ve got is an incredible disruptor who can break lines for fun while dribbling, and who also has uncanny vision and exceptional passing range and a penchant for the unexpected killer ball, the kind that leaves defenders pulled out of position and scrambling all over the field.
Highly skilled attacking players absolutely thrive in those situations…and let’s face it, MLS can afford three of those per team and most teams don’t even have that many. Surround him with more skilled guys, though…
Q-
i feel like you are working off a dated MLS critique. based on what i have seen in recent years it’s “touch football” compared to the era when my dynamo were a dynasty ie 2000s. i think that’s half the reason a nashville type team can succeed is the league has gotten so soft that being organized and playing defense is a competitive advantage. and i was always surprised fewer teams didn’t do it as you know you can’t spend with the elite but you can promote team defense to try and negate that advantage. if you try and go end to end with a team that spends better, you either better have superior scouting or you will lose.
but anyhow, point being, MLS in recent years to me isn’t that physical a defensive league, no brazil, shadow of what it used to be.
i mean when i watch miami tool up NYRB for that viral tiki taka goal i am saying to myself, is anyone planning on tackling someone? you’re just going to let messi get that ball inside the box untouched? are you going to track any of these runners? as often happens, it advances in one area, another is de-emphasized and atrophies.
” what he does isn’t something a higher level is going to take away.”
That’s not the issue. The higher level won’t take anything away.
It might expose what he is missing.
Will moving to a team with a better class of players result in Diego being able to produce more goals and assists either for himself or for his fellow players?
He appears to have all the talent he needs.
The question is he’s 20, so what is holding him back?
Is it external issues that can be addressed? Or is it something internal and can that be addressed?
Diego is fun to watch but Darlington Nagbe was fun to watch as well. He had/has all the talent in the world along with a very, very high ceiling as well.
Nagbe could have played at a higher level than he did/does. Whether you believe Darlington or not he has wound up where he says he’s most comfortable.
How far does Diego really want to go and what is he willing to sacrifice to get there? There are very few American players, past or present, who were as driven and ambitious as Clint Dempsey. If Diego has that same drive, he’ll be fine.
If not, he has enough talent to make a nice living as a pro somewhere.