Haji Wright’s sensational season for Coventry City continued Tuesday with the American striker moving one goal closer to 20 in his debut season in England.
Wright netted his 19th goal across all competitions despite the Sky Blues 2-1 home loss to Ipswich Town. The U.S. men’s national team forward tied the match in the 64th minute for the Sky Blues before Cameron Burgess propelled Ipswich Town back in front five minutes later.
Wright picked up a pass from Kasey Palmer before drilling a low shot into the back of the net. It marked the second-most goals for an American forward in England’s top-two divisions since Clint Dempsey’s 21 tallies in 2011-12.
However, Mark Robins’ squad failed to pick up three points in their penultimate match of the EFL Championship season. The Sky Blues missed out on the promotion playoffs and will close their 2023-24 schedule at home on Saturday vs. QPR.
“Hopefully being at home last game of the season we can win,” Wright said postmatch. “We need to leave with a good taste in our mouth and get ready for next season.
“You have to look at the bigger picture,” he added. “We have had some really good games this year and a lot some poor ones. There are a lot of areas in which we can grow in, so we need to work on those and hopefully improve.”
Wright’s debut season with Coventry City has boosted him back into the USMNT picture. The 26-year-old scored twice in last March’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinal victory over Jamaica before helping the Americans lift the trophy for a third-straight edition.
He will now seek to eclipse 20 goals in Saturday’s season finale.
OK, Musah and Weah have played right back for their club teams. McKennie played right back against Jamaica. Maloney, when healthy is a lock starter as a dual 6 on a mid table Bundisliga team. BArronson is starting for Union Berlin as a midfielder. Name one game for the US that Reyna has not defended well. What stuff is made up?
I think what he’s trying to say is “we don’t play like Heidenheim” so Maloney isn’t going to be as affective in that role as he is for club. Weah was one of our most dangerous attackers during last cycle so why shift him 20 yards further back? A lot of times on clubs it’s more necessity, like Musah playing RB because Milan’s first 3 FBs were unavailable but people who don’t have a lot of knowledge about the club think Pioli has unlocked this magic talent.
What team does the US play like? You can say that for every player in the pool.
Tele: there are a lot of teams that play much more similar than Heidenheim. Berhalter pushes his FBs high up the field so your 6 has to cover huge amounts of ground, that’s not Maloney. He also expects his 6 to initiate offense. Maloney compared to top 5 league players 4% in progressive passes 1% in progressive carries, 97% in clearances. When Lenny intercepts he boots it long or backwards. Even if they don’t play the same formation they might have similar responsibilities. Pulisic plays in a similar setup with similar responsibilities, Reyna did as well at BvB, Wes when he plays centrally for Juve has similar responsibilities. Pepi, Dest, and Tillman play very similar tactics to the US. It’s never going to be exact of course though.
Maybe Maloney is even more coachable then Brendan Aaronson and is playing the way his coach wants him to. If he wasn’t I don’t think he would keep seeing the field.
Tele: that’s kind of what It’s Ok is saying. “Hey Lenny go play like our 3rd CB, win aerial duals, boot everything long to relieve pressure and don’t even think about dribbling”. Yes he can play as a very very defensive minded six but that’s because his skill set is of a CB. Thanks for the distraction my Crew are hanging on here late in the 2nd half.
JR, anytime :). Maloney played 25 minutes against Ghana and i don’t remeber him only passing backwards.
Gregg thought enough of him to put him in the game and get some minutes and he did well. When you played, or maybe still play, could you only play only one style? What makes you think a lock starter in the Bundelsiga can’t play more than one style? From my research, HDH has the lowest payroll in the Bundesliga but sit at 10th of 18. It is pretty likely that every game they play teams with collectively better players. It is sound strategy to prioritize defending over attacking under those circumstances. Only 5 teams have conceded less goals. Defending is an issue. On the contrary, McKennie plays on a team that usually has better players than the other team and he is able to play with much less discipline as a result. He won’t be able to play that way in Copa starting at Uruagay if he is played in the back next to another 6. Tell me your depth chart at 6? I have seen enough of Maloney to know he is 3rd at worst. Vac would say that is an opinion but that is just his opinion.
Also, don’t say it too loud because OK’s clearly on a roll, but Wright was indeed playing as a winger though it’s pretty clear he has license to wander some and find the game…which he should; he’s more effective that way. Ellis Simms was playing as the 9 and is more the traditional hold-up guy for Coventry.
Q: this isn’t even my fight but it got me thru The Crew VICTORY!!!!! It is modern football for sure but when Coventry were in possession Haji was always inside the box not out wide. On the goal if you watch the extended highlights he is leading the line with Simms working underneath Haji. He’ll drop to the wing in defense but in the attacking third he’s very narrow operating as a 2nd striker. At best you could call him another of It’s favorites “inverted winger”
JR-
Didn’t see that initially…but whoa, Columbus took down freaking Monterrey…in Monterrey? And 3-1?
Woof. That’ll leave a mark. Saw – and heard – the highlights. You could hear crickets chirp most of that second half.
Have I mentioned I love – do not like, but love – the way Columbus play under Wilfried Nancy?
But yeah, on paper and defensively, Haji’s been lining up as a wing, but Coventry does seem to allow him to float when they’ve got the ball, which seems to be how you get the most out of Haji. You do not want to lock him in place positionally…again, you want him facing the goal, running at defenders, picking his spots and finding his spaces. Whereas Harry Kane might be the best hold-up player in the world right now…his ability to retain possession under pressure and link play with midfielders is pretty much the gold standard. If anybody does it better I haven’t seen it. Also, Haji Wright’s got genuine pace, whereas Kane…doesn’t. Whatever. To me, anyhow, they’ve got a few similarities but they’re more different than they are alike. If Haji were to develop anything remotely like Kane’s hold-up ability, he’d be genuinely world class. (Which is exactly why I still think there’s a lot more to get out of Haji and I don’t think he’s as good as he can get yet.)
Q: Monterrey controlled first half, but a bad give away was punished by Aidan Morris right at the end of the half. With a quick goal early in the second Crew had a 4-2 lead and away goals so Monterrey needed 3 goals. Crowd was stunned and even turned on Rayados. All they had left was to try to loft balls into Vazquez and throw numbers forward. Got another on a counter and missed a pk at the end or it would have been more. If Rossi and Cucho can figure out how to play better off each other and the young guys keep getting better we’ll be in a good position again this fall to make a cup run. I’m not excited about playing at altitude against Pachuca in the final.
He didn’t score from a winger position. He scored from a CF position. I’m not better than anyone commenter but you people lie and make up stuff. Musah & Weah RBs? Maloney & Sands Defensive mid’s? Scally & Dest LBs? Busio and BA midfielders? Sargent a winger? Gio willingness to NOT play defense is a myth? What are you people paying attention to? Because it ain’t the US players or their positions that they’re actually effective in. We are not watching, just commenting. Haji isn’t a winger and never will be a winger, despite his high level dribbling skills. He’s had those dribbling talents since he was 14. Giroud isn’t a winger. Harry Kane isn’t a winger. Fullkrug isn’t a winger. Lewandowski isn’t a winger, so why would anyone suggest Haji is when Haji has the exact same skillset as all 4 CFs I listed. Salah, Phoden, Saka, Kvaratskhelia & Haji’s U-14 teammate CP are wingers and have nothing in common with Haji’s skill set or responsibility. Berhalter’s base formation has been a 4–3-3. No such thing as two 8’s. If you have said any other formation since 2021, you willfully ignorant. If you want all the players I mentioned to be out of position, then stop complaining about GB because you want the same thing.
Regarding your general point and not your specific player mentions, it seemed really strange to me how so many commenters here thought we should completely change our shape and move players all around into unfamiliar positions just because Dest wasn’t available. With Dest gone, the problem is Scally’s backup. I find it hard to understand why we have to change everything because we don’t know who can be a backup at RB. I think that would be a case of the cure being worse than the disease. We would take one weakness and create several more in response. Crazy.
Ronnie, most coaches pick a formation that gets your best players on the field. Assuming Dest is one of your best 10 field players, who do you put on the field when he gets hurt? If the number 11 field player on the depth chart isn’t a right back, then a formation change makes sense. All the players in the pool can play multiple positions. All the teams that have won world cups have had players playing positions that weren’t their preferred position so they could get their best players on the field. That is extremely commonplace even at the club level.
“really strange to me how so many commenters here thought we should completely change our shape and move players all around into unfamiliar positions just because Dest wasn’t available”
It’s not strange. If you don’t have a like for like replacement for the player you lose, then the thing you do next is alter how you play to make up as best you can for what that player did.
There is little faith in Scally. Joe has mostly sucked when called upon. He may not suck this time but you can’t blame people for panicking and running for the hills at the thought of having to rely on him.
And even if he does well, he’s not Dest. He can’t replace Dest’s offensive contributions, which are quite substantial. But no matter how well Joe does or doesn’t play, the USMNT will have to alter how they play.
“With Dest gone, the problem is Scally’s backup. I find it hard to understand why we have to change everything because we don’t know who can be a backup at RB. ”
???You’re assuming Joe is going to do well. That’s far from a given. But let’s say Joe does well. In that case, Joe’s backup is NOT going to play. Which means Joe’s backup is not a problem.
The problem is that Dest does a lot for the USMNT. Gregg almost certainly cannot replace what Dest does with one player. Generally, the way to deal with that sort of situation is to change HOW you play.
That’s why good teams try to learn how to be effective playing a number of different styles if they can manage it. Unfortunately, the USMNT is not a particularly good team.
Last week someone suggested we could just move Lund to the RB spot. Go….
That would have been a better example instead of saying a bunch of things that aren’t made up.
Just a really well taken goal as I also mentioned in the “mid week preview” article, and if you’ve watched Haji the last several years you can see the improvement and his confidence is at an all time high. He still needs to make the “simple plays” more consistently, and his technique in tight spaces could use refinement, but all in all he’s a player I think his club and the USMNT can count on to score goals
I think Ipswich is going to struggle to stay up next year if that’s how they defend. Great strike from Haji but pretty relaxed defending.
Owen’s been pretty quiet. I guess he is waiting for Wright to miss a sitter.
My dude is red-hot right now……absolutely on fire. Exactly what we need up top for the USMNT. Congrats kid
You absolutely do not want Haji to collect the ball in space anywhere around the 18 while facing the goal. He is just such a lethal finisher with either foot and his strides are so long he can create room to shoot on just about anyone.
Strangely, despite his size and physique, he’s not nearly as good as you’d expect at holding the ball up. It’s more like he’s a king-sized winger. I still think he has room to improve in that area…if he learns to play comfortably with his back to goal as well as facing it he’ll be an absolute handful for anybody. And probably would start for most anybody in most every league.
That’s what I’m thinking too…He’s a roaming forward/winger in a target forward’s body…
Not unlike Jozy at this point in his career.
JR
Do you realize that Jozy is 34? He’s younger than Ream.
When he was at Sunderland I saw him play as a back to the goal target man one game vs. Liverpool. He totally dominated.
I never saw him play that way again until late in his TFC career. As far as I’m concerned he didn’t play that way with the USMNT most likely because it did not suit the team or maybe his teams had a better target man.
Everyone is talking about Haji not playing as a traditional target man means he has failed somehow. As if once you get to 6’3″, you’re supposed to play a certain way.
Wright is doing well in his “free” role, as y’all call it. But until someone finds a team where Wright played as a traditional back to the goal target man and was a failure at it, you can’t say that he can’t play that way. Obviously his managers aren’t going to fix what ain’t broke.