There will be a new CONCACAF Nations League winner for the first time in the history of the competition.
Panama shocked the U.S. men’s national team at SoFi Stadium on Thursday, claiming a 1-0 semifinal victory over the reigning three-time champions. Cecelio Waterman’s stoppage time strike propelled Thomas Christiansen’s squad into Sunday’s final and handed the Americans a fourth head-to-head defeat out of the past six encounters.
I’m disappointed because I think it’s not the way that we want to build this journey together and moving forward with the objective to play in the World Cup, with the objective to be competitive,” Pochettino said in his postmatch press conference.
An early confident period from the USMNT almost led to the opening goal in the 19th minute. Christian Pulisic played Weston McKennie into the Panama box before McKennie’s layoff pass found Josh Sargent. Sargent’s shot deflected off of Edgardo Farina before hitting the right post and rolling away from the net.
McKennie’s header on the next USMNT possession was gathered by Orlando Mosquera, but served as another warning shot by the Americans.
Sargent looked to have boosted the Americans in front after 24 minutes but Tim Weah was ruled offsides in the buildup play. Weah’s cross found Sargent in the Panama box before the Norwich City striker drilled a powerful shot into the right corner.
The USMNT amped up their offensive pressure after halftime with Weah’s right-footed effort being caught by Mosquera. Pulisic also tested his effort three minutes later, but watched his shot deflect out of bounds.
Patrick Agyemang came off the bench and looked the closest to breaking the deadlock. McKennie’s through ball pass sprung Agyemang upfield before the Charlotte FC man tried a right-footed shot.
Mosquera dove to his left to deny Agyemang before eventually gathering the rebound.
With both teams looking destined for extra time, second-half substitute Waterman called his own number at the death. A poor header from Pulisic led to a Panama counter attack, eventually leading to Waterman’s right-footed shot nestling into the bottom-left corner.
The USMNT failed to find a late equalizer, suffering a second defeat of the Pochettino-era.
Panama will meet Mexico in Sunday’s Nations League Final while the USMNT faces off Canada in the third place match.
the way Panama was set up, we weren’t going to play thru the middle channel with success, so tight and compact in there especially not against the bunker, and we did not succeed in drawing them out, but we had the flanks without resistance mostly, but with that could not serve a final ball, again. The service was terrible.
The way the game was played by Panama, I kept expecting to see Gio on the right flank at some point, in some capacity, to operate and serve it up. On McGlynn, I get it, he was in there to fire away vs. the bunker, that sub made sense to me. Wes up high made sense to me vs. the bunker because of his aerial ability, but he needs service…I don’t know how many balls CP mishit out of bounds or hit right to a defender’s head, or into Mosquera’s hands, but it was over and over again tho he did set up Agyemang’s unfortunate scuff
on the goal, give Waterman some credit for that finish
beachbum
“on the goal, give Waterman some credit for that finish”
The media went on and on and on about how the goal was PROOF that Turner’s lack of minutes was a huge issue.
??? Oh please. I’ve seen Howard, playing regularly at the time, give up softer goals from a similar angle. It would be better if Matt could play regularly but that does not guarantee that Turner stops that shot.
A tired USMNT defense gave Waterman too much time, he took advantage
and deserves a lot of credit.
100% agree Vac
Disagree. There are photos of Turner’s positioning moments before Waterman’s shot. Turner was too close to the near post. I’m a big Matt Turner fan as the Revs are my local MLS team, but he has not played much since moving to Europe three years ago, and it shows.
right on, we disagree. and yep, he hasn’t played much as we all know. he has to cover the near post there. Panama had already tried him near post too. It was an excellent finish, pinpoint in the moment, something the USMNT needs to do
Super Nintendo Chalmers
“Turner was too close to the near post. I’m a big Matt Turner fan as the Revs are my local MLS team, but he has not played much since moving to Europe three years ago, and it shows.”
I saw the photos. I’m not saying you are wrong.
I’m saying that even if Matt had been at his Revs best, Waterman’s shot was good enough to beat him, maybe. No keeper is 100%.
I’m saying the more important thing is Waterman should never have been in position , in the fucking 94th minute, godamnit, to take that shot IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SOMEONE LET HIM LOOSE. It should never have come down to Matt having to save that shot.
It’s called a brain fart.
It’s nice to have super keepers. But NO KEEPER IS 100%.
Good defenses do not rely on the keeper to save makeable shots.
Good defenses stop opponents from taking makeable shots.
Our keeper situation has been what it is for a long time now and barring a miracle is going to stay this way for 2026. Even at his best Matt is just an okay national team keeper and he’s our best.
Our defense knows that it is on them to protect our keepers, not expose them. If they think otherwise they are mentally deficient.
we could play up the middle but it needed to be get in, get out. we want to dally and possess and almost toy with people. what needed to happen for a central play was more like the agyemang setup we almost scored. active runs besides standing around, between the backs, throughball with pace.
but, yeah, fart around and try and show off and it’s a long day playing into the teeth of a trap defense.
and the easy answer was over the top, to the sides, or diagonal.
Should have spent 6 million on Jurgen Klopp, instead of Poch. He didn’t even win trophies for club with Tottenham and Chelsea. Klopp at least wins trophies.
He said no and I don’t think anywhere close to 6 would have gotten it done.
Yeah, I know Klopp would be big money, I know poch won with PSG, but he had num 1 team in ligue1, nice transfer budget, and stacked with the worlds best talents.
Striker,
“poch won with PSG, but he had num 1 team in ligue1, nice transfer budget, and stacked with the worlds best talents.”
Did you happen to notice who Klopp had playing for him when he won his medals?
V: at least at first Liverpool had quite a few cast offs that other clubs didn’t want or at least hadn’t lived up to their hype. Obviously they went big on Van Dijk but Saleh couldn’t get on the field for Chelsea. Mane wasn’t a huge star. Nothing close to Poch’s Messi, Mbappe, Neymar line.
JR,
What is your point?
Teams win medals, not hype and star power.
You don’t go down a 23 man roster, assign a number value to each player and then add them up and the team that has the highest number is the best.
That is not how it works.
If you’re comparing coaching jobs it’s hard to know what to say about
Pochettino winning Ligue 1 with PSG because, going back to at least 2012 they ALWAYS do. They are like RB Salzburg, it’s a fucking joke. The holy trinity are more like the three stooges because they won nothing that they hadn’t already won before blowing all that money. Lots of HYPE and PR but in the end, nothing. Right now PSG look pretty lively without their big boy trio.
For me, Pochettino at PSG was a wash. He got out of it with his reputation more or less intact and given the all the political intrigue and the expectations, that is an achievement.
But there is no doubt that Klopp is a more accomplished manager than Pochettino.
Klopp probably performed the coaching job of the century given the delusional expectations of the project.
Think of taking a band from Liverpool and making them match the Beatles achievements. That’s just about what Klopp did.
Klopp’s Liverpool players came from a variety of humble situations and did not have the HYPE that PSG’s trio did but I would take Klopp’s best team over PSG’s best team 10 times out of 10.
“quite a few cast offs that other clubs didn’t want or at least hadn’t lived up to their hype.”
It does not matter where you came from. It matters what you do when you get there . If you’re trying to tell me that Klopp’s players were less hyped, that is true. But they made for a better team.
I also don’t know that Klopp would be doing any better than Pochettino with our guys. Admittedly, we haven’t tried Duane Holmes, Julian Green and Cole Campbell yet but otherwise it’s pretty clear that an improved 2026 WC performance will have to come from Pochettino “coaching up ” the player pool that we all probably know by now.
So why did we switch from Gregg? Because the story is not over yet and I think the odds are better that Pochettino will do a better coaching job going forward with these guys than Gregg would have.
By the way, whatever happened to Bryan Reynolds, another one of our lost saviours?
So we’re just going to keep blaming the managers for the players not getting it done? We supposedly have the best collection of players, playing at some of the biggest clubs, and the critique is to continue trying to hire this perfect manager that doesn’t exist? Sorry, but this is on the players, and it has been.
No one can look at these games and come away saying this group shows the required amount of focus, effort and dare I say heart required to win consistently at this level. Striker, at no point am I saying you’re doing this, but fans need to stop looking for excuses, when the problem is right there in that locker room amongst the 23
Absolutely shit show last night.
The players, the coaching staff, and our “world class player”, are to blame.
The players showed no intensity, no sense of urgency, the pace of play was extremely slow, and they think they can walk onto the field and win because they play at “big clubs” in Europe.
The coaching staff made no in game adjustments to offset the defensive bunkering from Panama. Shame on you Mauricio…you got out coached. I like Pochettino, but he, and his coaching staff, embarrassed themselves last night, as it was a night to forget.
It’s time for Pochettino to earn his $6M salary. It’s a provocative approach, but it’s time for him to open up all spots for competition. No one’s spot should be guaranteed, nor should anyone be written in to the starting 11…least of all golden boy Pulisic.
It’s become ridiculous to hear people call Pulisic amongst the best in the world. He is nowhere near that level and last night was another example of that. World class players make a difference on a regular basis. Last night, Pulisic didn’t even have an impact, let alone make a difference. That’s our captain??? There are two facts when it comes to Christian Pulisic…the guy is a media darling because he is click bait…and he is extremely overrated.
i tend to blame the coach when the issues are comprehensive. a mixed bag performance is individual. if everyone but adams defends soft, and we get whooped on tactics, then the whole team was prepared and coached wrong.
to me there was an initial surge of wide play that disappeared. no adjustment as they shifted to keepaway. and the team livened up when agyemang went in. wrong starter.
they then seemed very soft and passive on defense in extra time. if i have 2 minutes to OT in a tie game i am tackling my own grandmother hard. you are not scoring a goal without a miracle because i am putting you on the ground. if the ref calls a foul they can whack a shot over the goal on a free kick. what i am instead watching is mcglynn flailing at a ball going back, and then a bunch of defenders backing off the play not sure whose play it is to make, leaving runners wide open.
what a shambles.
i do think ball bounces different we tie or win that, but that’s true of maybe the first 15 minutes. we were off twice. the calls were fair. and we knew the score when that push fizzled. other than sub in agyemang i didn’t see much effort to change the outcome.
i mean, basic crap, money on the table, why mcglynn and not reyna?? why not reyna for a half dozen positions on the field.
can we get out of these stupid “meme” type cycles where it either does or does not seem to matter how much reyna plays in club? the team sucks when he doesn’t play. period.
Agreed primo Papi Grande, was extremly baffled by the display.
I get it that soccer coaches want to put their best 11 on the field, but it just doesn’t make any sense if they aren’t comfortable in that position. McKennie is NOT a #10. You don’t ask linebacker to play quarterback. You don’t ask your catcher to play shortstop. They just seemed rift of any ideas, let alone the capacity to change their strategy, either on their own, or with instructions from Pochettino.
i agree and this is kind of what i get at with my arguments about “fanboy all star teams.” good coaches have the best players out there to fit a scheme. that is not the same as the highest 11 reputation guys or the best stats guys. it may mean some guys who don’t fit a role turn into subs or get cut. both musah and mckennie to me it’s like “why are they out there?”
there are potential answers — i mean, mckennie’s goalfest against cuba in 2019 was largely at sargent’s expense. we would try to feed sargent. mckennie would get the garbage far post for wayward crosses sargent wasn’t fast enough to reach, and got 4 goals.
in which case, why am i watching sargent and not mckennie? in any event, he’s a man in search of a use, and that use isn’t 8 or 10 as a starter. he can’t possess in the scheme. he is fairly productive on dead balls and stuff but that’s not run of play. that’s more like you want from a supersub.
and you say this stuff and people flip out because He Plays For Juve. so what. it’s like going off to college telling everyone you played for a big select team. so what. what role do you play for this team?
to me the end all be all is this unit keeps losing games.
McKennie starts and has been playing the 10 at Juventus since about January…sometimes captaining the team from that position.
i should have seen it coming. first, he’s moved all around the shop, even back.
second, he’s modestly productive as an AM in league play, and juve is 5th place with as many draws as wins. moderate offense living off the defense.
to me he’s a guy who sneaks up with the forwards and cherry picks goals. which is not really any specific position on the field. he’s not a 10 who sets up his teammates with silver platter quality service. those closest thing to that are reyna or puli.
he is an interesting player in search of a position to play. in fairness, we have plenty of poorly performed positions he could be tried at for us. winger, striker, anywhere on the backline.
Ditto to the Imperative voice, quozzel, et al. And, we were simply profligate with our chances on goal.
The thing the Brazilians call, “the little pass to the net.” That was missing.
I kept thinking about when Spain played Russia in the World Cup. Completed ca. 1000 passes and had close to 90% possession, AND STILL LOST (in a penalty shoot out) TO A FAR INFERIOR SIDE THAT BUNKERED THE WHOLE DAMN GAME. And Spain were criticized for doing the same tiki-taka all day long, and not trying some long balls over the top, or some slashing diagonal runs, or some long crosses into the box looking for Diego Costa, etc., etc. They made so many perfect passes around the perimeter and into the alley, and down into the corner flag, and back out the alley and around the horn. But they never accomplished the little pass to the net. And the team that had won 2 Euros, sandwiching a world cup trophy, bowed out of the world cup in the first of knock out rounds. Just sayin’. Shit happens. It sucks to lose like that. Would have liked to see Arfsten, Reyna and/or Luna. Different game with a weeks rest, and both Jedi and Dest on the wings. So it goes.
here’s the basic deal. a good team losing a game like this would usually prompt an inquest in some soccer mad country. 3 times would prompt a complete rethink. but we are not going to do a rethink because we are beyond sure we have the tactics sorted, even as the tactics lose us games. until we get past that basic loop we’re screwed.
similarly, we keep trying variations on a set of guys id’d in about 2020, under varying caretakers and coaches, and never seem to get why we don’t win. again, this should prompt a rethink based on results, but the snobs are absolutely sure, and we know who all the Big Club Big Reputation guys are we can’t possibly touch.
i disagree with poch in the sense that there is no way “this roster” should be losing to “that team,” and particularly 3 times out of 4, and every time money is on the table. to be fair, you can’t just throw The Shirt out there and win games. but this team has the best talent in the region but gets outcoached even within its little pond.
i cannot believe i am literally watching this regress back to Berhalter Ball and the “Reyna Question” some effing more. are you kidding me. how stubbornly dumb are we? money on the table and i am watching McGlynn From the January Game ahead of Reyna?? really??
look, they might have been tired from a long european season. but this felt like it hadn’t moved an inch from about 2022 or so. and militantly so with the continuing “Reyna isn’t getting enough club minutes” stupidity.
Brerhalter Ball had way more fight, like WAY more fight, especially first years. can still happen for Poch, didn’t last night
basic selection thoughts — panama’s sub scored. in contrast, that’s mcglynn unable to corral the backpass or tackle it into submission.
on that play, mckenzie — as he often does — gets sucked up. this makes ream nervous.
ream then backpedals off the goalscorer, who scally tries to react to last second.
you can clear them all off my list. i have been telling you how mckenzie doesn’t get/stay where he’s supposed to. ream i have said my piece 20 times. i keep saying to shop CB and we keep letting the usual suspects lose games.
and then, well, mcglynn doesn’t look ready or like a DM. but then he always gave AM to me anyway.
this team continues to run on autopilot on selection, slow to change, we need to start acting like we have problem areas and new faces to fix it. we continue to be up our butt about who plays where and not really focusing on which players excel in these games and which cost us losses and goals.
all started with the misplayed back header by Pulisic in the middle channel, middle third, terrible ball, terrible idea at that point in the game
excuse me…middle channel, OUR defensive third
i am still trying to decide if not a darned thing has really changed or if there is hope. grand scheme of things we barely beat jamaica, split with panama, lost to mexico, and face a difficult task with canada this wekend.
we continue to unlearn basic stupid international 101 lessons like your best players may be stuck on a bench abroad, and conversely that club statistics don’t necessarily mean something. when we figure out reyna is talented and sargent less so, this will succeed. until then this is a team missing jedi and its leading 9s that then chose to further cripple itself with lineup choices. it is very berhalter to watch reyna sit.
other very berhalter things — the fight was lacking. the players stayed right in their little positional slots — agyemang was one of the few i saw make a run out of slot and cut the defender off with his body. you have a team playing a high line. where were the diagonal runs? where were the diagonal balls? where was the recent improvement of players more actively showing back? it’s harder to drape someone who is willing to run away from their guard. it is easy if you stand there like a U14 waiting for the ball.
we also were back to pointless perimeter possession. the ball gets stuck in the corner less — we’d pass back — but that might be worse if we need chances.
i also felt like if you’d put some mids in who can dribble — puli, luna, reyna — then panama trying to drape people is less effective. or musah is a tank who is hard to bowl over. it’s like we picked the sloppiest mids on purpose.
last point, i think the berhalter crap is still in their heads because far too many times early on, a wing would get behind them, and then rather than sliding a ball across from 35 out, behind the high line, he would either dribble some or literally put his foot on the ball and wait, then make the cross from the 18 or have to try to make it to the endline. to me if you have a team playing a high offsides line and you break free wide, the quickest option to create pain is play the ball early behind the defense. we instead wait.
and that last thought works better if your striker has foot speed and can be sent behind a defense.
ditto just banging it over the top if a team tilts the formation back but still plays a high line — which is not a bunker and offers easy longball/throughball options.
heck, they could run sideways. they could run back. and they could make diagonal runs. they looked low effort.
they stood in positional slots. they made this very easy.
we got outcoached. that was basically berhalter ball getting bottled like old. far too often we got stuck playing half court against a set defense and lacking a concept to break it down. all the offense was when we caught them in a high line wide or to the striker.
it’s not magic what panama does. we advertise how we’re going to come at you. which is overrated as results continue to show. panama then takes away that thing. in gold cup it was the 343 against our 433 where we couldn’t get a pass through the midffield. poch’s answer had been to start the play up the middle then dink it wide. panama set up a narrow 541 swarming interior players once they got the ball, playing a high line. despite initially getting some wide joy we insisted on interior play too much.
there then become 3 obvious ways to get at them. direct balls to a striker past the high line — and they don’t have to be lofted balls as the one agyemang throughball showed (though they could be if you had a 9 with foot speed). or you hit the wing and they win their 1v1 old school — which weah sometimes did. at which point ideally you have a speedster or target man to get on the end. which sargent i
if a team is going to dare you to get behind them then we needed wide speed or wide dribbling ability, and then a striker with foot speed to send.
the offense immediately woke up when agyemang went on. and if panama is going to shift the formation back and dare you to dribble then reyna and puli are your wings that night.
i hear a lot of crying about who wasn’t there but the running issue of the US is to “personalize” the offense to specific players who then might not be available. then to select players based on all star stats instead of scheme fit. the fanboys keep wanting to give sargent chances. he doesn’t fit anything we’re trying to do. the injured guys are not the only foot speed forwards we have. we also have some guys in the pool who can score a header if we end up trying to finish crosses all day.
but, by all means, let’s keep trying to tiki taka teams to death with a sloppy midfield and sargent in witness protection. tell me how that works out…..
Did anyone notice that the lower deck was only about 1/3 full? How much are they charging for tickets to these games? I’m looking at a seating chart from March 8 with prices over $200 for anything decent, marked with little tags that say “one left”. Apparently there were a lot left. They think people are going to spend a grand to take their family to see that? And whose idea was it to book Sofi stadium with 70,000 capacity, a narrow field that virtually guaranteed a bad game against a Concacaf opponent, and a 13 hour flight and 9 hour time difference from Europe? The guys started the game at 1AM European time. Seriously, what are people thinking?
I assume most of the tickets were bought by Mexican fans who didn’t show up until later. Concacaf does all the planning for these not USSF so they set it up for their biggest money making fan base, El Tri.
Oh that all actually makes a lot of sense. I didn’t realize we were just opening for Mexico.
yes, they usually sell the doubleheaders as pairs and often one is much more popular than the other. i once watched a riveting gold cup semi with south africa — panama that went to kicks, played after mexico – colombia, and the place had almost emptied for game 2, and my wife was increasingly crabby being there that long. you’re there so long you can eat 2 meals.
to me the answer is multiple sites, or quotas for tickets through the federations. right matchup on separate sites and the crowd might be pro-american for a change. what kneecapped this one is the mexico fans beat us to the common tickets. and if you bought it through USSF — as you do for england or whatnot — we can at least try to have a home crowd.
As Gary Page said, the US needs to shoot more often. Even if none of the shots from 25 to 35 yards go in, they will force the defenders out a bit to cover the shooters. That will open up a little space, probably very little. Even a little space is easier to attack.
With the apparent lack of target strikers for the US, getting to the corner and crossing into a crowded box is not likely to work. It certainly is exactly what the Panamanian defense was set up to stop.
nah. some other night where we’re getting the ball in that 35 yard zone of danger in the middle, i buy this and often advocate it. they were tackling anything that moved in that area with 5/4. they needed to get out faster wide, then play the ball immediately when they beat their marks even if they were 35 yards out.
or hit it over the top then finish it. which is more about striker profiles and finishing.
or last night the mids and/or 9 could have been more technical of the sort who could better handle a collapsing defense. more luna and reyna. less the sloppy mckennie. they were too clustered and collapsing too fast for this to be about lobbing long shots. it needed to be either work around the edges, or have very very very skilled guys in the scrum who can either dribble through that maze or get fouled.
and if we get fouled someone else besides puli needs to take the kick. yet again the dead balls were pffffffffftt. again again again quit doing things by stats lines. surely someone else on the team can hit dangerous dead balls we can actually get on???? i don’t care if he’s ACM if 90% of the games he does dead ball duty nothing happens.
Panama was pretty good about not giving us space and the angle to shoot even from the 25-35 yard distance.
To open up a defense like that you have to pull it open wide. Or beat them on the counter.
Which is why they missed Jedi. and possibly Sergino.
It’s the same thing Bob did to Spain in 2009.
***trigger warning. This post includes the word Berhalter****
No matter who the coach is, no matter which team you name…breaking down a low block is *really* hard.
AC Milan may not qualify for Europe because they can’t do it. Juventus has a better defense so they are higher in the table but they can’t do it either. And four of the starting attacking players for the USMNT play for those teams. Oh and many fans’ savior Reyna plays on a team also in danger of not qualifying for Europe because they also can’t breakdown a low block and he can’t impress enough to get decent playing time.
What do all of these teams (including the USMNT) have in common? They switched coaches – sometimes multiple times – in an effort to change this problem. At a certain point it becomes a problem of the players.
Milan looks the same limp offensive team whether its Pioli, Fonseca or the guy now. Juventus look as lifeless in attack with Motta as they did with the guy before him. Dortmund is a carbon copy from Terzic to Sahin to Kovac. However, of these teams it’s Juventus to have improved a little. Why? January loanee Kolo Muani. It hasn’t been tactics, it’s been a player. They all need more players.
A low block is a basic defensive structure most any team can be decent at to level the competition. It’s physics. Two solids cannot occupy the same space. There are players who can find the space between and players that cannot.
The dark side of the USMNT players finally maturing into leaders and penned in starters for their teams is that their teams are performing at near historical lows under their tenure.
As people with sanity in their vision of what was happening with Berhalter said – it’s the players not the coach. That being said Pochettino is the coach to have when NOT playing against a bunkered opponent. But I could coach the team versus a low block and the results would be similar Poch’s in a run of 100 games. This is why CONCACAF is difficult.
So the positive is the the USMNT *should* be much better when playing teams more comfortable playing soccer with them. We will see the superior coaching and skills of our players. If they can get out of group stages they should shine.
IMO, a pretty good post but I doubt many here agree with you. I do so I dont know if that is good or bad. Those who said players shared some of responsibility were definately the minority on this site.
Betinho and Tele,
Going back many years, most of the time, when the USMNT comes back for a couple of days training and then a two game set; that first game is almost always what you saw last night , sluggish and slow.
It’s almost certain they will be a lot better the next game. This has been true for every manager since Bob.
I’m inclined to hold the players responsible for it.
Though if Pochettino had been sharper he:
1. Should not have let Jedi, our one true energizer bunny, get injured
2. Should have started all those cupcake guys. Our Euros looked stale and over- worked because , well ,they are. Especially our Serie A foursome. Maybe that would have given us a lot of energy and fought off the “flatness.”
Tele, would they have gone to penalties if it had been tied after OT? That would have been fun.
dude, that was not a bunker. they were out there confronting us past midfield and set up their line about 35-40 yards upfield. there was plenty of joy to be had behind that — and we even had some early wide or to agyemang after his sub.
what you are correct about is all too often after the first few minutes they were content when receiving a wide ball to let the defense drop back and defend our next option. then pass back. then maybe hit a cross in.
but sorry ball on our end trying to play forward, they were actually fairly high up trying to deny us the interior midfield balls. the game then is go around the block. either that or feed someone like luna or reyna central in space — who can handle pressure — who then on very few touches sends us behind while they are up.
IV – true! That line was high. I stand corrected but the defense was so compact that it seems like an impenetrable block.
Poch should have been braver and replaced Pulisic aand McKennie after the hour mark. They were both slow and ineffective during the game, and Pulisic was probably one of the worst players on the pitch for the USA losing every duel and missing every pass, not the mention providing the assist on Panama’s goal. Not Christian’s night he looked jet lagged and off rythym. No reason to keep him in so long he was a liability. That’s on Poch – poor coaching overall in that one.
As long as Christian is our leader and best player, our progress slim to nil. For all the talent, he lacks in game mental and physical toughness and that disease is contagious. He gets tired and sloppy or angry and erratic. The team follows suit.
Man I miss Clint Dempsey.
Bearded Soccer,
When Clint was captain he had , for the most part, Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley at their USMNT best. And earlier on he had LD.
Pulisic does not have the same level of support.
Win, lose, or tie the majority of CONCACAF matches are VERY, VERY painful to watch. First of all I give Panama credit for knowing the US weakness by packing 10 players within 25-30 yards of the goal. But after about 20-30 minutes of just passing the ball around and around and around it is just difficult to watch. The ball would go to the left, center, back, right, back, center, back and so on. At that point just start shooting the ball or sending crosses into the box. Something more is bound to happen. Plus if you turn it over, so what, it might pull Panama out and then open things up. Finally, when you know teams are going to bunker down, maybe add a more offensive player to the starting 11 and remove one of the backs. Maybe pull the goalie, LOL. Not like Turner did anything and his positioning on that goal was questionable. Just my 2 cents.
Time and again we play these concacaf teams that bunker 10 behind the ball and absolutely struggle. I’m a little shocked to see what sure as hell looked like Berhalter ball out there. I am (obviously) not a top level coach, but from a strategic point of view, if the opponent is having success using a tactic, I want to take that tactic away from them. So how to get a Panama to come out of their own penalty box? Give them the ball and sit back, draw them out. Counter the counter. We have far far better players and athletes to hit on the counter than they do. Poch is new to concacaf so I’m gonna give him a pass this time, but the honeymoon is over, and believe me we are gonna see this strategy used against us by everyone in the region that isn’t Mex or Can.
The US used to play the same teams who bunkered in the early 2000s and would always win and quite handy most of the time do the fact that they were deadly on set pieces drew a lot of fouls and countered well, not to mention had a solid stable of goal keepers.
The problem isn’t coaching or tactics for the most part. It’s the players but honestly, when is the last time the US scored off a set piece or a corner it just seems so rare. It used to be their bread and butter. I actually long for teams like the 2002 team this crap is embarrassing.
well, we decided we were past needing target strikers, and we seem to award dead ball privileges based on reputation instead of can someone hit dangerous balls in the box.
also, the runs in general are very predictable. we get in a line. they set up offsides line. we run straight in. very basic.
there is nothing clever, it’s very crude. no one making sideways or diagonal runs. no ball and then spread. no pick plays. no weaves. no wagon wheel. no one sneaking up next to the passer to make a late break. no two man game on the ball. do we even have anyone making a near post run?
i mean, if you can’t hit a set up ball, maybe sometimes tap the ball into play and then see if in the ensuing chaos you can use your 10 yards to find someone open against a defense no longer just set back in a 541.
very very basic.
i honestly feel like the whole thing has regressed.
i don’t quite buy what poch is saying — i think he has some responsibility for the limited creativity — but you have to have actual ideas and not just the shirt. we are very predictable and seem to think we will still manage to win anyway. while avoiding the sort of meat and potatoes ways fighting teams win these tough games. and i don’t mean puli gets kicked in the midsection, because ideally you aren’t depending on that.
they need to look like they’ve played together before. and they need to have more clever ideas how to break teams down or do dead balls. it’s all a little obvious from a bunch of big club european players.
let’s be real. if we didn’t have the fanboy snob problem where we feel like we have to overcorrect towards tiki taka from our old ways. if you were objectively looking at what do we have and how do we play.
this would be a wide speed counter team with puli and reyna central with adams. use one of the athletic 9s. use weah and someone wide. then a little more concern with marking on defense selection.
instead, flawed defense, 2 DMs, sloppy mckennie, sargent. trying to play keepaway soccer.
i am a little concerned that the supposed nuances poch offers are really things good teams will just take away. it then matters if he’s a system guy or someone who can improvise. we keep heading down the system trail despite the system not proving to be the money tree. i don’t get it.
that and i just think this whole thing is crippled because you have abstracted critics who want to see more ground ball, toy with people soccer even if the pool doesn’t have enough of that. as i say 20 times, teams don’t normally pick tactics aspirationally wishing they were something. they pick someone with bright ideas how to coach the precise pool on hand.
that and we continue to not pick up on that this particular unit doesn’t get it done. that maybe they play fancy places and some put up numbers, but it doesn’t work as a group. your best paper unit is not your best team usually. there needs to be more focus on how exactly do you see, say, that wing over there, setting up this 9 here. how do you see the mids getting on the ball. what runs are people making. etc.
How do you leave a guy on the bench that broke his nose, insisted on coming back immediately into the game, then goes on a 20 yard run with the ball and assists on a goal??
Agree with the folks who said Reyna or IMHO especially Luna was the missing sauce in this game. McKennie is almost always going to be one of your best 11 – actually, one of your best five or even three, usually – but he’s one of those guys you need to put “somewhere” instead of locking him into a spot and that somewhere in this case was not as a 10 against a team that bunkers and counters. (Yes, yes, I know he and Pulisic were flipping pretty constantly and technically he started as a RW.)
But I thought on this one McKennie needed to be playing right wingback…and Musah needed to start off on the bench. Musah has an incredible engine and he’s physically dynamic and he advances the ball very well…but as many have noted, the end product is just not there at the moment and he is absolutely not a guy who’s going to play in tight spaces. Luna’s ability to wriggle through tight spots that even your cat would struggle to get through, on the other hand, and make combos and passes in a shoebox (while also being as hard to move off the ball as a fire hydrant!) would have seemed to have been exactly what the game was calling out for. If you’re playing the game in a phone booth against a kicky, physical team that wants to back up the bus, I don’t know that there’s anybody better in the pool than Luna for that.
Kind of bad luck he got dragged inside, but Scally did get caught ball-watching and Turner will know he should have had that Panama goal. I’ve been saying for awhile that a healthy, confident Zach Steffen with his head glued on right (a lot of qualifying statements, I know) is a more complete keeper than Turner and my suspicion is, that’s what we’re going to be seeing, and sooner rather than later because a healthy, confident Steffen seems to have re-emerged after spending years MIA.
Still would have been a very different game if the US could have just scored that first goal and forced Panama to come out to play and the chances to do so were indeed there, but at the end of the day the US was also not generating enough chances despite dominating possession and IMHO it did have a bunch to do with the personnel on the field…and not on the field. Poch did not get this one right, IMHO.
Eeek, double post, sorry. Bad quozzel.
scally is more complicated. when they win the ball ream is on the goalscorer. he chooses to backpedal into the offsides line instead of stay marked with 2 minutes left. scally then doesn’t switch onto the man for him. and then since no one cares about defender footspeed a guy with only a few yards’ space gets his shot off untouched.
Agree with the folks who said Reyna or IMHO especially Luna was the missing sauce in this game. McKennie is almost always going to be one of your best 11 – actually, one of your best five or even three, usually – but he’s one of those guys you need to put “somewhere” instead of locking him into a spot and that somewhere in this case was not as a 10 against a team that bunkers and counters. (Yes, yes, I know he and Pulisic were flipping pretty constantly and technically he started as a RW.)
But I thought on this one McKennie needed to be playing right wingback…and Musah needed to start off on the bench. Musah has an incredible engine and he’s physically dynamic and he advances the ball very well…but as many have noted, the end product is just not there at the moment and he is absolutely not a guy who’s going to play in tight spaces. Luna’s ability to wriggle through tight spots that even your cat would struggle to get through, on the other hand, and make combos and passes in a shoebox (while also being as hard to move off the ball as a fire hydrant!) would have seemed to have been exactly what the game was calling out for. If you’re playing the game in a phone booth against a kicky, physical team that wants to back up the bus, I don’t know that there’s anybody better in the pool than Luna for that.
Kind of bad luck he got dragged inside, but Scally did get caught ball-watching and Turner will know he should have had that Panama goal.
Still would have been a very different game if the US could have just scored that first goal and forced Panama to come out to play and the chances to do so were indeed there, but at the end of the day the US was also not generating enough chances despite dominating possession and IMHO it did have a bunch to do with the personnel on the field…and not on the field. Poch did not get this one right, IMHO.
Ok Danielle Reyna, your move.
IMHO, she and Claudio f**ked up Gio’s career. He’s never been the same player since they exposed themselves as helicopter parents.
gio has always been gio, nothing has changed before or after the WC
he’s a great talent with what looks like a horrible attitude and legs of glass
DC Josh,
Gio’s parents may have had a lot of pull with the mom and pop USSF but they had nothing to do with his decline at BVB.
That’s down mostly to his ill-timed injuries.
I love the usmnt and I hate seeing them lose to bunkering teams. This game was awful to watch and I would assume super frustrating to play in. If we’re not enjoying watching ,it I’m sure the players don’t enjoy playing it. It showed.
Give Panama credit, they bored us into a loss. The game against Canada on Sunday could be a lot of fun if the players are up for it. Sadly, I do think they will probably beat us with this roster. They were better in Mexico for a lot of the game.You just can’t fall asleep on Mexico’s counters and they did.
I know there is not one person in here who diden’t have a feeling we would lose just how we did. Tim ream in the 95th min trying to close down a fresh attacker one good shot against a keeper who doesn’t play. Musah as our main creative player is terrifying considering his final third abilities. Robinson and dest would have thrived with that kind of possession. Tessman plays well in open games but isn’t built for this kind of game. Gio sure as hell is. Jack can shoot from distance but not through ten guys so much. Lunas ferocity would have been welcome. Heart had its merits. If the objective was crossing why didn’t we start our 6’6 monster over sergeant or have Weston play higher for his heading ability instead of pulisic who can play well as a ten?
Sorry for the rant. It’s four in the morning. I woke up pissed off about this anyway look forward to the rest of the comments throughout the day. I’m sure you guys all feel the same.
I like Poch, but he was badly outcoached. Not for the first time in his career by a less talented side.
Putting Musah as the primary attacking option on the right wing was Christmas Day for Panama. He can’t cross and he can’t score. He belongs in central midfield or on the bench. They let him have the ball out on the right all the time. Eventually we learned we should be going through Weah on the left, but it was far too late.
And the substitutions? Baffling.
It’s all on the players in the end, but Poch had a very bad outing from a coaching perspective.
One of the most frustrating losses by the USMNT that I can remember. As someone else pointed out, where was the intensity, the spirit, the fight, the effort? Panama seemed to get about 3/4 of all the 50/50 balls. And another thing I’ve mentioned before. The US is too soft. Too often other teams will ride our players off the ball and just out tough them to win the ball. Most every ball in the air also seemed to go to Panama. We had more chances and did nothing with them and then to give up a slow rolling goal in stoppage time is just ridiculous.
Anything can happen in one off games. But in saying that this game was crying out for Reyna or Luna not Mcglynn.
They bunkered and countered, and finished one chance while the US missed multiple opportunities The US got a taste of what that is like afters years of the US doing that to many teams.
Still third place to fight for. I would rather see Fossey at RWB over Musah. While one of Luna or Gio should start as a CAM. Steffen for Turner.
No real threatening overlaps on the wings made Panamas approach easier.
By Gold Cup it seems likely the US will have their two best outside backs available.
Trump is going to be pissed!!!!
Also why is Sargent invisible and mid for national team , but club he goes off and lights opponets defense up???? Smh🤦, Malik Tillman does this also! Diffrent player for club, versus National team!
It seemed to me that problem was lack of service. And how well did his replacement do? Sargent was denied by a deflection and an offside. Agyemang missed a great opportunity and then flubbed a pass inside the box. McKennie had a header that was pretty open and hit it right at the keeper. The default here seems to be blame Sargent. Pulisic shanked a free kick, rarely made a good corner kick, and Weah completely whiffed on a ball inside our box. Fortunately it led to only a corner.
The last good game Sargent had was against Peru. I remember when he did that C Ronaldo like back pass and got an assist. Other than that he gets injured in camp, or is invisible/mid. Notice I called out Tillman too? Cardoso and Tessman are diffrent in a bad way for USMNT too versus club.
Sargent is injured so often, he has hardly been available, so it’s not like he has had a lot of opportunities. How many goals has Bologum been scoring? 0, so i guess he’s worthless, using your logic. On the offsides goal, Sargent made an excellent shot, it’s not his fault there was an offsides. I’d like to see Pepi back, but I don’t see anyone else who is available right now who is definitely better than Sargent.
Balogun has scored a lot. He scored most our goals in Copa America, when Sargent scored 0. Sargent has no USMNT goals in 2024. Balogun has plenty that Ghana game in Nashville Balo scored Sargent didn’t. Again windmilling for Sargent does nothing, when the proof is in the stats, 0 goals in 2024 for USmnt. He didn’t do anything in WC 2022 either.
The last good game Sargent had was against Peru. I remember when he did that C Ronaldo like back pass and got an goal*. That was in 2018 pre pandemic and it was mostly MLS line up Marky Delgado and Will Trapp etc, CCV and Weah only non MLS.
Everyone is overcomplicating this loss. Weston and CP sucked from the opening ( a movie we’ve all seen many times) and never came back to take control and lead. And it just went downhill from there
Defensively, Tyler, our defensive leader, had a pretty good game and they had things under control except for that 94th minute goal. Unfortunate but it doesn’t mean they have to revamp the defense.
Offensively, were let down by our Italians and the absence of Jedi and Dest. From the jump, all four of our Italians looked gassed.
So why not sub them out?
Players of their alleged quality ( and I’m referring mostly to CP and Weston) are capable of looking pretty average to below average for most of the game and then in the last minute coming up with something to turn the game our way.
That’s why they are called difference makers.
I think Pochettino left those guys in for as long as he did because he wanted them to show their true character.
And the game was tied and about to go into extra time when so you want at least one of them around for that. Then everything went tits up. I’m sure everyone would have been a lot happier if they had gone down with all guns blazing instead of protecting the lead to get into overtime but a loss is a loss.
Others have to step up.
Tessman (or MB2025 as y’all call him) looked a lot more like MB2017.,i.e. tentative, cautious and unwilling to risk making a mistake. Weah had some moments but clearly shot his wad early. Musah was doing his best to make Nagbe look like an offensive powerhouse.
This team needs both Weston and CP to show their true character on demand or there will be a lot more Panamas in the USMNT’s short and unhappy future.
Because Championship defenders and goalies are rubbish.
This might be the best example of a bunker and pray for a couple long transition counters I’ve seen in a while. Panama played a 5-4-1 with the 4 mids offering little resistance outside 35 yards and the back line pushed up to the 18 which meant they had 9, often 10, players in a space smaller than the penalty area all the time. The US did manage to get a very few breaks past the packed defense, The goal that was called back was one of the few times Panama were caught out chasing.
It has been true since the Klinsman era that the US tried to play short passes and emulate Spain or Barcelona. Yet the US does not have enough players who can do that well enough. Bora, Bruce and Bob might rightly be accused of boring soccer, but it was effective.
Did Poch fall into that trap as well and how does he get them out of it?
I’m going with jet lag as the main excuse. LA is long travel from Europe. Throw in the shrinky dink field too.
Pochettino on USMNT aspirations: “We can be No. 1 in the world”
Hmmmmm……so can Panama I guess.
Playing players in positions that they seldomly play in their respective clubs is a recipe for disaster….. Just like what we saw today. There was no creativity, or liveliness in attack. The whole team looked flat especially in the first half. Wow
Noticed the same things. And it’s the same old story unfortunately. European club football success has no translation in CONCACAF. Tired of people talking about “minnows” all the time as well. No urgency from the team. Complete disappointment of a crowd. Depressing as all get out. My football fandom has always been tied to USA soccer (for nearly 40 years). I “like” Euro teams because they have US players in their squads. My favorite team in soccer has always been and always will be the USMNT. My life has sorta revolved around the National Team. I’m just so gutted and bummed. I’m not one of those people that thinks “we should win” because I’ve lived the game for a fairly long time and know that you have to earn things. We seem so entitled. It bugs me. Where is the heart in the team?Where are the chance takers? I’m sick over this. And worried about our team.
Panama plays really, really, really dull soccer. Give up almost all possession, bunker with 10, even 11 players defending behind the ball, and hope for a mistake by your opponent. Panama’s tactics are frustrating, but once again, it works. The casual fan turns off this snoozer of a game. But it’s bitter disappointment for us faithful fans. That’s all for me tonight.
That’s how most of the world has ever felt about the US at a World Cup. But at least we got results (sometimes).
Dull soccer against US is winning soccer. If we can’t bust the bunker against the likes of Panama then our future international aspirations are very grim. Teams can just pull out the old WC Dutch playbook against us, sit back wait for mistakes and slice us up. This has been a problem for years because we have no real cam and no striker.
Josh Sargent? That’s our number one? God help us. Mostly invisible and when he’s at his best he has Wondolowski luck. And yes, please Gio, Luna, somebody that can thread the needle, bust the bunker.
This was GBB all over again. Keep possession, pass around the perimeter, get frustrated, lob a ball over the top, loose possession, regain possession, rinse and repeat.
The sad thing is years ago in the early 2000s. The US had to encounter bunker teams in World Cup qualifying all the time and had success due to the fact that they were dangerous on set pieces and had goalies that made saves when counters were sprung. Turner isn’t playing so I’m not sure why he even started. He clearly was out of position hugging the near post should’ve been shaded a bit more towards the center. He would’ve been able to reach that ball. It wasn’t struck that well. As well on the 1 or 2 set pieces I remember they were atrocious nothing on frame. Drawing fouls happens because you take on players one V one much the way that we see Luna attack people not sure anyone on the team is so deadly with set pieces or that good in the air that would make a difference, but it’s strange that those two talents are sorely lacking in the last few years.
It’s bad luck. Eventually every team loses to a team that bunkers and counters and today was their day to lose. They were marginally better at attacking the bunker then with Gregg and created more chances but were still pretty bad. I still say Gregg was not good but he was lucky. Poch isn’t a bad coach for those who want to blame him. I am sure there will he a few people that do.
Who exactly is shocked?
Bring on the January B team. These so called Stars seem tired and bored. Back passing and no creativity. A real shame but getting used to it unfortunately.
And it wasn’t really shocking.
Why are they crossing in final third, instead of ripping rocket shots??? 🔥 🚀 ⚽️🥅🤦
Too often the US will try and set up the situation for an easy tap in when we should be shooting at every open opportunity. Obviously, the former approach isn’t working. They need to shoot more often.
Gary Page yep completely agree👍+1
I was thinking the same thing! They kept trying to get the perfect cross. Get that little window no matter where and just rip the shot! Panama was hauling butt to get 2-3 guys out on the perimeter to make it difficult for the crosses. That means the forward and the midfielders should be moving quicker in and out of the lines but they kept doing the static moving forward and back waiting for a cross. I’m not counting Weston’s through ball as that was on a quick transition moment which was rare in the game. Weah and Musah were frustrating to watch. For all the speed they have, they kept going to one-on-one isolation type ball standing there thinking they could make a move (basketball style). No quick one-two’s, they looked afraid to be fouled, etc. Played like a bunch of guys trying “not to lose” which did happen anyway, instead of pressing for a win.
ac IKR, extremly frustrating and baffling.
that’s why McGlynn subbed in imo