There was plenty of pressure surrounding the U.S. men’s national team heading into the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but after three group stage victories, it’s safe to say that those worries have quieted a bit.
Sunday’s 2-1 win over Haiti capped off a perfect group stage for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, earning them top honors in Group D heading into the knockout stage.
Although the USMNT left ample scoring opportunities on the table against the Haitians in Arlington, goals from Malik Tillman and Patrick Agyemang were enough to continue a positive run for the program in the tournament. Pochettino praised the effort and performance from his players, while also crediting Haiti for providing a tough challenge for his team.
“I think overall it was a good performance. Maybe we were not as clinical with the chances that we had. I think we should score more,” Pochettino said postmatch. “But I think when we score and we lead the game and then an accident, I think that we concede the goal. I think that created a little bit doubt in us. Again, I think it was tough to deal with that, but I think overall the performance was good.
“They [Haiti] were a massive challenge for us because it is a very good team that played direct, and they have very good players, there with physicality, they are strong,” he added. “And that was our challenge for us to learn and improve.”
Both Tillman and Agyemang have continued to pick up goals throughout the competition, combining for five tallies in the opening three matches. Tillman, who entered June camp without an international goal to his name, has showed his quality inside the 18-yard box, adding a headed goal to his tally on Sunday.
The attacking midfielder brings versatility to the midfield, which has led to Pochettino trying to get him in the best spots on the field.
“Malik, it’s difficult to define him because what a player, no?” Pochettino said about Tillman. “What a player that is showing this, all his talent and capacity. Because this type of player, the talent that he has shown with every single game and then with the capacity without ball, the work ethic in the way that he really is aggressive, he recovered a lot of balls. He’s always trying to help the deep press, chasing back, playing in different positions.
“He can appear like a No. 10 in training, between the lines, using the half space, but can be in the right or left side, wide,” Pochettino added. “Or he can drop and play like a No. 8, No. 6. I think, ‘What a talented player.’ So pleased with him.”
Agyemang missed a golden opportunity on a first-half breakaway but didn’t hang his head. The Charlotte FC forward rounded Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide in the 78th minute before tapping into an empty net, a moment which eventually served as the winning goal.
Although Agyemang easily could have more than his five international goals to date, Pochettino credited his forward for the hard work he has brought to the starting lineup.
“Patrick is doing a fantastic job for the team,” the Argentine head coach said. “All that he gave to the team today and the previous games also, he’s a fantastic striker. Still room to improve, but we are so happy with him.”
Haiti’s lone goal came from a blunder from USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese. Freese’s errant pass inside of his 18-yard box landed at the feet of Louicius Don Deedspn, who curled a left-footed shot past the 26-year-old and into the far-left corner of the net.
Freese, who made his debut against Turkey 16 days ago, denied Haiti a second goal in the second half and overall helped keep the USMNT from letting their lead slip away a second time.
While Pochettino will hope to not see errors from his goalkeepers going forward, he admitted that Freese needs to accept the mistake and move forward.
“The best way to trust in a player is not to [say anything]. Not to be careful with this or careful with that,” Pochettino said. “No. Move on. Remember, the most important action is the next one. If you think [about] the last one you are dead, you are going to do another mistake.”
The USMNT will now prepare for a quarterfinal showdown with Costa Rica on June 29, knowing that a showdown with The Ticos will be their toughest match yet of the competition. A three-match winning streak to start the group stage is certainly positive, but if Pochettino’s squad wants to be competing for the Gold Cup trophy, they cannot afford any mistakes going forward.
Really looking forward to seeing this team against Costa Rica. Haiti, TnT, and the Saudi’s were all very physical. Basically playing against fit strong and fast individuals and the Saudis offering some speed.
The younger players had a taste of CONCACAF but the intensity and competitions should increase. Very keen to see Tillman continue to raise his game and start to grab the game more so when the teams needs a leader and playmaker on the field. His leading by example on both ends is so encouraging!
Couple things that concern me short term and long term is one Luna leaves his feet a lot for tackles. Appreciate the hustle but that habit hurts teams in big moments and big games with yellows and reds By the way Adams early fouls last match should have been a yellow and possible red. You cannot tackle with both feet and wrap an opponents leg with your leg in a tackle. Another is the wide play by wings in forward positions is so predictable. Only Luna and Aaronson find pockets of space rather than just look for a cross or shot. Obviously Luna is more productive and a chance creator than Aaronson, who Poch does not seem to rate much. McGlynn is so timid and still looks like a boy out there. Yeah yeah look out for his left foot, everyone knows that now.
McGlynn’s biggest problem right now is Seba Berhalter.
It might come down to choosing between those two.
i don’t see those 2 competing for time. mcglynn is there to attack and SB is there to compete for 6 time.
Good job winning the group. Now comes the real test. They have to beat CR and play well or beat Mexico to get me back in with Poch. Ideally, they need to win this tournament. losing to CR or losing to Mexico in a bad way can’t be tolerated d
tournament soccer is you expect every knockout to be a knock down drag out until a game proves otherwise. they got there for some reason. to me it looks like CR then canada/jamaica, then mexico in the final.
we have never missed the knockouts, you just witnessed basic competence with our talent level. our tactics have been schizo, our selection uneven. he’s about to earn his paycheck. if he picks the right guys and they have some aggression maybe this goes somewhere. if they start backpassing out of attacks and he’s starting LDLT and harriel and sullivan and such, it’ll be a long day.
Leverkusen looking ro sign Tillman. If it happens I could see PSV try to get Reyna.
Oh I don’t think Earnie has any desire to go back down that road with Gio again.
Weah to Nottingham Forest rumors starting.
It’s being reported that Forest and Juve have agreed on the sale of Weah and 21 year old Samuel Mbangula for 22 million Euro. Forest still has to reach personal terms with the players.
If it goes through, I like the move for Weah. Nuno is a good coach and apparently wants Weah. I’m not sure if Nuno wanted Gio a couple of years ago or whether Gio was forced on him due to the agent. The owner at Forest is a little crazy, though.
JR,
I question whether Timo can take the pounding. Otherwise, it is an intriguing move. Does they want him as a RB or a winger?
V: ok watched a couple Forest YouTube channels (actual media types not just some guy in his basement). One interviewed the TNT broadcaster who does the Sunday Night Serie A games for England. He was high on Weah because of his versatility. He thought the 20-25 million for both players was a steal. He said if Tim is depth option at winger it’s a good move because with European Conference League and FA Cup, League Cup there will be plenty of fixtures. Alanga their current RW is rumored to possibly leave, if they want to start, Weah week in and week out he wasn’t as excited. Mbangula is seen as a prospect. They interviewed a couple more media people, that basically agreed that as W depth Tim made a lot of sense but not to start. One of those didn’t think he could play RB in EPL and Forest doesn’t use WBs so she wasn’t as sure he fit. The other channel was a guy I watched a couple times when Gio was there, who liked Gio so not completely biased to Americans at least. He was less excited but his experience with Tim seemed to be his time at Lille. His other issue was Nuno has been hesitant to rotate so would either player get enough minutes to be effective. The third video I watched was an Italian guy (who gave off just a Juve fan vibe) so I’m relying on YouTube auto translate. He was more upset about the price that Juve were just giving guys away. He focused more on the other guy, saying Weah made the most sense as someone to sell based on time at the club and interest from teams. More we’re Juve we sell players at a bargain what can you say. He was happy it appears Wes is staying.
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So I’d say overall people are unsure where Tim would play but they haven’t really used WBs under Nuno so probably as RW depth. I think more the fan types are hoping for bigger name signings given their finish last year but they kind of know Tim is more the quality they can attract/afford. Apparently, they’re after 2 or 3 players from Botofogo (CF, CB, LB) too. Not sure that clears it up any.
JR,
I’ve been a huge Timo fan since the U-20’s.
While I think he is/was getting lost in the mix at Juve, I’m not sold on Forest or on Nuno.
I’m sure the money is great but again, it is a World Cup year and any move is risky.
I’d like Timo to go someplace where he is more likely to be a feature player even though maybe he’s just not up to it.
I do see a formation taking hold and it isn’t a 4-2-3-1 its a 3-4-2-1. Now imagine that 3-4-2-1 with Pulisic as the other 10, Mckennie paired with Adams in a 6/8 hybrid role. Jedi at the LWB, Scally at the RCB/RB hybrid role, Dest at the RWB role and Pepi or Balo at striker. You can clearly see what Poch is doing. You can also see Weah at that RWB role too with Scally allowing either Dest or Weah more freedom to attack.
And clearly Freeman is competing for that Scally role.
You’re getting to caught in what formation is on the pregame graphic. Here’s what we’re doing, basically in each phase.
Defense: 4-4-2
2: Agyemang-Tillman
4:Aaronson, Luca, Adams, Sullivan
4: backline
Build Out: 3-2-4-1
3: Freeman, Rich, Ream
4:Sulli, Tillman, BA, Tolkin
1: Pat
Final 1/3
3-2-5
-Dest and Scally are not going to play at the same time on the same side of the field.
-Probably need a counter press phase shape but I’d have to do some rewatch.
– I don’t know Freeman is competing with Scally just yet. He’s passed Harriel who beat him out for the Olympics, but Frankie Westfield (19) has kind of done that at Philadelphia too. Freeman had a nice game against Haiti, but had a stinker against SA, and had nothing to do against TnT.
you weren’t watching a 3421 you were watching them attempt the jedi-assymetry thing with tolkin pushed high left but freeman stays home.
and if you watched the game, they got their goal playing it up our left side, behind tolkin, forcing a mistake out of ream trying to slide over. this is what will start happening if ream is richards’ pair and he has to slide wide to cover a LB.
this is kind of like the folks in general who want to see us send the wingbacks even after how holland abused us. does anyone watch the games? do they matter?
IV: No one plays in three set lines anymore. Everyone plays in different formations in different phases of play.
– this is exactly how we are going to play with the first team. Replace LDLT with Weston or Gio (Gio would be very dangerous in that spot) replace Aaronson with Pulisic and Agye with Pepe or Balo and now all those available runs that aren’t passed to are open. Why are those over the top plays open because we’ve out numbered the defense.
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Why do you love the long ball over the top so much? Because it’s literally the only way your rigid 4-4-2 with the backline all playing deep could score against a 4-5-1 or 5-4-1, even a 4-4-2 they’re out numbered by 2 in the attacking third. You cry that we’re playing keep away. Your counter style is just keep it far from our goal, you just want to play a different style of keep away. Have looked at the records of teams with less possession in the CWC? Giving the other team the ball is a losing proposition and it’s not even close.
JR, dude, i played wing in a 352, in select and college, i don’t need your dumb lecture. i was combined wing mid and wingback and could be found endline to endline.
my point is more about our suitability and cost-benefit of our particular risktaking. which is punished more than it adds. what we need is more vanilla.
beyond that you don’t understand me. i am into counter soccer, yes. counter soccer is not kickball inherently. you can play it like japan or italy or atleti. you drop back to your half. you hold your shape. you “maul” anything your side of the midline. you win it. you get it wide quickly. you get downfield. you get it back in the danger zone and try to score before the defense gets back.
if you watched the last world cup, it can be done both ways. the japanese did it on the ground. the dutch tended to play lofted outlets to the wings. you can vary that based on personnel. you can vary it based on opposition. you can vary it based on national skillset and build. the dutch had some height. the japanese had to stay technical.
i think it suits us because everything we do well goes wide then comes back in. and the strikers, while ok at holding, are generally good when played into space behind a defense, eg, pepi, balogun, agyemang.
we do not have any teamwide knack at possessing the ball and breaking down a settled defense in half court. we don’t even have a special affection for the few players like reyna with the skillset for it. nor do we seem willing to find a crosser-target combo to set up and finish the constant aerial game we end up playing.
nor are we particularly effective at pressing. or building from the back. that comes across like driving with the parking brake on.
you’re confused on kickball. my point there is situationally we should be unafraid to simply clear the ball out. talk to johnny and freese about it if you’re confused. i am not saying play longball all day. but nor am i on this current bandwagon of work the ball on the floor 110 yards even if the press is collapsing on us and we’re about to ship one.
you have the passes you can see. it would help if we showed more for the passers. but the idea is at worst don’t give up goals trying to be foolishly naive.
IV,
“JR, dude, i played wing in a 352, in select and college, i don’t need your dumb lecture. i was combined wing mid and wingback and could be found endline to endline.”
Bully for you. Most of us here along with JR are discussing the USMNT not your select or college team.
The Netherlands are not playing in the Gold Cup. And the USMNT is not going to face the Netherlands in every game they play going forward.
And there are no select or college teams in the Gold Cup either.
“beyond that you don’t understand me. i am into counter soccer, yes. counter soccer is not kickball inherently.”
Your comments are remarkably naive.
You are remarkably narrow minded.
And you haven’t played a lot have you ?
The USMNT is not currently a good team. Why would they be?
The USMNT are just in the middle of their growing pains.
Reading your commentary makes one think ” No shit! What did you expect?”
Good teams often have a preferred way of playing BUT a good team should also be capable of playing the counter , when it is on. It should also be able to play the longball game if that is there. And it should be used to playing out of the back and holding possession, especially if they are going to play in a World Cup in the United States of America in the summer of climate change.
WHY?
1.) Because those good teams that you might face in the 2026 WC? The longer you hold possession, the less those good teams have it And The less they have the ball, the better it is for you.
2.) Because a lot of the venues might be very , very hot. so if you are really good at controlling the tempo of the game that can be very helpful.
The USMNT has the players to play the counter , to play long ball, to play the ball out of the back or to step on the ball and slow the game down or speed it up.
What they don’t have or rather, have not had, is time together to work on all the nuances. Pochettino has been here for 16 games and has rarely has had his preferred 11-16 together . It takes time to get beyond being one dimensional.
But you needn’t worry, Pochettino will probably run out of time to really get this team to where it wants to go. You may well have your vengeance for him ruining your pet discoveries, Gio and Cole Campbell.
If all you can do is counter or all you can do is longball then you’re one dimensional and that much easier to defend.
2tone: watch YanksAbroadPod on YouTube, he’ll explain it all to you. He’ll explain where were trying to create spaces, overloads, and scoring opportunities.
well, let me explain to you that if you watched the last 5 games you saw where the harder the opponent gets the more this turns into passing backwards or around the back. not whatever theoretical nonsense you think we’re trying to do. and the world cup will be more “swiss” than “trinidad.”
they can barely find the 9 in a tough game. and when you’re passing backwards that’s more about possession than chances — my whole point.
no, what they are trying to do is fairly “basic,” in both the observational and perjorative senses. you play the ball around the back endlessly. you at a point try and force it down the line. if you manage to complete that pass, when bored of keepaway, you hit a cross if you don’t lose the ball. it’s very predictable and brute force hence we can’t score on good teams.
you mock “kickball” but the jedi-era wrinkle was send him down the line on a lofted ball when he had some space. so maybe you like kickball after all.
the one recent wrinkle is you play a fairly easy to intercept ball straight upfield to a forward or mid. if completed, they flick wide. then the wide player sends the forward through the backline.
that was the one approach working in the group (besides dead ball luck). that can surprise a team somewhat because the pinged pace on the flick and throughball passes becomes too fast to predict, stay in front of, or stop. and if they get the throughball in, you have to stop our big, athletic, fast forwards, and the whole defense isn’t back for a change.
but we did that more often the worse the opponent has been. and too often we’re standing around not available to do the flick part. or the timing on pass plus run isn’t together.
the overloads and all that bs is overintellectualized crap. what makes a team like city or spain good at this is sheer talent, the technical ability to move the ball faster than we do such that they can flick or flank a team, and the ability to hold the ball so long you go to sleep, meeting the technical ability to slice a team up between the backs. we rarely get between the backs.
we struggle to build the ball forward into danger areas. we are lucky to string passes against quality opponents. if we do we get bored and whack a cross in. it requires more technique and patience than we have.
What I have really liked about Agyemang is his ability to beat up both CB’s. His goal scoring stats shows he has a better goal scoring rate than all other strikers in the pool. Yes he has some raw edges, but his ability to not hold up the ball, but turn and make those CB’s have to chase him has been a great asset.
I have enjoyed watching Tillman finally flourishing. Not only his ability in the attack he has been extremely strong in defending. With Berhalter and Adams behind him whom both have great energy should be fun to watch against Costa Rica.
Agyemang’s goal scoring rate is a lot like an rookie’s .400 batting average after he first debuts in the bigs. Not a large enough sample size, not against enough good opponents. He will struggle to even get shots off against decent centerbacks. His overall strike rate with Charlotte isn’t anything to write home about, but it is improving. He will need to make some Herculean strides in the next 12 months to become the type of goal scorer we need to be a real threat in 26. Probably not a great plan to rely on him for goals but rather a load to physically beat up the centerbacks and create space for a second striker behind him.
Right now, I’d say that Agyemang is in the conversation for the third striker spot on the WC roster. Assuming they can get healthy and are productive over the next year, Balogan and Pepi still would be my first two strikers. A lot can change in a year, obviously.
Today, I’d put Balogun and Pepi at the top two in the depth chart, I am guessing right now that there is direct competition between Agyemang and Downs for the next spot. Obviously, a lot can change before the next year’s WC, but it looks like the pool could potentially have a set of tall, rangy attackers that would be a nightmare to defend.
PN – I would not write Sargent off quite yet, at least to compete with Patrick and Downs, and maybe Wright, for that third striker spot.
johnny99,
I like Sargent’s game a lot. He brings more to the table than the others as an all-out striker. Depending on where he lands, and where he is played tactically, may decide whether there is a role for him next summer.
I didn’t write off Hagi Wright. It just seems right now the other two have the advantage with more exposure to Poch with Hagi’s departure.
As I like to say, this fight over pecking order is a good problem to have.
Great points! Two other points with Agyemang is his lack of balance and owning his space and the other a result of the first point is not owning the air for headers. He is a large gangly target who often finishes any touch on the ground. On set pieces offensively or defensively generally not the first to the ball or initial target. His attribute is he shows up with ever chance given and competes. Also, has shown great energy pressing.
Large target forwards have a keen ability to get a shot off quickly, deft touch passes, and most of all get any body part on the ball to get it on frame
the striker, number 9, whatever one calls its…still wide open, like Ayemang is now in the conversation. good for him but let’s see how it goes as this tournament progresses. he has a lot a good to build on so far
on Tillman, his D presence makes a difference as it does for any of them out there, right? has been noted since the opening minutes of the first friendly; it’s a new way for him to get into the game instead of needing to have it worked and passes to him, which can be very hit and miss right? so the D evolution works on so many levels, including the leadership one in my book, big time
tillman’s final product had been lacking, particularly when deployed as a mid where he shoots more from the box edhe. he’s been finishing better but also playing higher upfield. the question is does he play there with the A team and can he beat anyone out. LF is often pulisic. RF is often weah or maybe reyna. campbell may become relevant. weston and musah will be gunning for the 10 slot, reyna and luna too. so where does tillman fall within that.
agyemang has been benefitting from injuries. the question is where he slots in when all are well — or if we continue to have hurt guys. if all are well he needs to play better target, softer feet, and he’s gotta finish. we’ll see if he can do it in the knockouts.
i do think a team needs at least one big banger who can head goals and hold a ball back to goal.
i don’t think sargent’s going to be as much in the mix as some think.
Looking at Agyemang a little different this morning, after his finish last night for the win, in which he showed a perfect couple of touches and was so composed. Kinda had him pegged as a bit of a brute whose main attribute at this time is his sheer size, which threw even the Swiss centerbacks off. I would love to have been wrong. He still isn’t making the runs that Pepi, Balo, Sargent would, but would those guys have finished that chance? Maybe? Hope he keeps it up in the knockouts, White was pretty ineffective in his sub appearances.
Patrick is very raw and his skills are inconsistent
But he seems to be very coachable and it looks like he knows exactly what he is doing with this bull in a china shop routine.
Kind of reminds me of Diego Costa.
He seems to enjoy the roughhousing while I’m pretty sure the defenders do not.. As I’ve said elsewhere I used to view guys like him as one ongoing big pain in the ass; all that attention he draws inevitably helps spring others free.
I don’t see him being a feature starter not with Flo and Pepi or for that matter Malik around but he just might be very useful.
“No. Move on. Remember, the most important action is the next one. If you think [about] the last one you are dead, you are going to do another mistake.”
congratulations to this group for moving on. I’ve enjoyed watching them grow together over these few games, and am excited to see them play the next game against stiffer competition, see what happens