The U.S. men’s national team clawed its way into the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals.
Damion Downs scored the decisive penalty kick for the USMNT while goalkeeper Matt Freese made three saves in a 4-3 shootout victory over Costa Rica. The teams played out a 2-2 scoreline in regulation before needing spot kicks to find a winner.
Costa Rica struck first in the 12th minute as Francisco Calvo slotted home from the penalty spot. Left back Max Arfsten lunged into Kenneth Vargasgiving The Ticos the opportunity to grab an early lead.
It marked the first time the USMNT trailed in the Gold Cup this summer.
The USMNT had a golden opportunity to tie things up with a penalty kick of their own in the 33rd minute. VAR called for a penalty after Costa Rica defender Juan Pablo Vargas slid into Malik Tillman after Tillman delivered a cross in the box.
However, the PSV midfielder watched his shot strike the left post, keeping Costa Rica in front.
Diego Luna stepped up before halftime though, delivering his first USMNT goal to tie things up. Luna’s strike deflected off of Alexis Gamboa and into the back of the net for a 1-1 equalizer.
That momentum boost carried over into the second half as Arfsten propelled the USMNT in front only 90 seconds after halftime. Patrick Agyemang held up possession at the top of the Costa Rica box before finding Tillman, who then played Arfsten into the box for a curling effort.
Costa Rica did not lie down though and eventually pulled itself back into the match with 20 minutes to play. Carlos Mora cut into the box past Arfsten and Luca De La Torre before delivering a shot that Matt Freese saved.
However, the rebound fell to Alonso Martinez, who volleyed the rebound into the top-left corner.
Martinez came close to winning the match for Costa Rica in the 85th minute but watched his right-footed missile strike the right post.
Freese stepped up for the USMNT in the shootout, denying Juan Vargas, Calvo, and Andy Rojas in the second, fifth, and sixth rounds respectively. Despite Sebastian Berhalter’s miss and John Tolkin being denied by the 38-year-old Navas, Downs scored the decisive penalty kick to send the USMNT into the final four.
The USMNT will face Guatemala in the semifinal round on Wednesday in St. Louis. Guatemala pulled a major upset earlier in the day on Sunday, eliminating Canada in a penalty-kick shootout of their own.
Johnnyrazor,
The referee, Walter Lopez, doesn’t need a pass from you on this one. Based on the FIFA’s laws of the game, and IFAB’s interpretations of the laws of the game, when he issued a yellow card, he got the call right.
“Very late,” doesn’t factor into whether a foul is deemed serious fall play aka a red card.
The referee missed the foul on Tillman because the play of speed at that level is extremely fast and it occurred in the penalty box at the same time the ball moved in a completely different direction with play continuing in the penalty box. Per the current directives provided to the referees, they are to stay with the play in the box, and any “game critical” plays missed will be picked up by VAR, which VAR did pick up the foul on Tillman, so the system worked.
The unique wrinkle in this situation, is that the referee was also able to review the foul for a potential serious foul play and red card. After review, the referee got it right…it was reckless and not serious foul play.
It’s interesting that you claim to the know the referee’s intent when reviewing the play such that in your opinion, the referee’s thought was, “well he’s not hurt so maybe there wasn’t that much force.” That is pure conjecture on your part and objectively wrong, as you have no way of knowing what the referee was thinking.
As a side bar, FIFA and IFAB took the word “intent” out of the rules of the game long ago.
Lastly, it is interesting that you reference Dr. Joe Machnik’s and Christina Unkel’s opinions’ on this. Just because they have a microphone and are not “homers” they are right???
Machnik was never a FIFA panel referee and he last officiated a game when soccer balls were made of real leather. At that time, he was part of MISL. Even at that time, he was never rated the top official in the league. That accolade was consistently bestowed on Herb Silva.
Christina Unkel is no longer on the FIFA panel. She was fast tracked to the FIFA panel when US Soccer was promoting female referees. That is not a popular thing to say, but it is accurate, and her FIFA career plateaued quickly and she did not make progress, which clearly reflected that she was not up to snuff with the top tier of FIFA referees in the CONCACAF region. That was also reflected in the fact that she never received assignments higher than youth level FIFA tournaments or games in the Caribbean. Additionally, Christina was not part of the pre-Gold Cup referee conference, so she has no way of knowing what the directives for the referees and VAR’s were. As a result, and frankly speaking, it is irresponsible for Christina to say that the referee got it wrong.
Where you part of pre tournament referees conference? Did you referee above Concacaf youth tournament levels? Serious foul play does not have to be a deliberate stomp as you suggested. Major foul that endangers the safety of the player with a risk of serious injury, often with excessive force is the definition. Excessive force is not the be all end all as you suggested. Sliding into a player studs up into the back of the leg well after the ball is gone. Risks serious injury to the ankle, the Achilles, if Tillman’s foot catches it’s a broken leg. From EPL “High + Full + Forceful contact on ankle or above is considered dangerous = Red card”
Of course I’m guessing at the refs thinking and so are you.
Johnnyrazor,
I was not part of the referees pre Gold Cup conference.
Where did I say, “deliberate stomp?” Please point me in the direction of my post where I used that terminology.
I am not guessing about anything. I shared objective information respective to the reason a yellow card was issued and not a red card, as well as the criteria that must be met for a red card to be issued for serious foul play. That foul did not meet the criteria, and the details, as previously mentioned, is in the fact that the player was sliding on the grass first.
It’s okay if you don’t agree with it. The terminology you are using to support a send off for serious foul play, as well as the lack of attention to the details of that specific play, illustrate that you are not familiar or experienced with the situation.
Also, the FIFA assessment of Walter Lopez’s performance for that game has been filed with CONCACAF and he passed the assessment. A referee does not receive a passing grade for their assessment if they miss a “game critical” call. Missing a serious foul play infraction during the course of a game automatically results in a failing grade on a referee’s assessment.
FIFA and CONCACAF say Walter Lopez and his team of officials got it right. I’m not guessing about that…it’s fact.
IV: if the US put Reyna, Campbell, Weah, Wes, Ferreira, Frei, Roldan, or Albert on the field for the GC the match would be a forfeit. Likely, it would also include a points deduction from the GC so probably would have been grouped. They could also impose a ban on the non-released player that played. Whatever, Seattle, Juve or Dortmund’s reason for rostering them doesn’t matter. They are ineligible players because their clubs claimed them for the tournament and FIFA ruled CWC had first choice.
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Look at Canada, Marsch asked for Eustaquio and was told no. He put him on the roster anyway hoping they’d lose. When they did, Porto said no he’s not released. Jesse threw a big baby fit at his press conference and “big stink” if you will. The result … Eustaquio was not released because that’s the rule.
you’re playing a semantics game. it’s kind of like V wanting to lecture me about shooting order. duh, you give it beforehand. but my beef there was broader. was when he brought on subs to try and win in regulation — too late. was who he brought on knowing kicks were coming — guys you want to argue aren’t kick specialists. and only after that beef do we reach, why are you running out DMs and backs to take kicks before your striker and most attackers do? eg mcglynn only won a MLS semi with a kick.
my point is, before we do the provo roster, maybe pick up the phone and prod BD a little about how much they need our guys. or juve. if you look at CWC minutes played, it’s not much for several guys off your list. you ask nicely if these low-need CWC roster guys can come do GC instead.
you’re just playing an after-fact semantics game where once they are omitted from provo or the roster, we’re done. yeah. i don’t need your rules lecture any more than his. i am going a couple steps back and saying a broader process was mishandled.
or are you forgetting trying to call in all the A team guys who begged off or turned out hurt. i guess since we’re winning games in a soft second GC of the cycle, and further from those 2 lousy friendlies, or that whole roster debacle, we can pretend anything about this went right.
i get that at the end, rules are rules, and i have a decent idea what they are. what i am not buying is a guy with 0′ in 4 games there — and unlikely to see the field in later rounds either — had to be on BD’s roster. ditto all 12′ of reyna in 4 games. that didn’t have to happen either.
i mean, isn’t that the point on the supposed “relationships” we try to cultivate? that there is some occasional grey area “ask?”
conversely, if BD wants to play this kind of “because i said so” pointless hardball — calls our people then uses them 12′ in a 3rd group game — they can jump in a lake if they want any concessions from us next time. we will call who we want and expect them every minute to which we are entitled.
i mean, if you want to play it that way, “rules are rules” both ways.
As for pk takers, I imagine they practiced PKs during camp and knew who were best. They coached Navas for several years, including our keeper coach Toni Jimenez. Perhaps they know Navas’s weak spots and they didn’t align with the strong spots of some kick takers. Who knows?
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We don’t know what conversations the US had with Dortmund. I’d imagine Dortmund looked at their group and thought they’d be able to rest the starters a lot, but they’ve kind of stunk their way to the Quarters. They also had several players working on transfers that didn’t get done had those happened it would have changed their roster. They likely wanted as many bodies as possible in case of transfers and injuries. Brandt goes down with an injury and Sabitzer gets a red card now all of a sudden they need Gio to start, but he’s playing against Haiti.
IV,
“conversely, if BD wants to play this kind of “because i said so” pointless hardball — calls our people then uses them 12′ in a 3rd group game — they can jump in a lake if they want any concessions from us next time. we will call who we want and expect them every minute to which we are entitled.
i mean, if you want to play it that way, “rules are rules” both ways.”
Boy the testosterone level is getting really high in here. You’ve been watching too many movies.
It seems like you expect the USMNT to go in there with all guns blazing to get Gio and Cole because the fate of the USMNT hangs in the balance.
First of all you have zero idea of what BVB and the USMNT are actually saying to each other.
You have a clear idea of what you think they SHOULD be saying and doing . But that’s all to serve your vison of what the USMNT should look like. It might not be the same as Pochettino’s vision.
Maybe he’s not convinced that they would be worth the trouble that you want him to go though .
Pochettino is too professional to discuss what is a private matter in public in other than the most basic terms.
We don’t know what he really thinks of Gio’s and Cole’s prospects in terms of the USMNT. We know he had Gio in for a little bit but Gio didn’t play and the fitness people said he wasn’t fit. That always sounded a little ominous to me.
They have time to make their case but he’s not going to wait around for them. He’s got a team to build.
If you want to get into a war with BVB I bet they have more weapons than we do. Think about it. They are well paid employees but BVB has lots of ways to screw up their lives and careers if your boys want to fuck with them.
You’re making the same mistake Landon did. He assumed that he was entitled to his place on the World Cup team in 2014. It never occurred to him that he had to convince the guy hiring, that would be JK, why he should have the job.
First rule of job hunting: try to win over the person who is doing the hiring.
You’re making the same assumption about Cole and Gio. i.e. that they are entitled to a spot on the USMNT because it needs them to have a good World Cup in 2026.
It’s not clear Pochettino sees it the same way as you do.
JR,
“The whole build out is designed to go thru him and his decision making is just a touch slow.”
My guess is that if the USMNT had been fielding an form Jedi and an in form Dest at LB and RB respectively, as well as an in form Tyler, things would have gone a lot smoother for LDLT.
Max, (I am not an LB), and Freeman have a lot of potential but they basically just met LDLT.
And maybe he’s not much better but Turner might have been more helpful than Freese with the build out.
The Guatemala game will be a good chance for them to develop that build out and it is important to advance to the final so that they can get one more practice game in.
LDLT, the most anonymous USMNT regular, is one of those unsung hero water carrier types. By the fall Johnny may have developed more at Atletico and be back for another shot at replacing LDLT or Tyler assuming he has not been crucified by the SBI mob.
And it remains to be seen what happens with Seba Berhalter and Captain Jack.
Rubio Rubin (age 29 years) …..Ex-USMNT player who switched “nationalities”, played for RSL and currently plays for Charleston Battery in the USL Championship. Born in the United States, scored a beautiful header for Guatemala and help put one of the favorites in this tournament to bed.
We better not play around with Guatemala. We need to be focused and, on our very best A-game for this match tomorrow. I’m thinking the atmosphere is going to be like an away game tomorrow lol, as most of the crowd in the stadium will be supporting Guatemala. We need to win ….. and win without any injuries at the end of the match.
Also have RB Aaron Herrera who played for USY teams. Was on 2017 U20 WC team with Adams, Trusty, CCV, Luca, Sargent. Then was on the failed Tokyo Olympic Qualifying team with Ferreira, Tessman, Johnny, Mihailovic, and Matt Freese (didn’t play). Did get one senior cap the TnT 2021 friendly post-COVID it was US and domestic based TnT squad and most hadn’t played anything in 11 months. It was Ferreira’s coming out party and the first caps for Dike and Tessman. Never got another callup and switched in 2023. Long time RSL player now with DC.
oscar santis (18) was doing most of their setup work wide. they have a couple attackers, him and rubio, and you need to sit on them. you do that, you win. you can’t manage that, you don’t belong in a final.
i thought their goal was a little soft. it’s not that far from right at the keeper, little bit over head height. marking on it was also poor, he lets the guy drift behind him, then dart ahead of him to win the header.
reminded me of the TnT game. canada was the better team but was being frustrated, couple moments of indiscipline, game turned on its head. guate will hit the ground at the drop of a hat. can we behave ourselves.
In all this discussion, I think something important is missing–context. CR is not nearly as good as teams they had in the past, plus they were missing some important starters. While the US didn’t have a first team, we were playing at home against a team that had trouble beating the Dominican Republic and Suriname. When it comes to the World Cup, we are fortunate that the enlargement of the field inevitably weakens the teams in the group stages. So, even with a lesser team we shouldn’t have trouble getting to the knockout stage. However, when it comes to facing good European teams, the Swiss domination in the friendly tells a lot more about this team than any games in the Gold Cup. The way Switzerland played, I’m not sure even our A team could have kept close to them. The US needs a lot of improvement to make a real run in the next World Cup.
Gary:
1. I agree the team needs a lot of improvement to “make a run” next summer, they also need a good draw in the knockout rounds. Even then the semis would be a miracle. Switzerland was stacked 8 guys are lock starters in top 5 leagues, and the teams that will be favorites next year will have all starters plus most of their reserves starting in top 5 leagues.
2. Switzerland was a friendly. The Swiss clearly did things we were not prepared for and the US with five starters with less than five caps. Often there is very little scouting of the other team especially if you’re preparing for a tournament you’re just trying to get your work in. I’m not sure what Poch’s staff did or didn’t do.
3. The GC is a tournament, weird things happen. Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in Qatar. Guatemala beat Canada, Panama got beat by Honduras who lost 5-0 to Canada a week ago. Al-Hilal just beat Man City. It’s a tournament! It certainly could have been 4 or 5 to 2 with slightly better finishing. Of course it could have been 2-1 CR if not for a favorable deflection on Luna’s.
5. If Poch can get the “A team” to play with the movement and passing this group is but without the silly defensive mistakes, I think we’ll be alright. But we aren’t winning the WC. I mean he’s Pochettino not Klopp.
gary, other games concern me more than the swiss game. the swiss game, with the benefit of hindsight, that’s mostly the tail end of the 26 man bench for gold cup. SB and arfsten are the only gold cup starters in that bunch. it was the dregs and played like it. kind of similar to the last friendly before 2019 gold cup. they were probably training hard and tired. and they looked poorly prepared for what they faced.
to me that game said more about “selection” than “quality.” it’s a bunch of guys who with few exceptions are probably done for the tournament and for the team this cycle. to me the sheer amount of trash makes me wonder how well we scout. i get a couple glitches but about half that lineup is just wrong and he should have known better. you can pick a better B team than that. he got spanked for how bad he scouted the bench.
no, it’s the broader pattern of results, last summer, last fall, march, turkey, struggling with CR and haiti. you look at turkey and that’s most of the gold cup optimized lineup. and we lost.
no, to me, the 2 issues are (a) scouting/priorities — why am i watching these type guys a lot but not campbell banks yow etc. (an excuse like CWC might cover one window but not all) — why does the backline just stink — and (b) tactics. tactics, if there is a ray of sunshine, they have played less berhalter ball this tournament. but does that come back out in tougher games.
and there is also some of the standard “one game form” fanboy problem where we start hyping people off one game or PK shootout. we really need to take a longer timescale on who has earned the team. but i suspect the A team returning in the fall will offer some of that, except at keeper and back. (the latter of which continues to need help)
that being said, the fans needed some Ws. this was getting obnoxious. it’s not that bad a team. the results shouldn’t be getting this bad. like klinsi implosion/couva bad. this is fairly loaded for a US team.
Gary,
“When it comes to the World Cup, we are fortunate that the enlargement of the field inevitably weakens the teams in the group stages.”
Maybe. We won’t know until the draw.
And anyway I’m always careful about so called “weaker” teams in a knockout tournament
The “weaker” teams in the Gold Cup are not doing too bad.
“The US needs a lot of improvement to make a real run in the next World Cup.”
The USMNT that we will see this Wednesday vs Guatemala? It’s a work in progress.
The USSF is not paying Pochettino all this money to shut down Rubio Rubin ( love his name) and then move on and win the Gold Cup.
For me the burning question is what happens to Max? For me he is something of a canary in a coal mine.
The penalty kick for the USMNT resulted in a yellow because it was deemed a reckless challenge and not serious foul play. The distinguishing detail was that the Costa Rican player slid on the grass and was not coming down on Tillman’s ankle with all of his body weight. In the end, still a very dangerous tackle and often times, these are referred to “orange cards.”
Sorry Papi, that he’s sliding doesn’t give him a pass. In fact that makes it even more reckless. It’s very late, studs fully exposed, contact on the Achilles is a significant injury risk. I think that the ref somehow missed both in real time affects this decision. He somehow misses the fairly obvious penalty and play continues for so long that Malik gets up. When the ref is determining the dangerousness of the play he’s thinking “well he’s not hurt so maybe there wasn’t that much force”. If he calls it right away perhaps Malik stays down and receives treatment, he’s thinking will he be able to continue as he’s being advised by VAR that it’s a possible red. Both Dr. Joe and Christina Unkel said “no question red card” and neither of those two are homers.
they seemed to give the benefit of the doubt that he was trying to block the cross and that the studs up result was accidental follow through. i think slo-mo flatters that, and it was my first response when they showed the replay. but full speed it feels more intentional studs up which is red.
I said that earlier on too. When you watch it in slow motion it doesn’t look as bad. It was so late though he was never going to block that cross. Should have been red, but I’m glad we had to find away against 11 men.
It wasn’t pretty for many parts of it. But survive and advance is what you do in tournaments. I’d much rather be the US today than Canada or Panama. And if you’re going into the next match thinking we’re going to walkover Guatemala 4-0, you’re probably going to be disappointed Wednesday.
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US and Guatemala are at a huge disadvantage playing outside in St Louis on Wednesday. Playing upper 80s with high humidity to upper 60s in Palo Alto.
I won’t be surprised if the US handles Guatemala by multiple goals. And I also won’t be surprised if its another grind out win.
i think his point is we’re gonna bake to get it done and then have to play again in half a week.
Welcome to CONCACAF, Mr. Tillman! How do your ankles feel today?
Lol. Poor dude took a beating. In all reality Costa Rica should have been down to 10 men. Thats a red card. Late, high on the ankle and reckless. Other than that for the most part the refs got calls right.
I think it was one of those deals where if he wasn’t also giving a PK, the ref would have given the red card.
I agree that could be what the ref was thinking, but that’s not the rule.
like i said below, gold cup is a mixed bag so far. you have a new keeper for the 23 — though the hype machine wants to make him a starter when he hasn’t had to do particularly well run of play. you have some new or improved options in the front 2 lines, berhalter luna tillman, perhaps mcglynn. some might toss agyemang in there too. which is good.
if this has failed, as provocative as this has been for offense, the defense isn’t getting any new ideas. the standout CB is a regular, ream is getting concreted in, and i don’t see any of these wingbacks helping as backs. arfsten might be better retasked as a wing.
and we need defensive help.
i see the hype train is speeding rapidly away after we…..ummmm……what was it…….beat a second play group team on PKs in an out of control 2-2 tie.
cutting the crap, richards and luna were the ones who looked most ready for A team duty.
adams should also make it but was fairly anonymous. berhalter will make it for DM work and kicks but was getting caught in possession ball under feet second half.
tillman missed a PK and i personally think he’s just underlining the glaring need for this squad to just Go to Goal. i do think he belongs in the 23.
freese, while earning a role in the GK 23, didn’t do much on goal 2, and we aren’t pitching shutouts.
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arfsten shipped as much as he gave and needs to be retasked as a wing, as JR says. he’s like the left sided dest. my youth coach would have murdered me if someone escaped, feet, ball, and all, from a corner flag double team to get the equalizer chance going.
freeman keeps making basic wingback glitches like whiffing at a throughball his man then gets behind him.
ream LDLT white meh.
agyemang is underlining we can easily just send the forward into green space and let them play, but is not finishing enough. but is doing enough to stay in front of white and probably sargent in the pecking order. unlike sargent you do see a way he can be integrated with the A team offense.
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this game didn’t really help or hurt downs or mcglynn, they didn’t get to play much to show much.
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the fudging on tillman and arfsten on here, you have to imagine the swiss or france are the opponent. teams would scorch arfsten at the back, and while i think tillman is earning his way in the 23 i am not sure if he’s that effective against tough opponents — you cannot miss that kick. and i’m not sure if he’s a wing or a 10.
Hyped they won, but yeah this was not a great performance. CRC was missing players and was not a good team. This should have been a 3 or 4-0 drubbing but for the foolish defending, poor finishing, and late subs by Poch.
yeah, don’t get me wrong, i always hope we win games, i just have a perfectionist streak. and early on my select coach taught me that a given idea — tactics/lineup — doesn’t work until it wins you the big rivalry game. we have a bad tendency to see proof of concept in trinidad or haiti.
and to me if we take a step back and look big picture CR was T-3rd with us in qualifying last time, and 2-2 at home says this hasn’t moved much forward from that. we are a little thirsty.
that and like i was saying in the comments elsewhere, big picture, i am a little concerned we aren’t really fixing the defense. we’ve churned up some attacking help that hopefully helps drop some mediocrity. but based on these games these aren’t the backs we’re looking for, not beyond richards.
i mean well with the perfectionism. i think a lot of how well the NT does is the talent quality we get out, and then whether we fix problem areas. if you’re losing games you should be tinkering and it’s odd we weren’t for most of his first year.
This basic squad beat CR B team 3-0 in January why should they beat their A team 3 or 4 nothing?
I’m still not sure how I feel about overall performance, in the context of the US prepping for WC 2026.
I was expecting CR to park the bus and force us to beat Navas. I was expecting a close 1-0 game; with maybe a late second half goal by Ageman when CR was trying to tie. But CR came out and pressed. I felt that CR’s forwards looked like aggressive NFL defensive backs, jumping the rout almost everytime when pressing our build-up out of the back. Adams put Ream into trouble a couple times early. Ream adjusted quickly, and started to play forward, which gave the midfield some ability to move and anticipate the next play.
I thought we were in real trouble when CR got the pk goal and went up 0-1. But CR kept playing and so did the US.
Now, this was not a vintage 1990’s-2010’s CR team with Brian Ruiz and others. But they were still better than Saudi Arabia, Haiti and T&T. We also caught a break that 3 of the CR starters were out due to yellow cards.
So, for WC 2026 – Freese was good; Tillman looked like he could play; Richards is a starter; Ageman didn’t do any worse than any other US #9 and he is big. By the way, did you notice the size of CR’s center back. He was a beast too. But, I thought it was good for our depth going into 2026 that the boys looked competitive.
the subbing left something to be desired. after initially looking better off halftime, we looked tired as the second half progressed, and yet the first sub was 78′ (after they’d tied it back up), and we threw on 3 subs for 5 minutes at the end, did he know there was no extra time? and then only 2/4 of them take kicks.
someone explain to me why you sandbag the attacking players in the shootout and have 2 DM and 2 wingbacks taking kicks in the first 5? downs was the second attacker taking a kick.
odd.
Completely agree on the subs. CR’s second goal came as a result of tired legs on that side of the field and a fear of giving away another penalty.
However, on pks, the USMNT were pretty good except for Berghalter. Tolkin’s was pretty good, but well saved by a CONCACAF legend.
IV, we agree on the subbing. sometimes a coach tries to get that last 5 minutes out of those players he believes in. not saying that was the case here but the subs came too late as we now know
my point is, the reason you normally swap players literally right before the end, no real game time left to actually play, is to have them on for kicks. but white and mcglynn didn’t take kicks. that’s just odd.
late subs can reflect fear of risk, but then we looked tired and gave up the equalizer before he subbed. it’s also a risk to keep going with tired players. same diff.
yeah, at that point, i start asking, did he think we had extra time? because that better explains delaying subs and putting on people near 90′ who take no kicks.
IV: you have to remember that Poch coached Navas at PSG. He knew what we were up against going to PKs. He subbed on McGlynn hoping to get that late goal. You leave Agyemang on because he provides that hold up option but it was clear he had nothing left and you couldn’t leave him.
Penalties are different though. Who took CR’s penalty in the match? A CB.
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Attacking players on the field
Tillman*
McGlynn
Downs
White
-White has taken 1 penalty for Vancouver/NYRB in the last 6 yrs (MLS only)
-McGlynn has never taken a penalty in MLS (he’s 1 of 2 in Leagues Cup)
-Downs: just 20, has missed some practice the last week and a half because of injury, never taken a penalty for Koln.
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US order
-Adams (2nd most caps behind -Ream, former captain)
-Tillman (best attacking player on field)
-Berhalter (set piece taker)
– Freeman (4g in MLS obviously can put it on frame)
– Tolkin (set piece taker in Bundesliga)
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I mean CR sent a 17 yr old that can’t get on the field for NY Red Bulls II.
your argument is too clever by half. use your brain a second. why am i subbing on white at 90′ with kicks looming IF HE DOESN’T TAKE KICKS????????????
to be fair, i can think of an explanation why mcglynn is given a sub, but it should be earlier, and it’s not to take kicks, it’s a run of play bombazo shooter. i am not even sure why white is on this team.
anyhow, the coach had both aaronsons available. you’re kind of hiding behind the mistake the coach has already made, to then say he handled kicks right.
IV,
“someone explain to me why you sandbag the attacking players in the shootout and have 2 DM and 2 wingbacks taking kicks in the first 5?”
That’s called “positional prejudice.”
Because the myth that attacking players are always better penalty takers than defenders is just that, a myth.
There are goalkeepers who are great at scoring penalties.
Every single USMNT player last night ( unless they were hurt) was CAPABLE of scoring a penalty.
If penalty takers were robots, they should score nearly 100% of the time.
But players aren’t robots and penalties these days have turned into high drama.
It’s the job of the coaching staff to NOT be positionally prejudiced and rank the players in terms of who has the best mental makeup to take penalties. And , of course, find out who WANTS to take a penalty.
Downs and Freeman, two raw rookies, one an attacker and one a defender had little trouble scoring.
thanks for the lecture. i will point out to you we missed 40% of kicks in the first 5. you can give me the positional prejudice argument when we make all 5.
i kind of felt like the shooting order kept CR alive in between when our keeper made 3 saves.
IV,
“thanks for the lecture. ”
You are welcome. Any time you have questions feel free to ask.
“i kind of felt like the shooting order kept CR alive in between when our keeper made 3 saves.”
The shooting order is set beforehand and can’t be altered as they go along.
If it could be changed as they go along and if you knew which of your guys were going to miss and when you keeper was going to save then you could set up to “kill off” Costa Rica.
But that would kill off a lot of the drama.
you keep finessing the fact he trotted up 2 DMs and 2 backs who missed half their shots collectively. one of whom almost attained low earth orbit it was so skyed.
you’re now throwing around kicker order. you’re ignoring he ended his order with 2 wingbacks. we were ahead a goal going into the final kick and tolkin handed it back.
for freaking example, why is it not the forward, downs? we score the 5th and it’s over. why am i watching a LB with 7 goals in his life, no goals for the US ever, take the 5th kick? was the keeper or center back unavailable?
and i struggle to believe that was better than putting on one of the aaronsons.
or, having subbed him on, mcglynn, who only scored a massive PK for philly during the playoffs during covid. i don’t buy a guy who is almost our designated sharpshooter can’t be trusted to take a kick. not routinely being tasked with it doesn’t mean you’re bad at it. we pay too much attention to analytics.
IV
“You keep finessing the fact he trotted up 2 DMs and 2 backs who missed half their shots collectively. one of whom almost attained low earth orbit it was so skyed.”
Finessing?
In my world when you are choosing people to take penalties I don’t care about AM or DM or AC or DC.
These days penalties are all about high drama and mental pressure.
Every player on both teams has the skill to take and make a penalty. But some have a better mindset than others to resist the pressure and to allow their skills to express themselves. It’s not analytics. It’s called knowing your players and deciding who has the balls to deal with the pressure. It has nothing to do with what position they play.
The only time I would object to a player taking a penalty is if they don’t want to be out there or if they are injured.
Being narrow minded and prejudiced you are a good example of what positional prejudice means.
Just because you are a forward, it doesn’t mean you won’t miss your penalty.
19 year old Rojas, the last CR penalty taker, is a forward and he missed allowing Damian, a forward, to send Keylor completely the other way on his penalty and win it for us. Keylor, by the way, if he is not the best keeper in the world at the moment, he is at least in the conversation.
Downs and Rojas were unlikely participants in that they were basically newbies, kids thrust into a very high pressure situations. I can’t read minds like you so I have to assume that the coaches of both staffs got with them and decided they were up to it.
CR’s coaches were wrong our guys were right.
Damian’s penalty was the only one that Keylor was nowhere near saving.
Seba? Our so-called DM? Why was he even in the game? Because if you haven’t noticed, he’s one of our dead ball specialists. Deads balls , you know, corners, set pieces, free kicks that sort of thing. A penalty is a free kick situation. It was a bad miss but I’ve seen worse from better players.
Tolkin? Once he went over to Germany what was one of the first things I heard about him at Holstien Kiel?
“Wearing his familiar No. 47, the 22-year-old Tolkin lofted a 45-yard free kick from the center of the pitch that David Zec headed home from six yards past goalkeeper Patrick Drewes in the 50th minute. That lifted his side into a 2-2 deadlock.”
It seems he too is their free kick guy. And I think Tolkin was taking corners in this game as well. I have no inside information but from what I have seen, I would not be surprised if both of them volunteered to take penalties.
“you’re now throwing around kicker order. you’re ignoring he ended his order with 2 wingbacks. we were ahead a goal going into the final kick and tolkin handed it back.
for freaking example, why is it not the forward, downs? we score the 5th and it’s over. why am i watching a LB with 7 goals in his life, no goals for the US ever, take the 5th kick? was the keeper or center back unavailable?
and i struggle to believe that was better than putting on one of the aaronsons.
or, having subbed him on, mcglynn, who only scored a massive PK for philly during the playoffs during covid. i don’t buy a guy who is almost our designated sharpshooter can’t be trusted to take a kick. not routinely being tasked with it doesn’t mean you’re bad at it. we pay too much attention to analytics.”
Guess what? At the end of that game the USMNT coaching staff had a couple of tons more real time information about the players than you did. They succeeded without your input. They didn’t do it your way. You know more about soccer than anyone alive so that pisses you off. But we need to all get used to being ignored because those guys are not likely to be asking SBI for guidance anytime soon.
it’s nice to see the fandom appreciate a gritty grinder win
coaches and tactics come and go, players do too, but make no mistake, we’ve always won like this, with our will and mentality. I mean flipping always
what seems different today is that now, it’s appreciated. I give Poch a lot of credit for that, his pedigree, in leading our evolving soccer nation to believe that it’s ok to win like this, good even, and to be proud of a very imperfect effort that still was 100% effort, warts and all
before, the clamor for pretty football and endless snobbery BS from some about how to play and not looking good even in victory and on and on, yuck
is it enough to win this tournament? maybe, we’ll see, but I hope the so-called A team players are taking note. have you seen anyone pout out there even one time?
“not looking good even in victory?” we barely won a game from october until this tournament started.
and if you’re gonna bring up tactics, part of the reason it looked better is we only occasionally went into berhalter mode.
and if you’re gonna bring up tactics, why weren’t we in Berhalter Mode up 2-1 late in the second in a knockout?
okay – I am now volunteering for a lot of criticism.
I thought this was – for large parts of the match – the best game the US has played during the tournament. Two bads:
1) Arfson’s defense on both goals – giving away the pk and allowing to be split for the second (and Freese for not grabbing the shot and allowing the rebound)
2) Adams being very bland while dropping very deep for possession without any quality for most of the game.
What I thought was good:
1) collective movement off the ball – I have felt the US has been standing and watching way too much over the past couple years.
2) incisive passes – or at least attempts – from Luna, Ream, Tillman
3) a collective spirit resulting in energy and at least trying to do things.
This was a much more enjoyable match to watch than either of the wins over Saudi Arabia or Haiti and it looked like the US was competing. Maybe I am an unsophisticated fan. I don’t think so. But I would much rather root for the team that showed up for Costa Rica than – well the USMNT for the last few games.
Agree. Movement was better. Passing in/around the box needs work. Too many to the wrong side of the forward player who had to slow and turn 90 degrees to receive.
Thought at least part of Adams problem was need to cover for Arfson’s defensive limitations.
Agyemang really needs work on dribbling. Great with back to goal, but really slow starter when he receives a pass and has to move forward.
GDS: when people throw around “this needs to gel,” understanding precisely how to feed your teammate — eg lead ball or right to feet — and the timing of the pass, that’s actual gel work.
i just think this has been so passive so long that gel work still has to be done.
and that’s assuming when we play mexico or when the A teamers show up in september, that this moves forward and doesn’t regress back.
MidWest, I agree
Having not done a rewatch, I think I lot of those misplays in and around the box were to Agyemang. Pat has his strengths, but one of his weaknesses is just his body control. He’s not always efficient in his movement, so someone will lead him in one direction but he’s done some reverse spin move and now he’s in the space but facing a different direction.
JR, a lot of soccer is knowing precisely where to feed a teammate with a pass. if i had to guess, the best agyemang ball is slightly off to the side a little, where the pass leads him into his spin of the defender. or you outright lead agyemang with a throughball. you hit him dead center and you’re allowing the back to batter him, and not enticing the back to dive in and make a mistake.
i do think agyemang is marginal to make the team for next year. but i also think the perimeter keepaway has been so pervasive and stultifying that we have delayed any real gel work or figuring out if roster guys can do anything but pass sideways, eg, LDLT.
that’s your actual gel work. you can’t fix passive. you can take more aggressive then work on rapport and timing. and you can bring in guys like ferreira and reyna who are suited to in tight combo ball.
beachbum,
I always point to the 1990 World Cup final between Argentina and your friend JK’s Germany. Awful game. Refereed by a CONCACAF ref (Mexico). Two red cards for Argentina. Difficult to watch. Nothing to be proud of. Winning goal was a dubious penalty. Almost half of the German team were guys playing out of their “natural” positions which offends probably everyone on SBI.
Thirty-five years later I doubt the Germans are embarrassed.
They beat Maradona, won the World Cup and added one more star to their shirt.
That’s what they care about, not how aesthetically awful that game was.
In terms of soccer, every once in a while when watching a World Cup tournament, a soccer game breaks out.
But it’s rare.
Usually, it’s like this last round of Gold Cup games, it’s just a matter of survival.
That’s why a higher percentage of this USMNT Gold Cup roster has a chance of making the 2026 WC than we normally expect.
Pochettino did the unexpected.
He’s building a team HIS way. He did not have the time to wait around for the so-called A team to be available. He took the players that were available to him, starting with Cupcake. He took them seriously in a way previous managers might not have. But that may also be because they are also better players than we are used to seeing at Cupcake and they seem to be responding very well to his coaching.
Credit him for not having our prejudice or bias, He said a long time ago that:
1. ) It didn’t matter where you played, if you were good enough, you were good enough.
2.) He said there was no A , B or C team. There was just the USMNT.
It now looks like he was not bullshitting us.
He went about getting to know the player pool as best as he could. That took him quite a while and he’s still doing it.
He knows we are likely to be facing more talented teams in the WC.
He knows the collective effort has to be strong.
He knew that “the whole had to greater than the sum of it’s parts.”
So he’s looking for the guys with the biggest balls he can find, He’s not worried about the tactical rabbit holes that we SBI geeks like to go down. First, find out what kind of people, what kind of players you have. Then you can worry about what tactics, what formations suit them best.
Some people are pissing, moaning and bitching about their defensive deficits but the strength of this group of players seems to be in their attacking so Pochettino seems to be letting them do what comes naturally first. They are going to need to be aggressive that way if they hope to make any noise in this WC. It should not be forgotten that Pochettino was a World Cup center back for Argentina. He understands what is required to play defense in a World Cup. He has a degree in Dark arts, with a minor in shithousery. I’ve spent years watching South American teams and they don’t fuck around in a World Cup. They just do what they have to. Maurico looks like a choir boy but I’m sure he would have broken your leg if he thought it would help.
It’s easy to forget that this USMNT is a work in progress. The defense will come along.
Or it won’t. In which case they will just have to play just enough defense to make what goals they do score stand up. Or they could try to outscore the shit out of everyone.
JR is 1000% percent right about Max Arfens. He ain’t no left back. But what he is, is relentless. With JR’s permission I’d call him a more in control version of Cade Cowell. I may be completely irrational but I think he can eventually be more effective than Brenden, who is similarly relentless.
Properly deployed, that can be very useful. And inspirational. By the way where is Cade?
Mauricio is not an idiot no matter what IV thinks. He knows that in the time left to him he won’t be able to turn this unit into Atletico Madrid Western campus.
But he might be able to make them play his version of Bielsa ball.
When the Gold Cup is over hopefully Pochettino will have a much clearer picture of his players.
Re-integrating the so-called A team guys into the mix will be a lot easier to do since he should now have a much better idea of how he wants his team to play. I don’t think it will be a big deal at all. There will be the Asian friendlies in the fall and then Cupcake and probably other as yet unannounced friendlies and then he’s going to weed them out.
Were we not all worried about missing the competitive nature of the World Cup qualifiers in terms of building the team?
It looks to me like Pochettino found a way to introduce some of that into the system.
He’s getting ready to make it so if you want a spot on the USMNT World Cup roster it will be a dog fight for you. Like I said don’t think for a second that he will hesitate to drop BA for Max. And you may have noticed Tyler was not exactly dominant.
The GC B teamers will have the advantage of familiarity with the manager and perhaps of what he expects from them.
The lazy, unpatriotic softy, tattooed millionaires may have a talent and experience. advantage. But talent is only an advantage if it can work within the context of what the team needs.
Both parties are now on notice. I expect that the euros will win most of these battles but January is a while yet and there will be a lot of variables involved with every player. injuries, form loss or gain
Mauricio has managed to create the perception that the Cupcake B teamers are a credible threat to the WC ambitions of the A teamers. That perception should drive all concerned into working to better themselves.
This is what happens when you give someone so little time and so few games to develop a team. You get creative.
One last thing
I don’t think Pochettino was late with his subs. I think he wanted his guys to learn how to fight thru the fatigue..
In the World Cup they will have extra time ( I think ) so by the time they get to the penalties ( if they do) they should be shattered. They did concede the equalizer but they did not lose. And they might have won it if Downs could have gotten that ball out from under his feet.
And of course they won it in penalties.
Looks like Tillman will be a Leverkusen player next season pending medical after the Hold Cup.
Now Tim Weah has been frozen out of Juventus just great.
Cause he didn’t go to Nottingham. Have no idea why he wants to stay, just go to the UK, it’s not a big deal and he would be playing in the best league in the world the EPL.
all the people chirping about “but _______ got called to CWC don’t you get it” while i watch juve sell all our guys and dortmund play theirs 12′ total for 3 guys in the group round (then sell reyna and maybe loan cole).
But there is no alternative to that, if Juve and BvB didn’t release them they didn’t release them. They had the say not the US. Or you end up like Canada who put Eustaquio on their roster and wasted a spot because Porto said no he’s with us.
IV,
1. The power dynamics here are not in the USMNT’s favor. Our players are club employees. They do what the club tells them or they get fired. That’s very straight forward.
2. The guys at Juve and BVB work for their clubs not the USMNT.
If the USMNT declared war on BVB and Juve they probably would not even notice.
they do what they are told, or get fired, is kind of ironic considering (a) weah was being sold to forest, (b) then got declared anathema for not going along with it. or mckennie rumors. or the dortmund trio playing 12′ total in 3 games. while some rumors of sales or loans percolate there as well.
oh my oh my what are they going to do if they play for us?? the same thing they are doing anyway???
“but the relationships.” you mean where they threaten to sell weston every year before backing off and he contributes?
heck, even cole there is an argument does he get elevated to first team if it’s not his former youth coach finishing the season. and he’s sending him on for 1′ end of games, probably to run clock.
i get JR’s argument their roster trumps ours but based on them barely playing or being shop windowed, i am not sure how hard they would have argued had we more vociferously requested them. think we were a little passive just like the tactics have been nibble around the edges. just like our idea of chasing dual nationals was “try both and tell me what you think.”
IV,
“oh my oh my what are they going to do if they play for us?? the same thing they are doing anyway???
No.
If our Juve or BVB guys defied their teams and played for us that is a major escalation. and probably brings on some kind of regulatory or legal action. This isn’t high school. This is professional soccer.
So Weah, for example, should just say fuck you Juve, I’m playing for the USMNT in the Gold Cup?
What does Weah get out of that?
“but the relationships.” you mean where they threaten to sell weston every year before backing off and he contributes?
Big deal. That’s just business. Weston was free to make a deal and go elsewhere if he was so sore about it.
“heck, even cole there is an argument does he get elevated to first team if it’s not his former youth coach finishing the season. and he’s sending him on for 1′ end of games, probably to run clock.”
Are you saying his former Youth coach is out to get Cole? If Cole was the next great American hope why would BVB let that happen and why does Cole stay with BVB?
“i get JR’s argument their roster trumps ours but based on them barely playing or being shop windowed, i am not sure how hard they would have argued had we more vociferously requested them. think we were a little passive just like the tactics have been nibble around the edges. just like our idea of chasing dual nationals was “try both and tell me what you think.”
Actually, how BVB uses Cole or Gio is their business and none of your concern. Can you tell us just how vociferously they were requested?
Because it seems Pochettino has better things to do than deal with BVB. That might be because BVB are a pain to deal with or it could be that Pochettino does not think that Cole and Gio are worth the trouble at this time.
Do you expect that the USMNT should tell Gio and Cole fuck BVB just come to our camp? And you think Cole and Gio would agree to this course of action.?
Explain just what Gio and Cole have to gain by taking a course of action with a great deal of potential to fuck up their careers?.
Standard Serie A transfer tactics. We don’t want you. Go where we say. You are out.
then, . . . oh we need you, thanks for helping.
I’m going to stop calling them the A-Team……..because McKennie, Musa, Weah, Dest, Balogun, Scally, Tessmann, Carter-Vickers, Pepi, Sargent, Wright (Jedi and Pulisic are irreplaceable, lol) better be ready to come into the WC camp……ready to seriously battle for a starting position on the USMNT. Amazing…
▪️ Matt Freese’s composure and PK instinct (dude dove right almost every time!!!)
▪️ Max Arfsten’s resilience to bounce back from causing a PK to scoring a goal and help setting up an assist
▪️ Diego Luna’s dribbling ability, determination and one touch passes around the 18-yard box
▪️ Malik Tillman’s sharp decision-making, vision and passing ability during the attack
▪️ Luca De La Torre’s silky-smooth style of play, dribbling ability and skill to relieve pressure.
We are lagging behind a little in the timing and speed of our passing and ability to read the game (thought to action) in real-time BUT that WILL improve over time. After going down a goal players started being bold and taking it upon themselves to make plays and TRY to move the ball forward. When Arfsten caused the PK, players rallied behind him and he went on to score, when Calvo said something cross to Tillman after he missed his PK even Matt Freese ran the length of the field to support. Amazing fight, determination and a show of grit / comradery that we haven’t seen in a long time
Bizzy – I agree with you on everything except Luca De La Torre. I thought he was anonymous for most parts of the game.
And, on Freese – I really liked his save on the 5th pk. He credited the coaching staff who told him not to commit and be ready for the bad Paneka.
He’s been anonymous this whole window
MWR and Bac: Luca hasn’t been bad, but he also hasn’t been good. Just mediocre. The whole build out is designed to go thru him and his decision making is just a touch slow. Although I guess we should recognize that Johnny was pretty bad in that exact same role.
JR, here’s one way I look at it:
Think back over maybe the last 12-18 months or so…roughly…
3 rising European players have showed well for club and been a step behind for the Nats in both speed of play and speed of thought, like they kinda didn’t belong..
Tillman, Cardoso, De La Torre. (I’m not including anyone not called in like Sargent)
Based on who our competition has been, only Tillman looks different to me.
Cardoso being out I guess I’d cut him a little slack because he hasn’t had a full run of games here but I can’t really say.
To me De La Torre hasnt.
That’s what I see
I hear you MidWest. He hasn’t been amazing or lighting the field on fire, but he is doing a lot of the work in the background. Player ratings:
Milwaukee Journal sentinel and Prosoccerwire
CM: Luca de la Torre – 6.5 (higher than Adams and Berhalter)
Another tidy display in the middle from the San Diego FC midfielder, who connected defense to attack with quick passing and opportunistic runs with the ball. One of his last contributions was his worst, however, as he and Arfsten let Mora split them too easily on Costa Rica’s second goal.
NBC Sports
Luca de la Torre (Off 77′): 6 (Adams 7 and Berhalter 7.5)— Really good with the ball but watched along with Arfsten as Costa Rica knifed between them en route to the equalizer.
Goal.com
Luca de la Torre (6/10): same as Adams and Berhalter
A very useful outlet in midfield but, alongside Arfsten, was beaten on Costa Rica’s second. Tough to overlook a moment that bad.
Mixed opinions. So, Luca hasn’t been doing bad at all…..at ACM or CDM. But he is still good “work in progress” as his ball control and one touch passing is one of the better ones on the team. It’s tough being the link between the Defense and Offense on the USMNT period. That’s why until recently we haven’t looked like a team with a plan or strategy.
Work in progress
Bac: I agree and yes Johnny has been sick and apparently banged up, but had a stinker against Switzerland and in limited minutes against Haiti had a bad turnover deep in our end. After having another stinker against Colombia last summer. So Luca’s mediocre is at least better than that for me. Don’t really need to see either of them next summer at this point though.
In response (reply?) to others above:
It is good for a referee to be anonymous;
I don’t think that applies to a midfielder.
In re: Johnny – I can’t rate somebody that doesn’t play. If all we have is Switzerland . . . well, . . . he gets my best and sincere wishes for another great club season in La Liga. I hope he does well.
JR,
“The whole build out is designed to go thru him and his decision making is just a touch slow.”
My guess is that if the USMNT had been fielding an form Jedi and an in form Dest at LB and RB respectively, as well as an in form Tyler, things would have gone a lot smoother for LDLT.
Max, (I am not an LB), and Freeman have a lot of potential but they basically just met LDLT.
And maybe he’s not much better but Turner might have been more helpful than Freese with the build out.
The Guatemala game will be a good chance for them to develop that build out and it is important to advance to the final so that they can get one more practice game in.
LDLT, the most anonymous USMNT regular, is one of those unsung hero water carrier types. By the fall Johnny may have developed more at Atletico and be back for another shot at replacing LDLT or Tyler assuming he has not been crucified by the SBI mob.
And it remains to be seen what happens with Seba Berhalter and Captain Jack.
In the first 50 minutes of the game, I was certain that someone told Adams the rules of the game for Gold Cup had reverted to the 1860’s and no forward passes were allowed. I hadn’t seen so much sideways and back passes since Claudio Reyna. Everyone else was trying to be dynamic and Adams would sprint to receive a pass, do a couple of his twirly circles and pass it back to the keeper or sideways to Ream.
It wasn’t until about the 55 minute mark that I realized he can’t make a forward pass to his own team. Each time he tried, it was a giveaway to CR. Not a great match for Tyler
I agree he was bad and was a turnover machine.
Adams was doing his best Kyle Beckerman impression.
My gold cup dream: we find a way to top mex in the final to win it. Pochettino is giddy and decides “this is my world cup team, i love these guys and their fight. Anyone who wasn’t here will have to give everything to beat out someone here for world cup, maybe we take them maybe not.”
I really do enjoy Arfstens ability in the attack, but man he struggles defensively. In fact he might be better served as a backup winger with the full team. I think come 2026 either Tolkin or Wiley will be the back up LB.
At 20 years old Freeman has impressed. Definitely has a high ceiling as he gets more experience as a pro. His few mistakes are very much correctable. He reminds me of a young Jedi Robinson. He made some really good runs in the first half overlapping that his teammates didnt see.
I like Freeman a lot too. There’s times he’ll remind you he’s 20 but he’s steadily improving with his performances as he settles in and I like his intensity, he’s obviously an elite athlete – I mean, he’s Antonio Freeman’s kid, like, duh – but he’s also got some real skill and quality on the ball. You can definitely tell he’s an ex-forward and used to having the ball at his feet. He’s got a real chance of making the World Cup roster and Europe is going to be all over the guy; he’s Top-5-league material all the way.
The kid has that “it” factor you look for. I can see him being a regular call-up for a good long while.
Freeman stepped up in the PKs and made a great shot. No apparent distress. Just a good pk.
I thought he was very tired at the end of the game and his running certainly declined. I had anticipated that he would have been subbed out. I guess that is why Poch is the coach and not me.
MWR,
“I thought he was very tired at the end of the game and his running certainly declined. I had anticipated that he would have been subbed out. I guess that is why Poch is the coach and not me.”
I think Pochettino left those guys in to see how they played when tired and under stress. Mauricio played and I think, coached under Bielsa. That guy seems to have a different idea as to what you should be able to do when you are “tired”. And the players have all spoken about just how physical the USMNT camps are.
It’s true they conceded the equalizer but nothing else. I also think he was happy to test his guys in a penalty shootout against one of the most intimidating keepers in the world in Keylor, who was his guy at PSV.
Winning is always important but Pochettino absolutely needs to know about his players. And, as you noted, it looks like Freeman passed the test. Impressive given how new and raw he is.
Despite a stupid penalty, letting that guy through on the 2nd goal, and a few ill-advised passes.. this was the highest intensity game we’ve played (A or B team) in a long time. Everyone loved the grit & the fight, but the urgency, aggressiveness, and movement off the ball are what impressed me the most.
Nobody seemed to play scared, and we didn’t put on a clinic of back passing / knocking the ball around in the back just for shits and giggles like we’ve seen so much the last few years.
And even though disjointed at times, I can’t remember the last time we “tried shit” so much in the middle of the attacking third… playing with a 10 that just got into dangerous spots, and interchanged well. And again, the movement off the ball consistently was something we have not seen in forever. Call it raw fluidity without fear….
(Dare I say, what could we have learned if the full squad with Gio in that 10 spot could have looked like if GB ball wasn’t so rigid?-but I digress)
I don’t know if Cardoso was ill, injured, or just left off.
I would have preferred to see McGlynn over De La Torre get the start.
Overall I liked what I saw
Bac: I think you slide (a motivated and in form Gio) into that Luca spot and leave CP and Malik/Weah up high. I just think about those moments when Luca just holds it too long and misses his passing window. I think Gio could be very interesting in that spot. Certainly can defend as well as Luca, again if motivated.
————
Apparently Johnny has an ankle sprain.
I know right?!?
I would absolutely play Diego Luna ahead of Weah.
I’m a Weah fan but for the way we set up under Poch, Luna’s a vastly better fit. He plays in the inside channels whereas Weah is a wide player unless you put him in the LW spot.
are we seriously still discussing johnny? if he wasn’t hurt he’s been run off the field on performance.
ditto LDLT.
like there’s adams and about 3 fairly fresh mids everyone wants to talk about, who actually do stuff, and we’re back talking about the holdovers who can’t show better than experiments.
this is why i have been asking for “try some new people.” some of you seem to instinctively think whatever we’ve fielded must be better. and then every time we let a little newness in it’s like ooooooooooooo, i like that one.
i think luna can be used swiss army style. he’s scrappy enough for 6, could play 10, could play wide. so i don’t think it has to be him vs. weah.
some of the chatter on here also misses, ok, now take these players, and does this work against a top opponent. i think you then need a mix of some raw wide wing play and some of this newer wall ball approach.
Still think Luna needs to take more chances dribbling at players. We need him to be the guy to unsettled the defense with his dribbling.
I disagree I think what has led to our chances is that quick passing and movement. We’ve seen Pulisic grind the offense to halt by over dribbling since 2019.
Agree to disagree on this one. But i do agree that Pulisic sometimes takes to long making the decision to take a player on. When Pulisic makes the split second decision to go on the dribble its very effective.
With Luna there were times he could have dribbled at the defense in multiple games, but chose a safe pass. He has the ability. Might not be as quick as Pulisic, but something Luna needs to add a bit more.
2tone: I think Diego needs the right conditions. If he’s in motion he’s a handful on the dribble. I think if he receives a pass and he’s just waiting for or he has to receive and turn it’s not a great chance for him. There he can make that pass to Tillman or Agye and then make the run and get it back. It’s really hard at the international level just to dribble a defender that is in position and get to your shot.
I thought he was ok picking his spots, had a few giveaways, some nice combination play, sure looked like he was one guy CR wanted shut down.
I also liked that he was all over the place and not rigid in his positioning
Sorry posted my reply above.
“Luna needs to take more chances dribbling at players”
That’s a waste of time unless you have no choice. Luna is not as athletic as CP or Dest. For some reason Dest likes to humiliate his defenders..
As JR points , Diego becoming CP is a huge mistake.
Diego’s gift is he plays more efficiently . a lot of one touch and gets the ball to his guys quickly before the defense has time to get set. He keeps the ball circulating and the whole team gets involved in a way they never did under Gregg. He is wonderful at “lost causes ” and in helping his team maintain possession. Which means IV must hate the ground Diego walks on.
What you really want to see is what Diego will do with Pepi and Flo.
Those two fuckers will love Diego.
It will be interesting to see how CP will alter his game when he gets back. He is old school in that if he sees that you are Seba Lletget, he won’t give you the ball. He and Gio are like that. I used to watch them freeze out Seba.
That shit ain’t gonna fly under Pochettino.. His fresh faces can play a little.
Cade Cowell seems to have disappeared since transferring to Mexico. Liked his attacking dribbles which often draw multiple defenders.
His attacking dribbles generally weren’t leading anywhere. He basically sat on the bench at Chivas the last half of the season after being the starter the first half. Poch and Varas both called him in last fall. Hopefully just some nagging injuries and his summer off will help him get back into form. I heard he scored a brace in a friendly for Chivas the other day. Ledezma scored in another friendly for them last week as well.
Currently there is no A-team of B-team……there are just players fighting for a starting role on the USMNT. Before this Gold Cup CANADA had beaten the USMNT and a PANAMA team, with no top league players, had beaten the USMNT.
So as of right now, especially with the way this team is fighting for each other, playing their hearts out, and the chemistry they are developing, all the so call A-listers (who couldn’t even beat a watered down PANAMA) better be ready to come in to FIGHT for a starting spot (with the exception of a few players lol)……….because nothing will be “given” automatically just because of where you play.
Beaten, battered and bruised….but kept their heads in the game and kept on fighting. Poch should have start the substitutions way before the second Costa Rica goal but oh well
+1
this is why i keep saying, throw some fresh faces out there. as you say, to some extent, A vs. B can start to blur. this is a good thing. there is some crap on A. there is some quality on B. swap those out and improve the overall squad. i think this got a little stale and arrogant for a couple years.
eg i’d like to see luna tillman berhalter send LDLT busio johnny aaronson on their mediocre way, and pressurize mckennie and musah to either do something or become subs.
and then some dudes like harriel and sullivan imploded but then (a) i wouldn’t have chosen them and (b) that’s how the process works. some show up and you promote their promise. some blunder and you try something else.
to me if you get cole and reyna plus luna berhalter tillman, with the regulars, get the strikers healthy, that’s an interesting offense.
if this tournament has failed, us it’s on defense. i don’t think anyone but richards and the keeper look up to their jobs. and that needed to get fixed.
IV,
“if this tournament has failed, us it’s on defense. i don’t think anyone but richards and the keeper look up to their jobs. and that needed to get fixed.”
You are jumping to conclusions way too early.
Fixed before the final if they get there? Not going to happen unless it happens organically.
Your solution to everything is to bring in a new guy.
The roster limits that.
If the tournament “exposed” defensive failings then it didn’t fail us.
The Gold Cup is about, among other things, gathering data about what the team needs to work on for the World Cup.
The team is a work is progress. These guys are learning on the job. I doubt Max can spell defense. He’s out there clearly because of his offensive contributions. Presumably, if they stick with him, he will learn very quickly about his defensive responsibilities or the other players will learn how to cover for him. It is an 11 man game.
If we get to the final our defense should be the best it will be in the tournament. It will need to be because as damaged as they are, El Tri, if they get there, will be the best team we will face.
Winning the GC in and of itself means nothing.
What matters is the work the team puts in, what lessons they learn, and what it says about these players and the staff.
The best teams defend as a team.
Meaning all 11, not just the back four or five, have to work together as a unit. And this unit has , at best, had a handful of games or less together. In 4 games they have conceded 3 goals, all three through individual mistakes.
You can argue that Freese conceded one, Max conceded one and Max and LDLT conceded one.
Our defense needs work but then again, if those guys don’t have brain farts, maybe the USMNT does not concede a goal yet.
It is way too premature to draw any final conclusion on how good or bad defensively this version of the USMNT will be in 2026.
Your solution then would be to not play Freese, Max and LDLT. Okay, but if you benched everyone who made a defensive mistake you’d run out of players pretty quickly.
Of course the other variable is that none of the teams we faced were offensive juggernauts. So even if we did shut them all out, it would not have said much one way or the other. TNT, KFC, Haiti and Costa Rica are not exactly a murders row. However, this has been arguably one of the more intense Gold Cups I’ve seen so I’m pretty sure that we got the best shot that those teams were capable of.
That counts for something.
look at the long run. you don’t fix the backline and then we need a friendly group round draw, and if we escape that we’re good for a round or two knockout. that’s it. you are not long for the world cup with a swiss cheese defense.
you seem to be implying if we’d just go back to the A defense, richards ream plus jedi dest, it’s fine. that’s not what the past year or two demonstrated. or the world cup. we are shopping wingback and DM and GK precisely because it’s been a MESS. recent loss streak in friendlies NL copa GC ring a bell?
and my point is, none of these wingbacks are ready. and at CB we just seem to assume the scrubby ream is the pair.
and we kind of badly needed an upgrade or 2.
Vac, winning the tournament means something. It likely doesn’t mean anything in terms of how US will play in 2026 WC, but there is always value in winning a tournament regardless of the strength of the tournament. US beating Mexico two times ago meant something to the players, the coaching staff, and most fans (but maybe not a lot of fans on this site). It definately meant something to me that was a lot better than them getting grouped in the Copa. Although Canada and Panama may crash in 2026 group stage, it won’t be because of what happened in this tournamemt.
IV
“look at the long run. you don’t fix the backline and then we need a friendly group round draw, and if we escape that we’re good for a round or two knockout. that’s it. you are not long for the world cup with a swiss cheese defense.”
No shit. We’ve only won the knockout game once so we really have never been long for the World Cup in any case, regardless of the state of our defense.
In English, a work in progress means something needs to be fixed and people are working on it.
Each of these games gives the USMNT a chance to work on the process. Hopefully you improve every game but that process is not always linear. You can expect some backsliding, some players or tactics not exactly working out, etc.
That’s because players and the coaches are human beings and that is what happens when you work with living people not stats on a page.
You critique every USMNT game as if that team was the one playing in the World Cup.
That’s total nonsense.
The team that faces Guatemala should be different from the team that faced Costa Rica.
Even if they field the same players those players ,presumably, will have learned something from Costa Rica and, hopefully, will be the better for it.
“you seem to be implying if we’d just go back to the A defense, richards ream plus jedi dest, it’s fine. that’s not what the past year or two demonstrated. or the world cup. we are shopping wingback and DM and GK precisely because it’s been a MESS. recent loss streak in friendlies NL copa GC ring a bell?”
Your so-called A defense? It does not exist anymore. If Dest and Jedi
get back they will be coming off of significant injuries and we have yet to see how they have been affected if at all. Zimmerman no longer plays. Richards was not part of the A defense but he is getting better though has a ways to go to be average. Ream to me looks about the same. He’s making a few more mistakes but part of that is because he’s covering for kids like Max and Freeman.
But the biggest difference is that Gregg is now in Chicago and Mauricio is in charge. The real A defense is the one that faces Guatemala tonight and hopefully gets to the final vs Mexico if they get there. As far as I know that means, Freeman Richards Ream and Max. That’s your CURRENT A team back 4.
After the Gold Cup there will be the two Asian friendlies in the fall, Cupcake and, I assume, as many friendlies as the USSF can come up with.
I’m guessing that’s when the USMNT will attempt to re-integrate the prodigal players into the team. I assume many of the prodigals will successfully get back in but there are no guarantees.
“And my point is, none of these wingbacks are ready.”
Not now But maybe they will be later. That’s why they are playing now. you don’t know. You clearly don’t believe players can learn and improve in a timely fashion. So you are always looking at dump and fill, dump and fill. If they do that they will run out of players to try out pretty soon.
“and at CB we just seem to assume the scrubby ream is the pair. and we kind of badly needed an upgrade or 2.”
That’s just you projecting your fear and loathing of Timmy.
Who the fuck is “we”?
I assume Timmy loses the job as soon as you find a better veteran player who can calm down the young defense , help organize them and passes better out of the back than he does.
As far as I can tell that player has yet to show up? Who is your candidate?.
– I understand the ref not wanting to give a red in the first half but studs to the Achilles. I wonder if that’s one where when they get all the slow mo looks they actually convince themselves it wasn’t that much contact/force.
– Poch was too late with subs, Seb and Luca were dragging. I agree with PN, clearly Johnny has not impressed Poch.
– The attack was much more decisive today. We were carving up their defense almost at will from 30th – 60th minute. We didn’t however realize that we needed to do a little more keep away from the 60-70.
– Richards has to finish those set pieces.
– I told everyone Max is a LW not a LB. Some scoffed, I’ve seen 90% of his pro games, I knew.
– The boys have the opportunity to learn a lot more tonight in a 2-2 PK win than they would have winning 2-0.
Agreed about Richards. He had 3 good looks, got to make one count. Still want to see Tillman shoot more outside the box. He has the ability to let them rip.
@johnnyrazor..
We are starting to really see drama and intrigue in this tournament, and I think it is all positive. Cardoso just secured a big transfer move in La Liga, the Aaronsons are both riding the bench, and it seems other MFs such as Luna and Berhalter are now capturing the spotlight. Might both get overseas interest? Perhaps Luna with his playmaking? We may see more transfer interest by the end of this week.
I said it above. Johnny apparently has ankle sprain.
I missed the game due to travel but saw the highlights. I was thinking the same thing. My first thought was it shouldn’t have been a PK but it should have probably been a red card. I don’t study the rules so I don’t know the nuances but that was just what I thought when I saw it.
JR
“- Richards has to finish those set pieces.”
Keylor has his reputation for a reason. Ungodly save.
“– I told everyone Max is a LW not a LB. Some scoffed, I’ve seen 90% of his pro games, I knew.”
Max was fun to watch. 1 goal, 1 assist (?) but as you warned us he’s not a LB. The search for a Jedi backup continues.
Fun game. . I don’t know if Freese keeps the starting spot for the WC, he has some issues. But Freese should have cemented a spot on the WC roster as the penalty specialist, the new Nick Rimando. Now all Pochettino needs to do is find a #1 and a#2 keeper.
That’s why he’s got to get the 2nd one on frame.
You were absolutely right on Arfsten. I like what he adds to the attack, a lot. He scares the crap out of me every time he defends. He can get away with that – mostly – at Columbus because he’s got a 3-man line behind him and he’s got Zawadski swooping in to destroy and clean up his messes.
As a pure LB, I much prefer Tolkin. And I still insist DeJuan Jones isn’t just our second-best LB, but our third-best outside back overall just behind Jedi and Dest, though Freeman may have something to say about that in a year or so. That kid’s got a real future.
good call on Max
But its a good day Canada out US moves on to the semis. Canada had a full team.minus Davies.
Bombito is a 8 thousand times better than the teenager from Fulham’s Academy team and Eustaquio wasn’t released by Porto after their CWC exit. So that’s 3 of their best 5 players missing.
—————————
I think Jesse made the same mistake that Berhalter made last year in Copa. After that Concacaffy, match with El Salvador he tried to get them pumped to be hyper physical and it turned into a red card. Let’s see how the Canadian fans feel about Jesses’s act tomorrow. But let’s face all that really matters is what does Saputo think because he’s writing the checks.
Missing 3 players can be tough, but I thought they were deeper than the US? That’s what I have read. Anyways good day for the US.
Jesse also pulled another Berhalter by subbing on an attacker down a man. They were playing a 4-3-2 until they gave up the goal, then he subbed on another midfielder. Just like Gregg subbed Scally in for Gio leaving Pepi and Balo up top until we gave up the 2nd to TnT.
8 thousand is a lot. It is hard to play down a man.
Tele: a little hyperbole, but for me Bombito is their most important player. I know Davies is a better player, but if Alphonso has an off night they also have David, Buchanan, Larin, Shaffelburg to score. If Bombito has an off night it’s open season on the GK. Remember Balo’s owning of Kennedy in Nations League Final. Just three years ago, Bombito was playing for Iowa Western Communty College (Go Reivers!) and now he’s a first choice starter in Ligue 1 for a team that’s in the Champions League. So is 8,000x better an exaggeration, probably, but the difference between CL starter and a 19 yr old still playing academy leagues, yeah it’s a big difference.
Canada has a good team, but are missing some key guys. Still close to their A-team though.
They lost because they got cocky. Specifically because their head coach got cocky. He’s lucky Canada Soccer is so cash-strapped that they can’t afford to fire him unless Saputo ponies up more cash. Marsch’s behavior has been embarrassing since he took that job. Needs to concern himself with Canada and Canada alone.
Starting the coolly named Luc Du Fuegerolles would be like if the U.S went into a Gold Cup with Gedion Zelalem in the starting 11 when he was in Arsenal’s academy. Talk about a lack of depth.
But he also got the tactics wrong, couldn’t recover (much like Berhalter) from a moment of madness from Shaffelburg and watched his team get out-possessed and out-played by a Guatemala team that really hadn’t had the bulk of possession in all three of their group games. For his “all my guys wanted to be here” smoke-screening, it didn’t always look like it with the guys who were playing.
Probably shouldn’t have went to PK’s. But Freese can save PK’s. Still don’t know if he can come up with the one or two big saves in the game. US is way behind the 8 ball on training keepers with the ball at their feet.
Group play let this US ‘B’ team build some chemistry and let Poch get to know the players. This QF was a good test for this US ‘B’ team. We all knew Costa Rica would play a physical game and apply pressure when defending. You need to figure out how to grind out a win.
– Berhalter appears to have gained Poch’s confidence, earning more playing time. Outside of the missed penalty, he acquitted himself pretty well.
– Tillman continues to impress. Best wishes on the potential move to the Bundesliga. He looks ready.
– Freese is the MOTM, and we finally have some much needed jockeying at GK
– It appears Cardoso’s stock has dropped in this GC.
– And that makes it 4 in a row..wins. That sounds much better.
The problem I have is that the A team needs to learn how to grind out a win.
Amen
dit,
“the A team needs to learn how to grind out a win.”
How do you think that is going to happen?
@ Vac, that is a good question, and I get your intent. we’ll see
berhalter has to get the ball off his feet. couple times he got stripped when the ball got under his feet second half. you do that in the world cup, that may be a half field jailbreak goal.