The U.S. men’s national team failed to end its current winless run on Saturday in Connecticut, but remains positive heading into its final pre-CONCACAF Gold Cup match.
Mauricio Pochettino’s squad suffered a 2-1 friendly loss to No. 27 ranked Turkey at Rentschler Field in the first match of a busy June schedule. Jack McGlynn’s second international goal was cancelled out by a pair of quick goals from Arda Guler and Kerem Akturkoglu, handing the Americans their third three-match losing streak in consecutive years.
Tyler Adams, Haji Wright, and Quinn Sullivan were among the second-half substitutions which came close to sparking a comeback in the match while Luca De La Torre and Malik Tillman delivered positive performances. Pochettino voiced his team’s positives in the match and believed they deserved a better outcome overall.
“The performance was good,” Pochettino told media postgame on Saturday. “We faced a team like Turkey, which is a very good team with the experienced players at the top. This group of players after playing together for the first time, I think we started the game so well. We played 20 minutes at a high level. We did very good things, very good things. It had an emotional impact when we conceded after we scored in the second minute, after we conceded the first, we conceded the second goal and that was difficult.
“I am really sad because I think this group of players are working so hard and I think we deserved a better result today,” he added. “But if we go to only focus on the performance, I think we perform really well and now we can be focused on how we can improve on the situation and be focused only on game situations.”
Pochettino doesn’t have several of his star players this summer including Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, and Yunus Musah, opening the door to many fresh faces. Sullivan, Alex Freeman, and Matt Freese all earned their senior debuts in Saturday’s match while McGlynn and Max Arfsten were among the young MLS contingent to earn important minutes in their development.
Despite the USMNT now being winless in their last three matches, and next set to face off with No. 20 ranked Switzerland on Tuesday, Pochettino expected some growing pains heading into the Gold Cup.
“We knew that the level of the players are at different levels, that is why these two weeks are important to prepare for the Gold Cup,” Pochettino said. “I think we want to win and compete really well in the Gold Cup. And it’s going to be tough, of course it’s going to be tough. But I think what we expect is what we saw.
“I think what I cannot complain about is that every single player was very connected with the team,” he added. “Even the players that didn’t play, they were helping the team, the players that were playing, knowing that maybe they have the opportunity or the chance to play in the next one and they need also the help from the teammates that they are going to play. And that is why I think the impact of the whole team, I am so happy with that.”
Should the USMNT suffer defeat in Nashville on Tuesday, it will mark their first four-match losing streak since 2007.
There is a financial component, the USSF now pays everyone who attends camp $8,000. If you bring in ten extra guys that’s 80,000. Plus all the daily expenses those guys bring food, lodging, travel expenses into and out of camp, perhaps a larger plane to charter between CT and TN, insurance, childcare (yes USSF pays for childcare for players during camp). Let’s say USSF had scheduled India to work on their concept. That 4-0 walkover would cost an additional $52,000 in just player compensation for a win over a weaker opponent. Maybe those numbers aren’t huge for some but that’s still money out of non-profit organization’s pocket.
first off, dude, don’t fib. there are dozens of friendlies being played right now. this is not 5 asian teams, canada, mexico, and panama. surely we can calibrate this better where we can implement scheme, better evaluate players, and increase confidence.
second, i think he expected an A team would be facing this schedule. which itself is questionable given our poor pattern of results. as i said other thread we continue to schedule along “playing brazil makes you better” type schedule concepts despite following up brazil with one of the worst summers ever. it’s roughly as naive as the constant assumption that club stats = country success on scouting. a tough game is a good test for an organized team with its crap together — old american teams. it just exposes bad teams. and we then are too stubborn to adjust to the education we just got.
third, i think i parsed it and said i would just call a normal noobs roster. mind you, i would have enough people we do cuts. but not 10 extra.
fourth, i was just saying if folks think the As owe us a game — contrary position — this is how you do it. you call 5-10 extra guys for a single game. you send them away after. that’s one added game check expense.
fifth, i believe in the bigger rosters for the longer camps. i am not talking all year. all year the solution is, as i said before, 20-30% rotation every time. you give a regular or two the window off. you flush some nonperformers from the last window. and you call 5+ new people end of the roster. but you do it every window. they compete in camp. they get cameo subs. if they show something in practice/games they get brought back.
to me we have become very status quo and arrogant. we are too sure we already have the scheme and the roster despite results. we should instead try new things and increase roster competition, and let performances and results teach us who we can rely on.
right now we seem confused paper stats don’t match field play. duh. field play should win that debate all year. stats are for scouting. we need to trust our eyeballs.
example — right now, though they used to be in a basket together, luna can help, sullivan can’t. period. there needs to be more finality to edge opportunities. you get your shot, you do something with it or not.
and then the chosen ones need to be fighting for each other’s time. and then maybe they will train and play hard, and feel responsible for goals and results. and be held accountable.
re the opening goal, yeah, i wish we played more like that. that’s — starting when the keeper gets it — 3 passes, roughly 20 seconds, end to end, fairly direct, no dawdling, uses the fact the other team is pushed up, wing works a wall ball, takes his man on, inverts, straight to goal, quality finish far post.
yeah, i wish we got off the tiki taka train. but if you’re really suggesting that’s how we played all night, you didn’t watch past 2′. or perhaps 15′. roughly then we couldn’t get off our own end. and then second half was textbook berhalter ball with the “starters,” eg adams, wright. who for all the action couldn’t do what the subs did.
to me when the subs are more effective in terms of goals, that tends to suggest one of two things, either you have the wrong starters, or they were more effective as they were not indoctrinated in the system.
if you remember the infamous 4 goal costa rica game, or the similar 4 goal honduras must win, those games looked more like the early part of this one.
i think we have no business losing to anyone but canada, and not even necessarily them, but the system is that bad for us. and then i do also believe they have the rosters/lineup selected wrong.
ordinarily, what would happen is we wouldn’t play the outlet ball as far as freese hit it. it would be short and force a long build. something like johnny trying to pass from his own box.
and if we get the ball to half, it wouldn’t be aggressively wall balled down the line to play the wing into space with a “chance” against a shrinking amount of defenders, it would be turned backwards to “maintain possession,” batted around between backs for a half hour, then we would laboriously try and get it up the wing, against 11 defenders, nibbling around the edges.
that’s why i am like, mcglynn’s goal is not the offense and that tells you everything.
turkey was a UEFA B league team who tied wales twice in their group. the US beat turkey in 2010 and 2014. this is continued slippage.
the people touting that meh second half are very very parched.
Comparing games from 11 and 15 years ago when absolutely no one from either side was playing seems an in exact science. Especially given both were pre-WC matches in which the USA used mostly first choice players and Turkey not qualifying in ‘10 or ‘14 possibly looking at some new faces. This was Türkiye’s first team mostly and a mostly B team for the US. I don’t remember everyone on those teams in ‘10 and’14 for Türkiye but just about everyone who started played Champions League this season and about 1/3 play together for Fenerbache that helps your organization. So it’s possible that Türkiye is just better than they were.
you think this is clever except it has an implied “….and we are worse,” which is my point. yeah, teams can move around.
which way are we moving?
thanks.
also, do i have to repeat this for you, slower? they were “B league.” ie second tier europe. the US is so used to being “A league” in NL we don’t even consider how the tournaments work. we just think of it as “nations league.” however, the tournaments have relegation and promotion, and turkey is second tier in europe. by definition.
and therefore is in a group with wales, montenegro, hungary, etc. and when they played wales — a routine common opponent — they tied them. like we did. if they tie a team and we tie a team, what result should happen, theoretically?
and yet.
and even if we went with your “turkey is good” theory — which wales results suggest otherwise — the sales pitch for years has been our coaches are good, our tactics are helping. our result doesn’t suggest we are improving one bit.
Do you know why they were B League? Do you know what happened in those matches? That Türkiye’s loss to Montenegro came in a monsoon on a field that looked like a cow pasture by 30 min mark. Or that they were in the B League because their 2021 squad was dropped to the C league. Resulting in a revamp bringing in young players. A new look squad that made the quarters of 2024 Euros and have qualified for League A next year. But non of that fits your narrative. Neither, does this squad has maybe 2 or 3 guys that would play if everyone was available. Yes our 2025 B/C team is worse than our 2014 World Cup roster. Wow! So insightful.
——————
By your logic the US beat Bolivia last summer and then Bolivia beat Colombia so the US has improved because it’s better than Colombia now. Yeah us!
Winners: Pulisic, Sargent, Reyna, Pepi, Balogun, McKennie, Musah.
Losers: Johnny, Luna, Agyemang, Tillman.
Johnny, Tillman and Luna were anonymous in the first half, except of course for Johnny’s giveaway. Luna and Tillman were a little better in the second half, but no end product. All three were at times outmuscled and were too slow. Maybe understandable for Luna and Tillman, who play in weaker leagues. But Johnny, who apparently does well in La Liga, should have been ready for the speed and physicality of Türkiye. Any thought that these three guys could take the place of Adams, McKennie and Musah should be put on hold for now.
Quinn Sullivan looked pretty good in a limited minutes. Freeman, I guess, was OK. Wright wasn’t great but looked better than Agyemang, and only played limited minutes. So I’ll give him a pass. Richards, Robinson and McKenzie were all good in center defense.
It was a decent game to watch and, except for those 5-10 when Türkiye scored, we looked decent.
Poch should have called Sargent in instead of Agyemang.
we got dominated for the last 30 of the first half, what are you talking about. and while we gave as good as we got second half with more like starters, most of the chances were whacking crosses in, low percentage stuff.
there was one play where wright got around the corner and squared a ball in that LDLT predictably shanked. not enough balls to feet in the middle of the box.
johnny99
“Poch should have called Sargent in instead of Agyemang.”
Yeah? Then how would you know Patrick’s limitations?
We’ve only seen Patrick in limited minutes as basically a super sub and he’s done well. Maybe he should stay as a super sub.
And how do you know if he can handle a more extended run UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY give him an extended run?
Look at Luna. Now that you give him an extended run his Balls don’t look so big do they?
I’m old fashioned. I don’t judge the entirety of what player can be until I get to see him play more than 20 minutes or so.
Y’all get all these people who are judging Johnny based on one stupid mistake. The reality is he was in position to make that mistake in the first place because he earned the start.
I wouldn’t write Agyemang off entirely. But maybe we (including Poch) should pump the breaks on calling a guy who’s been a pro for 2 years and has a very limited track record, when calling that guy in means we leave off a guy who’s been a pro for 6-7 years and has been productive when healthy for the last couple of years. Yes, we have the benefit of hindsight, and now I think we can say that calling in Agyemang over Sargent was a mistake. But if you objectively compare Agyemang to Sargent, you would have called in Sargent and left Agyemang home. Assuming Agyemang continues to produce with Charlotte, call him back for friendlies, or for competitive games based on injuries.
Unlike with Agyemang, we don’t really have anyone else like Luna, and I would say that, overall, Luna has looked better with the national team than Agyemang has. Also, the only guy who plays a similar way to Luna that is not here is Reyna, who is not available (maybe Zendejas is somewhat similar to Luna). I agree that Luna did not have a great game on Saturday, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see Brenden and/or Paxten instead of Luna tomorrow. Maybe Luna comes on in the second half.
As for Johnny, I think it’s been more than one stupid mistake at this point. Like with Tillman and PSV, we’re not seeing with the national team the kind of player Johnny is with Betis. Until further notice, Johnny is clearly a bench option, behind Adams.
are you seriously trying to rehabilitate the guy who lost us the game? how do you expect to ever win. watch how the games go and see who wins games for you. it’s not just this game, it’s canada last year, the ugly colombia loss.
the idea is not pick guys because their club seasons were praised and their agent is lining up a move. it’s people who have ever played well in the US shirt. i struggle to remember upside.
you’re struggling real hard to put reputation (or stats) back over NT performances. this is spilled milk. try someone else.
IV – I guess you’re referencing Agyemang v. Sargent? Anyway, I looked at Agyemang’s numbers. 3 goals in 5 games, that’s pretty good in a limited sample. At least one of the goals was in a competitive game, vs. Canada in the Nations League (although the third place game may not quite have the edge that a true competitive game has). Agyemang has been more productive than I remembered, again, at least in a limited sample.
What I can tell you is that he was in over his head against Turkiye on Saturday. Hardly touched the ball, and when he did he was easily dispossessed. Never once looked threatening. Forget about Sargent, I wish we would have seen more of Wright or White than Agyemang. Although I wish Poch had brought in Sargent instead of Agyemang, looking at Agyemang’s numbers I can see why he didn’t.
I was responding to V’s efforts to rehabiltate johnny after the fact. the replies don’t all line up right.
i would, to be fair, compare it to sargent’s endless cap-opportunities based on club stats. how many times does he get another chance based on hype and stats? with same result?
however, there is an easier argument-whooper on sargent. sargent isn’t at a 6 spot where we run out of knowns quickly. we can go about a half dozen deep on people who will do the NT job that sargent won’t. pepi, balogun, wright, ferreira, vazquez, and eventually agyemang have all shown more. plus downs has had a good year. heck, at this point i’d call pefok or dike sooner than sargent.
making the debate agyemang vs. sargent is spin. agyemang should be several guys down the list. but i think he should be in play because we routinely have attrition issues. and he’s shown up and scored when we had them. which sargent hasn’t done since the 2010s. you can try and revive a silly club stats driven debate.. on NT performance he’s about as relevant to the current as zardes or pefok or nico.
i mean, we moved past that, and ferreira had all those clutch goals last time. that’s your real answer IMO.
Tillman played his best game in the uni johnny99. go rewatch the 1st half, you missed some stuff
I’ll do that. I was in the stadium, and it’s possible that I missed stuff. But I thought he was very quiet. Like I said, he was definitely better in the second half. Any even if this was his best game for the national team, there was still no end product.
sullivan did jack fwiw. he’d make a wing run and either hit the cross in the first defender or worm-burn a cross to the keeper’s gut.
Not really worried about this loss on a fluke goal. They created more chances then they have in the past. Looking forward to seeing the progress with this group.
we are backwards. we are tentative the end you should be aggressive; swashbuckling the end you should be low risk.
Blablabla. Another game, another loss. At this rate Poch might be canned if we blunder the Gold Cup. A really crappy time for the USMNT and its supporters.
5-4 with no wins versus teams in the top 30.
Mcglynn has the tools to be a traditional 10. Passing and creative with an excellent left foot. But with that being said I think he could be a very useful sub in multiple positions. Not necessarily a starter.
I liked what Quinn brought off of the bench. Agyemang has many tools which will be useful. I want to see Luna and Tillman combine a bit more. And I think Mckenzie and Richards is the pairing going forward. I like LDLT ability to break through the lines with his dribbling just needs to get a bit quicker in his decision making. Would like to see how Brendo looks on the right.
i do think we “subbed backwards,” ie, started backups then subbed towards the intended lineup. however for the Hope Merchants, it was the subs who scored through a quick attack punctuated by mcglynn’s direct go to goal effort. but they were dominated after 15′ and lost the contest. the starters were more even with turkey (0-0 second half) but a lot of the attacks turned into the same old crossing, LDLT hitting ok hopeful crosses to the far post. not dropped on a head but more played into space.
i thought 1-2 was a crap result. turkey is just ok. turkey lost to montenegro and was in a NL group with wales. turkey and wales tied 0-0 twice. we tied wales twice last cycle. on paper this should have been a tie with zero improvement, a win if the coach is adding anything. we instead lost. that’s regression.
people keep making Tomorrow excuses. at some point this is supposed to actualize.
We lost but everything looked good with the exception of some MAJOR mistakes in the back (because of the pressure of playing out the back that are better made in friendlies than during a major tournament)……..and the teams inability to finish…..excluding Jack McGlynn!!!
Nobody looked sharp, dangerous or lethal in front of goal
The shot attempts on goal look desperate rather than calculated or deliberate
Haji Wright and Patrick Agyemang couldn’t seem to get by anyone for a good strike on goal (Agyemang couldn’t seem to use his size to hold off defenders at all)
——–USMNT——VS——-TURKIYE—–
———–60%——-POS——–40%———-
———-632———PASS——44————-
———–88%—–PASS AC—-84%———-
More possession, more touches on the ball,
better accuracy on passing……..yet
———–3————SOT———-5————
———-13———-SHOTS——11————
Johnny Cardoso made a dreadful mistake but the USMNT still dominated the midfield in the first half with him on the field
Overall we looked more well organized, structured and composed (for the most part) than out last 2-3 games
The real test will be THE SWITZERLAND GAME……as they were clinical and seemed to capitalized on every Mexico mistake ……..a Mexico with Santiago Giménez, Raúl Jiménez, Roberto Alvarado, Carlos Rodríguez, and Érik Lira. USMNT will need to tighten up defensively against Switzerland, as every error made by Mexico was almost converted into an opportunity and the Swiss came alive in the second half (were the US usually seem to die off) and Mexico just kind of lost focus and concentration.
Overall, I think this team exceeded expectations……they looked good, with a few issues that need to be addressed / corrected
Number of Passes for Turkiye is 441 not 44….lol
as they explained on the telecast, turkey, with their italian coach, is content to let you possess the ball, let you make the mistakes and punish them. we’ve been selling “we’re a possession team now” for years, and what of it.
i mean, we could barely find the strikers. who cares if we lead the world in passing around the back. the endgame to soccer is get the ball to players in the danger zone and attack the net.
and we proved for the umpteenth time that playing from the back costs us more pitifully easy punishment than it gets us clever long build goals.
IV,
You have an antipathy towards playing out of the back.
However watch Switzerland play Mexico.
You’ll find both teams play out of the back, as did Portugal and Spain the other day. That’s at least four good teams who play that way.
I’m sure there are merits to playing your caveman soccer.
But few good teams play only one way for 90 minutes.
At some point, when it makes sense, the out of the back guys can revert to the caveman way and vice versa.
.
The USMNT is being built from the ground up.
I’m pretty sure the 11 that started vs Turkie have never played together before. Or if they did it hasn’t been a lot.
Having them work on playing out of the back is a good way for everyone to get a better feel for each other. As they develop, down the line, if there are openings, they can go caveman.
Because the reality is Turkey and Switzerland are exhibitions for a reason. They are there so the team can practice and get to know each other better.
And that is what you saw, practice.
V: you don’t know what you’re talking about. i am fine with the “goal.” that is clean, skillful………but direct, aggressive, and trying to get down the field before the defense does.
watch most of the good teams in italy, or atleti. it’s not caveman soccer anymore. you need to update your software. you can be defensively stout, attack quickly, and yet do it skillful with ball on the floor rather than kickball.
you can list all the teams you think hit 5 yard passes in the back. WE CAN’T EXECUTE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! are you kidding me.
and lecturing me about this being “practice” is funny because other than mcglynn it seemed indistinguishable from “games,” ie, recent tournaments.
i mean you get it’s going to be same roster for the tournament, right? that’s my whole point about performance cuts.
The view from the stands:
– The stadium had higher attendance than I expected given the steady rain
– The US team started pretty well playing the possession-based game MP is trying to implement, but lost their composure and focus after falling behind.
– The US team had no real threats on the wings, and once Turkiye realized that, they made the necessary adjustments
– Agyemang as the target striker has the tools and athleticism, but needs a lot more improvement to jump ahead of Balogun or Pepi
– Cardoso, despite the gaffe, did well for much of the time. Though his replacement, Adams, was a noticeable upgrade.
Agyemang had the touch of a young Jozy Altidore. . . . that is not intended to be a compliment.
johnny was basically on the hook both goals, are you kidding me. on the first goal, if you start to feel that noose tighten, that ball is either row Z or hit to midfield. we are being taught to not panic, to try and be clever, precisely when one should not. and there is zero upside to playing from the back. i struggle to remember 110 yard build goals.
people chuckled at my expense but the lack of wing quality was foretold in the callup sheet. you have to call up specialist wings to get good wing play. we had wright wide, we had LDLT wide, what did we expect? to be fair, mcglynn accomplished some — was basically the whole first half offense — but he was inverting.
i thought we were more dangerous when we fed agyemang and wright but i thought wright was showing to the ball more. agyemang wants to sit back, pin the defender, then spin. and we couldn’t find the 9 the whole first half.
Thought Tillman had his best game yet for us, I so wish he would have converted that header from the six, would have made it a statement game for him. LDLT was really good. If you could take away the Johnny mistake and the next five minutes it would have been our best performance under Poch.
the cardoso/LDLT MF of the first half got spanked. are you kidding me.
Luca played well after Poch moved him into the hole after moving Johnny out of it, around 35th minute, and generally played well. Tillman missed his header but was more impactful than I’ve ever seen him, especially on D. Johnny was playing fine in an extended role, then made the big mistake, and struggled to turn it around after that, obviously
Certainly better than the last few games, and we looked good at times, but weaknesses are still apparent. Is the US attacking in the style that Pochettino wants? I much prefer how Turkiye attacks. When they went into attack they moved quickly. passed quickly and were in the US third within not many seconds. We need to move the ball a lot quicker. Too often, too, we did not move enough off the ball, especially when facing their press. Too often our passes weren’t hit with enough speed, almost as if they didn’t trust their teammates to be able to handle passes with pace. Every second lost gives the defense more time to adjust and get into place. The Turks didn’t have that problem and their quickness put our defense under a lot of pressure. I can’t stop from remarking about Cardoso’s error. How do you kick the ball right into an opponent no more than 5 feet in front of you? I remember that Cardoso had a teammate wide open to his left with no one around. Why Cardoso even tried to pass up the middle is inexpolicable. While Austen missed one very good chance and another decent chance, I think Tillman’s failure to convert was worse, considering how often he was scoring in Holland.
it’s not “inexplicable,” he forced the pass. we force the pass all the time. you see it’s a dumb idea but we’re being taught to pass from the back and egg the opponent to come forward then try and cleverly work out of it. we’re not that slick. do the boring things.
nor are we slick enough other end of the field to break down teams half court soccer.
the goal was first 15 we’re playing long outlets and even a little kickball, flick it wide, go to goal. that’s quick. you don’t have to break down 11 men, you start putting defenders behind you and you can play into space.
but i generally agree. i prefer their style. swarm the mids, win the ball. get it wide early. speed or wall ball down the wing. go to goal. quit slow play. quit nibbling at the edges. get it in smaller number situations, more green space, and attack the net.
last point, but we are way overcommitting near side. the weak side is open all day. that’s part of what you were seeing. when they switched, the guy would have 20 yards. or even on some crosses i’d be like is anyone marking that far post runner. holland abused that.
went with the outside of his right foot instead playing it with his left, so waited an extra step and also screwed up the angle