That's what we did for the rest of the 1st half. It was a 4-4-1. And we were completely discombobulated. You can blame Gregg for that too I guess. Or maybe he saw what we all saw and decided we needed a change?
I'd like to point out that Costa Rica, which is a program in transition after their golden generation aged out, managed to get 4 points in a group with Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay. While the US pulled 3 points out of a group with Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia. Our outcome in this tournament simply can't be considered acceptable under any circumstance.
Well, we are still better than Jamaica. Let’s wait to see how Germany preforms in EURO, but right now we are very bad as a host. Asian Cup 2024: Host Qatar won title. African Cup 2024: Host Ivory Coast won title. Copa America 2024: Host USA failed out the group. Euro Cup 2024: Host Germany currently in quater.
Having watch some parts of their games and the highlight, I would say this is worst Costa Rica I have seen at moving the ball forward (at least against Bra and Col, two top teams). Their defensive intensity is insane. And their new goalie had some Keylor Navas type saves. The also went from the older roster in recent tournaments to the youngest.
In 2010 Uruguay gets weak host/seed South Africa, pounds them 3-0 and wins the group with 7 points In 2018 Uruguay gets "weak" host/seed Russia, pounds them 3-0, wins group with 9 points. In 2024 Uruguay gets "weak" host/seed US, win 1-0, wins group with 9 points. At least Uruguay did not pound us 3-0. Also, there is some justice in "undeserving" seeds getting a top team. South Africa and Qatar got nightmare draws with all three teams in their groups.
I think you could say the same thing (in reverse) when our 2002 team beat Portugal and Mexico in the World Cup.
Bielsa outcoached Berhalter and he wasn't even there. Uruguay just marked the hell out of Jedi, Wes and Puli. No balls made it forward, and Adams didn't move laterally. Musah was isolated and didn't seek the ball either. Uruguay was winning the group unless they lost by a lot and Bolivia lost by a lot, and that wasn't happening, so they didn't go out of their way trying to run up the score as I expected and were smart, minimizing the effort needed to completely neutralize our midfield. A coach gives a plan, but a player improvises. When their players noticed the only way out was passes from Ream to Reyna or Puli (Valverde and Ugarte had both Musah and Wes in their pockets), Núñez just pressured him to force bad passes. Our midfield is the best we have, but since we're fairly predictable, all that was needed was controlling the two guys in charge of connecting defense to attack in the middle and since our fullbacks were not crossing any decent balls, that was it.
One thing I'll add about mckennie, having watched from the stands - he looked a step slow. He looked like he was really trying hard, but it just looked like the heart was willing and the body just wasn't doing. Folks have mentioned the duels stats, but I'd also point to his inability to dribble into space - he seemed easily run down. I don't think he was ever a speed demon, but now I'm concerned. I don't think we can rely on him until he figures his career out.
I read your post, and all I could think was that if I had joined a year sooner *I* could have been porkrind. What a name. Also, agree on McKennie. I'm not sure any of the vaunted MMA midfield are actually starters in my book for a game played today, but Wes is the biggest drop of the three. Maybe he just needs some time off? He really does look worn down.
He hasn't seemed consistently right since the winter break. I'll be honest, I think at this point you just need to toss the CM's into a bin, and pick whichever suit the opponent. Nobody should really have anything on lock other than maybe Reyna as a playmaker, for now. I'm open to a ton of guys and if Inter seriously wants Tessmann (after a loan to Venezia), a lot of you may have to all check your "Tessmann Sucks" takes from last year, and stow them at the front desk (and lets be straight, literally all the clubs rumored have good pedigree, so their scouts seem to like him). Anyway, Adams, Johnny, Tessmann, Busio, Musah, McKennie, Tillman, Reyna, McKennie, I tend to think the days of MMA are done, and we'll probably be juggling options trying to find the right mix for different game models.
Wes’ problem is eating habit. He is a little overweight right now as he was in Leeds United. When he got back a little, he was marvelous in Juve games.
It surprises me a professional midfielder can be even slightly chubby with as much running as they do. I'm guessing it's perhaps a medical issue. Or he eats 12,000 calories a day and drinks another 4,000
He did not have a good game nor a good tournament. Both by the eye test and also by the numbers. From Opta’s analysis https://theanalyst.com/na/2024/07/u...eam-copa-america-elimination-gregg-berhalter/ McKennie was absent for long stretches of the tournament, attempting just 24.1 passes per 90 at a 75.4% success rate after attempting nearly twice as many (46.5) per 90 at the World Cup with slightly more success (77.5%). Though they are even harsher on Reyna Reyna was involved in three open-play shot-ending sequences in 201 minutes, and Adams three in 180. Particularly for Reyna given the differences in their responsibilities, that amounts to absenteeism. Reyna attempted as many shots as Malik Tillman – one. The other thing that’s apparent from their analysis is we really missed Dest and we should have very much considered Weah at right back to try and replicate some of what Dest brings.
Neckbeards are already blaming the women for this on "social media." We all knew it was a matter of time. In the end, they always blame women.
Hey here’s a thought: maybe the kid is exhausted after playing the most club minutes in his career. y’all’s obsession with his diet is weird. Pirlo said that years ago. Unless you think Weston gained like 10lbs in a week, or he’s just cramming protein bars after each training session in a concerted effort to gain weight, there is no way he’s “out of shape”. he didn’t play well, that’s not in doubt. but why does everyone jump to “weight” when there are less speculative explanations?
Wow, seems a bit harsh! What has happened in the soccer world since I was away. Gregg Berhalter will lose his job over the Copa America exit, and that seems reasonable because the list of excuses – either stated or implied – are the natural order of a coach without the vision or problem-solving capacity a person in his position should possess.
Last note on this (well, ok, no promises) --- what will it really take to create set piece goals? The one against Bolivia was nice (although it required a banger), but the US had several what should have been dangerous free kicks against Uruguay and never seems to reallly threaten. A couple were "ok" and couple were bad, but none seemed like I was imagining a goal wa a real possibilty. Then of course Uruguay gets a similar opportunity and scores. I assume it is mostly about delivery, but maybe not. The team seems to undertand this is a problem, but maybe now they will consider risking some hurt feelings on the team to make an improvement.
Wes absolutely busted his ass vs. Panama. Tremendous effort expent, up and down, closing out and sprinting back and forward. Not a surprise he was out of gas by the end of Uruguay. Could he be in better shape? maybe.
There are so many other explanations for players appearing a step slow, and players don’t loose fitness over the course of a week, but if you want to project your issues onto Weston’s body, do you I guess.
When Wes started to play for Juve, there was a Colombian guy Cuadrado I got confused with Wes. Hard to see who is who. Until Wes puts a purple spot on his hair, then I can distinguish them apart. But in 2nd season, I don’t need to check the hair, just see who is more fluffy I know that is Wes.