Post-match: USA vs Jamaica CONCACAF Nations League (leg 1)

He doesn’t look like Donald Glover at all

 

Good result, probably a bit fortunate not to concede one though. Hopefully the home leg will be smooth control throughout.

 

If you had asked me how I felt at halftime, I would say that I liked Pulisic in the middle, the amount of team movement, and I want to see more of Tessman...I would add that our defense is still shaky.

After the game, I was disappointed. Not in how they played on a sloppy field, not in their skill in general, but mentally. Towards the middle of the second half, we stopped play collectively as a team. We allowed Jamaica to get into our heads rather putting the game away. It almost like we hit the pause button while Jamaica was still playing. Fortunately, they were terrible in the final third.

Turner and Pulisic for co-MVP. Only real disappointment was Vazquez off the bench with two poor attempts. Little surprise by how off Robinson was in the game, but that is too be expected once awhile.

We were lucky that it wasn't a tie. This was no win, even if it's on the road. The positive is Pooch moving Pulisic into the middle and more movement overall. I like that we have a few more long balls (something Beasley commented at half time). Let's see if we can build upon it.

 

1. “….he managed to flub the shot…”
2 “…he was improperly prepared…”

Dude, the ball went into the back of the net. He won the game for us.

in the spirit of Rick Pittino, “Ronaldo, Messi and Lewandowki aren’t walking through that door.”

also - Pepi, Balogun and Sargent are all under 25. Pepi is twenty-freaking-one. Strikers peak closer to 30. Vazquez is 26. This is the deepest striker pool we’ve ever had.

 

This is also why it's kinda silly to talk about Antonee as the best fb in the EPL. If you'd likely get benched by the best 6 clubs for lack of capability in a required area, how are you the best?

He's merely a good EPL starting LB. Which is nothing to sneeze at, and that's wonderful for our standards, but no need to resort to hyperbole cuz we have lower expectations.

 

In fairness, they should have had two penalties, so in that case, their xG would have been even more (at least from my perspective).

 

Lots of good comments, not much to add. Tough to win away in CONCACAF so we will take it and return to STL. Looking forward to seeing Weah and Puli link up next week. I also did enjoy seeing Poch on our sidelines, giving instructions and looking like he was ahead of the game over Greg who often looked to me like a spectator, taking in the game.

Yup!
This is specifically why I went asking yesterday on the Pre-Game thread if anyone had insight on The Offices' current field conditions. Dry and bumpy is one thing, but an Irish bog field like last night crushes all hopes of the beautiful game.

 

For a decent size guy, he is remarkably weak on the ball…

 

One thing that has always confused me about field conditions is how does FIFA consider fields like the Office's to be suitable for international matches?

That field largely blunted a lot of both teams' attacks.

 

that is true. i wonder how many people notice how weak he is?
I also note that Pulisic holds the ball very well most of the time. He is, I think, the smallest player on the team but he wins the ball and holds it quite often and very well. Also I've noted that Pepi does not win many hearers even when he is taller than everyone around him. He just does not seem to have or use the strength needed to simply hold a needed position. I think my grandmother could push him around and she has been dead for many many years.
We are remarkably weak in two positions one is center forward and the other is goalkeeper. I doubt Pepi will ever be the center forward we need but the scary part is that we seem to have no one upcoming that is better. Sargent is a possibility but he has problems staying healthy and he does not seem to be the center forward we need either.

We appear to be heading in the right direction but we need some more folks to step up and show the kind of fire we see from just a few right now.
I also hope there some younger players in the wings to fill gaps but, judging by the recent performances I have seen, we have a huge bunch of people that have the potential to be as average as who we currently have and very few that show the potential to be better.

I blame our very poor training system for the problems as players are not taught simple tenacity when they are endowed with the basic skills. But i doubt it will get fixed as the best of the "teacher" are paid more and placed with the top teams in both experience and age. Just like our education system our training system never places the really good teachers where they are most needed; with the younger kids.

I wonder if we could go with a true three front where the players are all allowed to, and encouraged to, play as a small three man team to create goals in the final third.

After what I have seen so far, I think our new coach is well aware of the problems and will make moves to fix, or at least mitigate, the real issues we have.

BTW: I am not as concerned about our defense as many are. We have plenty of pretty good defenders around the world and now we have a coach that probably knows what to do with them. But that cannot be done quickly and it will take a good number of friendlies and competitive matches. My concern is all the way back and all the way forward.
Once we mostly fix that we can try to improve our already pretty good midfield. It is not perfect but more pieces are correct there than in either in the front or in the back.

 

Ream

It's not about elite vs non-elite. If the team is regularly creating patterns of play so that someone in Jedi's role is placed in that position, then a different profile of player is needed. Jedi is a defender with a defender's skillset. Players like McKennie, Weah, Paredes, Brown, Arfsten, and Dest would be more suited.

 

All this talk about the pitch...keep in mind that hurricane Rafael brought heavy rains about a week or so before the game. Also leading up to the match there is another weather pattern that brought steady rain. I was very surprised when the sprinklers came on just before kickoff. All in all the pitch held up well. Frankly the talk about pitch condition is annoying.

 

Notts County just spent close to $1 million bringing their pitch up to Premier League standard. I'm sure Jamaica has better things to spend $1 million on.

 

Non-trash standard would have been enough.

 

Yes lots of rain. So that;s the reason. So freaking what? That field sucked. Sorry it annoys you we talk about it. It annoys most of us that have to continually watch these POS fields in CONCACAF.

 

There was nothing wrong with the pitch.

 

there were 2 core problems with that pitch - yes the rain waterlogged it and so the turf just tore it up - but it was also long as if they did not want to mow it short … they can’t stop the tropical rain - but they could have mowed it …

which is why Denver in February is important …

the Jamaican federation knew precisely what they wanted …

 

FIFA wrote off exercising adult leadership over CONCACAAF long ago.

 

Does xG include the opportunity that led to the PK? If not then Jamaica’s xG from open play was similar to ours if not higher If it does then I’m a bit surprised how low it would be From my perspective - Jamaica held their own on that stat. Not nearly as much possession, but similar (if not better) chances at goal

 

Needs his grown man strength.

 

No, I mean, the pitch was an abomination and it definitely hurts the game from pretty every aspect.

It may have been unavoidable because of the weather and other factors ... although, you know, the sprinklers still being on seems like a choice.

I know a lot of people love the gamesmanship aspect but if we could get good pitches everywhere the quality of play would rise. I'd gladly give up games in the cold and snow for quality fields.

 

No shot, so no. But the .7+ xG for a pen is pretty much double almost any good chance.

 

I'm watching a game in League Two. The pitch was very wet from heavy rain and they used sprinklers before kickoff. Consequently there was one shot on target in the first half.

It's football. Conditions may vary.

 

Nonsense. It's not even one of the better crops.

2002: McBride, Donovan, Clint Mathis, Wolff, Max-Moore, Stewart, Jones.

2006: McBride, Donovan, Dempsey, Ching, Wolff, Johnson.

1998: McBride, Wynalda, Max-Moore, Wegerle, Stewart, Jones, (+Preki, though in MF more).

1994: Wynalda, Stewart, Wegerle, Max-Moore, Klopas, Jones.

2010: Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, Buddle, Gomez, Findley. (Bradley playing 4231 with Clint and Landon).

I'd take all those over what we have now. Yes, some of those guys listed were deployed more as mids at the time. Attacking mids, however.

I'd even take 2010 over now.