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

A neutral site match in the Cayman Islands isn't something that is going to be seen as a road win.

 

Yes. I thought that was kinda cool. World Class CKer?

 

he got skinned on the pk and ran past other times while providing nothing special on the ball. If you play a slow CB who’s not great in the air, he should at least hit some good passes.

 

It's in a weird category: It's a non-friendly game away from the US vs a confederation opponent. But yeah it's not in that opponent's country, presumably due to political issues. For me, that's close enough to the category to count it, esp since the domain of games is pretty much "all away WCQ and CNL qualifiers".

Regardless, the overall point remains that from 2014-present we managed to win away in such games only when the opponent was notably weak. We tended to draw vs mid-level opponents (El Salvador, Jamaica) and lose to good ones (Canada, CRC), with the weird exception that in that time we were undefeated against Mexico in Mexico (two draws).

And for some context, this was not always the case. If you run it back to the previous 10 years (2004-2013) we had a much better record in such games: 12W-6D-8L. Even if you include the Cuba game as a W, we averaged 1.1 points/game since 2014 and 1.6 points/game in the ten years prior. The whole "it's so hard to win away in Concacaf" narrative that was dominant in, for example, WCQ22 is not wrong. It is hard to win away in Concacaf. But we used to meet that challenge with much more regularity in earlier years.

 

We were credited with 3 shots on goal. Against Jamica!!.....Sorry pooch but thats not gonna make it! This game was BORING!!!.. GB lives!

 

Stadium issues.

 

I’d lay the penalty equally on Scally, Turner and McKenzie as much as Ream. I wish the US had a better option, but not clear to me who that would be.

 

It did seem like some top of the 18 shots were available a couple of times and they looked for better and then no shot ever came.

 

To be totally fair, shots requiring a good plant foot would have been a crapshoot in the best of circumstances on that field. If those same shots are available on Monday, I fully expect them to head goalward.

 

I enjoyed watching him in Community and Solo. Haven't seen Atlanta yet, but I bet he's good in that, too.

 

Really hard to judge because the grass was soggy, spongy and slick depending on the part of the field. The pk was a direct result because on any normal field that's an easy grab for Turner as the ball rolls to him. This time it pretty much stopped six inches away. Also has to be hard to control balls to you trying to guess if they will peter out abnormally while trying to maintain footing. McKennie slipped in that corner and I noticed one of the Jamaicans almost did too later. I "think" I liked what they were trying to do. Weah for Musah is a big upgrade at that position. If Richards is healthy I'd like to see him if for no other reason than getting some height for free kicks and corners. Both Ream and McKenzie are pretty short for CB's and having both doesn't help Pulisic on corners. I thought his corners and free kicks were decent but we had few targets. Got see Johnny and Tanner the Tank for 15 minutes and it was looking pretty good. Does Johnny recover and get another start, does Morris get over the flue and get one? Turner seems to be back to what he was. Still uneven on passes but it's no longer affecting the rest of his game. That's good enough until one of the young guys that can pass prove they are better at the rest of it.

 

I liked Blake's panicked "INSWINGER!" when he realized what was coming.

 

Happy with an away win What was the xG for each team - it seemed to me Jamaica had more dangerous shots than we did actually.

was surprised how often we were able to make a pass from defense (area) 30 yards up the middle on the ground and receiver handled and turned Nice to see especially on a very crappy field

ref ok in first half but lost the thread when Jamaica decided to get chippy in the second half

A wins a win, especially after 2 days in camp with a new coach and away at Jamaica

 

Horrible field conditions made it a tough game to play. But, we started extremely well. Pulisic dropping centrally makes him very dangerous and I thought the pairing of Tessman and Johnny was quite good, especially early on. We lost a lot when we lost Johnny and I was very surprised to see Tillman get the call when he went down. I tend to think we'd have been better off with Busio taking over that spot because Tillman coming in mad the roles a bit less straightforward and things got messier. Busio would have been more of a like for like switch. But, overall just glad to get the win in a tough game where the ball bounced all over the place. I was happy to see the team show some fight and some grit and this bodes well for the future.

Pepi took his goal well but not much after that. He really seems to be a striker who makes good runs, remains calm and finishes well, but he does need a team that will set him up in positions to score. So, he can do his jo and do it well, but he needs his teammates to do theirs as well.

The midfield started very well and Pulisic was extremely dangerous dropping into the middle early. As the game wore on, I felt like he tried too often to take a direct route with his dribbling when we really could have used some possession to calm the game down, but that's Pulisic being Pulisic. Overall he's our difference maker and he made a difference early and that's what we need. Musah and McKennie were quiet in possession with McKennie slightly more active, but Musah had that huge goal line tackle to save the game for us so can't discredit the effort, Johnny was really, really good in his minutes and Tessman looked like a guy who can step right in and play in those deep roles. Some real potential to challenge for minutes out of those two.

I thought Antonee was OK, but man if he finishes that chance early, we sail through this game. Not his best game but he seldom really hurts you. Saclley was mostly solid and help up against physical play. McKenzie was the better of the center back pairing for me and I really like that he can play with the ball a bit. I'd really like to see if he can work with Richards. Ream was OK, starting to look increasingly slow back which showed on the penalty play. I'm really hoping we find a replacement.

Turner made the big penalty save after giving it up and his save off the corner in the second was very good. Still had a couple brain farts where he kind of went rogue, but I'll take it from him.

Tillman was the most interesting sub because it was such a change to go from Johnny to him and I'm not sure it worked out, but he didn't back down and fought out there so that's a big plus. Most of the subs didn't show a ton. Busio got in there and fought and I like that. Would have preferred to see him get the call when Tillman came on. Vazquez was active but blew what should have been a great chance taking a poor path to the ball and waiting too long. Could have iced the game. Nothing too much of note from the others.

I do think the tactical tweaks Poch is bringing to the table are making this a more dangerous team without giving up too much in defense so I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress. I'm particularly find of more passing in the midfield. Far too often this team has had a trio of guys getting stuck in and wanting to dribble out every time and that just doesn't get it done at this level, more passing and movement will go a long way. Overall, glad to have the win, glad to see the fight and looking forward to going to the game on Monday. Really hoping that the field conditions will allow this team to play more and if that happens it should be a long night for Jamaica.

 

Seemed like a game neither team really wanted to play. Not a very intense game. Seemed a bit chill. I also agree the field conditions were horrific and there isn't much to take away because of it.

 

That’s probably 3 more than a GB team would have had

 

St. Louis' field should be significantly better than the one in Kingston, so something approaching actual soccer will be able to be played.

 

I'll take a boring road win in CONCACAF every time.

Berhalter won two road games in CONCACAF in his whole tenure. WCQer down in Honduras. First Nations League against Cuba. That's it. We won't play many games in those conditions for the rest of the cycle since we won't have WCQers.

The conditions weren't suited to "pretty." It was scrappy and hard fought. Loved the intensity that Pulisic showed in particular. The team followed by example. Loved it. That's what you need in a game like that.

Jamaica isn't Andorra. They have the talent to beat you, as Canada found out AT HOME in the last Nations League.

 

If I could have had a full pitch view, I would be able to say if McKenzie was or was not out of position letting his man get goal side and thereby requiring Ream to scramble to put out the fire like he had to do repeatedly with ARob. If somebody rational not invested in certain players could explain it to me I'd appreciate it. Maybe @Bob Morocco ?

 

my take - fwiw -

1. the field - but after watching this "scenario" for the last 55 years ... it is just normal ... and it is why we do need to keep playing games in Denver in February in a snowstorm - just to communicate to everyone that two can play this game.
2. Pulisic - he is EVOLVING his game - the left footed corner blew me away ... he has evolved to play strong D, to play on the left or middle or right ... to take the shot or release the pass (Pepi) ... and his get in the face of the Jamaican's and the ref on the road - is just good.
3. our pace was up and pressure packed the first half ... but as the game wore on you could just see Jamaica's strategy was to try and counter on us and use the bumpy thick turf to their advantage ....
4. the only offensive player I wanted to see more from was Wes .... he just has yet to put a stamp on a game for Poch.
5. massive stop by Turner.
6. at some point Poch needs to go off in Spanish on a CONCACAAF ref ... needs to channel his inner Argentine.

I hope we the thump the crap out of the Reggae Boyz on Tuesday. Just run them right out of St. Louis.

 

Will Poch call in an extra midfielder for the return leg, given Aaronsen, Morris, and Cardoso are all out?

If so, there's not many options that aren't still in the MLS playoffs or over in Europe (and presumably won't make a long flight on short notice for 1 match).

Probably looking at someone like Cremanschi, McGlynn, or Leon Flach. Or Chris Durkin or Kellyn Acosta.

 

I think Pepi has earned the starting striker spot at this point, even when Flo and Sargent return. Keep Ric on the field until he stops scoring.

 

The US Soccer match recap ...

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ts-match-recap-nov-14-concacaf-nations-league

 

We were told that Aaronson went directly to St Louis to recover from flu-like symptoms. Let's hope he's recovered and ready to participate on Monday night.

Morris is out, certainly, and I assume Johnny is out as well.

 

Someone check me if I'm reading this correctly but it seems to say xG was US 1.1, Jamaica 1.4.

https://footystats.org/internationa...ional-team-vs-jamaica-national-team-h2h-stats

That seems about right to me. We had like four chances, two early and two late. Jamaica had more, though a lot of them seemed to come during that 15min span during the second half when they had a lot of momentum.

Also relevant that we scored early and then gradually shifted to trying to manage the lead. If we'd been tied or behind and needed a goal we'd likely have had more attempts.