Team USA Soccer

Center Backs:

Starters

1. John Brooks 26 Wolfsburg(EL)

2. Matt Miazga 23 Chelsea(CL)

Backups

1. Cameron Carter-Vickers 21 Tottenham Hotspur(CL)

2. Aaron Long 26 NYRB

3. Walker Zimmerman 26 LAFC

4. Chris Richards 19 Bayern Munich(CL)

Thoughts

Like Yedlin, Brooks is by far our best CB but also has the injury bug. Miazga and CCV both figure to be loaned out again. Long played really well in the Gold Cup. Outside of Miazga's performance against Mexico I'd say he was the best CB although Miazga only played the last 2 games. Richards plays on Bayern II which recently got promoted into the 3rd tier of the Bundesliga but I would prefer he gets loaned out to a better club. Way too good for that level of play but probably not good enough to get solid playing time with the first team. Richards is probably our best prospect at CB since Brooks.

Edit- Should also add Richards was one of if not the best players on our U-20 WC team. Our other CB (Keita) really struggled.

 
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DrunkOffPunch said:
Just some thoughts overall on this Gold Cup.

-Pulisic by far our best player. This team ran through him.

-Zardes shouldn’t suit up for the MNT anymore. He adds nothing from an attacking standpoint. Should’ve brought Sargent.

-No depth. Pretty clear Berhalter trusted no one off the bench. Losing Adams and Holmes hurt. Also the subs he brought in against Mex made no sense. Couldnt hold possession so we take out our best  #9 at hold up play and bring in Zardes who has a horrible first touch. Sub Roldan in for Morris when our best attacking winger was Boyd. Yes Boyd played bad against Curaçao, but Morris and Roldan we’re invisible vs Jamaica. Lastly a LB for a LB when you’re down a goal late? Cmon.

-Tbh I don’t really understand Berhalters philosophy. We’re playing 3 in the back on the attack so when an opposing team pushes their front line up to press we don’t have the numbers to out pass it and and end up turning it over. Seems like when we play from the back there’s nobody in the middle to support Bradley.  Also don’t understand why Pulisic is up with Altidore on defense. Are we a possession team or a counter attacking team?

-Time to start building for the 2022 WC. If things work out we’re going to be a talented but young team. I don’t know yet if Berhalter is the guy for the job.
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The announcers said Altidore may not have been ready to play all 90 plus minutes so Zardes came in. Something about conditioning for him. In my opinion, we should have given Zardes the start and subbed Altidore in if that was the case. Zardes usually plays well but looked lost tonight. Also, there were too many missed opportunities tonight, it seemed like Mexico was giving the game away but we just couldn't take the lead. Remember that this is a young team and many players played against Mexico for the first time tonight. Michael Bradley always gets hated on but in the second half, he was atrocious giving the ball right back to Mexico.

The official tonight was strange. He would call tick tack calls on the US but not on Mexico. Even when there was an obvious foul. Also, he should have pulled out some yellows on both sides tonight. But he is not the reason we lost at all it just seemed off. What are your thoughts? 

I saw some good things from Berhalter tonight. Mostly in the first half but we need to let him develop the young guys. We do not need a new coach for a while as Greg is doing just fine. No idea why Zardes didn't show up but that was a bad sub. However, that sub needed to happen for Altidore. I also think Jordan Morris wasn't helping us get possession so that is why Roldan came in the game. The last sub was surprising for me as well but we got a lot of chances at the end and the beginning of the game. From 40-65 it seemed like Mexico had possession forever, and that needs to change. Disappointed in the loss but proud of our guys to fight till the end. Gold cup 2021 comes before the WC so that is next on the agenda for the US.

 
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Question from a soccer novice.  I don't follow soccer at all other than I want our teams to do well in the WC and I will watch them there.  Loved watching the women.

If I remember correctly, the men didn't qualify for the WC in 2018 and there was a lot of people upset at the coaching and in particularly who the coach allowed on the team and played.  I remember a lot of people upset that certain player/players weren't played.

Has that been improved?  Is the issue taken care of, or is there still a lot of drama around the management of the program?

 
BigRedBuster said:
Question from a soccer novice.  I don't follow soccer at all other than I want our teams to do well in the WC and I will watch them there.  Loved watching the women.

If I remember correctly, the men didn't qualify for the WC in 2018 and there was a lot of people upset at the coaching and in particularly who the coach allowed on the team and played.  I remember a lot of people upset that certain player/players weren't played.

Has that been improved?  Is the issue taken care of, or is there still a lot of drama around the management of the program?
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It's unclear if it's fixed, but the team did much better in reaching the final of the Gold Cup. So the team is better than it was in 2018.

 
RedDenver said:
It's unclear if it's fixed, but the team did much better in reaching the final of the Gold Cup. So the team is better than it was in 2018.
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Thanks,

I know the women have been good for a long time.  But, it will be interesting to see if the success the women are having lifts the mens program.  Will they rise to the pressure of trying to live up to the women's example?  Or, will they still struggle?

 
RedDenver said:
It's unclear if it's fixed, but the team did much better in reaching the final of the Gold Cup. So the team is better than it was in 2018.
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The Gold Cup is a pretty bad tournament. The US and Mexico are the only teams that can compete at an international level but they rarely have their best XI in the tournament. To consider the Gold Cup a success you have to win it if you’re the US/Mexico.

BigRedBuster said:
Thanks,

I know the women have been good for a long time.  But, it will be interesting to see if the success the women are having lifts the mens program.  Will they rise to the pressure of trying to live up to the women's example?  Or, will they still struggle?
Click to expand...
No. The reason the women are good and the men are bad is that no other countries were really invested in the women’s game at any level. Jill Ellis the US coach was born in England but didn’t play competitive soccer until she moved to the US as a kid. Youth programs, hs sports, and college sports are what has elevated the women’s program to what it is. As the sport grows on the women’s side the advantages the US has had will shrink. We’ll probably still be really good, just not as dominant as we have been.

 
HuskermanMike said:
The announcers said Altidore may not have been ready to play all 90 plus minutes so Zardes came in. Something about conditioning for him. In my opinion, we should have given Zardes the start and subbed Altidore in if that was the case. Zardes usually plays well but looked lost tonight. Also, there were too many missed opportunities tonight, it seemed like Mexico was giving the game away but we just couldn't take the lead. Remember that this is a young team and many players played against Mexico for the first time tonight. Michael Bradley always gets hated on but in the second half, he was atrocious giving the ball right back to Mexico.

The official tonight was strange. He would call tick tack calls on the US but not on Mexico. Even when there was an obvious foul. Also, he should have pulled out some yellows on both sides tonight. But he is not the reason we lost at all it just seemed off. What are your thoughts? 

I saw some good things from Berhalter tonight. Mostly in the first half but we need to let him develop the young guys. We do not need a new coach for a while as Greg is doing just fine. No idea why Zardes didn't show up but that was a bad sub. However, that sub needed to happen for Altidore. I also think Jordan Morris wasn't helping us get possession so that is why Roldan came in the game. The last sub was surprising for me as well but we got a lot of chances at the end and the beginning of the game. From 40-65 it seemed like Mexico had possession forever, and that needs to change. Disappointed in the loss but proud of our guys to fight till the end. Gold cup 2021 comes before the WC so that is next on the agenda for the US.
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That’s a lot to respond to so I’ll take it piece by piece.

IIRC Altidore came into camp off an injury. Berhalter barely played him until he started against Jamaica in the semis so he could get through the entire tournament. If wasn’t fit after 3 weeks to play a full 90 then the question becomes why keep him on the squad. The Gold Cup isn’t a big deal like the Euros or Copa America so why not bring in Sargent who is the future #9 especially when he passed up the u-20 WC. 

Zardes is a pretty sub par international #9 with a bad first touch. If we can’t hold possession and play in their box he disappears.

We really weren’t that young. The only guy I’d argue was inexperienced at this level was Reggie Cannon. The problem for us is that if we want to improve our future teams become a lot younger.

Personally didn’t have a problem with the reffing. He probably could’ve handed out yellows a bit earlier to try to control the match better but I thought he did an excellent job controlling the match considering how heated it was early on. 

What exactly did you see from Greg that impressed? The inability to stay composed and break a high press, the lack of play through the midfield, and the only attack coming through the wings or Pulisic cutting through the D has been a consistent concern through this GC. We just finally hit a team that had actual pros that were properly conditioned and not dead legged by the 70’. Also the senior team doesn’t really develop players they aren’t in camp long enough together to make a big impact. That’s what clubs are for. I’m not calling for him to be fired but it was a pretty questionable hire from the beginning and this GC didn’t really sway me.

The problem with the Roldan sub was that we weren’t really getting the ball up to the wingers in the first place. Would’ve preferred Boyd as he’s the best attacking winger we had on the bench. The end of the game we had more chances because Mexico became more defensive and compact to try to keep us from scoring. That’s pretty normal in most games.

Well CONCACAF Nations League starts this fall but Idk if that’s a tournament worthy of our best XI or not so we’ll have to see. Also WC qualifying starts in 2020 and I would imagine well either have our best XI for that or real close. Either way after failing to make the 2018 WC it is paramount we start building towards that now.

 
DrunkOffPunch said:
The Gold Cup is a pretty bad tournament. The US and Mexico are the only teams that can compete at an international level but they rarely have their best XI in the tournament. To consider the Gold Cup a success you have to win it if you’re the US/Mexico.

No. The reason the women are good and the men are bad is that no other countries were really invested in the women’s game at any level. Jill Ellis the US coach was born in England but didn’t play competitive soccer until she moved to the US as a kid. Youth programs, hs sports, and college sports are what has elevated the women’s program to what it is. As the sport grows on the women’s side the advantages the US has had will shrink. We’ll probably still be really good, just not as dominant as we have been.
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I understand all that.  But, on the flip side, our mens soccer has not been competitive for most of the history of the WC because even American boys didn't play soccer.  Now, soccer has grown enough that there are millions of boys and girls playing all over the country.  We have MLS that is gaining in popularity.  We have technology now that we can watch much more soccer on TV.  We have parents pushing their boys to play soccer instead of football because of injury concerns.  I know that even in central Nebraska, a kid can play soccer year round if they want to.

Our mens program SHOULD increase in competitiveness because of all of that.  I'm guessing we have some.....but with a long ways to go to be a meaningful contender regularly in the WC.

 
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DrunkOffPunch said:
The Gold Cup is a pretty bad tournament. The US and Mexico are the only teams that can compete at an international level but they rarely have their best XI in the tournament. To consider the Gold Cup a success you have to win it if you’re the US/Mexico.
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I disagree. In the Gold Cup the USMNT beat the team that eliminated them from the 2018 WC, so getting to the finals is an improvement over where they were regardless of how that stacks up internationally.

 
RedDenver said:
I disagree. In the Gold Cup the USMNT beat the team that eliminated them from the 2018 WC, so getting to the finals is an improvement over where they were regardless of how that stacks up internationally.
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It wasn’t one result that got us kicked. That proves my point in how meaningless the GC is though. In 2017 we won the GC and then got promptly bounced in WCQ. The GC is just a series of home games for the US. In WCQ we have to play away games.

When you have players declining their national team invite it illustrates what the players think of the tourney. If we were to be invited to the Copa America Berhalter and our best XI would be there instead of the GC.

Edit- Also no Confederations Cup for the GC winner further devalues the GC.

 
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BigRedBuster said:
The WC qualifying for the 2022 half way through the final round and it's only July of 2019?
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The GC is every 2 years. Essentially the year after and before the WC. WCQ starts 2 years before the WC. So every 4 years the GC happens during WCQ in the 5th and final round. I think the qualifying was supposed to change in the 2022 WC team expansion but since that fell through I believe it’s the same format as the 2018 WCQ.

Heres the wiki page for 2018 WCQ if you want something that explains it better than me.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONCACAF)

 
DrunkOffPunch said:
The GC is every 2 years. Essentially the year after and before the WC. WCQ starts 2 years before the WC. So every 4 years the GC happens during WCQ in the 5th and final round. I think the qualifying was supposed to change in the 2022 WC team expansion but since that fell through I believe it’s the same format as the 2018 WCQ.

Heres the wiki page for 2018 WCQ if you want something that explains it better than me.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONCACAF)
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Oh...so you're saying the GC in 2021 will be half way through the final round of qualifying.  

I'm just confused on the qualifying because I read somewhere yesterday that the qualifying for 2022 has started.  I can't imagine how you can start qualifying for something that isn't going to take place for another 3 years.  

 
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