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US Men's National Team (8 Viewers)

The Kansas Comet said:
I love the fact that dominating Mexico doesn't feel unusual. Another strong performance against El Tri.
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Agreed.

Why can't the US dominate against other teams in CONCACAF? Does the USMNT just play to the level of the competition? Or is MEX simply unwilling to cede possession, bunker, and counter like Canada or Jamaica? Maybe MEX doesn't have the personnel to run that way even if they were able to psychologically get past the fact that the US is more skilled than they are.
 
The Z Machine said:
NewlyRetired said:
How about Christian Ironman Pulisic playing 210 minutes after putting in a ton of minutes for Milan? His health might be the biggest surprise of the season.
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That and Wes going from surplus to a major part of Juve's game plan.

Oh and Gio not being good enough to see the field for a relegation level club.
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I've always thought club form was way over rated when it comes to USMNT, especially when you are talking about the big clubs. We saw it with Pulisic, Weah, and Dest, now Gio and Adams are in that situation. I also think the reverse can be true where a guy like Sargent can play well for his club but flounders on the national team.
 
The Z Machine said:
The Kansas Comet said:
I love the fact that dominating Mexico doesn't feel unusual. Another strong performance against El Tri.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

Why can't the US dominate against other teams in CONCACAF? Does the USMNT just play to the level of the competition? Or is MEX simply unwilling to cede possession, bunker, and counter like Canada or Jamaica? Maybe MEX doesn't have the personnel to run that way even if they were able to psychologically get past the fact that the US is more skilled than they are.
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I think you are on to something.

Mexico is getting out played and out coached by the US.

The US has clearly more talented players up and down the roster. This is a combination of the US players finally coming of age and the Mexican pool of players as weak as I can remember it.

I think to beat the US, they need to reverse roles and bunker and hit on the counter like the US used to do to them. They would need a super strong willed coach to get this to work because the nature of the rivalry makes it hard on the players egos to accept this.
 
So how did the gap between Mexico and US occur? I see three main reasons

1) The MLS academies are doing a better job at developing players than Liga MX is. It took a while to catch up but once we did, the progress has not slowed

2) The best US players are getting to the bigger Euro leagues faster and in greater numbers than the best Mexican players are

3) The US has a significantly more diverse pool of players to recruit as dual nats than Mexico does. Ironically Mexico's biggest source of dual nats is from the US but so far we have been lucky not to lose any top players. It will be impossible to avoid eventually though. There are too many players coming through and too few international spots to be had.
 
Went to bed before the scoring started but watched the highlights. Re: Adams, great strike, one in a million. FWIW, I recently watched highlights of several of the post wet and bumpy friendlies before GGG was hired and noticed that Adams was more involved in the attack; it wasn't a lot but definitely more than I saw from him during the last WC cycle. I also liked him playing deeper last night, though Ream apparently rented the legs of a 20-year-old.

Re: Mexico, I think I figured out their 'problem': they think they're Argentina. They play like a CONMEBOL squad, with lots of extracurricular activity and flopping at the slightest contact. Their quick ball movement and ability to find that one little break that leads to dangerous chances is concerning. Also was glad to see the yellow card for simulation. I did see Weston's yellow and while I agree it was a 'professional foul', I thought the Mexican player went down too easy; McKennie didn't grab him, just got a hand on his hip yet the guy spun around like he had been roped down. I'm at the point where I can't even get mad at the players for doing that, since the refs don't seem interested in stopping them.

:hophead:
 
Fabrizio continues to push that this is all but done

=====

Fabrizio Romano

@FabrizioRomano

Manchester City are preparing all formal documents to sign deal for American wonderkid Cavan Sullivan to join the club in the future years.

Born in 2009, Cavan made his debut for Philadelphia Union II team with an assist.

It’s all done, matter of time to sign
 
Was thinking about this last night, and our program is just not where the public perception has us right now.

There's zero question that CP, Weah, McKennie are among the best players to ever put on the US jersey. Legit top-5 league players who matter for their teams.

I'd put Adams in that category too, but he's been hurt so long it feels like there's an asterisk. I'd also put Jedi in that group, but I think he's underrated by most people. Ream too, but he's 36.

So that's 3 legit and 3 maybes by my reckoning.

On the flip side...

We don't have a 9 getting minutes that's proven he can score in a top league. Balogun arguably, but he's not playing right now. The rest are doing it in 2nd tier leagues. Certainly not better than we've had in the past.

Our 2nd CB spot is weak, compared to historical US quality. I love Miles, but he's limited. Richards is not that guy IMO. Quality drops after that.

Our best GK is ok, but also limited and a spot starter on a bad team. Huge step down from the Trinity of Friedel, Keller, Howard.

Dest is sexy, but gets cooked in almost every 1v1 defensively. Which is kind of a problem for a defender. Scally is a mystery right now. And at this point I'm not sure RB is the strength we thought it was in general.

Reyna is so talented, but we have a lot of coaches now all telling us... something. YMMV on what that is, but the "it's a Berhalter thing" ship has sailed.

Musah does some good things really well, but is not well rounded and offers nothing in the final third. I'm biased in favor of physical tank shuttlers, but IMO you still need something in the G/A column from an 8. And he's not a 6.

Cardoso may have some promise, especially if the US switched formations.

Bottom line is that I'm not sure this team is as good as the hype from a year ago, and may not really be all that much better than past versions of the USWNT. And suggesting we should be top-10 in the world is a pipe dream right now.

When everyone is healthy and in form, we can beat anyone in the world without fluky stuff -- we have some ballers -- but it won't be consistent until we have CP, McKennie level players at every position and they fit together as a front 7 in clear roles. Compared to the quality and depth of the actual top 10 teams, we're a long way off right now.
 
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Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Was thinking about this last night, and our program is just not where the public perception has us right now.

There's zero question that CP, Weah, McKennie are among the best players to ever put on the US jersey. Legit top-5 league players who matter for their teams.

I'd put Adams in that category too, but he's been hurt so long it feels like there's an asterisk. I'd also put Jedi in that group, but I think he's underrated by most people. Ream too, but he's 36.

So that's 3 legit and 3 maybes by my reckoning.

On the flip side...

We don't have a 9 getting minutes that's proven he can score in a top league. Balogun arguably, but he's not playing right now. The rest are doing it in 2nd tier leagues. Certainly not better than we've had in the past.

Our 2nd CB spot is weak, compared to historical US quality. I love Miles, but he's limited. Richards is not that guy IMO. Quality drops after that.

Our best GK is ok, but also limited and a spot starter on a bad team. Huge step down from the Trinity of Friedel, Keller, Howard.

Dest is sexy, but gets cooked in almost every 1v1 defensively. Which is kind of a problem for a defender. Scally is a mystery right now. And at this point I'm not sure RB is the strength we thought it was in general.

Reyna is so talented, but we have a lot of coaches now all telling us... something. YMMV on what that is, but the "it's a Berhalter thing" ship has sailed.

Musah does some good things really well, but is not well rounded and offers nothing in the final third. I'm biased in favor of physical tank shuttlers, but IMO you still need something in the G/A column from an 8. And he's not a 6.

Cardoso may have some promise, especially if the US switched formations.

Bottom line is that I'm not sure this team is as good as the hype from a year ago, and may not really be all that much better than past versions of the USWNT. And suggesting we should be top-10 in the world is a pipe dream right now.

When everyone is healthy and in form, we can beat anyone in the world without fluky stuff -- we have some ballers -- but it won't be consistent until we have CP, McKennie level players at every position and they fit together as a front 7 in clear roles. Compared to the quality and depth of the actual top 10 teams, we're a long way off right now.
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Agree with everything except Weah. He is no where near the level of top US guys when at club. He is mostly just a squad guy. He could be replaced instantly at Juventus and no one would notice. He plays so much better for US than club.

Jedi belongs in the top group. Plays every minute of every game for a solid mid table team in the best league in the world and has a chunk of top teams wanting to sign him. This is night and day difference from Weah.

We needed both Reyna and Balogun to ascend this year and it did not happen. Balogun took a big step back and Reyna face planted at club level. Adams on shelf for so long was unfortunate as well.
 
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While there are always some surprises, one thing that concerns me is that, well, this is pretty much it for 2026.

We do have the luxury that the players, outside of Ream, are at a great age for 2026 but the flip side is that we don't have many age correct prospects that can push and or unseat players to improve the team. Improvement is going to have to come from the core players themselves.
 
NewlyRetired said:
While there are always some surprises, one thing that concerns me is that, well, this is pretty much it for 2026.

We do have the luxury that the players, outside of Ream, are at a great age for 2026 but the flip side is that we don't have many age correct prospects that can push and or unseat players to improve the team. Improvement is going to have to come from the core players themselves.
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And from the coaching.

At this point I agree. GGG's challenge is going to be to find a replacement for Ream, make sure the CB pairing is right and strong, and find the depth in case something happens and for rotation.
 
NewlyRetired said:
While there are always some surprises, one thing that concerns me is that, well, this is pretty much it for 2026.

We do have the luxury that the players, outside of Ream, are at a great age for 2026 but the flip side is that we don't have many age correct prospects that can push and or unseat players to improve the team. Improvement is going to have to come from the core players themselves.
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I sort of agree, but I think you're also underestimating how much things can change in a year or two.

Just went back to a random part of this thread from June 2022 to see whether there were any major surprises from then to now. On the first page, I found this:

"So while obviously no one is ever going to confuse Zimmerman as a world class CB, I don't think I am overstepping when I say he is our most consistent player. Game after game after game is just steady, solid play."

You'll never guess who said it! [and I didn't notice the author till after I cut-and-pasted it in here]
 
Here is a nice short video about this topic of being two years away from the WC and what help could come in these coming two years. This is historical based

Loading…

x.com
 
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B Maverick said:
NewlyRetired said:
While there are always some surprises, one thing that concerns me is that, well, this is pretty much it for 2026.

We do have the luxury that the players, outside of Ream, are at a great age for 2026 but the flip side is that we don't have many age correct prospects that can push and or unseat players to improve the team. Improvement is going to have to come from the core players themselves.
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And from the coaching.

At this point I agree. GGG's challenge is going to be to find a replacement for Ream, make sure the CB pairing is right and strong, and find the depth in case something happens and for rotation.
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The Ream replacement is going to be a hard nut to crack I fear.

Richards came up with the tag of being good on the ball but he is no where near Ream at this skill. CCV, McKenzie, Miles etc are all decent CB's but none command the ball in possession and passing like Ream does.

Having a player emerge at CB with this skill set in the next two years would be fabulous, but also unlikely imo.
 
zoobird said:
NewlyRetired said:
While there are always some surprises, one thing that concerns me is that, well, this is pretty much it for 2026.

We do have the luxury that the players, outside of Ream, are at a great age for 2026 but the flip side is that we don't have many age correct prospects that can push and or unseat players to improve the team. Improvement is going to have to come from the core players themselves.
Click to expand...
I sort of agree, but I think you're also underestimating how much things can change in a year or two.

Just went back to a random part of this thread from June 2022 to see whether there were any major surprises from then to now. On the first page, I found this:

"So while obviously no one is ever going to confuse Zimmerman as a world class CB, I don't think I am overstepping when I say he is our most consistent player. Game after game after game is just steady, solid play."

You'll never guess who said it! [and I didn't notice the author till after I cut-and-pasted it in here]
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But that is not a major surprise to me. He was at his peak at 28 in 2022, and got a lot out of his limited skill set (not quite to the level Jedi does but still very good). It is not a surprise that as he starts to age, that younger CB's are pushing him out. This happens all the time. Zimm and Miles not getting to Europe may have limited their upside.

The real surprise is Ream. The guy was all but dead and buried at this level (you can find posts from way back in 2021 saying he should never be called up again), and here we are years later and posting about how hard it is going to be to replace him.
 
NewlyRetired said:
B Maverick said:
NewlyRetired said:
While there are always some surprises, one thing that concerns me is that, well, this is pretty much it for 2026.

We do have the luxury that the players, outside of Ream, are at a great age for 2026 but the flip side is that we don't have many age correct prospects that can push and or unseat players to improve the team. Improvement is going to have to come from the core players themselves.
Click to expand...
And from the coaching.

At this point I agree. GGG's challenge is going to be to find a replacement for Ream, make sure the CB pairing is right and strong, and find the depth in case something happens and for rotation.
Click to expand...

The Ream replacement is going to be a hard nut to crack I fear.

Richards came up with the tag of being good on the ball but he is no where near Ream at this skill. CCV, McKenzie, Miles etc are all decent CB's but none command the ball in possession and passing like Ream does.

Having a player emerge at CB with this skill set in the next two years would be fabulous, but also unlikely imo.
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Very true, especially if he is still playing well for the next year and needs to be called in. Feels like we do have a lot of CBs playing overseas that could still develop, but like you said, may be unlikely. Something to watch for.
 
Given what he's shown (albeit in a limited sample size), Neal seems like the mostly likely "Ream Replacement". He's flashed some of the necessary passing ability and he's a better athlete.

But he's still a baby with very limited experience. Him being ready to roll as a starting caliber player in 2026 (considering he's only 20 now and not in Europe yet) is likely a pipe dream. And who knows if he'll ever learn to read the game like Ream does (certainly wont happen in the next 18-24 months)
 
Begrudgingly, I have to give Berhalter a bit of respect and credit. I've been a critic, but he deserves credit for making the line-up changes, and getting players into the game that deserved to be there.

Reyna in particular - but bringing Adams in from the start, and Haji after the semi-finals, gives me a little hope that Berhalter can make the adjustments when needed.
 
US down 1-0 in first half to France in U23, but they are playing very well.

Good looking group on the field for the US, Tessman, Busio, Paredes, Aaronson, Reynolds, Tolkin, Morris and McGuire some of US players playing.
 
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