US Men's National Team (9 Viewers)

[NewlyRetired]

I thought Robinson and Ream were very solid all night.

Dest had an awful game imo.  Yedlin still is the exact same player he has always been.  He has no offensive ability what so ever.

Turner is what we always expect.  One iffy moment with feet and clean otherwise.

Adams was tenacious.

 

[El Floppo]

So in the “Dropped point” standings (where home wins and road draws are “par”):

Costa Rica 0

Honduras 0

Mexico 0

USA 0

Jamaica -1

Canada -2

El Salvador -2

Panama -2

is minus two, two under par...so a good thing? or opposite.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

is minus two, two under par...so a good thing? or opposite.

Opposite.  If you fail to win at home you drop two points (1 vs 3)

 

[NewlyRetired]

Thankfully Acosta is flexible but that should not be needed but that is what happens when you start your only two RB's at the same time and one plays awful and one gets hurt.

 

[BassNBrew]

wcq <> other stuff.

when we thought we finally had the talent gap to manhandle a team like this, nope.

we do but Zardes and Pulisic didn’t play

I thought both Weston and Gio had poor games.  With out Pulisic, we needed some one to step up. 

Pulisic has to be chomping at the bit to play on Sunday.

yup. Been in the minority here for awhile, but Pulisic is miles better than Gio and Snacks 

 

[encaitar]

is minus two, two under par...so a good thing? or opposite.

Stableford system here.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

I'll bet despite everything the US was close to a clear goal better on xG.  They got the ball into some good spots and guys just didn't put the shot together well.  No big chances at all, but some that could have been legit dangerous and were fluffed.

...and ye shall receive.  USA 1.68 - 0.29 ELS

 

[The Z Machine]

Yup, Robinson had a pretty solid game and Ream played some decent passes and didn't get burnt, so that's good. But again, if these guys are the best players tonight and i only rate them at 7 tops... not good. 

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I'll bet despite everything the US was close to a clear goal better on xG.  

1.68 -.29 to the US. 

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

In a vacuum a road draw is fine, but you just know that some other teams are going to get wins in El Salvador so now they got to make it up somewhere else.

Either way, that’s 2 hours of my life I won’t get back

 

[Sammy3469]

they were a mess. and you're right- looked unprepared and unclear of what they were supposed to be doing or where they were supposed to be playing.

but the players were collectively a mess on the ball too.

that they played this out of sorts and still came away with the tie speaks volumes to me of how poor els is and how wasted this opportunity to get an away win was.

The issue was trying to pigeonhole Aaronson as a MF.  He’s not the answer there
 

As I said, Mexico showed everyone you simply bypass MF by either going direct or changing the point of attack.  That’s fine when we control possession, but we simply didn’t tonight.  Credit to ELS on that as they always overloaded the attacking side.  We really never changed the point of attack off those overloads.  Im sorry, but that’s bad coaching in GGG’s desire to simply go vertical. 

 

[AAABatteries]

This will only be an ok result if we win against Canada.  If we draw or god help us lose to Canada then the pressure will mount.

Thought Konrad, Miles and Adams were good - Turner was fine, didn't have to do much.

For me the issue was not playing fast enough - they seemed to do it the first 10 minutes but for many stretches it seemed like ES outworked us and we were just too slow with our passing.

 

[NewlyRetired]

This is the lesson we continue to try and explain to people who only look at leagues the players play in.

You had one team full of players on big Euro teams and the other with players in the USL. 

On paper, this should have been a 4-5 goal win but it never works that way on the road in Concacaf. 

 

[El Floppo]

In a vacuum a road draw is fine, but you just know that some other teams are going to get wins in El Salvador so now they got to make it up somewhere else.

Eother way, that’s 2 hours of my life I won’t get back

exactly.

on both counts.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

In a vacuum a road draw is fine, but you just know that some other teams are going to get wins in El Salvador so now they got to make it up somewhere else.

Either way, that’s 2 hours of my life I won’t get back

Embrace the process!

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

So much salt.  I'm kind of surprised.

And Clint Dempsey being the voice of reason is... unexpected.

 

[El Floppo]

The issue was trying to pigeonhole Aaronson as a MF.  He’s not the answer.  
 

As I said, Mexico showed everyone you simply bypass MF by either going direct or changing the point of attack.  That’s fine when we control possession, but we simply didn’t tonight.  Credit to ELS on that as they always overloaded the attacking side.  We really never changed the point of attack off those overloads.  Im sorry, but that’s bad coaching in GGG’s desire to simply go vertical. 

third or fifth time I've said this.

els overloaded the side of attack defensively. and the US still kept all their players on the same side of the field.

hit a couple of short passes to draw that overload and then play it quickly long cross field or down field.

the US just kept passing or dribbling into els numbers.

 

[NewlyRetired]

One reason I am particularly bummed we did not get 3 points tonight is that I fear we will have a couple of away games in the future where many of our best players won't be allowed to travel to due to Covid.

Not getting 3 points with 95% of our top team available for selection stings.

 

[El Floppo]

So much salt.  I'm kind of surprised.

And Clint Dempsey being the voice of reason is... unexpected.

I don't have it...spanished. 

what did he say?

 

[Worm]

Biggest disappointment is the expectations coming in to this match vs the result. It's been a long time coming and the lack of a W sucks.

 

[Sammy3469]

I don't have it...spanished. 

what did he say?

Away in CONCACAF is a good result when so many of our guys have never played an away match before.

 

[encaitar]

I didn't really think of it before the match, but it became very apparent during the match that Pulisic being out hurt more than just for his talent.  He is the only attacker we have on this team that played significant minutes at these away venues in the last WCQ.  I said before that winning all these friendlies and even the Gold Cup/Nation's League at home didn't prepare these kids for the WCQ atmosphere and it showed tonight.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

I don't have it...spanished. 

what did he say?

It's a good result (like a half-dozen times).  Lots of areas to improve, but the team will figure it out and that this is the first time in an environment like this for some of these guys. 

I can only assume Lalas is standing on top of a tall building beating his chest and swatting at airplanes right now in a rage.  Kind of expected the same from Duece, but he's making a lot of sense.  (IMO)

 

[NewlyRetired]

Paul Carr

@PaulCarr

#USMNT in opening game of the last three final rounds...

2014: Loss at Honduras

2018: Loss vs Mexico

2022: Draw at El Salvador

 

[Ned]

Biggest disappointment is the expectations coming in to this match vs the result. It's been a long time coming and the lack of a W sucks.

On a sugar high from the two trophies + having a full strength roster with all the shiny new toys. Everyone’s hungry for 2017 redemption was a recipe for a let down while traveling to ELS. 

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

1998 started with a nil-nil away draw to Jamaica in one of the worst games I've ever watched.  Made this game look like USA 3-2 Mexico from the Nations League.

Was an incredible letdown with the post-1994 hype, but now I know better.  No easy games away.

 

[El Floppo]

This is the lesson we continue to try and explain to people who only look at leagues the players play in.

You had one team full of players on big Euro teams and the other with players in the USL. 

On paper, this should have been a 4-5 goal win but it never works that way on the road in Concacaf. 

as recently as..this morning? I was saying that.

after watching this...els had no business getting a point here. outside of a handful of nice plays towards the attacking third, they just weren't good enough...especially in the defensive third- at an individual level. so many errors. and the US countered those errors with their own. I expected to see a cohesive, error free/minimal els tonight, and outside of their overload, they were just not good. dropping any points here is a loss given the quality on the field.

 

[El Floppo]

Away in CONCACAF is a good result when so many of our guys have never played an away match before.

what maroon said such maroony stuff.

 

[Sammy3469]

as recently as..this morning? I was saying that.

after watching this...els had no business getting a point here. outside of a handful of nice plays towards the attacking third, they just weren't good enough...especially in the defensive third- at an individual level. so many errors. and the US countered those errors with their own. I expected to see a cohesive, error free/minimal els tonight, and outside of their overload, they were just not good. dropping any points here is a loss given the quality on the field.

My disappointment was in the lack of possession.  I can take not scoring, but to have 50-50 possession against ELS is simply not good enough with the talent on the roster.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Helps some that there's only one team in front of us, and that it's the group favorite.  This isn't a terrible result for El Salvador, but the draws were bad for Canada and Panama.

 

[El Floppo]

My disappointment was in the lack of possession.  I can take not scoring, but to have 50-50 possession against ELS is simply not good enough with the talent on the roster.

49-51

 

[TripItUp]

We looked like a young team that hadn't played much with each other and in a relatively new scheme.  Half these guys just flew in from all over Europe.

Expecting a well oiled machine wasn't realistic.  

I'm fine with the road point.  I'll be concerned if we don't beat Canada at home.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I'll be concerned if we don't beat Canada at home.

It is a near must win for me.  Canada did not look good tonight and the path to qualifying is going to be securing as many points as possible at home.

I think we will see some bounce back but I have no idea who is going to start. 

 

[BeTheMatch]

Now I have to record the game because I have to go out to dinner with my stressed-out wife. So I probably won't even start it until it's over. Good luck, fellas! (I'm nervous)

So I'll post my thoughts before seeing what any of you experts thought.

As I've said, I know basically nothing about soccer.

With that caveat, the US was total garbage. I just don't know how you can put it any other way. They looked like they never set foot on a field together before.

Their passing conversion rate was about 3 percent. They had no spacing. They stood two feet apart from each other and kicked back and forth. Constantly turned it over. Horrible unforced turnovers left and right.

And they basically refused to shoot. I'm sorry, but I don't get the hype. Just abysmal. I don't see one thing you can be happy about.

And El Salvador sucks apparently, so...

 

[El Floppo]

We looked like a young team that hadn't played much with each other and in a relatively new scheme.  Half these guys just flew in from all over Europe.

Expecting a well oiled machine wasn't realistic.  

I'm fine with the road point.  I'll be concerned if we don't beat Canada at home.

I agree with all of this. and again...I had been expecting 5 points from the first three games.

but that was before seeing how els played tonight. I really thought they played badly enough to not deserve a point. unfortunately, the US played almost as badly. so yeah...still going to be disappointed, even with young's guys.

 

[El Floppo]

So I'll post my thoughts before seeing what any of you experts thought.

As I've said, I know basically nothing about soccer.

With that caveat, the US was total garbage. I just don't know how you can put it any other way. They looked like they never set foot on a field together before.

Their passing conversion rate was about 3 percent. They had no spacing. They stood two feet apart from each other and kicked back and forth. Constantly turned it over. Horrible unforced turnovers left and right.

And they basically refused to shoot. I'm sorry, but I don't get the hype. Just abysmal. I don't see one thing you can be happy about.

And El Salvador sucks apparently, so...

moron.

exactly how I saw it too...top to bottom.

 

[El Floppo]

Opposite.  If you fail to win at home you drop two points (1 vs 3)

I was told no math.

I strenuously object.

 

[El Floppo]

ugh.

inauspicious start to things.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Cool graphic.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E-HhhviXoAQ-wob?format=jpg&name=medium

 

[Sammy3469]

49-51

It was weird…we simply didn’t really want to ever recycle the ball (I think this was the initial lineup as it improved once we had 3 real MFs).  I know they didn’t score, but I think we also saw a pretty big drop off from Brooks to Ream in the possession game  Ream was pretty poor in settling the ball and maintaining possession tonight.  

 

[TripItUp]

It is a near must win for me.  Canada did not look good tonight and the path to qualifying is going to be securing as many points as possible at home.

I think we will see some bounce back but I have no idea who is going to start. 

The 9 is our only real problem IMHO.  Zardes or Morris would have been real nice.

 

[NewlyRetired]

It was weird…we simply didn’t really want to ever recycle the ball (I think this was the initial lineup as it improved once we had 3 real MFs).  I know they didn’t score, but I think we also saw a pretty big drop off from Brooks to Ream in the possession game  Ream was pretty poor in settling the ball and maintaining possession tonight.  

We also tended to play a lot of long clearances tonight, which may have been by design.

I expect more build from the back at home against Canada.

 

[Worm]

It was weird…we simply didn’t really want to ever recycle the ball (I think this was the initial lineup as it improved once we had 3 real MFs).  I know they didn’t score, but I think we also saw a pretty big drop off from Brooks to Ream in the possession game  Ream was pretty poor in settling the ball and maintaining possession tonight.  

In my view the back line did everything expected. The midfield and forwards were not good enough.

 

[Sammy3469]

We also tended to play a lot of long clearances tonight, which may have been by design.

I expect more build from the back at home against Canada.

That’s my point, I don’t think it was by design.  One of the byproducts of teams going direct against us is that the resulting US touch is against the way the MFs are running.  So every time that clearance is off, ELS retained possession which built on itself.  Mexico did the same thing as well.

 

[TripItUp]

In my view the back line did everything expected. The midfield and forwards were not good enough.

100%

 

[TripItUp]

My Grades

Sargent - 4

Aaronson - 5

Konrad - 6

Gio - 6.5

Swag - 4

Adams - 7.5

Dest - 4.5

Yedlin - 6

Ream - 7

Robinson - 7

Turner - 7

 

[Sammy3469]

We effectively need more width in the backline when teams go direct.  With a back 4, we almost always have the RB/LB pinch in ASAP.  It’s a very Leicester EPL Championship defensive formation if you want to grind out results, but it does allow teams to get you out of the possession game.

 

[TripItUp]

Deuce made a good point, his three hex matches at El Salvador, 2 draws and a loss.  

Obviously we expect more, but this isn't catastrophic by any stretch.  No injuries, no reds, road point.

 

[BassNBrew]

This is the lesson we continue to try and explain to people who only look at leagues the players play in.

You had one team full of players on big Euro teams and the other with players in the USL. 

On paper, this should have been a 4-5 goal win but it never works that way on the road in Concacaf. 

 Not buying it. Belgium, Germany, and England had no problem. Sick of the Concacaf excuses. Ref was awesome and cleaner game than any weekend splash game. Bottle m line was guys didn’t perfyand were lazy. 

My disappointment was in the lack of possession.  I can take not scoring, but to have 50-50 possession against ELS is simply not good enough with the talent on the roster.

yup, tired of the excuses. Underachievers tonight 

 

[NewlyRetired]

It was interesting listening to Adams after the game. 

Even after playing in Germany where the atmosphere is great he was clearly effected by what they experienced tonight. 

Lots of lessons taught tonight not only to fans who expected qualifying to be easy but also to a ton of players who needed to feel and experience this first hand.  This is not something that can be explained by a veteran player or coach.