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US Men's National Team (18 Viewers)

NewlyRetired said:
This sounds better than "ruptured"

Brian Sciaretta‏ @BrianSciaretta

US Soccer re-confirms today that Weston McKennie had no fractures after seeing a foot/ankle specialist in Houston. He was diagnosed with a moderate to high-degree left ankle sprain and is expected to miss several weeks

Jeff Carlisle‏Verified account @JeffreyCarlisle 8m8 minutes ago

Berhalter said re: McKennie injury, difference in language btwn Schalke's release & what US Soccer is saying is "semantics. It's an ankle sprain." In terms of returning in time for the Gold Cup, GB says with an injury like this McKennie will have to take it "week by week."
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I did something similar to this injury on high school playing volleyball. Recovery was looooong.

 
South America is having a rough international break.

Colombia lost to South Korea

Bolivia lost to Japan and South Korea

Chile lost to Mexico

Ecuador lost to the US

Brazil drew with Panama

Venezuela had a super good result but even then they beat Argentina

 
Here is the lineup.  As expected, massive changes.  

===========

.............................Horvath

Yedlin............Gonzalez.........Miazga...........Ream

....................................Bradley

.......................Pulisic............Roldan

Baird.........................Zardes......................Nips

 
Here are the game notes:

===============
 

*At 20 years, 189 days, Christian Pulisic becomes the second fastest player to hit 25 MNT appearances. He follows Landon Donovan, who earned his 25th cap at 20 years, 98 days in the USA’s 1-1 draw with Korea Republic at the 2002 FIFA World Cup on June 10, 2002.

*Today’s Starting XI has an average age of 26 years, 7 days and 36 caps.

*U.S. MNT head coach Gregg Berhalter makes seven changes from the lineup that began Thursday’s game against Ecuador, with Paul Arriola, Christian Pulisic, Tim Ream and Gyasi Zardes as the four holdovers.

*Making his 59th MNT appearance, DeAndre Yedlin captains the team for the first time tonight against Chile. Yedlin also earns his first start of 2019.

*Three players earn their first caps of 2019: goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and defenders Omar Gonzalez and Matt Miazga.

*Making his 49 appearance tonight, Texas-born Omar Gonzalez is back on the field for the MNT for the first time since 2017.

*Gonzalez and Miazga also partner in central defense for the first time.

*With the MNT dressing 20 players, Sean Johnson and Aaron Long are healthy scratches from the gameday roster. Teams are allowed six substitutions tonight.

*The USA trails Chile in the all-time series by a 3-5-2.

*The MNT is 0-0-1 all-time at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, having previously played to a 0-0 draw with Canada on Jan. 29, 2013.

*With a victory tonight, Gregg Berhalter would become the first MNT head coach to begin his tenure with four straight wins. Berhalter and Bob Bradley (2007) are jointly tied for the record of three consecutive wins at the start of their respective head coaching tenures.

 
Really never wanted to see Gonzalez in a USMNT match ever again, but here we are. 

Nice to see Yedlin get some props...effort is always there even if the skill level isn’t. 

 
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TripItUp said:
Really never wanted to see Gonzalez in a USMNT match ever again, but here we are. 
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I have a feeling we are all going to have to get used to this idea of "vets" on the team. 

I don't see any reason that Gonzo should be getting minutes over some one like say Zimmerman, but it seems clear Berhalter values older experienced players so I think this is something (not Gonzo specific) that we are likely to run into numerous times this cycle.

 
Not that Berhalter would make this sub in this kind of friendly, but Brooks in place of Gonzo would be a likely huge improvement given the pressure the defenders are under when trying to build out of the back.

 
Ned said:
Something with his right quad. Didn’t show what happened; he was just down on the ground pointing to his quad. Sideline reporter said they pulled him as a precautionary. 
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he was not limping so hopefully it is just some sort of bruise/contusion. 

It was a bit concerning that Pulisic himself must have felt something was wrong though to just sit down and get treatment.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
He stood out, and not in a good way, in the previous pair of friendlies too IMO.  
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we have a clear hole on right wing as Morris did not look up to it the other night either.

There may be something to putting Pulisic in that spot at least until Weah is ready to be on the squad full time.

 
NewlyRetired said:
he was not limping so hopefully it is just some sort of bruise/contusion. 

It was a bit concerning that Pulisic himself must have felt something was wrong though to just sit down and get treatment.
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He was limping off after halftime. I said to the kids when he was getting looked at that he was done for the night. You could read it on his face. 

 
NewlyRetired said:
we have a clear hole on right wing as Morris did not look up to it the other night either.

There may be something to putting Pulisic in that spot at least until Weah is ready to be on the squad full time.
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I know of a certain Israeli that would slot into CPs spot to allow CP to push out wide right. 

 
Not great not bad.   Chile were the better team most of the night but really did not create many good scoring chances and the only goal they got was a bit of a fluke.

If the US had their full team (Steffen, Brooks, Adams, Swag and Pulisic for the full game) I think it would have looked better.

Berhalter's change to a 3-5-2 certainly helped settled things as the US were getting over run with the original formation.

 
Still kinda like the shape the US had through the middle. But Partnerships weren't as good/tight defensively and Chile's movement was outstanding- that entire MF was rotating and moving forward/back w the other lines- which helped open a lot of holes. Always thought of Vidal as a thug, but he was the obvious world-class player on the field in all aspects.. and his teammates knew how to find him. And it's a broken record- I love Caillou, but his lost step was on full display here- slow getting to space, man and ball, which also helped Chile open things up.

If Bradley's in, the US either has to he on the front foot against weaker opponent, or he has to have more help than roldan and that initial formation gave him. Team looked better after Lovitz came in and looks like they switched to something like 3-5-2, 5-3-2. 

Other broken record- love Ream too, great distribution and positioning...but also too slow of foot and mind to handle the pace of this type of opponent.

Full zardoz display of tons of work, good/terrible touches- full credit to the guy for giving his all... but Jozy can't get healthy fast enough.

Defense was on the back foot, but trying to remember if Horvsth was ever genuinely tested..can only think of a couple of saves.

 
Offensively this was one of Bradley’s best USMNT games in some time. Great composure on the balll with some world class passing.  On the other hand, our set pieces were terrible.  Zardes shockingly had some uncharacteristic touch in a few spots but generally  Weah, Jozy and Sargent can’t get here fast enough. 

As a team, Defensively could have been quite a bit worse.  I thought we surpassed expectations given the personnel and you have to give Berhalter some credit there.  Midfield was obviously chipped to bits but  I doubt we get this result with JK.

 
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El Floppo said:
Chile's movement was outstanding- that entire MF was rotating and moving forward/back w the other lines- which helped open a lot of holes.
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I lost track of the times they played/dummied through a runner into a wide open area to a secondary runner -- especially in the first half.  There were possessions where they strung multiple passes like that together.

Not a soccer coach, didn't say at a Holiday Inn last night, but it seemed like textbook use of movement to create space.

 
from a coaching aspect it was good to see Berhalter being able to switch up tactics to help fix the issues.  It showed he was not married to one system do or die.

I probably would have made the change at half time but I think the fact that it was a friendly changed up how many minutes he wanted to see from each player.

 
Couple of other player thoughts not heavily mentioned yet

Horvath - He was not asked to do much and was not at fault on the flukey goal but I don't get a sense of confidence when I watch him in the box.  He seems a touch slow off the line and his distribution was struggling under the heavy pressure.  He does not "command" the box the way Steffen does.   I don't think we saw anything that should make us think Steffen is not the #1

Gonzo - we said it before the game and it turned out to be true in the game.  He did not belong on the field. However, in terms of some balance in the thought process, I think almost any right footed back we have that was placed in that position last night would have struggled.  Luckily I think Brooks himself would have been solid.

Nips - The guy is clearly limited and yet his energy and willingness to run with the ball into open spaces continues to impress me.   Maybe this is one of those "look at how bad RW has been" and by association Nips has looked better, but in any case, I think he warrants a Gold Cup call up.

 
El Floppo said:
Always thought of Vidal as a thug, but he was the obvious world-class player on the field in all aspects.. and his teammates knew how to find him.
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he is a chameleon that can fit the situation.  When you think of it, there are very few players in the world that can be both the De Jong level thug and an excellent #10.

When watching him play I could not help but think he would be a fabulous signing for an MLS team.   He is getting right at the point where he probably won't be top 5 team in the world quality any more but still can have 3-4 years at a really high level.   Reminds me of Henry, Keane and Villa in that regard.

 
TripItUp said:
Offensively this was one of Bradley’s best USMNT games in some time. Great composure on the balll with some world class passing.  On the other hand, our set pieces were terrible.  Zardes shockingly had some uncharacteristic touch in a few spots but generally  Weah, Jozy and Sargent can’t get here fast enough. 

As a team, Defensively could have been quite a bit worse.  I thought we surpassed expectations given the personnel and you have to give Berhalter some credit there.  Midfield was obviously chipped to bits but  I doubt we get this result with JK.
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Bradley was MotM for me in one of the games last camp... so it's not like he's languished in mediocrity. that's his game- great positioning and smart, quick passing to help optimize his team's possession- whether it's going forward or just controlling it square. but his body just doesn't let him achieve it as well any more under duress, and he just cedes too much space and time defensively, even though the motor is still there.

Agree about Berhalter- the team looked organized, even if there were plenty of individual let-downs (and a bunch forced by a better team with better players). and agree about the defense- I mentioned that I didn't remember Horvath getting too tested back there.. even if there were some genuine chances and a bunch of last-ditch tackles.

Dinsy Ejotuz said:
I lost track of the times they played/dummied through a runner into a wide open area to a secondary runner -- especially in the first half.  There were possessions where they strung multiple passes like that together.

Not a soccer coach, didn't say at a Holiday Inn last night, but it seemed like textbook use of movement to create space.
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it was the movement and understand of where to play the ball- I was really impressed with Chile on the night. as organized as the US was, they shredded them because of that movement and willingness to put the ball into the right spots.

NewlyRetired said:
from a coaching aspect it was good to see Berhalter being able to switch up tactics to help fix the issues.  It showed he was not married to one system do or die.

I probably would have made the change at half time but I think the fact that it was a friendly changed up how many minutes he wanted to see from each player.
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totally agree. I don't know anything about his Columbus style/history... so all I've been hearing has been about this RB/CM thing- which seemed potentially forced. nice to see him not only switch it up, but make the switch that worked by getting the additional MF help around Caillou. Was disappointing to see the quality of the subs, tbh... Lovitz, Morris... but they all did their collective defensive job- which again, is full credit to the coach. 

 
NewlyRetired said:
Couple of other player thoughts not heavily mentioned yet

Horvath - He was not asked to do much and was not at fault on the flukey goal but I don't get a sense of confidence when I watch him in the box.  He seems a touch slow off the line and his distribution was struggling under the heavy pressure.  He does not "command" the box the way Steffen does.   I don't think we saw anything that should make us think Steffen is not the #1

Gonzo - we said it before the game and it turned out to be true in the game.  He did not belong on the field. However, in terms of some balance in the thought process, I think almost any right footed back we have that was placed in that position last night would have struggled.  Luckily I think Brooks himself would have been solid.

Nips - The guy is clearly limited and yet his energy and willingness to run with the ball into open spaces continues to impress me.   Maybe this is one of those "look at how bad RW has been" and by association Nips has looked better, but in any case, I think he warrants a Gold Cup call up.
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agree about Horvath.

Gonzo... definitely a step below, but I thought he was *ok* last night. better than I expected and remembered, tbh. wasn't helped by the holes caillou coudn't cover in front of him.

nipples... feels like he's played a little scared the last two games. watching him come up through the youths, he had a swagger to him on the ball- a willingness to try ####, that seemed lasting these games. makes me question whether he has that in his game at this level. that said- yeah, great positioning and understanding of wide play, and liked the space he found along with the balls he was putting across- even if I wish he'd have taken guys on a couple of time. good work rate too, but perhaps still figuring out berhalter's defensive side of things in terms of positioning- felt like chile was finding a lot of room down his side (again, Ream's slowness not doing him any favors).

 
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