I listened to the US Soccer podcast today with an interview of GGG focusing on the last qualifying window. I will list out some of the interesting points and then tack on some questions at the end that US Soccer obviously would not ask him but I would have loved to hear
* GGG emphatically stated both the coaching staff and players were not up and running fast enough before the ELS game. He did not make any excuses and just said they could not afford to lose an entire day of training when they had so little prep time.
* GGG said he was extremely disappointed with how the team played for most of the game against ELS, but when he rewatched, he still thinks the US should have had 3 points. He specifically called out the xG in the game and said ELS created one half chance the entire game.
* GGG explained the Weston issue. He stated firmly that when Weston was asked what happened, Weston did not lie, or divert, he simply said he ####ed up. The first time GGG talked to him was the day of the Canada game so I assumed it may have happened the night before.
*GGG said they initially decided on the one game suspension, but then after the Canada game, he said the staff talked more and decided it would make a statement to the rest of the team if Weston was asked to leave camp. He did say that he did not ask the players their opinion. He said the staff focused on consequences, else why have rules to begin with. The oddest part of the whole interview happened at the end of this segment. The interviewer was ready to move on to the Canada game but GGG stopped him and said something to the effect of "I maybe oversimplified what Weston's reintegration means to the team. While Weston is not going to be black balled, he is going to have regain and earn the respect and confidence of both his teammates and coaching staff". It was a very odd ending to this section because there was not really any reason for GGG to interject this information.
* GGG talked about tactics for the Canada game and how they did not work out how he intended. He said that Canada was playing a low mid block, which meant the US could have walked the ball right up to the first line of defense and try to create more small passing angles to draw them out but he said they spent way too much time do long side passes from one side to the other which was very easy for Canada's block to just slide and hold their spots. He emphasized that the CB's should have taken the ball directly at Larin to force him to get off of Adams but it did not happen enough. Again GGG expressed disappointment in the play of the team but did not go as far as thinking they should have won the game, like he did for ELS.
* GGG said he learned something from Omar Gonzalez years ago and that was to not call the bench players subs or reserves. He said Gonzo told him to use the name "solutions" and GGG loved that. The interviewer said there are many countries around the world who do something similar to give the feel of importance and it is mostly English language that makes them sound less important.
* GGG mentioned how he constantly told the team that every one was going to be needed. He followed this up by saying they used 21 different starters across the 3 games.
* GGG mentioned that they do not want the strikers pressing. This was something that Pepi was doing in the first half that they had to correct at half time.
* GGG talked about Pepi's performance that was beyond incredible considering his age, the moment, first cap, being in a tough environment etc.
* Interviewer questions why GGG continues to play such an inexperienced squad. GGG says over the past WC window, they did a quick survey of the other countries and the US was starting teams 3-4 years younger than the second youngest team in the World (which he claimed was England). He said it is fun to coach by far the youngest team in the world but he thinks the players are all ready for it else he would not be playing them.
* He said to try and fix the problems they had before the ELS game, that they are going to have strong communication with every player, making sure that every player enters camp with the right mind set. He intimated that they may have made a mistake in letting the players alone to prepare in their late preseason and early season games with their clubs, instead of staying on them. (this was my impression of what he said, not quite his exact words).
* GGG claimed during the interview that the team lost two games in the last window. The interviewer ignored the mistake. At the very end of the interview GGG said "you did not catch what I said about 2 losses". The interviewer said they can just cut that part out but GGG said he did it on purpose because he said that is the feeling he is getting from everyone (fans/media etc). I did not quite understand the point he was making but I guess it was that every one is feeling worse than the record says we should. Although GGG himself said they played poorly for 2.5 of the 3 games so maybe every one else is right?
Questions I would have enjoyed hearing but understand why US Soccer could not ask:
1) If you value your "solutions" so highly, why did you not make any subs until too late in the Canada game?
2) Many years ago, John Harkes was similarly dismissed from the team and ultimately left off of the WC roster. At that time the coach Steve Sampson made the decision to protect Harkes from letting the public know the truth. Did you at any time considering making up an injury for Weston when sending him home to try and protect him?
3) Weston's dad made not so veiled comments that other players also broke the rules but were not punished. What did you think of these comments?