Friendlies at home against teams like this becomes a can’t win for USA. They win 3-0 everyone says “hey that’s what you’re supposed to do”, or if they lost everyone would yell “how can you lose to a second tier cup team at home?” For my money- they showed up, played hard, beat a legitimate team, good teams win the games they’re supposed to win. I’m not sure they’re good enough to have any “expected” wins when we get to Iran, England, Ukraine/Wales. The idea in these games is to build confidence and learn to play together. They did that tonight. I’m happy, all US fans ought to be.
Bob, I’m currently watching Spain vs. Portugal in a Nations League game. LOTS of empty seats, and this is a game that supposedly *counts*. The cheapest seats for the US-Uruguay game in KC are $75. Assuming similar prices last night in Cincinnati, that’s a lot of money for a weeknight friendly. To me, anyway.
There’s a lot of of good points. Pulisic has a point, but he probably overstepped. It sounded like decent USA support on the tube. Tickets are pricey, but how many Friendliest do we have? $75 is about what you’d pay for OK seats at an MLB game. I’m paying $175 firs standing room seats for the Rams NFL opener in September, and that’s straight from the team. It’s supply and demand. And, since we are USMNT fans, shouldn’t we want to sell out such a venue?
I would think *US Soccer* should want a sellout. I noted the 2 examples you mentioned were regular season games that counted. I wouldn’t pay that much for an exhibition baseball or football game.
Supply and demand. There aren’t a lot of USMNT home dates, friendlies or not. But I’d be less likely to attend a friendly, too, especially since there’s no VAR. What does THAT tell your fans? Nevertheless, if cities are vying for games then having great support should pay dividends.
Maybe they made a mistake holding a second game in Cincinnati after the Mexico qualifier. There are plenty of other places that’d love to see the US play even a friendly. Let’s see how KC fares.
Welp, they seemed to defer Berhalter, who apparently loves the training facilities in Cincy. And they deferred to him in playing the icy qualifier in Minnesota.
"Remember 1998, when Steve Sampson’s 3-6-1 worked well in a friendly win at Austria and caused Sampson to believe he had found the perfect system for the World Cup?" No I don't remember that. It was a friendly 24 years ago.
I actually do remember it. Not that it matters in any way, but some of us have been paying attention for a long time and there are lessons to be learned from these past experiences.
Solid take, Grant. They did well. A little loose in transition at times, but a solid 7.5 / 10.
Aaronson ... well, he sure makes himself tough to drop. What a motor on that guy.
Musah in what I will call the “Kovacic role” looks very impressive, and occasionally (like Kovacic) needs to get rid of it a little quicker. But he is silky.
I sure hope Haji works out. We could use someone of his profile - a bit of a reference point.
Musah out there looking like an experienced vetern today. He displayed composure on the ball as well as excellent situational awareness and positioning. I'm excited to see more out of his growth.
I think it was a good day. The move of Aaronson to the mid field worked well. This is a lot to “ ask” but I wish Tim Weah could develop a bit more field awareness before his shots. On one of his early shots, he had wide open guys in the box who had far better conversion likelihoods. I thought both Number nine candidates earned additional “ looks.” But it would be nice to see a goal. Westin looked really slow and tentative ( no surprise). I thought Musah had a pretty impactful game…. A bit more so than usual. I want more of Scally. It was a bit hard ( for me) to get a read in his game. Goalie proved he is excellent at preventing goals. He has to be “ beaten” to get beaten. And more if the new USMNT member. Please.
Since I haven’t seen it mentioned in the thread below or up top, I loved Weah’s aggressiveness tonight and thought that he brought an attacking mentality that really helped us keep the pressure on Morocco. He can be a difference maker in Qatar.
Building off of my rely below, I was impressed with the lineup but thinking about needing to find a place for Gio and Weston is really puzzling. I don’t know who sits but our depth should be an asset for us. In my mind, Gio and Aaronson are our change of pace weapons that come off the bench.
Would love other takes on who are the odds ones out once they are both back and healthy. @Grant?
The dilemma you point out is valid. But I like Aaronson in the midfield all the time. He has speed, is relentless, and soccer IQ is huge. A natural rhythm between his game and Pulisic’s game was in display yesterday. That puts pressure on opponents.
Precisely. It’s a friendly against a decent team. It’s a win, and they played well. Let’s not get carried away. Fortunately Morocco forgot their shooting boots, because they should’ve scored one or two (hit the bar on a bad-call penalty). But as a first time get-together since qualifying, it was pretty solid.
The US showed something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: actual DEPTH. We’re past “making the 23”. Someone who truly deserves to *start* in Qatar simply won’t. In a 4-3-3, there are only 3 spots in midfield and up top. Assuming Gregg starts a striker, who’s on the bench? Aaronson showed tonight he can be an attacking mid, but assuming health, how do you break up MMA? Where does Gio fit in? And since when has the US ever had options in the back? What a problem to have!
I think we’ll know a lot more if Uruguay brings their A-team and A-game on Sunday.
Great point - where does Gio fit in and who sits when Mckennie is healthy. This is a really great problem to have, and I hope this depth can be a difference maker in Qatar.
I don’t think Gio fits in at all. He has not showed himself to be physically reliable. He won’t have played much and has not earned a spot in this team. Maybe next time round.
I watched every minute of the US v Morroco game. Mortician could/should have scored two of gored goals before UD got on scoreboard. We need to hear the total story here not just. US highlights.
Agree for the most part. I would have liked to have seen CCV and Zimmerman because I think the pair would complement each other well. I do think ultimately this is the pair that comes out of this camp.
Wright looked so, so smooth. He offers something very different in part because he’s physically different than every other forward option AND he is oozing confidence from his 15 in Turkey.
Tillman looked very good out there but I don’t think there is anyone who he replaces. He’ll be a bubble guy come November.
In general, a good match. Curious to see what GGG does next.
Friendlies at home against teams like this becomes a can’t win for USA. They win 3-0 everyone says “hey that’s what you’re supposed to do”, or if they lost everyone would yell “how can you lose to a second tier cup team at home?” For my money- they showed up, played hard, beat a legitimate team, good teams win the games they’re supposed to win. I’m not sure they’re good enough to have any “expected” wins when we get to Iran, England, Ukraine/Wales. The idea in these games is to build confidence and learn to play together. They did that tonight. I’m happy, all US fans ought to be.
Loved Pulisic’s play, leadership and fire. Post game, he called out the lack of passionate support. Good. We should be able to sell out MLS venues!
Bob, I’m currently watching Spain vs. Portugal in a Nations League game. LOTS of empty seats, and this is a game that supposedly *counts*. The cheapest seats for the US-Uruguay game in KC are $75. Assuming similar prices last night in Cincinnati, that’s a lot of money for a weeknight friendly. To me, anyway.
There’s a lot of of good points. Pulisic has a point, but he probably overstepped. It sounded like decent USA support on the tube. Tickets are pricey, but how many Friendliest do we have? $75 is about what you’d pay for OK seats at an MLB game. I’m paying $175 firs standing room seats for the Rams NFL opener in September, and that’s straight from the team. It’s supply and demand. And, since we are USMNT fans, shouldn’t we want to sell out such a venue?
I would think *US Soccer* should want a sellout. I noted the 2 examples you mentioned were regular season games that counted. I wouldn’t pay that much for an exhibition baseball or football game.
Supply and demand. There aren’t a lot of USMNT home dates, friendlies or not. But I’d be less likely to attend a friendly, too, especially since there’s no VAR. What does THAT tell your fans? Nevertheless, if cities are vying for games then having great support should pay dividends.
Maybe they made a mistake holding a second game in Cincinnati after the Mexico qualifier. There are plenty of other places that’d love to see the US play even a friendly. Let’s see how KC fares.
Welp, they seemed to defer Berhalter, who apparently loves the training facilities in Cincy. And they deferred to him in playing the icy qualifier in Minnesota.
"Remember 1998, when Steve Sampson’s 3-6-1 worked well in a friendly win at Austria and caused Sampson to believe he had found the perfect system for the World Cup?" No I don't remember that. It was a friendly 24 years ago.
I actually do remember it. Not that it matters in any way, but some of us have been paying attention for a long time and there are lessons to be learned from these past experiences.
I remember as well. Lessons of perspective and expectations can come from those dusty history lessons.
I agree lessons can be learned from the past. I probably saw the game. I don’t remember it. Does that seem unusual?
Idk. I had interest because Preki was on the team. If there wasn't a hook for you might not remember.
I remember it as well; likely because the World Cup went so poorly thereafter.
Solid take, Grant. They did well. A little loose in transition at times, but a solid 7.5 / 10.
Aaronson ... well, he sure makes himself tough to drop. What a motor on that guy.
Musah in what I will call the “Kovacic role” looks very impressive, and occasionally (like Kovacic) needs to get rid of it a little quicker. But he is silky.
I sure hope Haji works out. We could use someone of his profile - a bit of a reference point.
Musah out there looking like an experienced vetern today. He displayed composure on the ball as well as excellent situational awareness and positioning. I'm excited to see more out of his growth.
In the pursuit of finding "our 9", is giving half game auditions undermining the process? Especially with friendlies?
I think it was a good day. The move of Aaronson to the mid field worked well. This is a lot to “ ask” but I wish Tim Weah could develop a bit more field awareness before his shots. On one of his early shots, he had wide open guys in the box who had far better conversion likelihoods. I thought both Number nine candidates earned additional “ looks.” But it would be nice to see a goal. Westin looked really slow and tentative ( no surprise). I thought Musah had a pretty impactful game…. A bit more so than usual. I want more of Scally. It was a bit hard ( for me) to get a read in his game. Goalie proved he is excellent at preventing goals. He has to be “ beaten” to get beaten. And more if the new USMNT member. Please.
Since I haven’t seen it mentioned in the thread below or up top, I loved Weah’s aggressiveness tonight and thought that he brought an attacking mentality that really helped us keep the pressure on Morocco. He can be a difference maker in Qatar.
Building off of my rely below, I was impressed with the lineup but thinking about needing to find a place for Gio and Weston is really puzzling. I don’t know who sits but our depth should be an asset for us. In my mind, Gio and Aaronson are our change of pace weapons that come off the bench.
Would love other takes on who are the odds ones out once they are both back and healthy. @Grant?
The dilemma you point out is valid. But I like Aaronson in the midfield all the time. He has speed, is relentless, and soccer IQ is huge. A natural rhythm between his game and Pulisic’s game was in display yesterday. That puts pressure on opponents.
Precisely. It’s a friendly against a decent team. It’s a win, and they played well. Let’s not get carried away. Fortunately Morocco forgot their shooting boots, because they should’ve scored one or two (hit the bar on a bad-call penalty). But as a first time get-together since qualifying, it was pretty solid.
The US showed something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: actual DEPTH. We’re past “making the 23”. Someone who truly deserves to *start* in Qatar simply won’t. In a 4-3-3, there are only 3 spots in midfield and up top. Assuming Gregg starts a striker, who’s on the bench? Aaronson showed tonight he can be an attacking mid, but assuming health, how do you break up MMA? Where does Gio fit in? And since when has the US ever had options in the back? What a problem to have!
I think we’ll know a lot more if Uruguay brings their A-team and A-game on Sunday.
Great point - where does Gio fit in and who sits when Mckennie is healthy. This is a really great problem to have, and I hope this depth can be a difference maker in Qatar.
I don’t think Gio fits in at all. He has not showed himself to be physically reliable. He won’t have played much and has not earned a spot in this team. Maybe next time round.
I watched every minute of the US v Morroco game. Mortician could/should have scored two of gored goals before UD got on scoreboard. We need to hear the total story here not just. US highlights.
Agree for the most part. I would have liked to have seen CCV and Zimmerman because I think the pair would complement each other well. I do think ultimately this is the pair that comes out of this camp.
Wright looked so, so smooth. He offers something very different in part because he’s physically different than every other forward option AND he is oozing confidence from his 15 in Turkey.
Tillman looked very good out there but I don’t think there is anyone who he replaces. He’ll be a bubble guy come November.
In general, a good match. Curious to see what GGG does next.
We need to see a lot more of Tillman. He may be better than several on the team. Could be a secret weapon.