England & Iran

ENGLAND

United States Manager Gregg Berhalter (GGG) did something I didn’t see coming against England.  He switched up his formation from his preferred 4-3-3 to a more compact 4-4-2.  He played Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie as wide midfielders on the left and right respectively.  He also moved Tim Weah up top to play as a second forward alongside Haji Wright.

The Three Lions never really figured out a way through our more compressed midfield.  For some reason English Manager Gareth Southgate didn’t switch up his tactics until it was too late and the substitutes he chose were questionable at best. 

This led to long stretches of play where the Americans looked like the better side.  While it is probably a reach to say the USA was the superior team on the day, we certainly had some good chances.  England carried play for periods of time as well and had some solid chances of their own, but dominant they were not.

Now that is not to say GGG got it all right.  He once again waited far too long to make his first substitutions at 77-78.  The match was screaming for fresh legs and minds from the hour mark on.  He put in Brenden Aaronson for Wes and Shaq Moore for Sergiño Dest first.  I was stunned to see Moore get the nod over Joe Scally.  Then Gio Reyna and Josh Sargent came on at 83 for Weah and Wright respectively but didn’t have enough time to impact the proceedings.

PLAYERS

Matt Turner – Didn’t have a lot to do honestly, but was there when he needed to be.  Had some nice moments on the ball and in distribution.

Jedi Robinson – Played strong defense but his crosses were not anywhere near accurate enough.

Tim Ream – Once again was one of our better players.  Hard to find fault with anything he did.

Walker Zimmerman – As I said in my World Cup Preview this guy is our weak link and he is certainly living up to that label.  Had some nervy moments on the ball and especially in distribution.  He was however part of a defense that kept a clean sheet against England.

Dest – Played maybe the best game defensively I’ve ever seen from him, club or country.  He was locked in on that end and also created some dangerous moments going forward.  Was pissed off when he was subbed out, which I always like to see from any player.

Pulisic – Set piece delivery improved dramatically even if his teammate’s runs did not.  Had a career-defining shot rattle off the crossbar and was generally our most dangerous attacker on the night.

Yunus Musah – Put in another great shift all over the midfield.  It’s crazy to think he only turns 20 tomorrow (11/29).

Tyler Adams – Our best player on the day.  Was absolutely everywhere putting out fires (again).

McKennie – Light years better than he was against Wales.  First off, he looked fit and up for it.  Was much tidier on the ball limiting his giveaways.  Has to find a way to get that wide-open shot in the box on frame though.

Wright – The only change GGG made to the starting XI likely because he was viewed as the most physical striker.  Did his job and wasn’t bad, but also didn’t impact the match very much.

Weah – Playing as a second forward seemed to limit what he does best, making runs in behind the defense.  Looked tired around the 65^th minute and should have been subbed out much sooner than 83.

Aaronson – Wasn’t as impactful as he needed to be.  In fairness to him it’s difficult to find any rhythm in only 18 minutes of action.

Moore – GGG was playing with fire here as Shaq had a few really poor giveaways that were lucky to go unpunished.  No way should he should see the pitch again in this tournament.

Reyna – Saw his first World Cup action and was barely involved.  Hard to find the game when you play 12 minutes as opposed to 30+.

Sargent – Didn’t do much in his 12-minute cameo.

IRAN

Any scenario where we advanced to the knockout round always involved us winning at least one match.  Thanks to Zimmerman’s gaffe against Wales, we have no other choice than to get it done against Iran.  We are eliminated with a loss or a draw regardless of the result in the England-Wales match.  There are scenarios where we can still finish atop the group, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Beating Team Melli is going to require two things that have been in very short supply during Berhalter’s tenure.  The first is winning away from US soil.  Our last win away from home was on 9/8/21 in Honduras.  That is a span of 10 away/neutral matches and counting with only 3 goals scored over that same span.

The next is finding a way to break down and score against a low block defense.  GGG teams have always struggled against a low block, and unfortunately for us, that is exactly what Iran does well.  Meaning they won’t need to alter their system at all.  They can sit back, defend, frustrate us, look to score on one counterattack or just play for a 0-0 draw since that is all they need to advance for the first time ever.

The only way to counteract this is to get more creative players on the pitch at the same time.  Since changing formations is suddenly an option, I’d like see GGG deploy us in a 4-2-3-1.  Now if you had told me prior to the World Cup that Reyna would be healthy and have only played 12 minutes in one match I would not have believed you. 

GGG basically doesn’t ever utilize a creative midfielder (#10).  He prefers to play two box-to-box midfielders (#8s) with a destroyer (#6).  Right now, Gio is fresh and this matchup is literally screaming for his skill set.  He can play under the striker (Sargent for me) flanked by Pulisic and Weah.  If those four plus McKennie crashing the box aren’t able to score on Iran we don’t deserve to advance.

Of course, if Reyna comes in then someone has to sit and I think that guy should be Musah.  Yunus is normally one of our most important players but his finishing and service in the final third is a level or two below the rest of his game.  Two of his strengths, ball-winning and progressing the ball between the lines, will be less important against a bunkered opponent.

If we are still needing a goal around the 60-minute mark, I would sub off Gio, Timo and Josh for Luca de la Torre, Aaronson and Wright respectively.  Luca can also play the #10 role and Brenden and Haji provide a different look than Weah and Sargent do.  If Wes or Sergiño still can’t go 90 then Musah and Scally should be ready.  If we manage to nick an early goal I would change our formation, tactics and substitutes to something more defensive in the second half.

          Sargent

  Pulisic Reyna Weah

   McKennie Adams

Jedi Ream Zimm Dest

           Turner

SUBS: Aaronson, de la Torre, Wright, Musah, Scally

I think we have enough talent to beat Iran.  The question is do we have the mental fortitude to grind out a result under the most pressure this collective of players will have ever faced?  I’m saying we get it done with a late goal, but hopefully not as late as Landon Donovan versus Algeria in 2010.