Post Mortem

NETHERLANDS

In their pre-match press conferences, the Oranje players were all saying that they had a good plan on how to attack us.  I figured that was just bluster and that United States Manager Gregg Berhalter (GGG) would have a decent gameplan of his own.  Well, I was wrong.  GGG was flat out coached by Louis van Gaal. 

Holland knew that our strength was the MMA Midfield so they man-marked all of them, not letting us play through the middle.  They also put pressure on our fullbacks which didn’t let us play out wide.  The only option remaining was our center backs, who had all the time in the world, picking out passes from the back.  The Dutch even fine-tuned it to where they kept leaving Walker Zimmerman as the guy having to distribute, which is not his strength.

If you remember from my preview this was the known script on how to beat us.  However, van Gaal added a twist.  Once we had the ball in the attacking third, they basically let us have it as long as we wanted.  Their gamble was that we could be dangerous and create chances but wouldn’t be able to finish.  They were right again.

Then when we lost the ball, the Oranje quickly attacked down our flanks catching Jedi Robinson and Sergiño Dest out of position.  This put our center backs at a numbers disadvantage and had our midfield scrambling to get back.  Think of it as the soccer version of a rope-a-dope.  It certainly would have been nice if GGG realized this and adjusted his tactics.

Our defense was rock solid during the group stage, but Holland carved us open on the counterattack like no other side was able to.  They did so at speed too.  Moving the ball from one end to the other and side-to-side with quick one-touch passes that kept our transition defense scrambling to find runners.

That is how all three goals happened.  On the first Tyler Adams, who had been great for us, didn’t track Memphis Depay’s run.  Adams was even with him at midfield but for some reason jogged from there and Depay’s finish was clinical.  On the second Dest switched off for an instant giving Daley Blind enough space for another clinical finish.  The third was more of the same only this time Jedi flat didn’t mark the man at the back post leaving Denzel Dumfries WIDE OPEN to put us out of our misery.

Beyond the defense being exposed tactically, our players looked fatigued, both mentally and physically.  Christian Pulisic was clearly not 100%.  Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Dest and Jedi all didn’t seem fully fit either.  Not having Josh Sargent available was a HUGE loss since Jesús Ferreira proved to be useless.  As a group they also seemed a bit nervous, lacking confidence and not entirely prepared for the high-stakes moment. 

There will always be “what ifs” attached to this match.  What if Pulisic converts his early chance to make it 1-0 in the 3^rd minute?  What if Dest could have stayed locked in for another 30 seconds before halftime?  What if Pulisic hits a better pass to Haji Wright when it was 2-1?  Regardless, the Dutch were the better side on the day and were a deserved winner.  The final score line might have flattered them a bit, but they taught us some valuable lessons that we needed to learn.

ROSTER

The biggest shortcoming of our roster was a clear lack of depth.  We had to ride our main guys so hard in the group stage that they had nothing left for the knockout round.  Beyond bringing different players, GGG could have avoided some of this by using Gio Reyna more.  He also didn’t play Luca de la Torre and Joe Sally at all.  Basically, our only reliable sub over the four matches was Brenden Aaronson and possibly Haji depending on how generous you are feeling.

For US Soccer (USSF) the next 3.5 years are all about identifying and then integrating new young talent to complement our established core players.  In that vein, these are the ten spots that are open.  Assuming roster sizes stay at 26 there could be up to four more, but these ten are undoubtedly up for grabs.

Tim Ream (38 at the 2026 World Cup) – Acquitted himself very well for going from the wilderness to a locked in starter.  There are just too many younger prospects in the pipeline for him to remain a viable candidate.

Sean Johnson (37) – I don’t see our third keeper being a veteran at the next WC.

Zimm (33) – Has to move to Europe and work on his ball skills to stay in the mix ahead of the younger generation coming up behind him.

Aaron Long (33) – Didn’t feature at all and should not have even been on this roster.

DeAndre Yedlin (33) – The need for his WC experience is over.

Kelly Acosta (31) – Made two appearances but never at the position he was brought in for.  Not that Adams’ backup is ever going to play much, but we should be able to find a younger player for when Tyler needs a rest.

Christian Roldan (31) – I’m sure everyone now sees that this was a wasted roster spot.

Jordan Morris (31) – Played 18 minutes total over two matches and had no impact.

Shaq Moore (29) – Technically young enough to still be in the mix, but we already had a better player than him on this roster.

Ferreira (25) – In fairness, he’s not a striker and was out of his depth at the international level.  To give himself a chance in 2026 he’ll need to go to Europe and find out what his real position actually is.

FUTURE

The biggest decision facing USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone, Sporting Director Earnie Stewart and Men’s General Manager Brian McBride this cycle is who the next manager will be?  Berhalter’s contract is up at the end of 2022 and USSF doesn’t have a great track record with two cycle managers.

Bob Bradley lasted one year after 2010 before he was replaced by Jürgen Klinsmann.  Jürgen lasted two years after 2014 before being replaced by Bruce Arena.  After his quarterfinal run in 2002 Arena did make it to 2006.  However, he hung on to too many aging veterans and we finished last in our group.

There is also a school of thought that says never let anyone stay around for two cycles.  The reason is that national team rosters don’t really fluctuate like club rosters do.  The good players from your country stay that way until they age out or get injured.  So, a manager’s message can get stale in addition to relaying on “favorite” players past their primes.

The best analogy that I’ve heard came from ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura comparing the USMNT to the Golden State Warriors.  Mark Jackson was named coach of the Warriors when they were terrible.  He built them up to a respectable playoff team but couldn’t get them to the next level.  He was fired, replaced by Steve Kerr and the rest is history.

That’s where the USMNT are right now.  GGG did his job of restoring the program after the disaster of missing the 2018 WC.  We are a solid, young and exciting team.  We work hard and play good defense but our offensive ideas are sorely lacking.  However, we have reached the ceiling of what we are capable of under his leadership.

I have many problems with Berhalter, but overall, he did a good job this cycle.  That doesn’t mean I want him back, and both things can be true.  Beyond needing a new voice and a fresh perspective, we need a manager that is proven at the international level.  Someone who has managed a talented side with high expectations deep into the knockout rounds.  I’m not going to go into potential candidates, but I am very nervous about USSF royally screwing this decision up.

The next issue facing USSF is the lack of “big” matches until we, along with Canada and Mexico, host in 2026.   You don’t have to go through the qualification gauntlet when you host the WC.  That eliminates all the highest pressure matches right off the bat.  All that leaves for our European nucleus would be CONCACAF Nations League and friendlies on FIFA fixture dates.  The Gold Cup will still be around but that happens during the European offseason when our main guys need to rest their minds and bodies. 

There have been some recent reports saying that since Ecuador has resigned as host of the 2024 Copa America, that the USA will step in to host as a “test run” of sorts for 2026.  Canada, Mexico and three other CONCACAF nations would join all of CONMEBOL (South America) making 16 total teams.  This tournament would run concurrently with the 2024 Euro being held in Germany.  Getting to play against the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Columbia while Europe battles it out would be MASSIVE for our team’s development.

Not only do all our core players ply their trade in Europe, but now they also have WC experience.  The next wave of young players in Europe should become our missing depth pieces over the next 3.5 years.  With our starters AND bench firmly in their early-to-mid-20s primes, while hosting the WC, a run to the semifinals should be our goal.  We can settle for the quarterfinals but anything less than that will be a failure.  

Time to raise our expectations people!