Paraguay & Australia

PARAGUAY

The first thing I must mention about this match is the atmosphere inside SoFi Stadium was absolutely electric.  From the national anthem until the final goal in the 90+8 it literally never let up.  I was in the American Outlaws supporter section and was on my feet the entire time.  Such an amazing time for my first cap, I could not have asked for anything better.

Along those lines, many are saying this was best performance the USMNT has ever put on in the World Cup.  The top before last Friday was a 3-2 victory over Portugal’s golden generation in 2002. That was a little different though, since the USMNT raced out to a 3-0 lead after 36 minutes only to hold on for dear life and prevail 3-2.

This was an utter domination from start to finish.  The first time the USMNT ever scored four goals in a World Cup match.  Major kudos are due to coach Mauricio Pochettino (Poch) for getting his tactical plan exactly right. Our boys knew where the spaces would be on offense and exploited them repeatedly.  On the other side of the ball, La Albirroja could not break our pressing defense.  Any time we lost the ball, but especially in the first half, our counter-press was absolutely all over them, causing several quick turnovers. 

Believe it or not, this was the first time this starting XI had played together under Poch.  When we trot out a starting attack or Folarin Balogun, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman and Sergiño Dest that is a very dangerous five.  Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro called this the “pentagon.”  I like it!  Then we can sub in Ricardo Pepi, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna off the bench. That’s eight quality players from four of Europe’s top six leagues. 

The goal we gave up was a comedy of errors rather than one individual mistake.  After a hydration break the Paraguayan keeper took a free kick deep in his own end. Tyler Adams wins the initial duel for the header, but the ball goes backwards.  Then Chris Richards misplays the ensuing bounce.  The ball falls to Tim Ream who takes an awful touch and basically passes it right to Julio Enciso.  Enciso plays the ball to Mauricio in space and neither Alex Freeman nor Weah could get there in time.

PLAYERS

Matt Freese – Didn’t have much to do.  His distribution with his feet was shaky at times and there wasn’t much he could do on the goal.

Ream – Culpability in the goal aside, he played a decent match and was not beaten for speed.

Richards – Aside from his part in the goal, he was 83 for 83 on passes.  This was the highest number of passes with 100% accuracy in the World Cup since 1966.  Definitely good to have him back.

Freeman – Had a few poor moments in possession, including a bad giveaway that could have led to a goal.  Did get the assist on the fourth goal though.  As our youngest player making his World Cup debut at 21, he should get better as the tournament progresses.

Antonee Robinson – A typically solid performance from Jedi.

Adams – Played well outside of a ridiculously unnecessary yellow card.  For some reason he decided to step on the heel of a guy playing a backwards pass deep in his own half.  There was absolutely no danger present at all.  He will be suspended for one match if he picks up another yellow in the group stage.  If that happens, we will all be wishing that Poch named Tanner Tessmann to the roster.

Tillman – An unbelievable performance that included the assist on the third goal.  He squandered a few great chances to score though.

Dest – Dangerous and crafty as always.  Was a heavy touch away from scoring a goal.

Pulisic – Looked very lively throughout.  Created the own goal by bursting through a double team like it wasn’t there.  Had the assist on the second goal too.  Was taken off at halftime after a knock he sustained to his left calf in training was reaggravated.  Hopefully he will be good to go on Friday.

McKennie – Made several marauding runs from deep in the midfield that opened up the offense.  Might have flown under radar a little, but he was immense.

Balogun – Two goals and a Man of the Match performance.  His second goal was a thing of beauty using his left foot to finish in the top corner.  First USMNT player since 1930 to score two or more goals in a World Cup match.

Sebastian Berhalter – Came on for CP at halftime and put in a workmanlike performance on defense.  He’s just not the same level as our other players in terms of quickness of thought and technical ability in tight spaces.  Unlike…say…Tessmann.

Pepi – Had a good chance to score that was deflected out, but a decent shift overall.

Weah – Had a nice shot from distance that was going in saved.  Maybe should have been tighter to Mauricio on the conceded goal.

Reyna – Was kind of just floating around out there until his amazing “trivela” goal at the death.

AUSTRALIA

I watched their match against Türkiye and surprisingly the Socceroos didn’t take a bunch of aggressive fouls like I assumed they would.  The reason I mention this is because when we beat them 2-1 in Commerce City, CO on 10/14/25 they made a point of hunting Pulisic and kicking him hard whenever they could.  So much so that CP had to be subbed off in the 30^th minute…of a friendly.  I watched that match as well, and it was decidedly unfriendly.

What the Aussies did do to Türkiye is sit in a 5-4-1 low block and look to hit them on the counterattack quickly with Nestory Irankunda and Mohamed Touré (Jordan Bos and Connor Metcalfe also looked dangerous).  The Turks had 72% of the possession but were never able to figure how to break through the compact defense.

Scoring first is going to be critical for us. Because once the Socceroos score they really and truly “park the bus.”  Just like last match, the more wide-open play becomes the more it benefits us.  I’m hopeful that Poch and his staff have the answers to unlock Australia in their tactical plan just like they did against Paraguay.

I’m expecting the Aussies to kick Pulisic and Balogun every chance they get.  The referees for this match are a German crew headed by Felix Zwayer.  In theory, they should be able to keep things under control.  I didn’t even think was allowed under FIFA rules, but somehow the fourth official is from Mexico. The VAR is from Morocco, so hopefully there is no bias there. In another shocker though, the support VAR is Australian.  How is that allowed?

Australia is ranked 23^rd in ELO compared to 27^th for us.  Despite this, we clearly have the most talent “on paper” once again.  Barring an injury, Poch will likely keep the same starting XI.  I wouldn’t be sad if he benched Ream for Auston Trusty though.  More speed on our backline could be crucial in this match.

We currently sit in first place of Group D with three points and a +3 goal differential.  There is a scenario where we could clinch first place after just two matches.  Beat the Socceroos and Türkiye loses or draws with Paraguay.  Best not get ahead of ourselves though since this match has major shit the bed potential.  Conceding an early goal, then struggling to break them down is certainly within the realm of possibilities.

I’m choosing to remain positive though.  I’ll be there in person again and am expecting the crowd to be even louder in Seattle.  I’ll predict another early goal for us, and we eventually hang on to get the three points.  A result like this will be fantastic for everything except my wallet.  Round of 32 tickets in Santa Clara are already insane!

USMNT World Cup Preview

HISTORY

Any talk of this 4-year cycle must begin with how badly US Soccer botched the build up to this World Cup.  Coach Gregg Berhalter’s contract wasn’t renewed over a sordid back-and-forth with the family of Gio Reyna directly after Qatar 2022.  First, we had Anthony Hudson as interim coach for five matches.  Then it was BJ Callaghan for seven.  After an “exhaustive” search by an “outside firm” the Federation landed right back where they started with Berhalter.

This inevitably didn’t end well with a flameout in the group stage of the Copa América, which I chronicled here.  After Berhalter was fired Mikey Varas got the call for two matches before Mauricio Pochettino (Poch) was hired on 9/10/24.  So that makes a total of five coaches in a 4-year span, which obviously is not ideal.  Especially when you are hosting the World Cup with the most talented generation of American players ever.

Poch’s hire was hailed as a major coup at the time, but his tenure has been a mixed bag.  His overall record is 14-10-2, which is clearly nothing special.  A lot of the poor results have been self-inflicted wounds based on his own decisions.  After not winning the CONCACAF Nations League in March 2025 for the first time (we finished fourth) Poch burned the roster to the ground.

He claimed the team needed a culture reset, and he was probably right about that to a degree.  How he went about it can be questioned though.  He stopped calling in a bunch of European regulars and leaned heavily into MLS guys.  This group made a run to the Gold Cup Final where they lost to Mexico.  They were largely uninspiring though and Poch’s lineup and formation choices were all over the place.  It truly felt like he didn’t know who his best players were or how to deploy them.

Then at halftime of a friendly we were losing to South Korea 0-2 he made a formation switch to a 3-4-2-1 and suddenly things started to click.  As a longtime fan of the USMNT we have basically never played with three center backs (CB).  It seemed to fit our talent well and we ran off a string five matches unbeaten after that.  Then, with momentum finally building, he inexplicably changed tactics back to two CBs.  We proceeded to get waxed by a total of 7-2 in the two March friendlies. 

He came to his senses in the recent send-off matches.  Back in the 3-4-2-1 we beat a quality Senegal side 3-2 and played Germany very tough in a 1-2 loss. The players are showing that they believe in this formation by their consistent effort.  If Poch goes away from these tactics in the World Cup for any reason he’s loco.

ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)

Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)

Midfielders: Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)

Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Haji Wright (Coventry City), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)

Injuries ruled out midfielder Johnny Cardoso (Atlético Madrid, ankle) and forward Patrick Agyemang (Derby County, Achillies), but other than that all players were available for selection.  I keep a running depth chart that I update every few months and I feel like Poch got his roster mostly right.  He called in my top 2 keepers, top 3 CBs, top 5 fullbacks, top 2 attacking midfielders (a #10 in fútbol parlance), top 4 wingers and top 3 strikers.  That’s 19 of 26 players, so not bad at all.

This wouldn’t be a true USMNT World Cup roster without one glaring mistake that will surely come back to bite us.  In 2014 Jürgen Klinsmann took Brad Davis over Landon Donovan.  This was inexplicable at the time, and shambolic 12 years later. 

In 2022 Berhalter took Jesús Ferreria over Ricardo Pepi.  When starting striker Josh Sargent got injured in the final group stage match, Ferreria was forced into action for the knockout round.  Jesús started and lasted 45 minutes while Pepi was sitting at home fuming at Berhalter.

For Poch his decision to take a fifth CB in Miles Robinson over midfielder Tanner Tessmann (Lyon) has the potential to be disastrous.  For some reason Poch only took one true defensive midfielder (a #6) in Tyler Adams.  So if Adams gets hurt or suspended, we are cooked.  Considering that Miles was at fault for 3 of the 4 goals in the send-off matches, he absolutely can’t play in the World Cup.  To remove a player that has no business being on the roster (per sources, Miles hasn’t even been good in MLS this season) for the second best #6 on my depth chart should be a no-brainer.  Lyon finished fourth in Ligue 1 and Tessmann started 28 matches and played 2,546 minutes as their #6.  I really hope Adams can play every minute for us, but something tells me he won’t.

We have one other guy that definitely can’t see the pitch, Cristian Roldan.  He’s a decent MLS player, but he’s 31 and has always been more of a box-to-box midfielder (a #8).  He can maybe “do a job” as a #6 in MLS, but at this level, no freaking way.  Since Johnny is injured, I’d prefer to have the next #6 on my depth chart in Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough) over Roldan.  Morris started 41 matches and played 3,622 minutes for the team that just missed out on promotion to the Premier League.  I always complain about the end of the roster, but these two changes would balance our midfield depth and put my mind at ease.

Some people were shocked by the omission of Poch favorite Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), but I think Alejandro Zendejas is more deserving at the same position.  The only other snub worth mentioning is Yunus Musah (Atalanta).  He was part of the vaunted MMA midfield in Qatar, but Poch banished him after he skipped the Gold Cup to rest.  Yunus is still only 23 and will be back in the mix for 2030, but I’d probably rather have him over Sebastian Berhalter.

In 2022 Gregg Berhalter called in 9 MLS players (1 keeper).  Poch called in 8, but 3 are keepers.  It’s worth noting that this is the first time since 1990 that a USMNT World Cup team does not have a keeper playing in Europe.  Poch seems to be leaning toward Matt Freese over Matt Turner.  On Monday Freese said he hasn’t been told he’ll be the starter.  Then on Tuesday Turner said the same thing.  Not having your starting keeper locked in the week of the World Cup…is…um…not great.

PARAGUAY

We played La Albirroja on 11/15/25 in Chester, PA.  The match ended in a fracas (one of their players got a red) as we clearly frustrated them winning 2-1.  This was during our run of good form, but it was just a friendly after all.  The match does give us some clues though.

Paraguay is known for playing tough, physical defense and being extremely hard to score on.  They also are expert practitioners of the “dark arts,” trying to get under the opposition’s skin by taking hard fouls and wasting time.  That’s why I’m happy we got a Dutch crew of referees headed by Danny Makkelie. He’s overseen several high profile matches in Europe and should be able to control things if they start to get out of hand.  I don’t love that the VAR is from Spain, but you can’t have everything.

On Saturday Paraguay’s best attacker Julio Enciso was stretchered off the pitch crying.  Word is the injury won’t end his World Cup, but he has already been ruled out of the match Friday.  The USMNT also has an injury concern as our best CB Chris Richards hurt his ankle on 5/17 and hasn’t played since.  He said on Wednesday "I'm ready.  I mean, it's the World Cup, so I'm going to make myself ready regardless.  I'm feeling good.  Maybe a little swollen, but nothing tape can't help."  He hasn’t played in a month though so I’d be surprised if he can go a full 90.

Even though La Albirroja are ranked 22^nd in ELO compared to us at 39, we have more talent “on paper.”  I watched that friendly and we straight up were the better team, beating them at their own game.  They kicked us and we kicked them right back, never backing down.  There is no reason we should expect anything less than a win.

I assume Poch will trot out the same 3-4-2-1, but I honestly don’t know who he should start at keeper.  Neither is good with their feet, but Turner has the experience from 2022 and is probably the better shot-stopper.  Freese is better at saving PKs, but the difference between the two is marginal since both are mid.

The rest of the lineup basically writes itself at this point.

        Balogun

   Pulisic McKennie

Jedi Adams Tillman Dest

Ream Richards Freeman

Up top Folarin Balogun and Christian Pulisic are locks, although some are saying Pepi could start instead of Balo.  I see Ricardo as our late game sub when we are pushing for a goal.  Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman are playing in opposite positions than they do for their clubs.  Wes is more of a #8 where Malik is a #10.  The freedom Poch has given them to interchange kind of makes this a moot point, but it is something to keep an eye on.  As I already said, Adams is our only true #6.  Which makes him our most important player due to lack of depth there. 

When both Antonee “Jedi” Robinson and especially Sergiño Dest are healthy we just look so much more dangerous.  I’d say Richards and Alex Freeman are locks at their positions as well (with Chris being our second most important player).  Poch named Tim Ream Captain before the tournament, so unfortunately, he’s probably going to play a lot of minutes  I say unfortunately because he is 38 and has no speed left in his legs.  I think every team will try and isolate him against a pacey right winger as part of their tactical plan.  I’d prefer to see Auston Trusty in that spot.  He’s 27, also left-footed and has looked very good for the USMNT in his last four caps.

Depending on the scoreline our subs will be different.  If we are pushing for a goal expect to see Pepi, Reyna, Tim Weah and possibly Zendejas or Haji Wright.  If we have a lead and need to see things out you can expect Brenden Aaronson, Seb Berhalter, Joe Scally and Trusty or Mark McKenzie to get the call.

For as down as I have been on this group of players during this cycle, I think things are finally trending in the right direction.  Our attack has been sneaky dangerous lately and Poch has them always going for it.  The flip side to this is we often leave our defense exposed and give up goals we shouldn’t.  With an unsettled keeper situation, an aging CB and a mistake prone #6 that isn’t a good combo.  What I’m saying is we will score more goals than normal, but don’t expect many clean sheets.

I’ll be at the match in Inglewood on Friday and I think it’s going to be a major home field advantage for us.  I have a feeling our boys will bag an early goal running off the adrenaline of the crowd.  This would be massive for us because it will force Paraguay to have to push for an equalizer.  The match being more wide-open suits us more than them.  I think we’ll get another but concede late.  A 2-1 win and three points will be a great start!

Gold Cup Roster & Prediction

Since the 1994 World Cup I’m the one of biggest USMNT fans you can find anywhere (other than people that travel to matches).  I don’t say this lightly at all, but this is one of the worst rosters for a competitive tournament I’ve ever seen.  I’m excluding B, C or D Teams where our first-choice guys aren’t even in the picture.  For this window everybody was supposed to be available. Well outside of Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna and Alejandro Zendejas due to the Club World Cup.  Oh yeah, and Johnny Cardoso might get added to that list if he moves to Atlético Madrid.

Now we are being told that Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson are being rested?  You mean to tell me if AC Milan or Fulham were in the Club World Cup those two wouldn’t be playing?  Pah-lease!  Then Yunus Musah withdraws from the team Wednesday for “personal reasons.”  I mean what the fuck? 

This generation is already pissing away their talent, but now they are becoming extremely unlikable too.  They don’t give effort or seem like they care half the time, and now this shit?  Sporting Director Matt Crocker clearly wanted everyone to know Pulisic made the call not to come.  He practically threw him under the bus with his statement.  Then you have Mauricio Pochettino preaching commitment and desire while letting CP do whatever he wants.  What kind of example is that to the rest of the team and fanbase? 

Post-Couva was the last time the interest level in this team was this low.

Anyway, back to the roster.  Poch called in 27 players with 4 keepers, so I assume one of the keepers will be cut after the friendlies with Turkey and Switzerland.  17 of the 27 players are from MLS when not too long ago it was 25 of 26 from Europe.  Clearly Poch needs to learn the lesson that when you take mostly MLS guys to a major tournament, they just aren’t good enough.  I’ve seen this play out too many times to remember.  I guess it’s better for Poch to learn this now, rather than at the World Cup. 

Kind of like US Soccer needed Copa América to see that Gregg Berhalter was the emperor with no clothes.  Now you have Poch saying this, "If you arrive to the camp and you want to spend nice time, play golf, go for a dinner, visit my family, visit my friend, that is the culture that we want to create?  No, no, no, no, no.”  Well, you know who established that culture?  GGG!

But I digress again.  I keep a running depth chart draft based on club form in my Gmail, and Poch took 4 of my top 5 keepers here.  I prefer Ethan Horvath to Zack Steffen, but I can understand since Horvath is likely looking for a new club after Cardiff City got relegated from the Championship.  I expect Matt Freese to be the guy cut because he’s been the best keeper in MLS for a while now, but Poch has never played him.

The center back depth on this roster is just bad.  Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie better be able to start every match because Tim Ream and Miles Robinson aren’t even in my top 8.  Supposedly Cameron Carter-Vickers and Austin Trusty not being called in was a “football decision.”  (Sidebar: It’s time to leave Celtic fellas.)  And gawd forbid Poch uses the Gold Cup for what it should be and cap-tie young dual nationals like Noahkai Banks (Augsburg) or Anrie Chase (Stuttgart).

The fullback situation is even worse.  Granted, the bulked up Sergiño Dest finally returns from injury, but his backup is Alex Freeman (Orlando)?  Joe Scally’s omission was another “football decision,” but why not bring in Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo) or Richard Ledezma (PSV)?  Freeman has supposedly looked good in MLS, but Reynolds and Ledezma have never even been given a chance under Poch. 

Left back is an even bigger mess.  Ok, Jedi needs a rest.  Not happy about it, but it is what it is.  Poch calling in Max Arfsten (Columbus) and DeJuan Jones (San Jose) over John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel) and Caleb Wiley (Watford) is a freaking JOKE.  I’m not even mentioning Nathanial Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt) who got called into the German U21 team instead.  From what I’ve read, Brown is open to playing for us, but Poch hasn’t even reached out to him.  Which is criminal because we could have cap-tied him here.  C’est la vie I guess.

When it comes to midfielders, I’m happy with Tyler Adams, Johnny, Malik Tillman, Brenden Aaronson and Diego Luna.  Tanner Tessmann (Lyon) was another called out as a “football decision.”  But what about Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Paxten Aaronson (Utrecht) and Gianluca Busio (Venezia)?  Morris and Pax had excellent club seasons by all accounts.  Tessmann and Busio are regular starters in Top 5 leagues.  Instead, we got FIVE guys from MLS.  One of which is Sean Zawadzki (Columbus) who I’ve never even heard of, and I follow this stuff closely!  (Sidebar: Everything I read says Luna is moving to Europe this summer.)

As for wingers, well, we have a total of one on the entire roster in Haji Wright.  I don’t really think Haji is a winger myself, he just happens to play there at Coventry City.  So, the reality is we have ZERO true wingers on the roster.  Granted my top 3 of Pulisic, Weah and Zendejas are all unavailable.  However, the next three on my list are Griffin Yow (Westerlo), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg) and Cole Campbell (Dortmund). 

Finally, Folarin Balogun is back from injury for the striker group.  Yet, Ricardo Pepi is still out injured, and Josh Sargent was inexplicably left off as a “football decision!”  So instead, we get Poch favorites Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte) and Brian White (Vancouver).  Why not take a flyer on Daryl Dike (West Brom) who just returned from injury himself?  There is a bright spot here though, 20-year-old dual national Damion Downs (Köln) was called in.  Now watch Poch waste the opportunity to cap-tie him!

When the draw for the Gold Cup happened, I thought the USMNT ended up in the toughest group.  “WHAT!” you might be saying to yourself?  Saudi Arabia, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago doesn’t seem that tough.  Well, have you watched us play recently?  With the roster we called in and Poch’s lack of national team acumen I now expect the Saudis to win the group.  We should still be able to eek out results against Haiti and T&T to advance to the knockout stage.  After that though I expect us to go out meekly in the quarterfinals. 

The real question after we flame out for the third major tournament in a row is will US Soccer sack Mauricio Pochettino?  Obviously, they don’t have the cajónes to be so bold.  So, I am now resigned to the fact the World Cup I’ve been looking forward to for literally YEARS will be a disaster.  The bright side is at least I’ll save money and time off not having to go deep into the knockout round like I was expecting from our Golden Generation.

State of the USMNT & USWNT Address!

 > I’ve been trying to patient, but I can’t hold my fingers any longer.  What the hell is Mauricio Pochettino doing?  To my eyes he is failing to meet expectations on multiple levels.  So much so that I’m questioning how seriously he’s taking this job.  I’m starting to feel like this is his $6 million vacation before he returns to club ball after the 2026 World Cup.

For starters, let’s look at the roster he called in.  Our keeper situation is a mess and I don’t really know what the answer is, so he gets a pass there.  When it comes to defenders Tim Ream continues to get called in for “leadership” even though others have clearly passed him and we have younger options in the pipeline.  Then we look at the fullbacks and Poch only called in three, which was made worse when Antonee Robinson had to withdraw due to knee tendinopathy.  Auston Trusty also had to withdraw with a calf injury.

Instead of bring five central defenders, Ream should have been left off and then Noahkai Banks, who has been getting minutes for Augsburg this season, could have been Trusty’s replacement.  The fullback situation is even more confusing.  Sergiño Dest has just returned from injury and isn’t ready and Joe Scally is a no-brainer as his backup.  After that Poch seems to favor Marlon Fossey over Bryan Reynolds, even though Reynolds is statistically superior in the same league (Belgium).

Left back is where it really gets frustrating.  The cupboard has long been bare after Jedi.  Making matters worse is that Caleb Wiley and John Tolkin are just returning from injury.  HOWEVER, Nathaniel Brown is a regular starter for Eintracht Frankfurt (4th in the Bundesliga).  He’s left-footed and very athletic.  He’s also a dual-national defender like Banks and Anrie Chase (Stuttgart).  Instead, he called in Max Arfsten from MLS, a guy who is by no means ready for this level.

This leads me to a quick sidebar about recruiting, something Gregg Berhalter was very good at.  From what I know it seems like Poch doesn’t care at all.  His stance is "We don't need to convince they want to help us.  USA is massive.”  While I appreciate that sentiment it’s both naïve and uniformed.  First off, the USA is not massive in world football.  We are not Argentina, who has probably never had a dual-nat play for them.  Second, the list of important dual-nat contributors in our history is very long.  This reeks of a guy who doesn’t care about our future and is out of here post the World Cup.  Meanwhile, he’s cutting off his nose to spite his face with guys that could actually help him in the moment.

Back to the midfield roster.  I had no problems with the initial call-ups, including Diego Luna.  I know he plays in MLS, but this guy has that it-factor about him and I’ve wanted to see with the A-team for a while now.  Then when Johnny Cardoso had to withdraw with a muscle injury, Poch calls in Jack McGlynn and Brian Gutiérrez?  Both of them are from MLS and Gutiérrez was terrible in the January camp.  Dude is not even close to an international-level player.  McGlynn has some potential, but to call him in over Aidan Morris, Brenden and Paxten Aaronson is egregiously bad.  I’d have called in Morris myself who has been playing really well for Middlesbrough lately.

The forward situation had no injuries, but contains by far the most head-scratchers.  First off, Yunus Musah is NOT a forward.  Never has been, and never will be.  Next, he called in only two wingers in Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah.  That’s it.  When it comes to strikers Josh Sargent was an easy call, but Patrick Agyemang and Brian White from MLS?  Um…no!  Haji Wright scored a hattrick right before the international break and went 90 minutes in his last two matches.  He could not have even been called in as injury replacement though because he wasn’t on the 60-man provisional roster.  Let that one sink in for a bit.  Was Poch even talking to the Coventry City medical staff?  That is just so, so bad.  Then there is Alejandro Zendejas who by all accounts has been Club América’s best player so far this season.  Not to mention he is a natural winger as well.  I’d have brought Wright and Zendejas for Agyemang and White.  We’ll deal with Musah in a bit here.  Why do I get so worked over roster selections?  Because it always ends up mattering in the end.

The way Poch setup his starting XI made me wonder if and his staff had scouted Panama at all?  If they had, they would have known Los Canaleros were going to park the bus on us for the entire match.  When a team is going to sit in a 5-4-1 and cede possession there is no need to have two defensive midfielders in Tyler Adams and Tanner Tessmann.  Then you are playing Musah at right back which shifts Scally to his weaker left side.  There is a reason Panama manager Thomas Christiansen consistently left Yunus open down the right flank.  That is where our attack went to die.

Those are the two biggest tactical mistakes, but there are more.  For most of the first half Pulisic and Weston McKennie were playing as kind of dual #10s in the middle of the park.  This clogged the middle since neither of them are tight-space creators.  Poch also had Weah on the left wing, when all his of best USMNT performances have come on the right (the space Yunus was in).  I also don’t get starting Ream when Mark McKenzie is a locked-in starter for Toulouse, which has the third best defense in Ligue 1.

As soon as this match kicked off and all we did was pass the ball around the back for the first 10 minutes with no urgency I thought I was watching GGG’s “horseshoe of death” offense again.  It felt to me like the players were not prepared with the proper gameplan to break down a low block.  There were just no ideas or movement along the frontline.  There was nobody in the midfield connecting the backline to the front.  It was like a combination of GGG’s nonexistent tactics combined with Jürgen Klinsmann’s propensity to play guys out of their natural positions.

In the second half Poch moved Pulisic out wide right where he plays for club and had Weah move further out left.  That helped a little, but not much since McKennie is not a #10 and Tim doesn’t like to cross with his left foot.  The subs that he made where completely tone deaf too.  He just doubled down on the tactics that weren’t working with Agyemang for Sargent and McGlynn for Tessmann.

Look, I understand that Josh hasn’t scored for the USMNT since 2019.  The dude is about to be sold to the Premier League this summer for £20-30 million, but he is completely snakebitten for the USMNT.  He had two decent chances, and he barely touched the ball otherwise.  On the first he was unlucky to get a deflection that ricocheted off the post.  He buried the second on very nice finish, but of course Weah was offside in the buildup.  People always act like he plays terrible, but in the first half I have to point out that Pulisic and Weah were both invisible too.  When what I consider our best frontline, all look lost at the same time that is on the coach and his tactics.  Given our options I’d have played Sargent the full 90, and I think he buries one of the two clear chances Agyemang missed.

The McGlynn for Tessmann sub is absolutely inexcusable though.  Other than Jack now being cap-tied, this match was SCREAMING for a real playmaking #10.  Putting in another defensive midfielder was the definition of insanity.  Does Poch even know how to break down a low block?  Gio Reyna would have been my choice, but had Poch chosen Luna (cap-tying him) I would have been fine with that too.  In his postgame press conference Poch said he was waiting until extra time to insert Gio and Diego.  WHAT?  WHY?

I would have taken out McKennie and Tessman at halftime and put in both Reyna and Luna.  I would have also moved Weah to right back for Musah and put Agyemang or White up top with Josh and CP.  We needed to throw all the offense we had at the game.  I would have also put McKenzie in for Ream since going all in we would have needed more speed at back.

Then of course comes the comedy of errors that lead to the goal.  Poor back pass from Pulisic starts it.  Then Ream doesn’t step forward and get touch tight to the goal scorer.  Finally, Matt Turner’s rust shows by being out of position and off balance when the shot is hit.  Truthfully it wasn’t even struck with much pace.  Game over.

There is a lot of talk about how this generation, never EVER call them golden, doesn’t seem to play with the fire and grit of their predecessors.  That’s definitely true.  No doubt about it.  For some reason these guys are able to play hard every 3 days at their clubs and perform well.  Then when they all come together, they don’t play better than the sum of their parts.  Poch was supposed to fix this, but this man is all about winning the press conference with a bunch of nonsense lip service.  He has yet to prove to me that he has the ability to do the job that is required of a national team manager.

At this point it seems to me that the only way we don’t get embarrassed on home soil in the World Cup is that everyone is healthy and played in their best positions.  Otherwise, it’s going to be Copa America, Nations League and likely this summer’s Gold Cup all over again.  CP on the left, Weah on the right and Sargent/Folarin Balogun/Ricardo Pepi/Wright up top.  Adams at the #6, McKennie at the #8 and Gio/Malik Tillman/Luna at the #10.  A backline of Jedi/McKenzie/Chris Richards/Dest with who knows in goal.  Even then you can forget about a deep run the knockout round.  We should advance from the new Round of 32, but after that it’s cross your fingers and hope time.  Or in other words, same as always.

 

> Oh no, I’m not done yet.  Now it’s the USWNT’s turn.  After watching the She Believes Cup I have some serious concerns about them too.  In the short term we need to find a striker to replace Sophia Wilson (Smith).  Maybe Mia Fishel returning from injury will be the answer there.  I think we are fine on the wing with Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, Alyssa Thompson and Ally Sentnor.  I also think the #10 is set with Jaedyn Shaw and Catarina Macario.

After that though, there are a lot of questions to answer prior to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. 

I think Lily Yohannes is clearly the #8 of the future.  Her backup is less certain though.  Maybe it’s Korbin Albert or possibly Olivia Moultrie?  But Korbin plays too fast and Moultrie too slow.  One thing is for certain though, Lindsey Heaps (Horan) is DONE.  I know coach Emma Hayes loves her, but the longer Heaps is a prominent player for us the longer it will take for us to reach our full potential.

The #6 spot is also more of a question than I think people want to admit.  Ever since Julie Ertz left, we really haven’t had a world class replacement for her.  I’m sorry, but Sam Coffey’s lack of athleticism and propensity to play the ball backwards means she isn’t it.  Maybe it can be Claire Hutton, but I’m not totally sold on her yet.  Someone new needs to emerge in the next two years.

When we move to our back five, after Naomi Girma as CB1, there are questions literally everywhere.  I think I still prefer Tierna Davidson to partner with Girma, but I’m not sure Hayes does.  I like the little I’ve seen of Emily Sams, but she doesn’t have me totally convinced either.  Maybe Sam Staab returning from injury might have something to say too.  One thing I do know is that Emily Sonnett and Tara McKeown are definitely not it.

Our fullback situation is completely up in the air as well.  Emily Fox hasn’t really improved tactically since moving to Arsenal, but she is still very athletic.  Jenna Nighswonger followed her to Arsenal but isn’t playing at all, so that doesn’t help her develop.  Crystal Dunn can no longer be the answer with her move to France.  Gisele Thompson looks promising, but needs more seasoning.  To my eyes these positions are wide open for 2027.

After Alyssa Naeher’s retirement, the keeper predicament for the women is no better than the men.  Casey Murphy seemed like heir apparent but Emma doesn’t seem to rate her.  Neither Jane Campbell nor Mandy McGlynn has impressed me yet.  Some people really seem to like Phallon Tullis-Joyce, but I haven’t seen enough of her to say one way or the other.

The sky is not falling by any means for the USWNT, but it must be acknowledged that Hayes has some tough roster decisions to make.  All this while trying to deepen the player pool and instituting her tactically nuanced style of play.  I just hope she doesn’t fall into the same trap that her predecessors did by relying on the old guard a cycle too long.

Post Copa América Fallout

Ok, let’s start with the referee.  Yes, he was completely out of his depth and lost control of the match very early.  However, he was NOT the reason we lost the game.  He called 12 fouls (2 yellows) on us and 12 (1 yellow) on Uruguay.  He was a joke to be sure, but it wasn’t his fault we couldn’t create any chances.  It doesn’t even matter that the Uruguay goal was clearly offside.  Remember that we had to WIN to advance, and that usually requires scoring a goal. 

Now compare that to Panama, where we had 4 fouls to their 19.  After Tim Weah got his red card, that match was easily the toughest watch for me since Couva.  Yep, I’m being serious, and it’s not even close.  Did you know that César Blackman, the guy who took out Matt Turner, wasn’t fouled by ANYONE on our team after that play for the rest of his time on the pitch?  Do you think Jermaine Jones or Kyle Beckerman would have let that slide?  Tyler Adams is a good player and all, but the only guy in our player pool that will purposely kick somebody is Johnny Cardoso.

Digging deeper into the fouls I found some pretty damning stats.

 

What does this tell me?  We are soft.  Not only physically but mentally too.  We get caught up in “but the ref” and then don’t know how to retaliate once the baseline is set for us.  We lack the veteran savvy to partake in the “dark arts” like these other CONMEBOL and CONCACAF sides.  I’ve been saying this for a while and it’s the main reason I was so high on Johnny from the start.

One more thing, we had a pass completion percentage of 75.4% overall and 75.5% in the attacking third.  Both of which put us at 14 out of 16 teams.

With that said, it’s time to show all the ways we didn’t change the way the world views American soccer.  Much less change soccer in America forever.  I don’t even know where to start with all these.

- We got grouped for the first time in 20 continental and global tournaments played at home.  That encompasses 17 Gold Cups, 2 Copa Américas and 1 World Cup.

- Since the group stage was introduced in 1975, we are the first host nation in the history of the Copa América to get grouped.

- We failed to advance to the knockout round after winning our opening match for the first time EVER.  Previously we had advanced all 23 times we won our opening group stage match.

- In 2024 we have lost 5 of our last 9 matches.  That is our worst stretch since 2018 when we lost 5 of 8.

- Amongst the CONCACAF teams in the Copa we finished 5^th of 6.  Panama 6 points, Canada 4, Mexico 4, Costa Rica 4, USMNT 3 & Jamaica 0.

So how is Gregg Berhalter still employed 8 days later?  It’s a combination of the US Soccer Federation’s ineptitude and GGG’s reluctance to own any part of the blame.  Neither of these are new, but let’s compare ourselves to some other countries in the Copa.

- Jamaica got grouped with zero points and a -6 goal differential.  Their coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, resigned at his postgame press conference. 

- Ecuador advanced from their group and lost to Argentina in the Quarterfinals on penalty kicks.  They fired their coach Félix Sánchez just after midnight of the loss.

- Paraguay finished last in their group with a -5 goal differential.  They waited 6 days to fire their coach, Daniel Garnero.

- Brazil’s coach, Dorival Júnior, took FULL RESPONSIBILITY for his side losing to Uruguay on PKs in the Quarters.

GGG has never, and I repeat NEVER, taken responsibility for any loss.  Even in losses he says something like “We had more xG” or how we “Dominated” Canada in a 0-2 loss.  He’s also very quick to blame the players or refs, but never himself.  As I see it GGG should have resigned immediately, or at the very least by now.

I mean just listen to the nonsense he spouts at his postgame presser…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySH_2JlQKec

Are you the right person to lead this group to the 2026 World Cup?  “Yes.”  He also sees progress within the group and will do a thorough review of the tournament to see what went wrong.  The ego and borderline narcissism on him is just sickening.

It doesn’t stop there though.  His loser mentality has permeated the locker room too.  Matt Turner “Sees no issue with the direction we are heading.”  Adams “Absolutely still has faith in him.”  Weston McKennie says “We all have a comfortability with Gregg.”  Gio Reyna “Doesn’t think this tournament really had anything to do with the staff or the tactics or the way we play.”  At least Christian Pulisic had something different to say on his Instagram story.  “You deserve and will get better US fans.  Better days ahead.”

So, what in the fuck is the US Soccer Federation doing?  Well Sporting Director Matt Crocker is at the heart of all this since his first big move in charge was rehiring GGG because the players wanted him back.  His post-match statement was this: “Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations.  We must do better.  We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa América and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”

The US Soccer Board had an “emergency” meeting the day after the game that by all accounts got very testy.  From everything I’ve read the entire Board wanted GGG fired except…wait for it…Crocker.  This led to CEO JT Batson and Crocker yelling at each other in front of the rest of the Board.  Suspiciously absent from all the “leaks” is exactly where President Cindy Parlow Cone stands on all this.

You see Crocker doesn’t have social media (although he did delete his LinkedIn account) and apparently told the rest of the Board “Who cares what people think.”  Batson’s take was the fans are outraged and are organizing boycotts against all our main sponsors.  The entire Board met on Monday to vote on GGG’s fate, because that’s what it takes to overrule Crocker.  Another interesting thing that has come out is that Crocker doesn’t live in the US and wasn’t even attending the Copa matches.  Instead, he was at the Euros and was apparently annoyed he had to fly to Chicago on short notice!

Now this whole situation has gone from #BerhalterOut to include #CrockerOut too.  Supposedly GGG will be fired Wednesday, but apparently Crocker has also floated the idea of waiting until September.  I think he’ll get a chance to fix his biggest mistake, but if he misses again, he will also be gone after the 2026 World Cup.

For me this is bittersweet.  On one hand, I’m glad to be rid of GGG so this same scenario didn’t happen while were hosting the World Cup.  Which was my biggest fear.  On the other hand, we had to waste our only true tune up against top competition for the World Cup to get rid of him.  Which was totally avoidable by not renewing his contract after it expired in 2022.

I said at the time he was rehired that it was one of the biggest sporting disappointments in my life.  Akin to the Eagles losing in the Super Bowl or the Lakers losing the Finals in Game 7.  There were just so many reasons not to rehire him.  Our history with second cycle coaches is terrible.  Bob Bradley and Jürgen Klinsmann both didn’t make it and Bruce Arena’s return ended in Couva.  The players asking for him to return was a really bad sign about their comfort level with him in charge. 

Beyond all that he’s just not a good coach tactically.  I’m not going to get into all the specifics of why, but suffice it to say GGG was just scraping by doing the absolute minimum.  Barely qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in third place on goal differential.  Not being able to win on the road in CONCACAF during World Cup Qualifying.  Never beating a top-15 team not named Mexico going 0-5-5.  Needing luck to beat Jamaica in the Nations League Semifinals.  Starting with the Columbia friendly and ending with the Uruguay Group Stage loss, his luck finally ran out.

WHERE THE PLAYERS STAND AFTER THIS WINDOW

Turner – He needs to find regular playing time somewhere because his main attribute shot stopping isn’t what it used to be.  His distribution with his feet is still terrible and unlikely to improve much at this point.

Ethan Horvath – Was uncharacteristically nervous when he came on.  A full season as Cardiff City’s #1 should improve that.

Sean Johnson – Didn’t play, but his time with the USMNT should be over now.  We need to blood a young keeper as our new #3.

Antonee Robinson – One of the very few players who was up for the fight this tournament presented.

Kristoffer Lund – Didn’t play but seemed like a good vibes guy, especially to Folarin Balogun.

Joe Scally – He was also up for the challenge and solidified his spot behind Sergiño Dest.  “Joey Clamps” might also be the preferred starter now in situations that call for a more defensive approach.

Shaq Moore – When he was warming up during the Uruguay match all I could think about is we are dead.  Should not be called into the USMNT again.

Chris Richards – He has to find a way to translate his form with Crystal Palace to the USMNT.

Tim Ream – He was passable, but it’s time to move on from him.  We can’t have a 38-year-old starting at center back in the World Cup.

Cameron Carter-Vickers – If he doesn’t move on from Celtic soon, he’s nothing but a deep back up for the USMNT.

Mark McKenzie – Hopefully a new coach gives him a chance to prove himself or fail.  Hard to judge him when he never plays.  He also might be getting a transfer from Genk to a higher level this summer.

Miles Robinson – Didn’t play but did make the Olympic roster.  Which is probably where he belongs.

Adams – Thinks he’s better than he really is.  MUST stay healthy for Bournemouth this season.

McKennie – I’m kind of tired of typing it at this point, but something is WAY off with him.  He deserved to be benched several times during this window.  His move to Aston Villa fell through because of his salary demands and Juventus doesn’t seem to want him anymore.  His career is at a crossroads at 26.

Reyna – GGG never played him as an attacking midfielder, which is his best position.  He played as a deep lying mid and winger.  If Dortmund is no longer it for him, he has to get his club situation sorted this summer.

Yunus Musah – Was pretty invisible when he played and hasn’t shown much improvement recently.  I think he needs to move on from AC Milan and drop to a mid-table club in a top-5 league to get more playing time.

Johnny – Thought he showed well in his limited opportunities.  I think he should stay at Betis this season, but if a big club makes a huge offer for him, he probably has to take it.

Malik Tillman – The talent is clearly there, but the mentality under pressure is not.  Another season dominating at PSV should help him, but he’ll need to move to a better level after that to truly be counted on.

Luca de la Torre – Much like McKenzie, LDLT has never been given a real opportunity to sink or swim.  He certainly deserved a chance in this window given McKennie’s struggles.

Pulisic – Further solidified himself as our unquestioned best player and leader.  It kind of feels like we might have wasted his career season since very few players were up to the task of joining him in the fight.

Weah – Ridiculous red card aside, he needs to find a club where he can play regular minutes.  At Juventus he’s a backup right back.  Prior to that at Lille he was mostly a backup winger.  Another guy that needs to drop to a mid-table club in a top-5 league.

Brenden Aaronson – Seems to have plateaued a bit.  He couldn’t hack the physicality of the Premier League and then took most of the season to adjust to the Bundesliga.  Those are two of the most physical leagues in the world.  We’ll see if he’s up for the physical demands of the rough and tumble Championship at Leeds.

Balogun – Locked down the #1 striker position and was the fourth and final guy that was up for big moments.  Hopefully he explodes at Monaco this season.

Ricardo Pepi – He’s currently 4^th on my striker depth chart.  PSV is probably a good level for him, but he’s going to be stuck behind Luuk de Jong again this season.  A loan might be a decent option for him, but it’s a tough call.

Haji Wright – Looked dangerous in his limited minutes.  If he has another big season for Coventry City EPL clubs will probably start sniffing around.

Josh Sargent – Thought he held the ball up and combined well with others in his short spells.  He was clearly an upgrade over Pepi and is currently my #2 striker.  He needs to get his ankle/foot right and kill it for Norwich City again this season.

Lots of good stuff from Tab Ramos here…

https://www.socceramerica.com/gregg-berhalter-tab-ramos-usmnt-copa/

Good summation here…

https://shedainad.wordpress.com/2024/07/02/the-usmnt-is-heading-in-the-wrong-direction/

A deep dive into tactics here…

https://mattemmert.substack.com/p/berhalters-dilemma?r=5w4dd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

USWNT Olympic Roster

The Emma Hayes era got off to a great start!  We beat South Korea (20^th in FIFA rankings) 4-0 and 3-0.  My main takeaway from these matches is that we are back to being ass kickers.  We kept up the pressure and were aggressive from start to finish regardless of the scoreline or time remaining. It was like a breath of fresh air to remember who we are as a women’s footballing nation.

Gone are the bad old days of former coach Vlatko Andonovski where we looked lost on the pitch and bereft of any attacking ideas.  Questionable roster selection is also a thing of the past as Hayes called in fresh blood and even had some younger training only players in her camp. 

Starting XI choices also made so much more sense as Emma rolled out the lineup, sans maybe keeper, that everyone wanted to see in match one. She rotated heavily in match two with nine new faces in the XI, but she wanted to get a look at everyone.  She managed to play all but two players, midfielder Hal Hershfelt and third keeper Aubrey Kingsbury.

With that out of the way it’s time to name my 18-player (and 4 alternates) Olympic roster. The deadline to submit the roster is 7/3, which leaves only 3 NWSL matchdays between now and then.  Our European based players are going to need to find a way to get some rest after a long season while also staying in shape, which might be difficult.  One quick note is that Canada coach Bev Priestman hinted at a recent press conference that there are “behind the scenes” discussions going on about raising the roster size to 23 like all normal big tournaments.  Color me dubious about that.

Assuming everyone is healthy here is how I would build my roster…

KEEPER – Alyssa Naeher and Casey Murphy.  Naeher was injured for this camp but was back in action on Saturday 6/8.  Murphy is 6’1 and made two outstanding reaction saves in the second South Korea match.  I’d be fine with her being the starter, even with Naeher’s superior experience.

Alternate: Jane Campbell.  She started the first South Korea match but had almost nothing to do.  She was Goalkeeper of the Year last season in NWSL and currently leads the league total saves, is second in goals against average and tied for first in clean sheets.

CENTER BACKS – Naomi Girma, Tierna Davidson and either Abby Dahlkemper or Sam Staab.  Girma is our most important player and captain in waiting.  I still can’t believe Vlatko didn’t take Davidson to the World Cup.  I worry about her pace sometimes, but as a left-footed CB with great passing range she is a no brainer.

Alternate: Dahlkemper or Staab.  My feeling is we need another true CB on the active roster in case of injury or suspension.  If one of the starters gets a tournament ending injury, then we need to replace her with another true CB for the same reasons.  Sam is left-footed and Abby right.  Both are excellent at playing line-breaking passes, so whoever Hayes prefers.

FULLBACKS – Emily Fox, Jenna Nighswonger and Crystal Dunn.  Fox and Nighswonger are locked in starters on the right and left respectively.  Dunn can player either side as a backup as well as midfielder or winger in a pinch.

Alternate: Casey Krueger. Just as with the center backs, we will need a legitimate backup fullback on the roster at all times. 

MIDFIELDERS – Lindsey Horan, Sam Coffey, Catarina Macario, Rose Lavelle, Korbin Albert and Lily Yohannes.  Horan is our captain and locked in at the #8 position.  Although she is a very different player, Coffey has answered the question of who replaces Julie Ertz at the #6.  Macario looks to be our starting #10 with Lavelle as her backup.  Albert runs her socks off and can backup both the #6 and #8. Yohannes might be a controversial pick here, but what she showed in her one cap was something we haven’t seen for a while.  The calmness and composure on the ball combined with her passing vision and touch makes her a special prospect at only 17 years old.  Bringing her to Olympics would give Emma the opportunity to cap-tie her removing Holland as an option.

Alternate: Olivia Moultrie.  Moultrie is still just 18 and already in her fourth NWSL season.  I’d bring her along so she can get some big tournament experience.

FORWARDS – Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Jaedyn Shaw.  Smith is our player in the best form right now.  She would be the only “true” striker on the roster, but several other players can fill in for her there.  Swanson would play the left wing and Rodman the right.  Both can also play striker as can Macario.  Shaw’s best position is probably the #10, but Hayes sees her as a winger right now since she is behind both Cat and Rose.  The Mal-Soph-Trin frontline is going to be so much fun to watch as they absolutely terrorize teams at the Olympics with their pace and interchangeability.

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!