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Post by Floppy Johnson on Nov 12, 2020 9:20:40 GMT -8
U.S. men play Wales today, 11:45 PST.
It will be a very young, very interesting cast of characters. If you haven't been following, we're trying to poach a 17 year old who has been in the England system, and who is getting significant minutes at Valencia in Spain. I've got a little bit of mixed feelings about that. But, he should be interesting to watch.
It will be a chance to see almost all of the incredibly talented young U.S. players playing together, including 17 year old Gio Reyna, who some magazine recently rated as one of the top 10 playmakers in the world. Not youth playmakers, but playmakers in the world. It's hype, but it's still exciting to this old USMNT fan. I watch the guy play and I totally forget that he's just 17.
Also excited to see Tim Weah (if he plays). He's barely played in the last couple of years b/c of injuries. But, when he has, he's looked to me to be on another level (that was before Reyna emerged on the scene).
Then, there's another 20 y.o. defender, Chris Richards from Birmingham Alabam who is getting minutes with Bayern Munich.
Excited to see Tyler Adams 21 (Red Bull Leipzig in German 1st division) and Wes McKennie 22 (Juventus) paired together in the midfield.
Oh, and Serginio Dest 20, who plays fullback for Barcelona and is unbelievably skilled offensively, and Konrad De La Fuente 19 who is on Barca game day rosters as an attacker.
Antony Robinson 23, plays fullback for Fulham in the Premier League and reportedly is playing very well.
And, other young guys, too.
We've never had a roster like this, with as much Big League (literally) talent. Nothing close. Should be interesting.
And, to make things more exciting, we have a mediocre manager who, so far, has insisted on playing a goofy, really bad system. Like, he's the one guy in the world who could screw this up.
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Post by Born2BBruin on Nov 12, 2020 10:10:11 GMT -8
What network?
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Nov 12, 2020 10:24:14 GMT -8
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Post by Born2BBruin on Nov 12, 2020 12:36:41 GMT -8
Good first half. Possession is 60% to 40% for the US, but possession can be misleading. More impressive to me is the 89% pass accuracy. That leads to winning soccer.
It doesn't show up in the stats, but the footwork of some of the players is truly remarkable; something we don't see that often on the USMNT. The influx of Euro academy players is definitely a factor there.
Encouraging.
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Post by Born2BBruin on Nov 12, 2020 12:50:10 GMT -8
Addendum: US is #22 in FIFA rankings. Wales is #20. If this is their "A" team, that bodes well for us.
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Post by Born2BBruin on Nov 12, 2020 14:00:10 GMT -8
Thoughts? I only saw about 30 minutes of the first half. Dest looks really good at RB, as anyone playing for Barcelona should. Musah is intriguing as a playmaking mid. I hope he's not teasing the US with these friendlies. Kissing your sister isn't the greatest result, but it's not the worst either. The stats were good. I'm interested to see who plays against Panama on Monday, and how they play.
Thanks for the heads up.
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Nov 12, 2020 20:55:41 GMT -8
Hey, thanks for playing. I couldn't participate in real time. I appreciate your comments - you know your stuff.
My comments.
I'll start w/ the overview. I think Berhalter is an idiot. He is playing an inverted triangle in midfield, without a true playmaker in either of the attacking mid positions. Musah looks good, but I wouldn't call him an AM. I really don't like this approach because when you lose the ball, that single six in front of the backline is suuuuper exposed. A good counter attacking team will killllllll us. Wales is ranked high, but they didn't have Bale or Ramsey. This was not the Wales A team. They have Euro League matches starting in a few days.
So, Berhalter took the guy that one mag calls one of the top 10 playmakers in the world (Reyna) and put him on the wing. Reyna's worst matches with Dortmund have come when he has played on the wing. Right now, at 17, Reyna is an outstanding 10. We should play him there.
Which brings me to what should have been the lead (I guess it's properly spelled "lede"). How did Berhalter expect to score without any scorers on the field? Or, a playmaker in a playmaker position? Lletget is in no way a scorer* Reyna is not a scorer. And, KDLF, though I'm excited to have him, has never scored a goal in an adult match. And, between Wes, Tyler, and Musah, none of those guys are close to a 10. I love Wes McKennie. And, it was painful for me to watch him out on the wings trying to be a playmaker. He's 22. He's incredible. He's a lot of things. But, he's not a playmaker.
Berhalter is an idiot and will drag this team (which should be super exciting) down.
On the good side, Musah looked really good for a 17 year old. It would be great to keep him in the fold.
Wes was soooo good. A thing that I love about McKennie that (imo) goes largely unnoticed is how much he blunts the other team's attack. There are so many players where he defends a guy that is dribbling forward and gets the guy turned around dribbling backwards. He just had a great match doing more than should be asked of him.
Dest is phenomenal. We have a stable of very good right backs. I think Dest should be tried at the right wing. He has the best on the ball skills of anyone in the pool.
KDLF, I was a little disappointed. The wingers should be able to "go at" people. KDLF failed at it. The man is young. And, he had no 10 to give him service. And, our buildup was slow as molasses. I still have all the hopes in the world for him. Just saying that today, I hoped for more from him.
That's about all I got. I post a lot on Bigsoccer.com as RalleeMonkey. I blather on there.
Like I said, thanks for participating in this thread. Peace.
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Post by Born2BBruin on Nov 13, 2020 9:11:43 GMT -8
Fair points. Let's see what happens Monday.
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Nov 13, 2020 18:49:09 GMT -8
Fair points. Let's see what happens Monday. Found this on Big Soccer, here's Wales' starting 11: GK: Ward - Leicester City backup (EPL) RB: Roberts - Swansea (Championship) CB: Lockyer - Luton Town (Championship) CB: Lawrence - St. Pauli (Bundesliga 2) LB: Gunter - Charlton (League One) CM: Levitt - Charlton (League One) CM: Smith - Doncaster (League One) RM: Matondo - Schalke (Bundesliga) AM: Wilson - Cardiff (Championship) LM: Lawrence - Derby County (Championship) FW: Moore - Cardiff City (Championship) |
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Post by Born2BBruin on Nov 13, 2020 20:40:11 GMT -8
Found this on Big Soccer, here's Wales' starting 11: Good find. Anything similar on US squad? I know we have more top league players than we've ever had but I'd be surprised if we had as many as Wales. |
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Post by Floppy Johnson on Nov 13, 2020 22:21:50 GMT -8
Found this on Big Soccer, here's Wales' starting 11: Good find. Anything similar on US squad? I know we have more top league players than we've ever had but I'd be surprised if we had as many as Wales. Zac Steffen GK Manchester City back up Antony Robinson LB Fulham starter Matt Miazga CB Anderlecht Belgian 1st Div starter John Brooks CB (I forget his team) German 1st Div starter Serginio Dest LB Barcelona starter Tyler Adams DM Red Bull Leipzig Bundesliga 1st Division and Champions League semifinalist starts most of their matches Weston McKennie 8 Juventus starter Musah 8 Valencia - I don't know how much he plays Gio Reyna Wing Borussia Dortmund - usually the 2nd best team in Germany starter Konrad De La Fuente Wing Barcelona - on all game day rosters, but hasn't played a league match yet. Sebastian Lletget CF - Galaxy most of the time starter in the midfield. An truly inexplicable choice, since we had available Aron Johannson, who is killing it in the Swedish league and Haji Wright who is killing it in the Danish league (player of the month), who Berhalter didn't bother to call in. But, also on the roster is Tim Weah who gets spot minutes for Lille, which is at the top of the French 1st division. On paper, we should have buried that Wales team, and as Elvis Costello would say, tramped the dirt down. |
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