USA Canada 2/5 10pm ET | The Boneyard

USA Canada 2/5 10pm ET

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I'll be there. Would like to see:
  • Nagbe play a majority of the game - ideally in a central role where he is most comfortable
  • Can the back line hold up?
  • Jozy's chemistry with Morris and Keisewetter
  • Bradley turning set pieces into real opportunities
  • Zardes get some run on the wing - I don't think he has the touch and technical ability to play in small spaces
 
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Assuming Larin playing for Canada tonight... Would like to see him play well (but not do too much damage).
 
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Yup - curious to see his game. CAN has the last two MLS ROYs
 
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Starting XI...Bingham, Birnbaum, Jones, Besler, Acosta, Zardes, Bradley (c), Diskerud, Nguyen, Morris, Altidore

Interesting blend of youth and experience. A couple like Birnbaum, Acosta, and Nguyen look to have earned a second look after the prior game while while I think Zardes has to do better this match.
 
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Wore my Cyle Orlando jersey. Wanted to see a 3-1 win with a Cyle goal, but happy with the result. Thought Jordan Morris was pretty uninspiring tonight. Big fan of the U-23s in camp. Always enjoy watching Ethan Finlay for the Crew. I'll take it. Probably one of the most successful January camps in a while.
 
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US controlled every aspect just couldn't finish chances. Morris looked good positioning but struggled settling his first touch. It was almost as if he was playing nervous (an opinion, no clue if true). Antidote had so many chances, unlucky on some, just didn't finish on others... Until the late header (great cross from Finley). The back line wasn't tested much, and yet they still made me nervous on the few occasions Canada did press things. They made our outside backs look slow on several occasions. Good couple of weeks for a January camp tho. Good results, young guys got work, no injuries.

Larin didn't have much to work with, but he looked comfortable.
 
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Morris' biggest negative for me last night was his touch and control in tight spaces. Hopefully he works hard on that. Otherwise, I thought he had some nice moments. Had a good combination play with Jozy and should've scored. Also had a nice pass on top of the 18 to Gyasi which should've been an assist (or a hockey assist if Gyasi passed to wide open Altidore). Also, he had good movement, which wasn't always utilized by his teammates. Perfect example, Mix's late pass, which was also behind Morris, when he had made a really good run between the two CBs. He also dropped deep and showed some hold up ability. Again, he needs to work on it but I thought it was encouraging. I liked him and Jozy up top together.

Gyasi was another one who had trouble with his touch and control last night too. There were a couple of times it forced him into a deep cross right from the end line. Or just wasted a good ball in behind for him. Also, his finishing needs work. I love his work rate though and if he improves in those other areas, could become a very good all around player.

Excluding the finishing, I was pretty happy with the result. We created some really good chances and the game easily could've been 3-0 or 4-0. We definitely need to work on control and passing in tight spaces, especially if teams are going to high press us (which is nothing new). A couple of those mistakes at the back could easily go punished by a better side.
 
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Morris' biggest negative for me last night was his touch and control in tight spaces. Hopefully he works hard on that. Otherwise, I thought he had some nice moments. Had a good combination play with Jozy and should've scored. Also had a nice pass on top of the 18 to Gyasi which should've been an assist (or a hockey assist if Gyasi passed to wide open Altidore). Also, he had good movement, which wasn't always utilized by his teammates. Perfect example, Mix's late pass, which was also behind Morris, when he had made a really good run between the two CBs. He also dropped deep and showed some hold up ability. Again, he needs to work on it but I thought it was encouraging. I liked him and Jozy up top together.

Gyasi was another one who had trouble with his touch and control last night too. There were a couple of times it forced him into a deep cross right from the end line. Or just wasted a good ball in behind for him. Also, his finishing needs work. I love his work rate though and if he improves in those other areas, could become a very good all around player.

Excluding the finishing, I was pretty happy with the result. We created some really good chances and the game easily could've been 3-0 or 4-0. We definitely need to work on control and passing in tight spaces, especially if teams are going to high press us (which is nothing new). A couple of those mistakes at the back could easily go punished by a better side.

Agree on ball control in tight spaces. Morris likes to roam and with 9 men in the box he had a hard time finding space. Good news is that his next big game against Colombia, they will not pack the box like that. The bad news, is that Colombia will make the US pay on the sloppy and sometimes lazy passing I saw. A lot of players need to work on their first touch, too.

I like Altidore's hold play. That double tap off the post he had was classic Jozy using his strength to hold and turn the defender for a shot. Henry for Canada was lucky that he only got a yellow for basically tackling Jozy after Jozy beat him on what would have been a 1v1 with the keeper from the edge of the penalty box. Zardes played better; but needs to finish and work on his first touch. Bingham looked nervous in the net at first; but, wasn't really a factor. Not a fan of Jones playing on the backline. Diskerud did not provide the creatively I was hoping for. Right now I rather him as a CDM paired with Bradley as a COM. Was happy with Vincent's fist cap and both Nagbe and Kieswetter provided a spark off the bench while Finlay made-up for a so-so showing against Iceland with a perfect cross on Altidore's goal.
 
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Canada bunkered a great deal. 1-0 might as well have been 4-0.

Can't wait to see the real starters in a real competitive match in a few weeks.
 
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PS - The biggest downside to last night's game was listening to Alexi Lalas. I was annoyed with him before the game started with all of his yelling and no analytical substance. To me at least, he's sounding like a younger, soccer orientated version of Dicky V.
 
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