MNT’s 2022

[Palatine]

2 goals in three games yet undefeated in the group stage.

 

[SubbaBub]

That was an exciting game. This is also the 3rd game is several days. If Berhalter felt our guys up top were gassed, there's no point in continuing to push upfield, then defensive substitutions was the right idea.

Musah, Weah, Adams, Robinson to a degree. They didn't seem to have much left.

Musah could barely move at the end and made several noob mistakes late.

 

[Travelman6]

Did you miss qualifying?

I meant as far as advancing to the round of 16 in the world cup. Hard to find an uglier path out of the group stages than that. But whatever, they advanced.

 

[Mots010]

I meant as far as advancing to the round of 16 in the world cup. Hard to find an uglier path out of the group stages than that. But whatever, they advanced.

You could do a lot worse. Hell, I thought 2010 was uglier. In 2002 we got played out of the stadium by Poland and still advanced.

 

[SubbaBub]

I meant as far as advancing to the round of 16 in the world cup. Hard to find an uglier path out of the group stages than that. But whatever, they advanced.

We have always won ugly as scoring has always been a shortcoming.

 

[upstater]

I don't follow the team as much as many of you. But man, there is a dropoff in talent as we get deeper in the subs. Every sub seemed to lower our skill set a bit more.

• I don't usually love Sargent. I thought he played well (although he may be better defensively than as a striker. Hes just not dynamic).
• I really hate our attack. It doesn't fit our players. We play like we're old school Germany with cross after cross. Half our guys are below 5'9".

But, we're through. I was expecting a tie from before the game and right until the whistle.

Sargent is really dynamic for his English Championship team. He scores nifty goals and makes nice passes. I've said since last season that he's our best striker. He gets involved, he holds the ball, and he can punish you with assists and strikes. He may not be the caliber of striker on many of these teams, but he's our best.

I think our attack was special today because Iran needed a tie and was packed in. We weren't passing or dribbling through them. We had to go over and to the wings if we were going to score. The US played more direct against Wales and England.

 

[UConn990411]

We have always won ugly as scoring has always been a shortcoming.

They don’t have elite offensive talent, but they shouldn’t have this much trouble generating opportunities.

Of course, not playing your most talented offensive player isn’t helping either.

 

[SubbaBub]

Sargent is really dynamic for his English Championship team. He scores nifty goals and makes nice passes. I've said since last season that he's our best striker. He gets involved, he holds the ball, and he can punish you with assists and strikes. He may not be the caliber of striker on many of these teams, but he's our best.

I think our attack was special today because Iran needed a tie and was packed in. We weren't passing or dribbling through them. We had to go over and to the wings if we were going to score. The US played more direct against Wales and England.

Sargent is a very good striker, except for scoring goals. He does everything you want a #9 to do and does it pretty well except the primary thing. A good #9 needs to be scoring at least 0.5 goals per game. I'm sure his record in the EPL was the reason he sat vs. Eng. He's a known quantity at that level and it's not good.

 

[LIuconn]

Dest played the game of his career. What an effort. I hope he keeps emotions in check on Saturday.
Musah was 100% gassed by 70’. We need to get these guys some hgh or something this week. Lots of intense minutes for the midfield 3 already on short rest

 

[LIuconn]

And not sure if it’s been said here today yet but Shaq Moore cannot see the field against Ned or if we keep moving on. Sheesh

 

[Tenspro2002]

Got 3 results in 3 games. Should have beat Wales, but it was always going to require beating Iran.

We literally didn't concede a goal in the regular course of play.

 

[Kolumbo]

I don't follow the team as much as many of you. But man, there is a dropoff in talent as we get deeper in the subs. Every sub seemed to lower our skill set a bit more.

• Our main guys are really solid to great. I think Robinson was too amped up. Some really bad touches as LIuconn mentioned. But Pulisic, McKennie, Dest, etc. pass the eye test.
• Aaronson was the one example of a sub that seemed just as strong as the starters.
• I don't usually love Sargent. I thought he played well (although he may be better defensively than as a striker. Hes just not dynamic).
• I thought Zimmerman played well in the air (on the whole) when he came in. He cost us the game against Wales so he had keep us in the lead.
• Why was Shaq Moore in the game? He just doesn't belong on the field during an important World Cup moment.
• I liked Haji Wright... until that last minute scuffed shot that could've been taken to the corner. That's not a lack of experience, that's hubris. Even my high school son would know to take it to the corner (but he might not).
• I don't think I've seen CCV before. I'm not sure what to think of him. I was a bit worried that he was going to tackle (American football) someone at the wrong time. I respect that he was very physical, but controlled his fouling. Then I saw he plays for Celtic and was glad he didn't think Iran was Rangers.
• I really hate our attack. It doesn't fit our players. We play like we're old school Germany with cross after cross. Half our guys are below 5'9".
• Do we really know what's up with Reyna? Does Berhalter just hate him, or is he really hurt or worse than we all think? I don't get it.

But, we're through. I was expecting a tie from before the game and right until the whistle.

I share many of the same sentiments. I don't follow soccer too closely until the world cup but that is starting to change. I had to go completely off the grid all afternoon because I was watching tape delay. The goal was brilliant and Pulisic's injury was of course a game changer. I thought Aaronson and Zimmerman really stood out down the stretch. Even if the USA doesn't have the firepower to score more often, it seems it should have been able to play a better final 15 minutes. Man that was brutal!

There was one play near the end where I thought a US player messed up but then the announcer said he wasn't aggressive because he was in the box. Turns out it was just inside the left corner of the box and that could have been the type of play where if he had gone in heavy, Iran would have had a PK, which is what I was fully expecting to happen to the US. So maybe it was a great play after all.

 

[Waquoit]

Sargent is one of our best guys right now. He played well the last game. He's good.

 

[LIuconn]

Saw somewhere Adams ran 13 km today. He's gone 90 in all 3 games.

Aaronson ran almost 8 km in his 45 minutes

 

[djct1999]

Today was a huge win and one that will propel this group moving forward. Super proud of their efforts and our starters all played well. Why nitpick? We won, we received top efforts from our top guys, and advanced. Couldn't be happier.

 

[LIuconn]

On to the Dutch. Who has an opinion or a brief scouting report?

 

[ZooCougar]

On to the Dutch. Who has an opinion or a brief scouting report?

Dutch fans will tell you that this team isn’t as good as it normally is.

Oddly enough I feel more confident against a Euro team than a South American one right now. All of our key guys play there. They won’t be intimidated one bit.

 

[huskypantz]

I'm starting to think Antonee's last name is hyphenated: Robinson-Heavyfirsttouch.

I know he had a few heavy touches but I loved Robinson’s game. Dude is a rock in possession battles and I thought he played a huge part in controlling play for 2/3 of the game. Weah was everywhere, created multiple chances with his speed. Dest frustrated me a little with lost opportunities in the two prior games, really solid today. And I don’t know who the fastest player is on the team but man McKinnie had some sprints back to help on D where he made up huge ground and impeded Iran’s attacker, foiled the run. Proud of these guys, can’t wait for Saturday.

 

[spsct]

On to the Dutch. Who has an opinion or a brief scouting report?

I've seen two of their games. I'm not super impressed as they looked kind of disjointed and lethargic, especially against Ecuador. But you always had the feeling they were a tick away from being pretty good.

 

[Palatine]

The goal went from Adams to McKennie who chipped it to Dest who headed it Pulisic. That's a pretty official changing of the guard. Those guys will be around for a couple of more cups.

Jedi might not haver been perfect but he was pretty darn good.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Whatever happens going forward, we will at least have accomplished the goal of establishing a strong baseline of performance and experience heading into 2026 for this young core.

 

[Waquoit]

And a key take is when it came to a must-win game, the MLS guys didn't start.

 

[outlaw]

I am far from Ggggggg's biggest fan, or Lalas either for that matter, but this is where we are right now. I definitely think Gio should be playing, and I think there were some mistakes in who was selected at the 9, but this young group is getting results under Gggg. It will be an interesting situation for us to be in looking ahead to 2026.. for sure.. but right now its all eyes on the baby yanks against the dutch.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Whatever happens going forward, we will at least have accomplished the goal of establishing a strong baseline of performance and experience heading into 2026 for this young core.

Elaborating -- I didn't realize what unbelievable continuity we're going to have on this roster for the next 4 years.

In 2026, we could have a starting XI (with ages) of:

Turner (32)

Dest (26)
Zimmerman (33)
CCV (28)
Robinson (29)
and/or Miles Robinson (29), Joe Scally (23)

Adams (27)
Musah (24)
McKennie (28)

Pulisic (28)
Aaronson (26)
Weah (26)

with Reyna (24), Sargent (26), Ferreira (25), de la Torre (28), Wright (28) in the mix, plus any of the younger guys who I'm less familiar with.

The only key members of this roster who will age out are Ream and probably Yedlin.

 

[Waquoit]

I am far from Ggggggg's biggest fan, or Lalas either for that matter, but this is where we are right now. I definitely think Gio should be playing, and I think there were some mistakes in who was selected at the 9, but this young group is getting results under Gggg. It will be an interesting situation for us to be in looking ahead to 2026.. for sure.. but right now its all eyes on the baby yanks against the dutch.

Nah, Gregg is the Mr. Magoo of coaches.