MNT's 2021

[HitDog]

 

[Excalibur]

I wouldn't be surprised if B sat Pulisic for the first half. Not amused but not surprised.

There's an argument that it's the right move. Pulisic probably can't handle 90 minutes right now, and we are much better in the second half than the first.

 

[outlaw]

Mexico, meet the Iceteca

 

[HitDog]

 

[LIuconn]

great starters, can’t lie

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Atrocious performance, incredibly lucky to get a draw. No one played well really, but Antonee Robinson played one of the worst games i’ve seen out of a left back short of own goals. And Pepi again was absent. Time to give someone else a chance up there in my opinion

 

[HuskyHawk]

Overall, not too disappointed. I felt like we stopped being aggressive after they scored and reverted to our over tendency to back pass and try to build slowly. Doesn’t work well against pressure. We don’t play well against this team.

Busio played well on the defensive end, not well on the offensive end. Probably best as a backup to Adams. His passing is just off.

Pepi not doing much of anything and while we had no choices tonight with so many out, I’m warming to trying Weah. He was strong in the middle, holding and passing like Dempsey used to.

Nobody was great. Zimmerman was just giving the ball away, like Hockey icing. No idea what that was about.

Definitely miss Dest and McKennie. Yedlin is solid on D but no threat on the wing. Agree with Andre that A. Robinson had his worst game as a starter. Busio saved his butt several times.

 

[Palatine]

Don't understand pulling Weah for Pulisic. Should have pulled Aronson for Pulisic. Weah was having another great game. He went out and the offense went out with him.

The field was a joke.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Don't understand pulling Weah for Pulisic. Should have pulled Aronson for Pulisic. Weah was having another great game. He went out and the offense went out with him.

The field was a joke.

Weah scored and it seemed like for 40 mins we never even gave him the ball again. We played so scared against them cuz they’re bigger than us. Very disappointed.

 

[SubbaBub]

Weah scored one of the best goals of Jozy Altidore's career. Richards is garbage got away with a handball in the box. Steffen needs to stop that outside shot. That corner looked clean to me. Lucky to leave with a point. Still need 3 wins, now in six games. Getting late early out there.

No major changes in the power rankings, Weah is now in the mix to back up Reyna, though I still like Aaronson's work rate. No one is touching McKennie in the midfield, Musah and Busio need more time and probably shouldn't be played together.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Weah scored one of the best goals of Jozy Altidore's career. Richards is garbage got away with a handball in the box. Steffen needs to stop that outside shot. That corner looked clean to me. Lucky to leave with a point. Still need 3 wins, now in six games. Getting late early out there.

No major changes in the power rankings, Weah is now in the mix to back up Reyna, though I still like Aaronson's work rate. No one is touching McKennie in the midfield, Musah and Busio need more time and probably shouldn't be played together.

1: Weah >> Aaronson
2: Shoulder is not considered a handball
3: Richards was fine, it wasn’t our CB’s that necessarily performed poorly, besides Zimmerman clearing the ball to no one repeatedly, it was lack of touch and control of the ball in the midfield and wings, and Antonee Robinson just as a whole.

 

[SubbaBub]

1: Weah >> Aaronson
2: Shoulder is not considered a handball
3: Richards was fine, it wasn’t our CB’s that necessarily performed poorly, besides Zimmerman clearing the ball to no one repeatedly, it was lack of touch and control of the ball in the midfield and wings, and Antonee Robinson just as a whole.

1. No, he isn't
2. The shoulder stops above the shirt line.
3. I repeat, Richards is horrible.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

1. No, he isn't
2. The shoulder stops above the shirt line.
3. I repeat, Richards is horrible.

What is Aaronson better at than Weah? Pressing, that’s pretty much it. Weah has better touch, speed, strength, a significantly better shot, makes better runs, can pick out a ball better.

Not gonna argue the handball, they didn’t call it and if there was VAR it wouldn’t have gotten reversed.

You saying Richards is horrible makes little sense here. Wasn’t responsible for the goal, didn’t get outjumped like Walker on a goal that should’ve counted, passes and sees the field very well. Just doesn’t make any sense.

 

[LIuconn]

Lucky do leave with a point. Jamaica was the better side and Ggg’s substitutions were very questionable

 

[Waquoit]

Antonio is the man.

 

[HuskyHawk]

What is Aaronson better at than Weah? Pressing, that’s pretty much it. Weah has better touch, speed, strength, a significantly better shot, makes better runs, can pick out a ball better.

Not gonna argue the handball, they didn’t call it and if there was VAR it wouldn’t have gotten reversed.

You saying Richards is horrible makes little sense here. Wasn’t responsible for the goal, didn’t get outjumped like Walker on a goal that should’ve counted, passes and sees the field very well. Just doesn’t make any sense.

Aaronson’s work rate is higher than anybody on the squad. Still, I think that makes him a very effective sub on the wing. Or, if Weah starts at striker, a starter that drives opponents nuts. Once Reyna is back we have an abundance. Weah deserves to start, bit maybe not as a wing. He was great in traffic today. Pepi gave us nothing.

Richards was ok. He‘s not the young version of Brooks we need but at least he has some physical presence. This team is skilled but soft. Jamaica always bullies us. Canada bullied us. I can’t even fathom what Germany or Belgium would do to us.

As for handballs there was an even more obvious handball in their box just minutes before ours…and I mean and actual hand. Ref didn’t call either and that is fine. I thought it was one of the best officiated concacaf games I“ve seen.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Pretty much a worst case scenario night across the Octagonal except for escaping with a point.

Panama and Canada pick up 3 points, and they're going to be our toughest competition for spots #2-4. Costa Rica is the only other team with a chance to get into the mix, and they got all 3 also.

Feels like we need 7 points out of the January window (@Canada, vs. Honduras, vs. El Salvador) otherwise we're going to be sweating an extremely challenging finish (@Mexico, vs. Panama in what will be an extremely high-stakes affair, @Costa Rica).

 

[LIuconn]

Canada is really good. Mexico looks washed up

 

[HuskyHawk]

Pretty much a worst case scenario night across the Octagonal except for escaping with a point.

Panama and Canada pick up 3 points, and they're going to be our toughest competition for spots #2-4. Costa Rica is the only other team with a chance to get into the mix, and they got all 3 also.

Feels like we need 7 points out of the January window (@Canada, vs. Honduras, vs. El Salvador) otherwise we're going to be sweating an extremely challenging finish (@Mexico, vs. Panama in what will be an extremely high-stakes affair, @Costa Rica).

They all play each other too. I think we are in pretty good shape. The tie vs Canada is our biggest failure at this point. I don’t think you concede spot 1 to Mexico. Or concede them a spot at all. Costa Rica isn’t good. They just happened to play the worst team. Honduras is terrible.

 

[ZooCougar]

Wow Canada

 

[Waquoit]

The UConn alums, Larin and Blake, had a nice night.

 

[Palatine]

That clinches it, we should always play Mexico in January in Nome.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Maybe it is a cop out, but this makes valid points about the conditions we face in CONCACAF. Crappy fields, hostile fans throwing things at our players at times, both tropical heat conditions and, as Mexico saw, near Arctic. Who knows where we play vs Canada this winter. I mean, @Canada January 30th. Let's hope it is in Vancouver, because that's about the only place that may be playable.

USMNT's faltering draw to Jamaica illustrates bumpy road to Qatar 2022 | Sporting News

USMNT's draw in Jamaica not as bad as it seems

www.sportingnews.com

 

[Tenspro2002]

They all play each other too. I think we are in pretty good shape. The tie vs Canada is our biggest failure at this point. I don’t think you concede spot 1 to Mexico. Or concede them a spot at all. Costa Rica isn’t good. They just happened to play the worst team. Honduras is terrible.

Well, Mexico and Canada don't play each other again, and we get both of them on the road. Need at least draws there. Their only other tough games are Panama and maybe Costa Rica. Where's the resistance coming from?

Panama has @Mexico and @Costa Rica, along with vs. Jamaica, next window. If they're still within a point of us going into March, our match vs. Panama at home may very well become a must-win to avoid the play-off.

 

[Waquoit]

I enjoyed this passage from the Defector: "Gregg Berhalter has played the same formation three games in a row, and his once-beloved MLS clown squad has mostly sat on the bench."