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We could obviously use his talent on the field, but if he can't play well with the coach or players that support the coach, just move on. While I don't feel Berhalter did a bad job last cycle, I don't think his style uses our talent the best, and I wouldn't have brought him back for a 2nd cycle regardless of the "scandal" or not.
US 1 Germany 3
Brilliant goal by Pulisic, world class strike. But it's a 90-minute match and these good sides...even this German team with a brand-new coach and coming through a period of turmoil for them...just play a better brand of soccer. Possession, possession, possession! It's not just the skill level of the individual players, just as important is the movement of players without the ball. If you just watch, the Germans always had a player in the right place at the right time, the man with the ball didn't have to hold up, to wait on a teammate to appear. Contrast that with the very amateur, disjointed US attacks when you (me, anyway) holler at the TV, "where's the help!?" That is a huge problem that USMNT has never, ever been able to solve.
Outclassed today.
Next up, a very fast, attacking Ghana side. Very different from the controlled, deliberate play of the Germans.
Current FIFA rankings: US 11th Ghana 61st
Don't pay a bit of attention to that though because these rankings, the latest published by FIFA, has Germany ranked 15th, and they just dismantled us in embarrassing fashion. The FIFA world rankings are based on accumulated points and are often, most of the time, off base. No way is the USMNT the 11th best side in the world. Perhaps Top 25, barely, with a stretch, but not 11th. And Ghana is typical of the African teams, lots of athleticism and talent, but usually lack organization and will lose matches vs. other associations that hurt their world rankings. But, they are so very capable on any given night of shocking the hell out of ya! And this is why tonight's game is a challenge for the US and is another test for Berhalter.
US 4 Ghana 0
Overall good performance. All the goals were scored in the first half, Reyna got 2, Pulisic 1, but the best goal was by Balogun. And although he had neither a goal nor an assist the MOM "Man of the Match" was Dest. His brilliant runs drawing defenders to him set up most of our attacks. Dest is wasted on the back line, he is no fullback, and needs to be starting in the midfield. Typical Berhalter, playing someone of this caliber out of position.
The midfield played well and the defense was more than capable. Was surprised by the "blah" offense of Ghana. They are loaded with offensive talent...but lack organization, and that showed last night...and usually they threaten defenses more. Matt Turner did have an incredible save on a shot that would have beaten most keepers. Other than that one time, Turner was not tested the whole game.
Still waiting for Geo Reyna to live up to the hype. His goals, both of them, were set up for him. He didn't show me anything last night. Mostly he was "just out there."
USWNT 0 Columbia 0
Play them again Sunday.
Morgan missed a PK, and we struck the woodwork twice. Enjoyed the run of play, held the ball, had waaaaaaaay many more chances than they did. I think Naeher had one official save, but it was a shot from 20 yards and she had it measured easily. Same old problem with this version of the USWNT, can't finish attacks. Lots of athleticism and talent, but they look like an all-star team that has trained together only 2 or 3 times. No coherence, no knowing where each other is at critical moments in a build up.
We played double 6s last night. That tells me the coaches know how big a loss Julie Ertz is, due to her recent retirement. Last night Sullivan and Sonnet shared position 6 duties with Horan posted in front of them. That impacted our offense since it limited another midfielder getting in on the attacks. On that subject, the retirements of Carli Lloyd and now Julie Ertz has removed the USWNT from the top 3-5 sides in the world. Unless we can find an adequate replacement for players of that quality, that impact, the USWNT will be bumping a glass ceiling short of world titles (World Cup and Olympics). The team has also lost the services of Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, and Christine Press, HUGE losses, Hall of Fame players who are not easily replaced. The USWNT used to dominate the midfield which is why we won 4 World Cups. Our midfield is a mere shadow of its former self, and has relegated the USWNT to just another good, but nothing special program.
Good news! Becky Sauerbrunn returned to the national team, after her year-long absence due to injury. She entered at halftime and played her usual solid defense for 45 minutes. At 38 her return is limited, but she is an absolute rock in our defense. I liked her comments post game, she understands her role as a "coach on the field" for the young defenders. Our defense is still among the best in the world. People were disappointed by our performance in the recent World Cup, but hello! the defense surrendered exactly ONE goal in 4 matches. The lousy offense was, and is, the issue.
4:30 kickoff today. Need to start seeing these youngsters understand the game better. Of course, that comes from coaching which apparently they ain't getting any of.
USWNT 3 Columbia 0 Better...Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
Demello has emerged as the most likely to fill the void left by Carli Lloyd, tons of energy and creative play. Is in the starting 11, the "A" team for me. Kudos to Sonnet, playing the #6 role, had a great game, played all 90 minutes. Definitely elevated her status in my book. Great goal by Horan, who was also very active tonight. Fishel and Shaw got the other two goals, both rookies.
US 3 Trinidad & Tobago 0
US scored all three goals in a 7-minute span in the final 8+ minutes of the match. In the 82nd minute it was still 0-0. TnT was at 10 men after a red card dismissal in the 37th minute. For the entire match and especially after that point, 90%+ of the game was played in TnT's half. They took one shot the entire match and only had the ball in our half a few times, but never threatening. But typical US, under Berhalter, there was failure after failure in the attacking 1/3 with the TnT goalie making a couple of spectacular saves to his credit. We took 26 shots, but most of them were off-target or weak. The official stats had the US with 75% of the possession, but I don't think that is correct, more like 85-90%.
Goal scorers were Pepi, Robinson, and Reyna.
This was the first leg of the home-home quarterfinals CONCACAF Nations League Tournament. The US travels to Trinidad for the 2nd leg on Monday and need only to not lose worse than 2-0 to advance to the semi-finals. We've not enjoyed much success playing at TnT but surely even Berhalter's bunch can't blow this.
I just cant stand Berhalters no goal football. Give the team back to BJ Callahan, I don’t think he is the guy to take us to the promised land but when he was in charge we played some attractive attacking football.
Winston McKennie is out again with his on-going knee issues. I noticed he wasn't as active/aggressive in the recent TnT match and this was the reason, his knee was bothering him. Dern.
The US used to be a force in set pieces, always a good threat to score, but Berhalter has even taken that away from us. We suck at it, as we do all other offensive measures. For any side (Brazil, Germany, Spain...etc) the window of opportunity in an attack is only open for a second or two, literally, and you have to be prepared and ALL ON THE SAME PAGE to take advantage of the open windows. Under Berhalter it's sheer luck if our guys are in synch in an attack. Watching a Berhalter team play looks like a group of fellows who just got together for the first time and are playing a Sunday afternoon pick-up match. Individually they know the game, know what they should be doing, but find it nearly impossible to coordinate an attack.
The sad thing is we had a coach, probably still do, that was solely a set piece coach leading up to the World Cup. We were the worst team in Concacaf at generating and scoring off set pieces.
US 1 TnT 2
Dest was sent off for back-to-back yellows while arguing with the ref and what was an obviously missed call. Dest was right on the call, but the call was made by the ref, in the 39th minute the US up 1-0 tonight and 4-0 in aggregate, so let it go and play on. Stupid, senseless, and unprofessional for Dest to go on fussing. And! equally unprofessional for the ref to remain engaged in the verbal jousting which lead to the second yellow, and thus a red card send-off. Stupid all around.
Well, no news here, nothing new to see, we lost again at Trinidad & Tobago. Tonite 2-1 but the US advances in aggregate 4-2.
U17 World Cup
Germany 3 USA 2 Round of 16
Our "kids" played well, actually had more possession and generally enjoyed the run of play. But in the end it's about scoring goals and Germany was efficient and clinical when in the attacking 1/3. The Germans had 8 solid attacks, 5 times the US defense made a good play to break up the attacks, and 3 times they did not. The Germans made zero mistakes with the ball, i.e. they didn't thwart their attack with an errant pass or missing a wide-open shot, they finished their chances. On offense the US created more chances with two good finishes, but also helped the Germans at times with a bad pass or a missed trap. Oh! the Germans also got lucky when the ref missed a hand ball by the Germans in their box, that happened with us trailing 2-1 in the 70th minute.
These are 15 and 16 yr old kids, U17, and our guys showed tons of potential. Better coached than our senior team!
USWNT 3 China 0
Solid performance. The USWNT is a perfect 10-0-0 since the disappointment of the World Cup, outscoring the opposition 40-4 in those ten matches. Two teenage youngsters earned their first caps today, Nighswonger and Moultrie. Tons and tons of talent...young talent, which has to be molded into a cohesive machine. Good to see Rose Lavelle back and in good form after her bouts with injuries. China is also a very young team but coming in they had score in 11 straight international matches, including against England and Sweden. They barely had the ball in our half for all 90 minutes, not coming close to threatening.
Play China again Tuesday in Frisco, Texas.
That was one of my and lots of others disappointment with the WWC roster. We left, some good young players that were in form for their clubs etc. at home to give Rapinoe et al. a WWC farewell lap. I am not specifically talking about Nighswonger or Moultrie, but more like Sam Coffey and Ashley Hatch. They kept saying Rapinoe was there for veteran leadership.. what the hell!! Thats why you have Morgan, Etz, Horan, Dunn, O'Hara and they could still perform on the field.
I hope we move forward with the youth and develop the tactical sense of our ladies ahead of the next Cup. We are still better athletes than most countries, but part of the difference this last cup was the tactical development of several of the other nations. I am happy to spend some of these games playing the youngsters against good teams and developing for the future.