OP
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2004
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Couple thoughts on what we’ve seen so far at the Gold Cup.
How can you not feel joy at watching Daryl **** (edit: Dee-kay lol) play soccer? Whatever sports cliche you want to use, he’s got that stuff that makes him compelling to watch. More importantly, it’s what he can bring that others in the forward pool may not. We must keep in mind for World Cup Qualifying that there’s always nights particularly on the road where the game is a complete muddled slog and nothing is working. What **** gives the US is a direct, aggressive mentality in front of the net. He’s the guy most likely to bully his way 1v1 or just get a touch of a melee header and get that ugly goal.
I wish that more of the personnel we saw in the Martinique game had instead played the Haiti game as it would have been a better data point for determining roster spots going forward (I think they were better too, even taking into account the opposition). Hoppe brought an elevated level of skill otherwise lacking, in addition to some smart freelancing around the field… hunting the game rather than being static. Busio and Williamson in particular brought an energy to the midfield vs Martinique that was lacking in the opener (indeed, the team had better flow when Busio was subbed on vs Haiti as well). Yueill has yet again mightily struggled (I’m not going to spend time bagging on him because it’s a well worn topic that can be read about pretty much anywhere and he shouldn’t be put in this position anyway), his minutes for the remainder of the tournament have to go to Busio who so far at least looks plausible as a backup defensive midfielder. Busio still has quite a bit to work on, notably he isn’t yet capable of winning balls off an opposing player’s foot (he does have more ability to recover after losing his man, something that Yueill for instance does not). Also had several dangerous opportunities where a slightly better pass would have blown the play wide open, but he was at least attempting far more positive stuff than what we’ve seen from other backup CDM candidates. He’s also reportedly set to join Venezia in Serie A, pretty strong rise for a teenager.
So this plus the end of the Haiti game gave us the longest look we’ve seen at using three CBs in the back plus two CMs (Busio and Williamson in this case) playing a double pivot when defending. It’s appealing defensively because you’ve got a very stout trapezoid shape in the center with those 3 CBs behind the 2 CMs. This look is very on trend in soccer and with Berhalter if nothing else he’s been willing to try things that are very on trend. This look makes some sense for the US because Tyler Adams is probably the only guy they can use as a lone CDM. So without him, you need a second midfielder to help out defensively (at least, against halfway good teams). So I like that in this case, they were fitting the tactics to the available players rather than the other way around (as Berhalter has been criticized for doing). Newcomer Sands along with Zimmerman looked very comfortable in this setup.
So what’s the downside? Well, there’s always the rock-paper-scissors element. By adding the 3rd CB, you’ve taken one out of the midfield. So you’re relying more on your wingbacks (Bello and Moore against Martinique) for generating offense. You are playing the ball through the flanks rather than through the more dangerous center. Generally leads to low percentage crosses, but you get a lot of them. Beyond that there were several times where the US worked the ball into a very dangerous location, only it was the wingback with the dangerous chance. Not a slight against Bello or Moore (Moore in particular has played well), just isn’t ideal for it to be the wingback’s foot on the ball in that situation. Something to watch for, are they able to get the movements right so that it’s the goalscorers in those moments against better opposition like Canada.
How can you not feel joy at watching Daryl **** (edit: Dee-kay lol) play soccer? Whatever sports cliche you want to use, he’s got that stuff that makes him compelling to watch. More importantly, it’s what he can bring that others in the forward pool may not. We must keep in mind for World Cup Qualifying that there’s always nights particularly on the road where the game is a complete muddled slog and nothing is working. What **** gives the US is a direct, aggressive mentality in front of the net. He’s the guy most likely to bully his way 1v1 or just get a touch of a melee header and get that ugly goal.
I wish that more of the personnel we saw in the Martinique game had instead played the Haiti game as it would have been a better data point for determining roster spots going forward (I think they were better too, even taking into account the opposition). Hoppe brought an elevated level of skill otherwise lacking, in addition to some smart freelancing around the field… hunting the game rather than being static. Busio and Williamson in particular brought an energy to the midfield vs Martinique that was lacking in the opener (indeed, the team had better flow when Busio was subbed on vs Haiti as well). Yueill has yet again mightily struggled (I’m not going to spend time bagging on him because it’s a well worn topic that can be read about pretty much anywhere and he shouldn’t be put in this position anyway), his minutes for the remainder of the tournament have to go to Busio who so far at least looks plausible as a backup defensive midfielder. Busio still has quite a bit to work on, notably he isn’t yet capable of winning balls off an opposing player’s foot (he does have more ability to recover after losing his man, something that Yueill for instance does not). Also had several dangerous opportunities where a slightly better pass would have blown the play wide open, but he was at least attempting far more positive stuff than what we’ve seen from other backup CDM candidates. He’s also reportedly set to join Venezia in Serie A, pretty strong rise for a teenager.
So this plus the end of the Haiti game gave us the longest look we’ve seen at using three CBs in the back plus two CMs (Busio and Williamson in this case) playing a double pivot when defending. It’s appealing defensively because you’ve got a very stout trapezoid shape in the center with those 3 CBs behind the 2 CMs. This look is very on trend in soccer and with Berhalter if nothing else he’s been willing to try things that are very on trend. This look makes some sense for the US because Tyler Adams is probably the only guy they can use as a lone CDM. So without him, you need a second midfielder to help out defensively (at least, against halfway good teams). So I like that in this case, they were fitting the tactics to the available players rather than the other way around (as Berhalter has been criticized for doing). Newcomer Sands along with Zimmerman looked very comfortable in this setup.
So what’s the downside? Well, there’s always the rock-paper-scissors element. By adding the 3rd CB, you’ve taken one out of the midfield. So you’re relying more on your wingbacks (Bello and Moore against Martinique) for generating offense. You are playing the ball through the flanks rather than through the more dangerous center. Generally leads to low percentage crosses, but you get a lot of them. Beyond that there were several times where the US worked the ball into a very dangerous location, only it was the wingback with the dangerous chance. Not a slight against Bello or Moore (Moore in particular has played well), just isn’t ideal for it to be the wingback’s foot on the ball in that situation. Something to watch for, are they able to get the movements right so that it’s the goalscorers in those moments against better opposition like Canada.
