The Official US Soccer thread

[cardpa]

Caught the second half of the Mexico/Venezuela game last night. Great second half by both teams. Mexico had a chance to tie the game late on a hand ball in the box which I thought could have gone either way depending on which angle you saw it and the Venezuela Gk came up big on the penalty kick. Mexico started doing their fall down if touched routine and got a bit chippy too.

 

[Lorenzo]

Caught the second half of the Mexico/Venezuela game last night. Great second half by both teams. Mexico had a chance to tie the game late on a hand ball in the box which I thought could have gone either way depending on which angle you saw it and the Venezuela Gk came up big on the penalty kick. Mexico started doing their fall down if touched routine and got a bit chippy too.

If Mexico had a guy like rondon on their squad they would have won. Mexico's struggles are far worse than USA at the moment, but kind of falls in line with what I was talking about in the other thread with USA only having one or two guys on their roster who are scoring all their goals. Mexico can't get anyone to score. that penalty was terrible.

 

[cardpa]

Once again Berhalter plays for the tie and fails. Horvath is terrible. On the winning goal all he had to do was volley it over the crossbar. Instead it goes through his hands. How there was no card shown on the collision with Turner is beyond my comprehension.

 

[Lorenzo]

Once again Berhalter plays for the tie and fails. Horvath is terrible. On the winning goal all he had to do was volley it over the crossbar. Instead it goes through his hands. How there was no card shown on the collision with Turner is beyond my comprehension.

yeah the turner injury was unfortunate. that's where the refs were poor in this game IMO. they got it right on the red card. but how do you not caution for a player who is recklessly challenging and injuring a goalkeeper? Turner could have been hurt far worse than he was. that could have been a red card if we think about how injured he was could it not? I'm not a rules expert, but I've seen straight reds given in similar situations. or not given...and we all know that it upsets a lot of people in those instances.

either way this loss is on berhalter IMO. once again he doesn't have this team mentally prepared for what is at stake. Tim Weah right out of the gate can't be that naive to get baited into that. Bottom line is that Greg Berhalter's two victories in back to back major tourneys are against Boliva and Iran. they have had multiple disappointing performances against all of the other competition and Greg's lack of motivation to win games at times is appalling.

 

[Stout]

Kiss advancing goodbye. Berhalter has to be fired. I'm not at all impressed with Turner. The opening Panama chance should've never happened except Turner was glued to the goal and didn't come out to collect the ball like a top keeper would--I saw the difference between a good keeper and a top keeper with Newcastle, as Pope is multi-faceted and Dubravka, though a good shot stopper, can't command his box. Then Turner gives up the weakest of goals.

This game just sucked. US soccer is in the pits.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Once again, USMNT is not a serious football operation. No legitimate team would ever think of rehiring Berhalter, yet here we are. The only good news out of all of this is that Berhalter is likely fired if we crash out, at home, after losing to a team from a country of 4 million people.

It's beyond absurd.

 

[Lorenzo]

Kiss advancing goodbye. Berhalter has to be fired. I'm not at all impressed with Turner. The opening Panama chance should've never happened except Turner was glued to the goal and didn't come out to collect the ball like a top keeper would--I saw the difference between a good keeper and a top keeper with Newcastle, as Pope is multi-faceted and Dubravka, though a good shot stopper, can't command his box. Then Turner gives up the weakest of goals.

This game just sucked. US soccer is in the pits.

agreed and horvath let one in that he could have saved. he also looked very poor on the first shot that he stopped. so that is concerning. Turner's distribution with his feet is subpar. in today's game of playing out of the back your keeper has to be good at that. and he's not good with his long ball either, so it begs the question what is he even doing back there?

 

[Lorenzo]

Once again, USMNT is not a serious football operation. No legitimate team would ever think of rehiring Berhalter, yet here we are. The only good news out of all of this is that Berhalter is likely fired if we crash out, at home, after losing to a team from a country of 4 million people.

It's beyond absurd.

yeah and we all saw this coming. it sucks that it takes seeing our team constantly lose in situations that they should be doing much better. I don't want to feel like a cowboys fan when I watch this team. it feels like I'm hoping that they fail so that greg will get fired. I want to believe in this team again like I used to. but I genuinely feel that US Soccer have a systemic problem with their upper management. they follow the same trends over and over in the way that they accept mediocrity with their decision making. they also need to take more accountability with their pitches and the poor locations where guys are collapsing on the field from heat. it's inexcusable.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

yeah and we all saw this coming. it sucks that it takes seeing our team constantly lose in situations that they should be doing much better. I don't want to feel like a cowboys fan when I watch this team. it feels like I'm hoping that they fail so that greg will get fired. I want to believe in this team again like I used to. but I genuinely feel that US Soccer have a systemic problem with their upper management. they follow the same trends over and over in the way that they accept mediocrity with their decision making. they also need to take more accountability with their pitches and the poor locations where guys are collapsing on the field from heat. it's inexcusable.

The rot is total throughout the system. The symptom of it is Berhalter.

 

[Lorenzo]

The rot is total throughout the system. The symptom of it is Berhalter.

absolutely and I don't have any confidence when we can't fire the jerry jones of US Soccer.

EDIT: they need to put someone in charge of this operation that is going to establish that winning culture and high expectations. don't let any of the players feel comfortable to the point that they think it's ok to throw a punch in a game. that is ridiculous. and that's just one thing. like you said before. we can go back to the World Cup where Berhalter lost control of his team with the Reyna situation. this isn't a new thing. it's so frustrating.

 

[Dback Jon]

Who runs US Soccer?

 

[Chaplin]

Who runs US Soccer?

Monkeys.

 

[cardpa]

absolutely and I don't have any confidence when we can't fire the jerry jones of US Soccer.

EDIT: they need to put someone in charge of this operation that is going to establish that winning culture and high expectations. don't let any of the players feel comfortable to the point that they think it's ok to throw a punch in a game. that is ridiculous. and that's just one thing. like you said before. we can go back to the World Cup where Berhalter lost control of his team with the Reyna situation. this isn't a new thing. it's so frustrating.

Speaking of Reyna, it's criminal how Berhalter is using him in games. Reyna has some creative/passing abilities (we have seen it in other games) yet Berhalter decides it's better to have him as more of a defensive mid than attacking. Sometimes I think Berhalter holds a grudge against Reyna and miss uses him because of it.

I think any other ref would have issued at the least a yellow and quite possibly a red to Chapman for the hit on Turner.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

yeah and we all saw this coming. it sucks that it takes seeing our team constantly lose in situations that they should be doing much better. I don't want to feel like a cowboys fan when I watch this team. it feels like I'm hoping that they fail so that greg will get fired. I want to believe in this team again like I used to. but I genuinely feel that US Soccer have a systemic problem with their upper management. they follow the same trends over and over in the way that they accept mediocrity with their decision making. they also need to take more accountability with their pitches and the poor locations where guys are collapsing on the field from heat. it's inexcusable.

I didn't see this coming. I expected us to win both games and fight Uruguay to top of the group. It just goes to show you that one stupid play by Weah can bring down the entire team in a tournament.

I thought that Panama should have had 1 red card for Turner in the game, and could possibly had another when Panama intentionally hit Pulisic? in the back in a clear attempt to injure the player.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Speaking of Reyna, it's criminal how Berhalter is using him in games. Reyna has some creative/passing abilities (we have seen it in other games) yet Berhalter decides it's better to have him as more of a defensive mid than attacking. Sometimes I think Berhalter holds a grudge against Reyna and miss uses him because of it.

I think any other ref would have issued at the least a yellow and quite possibly a red to Chapman for the hit on Turner.

I think they thought of using him back there so that he could be on the ball more and be more creative. It makes sense in all sorts of ways. Some of the greatest passing midfielders of all time play from back there. (Modric, Xavi, Kroos, Pirlo etc) Plus, Reyna has provided enough defensive cover to earn his place back there. The experiment just failed though.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

agreed and horvath let one in that he could have saved. he also looked very poor on the first shot that he stopped. so that is concerning. Turner's distribution with his feet is subpar. in today's game of playing out of the back your keeper has to be good at that. and he's not good with his long ball either, so it begs the question what is he even doing back there?

He ABSOLUTELY should have saved that one. If he punches instead of trying to just palm the ball away, there's virtually no chance it goes in.

The sad part about it, is that for 25 years, the USMNT were known for great goalkeeping. Now I don't know if you could call any of them in the top 50 in the world. It sucks.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

absolutely and I don't have any confidence when we can't fire the jerry jones of US Soccer.

EDIT: they need to put someone in charge of this operation that is going to establish that winning culture and high expectations. don't let any of the players feel comfortable to the point that they think it's ok to throw a punch in a game. that is ridiculous. and that's just one thing. like you said before. we can go back to the World Cup where Berhalter lost control of his team with the Reyna situation. this isn't a new thing. it's so frustrating.

Maybe they could convince Klopp out of retirement? So much wishful thinking...

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Once again, USMNT is not a serious football operation. No legitimate team would ever think of rehiring Berhalter, yet here we are. The only good news out of all of this is that Berhalter is likely fired if we crash out, at home, after losing to a team from a country of 4 million people.

It's beyond absurd.

I don't like Berhalter as much as the next person, but I'm not sure I agree here. Managers have 2nd stints all of the time with teams.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

There were silver linings to this game though. As many of you already said, this result likely means that Berhalter is fired. (it a terrible twist of fate, you would be surprised if they brought back Bruce Arena for a 3rd time? lol) US needs to get out of the group, and win a game for that to not happen IMO.

Also, I thought Balogun had about as complete of a first half for a striker that I have seen in a really long time for the USMNT. It was sad he had to come off at halftime due to the red card.

 

[cardpa]

There were silver linings to this game though. As many of you already said, this result likely means that Berhalter is fired. (it a terrible twist of fate, you would be surprised if they brought back Bruce Arena for a 3rd time? lol) US needs to get out of the group, and win a game for that to not happen IMO.

Also, I thought Balogun had about as complete of a first half for a striker that I have seen in a really long time for the USMNT. It was sad he had to come off at halftime due to the red card.

This is where I disagree, not with you but with decisions made by Berhalter. They should have stayed with the 4-4-1 keeping Balogun up top and going with Reyna, Pulisic, McKinnie and Torre/Aaronson in the midfield. You don't remove a player that is forcing the other team to have to account for him and bring in a player like Pepi who continues to under perform on the international level.

Starting the second half in a 5-3-1 (they actually played more of a 5-4-0 as the lone forward was playing withdrawn most of the time) tells you we are going to try and keep this as a draw and have no intentions of trying to win the match at all. Keeping the forward high forces Panama to account for him and removing that defender from being involved with the Panama attack. It also would have allowed Balogun to challenge for the ball on some of the long clearances the US dumped down the field. Having 5 in the back doesn't really give you much of a chance to create any type of counter attack at all.

Even being a man down you need to at least have some type of presence of a quick counter to make Panama account for it.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

This is where I disagree, not with you but with decisions made by Berhalter. They should have stayed with the 4-4-1 keeping Balogun up top and going with Reyna, Pulisic, McKinnie and Torre/Aaronson in the midfield. You don't remove a player that is forcing the other team to have to account for him and bring in a player like Pepi who continues to under perform on the international level.

Starting the second half in a 5-3-1 (they actually played more of a 5-4-0 as the lone forward was playing withdrawn most of the time) tells you we are going to try and keep this as a draw and have no intentions of trying to win the match at all. Keeping the forward high forces Panama to account for him and removing that defender from being involved with the Panama attack. It also would have allowed Balogun to challenge for the ball on some of the long clearances the US dumped down the field. Having 5 in the back doesn't really give you much of a chance to create any type of counter attack at all.

Even being a man down you need to at least have some type of presence of a quick counter to make Panama account for it.

I don't disagree with you. I even said it was a shame they took off Balogun.

I personally would have subbed Reyna, kept in Adams and probably one of Aaronson/Musah instead of Balogun. Reyna didn't have a good game at all. I didn't like the Johnny Cardoza addition either. I would have had Aaronson/Musah instead.

...Except that a draw is that all that you needed. A draw against Uruguay is all we would have needed if we drew against Panama.

 

[Lorenzo]

He ABSOLUTELY should have saved that one. If he punches instead of trying to just palm the ball away, there's virtually no chance it goes in.

The sad part about it, is that for 25 years, the USMNT were known for great goalkeeping. Now I don't know if you could call any of them in the top 50 in the world. It sucks.

it's so twisted that the heritage of GK's is what it is and he we are today when we finally have a quality team that can play with the ball, we don't have a GK that can provide the type of service that Howard/Keller/Friedel could. and they would dominate games.

I do want to say that this team is talented, but they have to get results like the 2002 team did. IMO that's the most talented US team until proven otherwise.

 

[Lorenzo]

There were silver linings to this game though. As many of you already said, this result likely means that Berhalter is fired. (it a terrible twist of fate, you would be surprised if they brought back Bruce Arena for a 3rd time? lol) US needs to get out of the group, and win a game for that to not happen IMO.

Also, I thought Balogun had about as complete of a first half for a striker that I have seen in a really long time for the USMNT. It was sad he had to come off at halftime due to the red card.

I agree about Balogun. I think we finally found a legit #9 in him. we just needed to see it with the US shirt. Pepi is also a good option, but Balogun should be kept above him and allowed to play a full 90 when he earns those minutes.

 

[Lorenzo]

I don't like Berhalter as much as the next person, but I'm not sure I agree here. Managers have 2nd stints all of the time with teams.

it has worked in France and Germany. those are rare cases. Southgate earned his because of England's far advancements in their tournaments. I don't know that I would keep him beyond this Euro if they don't make the final. With that said I can't think of one case with the USA that a 2nd or 3rd stint has been successful. In fact I feel like it has failed every time. I'm not here to say we need to be like Mexico and fire the manager after every match. but I think there needs to be higher standards. and Greg's situation was unique with what he did on and off the field with the Reyna family.

 

[Lorenzo]

Maybe they could convince Klopp out of retirement? So much wishful thinking...

that would be amazing. he's my favorite manager and I don't even support Liverpool. he's so charismatic and such a great manager. he can do it all. I guess my only question to this would be why would he want that job?