USMNT – June was Important!

Back in May I wrote a couple of pieces on the USMNT and their upcoming 4 matches in the month of June. Specifically that two biggest questions (goal keeper and the #9) still facing the team and what June might do for answering those. Additionally, it was noted that due to the timing of this years WC in Qatar this was the last window for an extended camp and only one FIFA window remains with two friendlies in September. So what did the extended camp in June accomplish and what can we expect to see moving forward? Well first things first. This team plays hard for each other and coach Gregg Berhalter. Look at the faces of Jordan Morris and Christian Pulisic after Morris’ game tying goal on Tuesday. They WANT to win and that sports fans is huge.

Now some news. FIFA announced that the final rosters for Qatar will be increased from 23 to 26 players and they will keep the 5 substitutions per match rule. While the difference between 23 and 26 isn’t significant and in most scenarios those last 3 roster spots are likely taken by players that won’t even see the field during the tournament. But what it does is allow you to bring in 3 players with an attribute that you may not otherwise be able to accommodate.

1. It allows you the flexibility to bring in a fringe player who is a really great player to have around in the locker room. Much of how teams fare in tournaments like the WC is how loose a team can be. The WC is an intense tournament on the biggest sporting stage in the world. You hear all the time how player X was so well like by his teammates and how he kept things fun. Don’t discount the importance of team unity.
2. A young player who is really not ready for the big stage yet but they have the potential to be a key piece in the next WC. Having them there just to get some exposure to all that goes on can help prepare them for the future.
3. And most importantly, it can free up a roster spot for a player who has a very specific talent. While unlikely that they would get used the situation could arise where you need that one talent. An great example for the US is at the #9 position (more on this in a minute). In today’s game and especially in the tactic that the US wants to play there isn’t much value to a stationary big target forward. BUT if you find yourself down a goal late in a match where you must have a point being able to sub in a big target might make the difference. But its awful hard to take such a player with a roster of 23. Just who do you leave home (players that have more utility overall)? But with 26 you may well have room for that niche player.

Let’s take a quick look at each of the 4 matches and summarize how the team did and what each match showed us.

US 3 – Morocco O

Overall I thought this was our best match of the window. Morocco probably should have scored a goal but their aimers were off (sounds like us huh!). But the US was clearly the better side and a win was a fair result. Brenden Aaronson started in the attacking midfield role and did very well. He and Christian Pulisic created all kinds of trouble for the Moroccan midfield and back line. The downside was that the defense was a bit off on the night. Certainly some of that was due to the need to replace Miles Robinson with Aaron Long. Up until Miles’ injury it was clear that the center back pairing of Robinson and Walker Zimmerman was the duo heading to Qatar. Unfortunately Robinson’s achilles injury is going to keep him out of the WC. Long and Zimmerman paired well together but certainly didn’t have their communications down pat yet. In goal Matt Turner had a solid no mistake game.

All in all a very good performance against a solid Moroccan team that is also headed to Qatar.

US 0 – Uruguay 0

Another game with a fair result. Either team could have won this one as both sides had good chances that were missed. Jesus Ferreira had two good chances but failed to put either one away. But before you bring out the pitchforks the best chance of the game was late in the match when Edinson Cavani failed to put home a shot on an open goal. Misses happen even to the best strikers in the world. Yunas Musah showed off his crazy dribbling skills as he routinely beat numerous Uruguayan defenders. But he didn’t demonstrate that he could turn all those ball skills into dangerous moments in the final third. He’s young and he will figure it out (hint: sooner than you might think!). Sean Johnson was solid in goal. A late addition to the camp when Zack Steffen had to pull out for family issues, he made the most of his spot start.

US 5 – Grenada 0

What do you say about an expected result against a CONCACAF minnow? Seems like fans tend to put the team and their players into a no win position. Win like you should and its “eh so what it was a nobody.” But anything less than a big win and the fire the coach becomes the tag line of the day. And a good number of fans are watching for the end result (a goal) and not the actual play leading up to a goal or a dreaded miss. In the first half the naysayers had a lot to moan about. The US was held scoreless for the first 43 minutes. 43 minutes to breakdown freaking Grenada. Are you kidding me? We suck. Berhalter has no clue what he is doing. Yada yada yada. The other side of the story is that they did routinely breakdown the Grenada back 4 (or 7!). But they couldn’t find the final ball and Jesus Ferreira missed again. But it was also readily apparent if you were actually watching the game that it was just a matter of time and when we did score the floodgates would open. See this happen in international soccer all the time. A clearly superior team is pounding on a much lesser team but the lesser team is just dodging bullet after bullet. But when they finally give one up they lose their momentum and fall by the way side.

Defensively the US was solid although it was much do to Grenada just not having any way to deal with the high press of the US and had little of the ball. In fact they only took 3 shots the entire match of which none were on frame. Matt Turner looked good playing the ball out of the back but sure, he had zero pressure. And once Ferreira found a finish he lit them up and ended up with a hat trick plus one!

US 1 – El Salvador 1

A fair result but the US was the better team unfortunately they had to play against ES, a horrible field, and a rediculous excuse for a referee. In typical CONCACAF fashion the referee had zero clue what persistent infringement means. Thankfully, if there was an upside to how bad the field was, its that it was so soft and slippery, that even though the ES players played hack-a-shaq they didn’t inflict any damage. Going into the match the thought for a lot of fans was forget the result. Just escape without an injury and go home happy. Well they got to go home happy and got a result.

The lone ES goal in the 35th minute caught US keeper Ethan Horvath flat footed. But to be fair his positioning was solid as he was where he should be for the expected cross. However the expected cross turned into a shot and in it went. In the post match interview Alexander Larin even admitted he was attempting a cross so got quite lucky. Still can’t let that one go in. Then things got worse for the US when winger Paul Arriola made a slide tackle in the ES penalty area and took an ES defender down. Shockingly he was shown straight red (a inexcusable call by the referee).

But what you want to see in a situation like this is how does a team respond. Down a goal and down a man on a horrible field (no exaggeration that field was worse than any I ever played or or coached in during 40 years of play)? Well they responded with all they had. They attacked and attacked but just couldn’t find the tying goal. Then an ES player was shown a red (correctly, imagine that) when he took Musah down from behind on a clear break. Playing 10-10 the US attacked with numbers and got numerous chances but the ES keeper kept the ball out of the net. But things were rescued when Jordan Morris came on in the 80th minute. He scored a header to tie it up at the 90 minute mark but should have also earned a penalty when he headed the ball toward goal but it went off a defenders raised arm. With no VAR the ref didn’t get a look at it but it was clearly a PK.

The best news of the night though was Musah. During the Uruguay match he showed of his exceptional footwork and ability to beat defenders at speed. But didn’t show that final ball or what to do in the final third. Well that was only two games ago but what a night for Musah. He showed terrific vision in the final third. The ES keeper had to make 3 saves just on Musah. Guy was a flat stud. If he continues to grow his game over the next 4 months I can’t wait to see him in Qatar,

So 4 matches and 4 fair results. If you would have asked me before hand if going 2-2-0 over the window would have been acceptable the answer would have been absolutely. With that then lets look at the players and how they faired during the window and their outlook for making the final roster.

Goalkeepers:

Matt Turner – Turner got 2 starts and was solid in both although the Grenada match was probably the easiest he’s ever had in a Nat jersey. One of the key questions prior to the window was who was going to step up as the apparent #1 keeper. With Steffen having to pull out of the window I think that Turner is clearly the #1 right now. However we still have the potential issue that outside of an MLS keeper none of our keepers are going to be getting many minutes this fall.

Sean Johnson – Getting called in to replace Zack Steffen all a guy can do is keep a clean sheet. And he did so against Uruguay (#13 in the world). He made his case and clearly will be in the discussion for the final roster.

Ethan Horvath – Poor guy just can’t catch a break. Gets caught flat footed expecting a cross (which it was) but still got beat near post. Unfortunately he also didn’t get any other opportunities to atone. And now rumors have it that his club team, Nottingham Forest, is trying to sign another keeper.

Center Backs:

Walker Zimmerman – His long ball over the top to Pulisic which set up Aaronson’s goal against Morocco was as good as it gets. He was solid in both his starts and clearly #1 on the depth chart right now.

Aaron Long – 4 starts and 4 solid performances and had the job to mark Achraf Hakimi for Morocco. He shut Hakimi down which is no small feat. And he attempted a team high 103 passes during the ES match. AS of now he is going to Qatar and unless Chris Richards comes back from injury and plays really well he is probably next to Zimmerman in the first match in Qatar.

Cameron Carter-Vickers – 2 starts and a sub and he showed plenty to bolster his stock for Qatar. No major errors although he did have a few early misplays against ES. But came on much stronger as the game wore on and provide a physical presence when the game started getting chippy. Good window for him.

Erik Palmer-Brown – Got in for the second half of the Uruguay match and didn’t show well. Got beat a couple of times and didn’t earn anymore minutes. Given that he didn’t even get in against Grenada its a sure sign he isn’t high on the depth chart right now. Certainly didn’t improve his chances for Qatar.

Outside Backs:

Antonee Robinson – Interesting window for Jedi. Many were surprised he was even in camp after such a long season in Europe and stories circulating about him having a nagging injury. Yet here he was getting 3 starts and although he didn’t provide as much of a threat down the left wing as typical he was solid defensively. Barring an injury he will be in Qatar and likely starting most if not all our matches.

Reggie Cannon – A mixed window for Cannon. Three starts and he did fine in the first two. But was not very good against ES and failed to close quickly enough leading to their lone goal. Still in the mix for Qatar as its expected to take 4 outside backs.

DeAndre Yedlin – Got the other start at RB and had probably the toughest assignment in that he had to face Uruguay. Had a strong defensive match against them but didn’t add much to the attack. But some of that was by design so hard to downgrade him much for that. Much like Cannon, he’s still in the mix for Qatar and has experience on his side.

Joe Scally – Had a decent second half against Morocco coming on as a sub for Jedi. Did an ok job but did get beat on several occasions by being overly aggressive and getting caught by a spin move. Somewhat expected for a young inexperienced player. Then got the start against Uruguay. The good news is that he got a match and a half against the toughest competition of the window. The bad news is that he was not good enough against Uruguay. Continually pressed to far forward and gave Uruguay way too much space behind him. He did fare better on the right than he did on the left. Showed promise but not ready for the show just yet.

George Bello – Got 30 minutes against Grenada and didn’t make any real errors or do anything special to support the attack. Hard to see where he stands given the few minutes he got and we don’t see how he did in training. He may still be in the mix for Qatar as a LB but hard to see. Assuming he’s back from injury this fall Sergino Dest is more than capable of playing LB as a backup to Antonee Robinson which reduces the need for a LB that isn’t lighting the world on fire.

Defensive Midfield –

Tyler Adams – Three starts and three pretty good matches as the defensive midfielder although interestingly enough he pressed into the attack against Uruguay more than normal. And when playing down a man against ES and needing a goal he actually dropped back to play in a 3 man back line. Guy is a solid player, will be in Qatar and likely starts most if not all matches.

Kellyn Acosta – Got the Grenada start while Adams rested and had a terrific match. Ok it was Grenada but he was superb in the back and in progressing the ball forward. Seems to be the main backup for Adams and should be on the plane to Qatar. But there’s a new twist that was unveiled this window….keep reading.

Luca De La Torre – A start and 3 sub roles really gave him the ability to show off his versatility. While most of his minutes were in an attacking role he did get 30 minutes at the dmid spot and was terrific. Kept Morocco at bay defensively but gave them fits moving the ball forward from deep in our own end. Could be a real change of pace piece for Qatar. His 10 minutes against ES showed how his finesse passing can be so dangerous. He got the assist on Jordan Morris’ tying goal and set up several other chances. He had a very good window and seems a pretty solid bet to be on the roster.

Midfield –

Brenden Aaronson – Interesting window for Aaronson. Two starts and two sub roles. He actually did better centrally against Morocco and Uruguay than he has against CONCACAF teams. Staff needs to figure out what’s attributing to that but he had a goal and two assists. Can’t ask for much more than that. The guy has tremendous energy and has a high soccer IQ. He will be in Qatar and in the starting XI mix depending on the opponent. Alexis Lalas has him in his best starting XI right now over Gio Reyna. Yes he’s that good.

Yunas Musah – As far as I am concerned he was the player of the window. Three starts and three good matches. He wasn’t quite as strong against Morocco playing on the left versus the normal right but still solid. Then there was his display against ES. First time we have seen him put it all together. The dribbling with speed. The relentless forward movement. And now the final ball. Both shooting and passing. The guy was a beast against ES and drew the red card the really put the US over the top. He’s going to Qatar and will like start most matches.

Weston McKennie – Still rounding into playing shape after just returning from injury he still displayed the intensity and value he provides to this team. His is the best box to box midfielder on the team and can adjust his play to the opponent. Need more defensive bite? No problem dropping back to pair with Adams to give attackers a physical presence to worry about. Need a goal from a set piece. Find McKennie’s head as he’s one of the best in the air. Need someone to combine between Adams and Musah and the wings? Get the ball to him. He will be in Qatar. He will start most matches. And when he doesn’t what an option off the bench.

Malik Tillman – A couple of appearances for the youngster recently committed to the US out of Germany. Showed some flashes of why the Germans were upset that he committed to the US but also showed that he is young and inexperienced. At this point he’s probably on the outside looking in come November but if he gets a bunch of minutes this fall in the Bundesliga he could have a spot in the final 26. But likely he’s going to be a part of the next cycle and will be watching Qatar from home.

Wing Forwards –

Christian Pulisic – Three starts (was not on the roster for Grenada) and 3 solid performances. Seems to have fully gotten past his having to dribble and take on the entire other team on his own to make things happen. Understands he is surrounded by great players and his value is to do what he does and punish the opponent when they sell out to stop him. His passing this window was terrific. His dribbling and off the ball movement was terrific. The only real downside to his game is his free kicks. Really need to have someone else take them. Bottom line for Captain America? When he is fit his is in the starting XI. Period.

Tim Weah – Just like Pulsiic. Three starts and three solid matches (he also wasn’t rostered for the Grenada game). And he showed once again against Morocco why he is a real threat offensively. He loves to shoot and he’s good at it. Yes his shot against Morocco could have been saved. But he hit that with pace and on frame. When you can shoot the ball hard and put it on goal you will score goals. His run behind the defense and then putting the ball into the box is ever so dangerous. The biggest question facing Berhalter now is how can you get Weah, Pulisic, Reyna, McKennie, Musah, and Aaronson on the field at the same time? See you in Qatar Timmy!

Paul Arriola – Unfortunately many fans will point out his red card only 10 minutes coming off against ES. The problem there is two fold. First and foremost it wasn’t a red card. Might not even been worth of a yellow considering the field conditions. Then secondly look at where that foul occurred. Inside the ES penalty area. Arriola was busting his butt to try and help the US get the tying goal. Arriola isn’t flashy and sometimes his touches leave a bit to be desired. But if you need a high energy wing to get behind a tired defense or to help maintain a lead by playing a disruptor role then Arriola is one of the options. Has a shot at making Qatar. I like him more than some.

Jordan Morris – A start and a sub in the final two matches. Seemed a bit off his normal fast pace against Grenada and didn’t figure in any of the scoring. Overall a match that didn’t help his chances for a roster spot. Then there was his 10 minutes against ES. Scored the tying goal. Should have earned a penalty. And had another shot saved. He may still be in the running for a spot especially if none of the big forwards show well this fall. He can play the #9 and is quite good in the air. Putting him on late in the game to run at tired defenses and to get open in close isn’t a bad option.

Christian Roldan – Just a 30 minute sub role coming on for Morris against Grenada. The game was over by then and he did what was asked. Just keep Grenada at bay and kill the game off. Has a shot to make the final roster but I think he’s just a bit behind Arriola. Highly doubtful there could be a spot for both of them and maybe neither.

Center Forward –

Jesus Ferreira –

Haji Wright – Two starts and a sub appearance and clearly given a shot to earn the #9 spot. Well he didn’t. Not to be fair some of that is that the tactic the US is working so hard to perfect is the high press. Unfortunately Wright plays a more old style traditional #9. Be big in the box and score goals when the team finds you. The problem is that there are just few teams that can use a #9 like that (who doesn’t participate much elsewhere) and the US isn’t one of them. His work rate just didn’t manifest itself nor did he turn his few touches into anything dangerous. He did not do himself any favors this window and with guys like Ricardo Pepi and Josh Sargent coming back this fall (not to mention Daryl Dike) I suspect Wright won’t be in Qatar. His one savings grace is that he is big and good in the air and could be one of the extra guys that sneaks in with the rosters expanded to 26.

Jesus Ferriera – Ok he’s smaller than what you’d like in a #9. Ok he’s missed a fair number of chances the last couple of months with the US. But what he has going for him is his crazy work rate in the press, his timing to open spaces with his runs, and his getting chances. No one scores all their chances. But if you get enough of them you will eventually score. The anti fans point to the first half of the Grenada match saying he should have scored 2 or 3 in the first 30 minutes. My response is ok but who else in our striker pool is even in position to get those chances? Yes at the end of the day he could have easily scored 6 or 7 goals. Well shoot me he DID score 4. He is going to Qatar. The only question the next few months is it as the starter (which he clearly is today and its not close) or as a player off the bench?

So did we answer the two main questions coming into this window? Well sort of. Matt Turner is the #1 keeper but who is #2 and #3? Jesus Ferreira is the #9 but will some one who is a more traditional sized #9 step up this fall to overtake him because as of now Haji Wright isn’t the answer. And now we have to figure out the best center back tandem. It may well be Zimmerman and Long but it may be Zimmerman ad Richards. The team only has 2 matches left before Qatar those being yet unidentified friendlies in late September. At this point the coaching staff is pouring over the films from the last window and honing down on who and how we play each match in Qatar. The September friendlies are going to be about that. They will put out what they think are the main lineups and give them those two matches as final tune ups. Can someone else make a case for themselves over the next 3 months to earn a callup? Possible but unlikely. At this point I think we know who will get called in. Basically the players called into this window plus Reyna, Dest, Richards, Steffen, Pepi, and Sargent with Scally, Wright, Roldan, Arriola, Morris, Horvath, and Bello as potential drops.

Keep an eye out when the European leagues start in early August. Guys are going to have just over a month to make one last push.