USMNT – So Now What???

Does this “crowd” look like what you would expect for a team’s last friendly before the WC? No wonder they were so flat, ok excuse over.

Last week I wrote about the last two friendlies the team would have before the World Cup coming up in November in Qatar.

The discussion centered on the key things that the team and the coaching staff needed to achieve during this camp and from these last two friendlies. For those of you who just want to get to the bottom line here’s the short version. Epic fail just about across the board. No sugar coating things here. The team played poorly against Japan and although a bit better against Saudi Arabia, they were flat, uninspired, and had no attacking flair. This team is going to have to have a major turnaround in just about every sense if they are going to have any kind of success in Qatar. Blunt? Yes, but this is the way I see it. If you want the glimmer of hope then read to the end.

Lets look at the key things from last week that we needed to accomplish and talk about what happened in a bit of depth.

Goalkeepers

Objective – For somebody to stake their claim as the #1.

Result – Well mostly. Matt Turner had two solid matches and made a number of top quality saves, especially against Japan. What I liked best from him was that he took control of his area against Japan and came out numerous times to field balls in the air. Historically one of his weaknesses. While ok in the second match he seemed to fall a bit back into his tendency to stay on his line. Didn’t lead to any bad things but wish he’d have shown the same aggressiveness as against Japan. He pretty much staked his claim to being the starter in Qatar. The only way I see that changing is if Zach Steffen just plays lights out for Middlesborough the next 6 weeks. The question facing coach, Gregg Berhalter is going to be how to approach playing out of the back. While Turner was mostly ok, his weak ability with the ball at his feet combined with Aaron Long as one of the CBs is problematic.

Defenders

Objective – Determine who is the backup LB for Antonee Robinson.

Result – Hopefully Robinson will be healthy for Qatar. He has already shown that when fit he can go 270 minutes in a short time span. As for a backup, Sam Vines was trotted out against Japan. He was ok at best. He and Long seemed to have some early communication issues but that improved as the game progressed. He was ok defensively but clearly doesn’t offer the attacking ability of Robinson. In the second match Sergino Dest was played on the left and he was fine. Still think his better side is on the right but Dest can play the left adequately.

Objective – Determine the best CB pairing.

Result – Well from those in camp our “best” pairing is Aaron Long and Walker Zimmerman. But I put best in quotes because it was hardly a good showing. Zimmerman was his usual self. Solid and strong in the air and able to hit a long connecting pass once in awhile. Long on the other hand was a bit weak. Mostly with the ball at his feet. Japan played an unusual pressing tactic. They clogged the midfield to deny outlet passing lanes and let our CBs have the ball. But mostly what Long did was pass square to Zimmerman seemingly afraid to take control. And for the record our midfield didn’t help them much either. Mark McKenzie subbed in both matches for Long and was even worse. He’s mostly ok but several times a match he would just have a complete brain cramp and put the team into dangerous territory. I don’t think he’s an option.

Objective – Determine if we need to shift away from playing out of the back.

Result – Of course it depends on a number of factors, mostly on the opponent and how they are playing us but the answer here is hell yes. The team started going long over the top much more against Saudi Arabia and it proved to be the better tactic. The problem is our front runners just couldn’t seem to do anything with most of those long balls.

Midfield

Objective – Determine if we have anybody who can play Yunas Musah’s role.

Result – Damn well better hope we have Musah ready for Qatar. Now to be fair he is a very special player and you just don’t easily swap in somebody else. Luca de la Torre played in his spot on Friday and while I like his game its clear his lack of playing time hasn’t kept him sharp. He did not play well against Japan. Against the Saudi’s they went with a different tactic in the midfield playing both Tyler Adams and Kellyn Acosta as duel defensive mids. While I really like this approach against a top talented attacking team or to kill of a game late when we have the lead is just far to weak in transition to generate much build up in the attack.

Objective – Determine if Malik Tillman or Johnny Cardoso have a place on the final roster.

Result – Mixed bag here. Neither player stood out as a “hey you gotta get me on the plane to Qatar”. But Tillman does provide some value in how versatile he is. Cardoso was mostly invisibly in his minutes and probably didn’t earn a spot.

Forwards

Objective – Plenty of playing time for Pulisic, Aaronson, and Reyna.

Result – Didn’t happen. Pulisic picked up a knock in training before the Japan match so didn’t dress. Word was it was minor and if this had been a WC match he’d have been out there. But he did play 75 minutes against the Saudis and was solid. Not next level like he can be but fine. Then we get to Gio Reyna. Just coming back from injury with his club and not ready to go 90 minutes. But he put in a solid half against Japan and was taken out as a planned substitute at half time. Then started again the second match but had to come out after 30 minutes. Word here was it was also very cautionary as he felt some muscle tightness but hate to see it. His physical play isn’t back all the way yet but his vision is so good. Then Brenden Aaronson was the one forward he got lots of minutes. He played well against Japan but was physically abused by Japan. The clearly saw, that with no Pulisic, that he was out most dangerous attacking player and they hacked him the entire game. But he was strong enough to also get some sub minutes in the second match and was solid again. Clearly one of our better attacking players. We need him ready for Qatar.

Objective – Who is going to be the main #9?

Result – Well we scored zero goals in two matches which pretty much sums this one up. Jesus Ferriera got the first start and second half sub in the second match. Ricardo Pepi got the second start. Josh Sargent got the second half of the first game. The two best chances both were with Ferriera. One in each match. At the 10 minute match against Japan Reyna broke free down the right wing and put a superb cross over the single defender but Ferriera’s header was over the bar. Had to fault Ferriera there. He was in the right spot with a well timed run. But whether he timed his jump poorly or was just too short to get over the ball is a question. Then in the second match he got the ball in tight space at the 18 and managed a solid shot but straight at the keeper. Pepi had the fewest touches of any player on the US during his time against Saudi Arabia and just never got the ball in dangerous spots. Much of that was his lack of service but sometimes your 9 has to go get the ball and take on defenders. He didn’t do that. Sargent looked ok in his half of play. His usual high work rate but didn’t generate anything special. So while nobody stood out here it appears that Ferriera is the guy right now.

So hence my epic fail overall comment to start. What we saw was more of a player A was the least bad option so I guess they are in as opposed to seeing someone really step up and shine. The bad news is that there are only two camps left and no more friendly matches prior to Qatar. There will be an MLS camp at the end of the MLS regular season to keep MLS players (those not in the playoffs) fit. Then we have one week right before the WC with the final roster to train together. If we had the normal 2 or even 3 friendlies that happen during the last camp I think most fans would still feel ok. But we don’t so its hard to see how we can make any major changes the rest of the way.

Ok enough of the downer outlook what CAN we do heading into the WC to turn things around? Are the reasonable expectations for the players to look better than they did this past week? Fortunately there are some things we can point to to give us at least a bit of optimism.

1. Most important is that numerous key players were not available for this camp. Tim Weah is back in training and he has shown numerous times to be our most dangerous player down the wing. Yunush Musah just had some minor injury prior to the camp but should be fine come November. And he is our best player in breaking a press and transitioning the ball into the attack. Chris Richards should be back in training with Crystal Palace soon and hopefully ready. If not a starter he is clearly CB #3. Antonee Robinson is by far our best LB and he should be ready. What he brings to the attack on the outside left is really good. So perhaps our depth is quite as strong as we thought it was as there is clearly some drop off in talent when these guys aren’t available. But having those guys back in the starting lineups for Qatar is a game changer.
2. We are the youngest team in the world heading to Qatar. This is a good news/ bad news type of a thing. You never know how young players will react to the atmosphere of the WC. They can be totally overwhelmed or juiced up to the max. And remember we have a bunch of guys who have already played some very high level matches such as a Champions League final. One of the downsides to these past two friendlies was the lack of atmosphere and that was especially apparent against Saudi Arabi with less than 1K fans present. The game just didn’t feel important from before the opening kickoff. Yes players can and should make their own excitement but that was a very blah tone to such an important match.
3. The players seemed to play with too much concern for making a mistake rather than making something special happen. No doubt they were feeling some pressure to not screw up so they would have a spot on the final roster. That mindset should go away in Qatar. They are on the field and there is no tomorrows. Play how they know how to play. If I was to bet right now I would say if you compare tapes of the last two games to what we see in Qatar that they players will look much more relaxed and enthusiastic. Don’t misread what I am saying. We still dug a pretty bad hole and have a lot to overcome in November.
4. The officiating will be much better in Qatar and VAR will be in heavy use. VAR was used in the Japan match but the only time the match official referred to it was on Japans first goal. He was weak and should have used VAR several times to help him with carding players. In friendlies Referees are typically hesitant to card players and especially in sending them off. But they need to remember their first duty is to protect the safety of the players. Brenden Aaronson was continually hacked by Japan and numerous times from behind. And the ONLY card issued the entire match was to de la Torre. And if that wasn’t bad enough then came the Saudi Arabia match. DeAndre Yedlin was viciously taken down from behind cleats up. Should have been an auto red card but the Ref either didn’t see it or didn’t have the kahunas to call it. But with no VAR for that match it went unpunished. While will never get all the calls the level of officiating at the WC will be orders of magnitude better and VAR in use and blatant red cards like that will not go unpunished.

Now one last thing. There is roughly 6 weeks of club play left before the final rosters are announced. What are the chances some roster changes are made here on out. Given that there is only a one week camp and no more friendlies it is difficult at this stage to make major changes. Difficult but not impossible. There are two personnel changes that I think will be considered and one tactical change.

Potential Personnel Changes – I think it is highly likely that Jordan Pefok gets a call up for Qatar. None of the current #9s has done anything outstanding. Its clear that we may have to try and score off crossed and set pieces and Pefok is our biggest target. He’s got to be on the plane. The one other change could be to call in John Brooks. This will only happen if Brooks starts playing and playing well and even then it might not happen. But given the weakness we have displayed at CB he might just get a call.

Potential Tactical Change – While this depends on our opponent I will not be surprised to see us play a two forward formation (pick two between Pulisic, Ferriera, and Pefok) and drop Weah or Reyna deeper into the midfield. And along with this I suspect to see less playing out of the back against any team that presses us high.

Certainly the picture right now isn’t as positive as you’d like headed to Qatar. But we are going which is a hell of a lot better than 4 years ago and I still have some hope that we will account well for ourselves. Only time will tell but come November I’ll be watching every minute of every US match. Good or bad.