USMNT – The Ocho Window 1 Review

The match to WC 2022 in Qatar has begun in earnest and it was an interesting mixed bag to say the least. The good news is that they are on track if you follow the general rule of thumb to average two points/match. Win at home and draw on the road will always qualify. So in this window that would mean the US would want to earn 5 points. And they did exactly that. However, this was also a window when you would have hoped to build a little cushion given that they had what was thought to be one of the easier away games. At El Salvador. Well not so fast, They ended up with a 0-0 draw. Well then all is not lost as they headed home to face Canada. Oops that didn’t go as planned either as they faltered to another draw. This time 1-1. And out came the pitchforks calling for head coach Gregg Berhalter to be replaced. Sitting on two points and headed to Honduras which has historically been a tough place to play was not a good look. Then they have the best half they have played in a long, long time and win going away 4-1.

Surprise! Its soccer folks and this competition is about the long haul. Its about qualifying first and foremost. Pretty is for beauty contests. This is about results. Period. Every team has over a year to hone their rosters, formations, and tactics. To get pretty. But you need results before you worry too much about pretty. So after the first window here’s a look at the Standings.

However, given the imbalance of the schedule a plus/minus look offers a bit more of the picture. For example, while the US, Canada, and Panama are tied with 5 points each and have identical goal differentials both Canada and Panama had two home matches this window whereas the US only had one. If you use the general rule of thumb as 3 points at home and one point on the road here are the plus/minus standings after window one.

(You can discuss thi son the BSL Board here.)

After Window 1:
Mexico +2
USA 0
Canada -2
Panama -2
Honduras -3
Jamaica -4
Costa Rica -5
El Salvador -5

From this perspective the US sits solidly in 2nd place. Now certainly you also have to take into account who each team faced but this paints a bit more of the picture then the pure standings. So with that lets look back at the three matches.

US at El Salvador

This window started with an all important road qualifier. Important for a number of reasons. Most US players have never played in a WC road qualifier. As I wrote in the preview article playin on the road in CONCACAF has some special nuances, especially for those matches in Central America. And this one was as expected. There was plenty of concacafery to go around. Outside the stadium sound like you were upfront for the biggest fireworks show on earth. It was so loud that it drowned out the announcers commentary. Then there were the corner kicks. Each time the US stepped into the corner to take the kick there were three riot police with oversized plastic shields to protect the players from thrown debris. That has to be a bit unsettling.

But all in all it was a very even match. Possession was right at 50-50 and the referee called a pretty fair and even match. Still the US had the better chances they just couldn’t find the key finish. So they struggled a bit in the attack but their defense was stellar and goalkeeper Matt Turner could have sleep walked through the game. So while a win would have been the target certainly a draw was not a terrible result. Back to Nashville and a home match against Canada.

US vs Canada

Home crowd and while Canada is a better team than they have historically they are a solid and building program. The match started as expected. The possession was all US to the point where it was clear that Canada was letting us have the ball and where content with that. Canada was clearly about not giving the US good chances and they routinely had all 11 players behind the ball at all times. This is a very frustrating tactic as its just so hard to break down the final third when you are still facing the entire team. The US was patient and kept working the perimeter trying to find the open space. But Canada was very compact and didn’t falter. So into half scoreless. The US held a 70-30% possession lead and what little counter attacking Canada did was mostly harmless.

In the second half the first 10 minutes were much the same then in the 55th minute Antonee Robinson broke down the left flank and put a cross into the area that was headed home by Brenden Aaronson and its 1-0 US. However it was short lived when in the 62nd minutes Alphonso Davies got behind Deandre Yedlin and slid a ball into the middle to Cyle Larin who tapped it in. Shameful in that Yedlin knows his key, if not only role, once they were up 1-0 was to keep Davies in front of him. Then shameful for center back John Brooks to literally be watching the play and forgetting he was playing. Totally left Larin unmarked. And lastly shameful for coach Gregg Berhalter to not make some defensive substitutions as soon as the US took the lead. In fact Berhalter didn’t make any subs until the 83rd minute. A head scratcher to say the least but they did hold off Canada and walked off with their tail between their legs and a 1-1 draw. Not looking good at all and headed to Honduras with only 2 points. Yikes!

US vs Honduras

The fireworks started when the US lineup was announced. Most fans were screaming at their TVs to have Berhalter immediately fired. Here we were sitting on a miserable 2 points and trotting out a very defensive lineup in a 3-5-2 formation. While many, myself included think our best formation is indeed the 3-5-2 not with the players he had available. To be fair much of that was brought on by a number of factors that were hard to foresee and everybody knew coming in that 3 matches in 8 days is brutal. So what were those factors.

1. The day before the camp started Tim Weah was injured in a club match in France and was unable to compete.
2. Weston McKennie violated team policies not once but twice and was sent back to Italy. While this was absolutely the correct thing to do it put the team in a bind.
3. Given the results of the first two matches key players weren’t able to be rested so to keep fresh legs required some different positioning and tactics than planned.

So the match started with the US playing pretty tightly and counter attacking when the opportunity presented itself. And they did fairly well however in the 27th minute when Brayan Moya was left alone in the area and headed it home. Once again it was John Brooks (and George Bello) caught ball watching. Into halftime we limped in a tough spot. But unlike the Canada match Berhalter made three subs to start the 2nd half most notably yanking Brooks! The subs and switching back to a 4-3-3 totally changed the complexion of the game changed. The US came out with their hair on fire and kept probing and probing until the 48th minute when Antonee Robinson volleyed it home to knot the score at one.

But the US was not done. Not by a long shot. In the 75th minute Deandre Yedlin crossed a lovely ball into the area and Ricard Pepi headed it into the corner for the lead. In the 86th minute Brenden Aaronson scored the third and what figured to be the final goal of the match. But nope not done yet. In extra time Pepi hit a low hard shot that the Honduran keeper just got his fingers on to keep it from going in but Sebastian Lleget scored the easy tap in and the US was headed home with a crucial 4-1 road win.

In the standings the US got their needed 5 points albeit certainly not in the expected manner. Some players had strong showings and others not so much. Here’s a look at how I view their overall performances for the combined 3 matches.

Composite Player Ratings

Matt Turner – 7. He wasn’t called on to do much and was fine when he did. Took a bit more aggressive approach in controlling the area around the 6 yard box. Still not solid with the ball at his feet but they also made less of an effort to force playing out the back.

DeAndre Yedlin – 6. A tale of two matches. Classic mistake against Canada not recognizing his singular role once the US scored. Letting Alphonso Davies to get behind him was not good. But Was decent enough against El Salvador and was really good when he came on against Honduras. His cross to Pepi had perfect pass and trajectory.

Sergino Dest – 6. Started on the left against El Salvador and tried to do too much. He is very good going 1v1 and can push 1v2. But several times he tried to dribble 1v3. He has to recognize that pressure means teammates are in open space. Must find them. Played much better in his better position on the right against Canada. Kept Davies in check and had much better awareness of where his teammates were. Unfortunately he got hurt and had to come off which led to our downfall in that match.

Miles Robinson – 7.5. Played in all three matches and was stout defensively. Although he never connected on a set piece his presence for those opportunities occupied key opponents. One of our best players this go round and may have moved up to #1 on the center back depth chart.

John Brooks – 4. Played in the final two matches. Was very solid against Canada and was the focal point for the possession oriented passing game trying to find the penetrating option. But then he pulled a classic mistake and didn’t mark the open Canadian goal scorer. Terrible mistake. But it happens. What is totally unacceptable was to do it again against Honduras. Bad enough that he was benched after the first half. We need him and he has to do better.

Mark McKenzie – 7. Only played the Honduras match but did well as one of the 3 center backs. Appeared a little tentative in the first 5 minutes but overcame that quickly and settled in for a nice match.

Antonee Robinson – 7.5. Start this kid every match he’s got legs at left back. Solid defensive and so wonderful moving down the flank to support the attack. And goodness can he cross the ball into dangerous areas in the box. And he scored the first goal against Honduras to start the onslaught.

Tim Ream – 6. Played the left center back role against El Salvador and was solid especially in the air. Maybe not high on the depth chart but he knows the game and doesn’t make major mistakes as long as he isn’t played out wide.

James Sands – 4. Clearly didn’t show near what he did in the Gold Cup but perhaps it was first time in qualifying jitters. Got to do more when given a chance.

George Bello – 4. Just read the comment above on Sands.

Tyler Adams – 7.5. Are you freaking kidding me. He played all 270 minutes this window and did so with passion and tactically smart play. Wasn’t quite as solid the first half of the Honduras match as the right wing back but when the subs came on at the half and he was moved back to his defensive midfield role he took the game over. My MOTW (Man of the Window).

Weston McKennie – 5. And I am being nice. He as ok in the El Salvador match. High energy end to end but he had 2 shots (albeit from a bit out there) and skied them both. Then when the team was back in Nashville he went off the rails. Violated team rules on at least 2 occasions and was suspended the next two matches. Kid better grow up and realize that he is not some special gift and can do what he pleases. Will be very interesting to see how he is handled during the October window.

Christian Pulisic – 6. Played his guts out against Canada and Honduras until his body gave out. Herculean effort in his first matches back from being in the Covid quarantine. However, he needs to recognize that he is surrounded by good players. He does not need to do it all himself. This will improve with each window as these guys spend more time playing together.

Brenden Aaronson – 6.5. Ask his to do something and he will give you 110% whatever it is. Play anywhere. Play any role. Push the attack from multiple fronts. Kid was solid all window and scored twice. He’s earned bigger roles and more time after this showing!

Kellyn Acosta – 5. Another player who was a tail of 2 matches. Looked lost against Canada, unsure of what his role was. Disappeared for long stretches. But an entirely different player against Honduras. Played with confidence at both ends of the field especially the 2nd half in Honduras.

Konrad – 5. For a guy playing something like just his 10th professional match he was fine. Played with great energy down the left flank and got behind the defense several times. Needs some polish on his final balls but he’ll get there. Going to have bigger and bigger roles moving forward.

Christian Roldan – 6. Fast becoming one of our super subs. Not going to be a starter. Not going to play a lot of minutes. But he flat understand how to spark the team when he is on the field.

Sebastian Lleget – 6. Attention US fans. Stop whining when you see his name on the roster. Yes he isn’t the most creative passer. Yes he isn’t the flashiest dribbler 1v1. But he is excellent at maintaining the possession game and is a sneaky good goal scorer.

Gio Reyna – 6. Only got to play the El Salvador match but showed how integral he is to the team. Very creative player with the needed size and physical talent and probably our best free kick taker. We need him healthy come October.

Josh Sargent – 4 or 6? Josh is just so hard to rate. He has incredible work rate and is excellent in pressing the opposing team. Makes great attacking runs. BUT he doesn’t score. He has to find a way to get the ball into the back of the net.

Jordan Pefok – 4. Doesn’t score any more than Sargent but not near as valuable in other areas of play. He is in imposing figure in the middle of the area and commands tight marking by the opposing defense. But unless he learns to control the ball at his feet or get quality shots off while tightly defended he is going to struggle to get minutes especially with guys in the mix that didn’t make this trip (Hoppe and Weah for instance).

Ricardo Pepi – 8. And that might be low! What is there to say about an 18 year old kid playing his first competitive match with the senior team. Starts a critical road qualifier in Honduras and when the team has been struggling to score especially from the #9 position. Well welcome to the big time kid. Sure its just one match but he WAS the MOTM and we will see him in October. Might be a special player for us.

Gregg Berhalter – ? Lineup and tactics for El Salvador made sense. Lineup and tactics for Canada made sense. Then he totally screwed up not subbing when we had the lead then waiting way too long to sub once the game was tied again. Head scratcher. Tactics for Honduras made sense but the personnel didn’t really fit that approach given that they hadn’t had much time to train on it. Then his subs at the half and changing formation was wonderful. I want to think he’s the right coach. He clearly is very good with the players and reaching out to dual nationals and getting them to commit to the US. But some of his roster callups and game plans are odd to say the least. Maybe he’s just so far over the heads of us mere mortals that we don’t understand it. And to be fair he has yet to have a series of matches where he hasn’t had to make last minute shuffles because of injuries. I am hoping to see a more consistent approach from him and the team next month.