Commentary
USA-Netherlands Men's World Cup Player Ratings
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, Dec 3, 2022
Dec. 3 in Al Rayyan
USA 1 Netherlands 3. Goals: Wright 76; Depay 10, Blind 45+1, Dumfries 81.
Att.: 44,846.
The USA's 2022 World Cup ended with a 3-1 round-of-16 loss to the Netherlands, which provided a significantly greater challenge than the USA's Group B foes.
USA Player Ratings
(1=low; 5=middle; 10=high.)
GOALKEEPER
The crisp Dutch finishing left little chance for Matt Turner on the three goals. He made his first of five fairly routine saves by batting away a Memphis Depay shot headed toward the crossbar. He blocked Teun Koopmeiners's hard shot from 19 yards and Depay's header on the rebound as the AR's offside flag went up. Turner alertly smothered a loose ball amid a goal area scramble.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
6
Matt Turner (Arsenal/England) 24/0 (28)
Right back Antonee Robinson failed to interfere with the Denzel Dumfries pass that set up the first Dutch goal. The second goal was also set up from Robinson's side after a Dutch throw-in deep in the U.S. half. The struggling Robinson looked set to be subbed around the 65th minute mark after hitting the ground hard following a clattering tackle attempt on Dumfries. After Robinson grimaced in pain while treated by medical staff, Coach Gregg Berhalter made two subs but left Robinson on. A dazed Robinson, as if he were a center back, marked Cody Gakpo in the middle despite a nearby Tim Ream and left Dumfries free to volley in Daley Blind's cross for the goal that made it 3-1. Robinson's inability to control a cross-field pass in the 81st provided further proof that his day should have ended much earlier. Central defender Ream's highlight appearances will include his post-goal gestures of frustration toward Sergino Dest and Robinson. Ream, when on the ball, was unable to pass as effectively as he had in group play and failed to score from close-range after Weston McKennie headed on a 49th-minute corner kick. Ream's central partner Walker Zimmerman forced a save by Turner when he deflected Dumfries' low cross toward the U.S. net. After a 76th minute U.S. corner kick, Zimmerman helped the U.S. keep possession for the buildup to the goal that made it 2-1. Right back Dest couldn't be the important attacker the USA requires him to be as the Dutch predictably required more defense from the U.S. outside backs. Dest managed two shots, one wide and another shot blocked. He was beaten to the ball on Blind's goal.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
4
Sergino Dest (AC Milan/Italy) 23/2 (22)
5
Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC) 37/3 (29)
5
Tim Ream (Fulham/England) 49/1 (35)
2
Antonee Robinson (Fulham/England) 32/2 (25)
Ball-winning proved more difficult for Tyler Adams on Saturday than against the USA's foes on Group B, which in Iran and Wales included the tournament's weakest teams besides the host. The Dutch frequently side-stepped his tackle attempts in midfield, and on the opening goal Memphis Depay beat Adams to the ball in the Dutch half, after which Adams jogged as Depay sprinted and was six yards behind the Dutchman as he finished from 14 yards out. On the second Dutch goal, after Jesus Ferreira and Robinson were befuddled by Marten de Roon and Dumfries, Adams moved in tight on the Dutch winger but allowed Dumfries' pass toward the penalty spot from where Blind slammed it home. Adams did deliver the pass to Christian Pulisic on his 3rd minute chance but the midfield trio connected infrequently with the frontline. Weston McKennie, who didn't strike well on his three shots, prepped one of Pulisic's shots. Neither Yunus Musah's work rate nor dribbling skills produced for the U.S. attack. The loss exposed the USA's over-reliance on Adams to put fires put all over the field.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
4
Weston McKennie (Juventus/Italy) 39/9 (24)
4
Tyler Adams (Leeds United/England) 34/1 (23)
4
Yunus Musah (Valencia/Spain 21/0 (20)
Christian Pulisic showed he'd be the Netherlands' biggest worry when he broke through for the game's first chance, but his left-footed shot banged off keeper Andries Noppert's shin. Pulisic's other two shots, from the edge of the penalty area, also required saves but also lacked power and placement. His choice for delivering after moving in from the wing in 76th minute was a smart one. Hit fast and low, it would have been tough to defend against even if Haji Wright didn't deflect it fortuitously into the net. Pulisic, victim of three of the Netherlands' 10 fouls, set up three shots for his teammates. Tim Weah connected solidly on a 20-yard half-volley but it flew well within the reach of keeper Noppert. Weah set up two Dest shots but didn't get the ball enough to contribute more from his right wing, where Musah was pre-occupied with defending. Jesus Ferreira was the third center forward to start for the USA in four 2022 World Cup games and got no service before being subbed at halftime.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
5
Tim Weah (Lille/France) 29/4 (22)
3
Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas) 16/7 (21)
6
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/England) 56/22 (24)
SUBSTITUTES
Coach Berhalter waited until the USA was in a 2-0 hole against his team's toughest opponent to give substantial playing time to its most creative player, Gio Reyna, whose only action had been the last seven minutes in the 0-0 tie with England. Reyna did the best among three forwards at holding the ball long enough for the midfielders to catch up. He set McKennie up for a 53rd-minute shot from 18 yards that went high. After Reyna evaded Dutch defenders while cutting inside, he shot 15 yards wide from the edge of the penalty area. Intentional or not, Haji Wright scored the World Cup's most extraordinary goal so far with a heel deflection. But Wright failed on a clear and conventional opportunity after he intercepted a Depay back pass for a one-on-one with Noppert. Wright's poor first touch created an impossible angle for an effective shot. DeAndre Yedlin came in for right back Dest and sent the pass to Pulisic on the USA's goal. Brenden Aaronson committed his first of two fouls seconds after coming on for Weah for the final 23 minutes and didn't help the U.S. offense.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
5
Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER) 16/4 (20)
3
Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/England) 28/6 (22)
6
Haji Wright (Antalyaspor/Turkey) 7/2 (24)
6
DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami) 77/0 (29)
nr
Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders) 51/11 (28)
NOTABLE: Coach Gregg Berhalter made two changes to the starting lineup from the 1-0 won over Iran: Walker Zimmerman — who started the first two matches of the tournament – replaced Cameron Carter-Vickers in central defense. Center forward Jesus Ferreira made his World Cup debut, replacing Josh Sargent, who suffered an ankle injury against Iran. The nine other players made their fourth consecutive starts.
Dec. 3 in Al Rayyan
USA 1 Netherlands 3. Goals: Depay 10, Blind 45+1
USA — Turner; Dest (Yedlin, 75), Zimmerman, Ream, Robinson (Morris, 90+2); Adams, Musah, McKennie (Wright, 67); Weah (Aaronson, 67), Ferreira (Reyna, 46), Pulisic.
Netherlands — Hoppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Ake (de Ligt, 90+3); Dumfries, de Roon (Bergwijn, 46), de Jong, Bllind; Gakpo (Weghorst, 90+3), Klaasen, Depay (Simons, 83).
Yellow cards: USA — none. Netherlands — Kopmeiners 60, de Jong 87. Red cards: none.
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil). ARs: Bruno Boschilia (Brazil), Bruno Pires (Brazil); VAR: Nicolas Gallo (Colombia).
Att.: 44,846.
USA/Netherlands
Shots: 17/11
Shots on target: 8/6
Saves: 4/5
Corner Kicks: 5/4
Fouls: 5/10
Offside: 3/0
Possession: 58%/42%
0"s for Everyone.!!!
A True "Dutch Masterpiece" in Voetbal...
Schooling/Toying with the "Newbies".!!!
LVG sets up in Man-To-Man, LIKE WE WANTED, but We didn't "Man-Up", We didn't Match Up and we didn't Compete(Get Nasty)...
LVG knew more about Our Players, than WE Did.!!!
I'd like to Blame this on Ggg,(and there is Plenty to analyze there) but this is Really on the Players.
Individual Un-Forced Error, after Un-Forced Error... Technical, Tactical, Psychological.(Carry Over Effect from the Eye-Ran Game)
So, we come back to this; "Peter Principle" You Rise to the Level of your Incompetence.
Tim Ream;
I should have Stuck with my Original Assessment
"Santiago 1314 replied, November 9, 2022 at 11:22 p.m.
if Ream plays; WE Lose.!!!!"
His Third BIG Mistake was "The Charmer",
Let's Review the 1st Two:
"Santiago 1314 replied, December 1, 2022 at 1:31 a.m.
Correct you are MinB;
Amazingly enough... Ream has only made 2 Mistakes....
The YC he got for Adams,
And when he didn't get Outside to Cover for Jedi when the Ball got Thrown over his Head for the Cross that led to the Zimmerman PK play in the Wales game.
Kudos to Ggg for seeing the Problem and going with a 3rd CenterBack and playing a 5-4-1 to Close Out the Game, Instead of 4-4-2.
Ream knows that he gets Exposed out Wide and with only 1 CB partner, he was Afraid to go outside and help on the Quick Throw In...by Inserting Zimmermann at Sweeper, Ream was Pushed Out Further Left, but Not Exposed, because Jedi was TOLD to Stay Home."
This YC for Adams occurrs at Minute 42 vs Iran, When Ream gets Caught 30 yards over the Half-Way Line, Misses the Ball and the Tackle/Foul and Adams had to chase from behind and Take down the Eye-Ranian Player.
The 3rd and Crucial mistake occurs at minute 8:12 Holland game..Ream gets Sucked into playing a Pass Across the Midfield to Dest, which Blind was Sitting there, waiting for it... UN-FORCED ERROR ... USA Never got the Ball back, until we Picked it up out of the Back of the Net at 9:40.
In the middle of that... We have Frank deJong dribbling circles around, Toying with, Jesus; in his own Penalty Area 8:55-9:03(I think Previous USA players would have known how to Deal with that.!!!!. Right AnklBrkr.???)
In that Build-Up to their Goal, we Tried to Press even when they Switched across the Back... GegenPress=Get the Ball in 6 seconds or FOUL... We did Neither... As the Press got Broken; there was One Last Chance to Kill the Play...
Depay Checked back into his own Half near their Center Circle, Adams had him All Lined-Up to Foul, but HE DIDN'T.!!!... WHY.??? Because it would have been a Yellow Card... His 2nd, and he would have Missed the Next Game versus Argentina.... THANK YOU TIM REAM.!!!
Hey, Santi, you're just upset that Ream hasn't you an action poster of himself :)
Haha... "Action" Poster ... REAM.???
Carter-Vickers played well in the 3rd game. Why Zimmerman again, lacking solid international experiece. It took Berhalter 247 minutes to put Haji Wright into a position where he could do some damage, and he did. Previously, Wright had only a cameo against Iran. Why not some playing time for Wright in the run-up to the World Cup.
Berhalter's decision making was too little and too late, and he did not get over his romance with MLS players soon enough. Yes, he played in Europe a long time ago, and the game has changed since then.
Yes Ben, With No CCV, Ggg fell even more into the Dutch "Center Back Trap"... Zimmerman was always looking to Pass Off the Responsibility... He has almost Zero ability to make a Penetrating Pass or Switch Fields... So, the Dutch were setting a Trap for REAM, and he fell into it... See Post above.... I can only imagine how Happy LVG was to see Zimm, instead of CCV... He only had to Worry about One Center Back with any ability to play with the Ball.
The Dutch played their game exactly how they wanted. They allowed the US early possession and countered when available. The second half they had a higher line which made life more difficult. Hope everyone took notice that almost every Dutch pass got to where it was intended. This is what separates the top ten playing countries on regular basis. Under pressure they almost always make the play. I believe they are some thing I will give GB credit for but, he is not the guy to take this team to another level. Would like to see Hugo Perez but, that will never happen.
Kevin ,I agree with what you're saying even with Hugo Perez, but here is the problem we have a faulty product that Hugo can't do anything about. Don't think for a moment with Hugo at the helm we will see the type of quality passing of the dutch by the Americans if Hugo is coaching. The problem runs a lot deeper than just changing to a better coach.
Is the National team coach responsible for player development? If so, why don't we hold CB responsible for not having the clinical scorers he wants at his disposal? No #9 CB?, find someone who can deliver at least one to you. I think we could have at least a handful by 2026 if the right person is put in charge of this critical piece of the puzzle.
Yes Phillip,
Ggg had a CF; that was on a Hot Steak in Holland, and had Saved his Job in Honduras and Jamaica ... If Ggg was so "Bent" on Players that had Familiarity with the Opponent, and had Looked at the Brackets, it was a 50/50 chance(70/30 once Mane went out) that USA would be playing Holland in the Round of 16.... What a Jack A$$ and Back Stabber as a Coach... No way he can Stay, as he Omitted, For No Reason, 9 players that will be in the Next Pool...
Tillman, Pepi, EPB, McKenZIE, Mihalovic, Slonina, Steffen, Hoppe, Trusty,
For the likes of "Oldies" that won't be in Next Pool, and Didn't have any POSITIVE IMPACT(or Playing Time) in this World Cup.
Long, Roldan, Johnson, ... Morris, Moore, Yedlin, Acosta.
Throw In the way he "Burned" players on the Bench, Like;
Reyna, Scally, Horvath, Aaronson, Jesus, LDLT(How can LDLT, NOT Make the Field versus Holland.!?!?!?)
I mean; Which players Really want to Play for Him.???
Throw in the way he "Burned" his Favorites like;
Zardes, Arriola, Letget, Yueill, ( not to say that they Belonged, but, the way Ggg DisHonestly led them On)
And then there is Brooks; When the Team needed a CB/Sweeper to bring the Ball Upfield on the Dribble to Create 2v1 against Dutch Man-To-Man in the Midfield, We had Zimmerman and Ream stuck On The Ball, and Trapped into Passing Lanes that LVG had Set-Up for the Steal.
Ggg is Incapable of Coaching at this Level, and Worse, he is Incapable of Player Management and Selection at this Level.
Who can Believe a Word He says.!?!?!?
Oh, Left Out how he "Di ck ed Over" CCV for Zimmerman (Who should NOT have been on the Team either.!!!)
Oh, I forgot Busio and Cardosa, that got "Di. Ck ed Over" for Older, Useless Players.
Love Hugo,
But, The Level of Coach we need, for this Level of Players, and a Home World Cup is now Beyond him... We need a Coach with a Proven Track Record at the World Cup Level(Semi-Finals at least).. No More LEARNING ON THE JOB ... A Brazilian, Dutch, French or Argentinian would be my Preference. Hopefully he can get the job for 2030.... I would have liked to see Peter Vermes, with Hugo and Tab and Brian Bliss, as Coaches for this Past Cycle.
oh, and I Forgot Cannon(Not my Favorite Player) how Ggg "Di, ked" him over for Moore and Long.
And what about James Sands.???
Sure would have been Nice to have a Defender with some Sweeper Skills to bring the Ball Up against Holland, Similar to the Way Rangers Uses him in THE UCL and in the Scottish League.
Defense 101 - When defending an attack or counterattack, if undermanned or even, delay, delay, delay until your teammates come to support. If defending with numerical superiority, 1st defender marks ball carrier, 2nd supports, the rest markup all the other attackers/runners. Adams, Dest, and Robinson were all ball watching and all three failed to mark the goal scorers. Adams and Dest trailed their opponents to the middle of the penalty area and Robinson failed to even see his mark right behind him till too late. It is so much easier to score from the penalty spot and middle of the penalty area. Rarely does a cross go in. Those three each had an excellent WC, but failed to defend on the 3 Netherland goals.
On attack, poor finishing limited the USA in scoring for the 4th game. There was also no innovative nor effective set pieces during the entire WC. The USA got through the group stage with strong defense and two strong attacking runs.
Wright gets a remarkable touch for his knockout goal, Weah and Dest each get some credit, with CP the star on both goals in group play.
Jesus added little in the Dutch game, although he did try to get involved by tracking back to make himself available for a pass.
Turner had no chance on any of the 4 goals surrendered, and even deflected the PK and one other goal. He had an outstanding WC.
GB failed to find the best starting l/u for the final game and was late on vital changes. He failed in the knockout stage to have the USA play solid defense. Can he remain coach and improve this team?
Inexperience in WC play did not help, Yedlin actually showed the rookies how to react in a tough situation. The USA should improve on the world stage.
Overall, a good result, but an unsatisfactory ending which is always hard to forget.
Go USA in 2026!
You are Spot on Charles;
One thing I would say about Yedlin,(I have always been a Fan of his)
Wouldn't it have been better to give the Minutes he Played; to Scally.???
Yedlin didn't Hurt us, and even had the Hockey Assist for the Haji Goal.!
But think of all the LOST Development Time accrued in just this World Cup,(Not to mention in 4 years of Qualifiers and Practice Games)
Acosta >>> LDLT(Cardosa-Busio)
Ream >>> EPB
Zimmermann >>> CCV
Morris >>> Tillman
Long >>> McKenZIE
Johnson >>> Slonina (Steffen)
Roldan >>> Pepi
Moore >>> ANYBODY.!!!
9 WASTED SPOTS.!!!
All that Training Time Lost.!
All that Bench Time Lost.!!
All that Video Review Analysis Lost.!!!
All the "Brotherhood" Time Lost on the Training Field, Hotel, Bus, Bench, Locker Room, Eating together, "Wenching" together...
The Lost Experience of Getting Eliminated from the World Cup, and Watching the other Team Celebrating... (I always read an Article about Some Losing Team the in Finals, that comes back to win the Championship the Next Year, and they alway remark on how they Sat in the Dugout or Crouched on the Field as the other team got the Trophy, and Said; "NEXT YEAR WE ARE NOT FALLING SHORT.!!!")
ALL REASONS THAT GGG SHOULD NOT BE RETAINED
I wasn''t surprised the Dutch would win or could win by 4-0, it could have been 4-1 or 5-1 the score doesn't really explain what needs to be done. First of all lets get away from the LAME excuses, that we have young players, the team hasn't played together long enough ,lack of experience,etc. The mistakes that led up to those 3goals had nothing to do with these aforementioned excuses. The mistakes can be seen every week from any youth team U10 on up to the pros, here on up to our NT.
Look at the defense by A.Robinson on the 3rd goal. HE WAS TOTALLY CLUELESS!!! Here's a guy, who's playing a couple of games every week for the last couple of years at one of the BEST soccer leagues in the world, including international ball for the US....There is no room for excuses. You have smart players and you have stupid players, not young pros or old pros when you play at this level you're playing a level that you don't make simple mistakes like that......
BALL WATCHING, is one the main attributes of American soccer. Look at the first goal which is caused by Tyler Adams inattentiveness. Adams thought he was taking a stroll coming back on defense, allowing the most dangerous dutch attacker Memphis run behind him and score. Tyler plays a crucial position in the middle of the field, as a defender. He knows the dutch in the transistion plan a fast counter attack, therefore he has to be aware of Memphis at all times. The dutch have a fast transistion but Adams thought he had enough time to go to 'Dunkin Donuts' for coffee....There is simply no excuse for this Amateur Hour fiasco brought to you by supposedly better players on the team....
The second goal, scored by the leftfooted Blind was with his weak rightleg. He is the slowest and oldest player on the team, cuts inside which means the right footed Dest couldn't tackle employing his rightleg. Worse Blind plays on the leftflank against Weah who can outsprint him backwards. Ake the left center back took over for Blind to guard Weah....
Van Basten further stated the Americans have no answer and are clueless when you tighten their space down and as result they end up passing backwards. Van Basten also stated that the dutch scored two good goals but the rest of their game stunk, it was nothing, it was something to cry over, they all stood still ,there was not enough movement". And this is why I hope the Brazilians win the WC not the Dutch. Van Gaal plays a 532, sort a dutch Catenaccio, counterattacking team.....
NEXT POST
Yes Frank, you are Correct...
They Played us Man-to-Man;
Timber Virgil Axe
CP Jesus Weah
Dumfries Deroon Klassen FDJ Blind
Jedi McKenNIE Adams Musah Dest
Gakpo Depay
Ream ZIMM
They did Switch the M-T-M Match-Ups around a little, as we Dropped Adams or McKenNIE to Sweeper Position to try and Distribute the Ball Better. But, it was always M-T-M
Look at 42:40 ... Zimm just Boots a ball out of Bounds, Un-Forced ERROR, because Dest is MENTALLY and PHYSICALLY Gassed from almost Scoring a Goal(43:59) and Not Wide where he Needed to be.!!! (MINIMAL Pressure from Depay)
NO PERSONALITY/NO RESPONIBILTIY/NO SOCCER BRAIN from Zimmermann to either Dribble or Spin Back and Pass to the Gk. Kill the Game off to the Half.
45:00 ... Ream Forces a RIGHT FOOTED 30 yrd Pass into CP Checking Back in the Midfield... Ream was ALL ALONE ... He missed the Pass(Because he is NOT Rt Footed) and Put it Right Past the Outstretched Toe of CP... UN-FORCED ERROR... From The "Wise" Veteran.!!!
Holland took the ball, went down the Field and USA Never saw the Ball again until Picking it out of the Back of the Net at 45:38 . Wasn't even enough time for the kick-off.!!! .... Ream should have been the Leader and Just Knocked the Ball Back to GK, get to Half-Time and Get Re-Organized.
And what was Jesus doing back there Defending on a Throw-In in the Left Defender/Midfielders area.??? He accidently Flicked the Ball INTO THE MIDDLE, right to Klassen who played it to Dummfries, who Centered it to Blind.!!!
Musah was the Culprit,(thanks to Ream)..he was Wandering around in the Middle, instead of Marking Up.
But he was Gassed, because He and Jesus had Interchanged Position... Jesus was Checked back into Midfield and Musah was Pushed Up against Virgil, When REAM gave the Ball away.
Now Musah had to Run Back 60yards, to help and Jesus was already there, so he let Jesus Cover the Throw-In Area. Musah should have Covered His Player and Pushed Jesus back up Front.
So, instead of "Veteran Leadership" and Decision Making, we Got a ROOKIE Mistake from REAM
MISTAKE #4 (Remember what I said; "If Ream PLAYS, WE LOSE.!!!")
Also, CP Should have Taken a YELLOW CARD, on the Turn-Over just next to him... Would have gotten us to Half-Time 1-0... Like you have said....NON-SOCCER BRAINS on USA
I have no idea why Reyna was even on the team, he has no speed of movement, looks very lackadaisical and not ready for prime time. He, as far as I'm concerned, took the place of another player who could be more fit. Someone did a favor is the way I see it...
Pulisic was back doing his usual stint of getting the ball and run with it ,like Aaronson...It is very rare that either was one-touch the ball on the run, they got to want the ball and do something with it. And that just isn't going to work with a dutch team that played very defensive, compact with line close together....Aaronson, like Pulisic receives the ball at midfield and want beat opponents 1v1....like that is really effective 50meters away from the goal....
The problem with the US team is that their centerbacks should NOT be handling the ball on the build up, they're terrible. You notice how much room and space the dutch left Zimmerman and Reams. They invited them with the ball to go for they are lousy passer, not known how to build. Look how many passes Tyler Adams makes that go backwards and guess where to, Zimmerman and Reams. You learn early on playing 'street ball' as a kid who not to pass to on your team, for that player does not make the right decisions....
So here is the scenario. A.Robinson is stopped around midfield line and passes back or square to Tyler Adams, the player Klaasen marks Tyler close, forcing Tyler to pass back to Zimmerman , or Ream who are BTW the weakest with the ball. As soon as they have the ball, the dutch open the middle for Z or R to move up with the ball in the center circle making both unsure who to pass to...This is what we call letting your opponent 'swim' or tread water' for they are not sure of themselves. COUNT THE NUMBER OF BALLS Z or R receive. They receive the most passes of all the players and then you add into the mix Pulisic and Aaronson who just want to run with the ball for then you begin to notice how ineffective and ineficient our attack is.
It is too bad Sargent was injured ,for i'm not impressed with Fereira or Wright, neither adds something to the attack. All they basically do is wait for a pass to come standing in front of the goal, like Pepi...All 3 don't anything to our attack.
And as far 2026 winning the WC, get realistic, we're still in the stroller stage. We have so much work to do on developing our players. Until we can develop great passers ,great dribblers, ball handlers, top notch defenders, players that Europeans want so badly than I would say winning the worldcup can be had. We still lack in so many departments in soccer.
Was not happy to see GB comments on twitter about lack of finishing. When you have the mess on the left side of the field that starts with Robinson and infects Pulisic that infects the #9 it, is your job to straighten that out. Why do you put Musah on the left when he has a understanding with Dest and Weah it defies logic. Sargent gave you very good minutes in his time. Ask yourself which player had the most goal scoring opportunities throughout? It was either McKennie or Weah. This was a staff that never fixed the problems they had in qualifying. You paid a coach to train on dead balls? Might have been the worst team in the tournament at this! All these things are fixable. Why oh why is no one on the outside of the 18 on corners. You don't need 6 or 7 players between the goal posts. Every deflection comes there. The ability to play under pressure is on the players.
Another obfuscating Lie from Ggg;
Last 2 Years;
Goals in UCL;
Pefok-6
Pulisic-4
Aaronson -4
McKenNIE-2
Reyna-2
Depay-0
Another Reason, Ggg should be FIRED By USSF President CPC.!!!
I am sad to see the US team out of the World Cup but we need a soccer revolution in USA for both our men and women. We radical change. We need new leadership. We need a new vision. We need a 21st century master plan.
There is going to be a lot of invectives thrown at Berhalter. It's no use kicking a dead dog. He was never my favorite. I will never ever hire a National Team coach who was a defender or goalie for these types don't add anything to the game. The only exception, would be in Brazil for all the players are very creative and skillfull ,thus a little defensive awareness is needed to counter balance their game a little which is fine. But in our case the USNT should hire the best coach, the most creative coach who has played at the highest level and it should not be an American, which should be self-evident for we don't have anyone with those qualifications.
The balance we lack is the CREATIVE element and that is not Berhalter. The fact he has to hire a coach for dead ball situations is initself a joke. Everything ,today, is programmed by coaches who themselves couldn't demonstrate or take on a lamppost 1v1. These types of characters are basically good in the classroom, using their little laptops, chalkboards, flipover charts, beep bras and whatnot, but realize these types of licensed characters arent 'fussbal mensch'.
They asked Johan Cruyff when he coached Barcelona's "Dream Team" and Ajax what dead ball plays does he practice, like corner kicks, etc. He stated "NONE". He stated when kicking a corner, for example you look at the players around the goal, notice where the weakspot(s) is and then place the ball where you see the weakspot...HOW DO YOU TEACH SEEING THAT? He further states that his cornerkicks would also depend on the opponent's defense/ offense style for that will determine whether it will be an inswinger or outswinger...This is the type of soccer detail, coaches are so far removed from and don't understand, that they think employing a laptop will do for their lack expertise.
ikewise Cruyff never practiced shooting or heading drills but only spend time doing positional games as stated by Ronald Koeman and Brian Laudrup. Cruyff, stated," I expect you to be able to do those aspects when you play for me , if you want to work on it, do it on your own time ,not on mine".
I hear so many complain about Berhalter, that he should have chosen this player or that player instead this of this one. They maybe right but we have to look at the overal picture of development of the American players, which is bad. He's working with a lame product besides ,himself....We need a total overal in our player development and as well coaches for the NT.
While this will be an unpopular opinion on this group, I think the US has made great progress. We demonstrated that we have the skill to take it to the Dutch. I would rather us try to play than be "smart" and sit back and defend for 90 minutes hoping to get a break on a counter. That's not to say we didn't do anything wrong, since three very clear errors led to the three Dutch goals. But the Dutch also made errors, some worse than the US (on Pulisic's first shot and the back pass gifted to Wright). And Pulisic did the right thing, placing a shot on goal with the inside of his left foot (and missed scoring by literally an inch). While Wright's first touch let him down (and I was never impressed with Wright overall), he did need to use his first touch to get around the keeper, and once around the keeper he did put the shot, from a sharp angle, on goal). So the takeaway is not that the US has no business trying to play at the level of the Dutch, but rather that soccer at this level there is a fine line between winning and losing.
It is fair to argue that Van Gaal's tactics of playing 5 in the back and looking for the counter are genius because they've been so effective. And certainly the clinical finishing and the fast, one-touch passing game that led to the goals was impressive. But overall, I was not that impressed by the Dutch. They gave the ball away an awful lot. Granted, given their early goal they didn't have to play, so they may be a better team than they showed against the US (they probably are).
The ironic thing is that the things that cost us the game were individual mistakes (failing to mark oppenents) and fatigue at the end, not an inability to hold the ball, slow centerback's, failures to get shots on goal. The first goal came because Adams failled to track back; this was atypical of US play. Adams probably covered more ground than almost anyone in the entire tournament, and he was in position to track back. So that was an aberration, not a flaw in the team (unless you want to argue we relied too much on our 3 midfielders, which may be fair). Part of the problem was since all three of our group games were intense for the duration, and the last game the Dutch played against Qatar was not, our players were more drained than the Dutch were.
So while I was unhappy with the result, that's not a sign that we suck and need to revamp everything. I'm proud of what this team (and coach) did, and I think they have a bright future.
Frank's comments about how bad our back line are at ball-handling and how our opponent let them have the ball (creating turnovers) has not been mentioned by any of the talking heads on USA coverage. What can USSF do differently to promote the "right" kinds of players, the "right" coaching values, instead of just defaulting to "we can only pick the best players from the player pool"?
It is as obvious as a black eye. Only it can't be hidden or covered up.
To answer your specific question, USSF doesn't do anything right as far as player development goes. Yes there are exceptions, but for the most part USSF youth members focus on building winning teams rather than developing players.
In essense they cut short training on fundamentals to train on advanced topics like specialized positional training and team tactics. They think that this will give them a competive advantage against other youth teams. In reality it is short changing player development to have a better chance to win meaningless youth games. Reality is that if players master the ball and the principles of play, they have all the tools they need for success at the senior level.
At least 90% of "team tactics" is simply a coach's game plan, which ought to vary at the competitive level with the competition and opponent. At the developmental level it varies with the coach's current teaching objectives.
Maybe GB was pleading with the coaches developing our youth players to give him better ingredients for this recipe of soccer success we're all hoping for. You can't win if you don't score, and having a good 9, a clinical finisher, has to be a priority. The Netherlands has several clinical finishers, this, from a country of 17 million versus our country of 330 million.
A world class #9 is what every team needs and few teams actually have. Are they born or created? Or some combination of both? I'm a big fan of small-sided games and street soccer but developing strikers may be a weakness in that model. I do think technical finishing ability can be trained, and I think (given it's importance) most teams don't train it enough. Nose for goal, composure, being in the right place at the right time, harder (but not impossible) to train. But we sure need to try!
Kent, I've been around natural 9's and some that needed a bit of spiffing up to morph them into effective 9's. Generally, the natural 9's get ruined due to bad coaching and lose their inborn nose for the goal and eventually quit the game. Wild guess, but I'd say maybe 1 out of 50 players at the recreational level show up ready to score goals. Those needing spiffing up are usually the natural midfielders who can also score better than most of their piers so knucklehead coaches put them up front because they would rather win than develop that player's natural abilities. Often that player then moves up to the next levels as a goal scorer and never returns to the attacking midfielder role, the Frank Lampard type, that is natural to them and maximizes their potential. Also, there is another, smaller group that usually end up as big, athletic defenders that may not be best suited for defending (could develop into very capable 9s) except that they too assuage some goofball coach's fear of losing and become the primary defender of the goal and the coach's job. They play on the destructor side of the creative/destructive coin, and some smart coaches may identify this (back in the days these players were usually sweepers) and invite the player's creator to display itself. I wonder if Haaland would have been pigeonholed as a defender had he been a US soccer product? next post
You are correct in that there are trainable skills for 9s, and they're not particularly difficult to effect but can't be acquired doing street soccer. For example, turning and shooting (with both feet) requires not just having two good feet but also an inner GPS for 360 degree awareness when your back is to the goal. There are others, but one trainable "skill" is really an attitude, and what the Notre Dame coach of years ago, Mike Berticelli taught me at a coach's training session that he called "the scoring attitude". Have a goal with a goalie and then place several field players in the 18 yard box, say three players, and roll a ball into the group. The field players then battle to shoot and score, learning to put maximum effort into making that happen. Shoot first and ask questions later becomes the attitude, and as soon as the ball leaves the field, roll in the next one. Keep doing this. Good for conditioning as well. It teaches an attitude, an approximation of having a nose for the goal.
How many foreign 'greats' ,goal scorers, has the USSF hired or the MLS hired as advisors, teachers, 'inside guys' to TEACH possible strikers.....hmmm , ANYONE????? Try Rivelino, Ronaldinho, van Persie, Robben, Jair....there are so many that can be approached to help...What about, Zlatan, when he retires to help out....
"I AM ZLATAN, and I will NEVER Retire.!!!"
Coaches Ratings? Did I miss an article regarding the coaches ratings? Berhalter, Defenders coach?
and we had a set pieces coach?
Personnaly would have liked to see more of Jordan Morris, gritty American player to work with Capt. America.
Dest mentally headed for the halftime loccer room before Blind zoomed past him for goal no. 2. Robinson's being dazed why may explain why he left Dumfries, but Mckennie or Adams should have coveed for him on goal no. 3. But those are details. Overall, the Dutch were both technically and tactically superior. When we have only 10 at top level and possibly 12 (the original starters minus Zimmerman, but plus maybe Aaronson and Reyna)) and are missing one of them (Sargent), our relative weakness is exposed.