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Post by rlb2024 on Nov 17, 2021 13:58:23 GMT -6
This may have been the most CONCACAF game that ever did CONCACAF. so much concacaf everywhere.... Tim Weah was the best player these past two games. Team looked very lackluster and out of it most of the game. Can we talk about how bad anyone Robinson was this game and against Mexico? And Zimmerman??? they both had lots of terrible giveaways and looked real shaky on the ball. Brooks does better there.... if only he was available... Anyway, this is an away game we should expect 3 points out of. field didn't look bad. crowd was not a factor. good weather, etc. After the goal we looked better going forward and had some good plays but then... Antonio... man. what a strike. I still don't think he should be playing for Jamaica but FIFA will FIFA. Jamaica have two dangerous players and we allowed one (the best striker in CONCACAF) second half was bad. honestly we probably should have lost. the foul on the corner was VERY soft. Let's get to the good part: Berhalter. in what world did Musah and Weah need to come off? And in what world do Arriola and Acosta coming on make the team better? the decision making by our coach is bad. Acosta brought nothing to the game. Arriola had a half opportunity after everyone was stunned by the call on the corner and ofcourse he couldn't take down the ball and have a 1v1... Can't even recall Acosta doing anything honestly. The subs had no impact. Pepi has also been absent the past couple games... I have too many thoughts and lack the writing skills to make it all concise. My apologies. Going forward with 6 games left it looks like 26, 27, 28 points should put us through. 1-4 have 6 points of separation from 5-8. Next window is El Salvador, @ Canada, and Honduras. That should be atleast 7 points. I do think with a friendly against Bosnia in December before our next window we could get away with firing Gregg and installing someone who knows how to manage talented players. Call me a dreamer, fine. Rant over Heard this morning that Musah was a planned substitution as he had strep throat and was not feeling well. Mexico has 4 home games in their last 6 in the Octagonal but their next two against Costa Rica and Panama will be played with no fans due to FIFA punishment. Canada has four road games remaining, all in Central America. Each rotation they will play on the road, then back to Canada, then back on the road. Tough travel schedule with 3 days between games, especially going heat/cold/heat. If you fire Berhalter who would you replace him with now? (And it has to be someone who could --and would -- take the job at this point.) |
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Post by usasoccerboy on Nov 17, 2021 20:01:36 GMT -6
You cannot fire Berhalter yet.
To be honest, we (those in this chatroom) all were in favor of keeping the same lineup for Jamaica for us to learn once again, that we cannot keep our legs after playing a match from a few days before with long travel. Going back to losing out the 2018 WC, Arena called on the same lineup for us to be heavy legged in TNT and then all it took was a miraculous shot and a fluke own goal as well as a phantom goal in another game to knock us out. This game, we were fortunate to not give up the losing goal to our opponent like we did against Panama and back then, Arena.
CONCACAF is rarely easy, yet we all seem to be under this impression that it should. And, I hate to break it to you, our opponents are getting better so we better get better as well. We get a break in qualifying for 2026, so we need to get in this cycle.
We have produced more depth in high caliber players than ever before, but we are young and need to learn what Landon Donovan had learned when he was a neophyte from his seniors. You take nothing for granted or you will pay the price. Klinsmann had this air of cockiness that bit him in his German arse, because he thought he could come to CONCACAF and it would be easy. He had some good results, but also some bad ones and what did him in was not caring about young player development that the team relied on overage veterans too far past their prime. Now we have the opposite, Good quality young players with bright futures, but little experience and it is showing in our mentality when playing away games in tough competitions.
Tactics, Technique, Fitness, and Psychology are the four elements of soccer - and maybe of all sports.
Tactically we seem to have the ability to play more than one formation. Guys like Weah seem to be able to get behind defenses. I would love for us to evolve to be able to play a three back system so we can play an extra attacker and play more like the top European clubs, but defending has never been strong enough to play such a system even against the Jamaica’s and Trinidad and Tobago’s.
Technically, we lack in set pieces which is bizarre considering we are supposed to have all of this young talent. We still seem to play the high lobbing crosses that take an eternity to arrive to their targets and are lucky if they are arriving at our chosen target at all. Defenders seem to not have a problem cutting down crosses , especially since half of them arrive to their heads and not ours. I would take Preki back if he was available and able. Gio Reyna maybe able to help this out when he returns from injury.
Fitness - we have way too many injuries. Whether they are coming from the club or the international level, we need to do something about our bodies not being able to hold up . Also, our coaches need to get on FIFA and CONCACAF in allowing this thuggish dangerous play to go uncalled and punished. There is no reason Mexican players should go unpunished for trying to gouge our player’s eyes out. Mexico are a chickensh!t team that doesn’t get punished severely enough for their Theatrics and actions. They need to be punished more severely so their behavior ends and we are not as much at risk for injury. Last night, Jamaica were fouling us on purpose and no cards were shown.
Psychology - We need to grow up and grow up fast. We kind of have already, but only at home. On the road in CONCACAF is where all the big challenges come. Winning on the road in CONCACAF takes experience and fortitude to keep fighting . It seemed yesterday, we were on our way after Weah’s goal and then we faltered big time after Jamaica scored on the run of play. Instead of hunkering down and showing fight, we seemed to succumb to the pressure. The later the game went, the more we faltered, but we were fortunate not to have an easy goal scored against us and then we’re bailed out by a poor referee called foul. We need to find a way to win and compete well on the road, especially since our three toughest away matches are coming up.
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Post by Tank on Nov 19, 2021 11:33:11 GMT -6
Yeah I think it's also premature to fire the coach.
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