For anybody unfortunate enough to be a USMNT and VT football fan, it's safe to say the Poch hire has also been underwhelming so far based on the mostly bad results recently. Plus we've yet to see all our best players together in camp so far. Thoughts on call ups/roster management, results, tactics? How much of our current form is on Poch vs the pool of players?
Think he's onto something with the back 3, which has me reevaluating who makes a 26-man roster at this point. I go back and forth between playing a 3-4-3 and a 3-5-2 with Pulisic as a shadow striker, and want to see more in the next camps with a better roster. What's everyone looking forward to or want to see in the October and future camps?
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Anyone who's read my posts...Gregg and Poch have employed the back 3 for their entire tenure at the helm of the USMNT. Sure, they say 4, but the one back was always a wing playing up. At least lining up 3, he admits it's a 3 in the back system. That's something. I'm made my feelings clear about the abandonment of the 4th back....
What bothers me is his deflections after the 2-0 loss to S. Korea. I've had bosses that treated the employees like that "I can't score the goals...we need more support (but I didn't pick the best guys...)" GTFOH!!!!!! Make the guys run thru a brick wall for you. Poch hasn't done that yet. I feel like they still don't really know who he is, or what he's about, or his style or personality...so they are on eggshells. At all times. That means you practice, talk, act, and especially play tentatively.
We still have this bad habit of escorting ball carriers like it's basketball. Instead of engaging and stopping, we run with them for 30-40 yards while the ball is moved deeper in our zone to shot taking territory, or for passing to a dangerous runner that's been able to engage and enter the play because of the escort.
And for the love of all that is #10 in red, white, and blue, can we stop having Pulisic taking free kicks!!!!!! He might be our most talented person in a small space...have him in the mix to get a trash rebound and put it away. All he does is fire it into the chest of the defending wall or 10' over the bar. He hasn't set up a goal for us in 5 years taking the kicks.
I understand that it's all about the phases of the game, and the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation has really been a back three in possession. However, I'd rather have three dedicated CBs staying home rather than forcing one of Dest/Robinson to stay back in a more defensive role. Plus, against more technical sides, I'm more comfortable defending with 5 in a mid-block instead of 4, and I want Chris Richards in the middle of a back 3 where he can help on both sides if needed. Not sure of your views on the back 3 and/or the 4th back, but my only hesitation is that I don't fully trust any centerback not named Chris Richards. I think I may trust Scally as the RCB in a back three more than our other pure CBs. This team needs to get better at defending first - Adams is the only guy that regularly knows how to defend in the middle 3rd (Tillman has been getting better). I agree that everyone else seems to want to shuttle the ball carrier to the back line and hope not to get exposed.
Pulisic had a very small window where he looked competent on set pieces, but that was maybe one or two games. I agree, he's better when in the mix. Having Richards/McKennie/Pepi (when playing) crash the box on set pieces and Puli trying to get on the end of the 2nd ball is the way to go.
Poch doesn't seem to know what he wants to do yet, other than shake up the status quo, so there's no way the team has any idea what he wants to do. The roster and tactics are all over the place - it feels like the opposite of GGG, but too much. Undercoached vs micromanager. GGG's tactics were suboptimal and predictable, but they knew their jobs and played hard so they could often win in spite of it. Now, I agree that everything looks tentative because nobody seems to know what to do (or hasn't been put in a place to succeed) due to inconsistent lineups and tactics. Playing tentatively is a death sentence when the pace of play increases, even for players who are used to it in the bigger leagues. Not to mention playing with guys that just don't have the skills to hang at that pace of play...
I don't have an issue with the back 3. If he keeps adams as the 8 and Chris Richards as the middle pivot cb. Ream looked ok on the side the other night. Knowing they are playing as 3 allows them play as 3. Not sometimes as 3, sometimes as 4. There were times when they weren't sure if the 4th guy was getting back or not. But on top of that, when attacking, we wouldn't have more than 1 or 2 in the box. Everyone packed the middle under Gregg. Tuesday night, we had numbers forward. Im all for that.
IMO simplified tactics work best for a national team. A lot easier to get spacing right when you know you have 3 guys all the time rather than guess if it's going to be 2, 3, or 4.
Ream is still serviceable but I worry how much he's going to decline before next summer. He's less exposed in a back 3, but you absolutely can't play him in a 2 CB formation anymore at the highest levels. And we don't exactly have solid depth at CB so you've got to work with what you've got.
Getting extra bodies in the center pushing up into the box is why I think I prefer the 3-5-2. Dest and Robinson will give us all the width we need and Weah can back them up, and give us pace off the bench. Get two guys up top(-ish) that can get into the box, along with a couple midfielders that can either pick a pass or crash the box as well. Not sure if we've seen Pulisic outside of a winger or 10, but I want that guy with space to run at defenders going towards the box, not the end line.
I had no idea I knew so little about soccer before I read these comments. Go USA
I agree that the 3 center backs seems to be the better option. Since we usually have at least one or both of our left/right backs push forward, 3 CBs gives a better defensive presence. I would really like to see us call in all of our "main" players, adding Weah, Reyna and MxKennie to this last group to see what we really have. We have the opportunity to be good, but time is running out..
Sadly, I'm not sure Reyna or McKinnie are on Poch's radar. And that's a shame.
Yeah, I think the lack of minutes is a big thing for Poch. McKennie should be a roster lock and likely a starting XI lock depending on formation.
Reyna needs to get back on track so I understand not being on the radar. But while I'm a bit lower on his potential than a few years ago, nobody has come close to showing his skillset for the USMNT. Maybe Tillman gets there but he ghosted for Leverkusen today.
I'll wrap up my thoughts on Reyna with this...
Well, I know they've been friendlies, but it's nice to see the USMNT on the correct side of the scoreboard. Hasn't been pretty until this last one, but it's been effective for sure. Still haven't been able to really get an idea of what our full starting squad will look like, and I'm not sure the players know at this point either. Some time to get healthy and get some more reps in for club before coming back to camp in March.
Give me all of 5-1 over Uruguay lineup. That game was over well before Uruguay got the red card in 2nd half.
I wonder if Bielsa's lost the locker room over there. They looked half-hearted and credit to our guys for punishing them.
Crazy thing is that was basically our C-team.
The "back 3" we're implementing seems to be working wonders. Unbeaten since we played it against Japan a couple windows back.
I keep trying to figure out what my starting 11 would be without success. Not sure if it's the fact we haven't seen a consistent roster due to injuries/coaching decisions or the fact that the entire midfield (not including Pulisic) is interchangeable for me depending on the type of team we're playing.
A little bit of everything...
I mean we've looked our best without basically 3 stars in Europe...Adams, Weston, and Pulisic. Toss in Weah and Musah and none of them were on the pitch for 4 goals in 40 minutes. Wild.
Does Wes still start for you if everyone is healthy? I'm on the fence between him or Tessman next to Adams, or even playing Tessman/McKennie in the double pivot without Adams if we need to break down a low block.
Also I don't think Weah is a starter for us playing with wing backs. Think he's backing up Dest.
Musah, not even sure he makes the roster at this point.
Both of these are kind of the wild thing. 8 months ago they had dedicated numbers! Now, not even sure they dress...
I haven't been able to watch Weston of late. And not sure if he's ready or not. I will say he and Pulisic play well together, and he was one of the best on the pitch for many of our past games.
Agree on Weah behind Dest. I can see each getting a start in the group stage for sure.
Weston is doing what Weston does. Plays solid, puts in a shift and gets a goal contribution every so often.
Not sure if he fits best for us in the pivot or as a 10 or as a wingback. He's good pretty much anywhere you play him.
Balogun has to start, right? He's probably the most electric player on the ball on this team.
Will Antonee Robinson be healthy by the summer?
Yes, give me him at the tip of the spear! And Agyemang as a backup.
(Please, despite everything he's done in England, leave Sargent across the pond!!!)
I'd love to have Robinson back. But has to be 100%. Has to be.
Balo is the clear starter for me. Helps that he's scoring for club.
Pepi and Haji are #2/#3 for me.
Anybody watching the HBO documentary leading up to the World Cup?