USMNT - 2026 Cycle - "Early Days"

[The Sybian]

Amazing prediction by Roger Bennett before the game. He predicted 3-1 US win, but said the score will make the game look easy, but it'll be anything but. He said it'd be 1-1 late and the US would get two late goals.

[tennbengal]

Stu Holden
@stuholden
Reflecting on last night and thinking about what the best
@USMNT
midfield is/should be. The different skill sets of the best CM’s: Adams, Johnny, Musah, McKennie, Reyna - make it tough to find the right balance of 3 in the current system.

A Thread: Gregg needs to either play with:

Two 6’s and a 10 (Reyna) or play 3 in the back and 3-4-2-1 with Pulisic and Reyna as 10’s.

Adams is probably the best out and out 6 for Gregg’s current system because of his physical capacity and ability to organize in the middle of the field. Adams’s range of passing has improved, but if he can add more consistent forward passing / long balls to his game, it adds a lot to USMNT attack. I’d like to see how Adams looks in a different formation for USMNT, but he gave the team a big lift when he came on last night. Plays with a competitive edge and is a leader on the field at all times.

Johnny has shown he can play as the 6 really effectively for Real Betis, but thrives in a double pivot (2 CDM) formation. Not sole defensive responsibility and can float / get touches / find the game and dictate the rhythm of the game well. He’s the best in the USMNT CM pool at that right now. If it’s a game where ball retention is an emphasis, Johnny should be starting - but who do you drop? His rise over the past year has given real depth to a position that felt like it was Adams or bust for a long time.

Musah at the 6 just never seems to work. I watched him a lot last night and man, he is so explosive with the ball at his feet and has such great ability to unbalance defenders / break open the game on the dribble. I’d hoped over the past year he would develop his long range passing game and add final 3rd actions to his game. Unfortunately, his starts at AC Milan have been limited and we haven’t seen the next level yet. He doesn’t quite show the discipline / organization required to be a lone 6, so where do you play him? As an 8? Box to Box? I think that’s his best role right now and still adds so much to the team, but needs to add final product.

McKennie is coming off his best club form for Juventus and we should be featuring him in a way that highlights that. Juventus play with a back 3 and McKennie is always a part of that midfield where he has Box to box role but also some freedom within that to make late runs in the box, pull wide to find the ball, etc. I don’t want to see him as a right back, even when we are dominating possession, etc - I hope it was a one off, but his skill set is completely wasted. Weston sets the tone in the middle of the field with his physicality, ball skills, and his timing in the box. The best we saw the Musah, McKennie, Adams MF was at the World Cup and with injuries to Adams, we haven’t ever seen the same level - but even at it’s best, it still lacked creativity in the final 3rd… which leads me to:

Gio Reyna. Gio is such a fascinating player and unique in the player pool for his ability to dribble with balance and then deliver the killer final ball. Last night was a great example of a guy that just found the game in the right moments and had the composure / ability make the pass, even when he’s not 100% match fit and lacking game time. He needs to find a good club situation for the next few years, because he has sky high talent / potential, but we need to see it on a consistent basis. He should be in the 10 role for the USMNT and his best moments in the shirt prove that. If we play with 2 6’s we can get him in the 10 underneath a striker / or if we played with 2 10’s I’d love to see what he could do with Pulisic in a system similar to AC Milan.

[mister d]

I've decided that what inarguably should have been a loss to a Jamaica team missing more key players than we were plus a decisive loss to Mexico is actually our best path to a new coach. Lose to Jamaica and it can be called a fluke, 3rd place match means nothing because guys will be checked out. This is two matches that matter and he can lose both despite winning one.

[Nonlinear FC]

Very empty in Dallas

Because the Mexicans buy all the tickets. The format is not great for the US in this regard.

[Nonlinear FC]

I've decided that what inarguably should have been a loss to a Jamaica team missing more key players than we were plus a decisive loss to Mexico is actually our best path to a new coach. Lose to Jamaica and it can be called a fluke, 3rd place match means nothing because guys will be checked out. This is two matches that matter and he can lose both despite winning one.

My friend and I were SOOOO conflicted last night. The best thing for this program would've been a well-deserved loss last night and then shitting the bed at the Copa. The glaring issue is that as Mr D kind of alluded to, they'd just put in Marsch... Listening to him last night... He also doesn't get some basic shit.

GGG is just weirdly not good at putting the pieces together. I'm glad that he's not pulling guys like Morris, Roldan, Acosta and Arriola into the pool -- that's real progress -- but there are obvious things that he could do, as Holden points out, that he seems stubborn to implement. As I said last night, it just takes him way too long to adjust during the game. You could see Weah wasn't in his element against a low block. You could see Scalley was out to sea back there. You could see 4 in the back wasn't effective against a low block.

You don't always need to wait until 45 minutes have drained off the clock to make tactical changes.

[mister d]

I have a question and its not just last night or Greggggggg specific: If you have a guy (Adams) you know you're going to play and also know isn't fit for 90:00, why does that guy seemingly always come in off the bench? Its a more glaring mistake(?) last night when there's OT and you have to use two subs on the same position, but it seems like a universal policy across all coaches I've watched. You go into the match knowing you're going to use a sub on one position, so shouldn't you do what you can to ensure you won't have to use another and/or leave yourself with real coverage? Start the guy coming back, hopefully he goes as long as scripted, then his sub finishes it out.

[Nonlinear FC]

Absolutely agree. My buddy had read that Bournemouth asked GGG not to play him 90, and that's totally understandable. But burning 2 subs there is just really really dumb.

You're playing a team that best case scenario eeks out a 1 goal game, with a high probability of going to ET...

[wlu_lax6]

When the U.S. was trying to get balls inside late in the game, I was wondering if the U.S. had anyone who could win a header in that setup. In the past this would have been a Connor Casey/Kenny Cooper Jr or other big target striker type need for Concacaf type games...maybe a wiley player who always seemed to be able to find a space for a header (Landon). The skill has gone up but the need for a big striker for some games like this would have been helpful.

[P.D.X.]

Haji is 6-3!

[Nonlinear FC]

So, yep, that was one of the things I left out last night:

* Balogun is GGG's guy. I kind of get wanting him to play and he was OK at times. But he's not in form for his club, while guys like Sargent-->Wright and Pepi are... So, while I wasn't too annoyed with the starting XI, I did have an issue with that part of it.

* But what got me REALLY annoyed is that the US, playing a well-known opponent, who are a bunch of very large humans, started just lumping in crosses... that's NOT Balo's game. As PDX said, Hajis is a large human... Pepi is also tall and decent (not great) in the air. (looks it up-->6'1"). To be totally fair, Malik Tillman is also 6'1" and is a decent header of the ball.

The overall point is that you're not gonna beat Jamaica with crosses. What was also VERY annoying on corners and other set pieces is they were lofting balls in. The reason the scored the equalizer is that the ball was whipped in, which is MUCH MUCH more dangerous than floating in crosses that give the GK and defenders all day to find it and deal with it. Drives me (and my coaching buddy) crazy.

The Balo thing is another really good example of GGG just kind of shoe-horning his, I dunno, desire for a certain path when the reality of the situation dictates a change in course.

I'm absolutely fine not starting Reyna, btw. Dude played more minutes last night than he has for his club. Totally get it.

But dude better start on Sunday.

[wlu_lax6]

Well US white kit looks way better than what Mexico is wearing

[mister d]

Love how you can see Pulisic wants to destroy them.

[mister d]

(I spent today hoping for a horrific loss but now that it’s started I can’t.)

[Rex]

Is there a TV channel that has this game?

[HaulCitgo]

Intensity seems high but maybe a bit too rushed. Mexico a lot of that. Haji is stronger than the backs

[The Sybian]

Is there a TV channel that has this game?

I think it’s on Univision. My parents just got Paramount+, so I’m using their account

[HaulCitgo]

Tudn Univision says both on screen

[The Sybian]

Well US white kit looks way better than what Mexico is wearing

Did John Daly design them?

[HaulCitgo]

Gio really deep. Opposite McKennie but deeper. I don't like it. Pulisic mostly invisible

[HaulCitgo]

Oh. Welcome back

[wlu_lax6]

Wow. Banger

[govmentchedda]

OMFG

[HaulCitgo]

Defender did everything

[mister d]

Dutchess County up in this motherfucker!

[The Sybian]

Gio really deep. Opposite McKennie but deeper. I don't like it. Pulisic mostly invisible

Yeah, we need Reyna higher in a 10 role.

[Rex]

I’m definitely going to watch some more Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest games after this amazing run!

[The Sybian]

I love Jessie Marsh’s comments at halftime. He’s fed Adams 100s of passes to shoot from 30 yards out at practice, and he’s never seen him hit one like that. “He should have hit a diagonal chip.”

[Rex]

lol, what does Mexico have to do?

[mister d]

Fuck off, Berhalter.

[The Sybian]

Fuck off, Mexican fans.

[Rex]

I'm sure this will make CONCACAF think twice about holding future Nations League/Gold Cup finals in a southern US city!

[The Sybian]

I'm sure this will make CONCACAF think twice about holding future Nations League/Gold Cup finals in a southern US city!

Yep, Columbus in the winter.

[Rex]

That or Toronto would actually send a message, unlike stopping the game for 4 minutes

[wlu_lax6]

Seeing Tim Ream on the field sparked a question..what happened to his weekly podcast? Did he announce a hiatus?

[The Sybian]

Seeing Tim Ream on the field sparked a question..what happened to his weekly podcast? Did he announce a hiatus?

What happened to his playing time at Fulham? Seems like every time I check, he is an unused sub.

[Nonlinear FC]

I don't really know. He had an injury that he dealt with in January, came back and seemed fine, but then he hasn't really played in a month. No news of an injury and he seemed fine in the US camp.

[wlu_lax6]

He had a couple of rough outings in a row late last year. If I recall a red card, gave up a PK, some rough on ball items. Strange to go from leader and person that folks said would be a transfer target for the CL teams if he was not so old to sitting.

[Nonlinear FC]

It's also jarring because he signed a contract extension through end of next season and so much of the hype around him was how well he was doing and, like you said, that he was a leader for the club.

[Nonlinear FC]

OMFG

That was one of the most improbable (and best) goals I've seen in this rivalry. Benny Feilhaber's goal in the Gold Cup was similar.

[Nonlinear FC]

Gio really deep. Opposite McKennie but deeper. I don't like it. Pulisic mostly invisible

Yeah, we need Reyna higher in a 10 role.

While I mostly agree, the way they were having the outside backs push really high necessitated a bit more of conservative play from the central guys. That just wasn't happening against JAM which meant Gio and others in the middle had to try and force the issue through that real estate. There was no flanking JAM on TH.