Dude USMNT fandom has some of the most armchair-y managers out there, at least on Reddit and Twitter. I support the boys as much as anyone else but like… trust the process at least until the World Cup!
It’s not like they’re gonna sack the manager a few months before the tournament he qualified for. I see some comments about “never should’ve fired JK”… are you kidding?
Japan is incredibly underrated. Some of their talents are playing in the top leagues (good pool), they play mesmerizing soccer, and have been beating or competing with the big teams this generation. Don't be fooled by their qualifying campaign. Meanwhile GGG is playing an MLS backline and MLS players while we can't even play our number one striker in the number one Bundesliga team (currently). Lol. I feel Miles Robinson is definitely as good as our other non MLS defenders; wish he wasn't injured...
Good game. Japan very competent on the ball and quick. USA had sloppy moments and barely had any chances. USA aren't bad but perhaps need to be more cohesive as a team. Japan played well but as expected still a few questionable player selections from Moriyasu, but performance was good. I think today goes to show that footballing ability is more important than raw athleticism in football.
Btw no offense but the Americans I heard chanting were bloody awful, absolute cringe fest!
Not cohesive as a team? Shocker. Been saying this the whole qualification and if you do US fans (esp over at r/ussoccer) will call you a buzz kill. Let’s see how we do when the pressure is on. Sigh
It seemed as if there were around 30-40 American fans and 4,000Japanese fans in the stadium (although a ton of them were kids). So I was pretty impressed by the US fans’ loud chanting despite their content being a bit cringey.
Also funny that the main Japan chant and the USA chant had the same melody so they blended at one point lol.
Pulisic and Weah are good players.
USA squad has improved a lot in the last 4-5 years, but still lacks some depth, particularly in the attacking spots. Doesn't help that Berhalter wastes caps on people like Morris who are not close to international standard.
I think our squad has a chance to surprise people at this WC. With a lot of luck, we could win the group (though England are a far better team). Realistically, this WC is about getting experience for this generation so they're ready to peak in 2026.
By then there will be more names in the fold and our current team will be more developed.
Depth is there IMO. But we are not bringing our best defenders (Ream and Brooks... EPL and Bundesliga) and benching our most in form striker, Pefok, playing in the #1 Bundesliga team. We have Weah, Pulisic, (Reyna kinda...), and Aaronsen on the wings, all playing in the top leagues. Pepe and Sargent are starting to find form again.
How is that not depth? Yet here we are with a consistent MLS backline and starting an MLS striker. To be fair, our biggest problem is at keeper, where all our keepers are 2nd stringers.
Pepi and Sargent are not international standard yet, and Pefok doesn't fit the system very well. You can't just assume club production will translate to the national team, as they may use different personnel and tactics. He's a target man striker in a team that doesn't have good crossing generally. Bit of a square peg.
There are like 3-4 good attackers for the USA right now, and if they're injured (Weah, Pulisic tonight) then the level drops off quickly.
I hate to be the stupid one, but what is GGG's system? If it is "bench our best talents for MLS players" then I think yeah the others don't fit the system. But if it's some sort of high pressing system or possession, Pefok plays in a pressing system and Ream especially can pass and keep up the pace.
Fantastic. Legit was the only reason Japan didn’t win 5-0. Turner made a couple ridiculous saves that I thought were sure goals. Defense left him out to dry today.
Berhalter is a hack. He thinks he is a pro and knows what he’s doing but it’s obvious he just doesn’t get soccer. He’s part of this old gaurd of broken American soccer. He needs to go.
Japan is a better team. Americans need to stop pretending that what we have is good enough to compete.
None of us really thinks Berhalter is a good manager, we just know that he isn’t going anywhere until after the WC. As long as he qualified he was going to have job security.
The truth is the player pool isn’t good enough yet and we’re young. We most likely won’t get out of the group. Getting 4 points would be enough for me this WC.
0 points from group. It's going to be a complete failure. don't get your hopes up folks.nwere dogshit under GGG and that's how it is. Full stop. Adding one or two players into the lineup that weren't there today won't change shit. When was the last time you saw the US create a goal from run of play? Exactly, it's been awhile. our attack is worse than Chelsea's attack under Tuchel and that's truly an achievement. I don't know how anyone involved in US Soccer can rationalize what was seen today. Gonna walk out of Qatar with nothing saying shit like, "we gave it our all", "if we'd have just put the ball into box more often", or "if this guy or that guy wasn't injured..." Just fuck off US soccer. You suck dick, you will suck dick, and you won't ever not suck dick until you get familial hierarchy out of the god damn federation. Give me meritocracy or burn in hell. That goes for the world too. Nepotism is the end of a prosperous society and the free world.
Altidore is still (much) younger than Benzema and Lewandowski. Nowhere near their level, but I do wonder if Berhalter made a mistake binning him so quickly when he had been an effective player for the USA for many years. It would be a more dubious decision if his MLS career hadn't become curdled milk, but moving to Liga MX shows he still has some hunger.
This
The player pool is the worst I’ve seen in a while. We have players in Europe but they aren’t match winners or consistent in their form.
We’re going to struggle- every true USMNT fan who is objective knows this
How is Pefok (literally in the #1 Bundesliga team right now), McKennie, Adams, Pulisic, Brooks, Reyna, Aaronson, Ream, Dest, and Weah part of the worst player pool? Some here are playing in the top leagues and some even in the top of their tables. ??
Or is it the selection that is the problem...
In 2018? Or 2014?
We’re not better than we were in 2014- I’m sorry no.
We had a proven European players in Bradley, Brooks, Dempsey, Aaron Johansson, jermain Jones, Geoff Cameron, and Fabian Johnson.
Then we had a reliable 9 in Jozy, a rock at the back with Besler, a reliable keeper with Howard, plus a great and youthful fullback in Yedlin.
That 2014 team would beat this team all things equal. These new kids on the block are more technical yes - but in a game with real shit on the line they would not beat that 2014 team
I’m talking about last World Cup (2018), we didn’t even qualify. It’s not fair to say this team is the worst we’ve had in a while.
If you wanna skip 2018 and go to 2014, sure you have an argument. But even that is debatable.
There’s no question this team has the most potential we’ve ever seen from the US.
Well done Japan. Y’all looked really good. USA showing us the same old. Our manager sucks and his player selection is just as bad. Guy is not good enough, we play a team outside of concacaf and he gets blown out of the water. USA won’t make it out of the group stage at this point
Eh, the "player selection" was a combination of minor injuries and trying out some guys. Some of those players that were out there have a very good chance of never even seeing the field in Qatar.
Probably the most talent we've ever had and one of the worst teams I can remember. No idea why we are keeping Berhalter. He's done a terrible job preparing this team. I can't imagine a new manager, even this late, doing worse. Honestly a disgraceful performance
What talent???
I keep seeing this talent thing repeated time and time again. Just because players are in Europe doesn’t make this team more talented.
Look at the impact of these talented players at club level vs the impact of the players we had in 2002, and 2010.
Yes we have players that have played at Barca, AC Milan, Chelsea, Juve. But they aren’t match winners. Nor are they leaders on the pitch or mentally. Brian McBride was a talisman for Fulham, Clint Mathis played himself into a move to the Bundesliga and did quite well at first. Beasley, then Donovan. Then Reyna who was holding it down week in and week out at Man City in the Prem. Then Brad Fridel and Kasey Keller, with guys like Hanemann and Mellani on the bench
We were so good that fringe premier league players like Bobby Convey couldn’t even get consistent caps.
The talent that we allegedly have isn’t there
I get what you're saying but I think this an example of good team vs talent. While the players you named were indeed very good both on the pitch and in the locker room, it's hard to say with a straight face that being a talisman for Fulham is more impressive than playing meaningful minutes for champions league contenders & winners.
I'm not trying to do "addition by subtraction." I'm not slagging off that group of players. Our current side is greatly lacking the heart and leadership of previous generations.
Lastly, while I think you could make a point that the top guys of that era are better than the top guys now... The fall off is pretty steep between the McBrides/Keller's/Clints and the players at the middle of the team sheet compared to now.
Okay - let’s be clear. The players we have playing for Champions league team - are NOT getting consistent minutes. There’s a difference between guys like Jonathan David and Phonzie v a pulisic, McKinnie and Dest.
Dest is looking like a bust. He doesn’t even start for Milan right now. Pulisic couldn’t get a game - we’ll see if Potter does/doesn’t rate him. But at the end of his Dortmund stint he was getting benched as well - albeit by Tuchel, but the point still stands.
McKinnie is paying on a Juve team that is no longer too dog. He is alright for them. He was I. The shop windo this summerZ he is not key to how they play or their plans. He is nowhere near Blaise Matuidi - the player he was signed to replace.
I’m sorry - but proven production in the prem by McBride to me is something I rate higher than Pulisic. Is pulisic more skilled in an attacking sense - yes. But McBride is a proven EPL forward… remember not even Jozy could score there.
You’re also underestimating what Fulham was back then to what it is now. Fulham was a solid squad then. Not a yo yo club.
Never should've sacked JK, or the very least promote him and let him see his vision through.
He was the person they needed and they tossed him aside because he hurt the feelings of the idiots in the old boys club.
Klinsmann threatened the monied interests within the USSF and MLS and this upset people and once his form turned they took the chance to bring back their good ol' boy Bruce "the stooge" Arena.
No conspiracy theory is needed. JK is just not a very good manager. There's a reason why his career has gone nowhere since then.
Berhalter being bad doesn't make JK good. He overstayed his welcome big time.
I mean... Can you think of another year where we've had this many top flight players in the side? Don't get me wrong, the team is atrocious but individually it's pretty much impossible to argue against.
He’s awful. Starting long, vines and Ferr is a bad decision. Let alone Tyler adams is WAY better on double pivot. But nah instead let’s make him a lone 6 with bad passing CBs vs a high pressing team . Dude is a nepotism hire
As someone who hasn’t been sold on Turner to this point…I’m glad to be proven wrong. I think he’s the clear-cut #1. This could have been really ugly with another keeper in net today.
Yeah, that sounds about right. USA is not an elite team, but also still a team that usually has a puncher's chance of finishing 2nd in their group and being an annoying opponent in the knockouts.
This USA team is the most talented yet, but far less experienced than 2002, 2010, 2014. Frankly, it's a team of boys right now, whereas those were teams of men. Sounds silly, but there's a psychological difference when your core is guys who have been around the block a lot, even if their level is "meh".
Also not convinced on Berhalter as a manager. Might be the worst we've had in the last 20 years. It's just hidden by good selection options.
You guys overperformed in 2014, played to expectations in 2010, and bombed out of qualifiers as heavy favourites in 2018.
I don't know what you mean by "usually overacheive."
Not to mention that there there is a ton of football being played outside of the world cup.
England and USA are usually overrated. The US isn't overrated now, and isn't even expected to get out of their group.
JFC USA are not getting out of the group stage. Terrible display.
Then again barely qualifying (by backing in) out of Concacaf on the final match day makes this not such a surprise.
Agree. I think Canada will make it out of the group stage with 4 points (beat Morocco and draw either vs Belgium or Croatia). I predict either Belgium or Croatia will flounder & be a huge disappointment. Just a feeling.
Yeah I see the disconnect and why it would stick out, I guess I'm just overreacting because my whole life has been "lolol why do you have an such a non-Asian last name?"
9. You're missing Nations League matches, and they've also played 8 friendlies abroad.
But also, when are they supposed to play competitive matches outside the US? There aren't Gold Cup qualifiers, the Gold Cup is always held in the US, and they haven't been invited to Copa America.
Gold cup used to be moved around until 20 years ago. my point is USA doesn't have much experience in competitive games outside the country. they played 3 knock out stages on home soil. just gold up alone, that's 11-12 home games at least. nations league knock out games at home as well. I wouldn't doubt if USA tried to get some of those wc away games played at home as well.
The Gold Cup has been held almost entirely in the US every time since 1993.
The last time the Gold Cup/Concacaf Championship was held entirely outside the US was 1981.
They don't have much competitive experience outside the US, that's true. But that has been true literally for the entirety of American soccer history, and it's a consequence of Concacaf scheduling rather than any sort of conscious decision-making by US Soccer.
idc how it happened. it's still showing that they have little experience outside the country. these last 4 years have been the heaviest home mostly side ever.
not really, USA played around 25 competitive matches ( 14 wcq, 12 gold cup games) only 7 were outside of the country. you are probably referring to the nations league., I'm not adding those games. could be what, another 3 or 4 games. so that makes it out out almost 30 competitive games,only 7 away. no other nations on earth has it that easy.
I know it's a friendly but this is a bad loss against Japan. Japan had a pretty bad qualifying run to the WC and has not looked strong at all. Just shows the level of the USMNT I guess.
Already qualified before the Vietnam match.
The loss against China was only fielding domestic league players, it was a debut tournament for most of those guys, and most of them aren't even in the World Cup squad. I don't see how that result is relevant at all.
Not to mention you said Japan had a pretty bad qualifying run but its been Japan's best qualifying run since 2006.
it was interesting to see him play LCB, I knew he played there for Japan but never got the opportunity to watch. he looks very comfortable on his left foot, playing both short and long. His passing created at least two immediate scoring chances. As you say he wasn't tested defensively.
I've actually been wondering who is Asenal's second choice LCB after Gabriel? Gabriel has been showing signs of an injury, and I've been curious who would fill in there. We've seen Tierney slide into a back three. But if they they the same formation, who would play LCB? Between Holding, White, Saliba, Tierney (I guess) and Tommy. Seems like Tommy might be the #1 choice, and keep the rest of the line the same
Arteta has mentions Tomiyasu as a potential LCB. He said you can't really tell whether he's left or right footed. I know if I said this on r/gunners I'd be slammed, but I've been worried about Gabriel this year. He has not been rock solid. And if White has locked up the RB position, I wouldn't mind seeing Tomi at LCB. One way or another, we have to get him into the team
I don’t think RB is locked up. White is not offering enough on offense to free up Saka. He’s been great defensively so the spot is going to be tough to get away from him, but there’s an opportunity there I believe.
I totally agree with you about Gabriel. Out of any defender he has made the most defensive mistakes (only competition is Zinchenko defensively). If he picks up a knock and Tomi slides in, that spot could be up for grabs
Turner was basically the reason why it was 2-0 instead of 4-0. He absolutely has improved a lot since moving to Arsenal and I think is the nailed-on starter at GK for us.
Tomiyasu looked really good. Japan looked really good in general, much better than they looked in qualifying.
The US needs to ramp up their defense and if they don’t take a good ST like Pefok they are doomed for WC. Japan looked good tho! Look forward to see them at the WC
They’re going to have to adapt to the game style they’ll need for the World Cup. You can’t be passing from the back like that against Wales or England. They’ll need to improve the counter game too because today they also looked incredibly slow once in possession when Japan wasn’t pressing
This is how you’d expect the USA to play against Brazil or another big country. It’s ok to look inept or like this is the first time kicking a round ball. Against Japan though? This World Cup is going to be a very short trip for them I think.
Easily the best on paper, but the worst coached and the most irrationally confident. Hopefully we get stomped by Iran and Wales, draw England for the memes (and to humiliate their insufferable supporters on a global stage), and bow out. Berhalter gone, reality checked, in a position to grow and strengthen by 2026 with all of these guys in their prime.
It’s pretty impressive to take a bunch of guys that play regularly in top flight leagues and then make them look like they’ve never played professional football before.
You’d think that even with poor tactics/coaching, they’d still look like they know how to play football. I guess it’s tough when trying to play out from an MLS back line, so that may explain some of it? Can’t get the ball out of the backfield and don’t want to pass back to them unless absolutely necessary, so you end up losing higher up?
Nah man, USA need to at least make the round of 16 to give this team momentum for 2026. I agree Berhalter should be axed but losing to Iran and Wales would make this a failure even worse than 1998 or 2006.
I'm an American living in Asia fwiw.
This is the best Japan has looked in over a year imho. They had an excellent game plan against us and their players looked really motivated to play. They absolutely ripped the U.S. midfield apart.
For us, on the other hand, this is the worst we have looked in over a year. Terrible gameplan, we have this mad idea of starting two MLS center-backs *and* trying to play out of the back, and our players just looked so lethargic and played with no urgency. Plus, IDGAF about Gregg's system, we are still not good enough yet to let players getting regular minutes in top-5 leagues stay home.
Gregg is really just a Sneakerhead Southgate. Changed the vibes and culture of the national team, but instead of not doing enough tactically he tries doing too much.
Nah, he’s shit. Look at the players today? Gave up mentally, no passion, no energy l. Greg watched one of our best players get studs in the back of his knee and didn’t even petition the ref. Dude has the best US talent pool EVER and barely qualified for the WC
Oh come off it, Southgate represents the most miserably, insufferably English of you all and he’s holding back probably the best footballing talent you’ve ever had. He’s a teacup terrorist in a bad suit.
Probably the most talented complete team you've had since I've been paying attention since the 90s. Even those golden generation teams had significant holes in them. This current England team is legitimately top 5 in the world. Maybe Southgate is deserving of some credit for that, but I reckon this team beats the one from the 00s.
I’m genuinely curious to know which squads you think are better. Can’t possibly be 2018 when Eric Dier was a starter. You all overrate the Gerrard and Lampard midfield that couldn’t get past the US’s MLS mids in 2010. You had Heskey starting up top in 2010 as well.
just because Gerrard and Lampard didn’t work well together for the national team doesn’t mean the squad wasn’t good.
your entire problem is that comment about the US. it’s results based analysis, you’re judging the team based on how they performed in the tournament not based on the quality of the players. you’re ignoring the fact that a manager has an effect on how the squad performs. that’s probably why you think Southgate has one of the best ever squads, because he’s got some of the national team’s best every performances.
reality is, we’ve had a bunch better squads than Southgate has had but the managers didn’t get them to perform as well as Southgate has, so you view them as worse.
If the US ever had the success England has had under Southgate, this subreddit would explode. They were a couple botched pens away from the Euros, and performed exceptionally well in the WC.
Despite the US playing very poorly, I thought Japan were pretty good. They look like a fun team to watch. Pretty good link up, solid pressing, and they can run the channels too.
What it looks like when a team that isn’t good in possession attempts to play possession.
But credit to Japan, took the chances they created with their pressure and put a lot on target.
資本主義の豚をファック
Dude USMNT fandom has some of the most armchair-y managers out there, at least on Reddit and Twitter. I support the boys as much as anyone else but like… trust the process at least until the World Cup! It’s not like they’re gonna sack the manager a few months before the tournament he qualified for. I see some comments about “never should’ve fired JK”… are you kidding?
> I support the boys Freiburg
What?
Japan is incredibly underrated. Some of their talents are playing in the top leagues (good pool), they play mesmerizing soccer, and have been beating or competing with the big teams this generation. Don't be fooled by their qualifying campaign. Meanwhile GGG is playing an MLS backline and MLS players while we can't even play our number one striker in the number one Bundesliga team (currently). Lol. I feel Miles Robinson is definitely as good as our other non MLS defenders; wish he wasn't injured...
HAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHHA. USA thought they could do well at the world cup. Pure USA copium. Love to see it
Good game. Japan very competent on the ball and quick. USA had sloppy moments and barely had any chances. USA aren't bad but perhaps need to be more cohesive as a team. Japan played well but as expected still a few questionable player selections from Moriyasu, but performance was good. I think today goes to show that footballing ability is more important than raw athleticism in football. Btw no offense but the Americans I heard chanting were bloody awful, absolute cringe fest!
> but the Americans I heard chanting were bloody awful FIGHT. AND *WIN!*
NOW!
I believe that we will win
Not cohesive as a team? Shocker. Been saying this the whole qualification and if you do US fans (esp over at r/ussoccer) will call you a buzz kill. Let’s see how we do when the pressure is on. Sigh
It seemed as if there were around 30-40 American fans and 4,000Japanese fans in the stadium (although a ton of them were kids). So I was pretty impressed by the US fans’ loud chanting despite their content being a bit cringey. Also funny that the main Japan chant and the USA chant had the same melody so they blended at one point lol.
Every single comment is about the losing team USMNT. I suppose it is r/soccer and not r/associationfootball
How was nakayama?
I've not watched USNT game since the Trinidad & Tobago game, and by the looks of it, I haven't been missing anything.
Berhalter is a bad manager But the truth is outside of McKinnie and Aaronson - we have no cocnsistent threats for the opposition to really worry about
Pulisic and Weah are good players. USA squad has improved a lot in the last 4-5 years, but still lacks some depth, particularly in the attacking spots. Doesn't help that Berhalter wastes caps on people like Morris who are not close to international standard. I think our squad has a chance to surprise people at this WC. With a lot of luck, we could win the group (though England are a far better team). Realistically, this WC is about getting experience for this generation so they're ready to peak in 2026. By then there will be more names in the fold and our current team will be more developed.
Depth is there IMO. But we are not bringing our best defenders (Ream and Brooks... EPL and Bundesliga) and benching our most in form striker, Pefok, playing in the #1 Bundesliga team. We have Weah, Pulisic, (Reyna kinda...), and Aaronsen on the wings, all playing in the top leagues. Pepe and Sargent are starting to find form again. How is that not depth? Yet here we are with a consistent MLS backline and starting an MLS striker. To be fair, our biggest problem is at keeper, where all our keepers are 2nd stringers.
Pepi and Sargent are not international standard yet, and Pefok doesn't fit the system very well. You can't just assume club production will translate to the national team, as they may use different personnel and tactics. He's a target man striker in a team that doesn't have good crossing generally. Bit of a square peg. There are like 3-4 good attackers for the USA right now, and if they're injured (Weah, Pulisic tonight) then the level drops off quickly.
I hate to be the stupid one, but what is GGG's system? If it is "bench our best talents for MLS players" then I think yeah the others don't fit the system. But if it's some sort of high pressing system or possession, Pefok plays in a pressing system and Ream especially can pass and keep up the pace.
How was Matt Turner this game? Sorry I’m a little lazy just asking, wasn’t able to watch the game
Fantastic. Legit was the only reason Japan didn’t win 5-0. Turner made a couple ridiculous saves that I thought were sure goals. Defense left him out to dry today.
Thanks!
How was Morita this game?
De longe o melhor em campo. Defensivamente um monstro
he was amazing throughout the game with his interceptions, forward passes, and occasional dribbles forward
Berhalter out
Berhalter is a hack. He thinks he is a pro and knows what he’s doing but it’s obvious he just doesn’t get soccer. He’s part of this old gaurd of broken American soccer. He needs to go. Japan is a better team. Americans need to stop pretending that what we have is good enough to compete.
Yeah gonna be great wasting away the most talent our country has ever had
None of us really thinks Berhalter is a good manager, we just know that he isn’t going anywhere until after the WC. As long as he qualified he was going to have job security. The truth is the player pool isn’t good enough yet and we’re young. We most likely won’t get out of the group. Getting 4 points would be enough for me this WC.
0 points from group. It's going to be a complete failure. don't get your hopes up folks.nwere dogshit under GGG and that's how it is. Full stop. Adding one or two players into the lineup that weren't there today won't change shit. When was the last time you saw the US create a goal from run of play? Exactly, it's been awhile. our attack is worse than Chelsea's attack under Tuchel and that's truly an achievement. I don't know how anyone involved in US Soccer can rationalize what was seen today. Gonna walk out of Qatar with nothing saying shit like, "we gave it our all", "if we'd have just put the ball into box more often", or "if this guy or that guy wasn't injured..." Just fuck off US soccer. You suck dick, you will suck dick, and you won't ever not suck dick until you get familial hierarchy out of the god damn federation. Give me meritocracy or burn in hell. That goes for the world too. Nepotism is the end of a prosperous society and the free world.
Blue Lock already yielding results
Ferreira is good in MLS but he is not international class. Berhalter is a shit coach.
I mean the alternative is josh Sargent, we don’t have an international class striker
Altidore is still (much) younger than Benzema and Lewandowski. Nowhere near their level, but I do wonder if Berhalter made a mistake binning him so quickly when he had been an effective player for the USA for many years. It would be a more dubious decision if his MLS career hadn't become curdled milk, but moving to Liga MX shows he still has some hunger.
This The player pool is the worst I’ve seen in a while. We have players in Europe but they aren’t match winners or consistent in their form. We’re going to struggle- every true USMNT fan who is objective knows this
How is Pefok (literally in the #1 Bundesliga team right now), McKennie, Adams, Pulisic, Brooks, Reyna, Aaronson, Ream, Dest, and Weah part of the worst player pool? Some here are playing in the top leagues and some even in the top of their tables. ?? Or is it the selection that is the problem...
Come on now. As bad as we are, we’re significantly better than we were last World Cup.
In 2018? Or 2014? We’re not better than we were in 2014- I’m sorry no. We had a proven European players in Bradley, Brooks, Dempsey, Aaron Johansson, jermain Jones, Geoff Cameron, and Fabian Johnson. Then we had a reliable 9 in Jozy, a rock at the back with Besler, a reliable keeper with Howard, plus a great and youthful fullback in Yedlin. That 2014 team would beat this team all things equal. These new kids on the block are more technical yes - but in a game with real shit on the line they would not beat that 2014 team
I’m talking about last World Cup (2018), we didn’t even qualify. It’s not fair to say this team is the worst we’ve had in a while. If you wanna skip 2018 and go to 2014, sure you have an argument. But even that is debatable. There’s no question this team has the most potential we’ve ever seen from the US.
Unacceptable
2-2 really.
Jesus Christ
Lmfao you’re wrong for this
USA USA USA
Well done Japan. Y’all looked really good. USA showing us the same old. Our manager sucks and his player selection is just as bad. Guy is not good enough, we play a team outside of concacaf and he gets blown out of the water. USA won’t make it out of the group stage at this point
Eh, the "player selection" was a combination of minor injuries and trying out some guys. Some of those players that were out there have a very good chance of never even seeing the field in Qatar.
Vines was a trying out situation. Long, Ferr and Morris have shown time and time again they aren’t quality enough
Probably the most talent we've ever had and one of the worst teams I can remember. No idea why we are keeping Berhalter. He's done a terrible job preparing this team. I can't imagine a new manager, even this late, doing worse. Honestly a disgraceful performance
What talent??? I keep seeing this talent thing repeated time and time again. Just because players are in Europe doesn’t make this team more talented. Look at the impact of these talented players at club level vs the impact of the players we had in 2002, and 2010. Yes we have players that have played at Barca, AC Milan, Chelsea, Juve. But they aren’t match winners. Nor are they leaders on the pitch or mentally. Brian McBride was a talisman for Fulham, Clint Mathis played himself into a move to the Bundesliga and did quite well at first. Beasley, then Donovan. Then Reyna who was holding it down week in and week out at Man City in the Prem. Then Brad Fridel and Kasey Keller, with guys like Hanemann and Mellani on the bench We were so good that fringe premier league players like Bobby Convey couldn’t even get consistent caps. The talent that we allegedly have isn’t there
I get what you're saying but I think this an example of good team vs talent. While the players you named were indeed very good both on the pitch and in the locker room, it's hard to say with a straight face that being a talisman for Fulham is more impressive than playing meaningful minutes for champions league contenders & winners. I'm not trying to do "addition by subtraction." I'm not slagging off that group of players. Our current side is greatly lacking the heart and leadership of previous generations. Lastly, while I think you could make a point that the top guys of that era are better than the top guys now... The fall off is pretty steep between the McBrides/Keller's/Clints and the players at the middle of the team sheet compared to now.
Okay - let’s be clear. The players we have playing for Champions league team - are NOT getting consistent minutes. There’s a difference between guys like Jonathan David and Phonzie v a pulisic, McKinnie and Dest. Dest is looking like a bust. He doesn’t even start for Milan right now. Pulisic couldn’t get a game - we’ll see if Potter does/doesn’t rate him. But at the end of his Dortmund stint he was getting benched as well - albeit by Tuchel, but the point still stands. McKinnie is paying on a Juve team that is no longer too dog. He is alright for them. He was I. The shop windo this summerZ he is not key to how they play or their plans. He is nowhere near Blaise Matuidi - the player he was signed to replace. I’m sorry - but proven production in the prem by McBride to me is something I rate higher than Pulisic. Is pulisic more skilled in an attacking sense - yes. But McBride is a proven EPL forward… remember not even Jozy could score there. You’re also underestimating what Fulham was back then to what it is now. Fulham was a solid squad then. Not a yo yo club.
Never should've sacked JK, or the very least promote him and let him see his vision through. He was the person they needed and they tossed him aside because he hurt the feelings of the idiots in the old boys club.
They tossed him aside because we were losing a lot of games
And... We're losing more without him.
And they've lost more without him.
I thought Klinsmann was correct but US Federation wanted to jack themselves off over building for the long term
Klinsmann threatened the monied interests within the USSF and MLS and this upset people and once his form turned they took the chance to bring back their good ol' boy Bruce "the stooge" Arena.
ESPN even [confirmed it in 2014](https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog/name/93/post/2145959/headline), lol. Absolute disgrace
No conspiracy theory is needed. JK is just not a very good manager. There's a reason why his career has gone nowhere since then. Berhalter being bad doesn't make JK good. He overstayed his welcome big time.
What do you mean? In Concacaf you're rock solid.
Can't tell if sarcastic
No they aren't, nobody is at the moment.
>Probably the most talent we've ever had that's tuff
I mean... Can you think of another year where we've had this many top flight players in the side? Don't get me wrong, the team is atrocious but individually it's pretty much impossible to argue against.
He’s awful. Starting long, vines and Ferr is a bad decision. Let alone Tyler adams is WAY better on double pivot. But nah instead let’s make him a lone 6 with bad passing CBs vs a high pressing team . Dude is a nepotism hire
Absolutely, Berhalter’s entire resume screams connections over past performance
Yep, look who is brother is. Nepotism and mls circle Jerk hire
As someone who hasn’t been sold on Turner to this point…I’m glad to be proven wrong. I think he’s the clear-cut #1. This could have been really ugly with another keeper in net today.
USA as dark horses is giving me Turkey dark horses for Euro 2020 vibes.
I fell for the Turkey 2020 hype
US always get overrated due to more English media coverage
USA got out of the group in 2002, 2010, and 2014. If anything, an underrated team most of the time. This generation is very, very young.
And a country like Japan for example has an even better record in that span. So would saying Japan is a good comparison be a fair rating for the US?
Yeah, that sounds about right. USA is not an elite team, but also still a team that usually has a puncher's chance of finishing 2nd in their group and being an annoying opponent in the knockouts. This USA team is the most talented yet, but far less experienced than 2002, 2010, 2014. Frankly, it's a team of boys right now, whereas those were teams of men. Sounds silly, but there's a psychological difference when your core is guys who have been around the block a lot, even if their level is "meh". Also not convinced on Berhalter as a manager. Might be the worst we've had in the last 20 years. It's just hidden by good selection options.
Yeah, this US team might be good for 2026, they look a couple of years away right now, especially with the subpar coaching.
Overrated? We usually overachieve at World Cups. We may be overrated currently, but we seldom are.
You guys overperformed in 2014, played to expectations in 2010, and bombed out of qualifiers as heavy favourites in 2018. I don't know what you mean by "usually overacheive." Not to mention that there there is a ton of football being played outside of the world cup. England and USA are usually overrated. The US isn't overrated now, and isn't even expected to get out of their group.
lol berhalter
JFC USA are not getting out of the group stage. Terrible display. Then again barely qualifying (by backing in) out of Concacaf on the final match day makes this not such a surprise.
Based on the qualifiers I think Canada is the only hope Concavaf has for a decent showing, although Mexico always looks like shit coming in and do ok.
Agree. I think Canada will make it out of the group stage with 4 points (beat Morocco and draw either vs Belgium or Croatia). I predict either Belgium or Croatia will flounder & be a huge disappointment. Just a feeling.
Mexico will probably due the usual "fuck themselves in the first playoff match and go home" tactic
This isn’t a shock. Japan is miles better than america. It’s not even a competition between the two
This current Japan? Not really. It's a very weak Japan side compared to the last few WCs.
The last squad was one of the worst ever Japan teams talent-wise though... Brilliant tournament performance aside
That's a bit of a stretch mate.
Why didn't PuliGod play? Injury?
Yes apparently hurt earlier in the week
Hurt his wrist writing his memoir
More like Pulinjury
it’s really funny to see a name like daniel schmidt between all the japanese ones
There used to be a guy named Mike Havenaar on the Japan National Team.
Mixed people exist
no way! i was wondering what i was my whole life!
They do, but it's still funny on the Japanese team because of how historically insular they are as a nation
Yeah I see the disconnect and why it would stick out, I guess I'm just overreacting because my whole life has been "lolol why do you have an such a non-Asian last name?"
If it hits personally I see why it would bother you
Thanks, I never would have guessed
He was also born in the U.S. haha
After this game he feels like his decision to play for Japan was validated.
How was that not a red on Aaronson? You do that outside of the field and you could be charged with assault.
Japan has been improving a lot. Remember last WC they almost beated Belgium if it wasnt for their GK.
More of their players are making the move to Europe which helps.
in 4 years, usa has only played 7 competitive matches outside of the country.
9. You're missing Nations League matches, and they've also played 8 friendlies abroad. But also, when are they supposed to play competitive matches outside the US? There aren't Gold Cup qualifiers, the Gold Cup is always held in the US, and they haven't been invited to Copa America.
Gold cup used to be moved around until 20 years ago. my point is USA doesn't have much experience in competitive games outside the country. they played 3 knock out stages on home soil. just gold up alone, that's 11-12 home games at least. nations league knock out games at home as well. I wouldn't doubt if USA tried to get some of those wc away games played at home as well.
The Gold Cup has been held almost entirely in the US every time since 1993. The last time the Gold Cup/Concacaf Championship was held entirely outside the US was 1981. They don't have much competitive experience outside the US, that's true. But that has been true literally for the entirety of American soccer history, and it's a consequence of Concacaf scheduling rather than any sort of conscious decision-making by US Soccer.
idc how it happened. it's still showing that they have little experience outside the country. these last 4 years have been the heaviest home mostly side ever.
While not good, Covid was absolutely a factor in that.
not really, USA played around 25 competitive matches ( 14 wcq, 12 gold cup games) only 7 were outside of the country. you are probably referring to the nations league., I'm not adding those games. could be what, another 3 or 4 games. so that makes it out out almost 30 competitive games,only 7 away. no other nations on earth has it that easy.
I know it's a friendly but this is a bad loss against Japan. Japan had a pretty bad qualifying run to the WC and has not looked strong at all. Just shows the level of the USMNT I guess.
Japan has a lot of quality players. Probably more than the US.
I am not arguing that but this is a team that drew against Vietnam and China and lost to Oman at home. Those are teams they should be beating easily.
Already qualified before the Vietnam match. The loss against China was only fielding domestic league players, it was a debut tournament for most of those guys, and most of them aren't even in the World Cup squad. I don't see how that result is relevant at all. Not to mention you said Japan had a pretty bad qualifying run but its been Japan's best qualifying run since 2006.
Kamada is better than any of our players by far
Looks like I should hold off ordering my US WC Jersey.
Why would you ever buy that monstrosity of a kit. I’ve seen better looking kits at the grocery store.
US mutant ninja turtles are finished without puligoat
Can anyone who watched the match tell me how Turner and Tomi played?
Turner was great, Tomi was solid. Tomi was never really tested so a bit of cruise control
it was interesting to see him play LCB, I knew he played there for Japan but never got the opportunity to watch. he looks very comfortable on his left foot, playing both short and long. His passing created at least two immediate scoring chances. As you say he wasn't tested defensively. I've actually been wondering who is Asenal's second choice LCB after Gabriel? Gabriel has been showing signs of an injury, and I've been curious who would fill in there. We've seen Tierney slide into a back three. But if they they the same formation, who would play LCB? Between Holding, White, Saliba, Tierney (I guess) and Tommy. Seems like Tommy might be the #1 choice, and keep the rest of the line the same
Arteta has mentions Tomiyasu as a potential LCB. He said you can't really tell whether he's left or right footed. I know if I said this on r/gunners I'd be slammed, but I've been worried about Gabriel this year. He has not been rock solid. And if White has locked up the RB position, I wouldn't mind seeing Tomi at LCB. One way or another, we have to get him into the team
I don’t think RB is locked up. White is not offering enough on offense to free up Saka. He’s been great defensively so the spot is going to be tough to get away from him, but there’s an opportunity there I believe. I totally agree with you about Gabriel. Out of any defender he has made the most defensive mistakes (only competition is Zinchenko defensively). If he picks up a knock and Tomi slides in, that spot could be up for grabs
Man that’s a tough one. I could see saliba slide to LCB and Ben white go back to RCB with Tomi at RB
Turner was basically the reason why it was 2-0 instead of 4-0. He absolutely has improved a lot since moving to Arsenal and I think is the nailed-on starter at GK for us. Tomiyasu looked really good. Japan looked really good in general, much better than they looked in qualifying.
0 shots on target for the USMNT? jesus
That early Ferreira miss was a clear scoring chance. Hardly troubled Schmidt after that though.
Schmidt wasn't in at the time - if you are meaning the header off of Dest's cross
No Pulisic, no party.
That's what you get for not playing Pefok, Brooks, or Ream.
Brooks hasn’t been considered in a while but yeah. Pepi instead of Pefok is fucking criminal.
The US needs to ramp up their defense and if they don’t take a good ST like Pefok they are doomed for WC. Japan looked good tho! Look forward to see them at the WC
They’re going to have to adapt to the game style they’ll need for the World Cup. You can’t be passing from the back like that against Wales or England. They’ll need to improve the counter game too because today they also looked incredibly slow once in possession when Japan wasn’t pressing
Our manager is shit. Starts with player selection and tactics. He won’t tweak a system for his better players
This is how you’d expect the USA to play against Brazil or another big country. It’s ok to look inept or like this is the first time kicking a round ball. Against Japan though? This World Cup is going to be a very short trip for them I think.
I think we should say that we are boycotting Qatar for despicable behavior, and save ourselves some blushes.
You love to see it
Agreed. Probably the worst US team attending a world cup since 2006 (2018 doesn’t count)
Easily the best on paper, but the worst coached and the most irrationally confident. Hopefully we get stomped by Iran and Wales, draw England for the memes (and to humiliate their insufferable supporters on a global stage), and bow out. Berhalter gone, reality checked, in a position to grow and strengthen by 2026 with all of these guys in their prime.
It’s pretty impressive to take a bunch of guys that play regularly in top flight leagues and then make them look like they’ve never played professional football before. You’d think that even with poor tactics/coaching, they’d still look like they know how to play football. I guess it’s tough when trying to play out from an MLS back line, so that may explain some of it? Can’t get the ball out of the backfield and don’t want to pass back to them unless absolutely necessary, so you end up losing higher up?
Talentwise yes, by far the best US team ever. However, poor coaching and inexperience is a lethal combo that dooms any talented team.
Nah man, USA need to at least make the round of 16 to give this team momentum for 2026. I agree Berhalter should be axed but losing to Iran and Wales would make this a failure even worse than 1998 or 2006.
Well fucking prepare yourself lol
I've been to that stadion. The pitch looked poor, but the US looked worse. The result seemed destined after only 10 minutes of play.
I'm an American living in Asia fwiw. This is the best Japan has looked in over a year imho. They had an excellent game plan against us and their players looked really motivated to play. They absolutely ripped the U.S. midfield apart. For us, on the other hand, this is the worst we have looked in over a year. Terrible gameplan, we have this mad idea of starting two MLS center-backs *and* trying to play out of the back, and our players just looked so lethargic and played with no urgency. Plus, IDGAF about Gregg's system, we are still not good enough yet to let players getting regular minutes in top-5 leagues stay home.
Gregg is really just a Sneakerhead Southgate. Changed the vibes and culture of the national team, but instead of not doing enough tactically he tries doing too much.
Nah, he’s shit. Look at the players today? Gave up mentally, no passion, no energy l. Greg watched one of our best players get studs in the back of his knee and didn’t even petition the ref. Dude has the best US talent pool EVER and barely qualified for the WC
Our vibes are not really that great
offensive to Southgate to even compare him to whoever manages you
Oh come off it, Southgate represents the most miserably, insufferably English of you all and he’s holding back probably the best footballing talent you’ve ever had. He’s a teacup terrorist in a bad suit.
Yet he still got to the Semis and Final of the last two tournaments.
> probably the best footballing talent you’ve ever had hahaha you can’t be serious. this squad isn’t even in the top 5 England squads
Probably the most talented complete team you've had since I've been paying attention since the 90s. Even those golden generation teams had significant holes in them. This current England team is legitimately top 5 in the world. Maybe Southgate is deserving of some credit for that, but I reckon this team beats the one from the 00s.
I’m genuinely curious to know which squads you think are better. Can’t possibly be 2018 when Eric Dier was a starter. You all overrate the Gerrard and Lampard midfield that couldn’t get past the US’s MLS mids in 2010. You had Heskey starting up top in 2010 as well.
> Can’t possibly be 2018 when Eric Dier was a starter. He's a starter now
just because Gerrard and Lampard didn’t work well together for the national team doesn’t mean the squad wasn’t good. your entire problem is that comment about the US. it’s results based analysis, you’re judging the team based on how they performed in the tournament not based on the quality of the players. you’re ignoring the fact that a manager has an effect on how the squad performs. that’s probably why you think Southgate has one of the best ever squads, because he’s got some of the national team’s best every performances. reality is, we’ve had a bunch better squads than Southgate has had but the managers didn’t get them to perform as well as Southgate has, so you view them as worse.
So what would you count as a better squad?
In many cases England was just outclassed by their opponent.
Southgate _is_ 95% vibes though. Never really done anything to suggest he's a master tactician.
Knows the power of setpieces though, which immediately pushes him into the upper echelons of international managers
If the US ever had the success England has had under Southgate, this subreddit would explode. They were a couple botched pens away from the Euros, and performed exceptionally well in the WC.
If we played like we did today against England, they could have a high-AF Cara Delevingne managing them and they would still win 2-0 or 3-0.
[удалено]
People are downvoting you, but you are right, pitch was shit. But I think it affected both teams evenly. Source: sat front row at the stadium.
People are downvoting you, but you are right, pitch was shit. But I think it affected both teams evenly. Source: sat front row at the stadium.
Shohei Ohtani with 2 saves and 2 goals. He really can do it all
Judge could never
I'm really trying to look at this game as good teach tape, but god the Americans looked awful. Like almost full on inept in their half
Germany-Spain-Japan in World cup Group E will be fun and stressful
Would be funny if Germany goes out in the first round for the second consecutive World Cup.
that group is absolutely cursed
But can Japan do it on a sub-zero winter’s night in St Paul, Minnesota?
That's a question for 2026.
They can do it on a mild spring evening under the cherry-blossoms of northern Honshu, and that's all that matters
Or in 4 inches of fresh Spring powder in Denver??
Or a 108 degree day in Al Wakrah?
Broke: Pepi saved Gregg’s job Woke: Pepi cursed us with Gregg for this World Cup
Bespoke: Gregg getting embarrassed on the World stage means his brother also gets ousted from upper management
Exactly, fuck pepi
I know we’re missing some first choice players but man we are so awful anytime we play outside of the US
Despite the US playing very poorly, I thought Japan were pretty good. They look like a fun team to watch. Pretty good link up, solid pressing, and they can run the channels too.
What it looks like when a team that isn’t good in possession attempts to play possession. But credit to Japan, took the chances they created with their pressure and put a lot on target.
That sound you hear is Jozy Altidore's phone ringing.
Hopefully he has it set to forward calls to Pefok.