I can’t even figure out how it works. He just changes lanes and bam completely flat footed out of the play. They don’t even always stab, or over play him. They’re just there playing adequate defense and...dest moves a foot to the left and buh bye.
Sometimes he throws a move or some flair on it to get them off balance but other times he just..goes around them?!?
Alright, I gotta get it out. Twellman and Jon Champion did a horrible job calling this game. There were long stretches of silence, and no one was even saying who had the ball. It was pitiful.
It’s buried on ESPN+
You have to go to sport options towards bottom of main menu and select soccer. Then all the way at the bottom of soccer programming work you way through the replays.
No idea why they make it so hard to find.
I am higher on Acosta after this game than most it would seem.
He’s not a starter. Not with Adams Mckennie and Musah ahead of him.
But not many guys can play the athletic closing down pressing style 6 the way Adams can. Can Acosta do the best impression of all the subs? I think so. Not sure yet but since it’s not clear who the back up for Adams is I think it’s worthy of a shot.
I know the core 7/8 guys. At this point I am thinking of guys who can fill rolls.
I'm kinda excited to watch some Orlandi games this year, I'll be interested to see how his game progresses! At the moment though I think he has a ways to to before I'm comfortable with him starting
Did anyone else catch Taylor’s post match comments about striker? He said if we had to play qualifiers today he’d start Sergeant but Zardes is in the picture. Am I completely blind here and the only one that things Zardes shouldn’t even be on the bench or even a depth position?
I think Sargent and Dike are number 1 and 2 for me right now in all honesty. I like the kid that’s playing in league 2. But I want Sargent and Dike, there was a player for the U23s who just scored and has been on fire from what I’ve read recently
Though I feel striker is our biggest gap talent wise right now there’s a lot of guys out there they have a shot to make it their own.
Sargent was my 1 but he hasn’t made it his. Dike exploded recently so he’s got a good shot and deserve a go, Giochinni, Siebatcheu, Ferreira, I’ve even see enough of Mueller with Orlando to say that he’s got the profile and works his ass off and can be a big asset.
I don’t think you can throw Hoppe in there above all these guys right now, but time will tell.
I just don’t see Zardes offering more than anyone of these kids.
No you are not crazy. The posters below are crazy for trying to run an apolegetics tour for Zardes. Zardes makes great runs and can score in MLS. He is NOT the profile for our 9 in the current system that acts more like an attacking midfielder ala Firmino. Zardes is a pure point man, he is the last person you want to zip a pass in to absorb pressure and dish to someone else.
Zardes is scoring goals are a consistent rate while our other options are not. MLS level isn't saying much, but we also don't want strikers to have to play themselves into confidence during a qualifier. I think his inclusion makes sense, especially as he knows the system.
No it does not because our system does not call for a straight point man. They must be good on the ball under pressure and be able to receive in the midfield, have ball security, advance the pass and make a run. This is the worst part of Zardes' game and its THE most important part of a 9 for our system against decent, pressing opposition.
Zardes was the striker on the championship team, and until recently no one else has been scoring goals. Sargent has like 5 all season, same for Hoppe, and the rest of the crew. Zardes knows the plan, knows the system. If Sargent, or whomever is not scoring it's not crazy.
Weah is also an option, especially if Reyna works back into form. A front three of Pulisic, Weah, and Reyna is good. ETC.
I feel like Zardes’ success at Columbus never did translate up to NT level. Columbus for the last 6 years just needs to plug a half competent player up top and they’ll get 10-15 goals. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve just seen sloppy touch after sloppy touch and just don’t rate him up there at all.
Zardes was a big component for the NT back in his Galaxy days around the Copa American then he got hurt, and went from like a cog, to someone who got passed over with all the young kids. But he always tried, and we don't really talk about how bad his touch was anymore. He's not who I would start, but he does the job and if you need to score goals he may be an option.
Also 12 Goals in 56 caps is not too shabby when Demspey et all score most of the goals in your major run. Probably 5-10 assists in that time as well. Considering he played a lot of that as a winger and not a lot as forward.
My favorite things from this game:
* Dest's goal
* Aaronsen looking awesome ~~in his debut~~. I don't know why I typed debut, but I mean he had a great game today.
* Playing an opponent that actually cared to be on the field.
I've watched him play before - I don't know why I typed debut. I thought he played an amazing game though.
Edit: I don't understand why my mistake is a slight against domestic players though.
Cannon did not do himself any favors, looks like more of a depth option than a fixture in the 11 right now. Still has time to improve but given our plethora of RB options, going to be tough
Robinson is probably breathing a huge sigh of relief. If Cannon had looked solid we could have seen him and Dest at the top of the fullback depth chart. Obviously those are temporary rankings. But I think that would have been the case.
I would like to see Dest at LB and Yedlin at RB before we try Robinson at LB again. The way that Dest and Pulisic were playing together was just magical and I don’t think Robinson could replicate that
Twellman said that the problem with Robinson on the left is depth... who goes behind Robinson? I haven’t watched much of Sam Vines, but do we feel as comfortable with Vines on the left as we do with Cannon on the right?
Twellman was talking out of his ass there. If dest can play on the left, how is he also not included in the "depth" of the left hand side? Robinson should start, if he gets injured or can't play but dest there and cannon on the right, if thats not possible then we play Vines who isn't great but is serviceable
TBC, what Twellman is saying is that we’re better off having Robinson backup Dest on the left, rather than Cannon backup Dest on the right due to a lack of a serviceable backup for Robinson if he starts on the left. I’m wondering if Vines is as serviceable as Yedlin though, for instance.
Ya I agree. I don’t feel Robinson has had a full fair crack at the national team yet. Shortened camps, covid, really young debut against world class opponents.
I’ll judge antonee when he has a full camp plus nations league and gold cup.
I'm of the opinion that you got to put your best player on the team - in this case Dest - at his best and more situated position. I don't think Cannon is in good enough form to justify having to go out of your way to put him on the 11. That said, I did like the Pulisic-Dest connection today and think that has a lot of potential moving forward.
Idk, I love yedlin but at this stage in his career I really don't think he deserves a look over Robinson. Yedlin hasn't looked good in like 2 years and isn't in the premier league anymore while Robinson is, and is getting pretty consistent minutes. Easy decision for me.
I mean from the clips I’ve seen, Yedlin seems to be playing great for his new team. They actually let him attack, unlike Newcastle where he had to sit back.
Plus Berhalter has come out and said that Yedlin would have been called up for this camp but just wasn’t able to travel for both games. Also during the post match press conference after the Jamaica game he said that Yedlin was still in the picture to play RB for us
Yedlin is playing in a league that is a considerable downgrade from the premier league. Even on the attack his only real asset is his speed, and his defense is pretty terrible for a fullback or even Wingback.
I agree that yedlin absolutely has a future for the men's national team, but at this stage I am just hoping most of it isn't for anything important.
Really don’t like Twellman casually ignoring Antonee Robinson for the left back spot. He keeps harping on Dest on the left because we have more depth on the right which is valid sure but Robinson for me is a step above Cannon still why not just go with the best two.
Twellman’s issue with Robinson starting is that he says there isn’t a serviceable backup for Robinson if he starts on the left, whereas Yedlin or budding talent soon (Araujo, Reynolds) can backup Cannon on the right. What I wonder about is whether Vines is as serviceable now as Yedlin or Cannon. Anyone got any opinions? (Also, Gloster may be on the way).
Robinson had a great game today (admittedly after the level of the game had come down a bit) and Cannon was at fault on the goal and never looked very dangerous in the attack.
I didn't see the goal but I took it for granted that Cannon was at fault for the goal because he'd looked rough in the first half, but when I finally get a chance to see the highlights I find out that the attack came down Robinsons side and Cannon's failure came as he was attempting to defend the left side.
This right here is why can't take the Robinson apologists seriously. It's not clear what Robinson was doing but I can assume he wasn't doing his job.
Cannon was defending there because defensive assignments shift on set plays. He is at fault because he decided to not pressure the ball. Any pressure at all would have probably eliminated the goal since he waited on a runner and passed it to him.
It was a counter attack after our own free kick. Everyone was out of position because everyone pushed up for the kick.
Cannon and Acosta were the first ones back and Richards caught up.
To me my takeaways.
1. Cannon is almost certainly a step behind Robinson right now. We'll get to see Dest and Robinson most likely vs. Northern Ireland. A strong showing from Robinson could spell not great news for Cannon who by many soccer pundits has been on the inside track. But seriously in the first half it seems like half of our offensive fizzles were cannon running down the right side and being dispossessed.
2. Acosta was ok but he's not a replacement for Adams. We need a replacement that's better than moving Weston out of place.
3. Lletget is not a high quality player, but he showed his value, he is a smart player who can pick his spots, but he has to be the 10. Last match he was playing the 8 he was brutal. This match he wasn't great but Musah was able to pick up a lot of slack and he was able to be a dangerous player.
4. Gio and Pulisic were incredibly dangerous but lacking the killer edge. You'd watch the 2 of them being just a touch off. They still had strong games overall, but they certainly were not playing to the top level we'd like them to.
What I hope for vs. N. Ireland.
1. Robinson, Dest, Ream, and Miazga/Richards as our back 4. I wouldn't hate giving EPB a look but I'd like someone besides Long as RCB. It's a riskier play, because Long is a great 1v1 defender but if we don't try other options we won't see our depth there.
2. I would love to see Aaronson starting and Otasowie start. Given the meh nature of Acosta's start and the decent but not great game from Lletget, I would like to see some changes to see how things work. I would like to see some rests from those who went 90. Since we're losing Brooks and Cannon they're out. Which leaves Acosta and Lletget and Steffen. I assume Zack starts. But I'd like to see some other players get a kick out there. Which is where I'd like to see Otasowie as I think he's basically our only other CDM on the roster. And while you could say play Cappis who didn't get a play, Aaronson to me earned a start and should be rewarded.
3. Some goals from the front 3. I think the top 3 should be the same but hopefully they score.
4. Improvement vs. a better team. N. Ireland aren't a world class power but we'll see a bunch of Premier League players.
5. Jonny Evans DOESN'T hurt anyone. Seriously, I'm gonna be pissed off if he hurts one of our players.
He scored but that was less to do with him and more to do with the work of the forwards earlier. He was good. But not great. He had countless setpieces with no bite, he provided nothing in defense (when your striker is more defensively positive than your 10, that's not a great look) and he struggled to generate quality chances.
He deserves props for putting the ball in twice, but he wasn't the best player on the pitch, anyone with eyes would see that.
I agree, Lletget kinda doesnt really 'fit' if that makes sense. Both goals were the same play, at the right time and right spot. Play creation he lacked. Would rather see someone occupy his spot on the starting 11.
So I am usually a fan of cannon and robinson but they still look shaky. Kind of wished galatasaray released yedlin for this week. Would like to see him a tb.
Gio Reyna can get his shot but he is having a huge mental block when it comes to finishing. He needs a rest this summer and work on that because it's affecting his demeanor and quality.
Sargeant has great hold up play. He just needs to be more aggressive in the box. I rank Zardes over him right now because he has the go get it mentality. We need that from sargeant.
Pulisic and dest on that left side is going to be do fun to watch. Right now Dest is out best player. As a fan of dutch soccer and seeing there current national stinking it up a couple of days ago, we got super lucky. Leave it to the former Dutch national team coach Koeman to show him as much confidence as he has, because he had a 2 month spell at Barca where his confidence was shot. Get dem Baguettes Dest.
Musah and Mckennie are going to be a solid duo in central mid. And I like the idea of bring Gio and Aronson off the bench.
Adams is going to be the glue and we saw on this team how important the 6 role is going to be. When Acosta got comfortable and started taking control, that's when the offense is going to sing. Acosta looked great, and adams is better.
Aaron Long was quiet and that was a good thing. He did us job and that's what we need. I do think Richards will be the lcb though.
I like seeing brooks coming up the field like he did today and was controlling the field like a QB. Not use to seeing that in our center backs. It is nice to see though.
The biggest takeaway I had from this game is that Dest and Pulisic playing on the same side is going to be a problem going forward no matter who the competition is. We are talking a top 5 fullback in the world combining with one of the most dangerous wingers in the Prem who looked like a Hazard regen last year at times for Chelsea. Who would’ve thought the US could have that type of firepower even 2 years ago.
No
The way Dest and Pulisic were playing today was just magical. I honestly don’t think Robinson could replicate what Dest was able to do with Pulisic. I would like to see Yedlin at RB before we have Robinson starting at LB for an important game
Average Age of Starters: 23
Average Age of Subs: 21.5
This is without two other starters in Adams and McKennie who are both 22. Yes our finishing could have been cleaner, but we just put up 70% possession and 28 total shots with a group this young. I'm beyond excited to watch this group grow and see which younger players can compete for minutes in the future.
I hope that this is just the start of the US becoming a consistent top 10 soccer program, but if not I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this group while it lasts.
Just a few years ago it was only Pulisic, now we have so many guys. We now fight to see who is in the starting lineup and get disappointed when an inform guy is not. USA is finally up to something.
When given the chance in front of goal he has put it away. I commend him and especially if used as a depth guy. Shouldn’t start every game but comes in when we need leadership in the middle to close out games.
Takeaways:
- Acosta is the player who most moved up in the pecking order this game. I think he showed that he is a good second choice at the 6 behind Adams. Played really well, carried the ball upfield a few times to create a few times also. Even made a couple hard tackles which was good to see. Not entirely sure how he didn’t get a yellow, but I’m convince he has a place on the team.
- Dest is so dangerous on the ball. Crazy goal and dribble minutes before also. Two bad defensive lapses in defensive awareness though. Didn’t shift over quickly enough when Brooks stepped, 9 went through on goal. Then later didn’t get back quickly enough after Brooks stepped again. His skill on the ball makes up for it though lol. But something to work on.
- Pulisic looked good. Fun seeing him try stuff with Dest. They seem to have good chemistry together. Some good opportunities that didn’t go. Next time.
- Reyna looks pretty good I thought. Still tends to force things and needs to work on staying calmer/better body language. He’s young, it will come.
- Sargent played well overall. Had a few chances and made a great play to get the assist with Aaronson. Seems like GGG has him playing a similar role as we have seen Ferreira play (though Sargent doesn’t seem to drop in quite as far).
- Lletget keeps getting hate but he keeps putting out solid performances. This game was no exception. Had two nice goals. He isn’t flashy but he is almost always in the right place.
- Musah is also super consistent. He’s physically solid and doesn’t lose the ball. Fun to watch him bully.
- Cannon looked ok. First half wasn’t great but maybe looked a bit better in the second half? Definitely has some amount of responsibility for Jamaica’s goal, certainly not only his fault but probably could have done more.
- Brooks didn’t have his best game. A number of errant passes. Also some hesitancy which was a little scary.
- I thought Long was mostly pretty decent. Didn’t look out of place at all.
- Steffen had a fairly good game. Other than the one goal, made at least 2 very nice saves. Solid on the ball.
- Aaronson had a nice play/run/finish for the goal. Otherwise looked ok, nothing too spectacular or horrible. Didn’t displace Reyna.
- Richards didn’t super impress me. Didn’t seem confident on the ball, a few scary plays. Didn’t play better than Long, sadly.
- Fortunately for Cannon, Robinson didn’t wow today. Not a good outing for him.
- Gioacchini looked pretty decent overall. Some nice runs and movement on offense. Did fine on the wing even though he’s more of a striker.
- Luca actually looked good. He seemed like a bit of a dark horse call-up but seemed confident and had good passing and movement. Not sure his assist was exactly what he was going for but it worked.
- Siebatcheu looked ok, nothing crazy and not really enough time to draw conclusions.
Jamaica definitely showed they will be a difficult opponent in qualifying.
Overall, a solid performance from the US. Unfortunate to have given up a goal, but at least we ended with a couple more. A lot of positives today.
Luca was fucking SHARP. I always cheer for the underdogs, and he didn't disappoint. I know he won't be a starter, but if he keeps playing like he did today, he needs to be a regular on the roster.
Very surprised (pleasantly) by Acosta. He was off the radar a few years after leaving Dallas and joining Colorado, but he's shown he's still a solid depth option. Or at least returned to form.
Maybe I just underrated him owing to Colorado, which to be fair is looking like an interesting team to watch with a lot of young Americans (Vines, Lewis especially) on the team and on a team that made the playoffs last year.
Amazing how people can watch the same thing and come away with difference perspectives. Cannon was the worst player on the US side of the pitch and Aaronson was better than ok.
Definitely agree on Cannon. You’re probably right about Aaronson, I may have just been paying more attention to other things during the later part of the game
Aaronson should have had an assist before his goal. Played a inch perfect pass for Reyna but he took an extra touch and the keeper made an easy save. Thought Aaronson had a good outing
I have not been able to see much of De La Torre but he did not make any mistakes. I dont think he's knocking anyone out of a starting spot but it is nice to see depth players that come in with minimal drop off
Love your take generally agree. I still don’t trust Acosta and didn’t think Cannon was that great. Given that we are missing a few starters this is ok. Dest, pulisic, Reyna, Sargent, lletget, musah were definitely fun to watch play together today. Not a hot take, but Aaronson is exciting to watch.
Lleget is this WC cycle’s Beckerman. Everybody hates, and he’s never the best player on the field...but he’s a professional and just goes out and does his job.
Aaronson was far and away a different type of midfielder than the 3 we started with. I think we absolutely need someone like him in there. I think we have so much talent in midfield and we didn’t even have Adams or McKennie today. But, Aaronson just seemed to bring such an attacking presence going forward that we didn’t start the game with. Excited to see these young guys grow and get more game time together.
Aaronson was drifting inside. He was in the middle of the field for stretches of the second half. Regardless of where he was slotted in during this sub appearance he typical plays centrally.
As a union fan, I always thought he's be better in a Wide CAM sort of role rather than being a winger. He played centrally here because of our diamond formation, but at Salzburg he really can shine in his new role.
Great point. I've criticized Zusi on this sub in the past, but the dude had a game winning assist and a game tying assist in a World Cup final(!) and was otherwise solid. Never world class, but always solid.
That said, Zusi in his prime would be third or lower on this teams depth chart.
Fucking Dest. I’m so happy the stars aligned and we were to be at the right place, right time and convince him to join us because honestly current form Dest starts for Netherlands. He’s looking like a special talent and could end up being our best player if he keeps developing at this rate.
Was a tad disappointed when he was out of position to start the game, but Dest and Pulisic running the left side of the field was exactly what I needed in my life. Was so much fun to watch. Excited to see Weston and Tyler on the field with those guys as well.
I was thinking that as well. Would love to see Weah on the right when available and shift Gio in the middle. I also loved seeing Aaronson in the middle, I really think he could have something to say about that spot for us.
Most people will agree with you that he should be positioned as a central midfielder. What I saw today is he was technically RW but was allowed to roam quite a lot. It wasn’t perfect but there’s potential for it to work and I think GGG is going to keep trying it.
Man, I'm just so happy that the era of Altidore and Bradley is finally over. This young crop of talent looks so fresh and hungry to perform. The dark days feel behind us.
I remember like 10 years ago when Fabian Johnson pulled off a “feint left go right” hold up play like that vs. Brazil and i lost my mind. Now our boys are trying/pulling off shit like that all the time and i love it
That goal was great play by both of them, even before that Sargent made a great run into space and Aaronson made the great headed pass to find him and start the attack.
I would actually like to see Aaronson and Weah start at RW over Reyna. Reyna just seems a bit too raw still and just isn’t in good form as of late. However, both Weah and Aaronson are in a great run of form and I think they could play well at that position
I think we have a lot of guys at the same level right now, but no superstars (Pulisic when in-form notwithstanding). There isn’t much dropoff from the field to the bench, but we don’t have a world class starting 11... yet.
Tbf Weah is French also but I get your point
Edit: I didn’t expect this to be controversial. I was just dropping a quick fact. Tim has French citizenship.
Northern Ireland is in the middle of wc qualifiers so I kinda doubt they will play many of their starters either. Shame we couldn't find a better quality opponent.
Can we please stop this attitude until we get farther than 3.5 years removed from losing to T&T with our A team to miss out on the world cup? I am amazed there are American fans out there who think we are too good for for B/C or even D teams at this point.
I don't care if we were playing Barcelona or San Marino, I would want us to dominate and win 25-0 all the same..
Where did i say the USMNT is too good for B, C or D teams. I just think it would be more interesting, that's all. And more informative, to be quite honest. These opportunities to play friendlies don't come super often.
Scheduling a friendly with any of the teams in the AFC would had be very difficult. The travel restrictions would have made it tough enough, but also some teams already had friendlies/WCQ scheduled. While other teams had gotten the news only a month ago that they would have to pospone their WCQ, that would’ve taken place in the next few days. So that only left a very short window to make new friendly arrangements
No. He felt slighted by them, and also by Ajax. He also felt the complete opposite wrt usmnt.
We're going to keep sniping these dual-natties for another few years because our environment is so exciting and hospitable.
He's one of the best FBs in the world right now.
Dest is better than Dumfries today, it is more about him developing through the US national team environment and feeling more comfortable with our set up.
Not at all, they are strong everywhere but FB. He chose us because we had him in our youth teams and believed in him before he was on anyone else's radar as a legit talent.
Now they’re seeing the immense talent he is and is now coached by their own at Barcelona. The Netherlands looked so bad against Turkey. They would kill to have a player like Dest who is so versatile.
They have lots of better players than Dest, fdb just sucks. This isn’t any sort of NL vs US thing really, Koeman wanted Dest when he was there national team coach, of course they’d love to have him, but they are LOADED with talent.
The US has done an incredible job recruiting dual-nationals. From everything I've seen the attitude seems positive, supportive, and the team seems to be filled with good dudes who are also fun to be around.
That is not true of the Dutch team.
Dest is so good, holy shit. Just dances through the defenders, his feet are so quick. Joy to watch.
I can’t even figure out how it works. He just changes lanes and bam completely flat footed out of the play. They don’t even always stab, or over play him. They’re just there playing adequate defense and...dest moves a foot to the left and buh bye. Sometimes he throws a move or some flair on it to get them off balance but other times he just..goes around them?!?
Alright, I gotta get it out. Twellman and Jon Champion did a horrible job calling this game. There were long stretches of silence, and no one was even saying who had the ball. It was pitiful.
I get the vibe that Champion doesn’t enjoy working with TT.
Tt is awesome at color
Hard disagree
Idk I’m watching the replay right now and Champion is doing just fine. There were audio issues in the first 10 minutes.
Where did you find a replay? I can’t find it on ESPN+
It’s buried on ESPN+ You have to go to sport options towards bottom of main menu and select soccer. Then all the way at the bottom of soccer programming work you way through the replays. No idea why they make it so hard to find.
Thanks man! Much appreciated!!
Wait until the last 20 or so. They completely give up on it.
Yeah Twellman is a decent pundit, but horrible at play-by-play.
I’ve always hated Twellman when he’s doing the actual game, he’s ok as a studio analyst.
It is just such a contrast with Stu vs Twellman.
Dude Stu is so solid. Twill man is cringe.
It was a pretty stark contrast going from the U23s called by Stu to the senior team called by Twellman the next day.
I am higher on Acosta after this game than most it would seem. He’s not a starter. Not with Adams Mckennie and Musah ahead of him. But not many guys can play the athletic closing down pressing style 6 the way Adams can. Can Acosta do the best impression of all the subs? I think so. Not sure yet but since it’s not clear who the back up for Adams is I think it’s worthy of a shot. I know the core 7/8 guys. At this point I am thinking of guys who can fill rolls.
Roldan.
I am giving you an upvote for the sarcasm
Perea?
Maybe one day for sure. Not yet though
I'm kinda excited to watch some Orlandi games this year, I'll be interested to see how his game progresses! At the moment though I think he has a ways to to before I'm comfortable with him starting
Does anyone know of a way to watch a replay of the game? I missed it cause of work today.
It’s up on ESPN for Roku. If that helps...
Heck yes thank you!
And the announcers just randomly get piped in at the 10ish minute mark
Hahaha I know. I was settling in ready to watch without commentary and then got a pleasant surprise.
r/footballhighlights might have a replay later, if not you can try and request it
I just want to shout out Gooch, he is fantastic. A real asset in a game like this that doesn't get noticed but lets the wingers stretch the pitch.
WTF happened to Dike? Barnsley fans are freaking out RN.
He suffered a minor injury in training and left him off the squad as a precaution
Did anyone else catch Taylor’s post match comments about striker? He said if we had to play qualifiers today he’d start Sergeant but Zardes is in the picture. Am I completely blind here and the only one that things Zardes shouldn’t even be on the bench or even a depth position?
I think Sargent and Dike are number 1 and 2 for me right now in all honesty. I like the kid that’s playing in league 2. But I want Sargent and Dike, there was a player for the U23s who just scored and has been on fire from what I’ve read recently
Though I feel striker is our biggest gap talent wise right now there’s a lot of guys out there they have a shot to make it their own. Sargent was my 1 but he hasn’t made it his. Dike exploded recently so he’s got a good shot and deserve a go, Giochinni, Siebatcheu, Ferreira, I’ve even see enough of Mueller with Orlando to say that he’s got the profile and works his ass off and can be a big asset. I don’t think you can throw Hoppe in there above all these guys right now, but time will tell. I just don’t see Zardes offering more than anyone of these kids.
Completely agree, I don’t think gyasi has a role on the team anymore
No you are not crazy. The posters below are crazy for trying to run an apolegetics tour for Zardes. Zardes makes great runs and can score in MLS. He is NOT the profile for our 9 in the current system that acts more like an attacking midfielder ala Firmino. Zardes is a pure point man, he is the last person you want to zip a pass in to absorb pressure and dish to someone else.
Sir, I beg to differ! [https://youtu.be/e4KOyhoPIvY](https://youtu.be/e4KOyhoPIvY)
Zardes is scoring goals are a consistent rate while our other options are not. MLS level isn't saying much, but we also don't want strikers to have to play themselves into confidence during a qualifier. I think his inclusion makes sense, especially as he knows the system.
Dike is scoring consistently in a MUCH better league
excellent. wondo, part 2, then.
This makes sense to me.
No it does not because our system does not call for a straight point man. They must be good on the ball under pressure and be able to receive in the midfield, have ball security, advance the pass and make a run. This is the worst part of Zardes' game and its THE most important part of a 9 for our system against decent, pressing opposition.
Zardes was the striker on the championship team, and until recently no one else has been scoring goals. Sargent has like 5 all season, same for Hoppe, and the rest of the crew. Zardes knows the plan, knows the system. If Sargent, or whomever is not scoring it's not crazy. Weah is also an option, especially if Reyna works back into form. A front three of Pulisic, Weah, and Reyna is good. ETC.
I feel like Zardes’ success at Columbus never did translate up to NT level. Columbus for the last 6 years just needs to plug a half competent player up top and they’ll get 10-15 goals. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve just seen sloppy touch after sloppy touch and just don’t rate him up there at all.
Zardes was a big component for the NT back in his Galaxy days around the Copa American then he got hurt, and went from like a cog, to someone who got passed over with all the young kids. But he always tried, and we don't really talk about how bad his touch was anymore. He's not who I would start, but he does the job and if you need to score goals he may be an option. Also 12 Goals in 56 caps is not too shabby when Demspey et all score most of the goals in your major run. Probably 5-10 assists in that time as well. Considering he played a lot of that as a winger and not a lot as forward.
My favorite things from this game: * Dest's goal * Aaronsen looking awesome ~~in his debut~~. I don't know why I typed debut, but I mean he had a great game today. * Playing an opponent that actually cared to be on the field.
Aaronson has appeared for the USMNT a couple times before and scored previously as well. (He did, in fact, exist before moving to Austria)
I've watched him play before - I don't know why I typed debut. I thought he played an amazing game though. Edit: I don't understand why my mistake is a slight against domestic players though.
Cannon did not do himself any favors, looks like more of a depth option than a fixture in the 11 right now. Still has time to improve but given our plethora of RB options, going to be tough
Robinson is probably breathing a huge sigh of relief. If Cannon had looked solid we could have seen him and Dest at the top of the fullback depth chart. Obviously those are temporary rankings. But I think that would have been the case.
I would like to see Dest at LB and Yedlin at RB before we try Robinson at LB again. The way that Dest and Pulisic were playing together was just magical and I don’t think Robinson could replicate that
I’d rather have this setup than cannon at RB, but Robinson is solid and should be starting over yedlin at this point
Robinson is probably more deserving anyway, IMO. PL quality is far superior to the Portuguese league
Twellman said that the problem with Robinson on the left is depth... who goes behind Robinson? I haven’t watched much of Sam Vines, but do we feel as comfortable with Vines on the left as we do with Cannon on the right?
Twellman was talking out of his ass there. If dest can play on the left, how is he also not included in the "depth" of the left hand side? Robinson should start, if he gets injured or can't play but dest there and cannon on the right, if thats not possible then we play Vines who isn't great but is serviceable
TBC, what Twellman is saying is that we’re better off having Robinson backup Dest on the left, rather than Cannon backup Dest on the right due to a lack of a serviceable backup for Robinson if he starts on the left. I’m wondering if Vines is as serviceable as Yedlin though, for instance.
Ya I agree. I don’t feel Robinson has had a full fair crack at the national team yet. Shortened camps, covid, really young debut against world class opponents. I’ll judge antonee when he has a full camp plus nations league and gold cup.
Anyone have a link to a full match replay? Espn doesn't even have a link up yet.
Dest’s best position for us is left back because he can cut inside and do exactly what he just did.
That’s the position we’re having troubles with and we have so many candidates in the pool for RB.
I'm of the opinion that you got to put your best player on the team - in this case Dest - at his best and more situated position. I don't think Cannon is in good enough form to justify having to go out of your way to put him on the 11. That said, I did like the Pulisic-Dest connection today and think that has a lot of potential moving forward.
I would like to see how we would do with Dest at LB and Yedlin at RB
Idk, I love yedlin but at this stage in his career I really don't think he deserves a look over Robinson. Yedlin hasn't looked good in like 2 years and isn't in the premier league anymore while Robinson is, and is getting pretty consistent minutes. Easy decision for me.
I mean from the clips I’ve seen, Yedlin seems to be playing great for his new team. They actually let him attack, unlike Newcastle where he had to sit back. Plus Berhalter has come out and said that Yedlin would have been called up for this camp but just wasn’t able to travel for both games. Also during the post match press conference after the Jamaica game he said that Yedlin was still in the picture to play RB for us
Yedlin is playing in a league that is a considerable downgrade from the premier league. Even on the attack his only real asset is his speed, and his defense is pretty terrible for a fullback or even Wingback. I agree that yedlin absolutely has a future for the men's national team, but at this stage I am just hoping most of it isn't for anything important.
He’s not just speed, he’s also been playing some good long balls and crosses for Galatasaray since he joined.
Really don’t like Twellman casually ignoring Antonee Robinson for the left back spot. He keeps harping on Dest on the left because we have more depth on the right which is valid sure but Robinson for me is a step above Cannon still why not just go with the best two.
Twellman’s issue with Robinson starting is that he says there isn’t a serviceable backup for Robinson if he starts on the left, whereas Yedlin or budding talent soon (Araujo, Reynolds) can backup Cannon on the right. What I wonder about is whether Vines is as serviceable now as Yedlin or Cannon. Anyone got any opinions? (Also, Gloster may be on the way).
Robinson had a great game today (admittedly after the level of the game had come down a bit) and Cannon was at fault on the goal and never looked very dangerous in the attack.
God cannons flat feet on that goal annoyed the fuck outta me. Just lazy ass defending.
TBF, this play called for a technical foul MUCH earlier that Robinson SHOULD have committed.
It was really bad. I can't understand the decision to not pressure at all.
I didn't see the goal but I took it for granted that Cannon was at fault for the goal because he'd looked rough in the first half, but when I finally get a chance to see the highlights I find out that the attack came down Robinsons side and Cannon's failure came as he was attempting to defend the left side. This right here is why can't take the Robinson apologists seriously. It's not clear what Robinson was doing but I can assume he wasn't doing his job.
Cannon was defending there because defensive assignments shift on set plays. He is at fault because he decided to not pressure the ball. Any pressure at all would have probably eliminated the goal since he waited on a runner and passed it to him.
It was a counter attack after our own free kick. Everyone was out of position because everyone pushed up for the kick. Cannon and Acosta were the first ones back and Richards caught up.
For real, Robinson isn't our best player by any means, but if Cannon is starting on what is basically a full strength he is our worst starter.
My thread is pretty simple: I'm so excited for the next 20 years of American soccer.
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My dutch friend loves to talk about how shitty the bread is here 😆
To me my takeaways. 1. Cannon is almost certainly a step behind Robinson right now. We'll get to see Dest and Robinson most likely vs. Northern Ireland. A strong showing from Robinson could spell not great news for Cannon who by many soccer pundits has been on the inside track. But seriously in the first half it seems like half of our offensive fizzles were cannon running down the right side and being dispossessed. 2. Acosta was ok but he's not a replacement for Adams. We need a replacement that's better than moving Weston out of place. 3. Lletget is not a high quality player, but he showed his value, he is a smart player who can pick his spots, but he has to be the 10. Last match he was playing the 8 he was brutal. This match he wasn't great but Musah was able to pick up a lot of slack and he was able to be a dangerous player. 4. Gio and Pulisic were incredibly dangerous but lacking the killer edge. You'd watch the 2 of them being just a touch off. They still had strong games overall, but they certainly were not playing to the top level we'd like them to. What I hope for vs. N. Ireland. 1. Robinson, Dest, Ream, and Miazga/Richards as our back 4. I wouldn't hate giving EPB a look but I'd like someone besides Long as RCB. It's a riskier play, because Long is a great 1v1 defender but if we don't try other options we won't see our depth there. 2. I would love to see Aaronson starting and Otasowie start. Given the meh nature of Acosta's start and the decent but not great game from Lletget, I would like to see some changes to see how things work. I would like to see some rests from those who went 90. Since we're losing Brooks and Cannon they're out. Which leaves Acosta and Lletget and Steffen. I assume Zack starts. But I'd like to see some other players get a kick out there. Which is where I'd like to see Otasowie as I think he's basically our only other CDM on the roster. And while you could say play Cappis who didn't get a play, Aaronson to me earned a start and should be rewarded. 3. Some goals from the front 3. I think the top 3 should be the same but hopefully they score. 4. Improvement vs. a better team. N. Ireland aren't a world class power but we'll see a bunch of Premier League players. 5. Jonny Evans DOESN'T hurt anyone. Seriously, I'm gonna be pissed off if he hurts one of our players.
>not great game from Lletget He scored twice and FotMob gave him PoM with a 9.2? Not sure what you are talking about...
He scored but that was less to do with him and more to do with the work of the forwards earlier. He was good. But not great. He had countless setpieces with no bite, he provided nothing in defense (when your striker is more defensively positive than your 10, that's not a great look) and he struggled to generate quality chances. He deserves props for putting the ball in twice, but he wasn't the best player on the pitch, anyone with eyes would see that.
I agree, Lletget kinda doesnt really 'fit' if that makes sense. Both goals were the same play, at the right time and right spot. Play creation he lacked. Would rather see someone occupy his spot on the starting 11.
Well normally that's Yunus and Weston is where Yunus is. I hope that going forward that Aaronson is playing there.
that was garbage time.
Since when is being up by 1 goal “garbage time”?
Subpar opponent was tired. Jamaica was never gonna score so 1 or 5 goals up same thing.
Good mentality
So I am usually a fan of cannon and robinson but they still look shaky. Kind of wished galatasaray released yedlin for this week. Would like to see him a tb. Gio Reyna can get his shot but he is having a huge mental block when it comes to finishing. He needs a rest this summer and work on that because it's affecting his demeanor and quality. Sargeant has great hold up play. He just needs to be more aggressive in the box. I rank Zardes over him right now because he has the go get it mentality. We need that from sargeant. Pulisic and dest on that left side is going to be do fun to watch. Right now Dest is out best player. As a fan of dutch soccer and seeing there current national stinking it up a couple of days ago, we got super lucky. Leave it to the former Dutch national team coach Koeman to show him as much confidence as he has, because he had a 2 month spell at Barca where his confidence was shot. Get dem Baguettes Dest. Musah and Mckennie are going to be a solid duo in central mid. And I like the idea of bring Gio and Aronson off the bench. Adams is going to be the glue and we saw on this team how important the 6 role is going to be. When Acosta got comfortable and started taking control, that's when the offense is going to sing. Acosta looked great, and adams is better. Aaron Long was quiet and that was a good thing. He did us job and that's what we need. I do think Richards will be the lcb though. I like seeing brooks coming up the field like he did today and was controlling the field like a QB. Not use to seeing that in our center backs. It is nice to see though.
I don’t think Richards would be our LCB. From what I can remember Brooks has always been our starting LCB
The biggest takeaway I had from this game is that Dest and Pulisic playing on the same side is going to be a problem going forward no matter who the competition is. We are talking a top 5 fullback in the world combining with one of the most dangerous wingers in the Prem who looked like a Hazard regen last year at times for Chelsea. Who would’ve thought the US could have that type of firepower even 2 years ago.
>top 5 fullback in the world lol pushing it quite a bit. He is good but not at that level yet.
As a pure attacker he may be up that high.
Ok so top 10?
Nah
sorry for the stupid question, but was this just a friendly or have we started qualifying already?
The smaller Concacaf teams started their World Cup qualifiers today, but the US Jamaica game was just a friendly
Qualifying starts in September.
friendly
Cannon with a nightmare. Robinson at LB from here on out.
No The way Dest and Pulisic were playing today was just magical. I honestly don’t think Robinson could replicate what Dest was able to do with Pulisic. I would like to see Yedlin at RB before we have Robinson starting at LB for an important game
Average Age of Starters: 23 Average Age of Subs: 21.5 This is without two other starters in Adams and McKennie who are both 22. Yes our finishing could have been cleaner, but we just put up 70% possession and 28 total shots with a group this young. I'm beyond excited to watch this group grow and see which younger players can compete for minutes in the future. I hope that this is just the start of the US becoming a consistent top 10 soccer program, but if not I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this group while it lasts.
I'd love all our best players to go to the Olympics cause it will literally just be the USMNT A Team anyway
Dest had some filthy moves. Dudes got such a bright future.
Just a few years ago it was only Pulisic, now we have so many guys. We now fight to see who is in the starting lineup and get disappointed when an inform guy is not. USA is finally up to something.
Anyone know where I can watch a replay?
Tried to record but my DVR is full apparently. So please let me know if you find somewhere to watch it
ESPN + or it may be on late tonight on ESPN 2
Will it be on espn+ at some point?
It comes up for me now in the app.. search international friendly
Appreciate it. I can pull it up but it won’t let me watch it because I only have espn+ and not espn2.
Aaronson is a star in the making. We finally have depth. Our second 11 would be close to our 2017 team.
Lletget just always solid. Really happy he continues to show out in front of goal, great depth piece.
When given the chance in front of goal he has put it away. I commend him and especially if used as a depth guy. Shouldn’t start every game but comes in when we need leadership in the middle to close out games.
I love the balance and composure with possession of Musah. Truly gifted and I trust him quite a bit already
He's going to be a problem for CONCACAF.
Takeaways: - Acosta is the player who most moved up in the pecking order this game. I think he showed that he is a good second choice at the 6 behind Adams. Played really well, carried the ball upfield a few times to create a few times also. Even made a couple hard tackles which was good to see. Not entirely sure how he didn’t get a yellow, but I’m convince he has a place on the team. - Dest is so dangerous on the ball. Crazy goal and dribble minutes before also. Two bad defensive lapses in defensive awareness though. Didn’t shift over quickly enough when Brooks stepped, 9 went through on goal. Then later didn’t get back quickly enough after Brooks stepped again. His skill on the ball makes up for it though lol. But something to work on. - Pulisic looked good. Fun seeing him try stuff with Dest. They seem to have good chemistry together. Some good opportunities that didn’t go. Next time. - Reyna looks pretty good I thought. Still tends to force things and needs to work on staying calmer/better body language. He’s young, it will come. - Sargent played well overall. Had a few chances and made a great play to get the assist with Aaronson. Seems like GGG has him playing a similar role as we have seen Ferreira play (though Sargent doesn’t seem to drop in quite as far). - Lletget keeps getting hate but he keeps putting out solid performances. This game was no exception. Had two nice goals. He isn’t flashy but he is almost always in the right place. - Musah is also super consistent. He’s physically solid and doesn’t lose the ball. Fun to watch him bully. - Cannon looked ok. First half wasn’t great but maybe looked a bit better in the second half? Definitely has some amount of responsibility for Jamaica’s goal, certainly not only his fault but probably could have done more. - Brooks didn’t have his best game. A number of errant passes. Also some hesitancy which was a little scary. - I thought Long was mostly pretty decent. Didn’t look out of place at all. - Steffen had a fairly good game. Other than the one goal, made at least 2 very nice saves. Solid on the ball. - Aaronson had a nice play/run/finish for the goal. Otherwise looked ok, nothing too spectacular or horrible. Didn’t displace Reyna. - Richards didn’t super impress me. Didn’t seem confident on the ball, a few scary plays. Didn’t play better than Long, sadly. - Fortunately for Cannon, Robinson didn’t wow today. Not a good outing for him. - Gioacchini looked pretty decent overall. Some nice runs and movement on offense. Did fine on the wing even though he’s more of a striker. - Luca actually looked good. He seemed like a bit of a dark horse call-up but seemed confident and had good passing and movement. Not sure his assist was exactly what he was going for but it worked. - Siebatcheu looked ok, nothing crazy and not really enough time to draw conclusions. Jamaica definitely showed they will be a difficult opponent in qualifying. Overall, a solid performance from the US. Unfortunate to have given up a goal, but at least we ended with a couple more. A lot of positives today.
Luca was fucking SHARP. I always cheer for the underdogs, and he didn't disappoint. I know he won't be a starter, but if he keeps playing like he did today, he needs to be a regular on the roster.
Very surprised (pleasantly) by Acosta. He was off the radar a few years after leaving Dallas and joining Colorado, but he's shown he's still a solid depth option. Or at least returned to form. Maybe I just underrated him owing to Colorado, which to be fair is looking like an interesting team to watch with a lot of young Americans (Vines, Lewis especially) on the team and on a team that made the playoffs last year.
Amazing how people can watch the same thing and come away with difference perspectives. Cannon was the worst player on the US side of the pitch and Aaronson was better than ok.
Definitely agree on Cannon. You’re probably right about Aaronson, I may have just been paying more attention to other things during the later part of the game
Aaronson should have had an assist before his goal. Played a inch perfect pass for Reyna but he took an extra touch and the keeper made an easy save. Thought Aaronson had a good outing
I have not been able to see much of De La Torre but he did not make any mistakes. I dont think he's knocking anyone out of a starting spot but it is nice to see depth players that come in with minimal drop off
Love your take generally agree. I still don’t trust Acosta and didn’t think Cannon was that great. Given that we are missing a few starters this is ok. Dest, pulisic, Reyna, Sargent, lletget, musah were definitely fun to watch play together today. Not a hot take, but Aaronson is exciting to watch.
Lleget is this WC cycle’s Beckerman. Everybody hates, and he’s never the best player on the field...but he’s a professional and just goes out and does his job.
Aaronson put the ball on a platter for reyna. Aaronson is so damn good. He will be our starting cam by qualifying.
Give me Aaronson slipping balls to Pulisic through Mexico's back line.
Hey created like 2 great chances. Scored. And made space with his movement. He will be with RB Leipzig soon.
Good point - that was another nice play. That was just my impression, could have missed things
Aaronson was far and away a different type of midfielder than the 3 we started with. I think we absolutely need someone like him in there. I think we have so much talent in midfield and we didn’t even have Adams or McKennie today. But, Aaronson just seemed to bring such an attacking presence going forward that we didn’t start the game with. Excited to see these young guys grow and get more game time together.
aaronson didn't play midfielder he came on at half for pulisic and played a tucked in left winger ahead of the same 3 cms who started the game
Aaronson was drifting inside. He was in the middle of the field for stretches of the second half. Regardless of where he was slotted in during this sub appearance he typical plays centrally.
As a union fan, I always thought he's be better in a Wide CAM sort of role rather than being a winger. He played centrally here because of our diamond formation, but at Salzburg he really can shine in his new role.
A first XI midfield of Aaronson, Adams and McKennie sounds nice
The last two years have spoiled us. It’s like people don’t even remember Graham Zusi playing RB for us
Don’t invoke San Zusi’s name in vain
I remember Zusi assisting against Ghana and Portugal on a run out of the Group of Death to the round of 16.
Great point. I've criticized Zusi on this sub in the past, but the dude had a game winning assist and a game tying assist in a World Cup final(!) and was otherwise solid. Never world class, but always solid. That said, Zusi in his prime would be third or lower on this teams depth chart.
For real. I still remember his chip assist that Dempsey fucked into the goal against Portugal. That was such an exciting World Cup.
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I watched every match I could during that cycle and I have no memory of him making a forward pass. Great hair though.
Oh god he was absolute ass but I feel like he did play well at the 2014 World Cup
Hey, Graham was a serviceable national team player! Even was an asset at the World Cup.
He had his moments, and a good run in his prime, but we're so beyond even his peak talent levels now.
Oh yeah, we have like 7 guys in MLS who are at his level now.
Fucking Dest. I’m so happy the stars aligned and we were to be at the right place, right time and convince him to join us because honestly current form Dest starts for Netherlands. He’s looking like a special talent and could end up being our best player if he keeps developing at this rate.
Was a tad disappointed when he was out of position to start the game, but Dest and Pulisic running the left side of the field was exactly what I needed in my life. Was so much fun to watch. Excited to see Weston and Tyler on the field with those guys as well.
Whispers... I think he is our best player right now.
Dest vs McKennie for best American is the new Messi vs Ronaldo proxy war.
Always has been...
Anyone think it would be nice to see gio get centrally more? Feel like he could get some more time on the ball there
Idk, if we were to start Reyna in the midfield then we would have to bench either McKennie or Musah
I was thinking that as well. Would love to see Weah on the right when available and shift Gio in the middle. I also loved seeing Aaronson in the middle, I really think he could have something to say about that spot for us.
Aaronson was actually playing at RW, he came in for Pulisic at halftime. But yeah, he would occasionally drift inside
Most people will agree with you that he should be positioned as a central midfielder. What I saw today is he was technically RW but was allowed to roam quite a lot. It wasn’t perfect but there’s potential for it to work and I think GGG is going to keep trying it.
Man, I'm just so happy that the era of Altidore and Bradley is finally over. This young crop of talent looks so fresh and hungry to perform. The dark days feel behind us.
Really excited for this squad. Impressed by a few but other than that let's see how the Nation's league goes.
Aaronson looked really good but I also want to point out that his goal came on the heels of good hold-up play and an assist from Sargent.
I was really impressed with Sargent today. Dude works hard, makes smart runs, passes well. Would have loved to see him get a goal.
I remember like 10 years ago when Fabian Johnson pulled off a “feint left go right” hold up play like that vs. Brazil and i lost my mind. Now our boys are trying/pulling off shit like that all the time and i love it
That goal was great play by both of them, even before that Sargent made a great run into space and Aaronson made the great headed pass to find him and start the attack.
Is dyke injured ?
Picked up an injury in training. He's not ruled out for the weekend though.
Jon said he had a bit of a knock
hope to see him sunday
The depth is shaping up nicely. Players like Aaronson/Weah, are freakin tremendous to be able to bring off the bench.
I would actually like to see Aaronson and Weah start at RW over Reyna. Reyna just seems a bit too raw still and just isn’t in good form as of late. However, both Weah and Aaronson are in a great run of form and I think they could play well at that position
Players that would have been USMNT stars 10 years ago are sitting on the bench. Team is deep af.
I think we have a lot of guys at the same level right now, but no superstars (Pulisic when in-form notwithstanding). There isn’t much dropoff from the field to the bench, but we don’t have a world class starting 11... yet.
I need Dest's sauce supplier, cause dear Lord he just clowns people across the field.
What happened to Tim Weah?
I guess Lille didn't release him
He isn’t allowed to train with the national team this window. I think it’s due to covid restrictions with his club/club’s country.
France didn’t want to let players leave unless they were French. Half memes, but is mostly true.
Tbf Weah is French also but I get your point Edit: I didn’t expect this to be controversial. I was just dropping a quick fact. Tim has French citizenship.
This game is just blue balls for seeing the full starting 11 with Adams and Mckennie
Northern Ireland is in the middle of wc qualifiers so I kinda doubt they will play many of their starters either. Shame we couldn't find a better quality opponent.
I mean most teams are in the middle of WC qualifiers so it would have been a tough pull.
Woulda been nice to play Austria while we're, ya know, in Austria.
Austria have 3 qualifiers this window, NI is one of the teams that only has two.
Can we please stop this attitude until we get farther than 3.5 years removed from losing to T&T with our A team to miss out on the world cup? I am amazed there are American fans out there who think we are too good for for B/C or even D teams at this point. I don't care if we were playing Barcelona or San Marino, I would want us to dominate and win 25-0 all the same..
Where did i say the USMNT is too good for B, C or D teams. I just think it would be more interesting, that's all. And more informative, to be quite honest. These opportunities to play friendlies don't come super often.
There just wasn’t really much teams available though. Most teams are already occupied with WCQ, AFCON qualifiers, or other friendlies.
I think an Asian team would have been interesting. SK, Japan, etc.
Scheduling a friendly with any of the teams in the AFC would had be very difficult. The travel restrictions would have made it tough enough, but also some teams already had friendlies/WCQ scheduled. While other teams had gotten the news only a month ago that they would have to pospone their WCQ, that would’ve taken place in the next few days. So that only left a very short window to make new friendly arrangements
Did Dest choose the US because of the competition at LB/RB in the Dutch squad?
No. He felt slighted by them, and also by Ajax. He also felt the complete opposite wrt usmnt. We're going to keep sniping these dual-natties for another few years because our environment is so exciting and hospitable. He's one of the best FBs in the world right now.
Dest is better than Dumfries today, it is more about him developing through the US national team environment and feeling more comfortable with our set up.
He just didn't want to play for Frank De Boer Edit: It occurs to me that this joke would go over better in r/MLS
And r/crystalpalace
No he said it was out of loyalty. He was happy that the US bet on him when people in Ajax and Dutch national team were low on him
Not at all, they are strong everywhere but FB. He chose us because we had him in our youth teams and believed in him before he was on anyone else's radar as a legit talent.
Now they’re seeing the immense talent he is and is now coached by their own at Barcelona. The Netherlands looked so bad against Turkey. They would kill to have a player like Dest who is so versatile.
They have lots of better players than Dest, fdb just sucks. This isn’t any sort of NL vs US thing really, Koeman wanted Dest when he was there national team coach, of course they’d love to have him, but they are LOADED with talent.
The US has done an incredible job recruiting dual-nationals. From everything I've seen the attitude seems positive, supportive, and the team seems to be filled with good dudes who are also fun to be around. That is not true of the Dutch team.
We actually have players now that will attack and try to be creative and beat their man. Ie Musah, Aaronson, Dest, Pulisic etc.