CONMEBOL Copa America 2024

Lame. I hope they stand Weah in the corner with a dunce cap on.

 

interesting Lalas saying if the team doesn't make it to the next round GGG should be fired, Demps is trying hard to not go there.

 

I think they will rebound and put in a solid performance Monday. Whether that will be enough to beat a good Uruguay team is the million dollar question.

 

Pepi can join him in that corner, dude is cooked.

dang, Lalas leaning into his Stephen A persona and Demps putting the goal on Horvath, kind of nice to see these guys take the kid gloves off with these dudes.

 

I have always liked Gregg since he was with us but it’s time to move him on now from the US gig. His coaching was awful today.

we are good enough to beat a 10 man Panama. Going 5 at the back was a huge mistake. Putting the ghost of Pepi in was a huge mistake. Not disciplining his players enough that had previously lost their heads was a huge mistake.

For me this should earn Weah a ban from the team for a good while. Starting now maybe a half year away from the team or something.

 

The moment Weah got the red card, I knew we were screwed.

Around minute 75 when Panama had 70% possession of the ball, and we couldn’t string 2-3 passes together, I knew we were done. Game over.

Weah takes much of the blame for that result, but Berhalter has to do better. There’s too much talent out there to flounder like that even down to 10.

If we are knocked out on Monday, we have to strongly and urgently consider letting Berhalter go. We cannot waste WC 26.

 

Obviously the USMNT was not good enough to beat Panama when down a man. I don't know why you would state that when in the recent past the two teams have been pretty much even in the results of head-to-head matches. Matt Turner has never been on a winning team against Panama.

 

I don't mind the switch to a 5 man backline, its the other personnell switch I hated, while Weah was at fault primarily, Gregg's tactical switch was horrendous.

5 man backline while maintaining a defensive midfielder? Nope not it chief.
4 man backline while maintaining a defensive midfielder, understandable.

for a 5 man backline:
CCV - Ream - Richards, but Sub out Scally and move Weston there (He's played RWB at times for Juve), sub out Adams and put in Musah, we needed a player who can progress the ball on the dribble, or even LDLT, as playing for Girona, he would have been used to having to play more on the counter perhaps. I would have kept Reyna for longer, as he can also progress the ball, but also offer much better passing out of trouble.
for a 4 man backline:
Keep all 4 defenders (at first), but sub out Adams for Cardoso (Adams on limited minutes already I guess) Keep Pulisic up top with Balogun for a 2 - man topline (4-3-2 formation).

 

I disagree slightly, It also depends on the tactical switch. Gregg went all in on Defense after half. I I don't have an issue with the 5 man backline, but if you're going to do that, convert your fullbacks to wingbacks and swap out a defensive mid for a midfielder who can hold possession. The key is to try and relieve the pressure off your backline.

 

A good video. I felt validated by Herc's questioning of whether this really is a golden generation. IMO, this is a team that has problems scoring goals with a suspect defense and mediocre goalkeeping.
.

 

not necessarily, we could have 3 teams with 2 wins and it comes down to tie breakers (if panama beats Bolivia, which is a possibility). So regardless, our GD is going to come into play, depending on the result of the Panama - Bolivia Game. We're not likely to beat Uruguay on GD (although if we win we might, it'll be close), its the Panama - Bolivia that will probably affect us.


Regardless, this is the best litmus test for GGG and the squad. Others have commented and this is a point I agree with, GGG has yet to have a signature win against any top side yet, friendly or not. This would be his first chance to actually get that signature win, and have the result matter. All other managers at least have signature wins against top sides, even if in a friendly (e.g. Klinnsman at least has friendly wins against Germany, Netherlands and Italy, Bruce has Portugal in the WC, Bradley has Spain in the Confederations Cup, previous managers have had those wins, too, I just can't recall off the top of my head but I remember WC '94 against Columbia, a wonderful '95 Copa America performance, a win against Brazil in the Gold Cup)

 

I still think it is, the issue is there is a disconnect between player abilities, and the tactics we're trying to employ. Clearly this is the squad with the best overall talent we've ever had, the problem is GGG literally being stuck in his tactics, you literally know the starting XI every time, there is no adjustment for opponent, or even squad rotation and trusting the other players you bring in to do the job. I would have loved to see him try Wright LW, Sargent CF, and Pulisic RW. Sure Balogun scored that golazo but starting against Panama, I would have loved to see this formation.

This is the point I'm over the "line in the sand" with Gregg. Unless I see improvement against Uruguay, he should be out after this tournament.

While we don't have a "Messi" player, who you can throw on the pitch and just know he'll figure it out, we still have really good players, who still depend on the right tactics to succeed.

 

I think El Futbolisimo knew this when he said they could "win and not qualify". I took his post to mean that regardless of the outcome, we as fans, and everyone else, would get to see what this team was made of. I agree. I personally think that the only way the USMNT can get a minimal moral victory out of this is to beat Uruguay and not go through based on GD.

I totally disagree and think this is media hype. A generational team would find a way to go through. To me the true generational team was 2009. As you posted, they beat a Spain team, that was on a 30+ game win streak, 2-0 in the 2009 Confederations cup semi-final and then took a 2 goal lead against Brazil into half time before losing 3-2 in the final. I think you could also make a good argument for the 2010 team who had many of the same players. The 2010 team won their group over England by outscoring them in the tie breaker. Would you trade Pulisic, Balogon and Weah for a in your prime, Landon, Altidore and Dempsey. Wouldn't you rather have Howard at keeper? Do you think today's back line is better?

 

I get what you're saying, and I agree this is the weakest back line and goalkeeping position we've had in a long while (Friedel to me is still the goat for that 2002 WC performance), I just mean in terms of top to bottom, in terms of any player playing in any position. Yes back in those days you know Landon, Clint, Howard, Bocanegra, Altidore were hard coded into that starting lineup. What I mean is nowadays the only position I see "hard coded" is Jedi, Christian, and Dest, and yet Berhalter has made it so all but 1 Center Mid is hard coded, with a fixed formation. I'm just saying I'm at the point of saying (with others) that GGG is holding us back

 

I get some of the criticism of Berhalter including yours. Nor would I have a problem if he was fired if they don't get out of the group. As someone posted previously, the player's need to be held accountable for their performance or lack thereof and perhaps the only way of doing this is firing a coach they reportedly love for their failure to deliver.

My problems with just blaming Greg are two fold. First and foremost, I think this team is vastly overrated. Going back to the 2009/10 teams, I think those team's starters were better, on an overall basis with 8 or more of them being first choice over today's team. Therefore, while you may be completely right on the tactical changes that should have been made, I don't think it was an automatic that the "right changes", whatever they are, could have pulled a draw or victory out of the hat against Panama. Second, I don't think he can be blamed for Weah's losing it yesterday. I have looked at Weah's history for both club and country and could find only 1 other red card (and I don't know if was a straight red) and that was for LOSC in 2021/22.

 

This golden generation talk is reminding me of Belgium. So much talent top to bottom but they’ve struggled to make it count.

I am in no way saying we are like Belgium— we are not. The 2014 World Cup showed the gulf in talent, and 10 years later, that gulf exists. My point is that it’s difficult to quantify a golden generation.

This team may have a lot of talent (mostly on offense), and has dominated concacaf, but is this the golden generation? Was it the Dempsey Donovan Howard teams?

This current team has a lot to prove in my opinion. Monday is a great day to change some opinions, but unfortunately, I just don’t think we’re near Uruguay (another team who has had several claims to a golden generation).

 

Seriously bummed we may have muffed this tournament.