That was tragic. So many cheap turnovers in the back half. They looked like kids. I can live with the fact we may never find a striker in our lifetime, nor look connected, but the defense is unacceptable on the pitch and on the ball. They literally just handed the ball to Columbia and said go score. And now they get Brazil. I will watch it though. That's non-negotiable.
It's possible we do have a striker...but they left him home. Brandon Vasquez might've been the right choice for this tournament but Berhalter didn't give him a shot. Sargent might be but he's seemingly never healthy when we need him. Pepi has potential but he appears to be better coming in off the bench. It's been proven with the USMNT and with his club team. Balogun has fallen way off since he declared for us and his form for his club team was poor this season. But right now...I'm more concerned with the keeper situation. We don't have anyone playing at a high level. Turner barely played in the 2nd half of the season for Nottingham and it's showing. What was once our deepest position by far is now our 2nd weakest (behind right back with Dest injured). It's a problem that there doesn't appear to be a solution to...short of Slonina having a great Olympic tournament and being able to turn that into a top flight chance this next season. We need someone to step up before 2026.
We matched the quality. Even match on the pitch despite Brazil demonstrating more skill. Fun match, historic draw, but we still cannot finish in the back of the net.
Good draw against Brazil. Had chances to win it...but also had chances to lose it. At the very least, they've proven they can in fact hang with the big boys. Turner had a good game despite being responsible for the Brazil goal. Pulisic's free kick goal was excellent. As a ManU fan, I feel like there's a lot of parallels with Berhalter and Eric Ten Hag. The lack of consistency is the most glaring thing that ties them together. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Berhalter is nothing more than a "try hard". We'll get through the groups stage because Panama and Boliva aren't good. But it's still not good enough to actually compete with the best of COMNEBOL...even though we should be able to at this point. We field a team of all European based players...just like they do. There's little reason to not compete with these teams. The difference at this point is the coaching...and Berhalter isn't on that level.
Yeah, Berhalter isn't good enough, we should have signed Jesse Marsch..... It was nice to see us attacking and working it out of the back. Both goalkeepers kept their teams in it. And as a fellow Man U fan, how the hell did we keep Ten? UGH! DD
And thank f***ingggggg gggggggoodness. Matt Crocker cost us 18 months by not making this move after the WC but he has a chance to right his wrong. There's a lot of big names available and it's time to do something huge before 2026. I can't imagine Klopp is a realistic target but it's worth at least asking. What I do want is to make sure the next coach has absolutely no ties to the MLS, to the USMNT or US Soccer at all ever...other than maybe having played or coached against them. We need a fresh perspective from Europe. With most of our roster being European based, we need someone that understands what works with players who play in those leagues but also that does not have any loyalties to any one currently on the roster or in the front office.
Why? Because they lost to France? If you watched, they actually played well and had opportunities to score. I'm confident this team will handle Guinea and New Zeland.
They had some solid opportunities, but imo the young guys didn't look that great -- the second half was 3-0 blow out. We'll see how they do against lesser competition.
They got down one and started pushing...and got punished on the counter by a very talented team. Doesn't portend the end of the program. They'll get into the quarters.
