09-05-2017, 05:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-05-2017, 05:46 PM by Viking_Guy.)
Having watched most of the game:
- Neither Bradley nor Dempsey could move in the heat. And that lack of quickness made any pressure that Pulisic and Morris put on up top useless. It was sad to watch the two of them continually try to pressure the ball, only to have a simple pass around them give Honduras the ball wide open in the midfield. I don't think the two veterans can be the answer moving forward. Options for Dempsey, not so much for Bradley. Though I'd like to see more of Cristian Roldan.
- Also hate that we have to live with retreads at our outside backs so much of the time. Zusi got blown by at will on the right, and Beasley, while cagey, is neither as strong nor nearly as fast as he was, well, 15 years ago. Would love to see, I don't know, maybe Brandon Vincent, an actual outside back, playing there? He's not as much of a threat going forward, but the US wing defense has been a problem for years. Doesn't help that Arena relies on players he's familiar with from the LA Galaxy - Gonzalez was caught flat and then completely blew the tackle on the Honduras goal. Not helped by Zusi deciding he was beaten and slowing to a jog, rather than trying to get back in the play.
- Pulisic best player on the pitch for the US, but he was having a tough time with the CONCACAF-WWE style of play the referee let go on. On both sides. I expected luchador masks to come out at some point - both for the tackling, and for the histrionics. Oh, and I would love for someone to actually count up the stoppage time in the second half and compare it to the 3 minutes he allowed, 1.5 of which was taken up by a red-carded Honduran player arguing and then slowly trudging off the pitch. I know there were at least two more minutes when the Honduran keeper, with a 1-0 lead, collapsed in a heap at the top of the box with a cramp - after a simple jump to catch a ball then slowly walking it forward.
- More generally, have to disagree with DC - I didn't see a lot of passion (at least until the last 10 minutes); the team was walking from the opening whistle. Honduras owned the center of the pitch, and pushed the US attack wide, then double-teamed hard and physically. The US outside mids spent an awful lot of the game passing back, with very few attempts at diagonal crossing balls, and the free kicks and balls out of the back were real crap, until Acosta's late blast started the game-tying play.
VG
- Neither Bradley nor Dempsey could move in the heat. And that lack of quickness made any pressure that Pulisic and Morris put on up top useless. It was sad to watch the two of them continually try to pressure the ball, only to have a simple pass around them give Honduras the ball wide open in the midfield. I don't think the two veterans can be the answer moving forward. Options for Dempsey, not so much for Bradley. Though I'd like to see more of Cristian Roldan.
- Also hate that we have to live with retreads at our outside backs so much of the time. Zusi got blown by at will on the right, and Beasley, while cagey, is neither as strong nor nearly as fast as he was, well, 15 years ago. Would love to see, I don't know, maybe Brandon Vincent, an actual outside back, playing there? He's not as much of a threat going forward, but the US wing defense has been a problem for years. Doesn't help that Arena relies on players he's familiar with from the LA Galaxy - Gonzalez was caught flat and then completely blew the tackle on the Honduras goal. Not helped by Zusi deciding he was beaten and slowing to a jog, rather than trying to get back in the play.
- Pulisic best player on the pitch for the US, but he was having a tough time with the CONCACAF-WWE style of play the referee let go on. On both sides. I expected luchador masks to come out at some point - both for the tackling, and for the histrionics. Oh, and I would love for someone to actually count up the stoppage time in the second half and compare it to the 3 minutes he allowed, 1.5 of which was taken up by a red-carded Honduran player arguing and then slowly trudging off the pitch. I know there were at least two more minutes when the Honduran keeper, with a 1-0 lead, collapsed in a heap at the top of the box with a cramp - after a simple jump to catch a ball then slowly walking it forward.
- More generally, have to disagree with DC - I didn't see a lot of passion (at least until the last 10 minutes); the team was walking from the opening whistle. Honduras owned the center of the pitch, and pushed the US attack wide, then double-teamed hard and physically. The US outside mids spent an awful lot of the game passing back, with very few attempts at diagonal crossing balls, and the free kicks and balls out of the back were real crap, until Acosta's late blast started the game-tying play.
VG