USA - 2026 World Cup Champions - Page 11

mikee1186 · 06-29-2025, 09:06 PM

We’ve got some real dawgs on this roster in Adams, Tillman, Luna, Berhalter in terms of injecting toughness into the team. Fans will love seeing that. First half was average, second half was much better. We were in control but I think it was an error by Poch to wait so long for subs. Arfsten is terrible defensively, why would you leave him in so long with a 2-1 lead? He and DLT contributed to giving up the equalizer with some really amateurish defense, but i would argue neither should have been on the pitch at that point.

Manager will have to learn from this as it was Freese’s heroics in the shootout that saved us. I couldn’t believe his save in the penalty right down the middle, crazy one as keepers these days NEVER remain stationary. Very gutsy play on that and then came up with some other good saves. He’s still shaky in some ways but you have to give him the starting job for the foreseeable future given the GK issues we are having. Maybe Turner finds regular club playing time and takes it back, who knows.

Agyemang did a lot of great work and hold up play, including in contributing to the second goal. But that’s not going to be enough. He has to continue developing his speed of play, decision making, and finishing if we wants to play at this level. Happy for him and his meteoric rise, but he’s not showing enough to be with the top national team roster consistently.

Tillman, Adams, Richards are the guys really setting the tone right now. Big win, let’s see what happens Wednesday in another dogfight.

mfw13 · 06-29-2025, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikee1186

Manager will have to learn from this as it was Freese’s heroics in the shootout that saved us. I couldn’t believe his save in the penalty right down the middle, crazy one as keepers these days NEVER remain stationary.

I always wonder why so many keepers guess on PK's instead of remaining stationary and reacting.

Because if you wait and react, the only ones you're not going to be able to get to are the ones that are so good that you weren't going to stop them even if you guessed right.

And by not guessing, you give yourself a chance at saving a lot of less-than-perfect penalties that you would otherwise have had no chance at by guessing wrong (like Navas did on Downs' winner).

It's not just the three that Freese saved it's also that he got fingertips on two others as well by waiting and reacting instead of guessing.

dubsea · 06-30-2025, 11:50 AM

Freese was impressive with the PKs. In addition to the 3 he saved, there were 2 more that he almost did. That has to play on the mind of the player taking the shot. Nice to see them grind out a win.

YayNJ · 06-30-2025, 01:46 PM

I just want to take yet another opportunity to have a big LOL at Jessie Marsch.

Utter fraud. Teams win despite him, not due to him. I've never seen such incompetence in a manager before until he obviously won a competition to get the Leeds job. If you ever want to blame anyone for B. Aaronson never fulfilling his potential, this man is responsible.

mfw13 · 06-30-2025, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dubsea

Freese was impressive with the PKs. In addition to the 3 he saved, there were 2 more that he almost did. That has to play on the mind of the player taking the shot. Nice to see them grind out a win.

Definitely, because the MO these days for penalty takers is to stutter step until they get the keeper to commit.....but if the keeper doesn't commit (like Freese), the taker is f**ked, because they're off-balance with no power and no plan.

06-29-2025, 09:06 PM	#251
mikee1186 Member Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: TN Posts: 2,075 mikee1186	We’ve got some real dawgs on this roster in Adams, Tillman, Luna, Berhalter in terms of injecting toughness into the team. Fans will love seeing that. First half was average, second half was much better. We were in control but I think it was an error by Poch to wait so long for subs. Arfsten is terrible defensively, why would you leave him in so long with a 2-1 lead? He and DLT contributed to giving up the equalizer with some really amateurish defense, but i would argue neither should have been on the pitch at that point. Manager will have to learn from this as it was Freese’s heroics in the shootout that saved us. I couldn’t believe his save in the penalty right down the middle, crazy one as keepers these days NEVER remain stationary. Very gutsy play on that and then came up with some other good saves. He’s still shaky in some ways but you have to give him the starting job for the foreseeable future given the GK issues we are having. Maybe Turner finds regular club playing time and takes it back, who knows. Agyemang did a lot of great work and hold up play, including in contributing to the second goal. But that’s not going to be enough. He has to continue developing his speed of play, decision making, and finishing if we wants to play at this level. Happy for him and his meteoric rise, but he’s not showing enough to be with the top national team roster consistently. Tillman, Adams, Richards are the guys really setting the tone right now. Big win, let’s see what happens Wednesday in another dogfight.

06-30-2025, 11:50 AM	#253
dubsea Member Join Date: Mar 2024 Posts: 99	Freese was impressive with the PKs. In addition to the 3 he saved, there were 2 more that he almost did. That has to play on the mind of the player taking the shot. Nice to see them grind out a win.

06-30-2025, 01:46 PM	#254
YayNJ Member Join Date: May 2020 Location: London / Oahu Posts: 8,055 hanelcocards	I just want to take yet another opportunity to have a big LOL at Jessie Marsch. Utter fraud. Teams win despite him, not due to him. I've never seen such incompetence in a manager before until he obviously won a competition to get the Leeds job. If you ever want to blame anyone for B. Aaronson never fulfilling his potential, this man is responsible.