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Official US Soccer / World Cup '26 Thread (USA vs. Mexico 3/24 in Dallas)

Some nice things. Like the energy. Mckennie and Adams really controlling well. Brooks has been good w distribution. Dest had pushed up well. Musah did some nice things but also dribbled too much a few times.

Reyna has been off. Konrad was...fine. Robinson was decent. Miazga was ok. We can take out Lleget and try someone else.
 
Tyler Adams is so good in the deep 6 role, he cleans up everything

False 9 is cack, nothing Lletget has done but the system is garbage. Need someone leading the line and crashing the front post when Dest gets free out wide.
 
I appreciate what he was, but pretty nice to not have Michael Bradley out there passing balls back
 
didn't realize the Welsh team was ranked so highly
 
we look a lot more comfortable on the ball than we have in my memory of the USMNT

nasty conditions probably took something away from the exciting players out there

would have liked to have played 90 with a striker though
 
Wingers need to be cutting/coming inside a lot more if you play a false 9. That is the one phase of our tactical plan that looked disjointed to me today.

Midfield was excellent as was the build up from the back. There was just a black hole of nothingness in the central danger area between Wales' CBs which made their day pretty easy all things considered.
 
Initial thoughts:

Dike could have been the missing puzzle piece TODAY. Wales sat back quite a bit, and we needed a big bodied poacher like him.

We could use a CB with a bit more speed to partner up.

We need to see a better performance from Robinson.

Midfield was pretty solid overall.

Konrad is still young, but his movement wasn’t good. He kept eating up the open channels with bad angles.

Overall, easy to get excited.
 
I mean, looking at this performance, that’s what lacked. I think Dike provides that wild card.

Well, there's strikers and then there's strikers. As was highlighted, playing with ANY of the strikers we had on our bench would have been a good start. Giving Otasowie a couple meaningless minutes doesn't count. I can't fathom why you don't give one of those kids 45 minutes to make a difference.

Also, what I love about players like Dike (or Sargent [needs more bulk, but doesn't mind physical play], Otasowie, Akinola, etc) is the ability to not only be a striker, but be physical, like Jozy could. Or hell, Brian McBride. Not just a goal scorer, but guy who will bang and mix it up.

There are reasons we went into the tank when Jozy got hurt in 2014, but the biggest imho was we didn't have another guy with the same skills as Jozy. Deuce was a much better finisher, but not quite the same at being a hold-up forward who's just trying to help us hold onto the ball and lay it off so we keep possession.

I hope that we see some of these other guys push for a spot. Because I love me some Pulisic, Reyna, etc., but we also need a guy who can bang with a CB and give as good as he takes, be a hold-up target, win balls in the air, poach, finish, etc.
 
Not sure I agree. A true goal poacher like a Pippo Inzaghi or Chicharito (ducks) could be really deadly in a side with the creative talent we have from the middle and wings. We don't need to lob in aerial 50/50s to be successful.
 
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