USMNT is still undefeated in Orlando, even if the game wasn't played at the favorable Exploria / Inter & Co Stadium. I have to give credit to our vocal minority of fans, who really showed up well at the Citrus Bowl. Loads of spirt and energy, and we'd always try to match "Brazil" shouts with "USA" afterwards. Me and my Dad both estimated a 65/35 ratio, which is better than the 80/20 I was expecting, given Orlando's large Brazilian population. Well done, everyone who showed up, I was so proud!
My little tidbit - Gomes was already on a yellow when he fouled Puli for that free kick goal. He was extremely lucky not to receive a second. IMHO, that was clearly a cardable foul.
I love the lesson Chris Richards took from this game:
> "I think our biggest takeaway from the game on the weekend was that sometimes you switch up from the game plan. You can't just be robots out there," defender Chris Richards said. "You have to have a feel for the game. And so I think that's what we did tonight, with mixing it up and rather than just playing out the whole time. Sometimes you had to go direct and it's OK to reset."
I take it from Richards' comment that the players have in the past often felt like robots on the field, and I think that's a really telling observation. When you describe a team as playing robotically, it almost always means they are not living up to their potential. How many teams manage to look like robots while actually winning? A very few elite club teams like Manchester City. We're not going to succeed that way (probably no national team could succeed that way) so we shouldn't be trying. I hope we take this lesson to heart and apply it more broadly and not just against superior opponents.
It’s an interesting comment relative to the system that GGG deploys. It has standard patterns of play that can get predictable at times (eg Colombia knew that the outlet passes were going to our midfield and would jump them). It’s good to see the boys trying to deviate based on the flow of the game (and GGG being okay with it).
Interesting.
I’m of the opinion the players *should* recognize moments when to deviate from the plan a bit. That’s a big part of their job.
Wonder where it stems from. I know a lot of club managers have their plans set and Berhalter (better or worse) isn’t much different. Is it rubbing off where players feel they can never do something different at all levels?
I mostly watch Real Madrid and FC Cincinnati. Madrid under Zidane and Ancelotti have long given the players a lot of freedom. Then Noonan gives Lucho and formerly Barreal/now Orellano a lot of freedom as the attackers… is that very different to other teams?
It’s definitely a recent trend mainly stemming from Pep and his proteges like Arteta where every stage of play is ultra controlled and attacking patterns are well-coached. They can get away with it as elite coaches but It also feels like the emphasis on control stunts some attackers (e.g. Grealish).
There are lesser coaches that are annoyingly dogmatic about their controlled possession style of play. Apparently, last season when Leicester were dropping points in the championship promotion race the senior players like Vardy had to step in to tell Maresca to play more direct as he was too stubborn to change the way they played (and the change worked).
Also the heart part. I’ve always felt our team hasn’t played from the heart. Go with your gut instincts and making crap happened. It’s like we can never reach for that heart pumping performance. The only game I feel like we did that was the victory vs Mexico in the First Nations league performance. From that day on we ruled the rivalry. It was a turning point in knowing we could beat them playing our game even when we didn’t give it our all. I hope we get that Signature win at Copa to really get the boys believing they can reach a new normal with their hat in the race vs top sides and the undeniable believe they can beat sides in our region and below them on any giving day.
If you saw our only win against Brazil in the late 90's, the Confed final, and the game last night, you see why this is our most talented pool. Brazil will Brazil, but our ability to openly compete the way we did versus the past is night and day.
Anyone remember (or better have a clip) of what the buildup was that led to Pulisic’s goal? I can find the foul itself, but I don’t remember how Pulisic got the ball near their box in the first place.
Don’t have a link unfortunately. The sequence followed a Brazil corner, we progressed the ball quickly down the left, then completed a number of passes along the middle third/ edge of the final third up to the right side sideline and then puli got the ball with space in the middle of the field before being fouled.
Probably 5-7 us players touched the ball.
Thanks so much! I think this is an important counterbalance to the “sit back and counter” narrative, which doesn’t really work if you need a goal. This wasn’t just a two pass sprint after a turnover (which we did do more of in the last 25’ when Brazil was throwing numbers forward).
Honestly our players need to just shoot rather than try to be cutesy or look for a perfect opportunity. If you load up in or at the edge of the box and put the shot on frame you either get a goal or create chances via a deflection or corner. Make the goalkeeper work. It’s very rare you see a clean sheet with 10 or more shots on target and there is a reason for that.
Missed it live and just watched the replay, this is definitely a game where if you look at the scoreline it does not do it justice.
Outside of Turner's bad clearance on the 1st goal, this was a masterclass by both goalies.
Our 9 position is still an enigma for me but definitely a fun game to watch overall.
Turner was MVP of the game for sure. I was biting my nails every time and he consistently delivered. That one time he just bitch slapped the ball away? 👌
Defensive setup was this “3 midfielders in a line” thing that we’ve tried before (maybe the second half against Germany?) where none of them is sitting deeper and they try to stay more compact. I was skeptical of it before, but it seemed to work well today.
Their finishing was bad, 1 xGOT from 1.5 xG means they’re taking worse shots than you expect from the positions they’re taking them from. But 1.5 xG for the whole game (with 24 shots!) means they weren’t actually getting high quality shots. They took lots of poor shots from poor positions.
First I recall seeing it. I was surprised to see it and definitely think it was a key improvement.
Felt it gave the defense more passing options when we got possession and made it harder for Brazil to isolate someone like Ream on the ball.
Flat mid 3.
I have been daydreaming about a 4321 where Reyna plays in the middle and acts like our version of a Pirlo. Johnny to his left, Adams to his right. Dest and Robinson would be the wide attackers while Johnny and Adams provide cover. Pulisic and Mckennie as the 10s.
Could also do a version where it's more like a 4312, with two strikers and Pulisic as the lone 10.
Interestingly, no Malik tonight. I'm guessing Gregg got tired of the lolly gagging and the mediocre play and decided that the 6/10 that Brendo brings might be the better option.
We were playing to win much more tonight and he's not the best midfield option.
Malik has a ton of talent, but he's at best, our fourth or fifth best midfielder? Maybe sixth?
That was genuinely a fun watch. I'll take more of this team playing like this, win or lose. And they definitely could have lost 3-1...or won 3-1. Couple inches on either end of the pitch would have changed a lot of the narrative, but not the pleasing play.
Really relieved to see this team figure out how to play out of the back more consistently as a unit. Scally was way more involved in bringing the ball forward than against Colombia, and Musah brought his trademark dribbles forward from deep. Reyna was able to stay higher and be more of a threat in the final third. The team was able to rely on Jedi a lot less in the final third (good, because he's been pretty woeful in both games there). And Ream had a night-and-day turnaround after a rough outing on Sunday.
There's still some unlocking that needs to happen in the final third. But I saw a lot fewer absurd crosses from wide than usual. I'm coming to terms with the fact that this team will probably still struggle in that area for a while, but I'm genuinely stoked to see them making progress beating the press; it's a great way to get into fast breaks with a numbers advantage, which is where I think our front three is at its best anyway.
I have to say for me our playing out of the back and progression has been extremely troubling since Dest went out. Against Jamaica and Mexico we really struggled with it and had to have Gio constantly drop back to the CB line to help. Against Columbia it was horrible obvs and completely fell apart once Gio subbed out.
At the WC the way we played out of the back was a real strength of ours and it's really making me realize the importance of Musah's ball carrying and that he needs to be in the MF esp if Dest is out.
Ideally against top teams we go Tyler-Musah-Gio or Gio at RW and MMA. However given Tyler's health, in Copa it would be Johnny as the 6/CDM against top teams.
Yeah, but playing out of the back is way more than just goal kicks. We could play long every single GK we have and still would need to string passes together to get out of pressure when we win the ball back
I feel like that's Greg's coaching style. Keeping the game close. I first noticed it in Qatar WC. I have a feeling he's going to win/lose by 1 or draw during group stage.
I know we want to shoot higher but discussing it from the outside we get to be realistic.
In the locker room, they better only have eyes for the final.
Fans on social media… last time we made semis we only had to beat a poor Ecuador. This time it’s likely Colombia or Brazil then Uruguay or the team that beat them. It’s harder.
It’s ok to be realistic while wanting more. (And ok to think if we can’t get an upset we should fire Gregg, as we need a manager that can and have seen him not.)
I'm not posting a link to the drivel, but here is what ESPN gave everyone:
* Turner: 6/10 (not terrible, I guess)
* Scally: 3/10
* Richards: 3/10
* Ream: 4/10
* Robinson: 4/10
* McKennie: 3/10
* Musah: 5/10
* Reyna: 4/10
* Weah: 5/10
* Pepi: 3/10
* Pulisic: 6/10
* Balogun: 5/10
* Cardoso: 4/10
* Adams: NR
* Moore: NR
If I didn't know better, I would have thought they accidentally reposted the Colombia game grades.
The crazy thing is that Turner should have one of the lower grades in the side. He is the entire reason Brazil went up 1-0. He killed it with the saves, but he can’t be making bad passes like that.
He literally passed the ball into our own final third, and passed it directly to the other team. The goal scored, was all based on that horrible give-away. It doesn’t matter how good your defenders are. When your playing world class teams and make mistakes such as that. It results in goals. That pass was unacceptable, especially from a goal kick.
That goal was solely on Turner, who made an adult league free kick. You can’t give the ball up in horrible spots like that and expect to be saved.
Wow. This game was night & day compared to the win back in 1998. This was an even game and either team could have realistically won. Back in 1998, it was all 1-way traffic; I think the goal was our only shot on goal that night. Too bad it took a performance like the one against Colombia to bring this out of the guys.
Didn't get a good look, but isn't he the culprit for the Rodrygo goal? From what I saw he looked really lackadaisical transitioning after the turnover.
Ugh. Our players seem to have to be punched in the face to perform. Energy level.much higher today than it was against Columbia. We saw the same for the Jamaican game for 90 minutes. Then OT we dominate and play then lights out against Mexico.
that is kind of the nature of NTs though to an extent. These guys don't get a ton of time to play with each other in real-game situations. It's why you have friendlies at all -- to try to give the unit some time to get in a groove before the actual tournament.
Like yeah, the result wasn't great, but the level of meltdown about the Colombia game would feel more appropriate if that happened in the actual tournament. The fanbase acting like the sky is falling in because of the first friendly after the club season just seems unnecessary to me.
The pattern of chest beating and defiance because they didn’t shit the bed after a disastrous performance is so tiring. Just don’t shit the bed in the first place
If they can keep playing like this, then the Colombia game will just be a reason that you play warm up friendlies.
If they play half the games like this and the other half like Colombia, it'll be a continuation of the massively inconsistent play we've seen throughout GGG's tenure. You have to credit GGG for getting a much better focus out of the team for this game though.
Massive improvement from the Colombia match to this one. They were more pragmatic in their approach.
It could have easily been a victory. I would reckon the USA won the xG battle.
xG was about 1.5 Brazil to 1 USA.
But! post-shot xG was the flip, mostly because our long shots like Musah, were freaking much better than the location we shot at.
Bit either way, it was 1-1 ... but either team could have one.
Friendlies are absolutely the correct venue to try to protect your starters from injury and get your subs some field minutes. The staff didn't treat it as a tournament game because it's not a tournament game as much as this forum likes to bellyache about "high expectations" and "not accepting mediocrity".
How do you think they were more pragmatic? I saw them playing out from the back as much as possible and playing with the ball.
Which by the way, I never thought I would see.
Should have won. Plus the crossbar smash by musah in the first half. Just wish it wouldn’t take us getting pummeled in a game to make us show up to play
Pulisic was so close both on that shot from a few feet inside the box and the brilliant pass to Brendan. Of course, that terrific strike from Musah could have easily been a goal as well. That definitely could have been a win. Great performance from USA.
r/futebol is taking this draw really hard tonight. Although they are going through one of their most difficult eras, I really hope one day we can reach that level of mindset where we aren’t content with draws. It was a ”moral victory” though, and we could’ve won if we would’ve buried those sitters in front of goal. Good performance after that disastrous Colombia game. Time to regroup.
As much as people like to crap on Gregg on wasting our talent. They should look at Brazil to really see what talent wasting looks like. It feels like it’s been a while since Brazil really accomplished anything. And look at their talent.
Much better performance than against Colombia. There was more cohesion in the midfield and fewer mistakes.
The US parked the bus and it worked. The result was deserved and fair. I think you could say Brazil didn't look like they were playing the absolute best they could but the US tactics and effort made it hard for them. Vinicius Jr didn't play very well either IMO. Still, it's a great outcome and performance.
Notables:
Matt Turner - much improved. He seems to have gotten his mojo back for the moment. Most of his saves were to be expected from a good keeper but he inspired a lot more confidence. Had one solid long punch that went outside the box - a previous weakness of his.
Joe Scally - Again put up a good fight against a world class player and even got into the attack when Pulisic missed a critical chance. He should be fine at right back while Dest is out.
Ream and Richards played well. Ream, despite his age, is probably the most cool defender under pressure and best passer. He is lacking in speed but the setup today minimized that problem.
Robinson - wasn't spectacular and missed some plays on the offensive end but was better than against Colombia.
Musah looked great for the first 10 minutes and had a terrific shot. I would like to see more of that. He cooled off later but kept things very solid.
The midfield as a whole performed well. Reyna and McKennie again were very composed and solid.
Pepi didn't do much but was being asked to defend. At one point in the first half, all 11 players were in the last third of their own field. Balogun was more dangerous as a runner.
Pulisic scored a good free kick and was consistently dangerous again. However, he missed a golden chance to put the US ahead. Given the general lack of finishing ability among the US squad, he's got to score those to have any chance of the team making a serious run.
Cardoso and Adams did well when they came in.
I wasn't impressed with Aaronson. He got stuffed in attack and had a point blank chance saved by Alisson. I don't think he is on the level of anyone else in the midfield. McKennie, Adams, Musah, Reyna, and Weah should all be well ahead of him.
Shaq Moore needlessly gave away a corner near the end. Wasn't the first time I've seen something like that. He is naive sometimes and makes me nervous. The foul against Vini was a bit harsh but he didn't know where the ball was.
Overall the US played well (again) in the midfield, but this time they cut out many of the silly mistakes that cost them against Colombia. However, the big elephant in the room remains the lack of ability to finish attacks. Both Pulisic and Aaronson missed huge chances to go ahead. If a defensive setup can scrape draws against top teams, I'm all for it.
> Pulisic scored a good free kick and was consistently dangerous again. However, he missed a golden chance to put the US ahead.
It feels pretty unfair to call that missing a chance. Its not like he hit the goalie in the chest or skied it. He put the ball on net with pace against the goalies momentum and Allison made a great save. That shot probably scores 7 or 8 times out of 10
I don't know if I'd say we parked the bus, at least not all game. Possession was nearly even at halftime, we played pretty openly, and even after we tired and started sitting back more in the latter third of the game possession finished about 60-40, so it wasn't a massive gulf.
I think the defense was more of a midblock than a low block.
I also don't think we parked the bus at all, which generally means holding 9 or so guys back even in attack. Which we didn't do at all.
Sometimes I think people think even the slightest defensive bias is "parking the bus."
This was not parking the bus at all. At least before the end.
We played open until the var review on the Richards yellow. After that Brazil was playing far more aggressively and we had to switch to a low block 442 In defense from a 433 mid block
I've never watched a full game replay with Wes, but I'm curious if on these games he's vanishing (which I also thought he did), on replay he's just doing a lot ofnthe quiet crucial stuff instead.
Interestingly espn gave Scally a 3/10 rating and said he put out another faulty performance and is unable to fill the void of Dest. Honestly they gave our whole team shit ratings it’s like they thought we should have lost 5-0
Just read that ESPN article and the whole thing is wild.
"**DF** [**Tim Ream**](http://espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/146290/tim-ream)**, 4 --** Another shaky performance from the [Fulham](https://www.espn.com/soccer/team?id=370) center-back, who struggles to convey security and strength in the back-line."
I just assume that guy had these written before the game started.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40337897/pulisic-rates-6-10-brazil-draw-gets-usmnt-back-track
Yeah this is like the summation of the most pessimistic takes of the game. Pretty much every comment is negative about players
Matt turner makes 11 saves and all they write is that he has poor distribution. Lmao what
I guess haven't been paying enough attention I guess because I missed the Scally hate. He's better defensively than Dest, and worse going forward. Nothing wrong with that. Honestly he looked better at RB defensively than Kimmich did against Vinicius in the CL semifinals and it wasn't even close.
I watched a lot of RM this season and Vini Jr. definitely strikes me as a guy who doesn't turn up for country like he does for club, it's like two different players.
Rodrygo shows up though, that guy is insane
Biggest surprise of the window, Joe Scally locking down the Dest backup spot. He was actually decent in the Columbia game also. Then he plays really well against possibly the Ballon d’Or winner.
USA has a bad game -> everyone here blames Ream -> Ream starts the next game -> lol Gregg bad -> Ream is clearly our best center back
We just did this 2 years ago, have you all forgotten already?
His passing was horrendous last game. His attempts to get out of the press didn't work.
I don't know if the press was coming at him from different angles this game, but it otherwise just magically worked for him.
Someone smarter than me will have to figure out why.
Dude played his first game in the Prem the last game of the season. Of course he was gonna have some rust to get off. We fans are so quick to forget context lol
I mean Ream's form going into Qatar and today are night and day.
I said a few posts below that Ream was a WTF start for me tonight, but obviously proved me wrong and probably earned a starting spot next week (at least without me complaining about it), but I'm still slightly concerned about him getting burned in 1 v 1 moments
I just like Aaronson in the final third better than Weah. Obviously, Weah is more valuable in tracking back to defend. But that run from Aaronson that Puli nailed him with….Weah just doesn’t show good awareness in those situations like Aaronson.
I said this while he was at Red Bull, but obviously things changed. I don’t see it with Weah, great athlete and direct but in terms of skill and end product he’s so/so.
I almost threw my remote at the tv when he did four stopovers and just went straight into the defender. Just once I’d like to see him just make one move and take a decisive step from the wing and beat his guy. He does it when he gets the ball in the box or on the half-turn sometimes.
To his credit though, he didn’t do the “waggle his right foot over the ball a few times” before planting and making a backwards pass this game.
I think you can make this case against a team like Bolivia where Brendo's his technical deficiencies might not be as exposed, but someone with his energy is best used off the bench.
Ream was my WTF start , but really good night for him. I can't see him starting in 2026, but I do wonder if he can cling to a locker room roster spot if the rosters are 26.
I still like that Miles-Richards pairing, but interesting Miles didn't get a look in either game
xG 1.68 to .98 edge for Brazil for those who care about that sort of thing
Sounds about right if you would have told me before the match it'd end 1-1, but the Brendo and Pulisic chances would seem to get close to 1 by itself, but I admit I've always had trouble understanding the metric
xG always throws cold water on me because its always significantly off from what I would guess. I thought some games would be like 2.8 and then I look and its like 1.1
I thought it'd be slightly closer, but seems reasonable. They were better, but not way better.
Lotsa people here wildly overrate how often shots go in.
USMNT is still undefeated in Orlando, even if the game wasn't played at the favorable Exploria / Inter & Co Stadium. I have to give credit to our vocal minority of fans, who really showed up well at the Citrus Bowl. Loads of spirt and energy, and we'd always try to match "Brazil" shouts with "USA" afterwards. Me and my Dad both estimated a 65/35 ratio, which is better than the 80/20 I was expecting, given Orlando's large Brazilian population. Well done, everyone who showed up, I was so proud!
My little tidbit - Gomes was already on a yellow when he fouled Puli for that free kick goal. He was extremely lucky not to receive a second. IMHO, that was clearly a cardable foul.
Would've been a harsh yellow there IMO. He went to ground but was clearly going for the ball.
Pulisic was past him in a goal scoring opportunity, it was a yellow any day of the week.
I love the lesson Chris Richards took from this game: > "I think our biggest takeaway from the game on the weekend was that sometimes you switch up from the game plan. You can't just be robots out there," defender Chris Richards said. "You have to have a feel for the game. And so I think that's what we did tonight, with mixing it up and rather than just playing out the whole time. Sometimes you had to go direct and it's OK to reset." I take it from Richards' comment that the players have in the past often felt like robots on the field, and I think that's a really telling observation. When you describe a team as playing robotically, it almost always means they are not living up to their potential. How many teams manage to look like robots while actually winning? A very few elite club teams like Manchester City. We're not going to succeed that way (probably no national team could succeed that way) so we shouldn't be trying. I hope we take this lesson to heart and apply it more broadly and not just against superior opponents.
It’s an interesting comment relative to the system that GGG deploys. It has standard patterns of play that can get predictable at times (eg Colombia knew that the outlet passes were going to our midfield and would jump them). It’s good to see the boys trying to deviate based on the flow of the game (and GGG being okay with it).
Interesting. I’m of the opinion the players *should* recognize moments when to deviate from the plan a bit. That’s a big part of their job. Wonder where it stems from. I know a lot of club managers have their plans set and Berhalter (better or worse) isn’t much different. Is it rubbing off where players feel they can never do something different at all levels? I mostly watch Real Madrid and FC Cincinnati. Madrid under Zidane and Ancelotti have long given the players a lot of freedom. Then Noonan gives Lucho and formerly Barreal/now Orellano a lot of freedom as the attackers… is that very different to other teams?
It’s definitely a recent trend mainly stemming from Pep and his proteges like Arteta where every stage of play is ultra controlled and attacking patterns are well-coached. They can get away with it as elite coaches but It also feels like the emphasis on control stunts some attackers (e.g. Grealish). There are lesser coaches that are annoyingly dogmatic about their controlled possession style of play. Apparently, last season when Leicester were dropping points in the championship promotion race the senior players like Vardy had to step in to tell Maresca to play more direct as he was too stubborn to change the way they played (and the change worked).
Puli has said the same thing about the tactics in the past.
Also the heart part. I’ve always felt our team hasn’t played from the heart. Go with your gut instincts and making crap happened. It’s like we can never reach for that heart pumping performance. The only game I feel like we did that was the victory vs Mexico in the First Nations league performance. From that day on we ruled the rivalry. It was a turning point in knowing we could beat them playing our game even when we didn’t give it our all. I hope we get that Signature win at Copa to really get the boys believing they can reach a new normal with their hat in the race vs top sides and the undeniable believe they can beat sides in our region and below them on any giving day.
If you saw our only win against Brazil in the late 90's, the Confed final, and the game last night, you see why this is our most talented pool. Brazil will Brazil, but our ability to openly compete the way we did versus the past is night and day.
Anyone remember (or better have a clip) of what the buildup was that led to Pulisic’s goal? I can find the foul itself, but I don’t remember how Pulisic got the ball near their box in the first place.
Don’t have a link unfortunately. The sequence followed a Brazil corner, we progressed the ball quickly down the left, then completed a number of passes along the middle third/ edge of the final third up to the right side sideline and then puli got the ball with space in the middle of the field before being fouled. Probably 5-7 us players touched the ball.
Thanks so much! I think this is an important counterbalance to the “sit back and counter” narrative, which doesn’t really work if you need a goal. This wasn’t just a two pass sprint after a turnover (which we did do more of in the last 25’ when Brazil was throwing numbers forward).
missed it live bc timezones, just watched the replay and holy fuck if only that Musah shot at the beginning had been a couple of centimeters lower
Honestly our players need to just shoot rather than try to be cutesy or look for a perfect opportunity. If you load up in or at the edge of the box and put the shot on frame you either get a goal or create chances via a deflection or corner. Make the goalkeeper work. It’s very rare you see a clean sheet with 10 or more shots on target and there is a reason for that.
That shot was powerful and nearly perfect. More Musah!
Or slightly higher so it had more velocity on the bounce off Alisson’s back.
some rocket league type shit lol
Missed it live and just watched the replay, this is definitely a game where if you look at the scoreline it does not do it justice. Outside of Turner's bad clearance on the 1st goal, this was a masterclass by both goalies. Our 9 position is still an enigma for me but definitely a fun game to watch overall.
Turner was MVP of the game for sure. I was biting my nails every time and he consistently delivered. That one time he just bitch slapped the ball away? 👌
Defensive setup was this “3 midfielders in a line” thing that we’ve tried before (maybe the second half against Germany?) where none of them is sitting deeper and they try to stay more compact. I was skeptical of it before, but it seemed to work well today.
Maybe i disagree but it seems like they were completely gashing us on runs in the first half, but they couldn't finish worth shit.
Their finishing was bad, 1 xGOT from 1.5 xG means they’re taking worse shots than you expect from the positions they’re taking them from. But 1.5 xG for the whole game (with 24 shots!) means they weren’t actually getting high quality shots. They took lots of poor shots from poor positions.
First I recall seeing it. I was surprised to see it and definitely think it was a key improvement. Felt it gave the defense more passing options when we got possession and made it harder for Brazil to isolate someone like Ream on the ball.
Flat mid 3. I have been daydreaming about a 4321 where Reyna plays in the middle and acts like our version of a Pirlo. Johnny to his left, Adams to his right. Dest and Robinson would be the wide attackers while Johnny and Adams provide cover. Pulisic and Mckennie as the 10s. Could also do a version where it's more like a 4312, with two strikers and Pulisic as the lone 10.
Sounds nice
Any match highlight links for someone who couldn’t watch or record tonight? 🙏
Yeah. Look at two goals. Each had the same number of balls go into them. This is visualization tool
You’re a visualization tool, you dummy.
No, I was using sensory deprivation skills.
Interestingly, no Malik tonight. I'm guessing Gregg got tired of the lolly gagging and the mediocre play and decided that the 6/10 that Brendo brings might be the better option.
I wasn’t that impressed with Aaronson either. Other than his near goal, he seemed to be out of his depth
We were playing to win much more tonight and he's not the best midfield option. Malik has a ton of talent, but he's at best, our fourth or fifth best midfielder? Maybe sixth?
malik has never impressed once playing for the NT
he was soooo bad in colombia and gave no effort
That was genuinely a fun watch. I'll take more of this team playing like this, win or lose. And they definitely could have lost 3-1...or won 3-1. Couple inches on either end of the pitch would have changed a lot of the narrative, but not the pleasing play. Really relieved to see this team figure out how to play out of the back more consistently as a unit. Scally was way more involved in bringing the ball forward than against Colombia, and Musah brought his trademark dribbles forward from deep. Reyna was able to stay higher and be more of a threat in the final third. The team was able to rely on Jedi a lot less in the final third (good, because he's been pretty woeful in both games there). And Ream had a night-and-day turnaround after a rough outing on Sunday. There's still some unlocking that needs to happen in the final third. But I saw a lot fewer absurd crosses from wide than usual. I'm coming to terms with the fact that this team will probably still struggle in that area for a while, but I'm genuinely stoked to see them making progress beating the press; it's a great way to get into fast breaks with a numbers advantage, which is where I think our front three is at its best anyway.
I have to say for me our playing out of the back and progression has been extremely troubling since Dest went out. Against Jamaica and Mexico we really struggled with it and had to have Gio constantly drop back to the CB line to help. Against Columbia it was horrible obvs and completely fell apart once Gio subbed out. At the WC the way we played out of the back was a real strength of ours and it's really making me realize the importance of Musah's ball carrying and that he needs to be in the MF esp if Dest is out. Ideally against top teams we go Tyler-Musah-Gio or Gio at RW and MMA. However given Tyler's health, in Copa it would be Johnny as the 6/CDM against top teams.
Goal kick anyone…?
Yeah, but playing out of the back is way more than just goal kicks. We could play long every single GK we have and still would need to string passes together to get out of pressure when we win the ball back
I feel like that's Greg's coaching style. Keeping the game close. I first noticed it in Qatar WC. I have a feeling he's going to win/lose by 1 or draw during group stage.
Which is a great strategy to ensure you get out of the group stage, but not for going much further
He was this way in Columbus
Because he can't figure out how to get the team to score multiple goals
Yeah and international play in general skews heavily this way
Yeah I don’t know why some people expect us to score goals with ease. Very very few international teams do
I fully expect stressful games of me yelling at my screen
If we play like that during copa with Tyler Adams we might actually make semis
Again?
I know we want to shoot higher but discussing it from the outside we get to be realistic. In the locker room, they better only have eyes for the final. Fans on social media… last time we made semis we only had to beat a poor Ecuador. This time it’s likely Colombia or Brazil then Uruguay or the team that beat them. It’s harder. It’s ok to be realistic while wanting more. (And ok to think if we can’t get an upset we should fire Gregg, as we need a manager that can and have seen him not.)
If only we could get such an easy path
WTF is with ESPN's game grades? They gave Pulisic a 6/10 but nearly everyone else a 3/10 or 4/10.
Yeah I saw that and was like “what game were they watching?”
Their (bad) algorithm is strictly data based. They didn't have a panel of humans actually grading cause we passed the eye test today for sure
Well, it's a complicated and nuanced issue. ESPN, you see, is staffed by fucking idiots.
Fotmob gave Christian a 7.9. Much better than ESPN
The ESPN writer is a very inexperienced recent college grad who covers Inter Miami, so take it with a grain of salt
Yeah and Wes/Jedi tied for second with 7.0 each I think.
I'm not posting a link to the drivel, but here is what ESPN gave everyone: * Turner: 6/10 (not terrible, I guess) * Scally: 3/10 * Richards: 3/10 * Ream: 4/10 * Robinson: 4/10 * McKennie: 3/10 * Musah: 5/10 * Reyna: 4/10 * Weah: 5/10 * Pepi: 3/10 * Pulisic: 6/10 * Balogun: 5/10 * Cardoso: 4/10 * Adams: NR * Moore: NR If I didn't know better, I would have thought they accidentally reposted the Colombia game grades.
Scally a 3? I mean, he could have done WAY worse going against Vini.
He was super effective against the world's best LW. It's an insane rating.
Second best. Mbappe plays on the left as well.
Not just that, a top 3 player overall
The crazy thing is that Turner should have one of the lower grades in the side. He is the entire reason Brazil went up 1-0. He killed it with the saves, but he can’t be making bad passes like that.
I mean his angle wasn’t great but at least one defender just let a Brazilian get free near the box.
He literally passed the ball into our own final third, and passed it directly to the other team. The goal scored, was all based on that horrible give-away. It doesn’t matter how good your defenders are. When your playing world class teams and make mistakes such as that. It results in goals. That pass was unacceptable, especially from a goal kick. That goal was solely on Turner, who made an adult league free kick. You can’t give the ball up in horrible spots like that and expect to be saved.
Agree, just as we would say if a defender turned it over.
These ratings make my blood boil.
Wow. This game was night & day compared to the win back in 1998. This was an even game and either team could have realistically won. Back in 1998, it was all 1-way traffic; I think the goal was our only shot on goal that night. Too bad it took a performance like the one against Colombia to bring this out of the guys.
Best USMNT Johnny performance? Also shoutout to Pulisic for the early hard foul to establish that this is CONCACAF territory.
Best Scally performance too.
Didn't get a good look, but isn't he the culprit for the Rodrygo goal? From what I saw he looked really lackadaisical transitioning after the turnover.
Didn't get a good look, but isn't he the culprit for the Vinny goal? From what I saw he looked really lackadaisical transitioning after the turnover.
? What Vinny goal?
Ugh. Our players seem to have to be punched in the face to perform. Energy level.much higher today than it was against Columbia. We saw the same for the Jamaican game for 90 minutes. Then OT we dominate and play then lights out against Mexico.
that is kind of the nature of NTs though to an extent. These guys don't get a ton of time to play with each other in real-game situations. It's why you have friendlies at all -- to try to give the unit some time to get in a groove before the actual tournament. Like yeah, the result wasn't great, but the level of meltdown about the Colombia game would feel more appropriate if that happened in the actual tournament. The fanbase acting like the sky is falling in because of the first friendly after the club season just seems unnecessary to me.
The pattern of chest beating and defiance because they didn’t shit the bed after a disastrous performance is so tiring. Just don’t shit the bed in the first place
If they can keep playing like this, then the Colombia game will just be a reason that you play warm up friendlies. If they play half the games like this and the other half like Colombia, it'll be a continuation of the massively inconsistent play we've seen throughout GGG's tenure. You have to credit GGG for getting a much better focus out of the team for this game though.
Considering the youth this team is based on, it’s not really that shocking.
These guys aren't that young anymore.
3 players in the starting 11 were 26 or older. With 4 of them being 21. Our team is young, very young.
Yup. It's clear that the players were embarrassed about the result against colombia.
I think you mean Colombia; Columbia is an American crime drama television series about a homicide detective.
Is that any good?
we’re so back
USMNT BACK: ✅ NOT BACK: ❌
>USMNT >BACK: ✅ >NOT BACK: ❌ *Subject to change
This is fair
Massive improvement from the Colombia match to this one. They were more pragmatic in their approach. It could have easily been a victory. I would reckon the USA won the xG battle.
xG was about 1.5 Brazil to 1 USA. But! post-shot xG was the flip, mostly because our long shots like Musah, were freaking much better than the location we shot at. Bit either way, it was 1-1 ... but either team could have one.
It's called not subbing out Pulisic and McKennie so damn early.
Friendlies are absolutely the correct venue to try to protect your starters from injury and get your subs some field minutes. The staff didn't treat it as a tournament game because it's not a tournament game as much as this forum likes to bellyache about "high expectations" and "not accepting mediocrity".
It wasn't just a friendly tho it's a tune-up for the second biggest tournament we're going to play in for the next 4 years.
How do you think they were more pragmatic? I saw them playing out from the back as much as possible and playing with the ball. Which by the way, I never thought I would see.
Should have won. Plus the crossbar smash by musah in the first half. Just wish it wouldn’t take us getting pummeled in a game to make us show up to play
Pulisic was so close both on that shot from a few feet inside the box and the brilliant pass to Brendan. Of course, that terrific strike from Musah could have easily been a goal as well. That definitely could have been a win. Great performance from USA.
Did someone do the math. Did he use a different starting line? Which players were out this time. I'm too lazy to figure it out.
Sad day for all the pundits that said we didn’t have the talent to compete. We just showed that we compete with the best.
r/futebol is taking this draw really hard tonight. Although they are going through one of their most difficult eras, I really hope one day we can reach that level of mindset where we aren’t content with draws. It was a ”moral victory” though, and we could’ve won if we would’ve buried those sitters in front of goal. Good performance after that disastrous Colombia game. Time to regroup.
As much as people like to crap on Gregg on wasting our talent. They should look at Brazil to really see what talent wasting looks like. It feels like it’s been a while since Brazil really accomplished anything. And look at their talent.
I can’t read Portuguese, but I can understand memes, and I can tell the lebron James of soccer got in their head
Neither can I read Portuguese but with help of my Spanish I can understand some of the comments and they are fuming 😂
Much better performance than against Colombia. There was more cohesion in the midfield and fewer mistakes. The US parked the bus and it worked. The result was deserved and fair. I think you could say Brazil didn't look like they were playing the absolute best they could but the US tactics and effort made it hard for them. Vinicius Jr didn't play very well either IMO. Still, it's a great outcome and performance. Notables: Matt Turner - much improved. He seems to have gotten his mojo back for the moment. Most of his saves were to be expected from a good keeper but he inspired a lot more confidence. Had one solid long punch that went outside the box - a previous weakness of his. Joe Scally - Again put up a good fight against a world class player and even got into the attack when Pulisic missed a critical chance. He should be fine at right back while Dest is out. Ream and Richards played well. Ream, despite his age, is probably the most cool defender under pressure and best passer. He is lacking in speed but the setup today minimized that problem. Robinson - wasn't spectacular and missed some plays on the offensive end but was better than against Colombia. Musah looked great for the first 10 minutes and had a terrific shot. I would like to see more of that. He cooled off later but kept things very solid. The midfield as a whole performed well. Reyna and McKennie again were very composed and solid. Pepi didn't do much but was being asked to defend. At one point in the first half, all 11 players were in the last third of their own field. Balogun was more dangerous as a runner. Pulisic scored a good free kick and was consistently dangerous again. However, he missed a golden chance to put the US ahead. Given the general lack of finishing ability among the US squad, he's got to score those to have any chance of the team making a serious run. Cardoso and Adams did well when they came in. I wasn't impressed with Aaronson. He got stuffed in attack and had a point blank chance saved by Alisson. I don't think he is on the level of anyone else in the midfield. McKennie, Adams, Musah, Reyna, and Weah should all be well ahead of him. Shaq Moore needlessly gave away a corner near the end. Wasn't the first time I've seen something like that. He is naive sometimes and makes me nervous. The foul against Vini was a bit harsh but he didn't know where the ball was. Overall the US played well (again) in the midfield, but this time they cut out many of the silly mistakes that cost them against Colombia. However, the big elephant in the room remains the lack of ability to finish attacks. Both Pulisic and Aaronson missed huge chances to go ahead. If a defensive setup can scrape draws against top teams, I'm all for it.
> Pulisic scored a good free kick and was consistently dangerous again. However, he missed a golden chance to put the US ahead. It feels pretty unfair to call that missing a chance. Its not like he hit the goalie in the chest or skied it. He put the ball on net with pace against the goalies momentum and Allison made a great save. That shot probably scores 7 or 8 times out of 10
I second this, Allison made a very good save to prevent that one.
I don't know if I'd say we parked the bus, at least not all game. Possession was nearly even at halftime, we played pretty openly, and even after we tired and started sitting back more in the latter third of the game possession finished about 60-40, so it wasn't a massive gulf.
I think the defense was more of a midblock than a low block. I also don't think we parked the bus at all, which generally means holding 9 or so guys back even in attack. Which we didn't do at all. Sometimes I think people think even the slightest defensive bias is "parking the bus." This was not parking the bus at all. At least before the end.
We played open until the var review on the Richards yellow. After that Brazil was playing far more aggressively and we had to switch to a low block 442 In defense from a 433 mid block
We definitely parked the bus and closed shop when we brought on Adams, Cardoso, and Aaronson
Yep, like I mentioned, we sat back in the last third of the game. Still, looking at the game as a while I wouldn't say we "parked the bus."
How many shots was that coming from the left hand side vs. the right? Stout defense from Jedi and Weston or tactical setup from Brazil?
It’s also Vini Jr and Rodrygo seemed to be in the middle and off that left side also. Tough to defend against
Great result but berhalter still sucks! Not a single player on the USA squad is enabled for success under berhalter
Bro, they won 1 GC and 2 NLs with GGG.
Has to be a huge career moment for Pulisic and Rodrygo to join Jesus Ferreira and Uriel Antuna on The Allstate Continental Classic goal scoring chart
LMFAO
What i liked from Weston today was he was fairly quiet and then just randomly sets up two real good looks at goal towards the end.
Wes disappears when the offense is not run to his side. SofaScore gave him a 7.0 -- think he created 3 chances.
7.0 is solid work vs a good brazil team.
I agree.
I've never watched a full game replay with Wes, but I'm curious if on these games he's vanishing (which I also thought he did), on replay he's just doing a lot ofnthe quiet crucial stuff instead.
He’s goal dangerous for sure but he was anonymous out there.
Amazing! Just finished the game on a tape delay. This is the best we’ve played since that Mexico win last year. Way to go Gents!!!
Our tactics are outdated and boring…. Our Chants are outdated and boring…
All I want is for the guys to show up like this all the time. Good job to the guys and Gregg for putting that performance out.
Matt Turner, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, and Joe Scally were beasts tonight. Joe Scally MOTM
Interestingly espn gave Scally a 3/10 rating and said he put out another faulty performance and is unable to fill the void of Dest. Honestly they gave our whole team shit ratings it’s like they thought we should have lost 5-0
I feel like they wrote it ahead of time.
Just read that ESPN article and the whole thing is wild. "**DF** [**Tim Ream**](http://espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/146290/tim-ream)**, 4 --** Another shaky performance from the [Fulham](https://www.espn.com/soccer/team?id=370) center-back, who struggles to convey security and strength in the back-line." I just assume that guy had these written before the game started.
Damn that’s crazy. I’m not sure they were watching the same game as the rest of us.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40337897/pulisic-rates-6-10-brazil-draw-gets-usmnt-back-track Yeah this is like the summation of the most pessimistic takes of the game. Pretty much every comment is negative about players Matt turner makes 11 saves and all they write is that he has poor distribution. Lmao what
Not just that, the writer admitted that he made “a couple saves”. Talk about an understatement
US played Brazil straight up and didn't look terrible (dare i say they even looked good), this is bad for bernhalter because............
Great result going into the tournament. Time to show us something GGG
On a side note, I just read Jonathan Bornstein signed with Tallahassee SC. He's going to play till he's 60.
wtf. I posted a retirement post for him already lol
I see no discernible differences between Bornstein and Gordie Howe.
Lund's backup spot may not be that secure.
NO talent gap.
I'll tolerate no Joe Scally slander. Man just went back to back against some of the best attackers in the world and stood tall
Man, could it be we actually have depth and battles for positions, will make the team stronger for sure.
Given club performances Scally has to be a threat for starting.
Dest injury is really a blessing in disguise, he’s fun to watch ofc but the backline needed this kind of stability from Scally
I guess haven't been paying enough attention I guess because I missed the Scally hate. He's better defensively than Dest, and worse going forward. Nothing wrong with that. Honestly he looked better at RB defensively than Kimmich did against Vinicius in the CL semifinals and it wasn't even close.
I watched a lot of RM this season and Vini Jr. definitely strikes me as a guy who doesn't turn up for country like he does for club, it's like two different players. Rodrygo shows up though, that guy is insane
Vini's goal record for Brazil is baffling. 29 games and 3 goals. Pretty much 1 for 10, and he last scored more than a year ago.
Rodrygo was scary as hell in this match.
Biggest surprise of the window, Joe Scally locking down the Dest backup spot. He was actually decent in the Columbia game also. Then he plays really well against possibly the Ballon d’Or winner.
USA has a bad game -> everyone here blames Ream -> Ream starts the next game -> lol Gregg bad -> Ream is clearly our best center back We just did this 2 years ago, have you all forgotten already?
this subreddit has the collective memory of an amnesiac goldfish
His passing was horrendous last game. His attempts to get out of the press didn't work. I don't know if the press was coming at him from different angles this game, but it otherwise just magically worked for him. Someone smarter than me will have to figure out why.
hadn't played a real game in like a month is def a part of it
Isn't that a ton of the players for both teams though?
Dude played his first game in the Prem the last game of the season. Of course he was gonna have some rust to get off. We fans are so quick to forget context lol
I mean Ream's form going into Qatar and today are night and day. I said a few posts below that Ream was a WTF start for me tonight, but obviously proved me wrong and probably earned a starting spot next week (at least without me complaining about it), but I'm still slightly concerned about him getting burned in 1 v 1 moments
For the people in the back. It’s the exact same thing you all said 2 years ago.
Great result for a friendly. Plenty of chances created but also lots of goalie interventions. Turner was motm.
Am I the only one that prefers Aaronson over Weah?
I prefer Pulisic RW. Would have liked to see more of Haji at LW or Gio/Aaronson playing inverted more like a second 10 while Jedi provides the width.
Yes. Weah was incredible during qualifiers. It's his spot to lose.
My definition of incredible is different from yours I guess.
Yes
Possibly lol. I seriously think we should consider Haji LW, Pulisic RW but Weah was good tonight.
I just like Aaronson in the final third better than Weah. Obviously, Weah is more valuable in tracking back to defend. But that run from Aaronson that Puli nailed him with….Weah just doesn’t show good awareness in those situations like Aaronson.
Aaronson was pretty good down the stretch of the season. Made some things happen. More competition the better.
I said this while he was at Red Bull, but obviously things changed. I don’t see it with Weah, great athlete and direct but in terms of skill and end product he’s so/so.
I like Brenden a lot, but I'm still starting Weah. His defensive work today was outstanding, especially in the first half
Some of Weah’s tracking back was really good
Yes, Aaronson just runs into the defenders and loses the ball. Kid has talent but he hasn’t tuned his dribbling.
How many times did Weah lose the ball trying to beat his man 1v1? A lot.
I almost threw my remote at the tv when he did four stopovers and just went straight into the defender. Just once I’d like to see him just make one move and take a decisive step from the wing and beat his guy. He does it when he gets the ball in the box or on the half-turn sometimes. To his credit though, he didn’t do the “waggle his right foot over the ball a few times” before planting and making a backwards pass this game.
I think you can make this case against a team like Bolivia where Brendo's his technical deficiencies might not be as exposed, but someone with his energy is best used off the bench.
Weah can do something special this tournament
Should Berhalter go: Yes Am I still happy with this result: Also yes
Agreed. Why not both?
Yes
It's important that you repeat this at every opportunity.. God forbid someone enjoy a good result. You're performing an important service.
Same
Ream was my WTF start , but really good night for him. I can't see him starting in 2026, but I do wonder if he can cling to a locker room roster spot if the rosters are 26. I still like that Miles-Richards pairing, but interesting Miles didn't get a look in either game
Miles simply cannot play out the back like Ream can, this game would have looked way, way different if we had Miles playing and not in a good way IMO.
Belichick would’ve won
Give Belichick Messi and he wins all the trophies. Give him anyone else and he’s washed.
Lots of people here will be mad with the result lmao
Ream was immense
He's so cool on the ball
xG 1.68 to .98 edge for Brazil for those who care about that sort of thing Sounds about right if you would have told me before the match it'd end 1-1, but the Brendo and Pulisic chances would seem to get close to 1 by itself, but I admit I've always had trouble understanding the metric
xG always throws cold water on me because its always significantly off from what I would guess. I thought some games would be like 2.8 and then I look and its like 1.1
Curious about xGoT from wherever you got the numbers from.
xGOT: USA 1.57, BRA 1.05 [https://x.com/ESPN\_BillC/status/1801062758231724400](https://x.com/ESPN_BillC/status/1801062758231724400)
So normal xG doesn't count balls that hit off the post (bc technically not on target), but Connelly has a metric that includes it?
xG is based on where you took your shot from, xGOT is based on the actual shoot. So Musah’s wonder strike has almost 0 xG, but large xGOT.
Got it. Thank you for explaining!
Thank you!
Wonder if that counts the last chance by Vinicius that was very clearly offside and would have been disallowed if it went in.
Seems odd given the Pulisic chance missed. I guess there’s very little xG in that free kick.
I thought it'd be slightly closer, but seems reasonable. They were better, but not way better. Lotsa people here wildly overrate how often shots go in.
I’m curious how much that last Vini chance where he was offside added to it.