USMNT Recap and What to Look Forward to
Recently, the United States Men's national team had a three-game World Cup Qualifier stint where they played El Salvador, Canada, and Mexico. Coming into these games the U.S sat in second place with 15 points behind Canada in first with 16 points. They must finish in the top three in the North American World Cup Qualifying table to automatically qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and if they finish in fourth they have to play a game against New Zealand to decide who makes the tournament. With the pressure on and every move under great scrutiny, head coach Gregg Berhalter called in a less than impressive squad for the three games.
The first of many issues with the squad was the calling of four goalkeepers; one of whom has never played a game for the U.S. Berhalter did not call in John Brooks who plays in Germany for VFL Wolfsburg and is a long time starter for the U.S because of his “poor form”. In soccer, form refers to how a player has been relatively performing for the team, someone who is in form is playing well and someone out of form is playing poorly. While he did call in multiple MLS players who have not played a competitive match in months and Mark McKenzie who is fighting for minutes at his club Genk in Belgium.
Moreover, consistent Bundesliga starter and right back, Joe Scally, also missed out on a call-up in favor of Reggie Cannon. In-form striker Jordan Pefok and Josh Sargent also missed out in favor of Gyasi Zardes, Jesus Ferreira, and Ricardo Pepi, the first two haven’t had competitive matches in months and Pepi being out of form.
Moving on to the games, their first match was against El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio, a game the United States was looking to win. With a big three points on the line, Berhalter came out with possibly his strongest 11 other than striker Ferraria. It looked like a comfortable win for the U.S. The team lined up in a 4-3-3 formation and dominated the game with standout performances from Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, goalscorer, acrobatic celebrator Antonee Robinson, and Sergiño Dest. The U.S made their way to a 1-0 win against El Salvador.
However, this game was not all sunshine and rainbows; a lack of creativity from players like Christian Pulisic, who is heralded as our best player, and Yunus Musah who struggled to make an impact, led to a limited amount of chances to be created, and overall a frustrating outing for the U.S. Nevertheless, the U.S got an important three points in their quest to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. In addition, both Canada, Mexico, and fifth place Costa Rica all got three points, keeping the pressure mounted on the team.
Next, the U.S had their most important game of this qualifying window;an away game against first-place Canada. The conditions for this game were less than appealing, in frigid Canadian temperatures and on a field that was both made of artificial turf and the smallest size that Fifa would allow. The team knew that they were in for a difficult match.
On top of that, forward Tim Weah could not travel to Canada due to their vaccination rules. Weah only had one dose of the vaccine, because he contracted the virus before his second dose and was advised to wait. Unfortunately, he needed to enter Canada being fully vaccinated with no exceptions. Berhalter once again made a surprise decision at striker by starting Gyasi Zardes, who has struggled both for the US and for his MLS club, over young starlet Ricardo Pepi.
The U.S struggled early on with maintaining possession and getting control of the game. Things got worse seven minutes into the game after a poor kick by goalkeeper Matt Turner led to a counter attack by Canada, in which they moved the ball quickly getting in behind the U.S midfield and defense, and saw Beşiktaş’s Cyle Larin put the Canadians ahead 1-0. The alarms were sounding for the U.S as they knew Canada would love to get an early goal and sit back and defend. With the American offense struggling for creativity and penetrating the rigid defense Berhalter attempted to shake up the game with some late game substitutions of Jordan Morris, Paul Arriola and Ricardo Pepi which were criticized at the time but proved to give a new look on attack and brought some life to the game. Arriola had the chance of a lifetime to get a late game equalizer with an acrobatic bicycle kick, but missed narrowly wide. Alas, the U.S could not get their equalizer and Canada ended up grabbing another late goal after a counter attack.
The Americans had a lot go wrong in this match; the early goal was a blow to the entire game-plan and coach Berhalter failed to adjust. There were poor performances from Gyasi Zardes who failed to create space and lacked effective movement in the final third which led to less space for wingers. Pulisic and Aaronson had another disappointing outing compared to their usual standards. This was a massive loss for the U.S as it felt more that they lost the game due to poor quality in attack and tactics, rather than Canada winning due to their quality. Losing ground to first place Canada, and having Costa Rica and Panama both gain ground on the U.S was a disaster for Berhalter, and the boys knew they needed a win in their next match against Honduras to recover.
The third and final game took place in St. Paul, Minnesota, at an outdoor venue during February; a choice made by the United States Soccer Federation(USSF) and Berhalter in an effort to gain a home-field advantage. With the temperatures being in the negatives and wind chill being as low as -15 degrees Fahrenheit, this choice was heavily criticized by the fans of both teams. American fans were left wondering why they needed such a home field advantage to beat the last place and winless Honduras.
The U.S lined up in the familiar 4-3-3, with Pepi leading the helm, and a midfield three that had never played together consisting of Kellyn Acosta at the 6, and Luca De La Torre and Weston McKennie at the double 8s. In addition, Morris came in at the right wing for Pulisic, who after two grueling poor performances needed a stint on the bench. Even with the frigid temperatures, the U.S got off to a sizzling start thanks to red-hot midfielder McKennie, who had been in excellent form for the U.S and his club, Juventus. From there on out, the team had a dominant and excellent performance in which they controlled the midfield and created many chances up-front which is exactly what they needed.
Standout performances from all three midfield players, in which I will single out De La Torre who in his first World Cup Qualifying start provided the US with a stellar performance. He was excellent in progressing the ball from the first and middle thirds to the final third, which was exactly what allowed the U.S to break down the Honduras defense easily. Furthermore, an impressive performance from forward Weah, outside back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson, and substitute and goalscorer Pulisic rounded off an excellent performance against a poor Honduras defense. This is what America fans and the team expected from the very beginning.
The U.S ends up in the same second place as it began, The lead they had on Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica has shrunk. There were many positives and negatives from these qualifiers; we saw standout performances from “Jedi” Robinson, who looks to lock down the left-back position, Weah who is growing confidence and end product every game and McKennie who is easily the best performing player the U.S has right now. We also saw Pulisic, all three strikers, and the tactical ineptitude of coach Berhalter struggle against teams that set up in low blocks.
The next three and final matches of World Cup Qualifying are essential for the U.S, especially the first two matches against Panama and Costa Rica. Although many fans may assume the biggest and most important game of this window is against long-time rival Mexico, away at the stadium, the Azteca. The game at home against Panama and away at Costa Rica hold more weight in the U.S’s search to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
There is still over a month before these qualifiers are played, but due to current form and based on our present knowledge of injuries I will give both my predicted squad, what I think Gregg will pick, and my ideal squad for the window:
The Predicted Squad
Goalkeepers: Matt Turner - New England Revolution, Zack Steffen - Manchester City, Sean Johnson - NYCFC
Defenders: Sergiño Dest - Barcelona, Antonee Robinson - Fulham, Miles Robinson - Atlanta United, Walker Zimmerman - Nashville SC, DeAndre Yedlin - Inter Miami CF, Chris Richards - TSG Hoffenheim, John Brooks - VFL Wolfsburg, Aaron Long - New York Red Bulls , Reggie Cannon - Boavista
Midfielders: Tyler Adams - RB Leipzig, Weston McKennie - Juventus, Kellyn Acosta - LAFC, Luca De La Torre - Heracles, Yunus Musah - Valencia, Giovanni Reyna - Borussia Dortmund, Sebastian Lletget - New England Revolution
Attackers: Christian Pulisic - Chelsea FC, Brendan Aaronson - RB Salzburg, Tim Weah - LOSC Lille, Jesús Ferreria - FC Dallas, Ricardo Pepi - FC Augsburg, Jordan Pefok - Young Boys, Gyasi Zardes - Columbus Crew, Jordan Morris - Seattle Sounders, Paul Arriola - FC Dallas
My Ideal Squad
Goalkeepers: Matt Turner - New England Revolution, Zack Steffen - Manchester City, Ethan Horvath - Nottingham Forest
Defenders: Sergiño Dest - Barcelona, Antonee Robinson - Fulham, Miles Robinson - Atlanta United, Walker Zimmerman - Nashville SC, DeAndre Yedlin - Inter Miami CF, Chris Richards - TSG Hoffenheim, John Brooks - VFL Wolfsburg, Joseph Scally - Borussia Mönchengladbach, Cameron Carter Vickers - Celtic
Midfielders: Tyler Adams - RB Leipzig, Weston McKennie - Juventus, Kellyn Acosta - LAFC, Luca De La Torre - Heracles, Yunus Musah - Valencia, Giovanni Reyna - Borussia Dortmund, Gianluca Busio - Venezia
Attackers: Christian Pulisic - Chelsea FC, Brendan Aaronson - RB Salzburg, Tim Weah - LOSC Lille, Jesús Ferreria - FC Dallas, Ricardo Pepi - FC Augsburg, Jordan Pefok - Young Boys, Josh Sargent - Norwich City, Jordan Morris - Seattle Sounders, Konrad De La Fuente - Marseille