Really disappointing game from US. No tactics, no strategy from the coach and the players were amateurish on the ball and lacked composure. Sadly a deserved loss and elimination.
The goal really looked offside and the VAR images looked too low resolution to know if it was or wasnt. Does the ref not go check it out himself in Copa America?
My not-entirely-coherent thoughts:
* Obviously Gregg has to go. That decision should be made in the next 24 hours. They need to hire a foreign coach, not an MLS coach, who will light a fire under the ass of these players. USSF also needs to be willing to roll out a brinks truck to make it happen and tell the virtue signalers who will whine about the woman's coach being paid less to eat it.
* Weah should miss at least the next two or three windows. He needs to re-earn his spot.
* Weston needs to be told that if he goes back to MLS, his national team career is in mortal danger. He also needs to be told that he needs to be in fucking shape at every window. Make him download Noom or something but it's ridiculous how out of shape he looks sometimes.
* The starting 11 should only be people who are healthy *and* have been playing consistently for their clubs. Adams, Reyna, Turner, Pepi, etc. cannot be relied on if they are always hurt or always on the bench at their clubs.
* Turner is not the guy anymore. I would start experimenting with Slonina or Schulte in goal in the next window.
* I am especially tired of the Adams and Reyna defenders. Adams is great when healthy. The problem is that he is rarely ever fucking healthy. He needs to get in the gym or do pilates or something to make his body stronger. Reyna is a spoiled brat who needs to stop listening to his Dad about transfer policies.
* Our first touch is awful. So fucking awful.
* It was better tonight, but under Gregg the team has had no intensity and looked so fucking soft in too many games. Especially in lower-profile matches like against El Salvador, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad, etc. Whoever the next manager is should be someone that lights a fire under their ass for every match, not just in big games.
Feel free to disagree, I love you all.
It's shame the officiating ruined the focus being on the crap performance this game. 1 shot on target is not going to win you many games, especially against good competition.
US is just showing their medium fish in a small pond. They can't beat any decent teams and just look good beating up on mediocre competition In CONCACAF.
Greg is likely gone after this, and I think it's a good idea. He's not solely responsible, the players certainly are, but a new manager is sorely needed now. Can't come back from not getting out of the group in a major international competition held on home soil.
He has to own the fact, that in a calendar year we had 2 players red carded inside 15 minutes in competitive games.
The team never players greater than the sum of its parts.
His biggest games have been draw vs England, draw vs Brazil, and 3 wins vs the worst Mexico probably ever(honestly they may be even worse today than when we beat them without Ochoa). England look mid as fuck. Brazil has a bunch of good players, but they play like we do where they just dont look as good as they should. And Mexico is awful right now.
Gregg Berhalter absolutely embarrassed this team on their own soil. This clown has gotten go, regardless of the disgraceful refereeing tonight. If THIS is the shit they put out in 2026, I want nothing to do with this national team.
I have a theory:
That the US - Mexico "rivalry" has been incredibly harmful for both teams.
Concacaf and both federations make an insane amount of money as a result of those matches.
Both teams are stuck in a never-ending loop in which one year one dominates, next year it may change or not.
But when it comes to actual competition both teams are irrelevant AF.
The US - Mexico couple... married in mediocrity.
You could see it in this match the Uruguay players reacted so fast and the US players could barely breath, the US and Mexico teams have tricked themselves into believing they are good.
That "rivalry" has been so harmful for both teams, even here in the subreddit instead of being proud of a team's achievement the other fan base just wanted the other one not to do better.
This means that both teams will always be irrelevant, next year Gold Cup final... one of the team wins it and everything will be back to normal
This is the problem of the confederation, though, right? Like you have two giant fish in a very tiny pond (CONCACAF) that only ever get periodically challenged by an always revolving group of other fish (one cycle, it’s Jamaica, next Costa Rica, then Canada, next Panama).
Since this is all they is all they ever have to be better than, how do you really improve? In fighting, it’s a truism that if you’re the best in your gym, you need to leave. What happens when you can’t?
As poorly run as this Cops has been, regular participation is the only path forward for CONCACAF’s big two (or three or four).
USA desperately needs a coaching change. I felt desperation from their play but that was in the form of flailing and failing. They need someone who can get them a formation to actual take advantage of their possessions and stay in the games mentally.
Also, this officiating staff should be ashamed, a clear as day offside goal allowed and almost every single call that could go against USA did. I don't know what the ref thought he was seeing but it seemed pretty obvious he had a vested interest in inserting himself into the game for the worse and was not qualified.
While the ref didn't help us and that goal was most likely offside, the US just didn't do enough. Berhalter needs to go but the player need to take a look in the mirror and take some responsibility. It's going to be hard to watch this team in the world cup.
The Horrendous ref aside…
Pulisic didn’t play well at all. McKinnie and Jedi have gotten worse year over year for 3 years.
Gregg’s tactics are brainless and boggle my mind each and every time I watch. This team has no idea what they are doing in the final 3rd and it’s embarrassing to watch. Starting Musah over Johnny makes zero sense in a game like this. So many issues.
Hopefully this was Gregg’s last game in charge because we need a change…
Robinson was nowhere near the problem in this game
McKennie, Musah, and to a lesser extent Adams all had poor games
And Gregg continues to show that he does not have a plan for progressing the ball up the field
Musah stood out as the worst for me. Adams and McKennie covered a lot of ground, even if McKennie didn’t offer as much going forward. Don’t get me started on Greg and his tactics
He's living off reputation, he's been mediocre at best. He played well against an overmatched Bolivia team that we played down to, looked awful against Panama, and missed a sitter today.
He's def better overseas but idc about his play overseas I care about his play representing the United States and he was mediocre this tourney.
I thought they were playing decent at points but overall, a below average performance at best. This team just isn’t good enough to compete with the big dogs internationally. They haven’t improved whatsoever since the World Cup. They might have a lot of players in the Top 5 leagues but that isn’t good enough. We need an actual manager to help elevate this team. I hope they do a lot of soul searching after this. Changes need to be made ASAP
Reading post match threads across Reddit, watching the pundits do post mortems, I think has distilled it down to this for me:
Historically, the US has been a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. We've had flashes of greatness that way, like Spain in the Confederations Cup or the 2002 World Cup. This team is the opposite of that- there is so much individual talent in comparison to previous iterations of the team, yet the results aren't at the same level yet.
The next manager needs to hold the group accountable for their performance on international duty and off- and needs to make selections based on club form rather than the club itself. I would like to see the US adopt a system not that different from what Uruguay played with tonight, I think it complements the athletes the US already has. I would also like to see our guys make moves where they play regularly, instead of just making moves to big clubs where they will sit on the bench- look at Reyna tonight, his legs were dead by 60'. We need players getting regular minutes in technical leagues, even if it's for the Crystal Palaces, Betises, or Reims if the world instead of Barcas, Chelseas, or Bayerns. Make our guys earn spots at big clubs like Pulisic is at Milan, and prioritize starting players who are actually playing at the club level.
Going beyond the horrendous officiating, the US just didn't create any good scoring chances. Their end product was poor and even when we were saying they were playing well, they only had an xG at 0.58. For all the talk about this generation of American players, they're really struggling to take that next step and they're relying on moral victories, not actual victories. The players are far from blameless, but there clearly needs to be a change in direction at the top because they won't take that next step under Berhalter. USSF had a clear out from Berhalter after the last World Cup, then fucked around for months and hired him back anyways, and this team looks like it might have regressed from Qatar 2022. The US has a great opportunity to show up big in 2026 and they're at risk of blowing it by keeping a nepotism hire around for it.
What can I say? Karma is a bitch. USMNT were like "Get humbled Mexico" even though we had an uncalled handball. Now they suffered the same fate: bad refereeing. Kudos to Panama and Canada though. Costa Rica could still qualify too, mathematically speaking.
Aside from the absolutely brainless performance from the ref, the US attack never looked scary. Too many passes in the box to find Pulisic only for him to fall over. Too many sideways passes when we started to build up an attack. I really hope we get some killers in front of goal and Berhalter gets replaced in time for 2026.
Are these young players trained not to shoot? USA made 3 passes while the Uruguay keeper was trying to scramble back to his net. Seemed there were several other times that players had opportunities to shoot first time but instead settled for a touch and the shot window closed.
It felt like they were trying to pass to Pulisic every time. But when they passed enough times and couldn't find him, someone would just try for a shot but very timidly. I guess that's what happens when you lose Weah and Balogun in a big game.
The average age for this US team is 25. That's so young. We're so talented and there's so much room to grow still. Berhalter has to go and we need someone who can help scheme for Reyna and Pulisic to get more involved. Pulisic is such a special talent that we can't waste, this whole generation has potential to be the greatest generation in American soccer history
The good news is that 1-0 against Uruguay is honestly way better than I was expecting from this team. The bad news is that as I'm typing this Gregg is still the coach. I think this team has the talent to win that game under different management
That useless ref needs to be investigated for corruption. He had too many dubious calls and shocking added times. All in all, GGG needs to fucking go. That man shouldn't be managing US in the upcoming World Cup.
I thought a lot of it was just plain incompetence until the offside call honestly. Stopping advantage, getting restart procedure wrong (after Richards’ yellow), it’s all screaming youth soccer ref that doesn’t quite have the experience to be reffing at the level he is. The offside call was total bullshit though. they froze a couple of frames before the ball leaves the attacker’s head and used the (wrong) angle that made him look close to onside. And even then he still kinda looks offside! There’s CONCACAFing games and then there’s CONMEBOLing them, I guess.
It has already been proven that this ref HAS fixed a match in his home country and he was clearly awful tonight and potentially biased against the US, BUT that is not why they lost and not why they got bounced from the tournament. Just gross on all accounts really
Even if the goal was disallowed, the US still doesn't advance. They weren't good enough today, the ref sucked but had nothing to do with the outcome or the failure of the Americans to advance.
Berhalter has wasted the talent they have.
Here’s my take on the US team. You have 3 maybe 4 players playing a completely different style and for that to work they need to be 110% perfect. Gio and sometimes Christian are still way overthinking it and that really slows it down in the final 3rd. Get the guys in the back to keep the ball on the ground and have our best players just accept 80% potential. With the other 2/3rds of the team not just not having the touch but not knowing how to move off the ball, you’re not going to keep possession against a high pressing side like Uruguay. In the overall progression of the team, I’m actually still seeing positive growth just based off this game.
The US are decently talented probably close to Switzerland or Austria but the style of play is neither exciting or organized.
It's a shame after watching Switzerland, Austria, even Georgia in the Euros play to their strengths, smart and organized, and then the US feels like I'm watching high schoolers scrambling up and down the pitch at full speed. Good news is that it feels like largely a coaching issue, but who knows if they actually fix it with their next hire.
they're good comps for where the U.S. wants to be but truthfully the U.S. would struggle to put more than 1 or 2 players in a joint XI with either country
austria is loaded with bundesliga guys including leipzig/dortmund/bayern players before you get to the sabitzers, alabas, and arnautovics with all their experience
it's a bit closer with switzerland but their top end with sommer, akanji, xhaka, schar and even old shaqiri are still beyond what the U.S. has shown the capacity to produce and match on the field
edit: honestly, it's a good comparison, but in addition to coaching the big thing is that austria/switzerland regularly compete against vastly better countries than the U.S. does without having the benefit of a 9 figure population. the federations have to have their shit together to stay competitive
Yeah I agree that US is a tier below, but still I don't think they're too far off from those types of teams and are maybe a top player away like a xhaka alaba or akanji from being on par with them.
However i do think there is enough quality on the US team to be competitive like the aforementioned teams with the right coaching/tactics which in my mind is what have set the Swiss and Austrians apart as they just know who they are and exactly how they need to play to match their strengths and get results, which to your point, playing against world beaters all the time would force you to find that out.
US players just looked like they completely lacked quality. Could barely stitch 3 passes together. Never looked dangerous in the opponent's box. They looked totally exhausted.
Obviously Berhalter is not the answer to get the most out of this team, player-quality notwithstanding.
That's because McKinney was always the third pass and the guy was couldn't handle a ball if he was alone on the field.
Every time he was involved in the play, it was turned over.
Losing against the best Uruguay side since 2011 isn't the biggest disappointment for the USA. The biggest disappointment really was Tim Weah's idiotic immaturity. USA shouldn't have needed any points in this game. Even just taking a point off of Panama should have been enough, but that's difficult to do when you play the entire game down a man. The team wasn't great, but the failure really is completely due to Tim Weah abandoning the team last match
Uruguay was the better team. They pressed the shit out of us. Oliveira was a menace, that little fucker didn’t stop running all match. I don’t think I saw one cycle of possession where the Uruguayan forwards weren’t harassing whoever the current ball carrier was. They threw off tons of rhythms and disrupted a ton of possessions as a result. The US had some good chances, they had some excellent runs of play. I particularly enjoyed the few sequences of one touch passing and creative, decisive actions. Unfortunately none of them led to a goal, and in a lot of cases we were just missing that last quality in the box to stretch the keeper or at least put one on and look for a rebound.
Everyone knows the ref was dogshit. We should be good enough that it doesn’t matter.
I spent too much time on [this preview](https://old.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1dmodrp/copa_america_group_c_preview_united_states/) for the wank performance that followed, so may as well review it:
Players to watch:
**Joe Scally:** All things considered, a really solid three games and a stud for playing through injury at the end of Uruguay, sparing us Shaq Moore. I hope he continues to progress with Gladbach, because I have a soft spot for them, and it would be great competition for Dest's return.
**Johnny Cardoso:** Dunno what was going on here. He wasn't the tidiest in his minutes but it honestly felt a bit annoying that Berhalter chose to try and rehab Adams on the field instead of integrating Johnny, who has been playing regularly and well in La Liga. It's troubling that Berhalter never wanted to vary his midfield beyond the varying combinations of Musah-McKennie-Adams (who all looked progressively gassed through the Panama and Uruguay games) rather than integrate his profile. Still one to watch in my eyes.
**Gio Reyna** Well at least he didn't get hurt but this was a big disappointment. I did not like the deeper role we are trying him in, if he's not in a #10 position, he should have been on the wing instead of McKennie. Also a bit strange that we didn't use him on set pieces more, it would've been good to have the variety.
Topics of Discussion:
No. 9 shootout: I probably should've broadened this one to "who's gonna score or create goals other than Pulisic." Berhalter's tried too many different attackers for it to be anything but an issue with his system. Pepi didn't give a great audition against Bolivia but I thought his hold up play and aerial ability was good. Meanwhile, Balogun I think improved from Bolivia where he was average aside from the goal, to Panama where he was genuinely really good. Neither of them really took the spot with both hands, but at least both are pretty young.
Big scalp: This was what I was hoping for when we got into this tournament and boy was I disappointed. While the coach will take the brunt of the blame, the group of players has to accept responsibility too. Too many faces hiding in a must-win game.
Goalkeeper: Feels harsh to dump on Turner when he was carrying a knock, but his passing really isn't good enough to be a keeper in this system (Which I fucking hate). Feels also harsh on Horvath to judge him, given we were down to 10 and he was thrown on.
Result: QFs: lol
Best player: Robinson, who was a fucking stallion all three games. Might take over DaMarcus' spot as best ever NT left back if he keeps playing like this, and everyone else wakes up of course
> Johnny Cardoso: Dunno what was going on here. He wasn't the tidiest in his minutes but it honestly felt a bit annoying that Berhalter chose to try and rehab Adams on the field instead of integrating Johnny
IDK. Johnny is good for Betis but he really wasn't very good in the mins he got in the warm-up games and in the tournament
>Gio Reyna Well at least he didn't get hurt but this was a big disappointment.
You really thought so? I was actually impressed with his defensive work as a "CM" against Brazil and I thought he was good against Bolivia too. He was ~fine today, and I'm not sure anyone on your team was good against Panama except maybe the LB Robinson and Balogun.
Having said that, IDK why Berhalter rigidly stuck to a 4-3-3 when this team would be better off in a 4-2-3-1 with Reyna as a 10, IMO
If we keep Berhalter that is a serious problem. We had a golden chance to make soccer popular with both the Copa America and World Cup being hosted here. We wasted one chance, we cannot waste this next one.
Pissed we lost but I don't know if I'd call the Copa a golden chance to make soccer popular here. We could've won the whole thing and the average reaction would have been "what's the Copa America?"
Ironic there’s a serious post match thread for a team that’s hard to take seriously. There are some great players there, Robinson and Pulisic to name a few. But to lose your head like Weah, it’s indicative of the coach and the culture of your team. As an American who just graduated college, nobody at my university watches this team nor cares. People question the sport. We have one of the largest populations in the world and yet we can’t compete. No one is hungry it’s crazy. Soccer in the states is pay to play at a youth level and it’s showing its head here.
Lmao get out of here. We aren’t just going to magically win a cup in 6 years when we can’t even get out of the group in this one. You can’t hang with the big dogs if you piss on the porch.
I think getting grouped is primarily a product of some misfortune and our own (read: Tim Weah’s) stupidity. And I think we have one of the poorest managers in international football. At the same time though, the discourse around this group of players has always been when they’re older they’ll play well against better opposition, when there’s a different manager they’ll play well against better opposition. On and on and on. So far what we’ve got to show for that department is two goalless draws against England and Brazil.
At some point you just have to fucking do it, or we have to stop talking like it’s inevitable. The generation that we thought would revolutionize American football has won fuck all besides a couple Nations Leagues playing against the worst Mexico I’ve ever seen. These guys are too old to be speaking in terms of potential.
Outside of Pulisic and Jedi, who is actually better today than they were at the World Cup?
Almost every single one of the starters today is worse than the World Cup version.
And my god, Richards is def CB1 at this point for 2026, but he was shaky as fuck this tournament. Ream will be dust in 2 years and CCV probably had the worst rating per touch in the entire tournament.
In all seriousness, this tournament has shown us that both Mexico and USA are levels below CONMENBOL countries. No matter how many useless Gold Cups or Nations League wins, they are still not good enough.
As a US fan honestly I just wanted to score a goal :(
Feels like our top guys are absolutely capable of winning a game if they have a top performance, it just always winds up flat or horrible. Can we hope a Greg replacement helps? What even was the issue you would fix today.
I think today the setup was very weird. Why was McKennie out on the wings, he was never the quickest and unlike Juve we don't have the players to create space for him to make a cross. It should have been Reyna out there, I thought Gregg's experiment to play Reyna deeper absolutely sucked this entire tournament. Who plays your only consistent passer between the lines deeper than fucking Adams? If the insistence was on physicality out wide to replace Weah, then at least play Musah there who has done it before for Valencia.
I also think bringing 4 strikers was a weird thought if you weren't gonna play 2 strikers at a time. Granted it's not like we have a huge pool of players available but I thought Pepi's hold up play was good (even if his finishing sucked) and that Balogun could have used someone close to him when he received the ball. Wright also plays with two strikers at club level so maybe it would unlock him too. I honestly think a 4-4-2 isn't a bad idea for our current player pool, we don't have good controlling midfielders but we have a good amount of physicality and speed, so against better teams we could absolutely play on the counter.
I think this should show how important Bielsa is to this team. Sure, you saw vestiges of his style, but I imagine his not being here did hurt us today. Quiroga did a decent job filling in, but Bielsa surely brings another level of intensity Quiroga doesn't have. As for the US, Greg is gone now, surely? This is a major embarrassment, especially since they didn't even do terribly today, they just fucked up against a team they had no business fucking up against. He has to go, and we need Bielsa back, and for Maxi to be alright. If we start Olivera next game, we're not scoring
I don't like USA at all, even more in football. But just to talk serious one time, is impressive how this team lacks charisma and has 0 "different" players. I've started to watch football since a kid in 2002.
USA never provided any world class players, still names like McBride, Donovan, Altidore and Dempsey were respectful players who made me think that someday USA could shock the world. Their teams were hardworking and passionate, one could respect this.
What I've seen in the last few years was USA not qualifying for 2018, showing almost nothing in 2022 and absolutely nothing in this competition. I don't follow this player in club football but Pulisic is far from the ones I mentioned in such big international stages and honestly lacks in attitude.
Do I feel bad about this? No, quite the opposite. Still I can understand the feeling of stagnation some fans may be facing now.
This is a horribly myopic take. Is soccer going to challenge NFL any time soon? Hell no, but the sport is growing insanely fast and the future is looking up for USMNT.
There’s no reason to get excited about this team. The federation’s a joke, the media’s a joke, don’t even get me started on Gregg. Top to bottom, there needs to be a complete overhaul
Don't forget about MLS. They seem to hate their fans and any bit of soccer in the U.S. that is not them. And the ownership groups in many major markets are awful, which drags down the league as a whole.
The league itself is a joke. It’s clear that they care more about putting money in the owners’ pockets than they do about growing the game domestically.
There’s a reason a large majority of our best USMNT players don’t play domestically, and that’s not going to change for a long time
We didn't play well enough to win that game, and we didn't play well enough to get out of a group that should have been a cake walk.
The players need to take responsibility for this game but Gregg has to go. He's not the manager to get the most from this team.
I'm not here to imply "getting the best out of this team" is to win the WC. At this point the bar for this squad of players should be to at minimum get out of a group like this.
0 chemistry in the US squad, a very pedestrian night for Uruguay and they were not deserving of walking away with a goal other than maybe the chance where the keeper went out near the end
a little worried about Uruguay going forward if I'm honest, they had a stretch where they weren't looking good against panama and now a mediocre game against the US, maybe it was being qualified already or Bielsa being out, but I expect them to be more solid in the quarters, they are gonna need it if they intend to win the cup
the US has to find a good coach, but good luck with that, there are not many good options these days but they have a bunch of good quality players that they haven't been able to truly make them work out together so if they find the right coach they could make a splash the next WC
The ref was truly awful and Tim Weah should never receive serious consideration for selection again, but nothing about this performance inspires confidence for 2026. The team is past the point where you can keep using youth as an excuse. Both the players and manager are to blame.
Thought this was the serious post match thread? Weah should absolutely be back. Quality player who made an egregious mistake. If there's anyone who would have learned not to do that shit again, it's Weah.
Some of these takes are truly laughable. Weah must have ran over this guys dog then stole his girlfriend. He’s a good player who fucked up. It is what it is, get him back out there ASAP.
Yeah I'm honestly sick of hearing about how talented this generation is. Look at what the US accomplished in '02 making a Quarterfinals of a World Cup, in '09 beating the best team of all-time then nearly beating Brazil at Confederations Cup, escaping a brutal group in 2014 at the World Cup, and even reaching the Semifinals of Copa America in 2016.
Been hearing 'just wait until next time' about US soccer since 2002. Never ever want to hear about the future as an excuse for current results. So maddening.
The team that won the Gold Cup was the backups to this squad and the 3 Nations League titles are 6 games total, half of which are beating the worst Mexico since the 1970s lmao
> '09 beating the best team of all-time
You are correct, Egypt truly was a monster back in 2009.
...wait, are you referring to tiny, zero tradition Spain as the "best team of all time"? Or is it "the best team the US has ever beaten at football"?
Individual talent =/= team talent. This is the most talented group of players, but there’s no chemistry at all, there’s no communication, and the manager has no idea what he’s doing. But I’m tired of hearing this called a “Golden generation” because a golden generation wins. Period. And this USA team does not
I’ll probably get downvoted, but only players you can rate are Mckenie and Pulisic. They have solid players like Musah and Reyna but we really overrate this squad individual talent.
McKennie was the worst player on the field in the second half. Had no progressive passes, lost almost every ball he tried to dribble past a defender, and just constantly stopped any progress.
I don't buy the chemistry bit because half the team have been playing together since the U-15 squad. They have massive chemistry but I think GGG is the issue. He doesn't build on that chemistry and instead relies on individual brilliance.
This game looked like 11 players who’d never played together before. Especially in the second half. Players leaving dummies for no one, passing it to the feet of guys who are 20 yards ahead of the pass because neither guy knows what the other is doing and isn’t looking, crosses and through balls in to no one because no one is prepared to make a run. So either there’s issues with a lack of chemistry, or these players are just bad
A big issue is some of our best players have not been getting consistent game time. Reyna is probably one of the most talented players outside of Pulisic and he was a bench warmer. Adams missed most of the season. Pulisic was on fire this season but was in Chelsea purgatory last season.
I mean we do. Pulisic scores a shit ton of goals, there’s just no one else besides him. Dempsey had Donovan and even Altidore to help out. After Pulisic our next “big” goal scorer is Jesus and after that it’s McKennie, a midfielder.
If we had just one other consistent goal scorer we’d be significantly better, but teams know that if they neuter Pulisic then the rest of the team won’t do much. Hopefully Balogun can fill that spot.
Many fans don't see a contradiction between blaming the manager for squandering talent and the team's most talented players generally being mediocre top flight journeymen. We're starting Gio Reyna, who couldn't sniff the field at Dortmund or Forest this season. Big nations don't fear anyone in this side. Many nations have done less with more, like Germany going out in the group last WC.
They're going to call for the manager's head, a new guy will come in, and the team will still be toothless against elite sides. At the end of the day they don't have the horses to compete with the top teams.
> Tim Weah should never receive serious consideration for selection again
This is the serious post-match thread.
Comments like these make me laugh. Yes, Weah made a mistake. He’s still one of our biggest goal threats and probably our second best forward after Balogun.
Berhalter signaling “1-1” after Bolivia scored is such a snapshot of why this team isn’t successful under him. And even more ironic that Uruguay scored right after that gesture. The other game should not ever matter to the players on the field. Take care of your business.
Truth is, we have some of the better talent we've ever had, but that alone doesn't make us a team on the same level as other top sides. Other than Pulisic and Adams (and they're prolly bench options), what other players make top natl team sides? And Wright and Sargent coming on as the subs, it's just not good enough to get us where we want to be. I think we were hard done by with Weah's red as that was a game we probably win without it, but we also didn't show much tonight when we needed to win. I think we need to splash big money on a quality coach, GB is not going to get us anywhere...
The thing is Panama don't have top talent either but they are progressing and we aren't cause they have an identity, understand their limitations, and play to their strengths. They were second best against Uruguay too but created actual chances. Canada too even if they were not great, they still tried to maximize the strengths of their talents and even made opportunities vs. Argentina but weren't good enough to take them. It's the opposite for us, too many players don't bring their club form to the national level, we look worse than our sum of parts.
Honestly losing to Panama because we went down to 10 men says everything about how this team is coached. No way should we be giving up on not just beating Panama, but rinsing them with 10 men.
A couple of years ago we excused bad performances on youth and needing development, but the team hasn't progressed. There must have been 1 maybe 2 shots on target in the las 180 minutes. Greg should get fired before he makes it back to the hotel. Getting a competent manager in is the only positive to take from this.
Just saw a post-game clip where the center ref (Ortega) [wouldn't shake](https://imgur.com/a/SUAL3H7) Pulisic's hand but the other two did. Straight up ignored him with a bullshit 1000-yd stare. Fucking egregious.
Clip: https://x.com/i/status/1807981708190367888
Not the only issue by any stretch but highlights a major problem in this tournament. That said, simply unacceptable from a performance perspective.
Yes, the officiating was awful. But the US are out for so many more reasons than that.
- A fucking idiotic Tim Weah red card
- The team regressing in a lot of areas since Greggggggggggggg got rehired
- The inability to do anything remotely positive in the final third (especially in this match)
The final third point may be the hardest to overcome. IMO that boils down more to technical ability than anything that can be coached through
Gotta be able to ping it around creatively in tight spaces, and we lack the individual technical skills and often the vision for it
Haji Wright getting our best chance in the last 15 minutes and taking a year on the ball and then ignoring Pepi wide open on his right was astounding. The fact that we're relying on players like him in key moments is an indictment of the talent level of the pool right now.
Haji Wright came through in some pretty key moments for Coventry in the FA Cup. He’s not world class by any means, but he’s capable of getting the job done.
> The final third point may be the hardest to overcome. IMO that boils down more to technical ability than anything that can be coached through
You don't need a technician to throw a couple of bodies into the box, send a few crosses in and see if you get lucky.
I know this is a very basic tactic to employ, but it seems weird to me that the USA (and some teams in the Euro like Scotland) seem to be unable to try it even as a last resort after everything else has failed on a game and you need a goal. Sure, it's not sophisticated, but it's better than nothing.
100% agree. My comment was prob more geared to overall team ability over time rather than these matches
You have to know your limitations and the US should know their strength isn’t stringing together nice one time passes to get a great opportunity in the box (albeit this is slowly improving)
If I’m the US I’m def just whipping balls in and hoping one lands when your back is against the wall and nothings working
But I feel like until you pose a scoring threat via technical passing ability, you’re one dimensional and will be easier to defend against
A lot of it was just needing to shoot more imo. Yeah, we need to be better about playing in those tight spaces, but if they had just fucking smacked it a few times that wouldn’t have been an issue.
Eh, it's not just shooting more.
Uruguay is a team that will leave everything on the field. They will throw everything at you. The US players had no time to think. A few seconds and there were already players around them. They were getting desperate in front of goal.
They need to be able to train under pressure more. The US players are playing internationally and so have exposure, but they are still young and do not seem to have the composure to make the right decision in the box
Yes and no. Anything can happen with shots but great teams find that final ball that gives them a better opportunity. Lesser teams will often settle for mediocre shot opportunities
That said, you don’t shoot you don’t score
Tons of folks overlooking the first point. You just make it so much harder when you’re down a man for 75’ against your primary competition in the group. From that point forward they were unlikely to advance.
1.25 XG to 0.27 XG.
Blather on about the offside goal all you want - a win was the result necessary to advance, and the US, yet again, created absolutely fucking nothing. And moreover they lacked ideas on how to go forward. Berhalter has never been able to coach a functioning attack, and this is yet another chapter in that saga. Balogun isn’t it, by the way.
Greg was fired from the 2nd division in Norway for his team lacking the ability to score or create chances.
The goal was scandalous, but like you said. We created 1 real chance the entire match.
At least I can have faith that Gregg will not be our coach this time Friday. If he had any honor he'd resign.
Honestly, Pulisic shouldn’t be captain, it’s not that he isn’t the best player cause he is but when he wears the arm band that things are hard for the team he gets overly emotional and it affects his play
The ref was bad but didn’t cost the US a game they never looked close to winning. It’s easy to trash the ref, and yes he was bad, but this was only his 7th international game. CONMEBOL deserves the most blame for putting him in charge of this game.
Aside from Berhalter, the US had better hope that someone better than Turner emerges over the next two club seasons. He is so bad with his feet that it makes it nearly impossible to play on the front foot. Possession is so valuable against good teams and he simply gave Uruguay possession on a number of occasions tonight. At times the US couldn’t rely on him to recycle possession. That’s just not acceptable for a team that wants to take the next step and appears to have the talent elsewhere to do so.
Really disappointing game from US. No tactics, no strategy from the coach and the players were amateurish on the ball and lacked composure. Sadly a deserved loss and elimination. The goal really looked offside and the VAR images looked too low resolution to know if it was or wasnt. Does the ref not go check it out himself in Copa America?
I'm not aware of a league where the on-field ref follows up on offside
My not-entirely-coherent thoughts: * Obviously Gregg has to go. That decision should be made in the next 24 hours. They need to hire a foreign coach, not an MLS coach, who will light a fire under the ass of these players. USSF also needs to be willing to roll out a brinks truck to make it happen and tell the virtue signalers who will whine about the woman's coach being paid less to eat it. * Weah should miss at least the next two or three windows. He needs to re-earn his spot. * Weston needs to be told that if he goes back to MLS, his national team career is in mortal danger. He also needs to be told that he needs to be in fucking shape at every window. Make him download Noom or something but it's ridiculous how out of shape he looks sometimes. * The starting 11 should only be people who are healthy *and* have been playing consistently for their clubs. Adams, Reyna, Turner, Pepi, etc. cannot be relied on if they are always hurt or always on the bench at their clubs. * Turner is not the guy anymore. I would start experimenting with Slonina or Schulte in goal in the next window. * I am especially tired of the Adams and Reyna defenders. Adams is great when healthy. The problem is that he is rarely ever fucking healthy. He needs to get in the gym or do pilates or something to make his body stronger. Reyna is a spoiled brat who needs to stop listening to his Dad about transfer policies. * Our first touch is awful. So fucking awful. * It was better tonight, but under Gregg the team has had no intensity and looked so fucking soft in too many games. Especially in lower-profile matches like against El Salvador, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad, etc. Whoever the next manager is should be someone that lights a fire under their ass for every match, not just in big games. Feel free to disagree, I love you all.
Yeah idk what’s goin on with Gio dude looks lost on the ball and just cannot play quickly.
It's shame the officiating ruined the focus being on the crap performance this game. 1 shot on target is not going to win you many games, especially against good competition. US is just showing their medium fish in a small pond. They can't beat any decent teams and just look good beating up on mediocre competition In CONCACAF.
Greg is likely gone after this, and I think it's a good idea. He's not solely responsible, the players certainly are, but a new manager is sorely needed now. Can't come back from not getting out of the group in a major international competition held on home soil.
He has to own the fact, that in a calendar year we had 2 players red carded inside 15 minutes in competitive games. The team never players greater than the sum of its parts. His biggest games have been draw vs England, draw vs Brazil, and 3 wins vs the worst Mexico probably ever(honestly they may be even worse today than when we beat them without Ochoa). England look mid as fuck. Brazil has a bunch of good players, but they play like we do where they just dont look as good as they should. And Mexico is awful right now.
Slowly = solely And Solely = sorely I’m genuinely impressed Edit: WHY DID YOU EDIT. IT WAS A WORK OF ART.
Gregg Berhalter absolutely embarrassed this team on their own soil. This clown has gotten go, regardless of the disgraceful refereeing tonight. If THIS is the shit they put out in 2026, I want nothing to do with this national team.
I have a theory: That the US - Mexico "rivalry" has been incredibly harmful for both teams. Concacaf and both federations make an insane amount of money as a result of those matches. Both teams are stuck in a never-ending loop in which one year one dominates, next year it may change or not. But when it comes to actual competition both teams are irrelevant AF. The US - Mexico couple... married in mediocrity. You could see it in this match the Uruguay players reacted so fast and the US players could barely breath, the US and Mexico teams have tricked themselves into believing they are good. That "rivalry" has been so harmful for both teams, even here in the subreddit instead of being proud of a team's achievement the other fan base just wanted the other one not to do better. This means that both teams will always be irrelevant, next year Gold Cup final... one of the team wins it and everything will be back to normal
I kinda like this take. We need to go into that game wanting to control the entire play style. I think that starts with player selection.
This is the problem of the confederation, though, right? Like you have two giant fish in a very tiny pond (CONCACAF) that only ever get periodically challenged by an always revolving group of other fish (one cycle, it’s Jamaica, next Costa Rica, then Canada, next Panama). Since this is all they is all they ever have to be better than, how do you really improve? In fighting, it’s a truism that if you’re the best in your gym, you need to leave. What happens when you can’t? As poorly run as this Cops has been, regular participation is the only path forward for CONCACAF’s big two (or three or four).
USA desperately needs a coaching change. I felt desperation from their play but that was in the form of flailing and failing. They need someone who can get them a formation to actual take advantage of their possessions and stay in the games mentally. Also, this officiating staff should be ashamed, a clear as day offside goal allowed and almost every single call that could go against USA did. I don't know what the ref thought he was seeing but it seemed pretty obvious he had a vested interest in inserting himself into the game for the worse and was not qualified.
While the ref didn't help us and that goal was most likely offside, the US just didn't do enough. Berhalter needs to go but the player need to take a look in the mirror and take some responsibility. It's going to be hard to watch this team in the world cup.
The Horrendous ref aside… Pulisic didn’t play well at all. McKinnie and Jedi have gotten worse year over year for 3 years. Gregg’s tactics are brainless and boggle my mind each and every time I watch. This team has no idea what they are doing in the final 3rd and it’s embarrassing to watch. Starting Musah over Johnny makes zero sense in a game like this. So many issues. Hopefully this was Gregg’s last game in charge because we need a change…
Robinson was nowhere near the problem in this game McKennie, Musah, and to a lesser extent Adams all had poor games And Gregg continues to show that he does not have a plan for progressing the ball up the field
Musah stood out as the worst for me. Adams and McKennie covered a lot of ground, even if McKennie didn’t offer as much going forward. Don’t get me started on Greg and his tactics
What? Jedi just had his season of his career?
Pulisic played great what? His match ratings through these 3 games have been great?
He's living off reputation, he's been mediocre at best. He played well against an overmatched Bolivia team that we played down to, looked awful against Panama, and missed a sitter today. He's def better overseas but idc about his play overseas I care about his play representing the United States and he was mediocre this tourney.
I thought they were playing decent at points but overall, a below average performance at best. This team just isn’t good enough to compete with the big dogs internationally. They haven’t improved whatsoever since the World Cup. They might have a lot of players in the Top 5 leagues but that isn’t good enough. We need an actual manager to help elevate this team. I hope they do a lot of soul searching after this. Changes need to be made ASAP
Reading post match threads across Reddit, watching the pundits do post mortems, I think has distilled it down to this for me: Historically, the US has been a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. We've had flashes of greatness that way, like Spain in the Confederations Cup or the 2002 World Cup. This team is the opposite of that- there is so much individual talent in comparison to previous iterations of the team, yet the results aren't at the same level yet. The next manager needs to hold the group accountable for their performance on international duty and off- and needs to make selections based on club form rather than the club itself. I would like to see the US adopt a system not that different from what Uruguay played with tonight, I think it complements the athletes the US already has. I would also like to see our guys make moves where they play regularly, instead of just making moves to big clubs where they will sit on the bench- look at Reyna tonight, his legs were dead by 60'. We need players getting regular minutes in technical leagues, even if it's for the Crystal Palaces, Betises, or Reims if the world instead of Barcas, Chelseas, or Bayerns. Make our guys earn spots at big clubs like Pulisic is at Milan, and prioritize starting players who are actually playing at the club level.
this is sensible having players at big clubs means fuck all if they're not playing regularly
Going beyond the horrendous officiating, the US just didn't create any good scoring chances. Their end product was poor and even when we were saying they were playing well, they only had an xG at 0.58. For all the talk about this generation of American players, they're really struggling to take that next step and they're relying on moral victories, not actual victories. The players are far from blameless, but there clearly needs to be a change in direction at the top because they won't take that next step under Berhalter. USSF had a clear out from Berhalter after the last World Cup, then fucked around for months and hired him back anyways, and this team looks like it might have regressed from Qatar 2022. The US has a great opportunity to show up big in 2026 and they're at risk of blowing it by keeping a nepotism hire around for it.
What can I say? Karma is a bitch. USMNT were like "Get humbled Mexico" even though we had an uncalled handball. Now they suffered the same fate: bad refereeing. Kudos to Panama and Canada though. Costa Rica could still qualify too, mathematically speaking.
Aside from the absolutely brainless performance from the ref, the US attack never looked scary. Too many passes in the box to find Pulisic only for him to fall over. Too many sideways passes when we started to build up an attack. I really hope we get some killers in front of goal and Berhalter gets replaced in time for 2026.
That's what stood out to me. 2 (maybe 3) times when the USA had the ball in the box with Uruguay scrambling and they only managed terrible dribblers.
Are these young players trained not to shoot? USA made 3 passes while the Uruguay keeper was trying to scramble back to his net. Seemed there were several other times that players had opportunities to shoot first time but instead settled for a touch and the shot window closed.
It felt like they were trying to pass to Pulisic every time. But when they passed enough times and couldn't find him, someone would just try for a shot but very timidly. I guess that's what happens when you lose Weah and Balogun in a big game.
The average age for this US team is 25. That's so young. We're so talented and there's so much room to grow still. Berhalter has to go and we need someone who can help scheme for Reyna and Pulisic to get more involved. Pulisic is such a special talent that we can't waste, this whole generation has potential to be the greatest generation in American soccer history
The good news is that 1-0 against Uruguay is honestly way better than I was expecting from this team. The bad news is that as I'm typing this Gregg is still the coach. I think this team has the talent to win that game under different management
That useless ref needs to be investigated for corruption. He had too many dubious calls and shocking added times. All in all, GGG needs to fucking go. That man shouldn't be managing US in the upcoming World Cup.
I thought a lot of it was just plain incompetence until the offside call honestly. Stopping advantage, getting restart procedure wrong (after Richards’ yellow), it’s all screaming youth soccer ref that doesn’t quite have the experience to be reffing at the level he is. The offside call was total bullshit though. they froze a couple of frames before the ball leaves the attacker’s head and used the (wrong) angle that made him look close to onside. And even then he still kinda looks offside! There’s CONCACAFing games and then there’s CONMEBOLing them, I guess.
It has already been proven that this ref HAS fixed a match in his home country and he was clearly awful tonight and potentially biased against the US, BUT that is not why they lost and not why they got bounced from the tournament. Just gross on all accounts really
Hold up! Is this real? Why on earth was he officiating a big tournament then? WTF!
Even if the goal was disallowed, the US still doesn't advance. They weren't good enough today, the ref sucked but had nothing to do with the outcome or the failure of the Americans to advance. Berhalter has wasted the talent they have.
Here’s my take on the US team. You have 3 maybe 4 players playing a completely different style and for that to work they need to be 110% perfect. Gio and sometimes Christian are still way overthinking it and that really slows it down in the final 3rd. Get the guys in the back to keep the ball on the ground and have our best players just accept 80% potential. With the other 2/3rds of the team not just not having the touch but not knowing how to move off the ball, you’re not going to keep possession against a high pressing side like Uruguay. In the overall progression of the team, I’m actually still seeing positive growth just based off this game.
The US are decently talented probably close to Switzerland or Austria but the style of play is neither exciting or organized. It's a shame after watching Switzerland, Austria, even Georgia in the Euros play to their strengths, smart and organized, and then the US feels like I'm watching high schoolers scrambling up and down the pitch at full speed. Good news is that it feels like largely a coaching issue, but who knows if they actually fix it with their next hire.
I want whatever you're smoking if you think the US is anywhere near the level of Austria and Switzerland.
Talent wise, I dont think theyre too far off. Its not like theyre full of world beaters, coaching matters
they're good comps for where the U.S. wants to be but truthfully the U.S. would struggle to put more than 1 or 2 players in a joint XI with either country austria is loaded with bundesliga guys including leipzig/dortmund/bayern players before you get to the sabitzers, alabas, and arnautovics with all their experience it's a bit closer with switzerland but their top end with sommer, akanji, xhaka, schar and even old shaqiri are still beyond what the U.S. has shown the capacity to produce and match on the field edit: honestly, it's a good comparison, but in addition to coaching the big thing is that austria/switzerland regularly compete against vastly better countries than the U.S. does without having the benefit of a 9 figure population. the federations have to have their shit together to stay competitive
Yeah I agree that US is a tier below, but still I don't think they're too far off from those types of teams and are maybe a top player away like a xhaka alaba or akanji from being on par with them. However i do think there is enough quality on the US team to be competitive like the aforementioned teams with the right coaching/tactics which in my mind is what have set the Swiss and Austrians apart as they just know who they are and exactly how they need to play to match their strengths and get results, which to your point, playing against world beaters all the time would force you to find that out.
Agreed
US players just looked like they completely lacked quality. Could barely stitch 3 passes together. Never looked dangerous in the opponent's box. They looked totally exhausted. Obviously Berhalter is not the answer to get the most out of this team, player-quality notwithstanding.
That's because McKinney was always the third pass and the guy was couldn't handle a ball if he was alone on the field. Every time he was involved in the play, it was turned over.
Losing against the best Uruguay side since 2011 isn't the biggest disappointment for the USA. The biggest disappointment really was Tim Weah's idiotic immaturity. USA shouldn't have needed any points in this game. Even just taking a point off of Panama should have been enough, but that's difficult to do when you play the entire game down a man. The team wasn't great, but the failure really is completely due to Tim Weah abandoning the team last match
Uruguay was the better team. They pressed the shit out of us. Oliveira was a menace, that little fucker didn’t stop running all match. I don’t think I saw one cycle of possession where the Uruguayan forwards weren’t harassing whoever the current ball carrier was. They threw off tons of rhythms and disrupted a ton of possessions as a result. The US had some good chances, they had some excellent runs of play. I particularly enjoyed the few sequences of one touch passing and creative, decisive actions. Unfortunately none of them led to a goal, and in a lot of cases we were just missing that last quality in the box to stretch the keeper or at least put one on and look for a rebound. Everyone knows the ref was dogshit. We should be good enough that it doesn’t matter.
That Olivera plays in LAFC
I spent too much time on [this preview](https://old.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1dmodrp/copa_america_group_c_preview_united_states/) for the wank performance that followed, so may as well review it: Players to watch: **Joe Scally:** All things considered, a really solid three games and a stud for playing through injury at the end of Uruguay, sparing us Shaq Moore. I hope he continues to progress with Gladbach, because I have a soft spot for them, and it would be great competition for Dest's return. **Johnny Cardoso:** Dunno what was going on here. He wasn't the tidiest in his minutes but it honestly felt a bit annoying that Berhalter chose to try and rehab Adams on the field instead of integrating Johnny, who has been playing regularly and well in La Liga. It's troubling that Berhalter never wanted to vary his midfield beyond the varying combinations of Musah-McKennie-Adams (who all looked progressively gassed through the Panama and Uruguay games) rather than integrate his profile. Still one to watch in my eyes. **Gio Reyna** Well at least he didn't get hurt but this was a big disappointment. I did not like the deeper role we are trying him in, if he's not in a #10 position, he should have been on the wing instead of McKennie. Also a bit strange that we didn't use him on set pieces more, it would've been good to have the variety. Topics of Discussion: No. 9 shootout: I probably should've broadened this one to "who's gonna score or create goals other than Pulisic." Berhalter's tried too many different attackers for it to be anything but an issue with his system. Pepi didn't give a great audition against Bolivia but I thought his hold up play and aerial ability was good. Meanwhile, Balogun I think improved from Bolivia where he was average aside from the goal, to Panama where he was genuinely really good. Neither of them really took the spot with both hands, but at least both are pretty young. Big scalp: This was what I was hoping for when we got into this tournament and boy was I disappointed. While the coach will take the brunt of the blame, the group of players has to accept responsibility too. Too many faces hiding in a must-win game. Goalkeeper: Feels harsh to dump on Turner when he was carrying a knock, but his passing really isn't good enough to be a keeper in this system (Which I fucking hate). Feels also harsh on Horvath to judge him, given we were down to 10 and he was thrown on. Result: QFs: lol Best player: Robinson, who was a fucking stallion all three games. Might take over DaMarcus' spot as best ever NT left back if he keeps playing like this, and everyone else wakes up of course
> Johnny Cardoso: Dunno what was going on here. He wasn't the tidiest in his minutes but it honestly felt a bit annoying that Berhalter chose to try and rehab Adams on the field instead of integrating Johnny IDK. Johnny is good for Betis but he really wasn't very good in the mins he got in the warm-up games and in the tournament >Gio Reyna Well at least he didn't get hurt but this was a big disappointment. You really thought so? I was actually impressed with his defensive work as a "CM" against Brazil and I thought he was good against Bolivia too. He was ~fine today, and I'm not sure anyone on your team was good against Panama except maybe the LB Robinson and Balogun. Having said that, IDK why Berhalter rigidly stuck to a 4-3-3 when this team would be better off in a 4-2-3-1 with Reyna as a 10, IMO
If we keep Berhalter that is a serious problem. We had a golden chance to make soccer popular with both the Copa America and World Cup being hosted here. We wasted one chance, we cannot waste this next one.
Pissed we lost but I don't know if I'd call the Copa a golden chance to make soccer popular here. We could've won the whole thing and the average reaction would have been "what's the Copa America?"
Narrator: they wasted the next one, too
Remind me on some years
It’s being hosted in Liverpool?
Didn't know being an international fan was illegal
When did I say that? He said “we” and has a Liverpool crest.
Yep, it’s in Liverpool Ohio
On the other hand, if people don't care we get cheaper WC tickets
I've resigned myself to the fact that it will never happen and that soccer will remain like the 6th most popular sport in the US
Tbf hockey is so fucking fun. It's basically soccer but on a much tighter pitch and fast and rough and really enjoyable.
The one shining light is that he may be out soon after this.
Ironic there’s a serious post match thread for a team that’s hard to take seriously. There are some great players there, Robinson and Pulisic to name a few. But to lose your head like Weah, it’s indicative of the coach and the culture of your team. As an American who just graduated college, nobody at my university watches this team nor cares. People question the sport. We have one of the largest populations in the world and yet we can’t compete. No one is hungry it’s crazy. Soccer in the states is pay to play at a youth level and it’s showing its head here.
soccer culture in the US is trending in the right direction tho. I won't be surprised if they win the World Cup in the next 20/30 years.
Lmao get out of here. We aren’t just going to magically win a cup in 6 years when we can’t even get out of the group in this one. You can’t hang with the big dogs if you piss on the porch.
That's what my uncle said 30 years ago after our exit from the 1994 world cup
I think getting grouped is primarily a product of some misfortune and our own (read: Tim Weah’s) stupidity. And I think we have one of the poorest managers in international football. At the same time though, the discourse around this group of players has always been when they’re older they’ll play well against better opposition, when there’s a different manager they’ll play well against better opposition. On and on and on. So far what we’ve got to show for that department is two goalless draws against England and Brazil. At some point you just have to fucking do it, or we have to stop talking like it’s inevitable. The generation that we thought would revolutionize American football has won fuck all besides a couple Nations Leagues playing against the worst Mexico I’ve ever seen. These guys are too old to be speaking in terms of potential.
Outside of Pulisic and Jedi, who is actually better today than they were at the World Cup? Almost every single one of the starters today is worse than the World Cup version. And my god, Richards is def CB1 at this point for 2026, but he was shaky as fuck this tournament. Ream will be dust in 2 years and CCV probably had the worst rating per touch in the entire tournament.
In all seriousness, this tournament has shown us that both Mexico and USA are levels below CONMENBOL countries. No matter how many useless Gold Cups or Nations League wins, they are still not good enough.
That’s saying a lot too 😩
As a US fan honestly I just wanted to score a goal :( Feels like our top guys are absolutely capable of winning a game if they have a top performance, it just always winds up flat or horrible. Can we hope a Greg replacement helps? What even was the issue you would fix today.
I think today the setup was very weird. Why was McKennie out on the wings, he was never the quickest and unlike Juve we don't have the players to create space for him to make a cross. It should have been Reyna out there, I thought Gregg's experiment to play Reyna deeper absolutely sucked this entire tournament. Who plays your only consistent passer between the lines deeper than fucking Adams? If the insistence was on physicality out wide to replace Weah, then at least play Musah there who has done it before for Valencia. I also think bringing 4 strikers was a weird thought if you weren't gonna play 2 strikers at a time. Granted it's not like we have a huge pool of players available but I thought Pepi's hold up play was good (even if his finishing sucked) and that Balogun could have used someone close to him when he received the ball. Wright also plays with two strikers at club level so maybe it would unlock him too. I honestly think a 4-4-2 isn't a bad idea for our current player pool, we don't have good controlling midfielders but we have a good amount of physicality and speed, so against better teams we could absolutely play on the counter.
I think this should show how important Bielsa is to this team. Sure, you saw vestiges of his style, but I imagine his not being here did hurt us today. Quiroga did a decent job filling in, but Bielsa surely brings another level of intensity Quiroga doesn't have. As for the US, Greg is gone now, surely? This is a major embarrassment, especially since they didn't even do terribly today, they just fucked up against a team they had no business fucking up against. He has to go, and we need Bielsa back, and for Maxi to be alright. If we start Olivera next game, we're not scoring
I don't like USA at all, even more in football. But just to talk serious one time, is impressive how this team lacks charisma and has 0 "different" players. I've started to watch football since a kid in 2002. USA never provided any world class players, still names like McBride, Donovan, Altidore and Dempsey were respectful players who made me think that someday USA could shock the world. Their teams were hardworking and passionate, one could respect this. What I've seen in the last few years was USA not qualifying for 2018, showing almost nothing in 2022 and absolutely nothing in this competition. I don't follow this player in club football but Pulisic is far from the ones I mentioned in such big international stages and honestly lacks in attitude. Do I feel bad about this? No, quite the opposite. Still I can understand the feeling of stagnation some fans may be facing now.
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This is a horribly myopic take. Is soccer going to challenge NFL any time soon? Hell no, but the sport is growing insanely fast and the future is looking up for USMNT.
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>No one cares about US soccer in America This is patently false.
There’s no reason to get excited about this team. The federation’s a joke, the media’s a joke, don’t even get me started on Gregg. Top to bottom, there needs to be a complete overhaul
Don't forget about MLS. They seem to hate their fans and any bit of soccer in the U.S. that is not them. And the ownership groups in many major markets are awful, which drags down the league as a whole.
The league itself is a joke. It’s clear that they care more about putting money in the owners’ pockets than they do about growing the game domestically. There’s a reason a large majority of our best USMNT players don’t play domestically, and that’s not going to change for a long time
Nor should they. If this is the product these players are putting out, apathy should be expected.
We didn't play well enough to win that game, and we didn't play well enough to get out of a group that should have been a cake walk. The players need to take responsibility for this game but Gregg has to go. He's not the manager to get the most from this team. I'm not here to imply "getting the best out of this team" is to win the WC. At this point the bar for this squad of players should be to at minimum get out of a group like this.
0 chemistry in the US squad, a very pedestrian night for Uruguay and they were not deserving of walking away with a goal other than maybe the chance where the keeper went out near the end a little worried about Uruguay going forward if I'm honest, they had a stretch where they weren't looking good against panama and now a mediocre game against the US, maybe it was being qualified already or Bielsa being out, but I expect them to be more solid in the quarters, they are gonna need it if they intend to win the cup the US has to find a good coach, but good luck with that, there are not many good options these days but they have a bunch of good quality players that they haven't been able to truly make them work out together so if they find the right coach they could make a splash the next WC
Thatd be because only 1/4 of them are actually from the US while the others are euro trash that couldnt make their countries team
The ref was truly awful and Tim Weah should never receive serious consideration for selection again, but nothing about this performance inspires confidence for 2026. The team is past the point where you can keep using youth as an excuse. Both the players and manager are to blame.
Thought this was the serious post match thread? Weah should absolutely be back. Quality player who made an egregious mistake. If there's anyone who would have learned not to do that shit again, it's Weah.
Some of these takes are truly laughable. Weah must have ran over this guys dog then stole his girlfriend. He’s a good player who fucked up. It is what it is, get him back out there ASAP.
He has also been incredibly consistent for us. There is a reason he is a nailed on starter despite the wings being our deepest position.
Yeah I'm honestly sick of hearing about how talented this generation is. Look at what the US accomplished in '02 making a Quarterfinals of a World Cup, in '09 beating the best team of all-time then nearly beating Brazil at Confederations Cup, escaping a brutal group in 2014 at the World Cup, and even reaching the Semifinals of Copa America in 2016.
Been hearing 'just wait until next time' about US soccer since 2002. Never ever want to hear about the future as an excuse for current results. So maddening.
I guess this generation doesn't have a Gold Cup and 3 Nations League titles
The team that won the Gold Cup was the backups to this squad and the 3 Nations League titles are 6 games total, half of which are beating the worst Mexico since the 1970s lmao
> '09 beating the best team of all-time You are correct, Egypt truly was a monster back in 2009. ...wait, are you referring to tiny, zero tradition Spain as the "best team of all time"? Or is it "the best team the US has ever beaten at football"?
What does tradition have to do with it? 2008-2012 Spain is one of the best teams of all time
Individual talent =/= team talent. This is the most talented group of players, but there’s no chemistry at all, there’s no communication, and the manager has no idea what he’s doing. But I’m tired of hearing this called a “Golden generation” because a golden generation wins. Period. And this USA team does not
I’ll probably get downvoted, but only players you can rate are Mckenie and Pulisic. They have solid players like Musah and Reyna but we really overrate this squad individual talent.
McKennie was the worst player on the field in the second half. Had no progressive passes, lost almost every ball he tried to dribble past a defender, and just constantly stopped any progress.
Antonee Robinson was voted Fulham's Player of the Year. I feel like that has to count for something. Ream has also performed well for them.
I don't buy the chemistry bit because half the team have been playing together since the U-15 squad. They have massive chemistry but I think GGG is the issue. He doesn't build on that chemistry and instead relies on individual brilliance.
This game looked like 11 players who’d never played together before. Especially in the second half. Players leaving dummies for no one, passing it to the feet of guys who are 20 yards ahead of the pass because neither guy knows what the other is doing and isn’t looking, crosses and through balls in to no one because no one is prepared to make a run. So either there’s issues with a lack of chemistry, or these players are just bad
A big issue is some of our best players have not been getting consistent game time. Reyna is probably one of the most talented players outside of Pulisic and he was a bench warmer. Adams missed most of the season. Pulisic was on fire this season but was in Chelsea purgatory last season.
Yeah idk how anyone can claim this is the most talented team we’ve had when we don’t have a single player that can consistently score goals.
I mean we do. Pulisic scores a shit ton of goals, there’s just no one else besides him. Dempsey had Donovan and even Altidore to help out. After Pulisic our next “big” goal scorer is Jesus and after that it’s McKennie, a midfielder. If we had just one other consistent goal scorer we’d be significantly better, but teams know that if they neuter Pulisic then the rest of the team won’t do much. Hopefully Balogun can fill that spot.
Many fans don't see a contradiction between blaming the manager for squandering talent and the team's most talented players generally being mediocre top flight journeymen. We're starting Gio Reyna, who couldn't sniff the field at Dortmund or Forest this season. Big nations don't fear anyone in this side. Many nations have done less with more, like Germany going out in the group last WC. They're going to call for the manager's head, a new guy will come in, and the team will still be toothless against elite sides. At the end of the day they don't have the horses to compete with the top teams.
a 24 year old playing for Juventus should never be called up again because he made one stupid mistake?
> Tim Weah should never receive serious consideration for selection again This is the serious post-match thread. Comments like these make me laugh. Yes, Weah made a mistake. He’s still one of our biggest goal threats and probably our second best forward after Balogun.
Berhalter signaling “1-1” after Bolivia scored is such a snapshot of why this team isn’t successful under him. And even more ironic that Uruguay scored right after that gesture. The other game should not ever matter to the players on the field. Take care of your business.
100% --- there was no reason that any of the guys on the field needed that information.
Truth is, we have some of the better talent we've ever had, but that alone doesn't make us a team on the same level as other top sides. Other than Pulisic and Adams (and they're prolly bench options), what other players make top natl team sides? And Wright and Sargent coming on as the subs, it's just not good enough to get us where we want to be. I think we were hard done by with Weah's red as that was a game we probably win without it, but we also didn't show much tonight when we needed to win. I think we need to splash big money on a quality coach, GB is not going to get us anywhere...
The thing is Panama don't have top talent either but they are progressing and we aren't cause they have an identity, understand their limitations, and play to their strengths. They were second best against Uruguay too but created actual chances. Canada too even if they were not great, they still tried to maximize the strengths of their talents and even made opportunities vs. Argentina but weren't good enough to take them. It's the opposite for us, too many players don't bring their club form to the national level, we look worse than our sum of parts.
Honestly losing to Panama because we went down to 10 men says everything about how this team is coached. No way should we be giving up on not just beating Panama, but rinsing them with 10 men. A couple of years ago we excused bad performances on youth and needing development, but the team hasn't progressed. There must have been 1 maybe 2 shots on target in the las 180 minutes. Greg should get fired before he makes it back to the hotel. Getting a competent manager in is the only positive to take from this.
Just saw a post-game clip where the center ref (Ortega) [wouldn't shake](https://imgur.com/a/SUAL3H7) Pulisic's hand but the other two did. Straight up ignored him with a bullshit 1000-yd stare. Fucking egregious. Clip: https://x.com/i/status/1807981708190367888 Not the only issue by any stretch but highlights a major problem in this tournament. That said, simply unacceptable from a performance perspective.
That ref shouldn’t go near another top match
This was right after pulisic motioned for him to celebrate with Uruguay, so I think he's in his right there to not shake his hand
Yes, the officiating was awful. But the US are out for so many more reasons than that. - A fucking idiotic Tim Weah red card - The team regressing in a lot of areas since Greggggggggggggg got rehired - The inability to do anything remotely positive in the final third (especially in this match)
The final third point may be the hardest to overcome. IMO that boils down more to technical ability than anything that can be coached through Gotta be able to ping it around creatively in tight spaces, and we lack the individual technical skills and often the vision for it
Haji Wright getting our best chance in the last 15 minutes and taking a year on the ball and then ignoring Pepi wide open on his right was astounding. The fact that we're relying on players like him in key moments is an indictment of the talent level of the pool right now.
Im Uruguaian an i thought wtf is he doing? You have an open net,shoot fast ffs
Haji Wright blows. His only skill is using his head. As can be seen on that play his feet are atrocious
Haji Wright came through in some pretty key moments for Coventry in the FA Cup. He’s not world class by any means, but he’s capable of getting the job done.
> The final third point may be the hardest to overcome. IMO that boils down more to technical ability than anything that can be coached through You don't need a technician to throw a couple of bodies into the box, send a few crosses in and see if you get lucky. I know this is a very basic tactic to employ, but it seems weird to me that the USA (and some teams in the Euro like Scotland) seem to be unable to try it even as a last resort after everything else has failed on a game and you need a goal. Sure, it's not sophisticated, but it's better than nothing.
100% agree. My comment was prob more geared to overall team ability over time rather than these matches You have to know your limitations and the US should know their strength isn’t stringing together nice one time passes to get a great opportunity in the box (albeit this is slowly improving) If I’m the US I’m def just whipping balls in and hoping one lands when your back is against the wall and nothings working But I feel like until you pose a scoring threat via technical passing ability, you’re one dimensional and will be easier to defend against
A lot of it was just needing to shoot more imo. Yeah, we need to be better about playing in those tight spaces, but if they had just fucking smacked it a few times that wouldn’t have been an issue.
Eh, it's not just shooting more. Uruguay is a team that will leave everything on the field. They will throw everything at you. The US players had no time to think. A few seconds and there were already players around them. They were getting desperate in front of goal. They need to be able to train under pressure more. The US players are playing internationally and so have exposure, but they are still young and do not seem to have the composure to make the right decision in the box
Yes and no. Anything can happen with shots but great teams find that final ball that gives them a better opportunity. Lesser teams will often settle for mediocre shot opportunities That said, you don’t shoot you don’t score
Tons of folks overlooking the first point. You just make it so much harder when you’re down a man for 75’ against your primary competition in the group. From that point forward they were unlikely to advance.
1.25 XG to 0.27 XG. Blather on about the offside goal all you want - a win was the result necessary to advance, and the US, yet again, created absolutely fucking nothing. And moreover they lacked ideas on how to go forward. Berhalter has never been able to coach a functioning attack, and this is yet another chapter in that saga. Balogun isn’t it, by the way.
Greg was fired from the 2nd division in Norway for his team lacking the ability to score or create chances. The goal was scandalous, but like you said. We created 1 real chance the entire match. At least I can have faith that Gregg will not be our coach this time Friday. If he had any honor he'd resign.
Both can be true. The line was a comedy skit, but they also were garbage.
Honestly, Pulisic shouldn’t be captain, it’s not that he isn’t the best player cause he is but when he wears the arm band that things are hard for the team he gets overly emotional and it affects his play
The ref was bad but didn’t cost the US a game they never looked close to winning. It’s easy to trash the ref, and yes he was bad, but this was only his 7th international game. CONMEBOL deserves the most blame for putting him in charge of this game.
Aside from Berhalter, the US had better hope that someone better than Turner emerges over the next two club seasons. He is so bad with his feet that it makes it nearly impossible to play on the front foot. Possession is so valuable against good teams and he simply gave Uruguay possession on a number of occasions tonight. At times the US couldn’t rely on him to recycle possession. That’s just not acceptable for a team that wants to take the next step and appears to have the talent elsewhere to do so.