The USMNT was not able to advance beyond the round of 16 in spite of having perhaps a decent matchup in that round. Not to take anything away from the Netherlands, but at least on paper they weren’t as scary a matchup as Brazil, Portugal, France or even Argentina could’ve been. Still, the USMNT didn’t really compete. That may very well be the first thing that we have to acknowledge about the USMNT to be able to move forward.
It’s a little bit like what happened with Canada throughout the tournament. You pressed a seemingly better team, and you controlled the peace of the game, but you lost! For the USMNT the saddest part is that whenever the Netherlands got near the box there were not a ton of answers defensively. As previously mentioned the Netherlands aren’t exactly a team that people considered a world class, title contending, squad. The fact that things got difficult when the Netherlands got near the box brings us to our first reality check.
The Defensive Line For The USMNT Is Very Average
This was a concern for the team heading into the tournament, as was the goalkeeper spot. Matt Turner though proved to be one of the bright spots on the squad. Zimmerman, and Tim Ream were not necessarily challenged too much throughout the group stage. Whenever the Netherlands found them in the open space they just couldn’t keep up. The mistakes that they ended up making in the back are inexcusable for players with their years of experience.
They got caught looking for the ball instead of looking for who they’re supposed to mark. At their age it was a spot in which we expected changes regardless of their play in this tournament. Center back is traditionally a strong position with the USMNT, but that has changed a bit. To be fair to both center backs their left and right backs are not great defenders either. There’s a reason why Xavi didn’t want Dest at Barcelona. The answer is pretty good against good teams; he’s a liability defensively, particularly as the game wears on.
You Need A Better Answer Upfront
Josh Sargent tried his best, but clearly he’s not a world class talent, that’s just a fact. What can we expect him or Jesús Ferreira or even Ricardo Pepi to develop into? Each of them can turn into a decent player in their own right. They haven’t proven to be game altering players to this point in their careers. Now, it’s extremely early to judge their careers by their World Cup performances. What we are saying though is that you can’t arrive at a World Cup with such an average offensive presence and expect to progress deep into the tournament. We’re not even saying that your number 9 needs to be an extremely prolific goal scorer. You can make do with a fighter up there that can create space for others. That just wasn’t the case for any of the US’ options at this particular tournament.
The Coaching Chair Could Need An Upgrade
You know what you get from Berhalter. It’s the 4-3-3 with high pressure. That middle of the field really allows the team to function at a high level. The biggest issue with Berhalter may be that he doesn’t have too many answers when something goes wrong. In a winner take all game he takes arguably his best player Weston McKinney off the field. That’s the same change that he made in all the games. We could talk about Weston’s stamina being an issue, and that’s fair. Still Berhalter doesn’t give you anything special in the coaching chair.
