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The USA nationwide crew was defeated by Swtizerland 2-1 as a part of a pleasant forward of Thursday’s Nations League semifinal in opposition to Honduras. Berhalter’s crew began off sturdy however was completed in by a lackluster second half the place it struggled defensively. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta is right here together with his ideas.
BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
Might 30, 2021
7:00 PM
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THE UNITED STATES dropped a 2-1 resolution to Switzerland in St. Gallen in its solely tune-up pleasant forward of the ultimate rounds of the 2021 Nations League – which can open on Thursday in opposition to Honduras in a semifinal in Denver. After six friendlies in opposition to both CONCACAF or lower-level European oppositions, this marked an even bigger problem for Gregg Berhalter’s crew.
Berhalter fielded a robust lineup that used many of the prime gamers that have been obtainable to him. Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson have been out carrying accidents whereas Christian Pulisic and Zack Steffen have been concerned within the Champions League last.
USMNT XI vs SwitzerlandHorvathCannonMcKenzieBrooksDestYueillMcKennie (c)LletgetAaronsonSargentReyna #USMNT
— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) Might 30, 2021
The USA truly opened up on the entrance foot and was the higher crew for lengthy stretches. The U.S. took the lead within the fifth minute when Sebastian Lletget took benefit of a sloppy clearance from Switzerland to place the crew forward.
Sebastian Lletget put dwelling his seventh #USMNT objective and third of 2021 to provide the #USMNT the lead vs. Switzerland.#SUIvUSApic.twitter.com/ACTKQS2TFF
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) Might 30, 2021
However from there, Switzerland was capable of claw its method again. Within the tenth minute, the U.S. crew left an excessive amount of area on a counter assault and a cross-field go discovered Torino’s Ricardo Rodriguez who was broad open. His shot deflected off Reggie Cannon and previous Ethan Horvath – who had no probability – for an equalizer.
Simply earlier than halftime, Switzerland was awarded a penalty after a handball name on Sergino Dest. On the following kick, nonetheless, Rodriguez missed the web with a low shot to the proper. Horvath guessed accurately however the shot missed the goal.
Within the second half, Switzerland modified formation and the U.S. the benefit of play it had from the primary half. Steven Zuber gave the Swiss the lead within the 63rd minute after a botched set of clearances – that was magnified by an error from Dest.
“We definitely lost compactness in the second half,” Berhalter mentioned. “It became difficult to press. They changed their shape to a 5-3-2, having a central midfielder behind their pressing forward – and we didn’t solve that well. It started to open up space, it gave them time on the ball. It forced our backline to move back a bit. That created even more space in the midfield. When they dropped one of their strikers down, also, they started creating numbers there. We didn’t do the best job dealing with it.”
“I was really happy with the effort of the guys – the will, and the effort to keep going, keep pressing, keep trying to impose our game on them,” he added. “But in the end of the day, in the second half, I think we came up a little short.”
Switzerland was capable of see out the victory and the U.S. crew misplaced its capacity to aggressively strain the Swiss protection.
Listed here are my ideas on the sport:
U.S. midfield/assault began sturdy
The U.S. crew began off sturdy and Berhalter was fast to enhance this space of the crew. He preferred the wing play from Aaronson and Reyna whereas additionally indicating Josh Sargent’s hold-up play was efficient.
Within the midfield, Lletget was efficient and it wasn’t simply his objective. He accomplished 93% of his passing, and gained a strong proportion of his duels..
Sebastian Lletget’s uncooked # vs. Switzerland61 minutes65 touches4 pictures (2 heading in the right direction)1 goal1 key pass41/44 passing (93%)2/5 crossing1/1 lengthy balls5/7 duels won1/4 tackling0 dribbles1x fouled0 aerial attempts- Good numbers. He performed properly.
— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) Might 30, 2021
In the meantime, Weston McKenie lined floor, introduced power, and helped with the crew’s passing vary. Jackson Yueill, in the meantime, was good with the ball and his passing was fairly good. His protection was blended. He learn the sport to interrupt up passing lanes and choose up inceptions however he didn’t shut down on defenders fast sufficient. That might want to enhance for him to take care of the Tyler Adams backup No. 6 function. Nonetheless, he was fairly good general.
The second half was way more disjointed however this exhibits that the crew will have to be versatile to regulate to totally different seems to be from opponents.
You would simply inform that Switzerland was a veteran crew that had performed collectively for years and was comfy altering approaches whereas keep chemistry. The U.S. crew, for all its expertise, remains to be new to one another and is within the strategy of studying a system underneath Berhalter.
“It was very positive to go away, and just have the attitude of how we want to play and the positioning and the intention to be very aggressive, very high pressing, pinning them in, being very aggressive with balls that came out,” Berhalter mentioned. “That’s what I envision this group of being able to do. Over the course of 90 minutes, we lost a bit of that power to be able to do it. Overall, I think the guys did a great job. The game plan was there, we were able to move the ball, create the goal-scoring opportunities and really put them in a bunch of trouble. To me, it’s positive. I don’t love the result.”
“It’s a great measuring stick,” he added. “This is a team that has been playing together for a really long time. It’s the same group Switzerland has had for the last four years or five years. It’s a mature group. It’s an older group than our guys. We can look at it as what this team could be in the future.”
The U.S. crew remains to be constructing, and it gained’t get there in a single day. The Swiss crew is the completed product and their capacity to vary approaches on the fly is without doubt one of the advantages of that.
Transition protection wants to enhance
The U.S. crew wants to regulate to moving into higher defensive positioning after a turnover, or when the opponent is on a counter assault. That has been an issue in current video games and was an even bigger drawback in opposition to Switzerland.
On Switzerland’s first objective, the U.S. crew merely allowed method an excessive amount of area on the far facet of the sector. A well-executed lengthy go throughout the sector opened up the play and the U.S. crew was compelled into emergency defending.
The U.S. is an aggressive crew. Its fullbacks wish to push ahead, Weston McKennie likes to push ahead. There are occasions when it’s susceptible when possession modifications shortly. Good groups like Switzerland will make them pay.
Dest & Protection struggled within the second half
Sergino Dest is definitely one of the crucial proficient American gamers and there’s a good cause why he deservedly begins for Barcelona. At present was not one in all his higher days – and that is granting the penalty as unlucky accident that might have occurred to any defender.
There have been a couple of instances when Dest confirmed his elite high quality and was a part of good possibilities. However defensively he was careless at a couple of essential moments and was additionally dispossessed a couple of different moments.
He’s been so good for the crew that it makes some subpar video games comprehensible however this was merely a sport the place he was off.
As for the remainder of the protection, it was out of synch too typically. John Brooks had a whole lot of work to do with Dest sometimes trying to get additional up the sector. Sadly, Brooks was unable to at all times stick with the gamers he was guarding. McKenzie had extra success on condition that he had extra defensive assist from Cannon, the fullback, on his facet.
Participant Scores
Starters
Ethan Horvath: 6.5: The Colorado keeper was put in contact conditions by his protection however did a good job. He couldn’t have completed something for both objective.
Reggie Cannon: 5.5: No main errors from Cannon and he was fairly good on the restricted moments he pressed ahead.
John Brooks: 4.5: Struggled in a number of 1v1 conditions and in emergency defending. He’s undoubtedly able to extra.
Mark McKenzie: 5.5: Benefited from having a extra defensive fullback on his facet but additionally was the crew’s greatest defender on the day.
Sergino Dest: 4.5: Robust day for Dest who confirmed a whole lot of high quality but additionally made some key errors that have been pricey.
Jackson Yueill: 5.5: The San Jose defensive midfielder was good with the ball but additionally wanted to shut down on area higher:
Weston McKennie: 6.0: The Juventus midfielder introduced power to the sport on each side of the ball. The sport would have been worse for the U.S. crew with out McKennie.
Sebastian Lletget: 6.5: The Bay Space native was the very best U.S. area participant on the day. He took a whole lot of pictures, was good together with his passing, and deserved the objective. His aggression helped.
Giovani Reyna: 6.5: Whereas Reyna was pissed off on the day, he was additionally one of many few American gamers who had an excellent day on the workplace. He was additionally concerned in most of no matter harmful performs the U.S. crew had.
Brenden Aaronson: 5.5: The Salzburg attacker is enjoying on the wing however is a greater central attacking midfielder. He began off the sport enjoying properly however drained within the second half.
Josh Sargent: 5.5: It was good maintain up play from Sargent however he nonetheless wasn’t capable of threaten an excessive amount of.
Substitutes
Kellyn Acosta: 5.5: Acosta accomplished an ideal 14/14 of his passes.
Tim Ream: 5.0: Obtained away with one mistake in a play with Dest.
Yunus Musah: 5.5: Introduced some power into the midfield however wasn’t part of something harmful.
Jordan Siebatcheu: 4.5: Simply three touches in 18 minutes. He must get extra concerned.
Tim Weah: 5.0: Was a part of one half-dangerous probability in his 18 minutes of motion.
DeAndre Yedlin: NR: Performed 9 minutes, however wasn’t a part of something vital.
Author : usa-foot
Publish date : 2025-01-02 03:20:07
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