USA taking on Uruguay tonight in what should be a very pro-USA crowd in St Louis. Coverage of USA-Uruguay begins at 7 p.m. CST on FS1, Univision and TUDN

USA DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS):

GOALKEEPERS (2): 12-Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas; 0/0), 1-Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC; 60/0)

DEFENDERS (8): 20-Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas; 7/0), 18-Sergio Dest (Ajax/NED; 1/0), 2-Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes; 7/0), 3-Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 12/2), 16-Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact/CAN; 9/0),) 13-Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 35/1), 22-Miles Robinson (Atlanta United FC; 1/0), 4-Walker Zimmerman (LAFC; 11/2)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 17-Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 10/2), 24-Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas; 0/0), 7-Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 15/0), 6-Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; 20/0), 14-Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 2/0)

FORWARDS (5): 27-Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake; 3/0), 21-Tyler Boyd (Besiktas/TUR; 6/2), 11-Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 34/5), 19-Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen/GER; 8/2), 9-Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew SC; 52/10)

No blue star. You've failed us

Oh Zardes!
Some of the twitter replies are kinda brutal.

wangus12 said:

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No blue star. You've failed us

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I knew I messed something up...



Dear soccer gods and Texags Soccer Forum,

Please forgive my reckless and irresponsible transgressions. I pray for grace and forgiveness for jinxing the USMNT tonight with my poor thread title.



I also pray that Berhalter stops screwing up.

The 1 day coup attempt hasn't ended like I hoped but I'll try again when you guys forget about this.

In an attempt to refocus our gaze onto the game, let me say that we're gonna get waxed tonight. This roster looks horrendous and we really have a sad state of affairs in US soccer right now. I think GB is in over his head and we also have a mediocre player pool.

I just know that Ol lead-foot Zardes and Trapp will probably give my TV some kind of video AIDS so I'm probably going to wipe it down with antibacterial wipes before the game.

In before MLS is the reason USMNT is terrible.

ja86 said:

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abacavir said:

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In before MLS is the reason USMNT is terrible.

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how about we shorten it to just Berhalter is terrible....

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Berhalter's biggest problem is that we don't have the players he needs to run his system and we probably won't for awhile, if ever. I don't understand why he's so hellbent on making this work.

Let's just go back to solid defense and counterattacking....

I see game as starting @ 7 Central

tysker said:

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I see game as starting @ 7 Central

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same

OregonAggie said:

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ja86 said:

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abacavir said:

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In before MLS is the reason USMNT is terrible.

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how about we shorten it to just Berhalter is terrible....

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Berhalter's biggest problem is that we don't have the players he needs to run his system and we probably won't for awhile, if ever. I don't understand why he's so hellbent on making this work.

Let's just go back to solid defense and counterattacking....

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you will never truly win anything if that is your style of play

Changed that

PatAg said:

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OregonAggie said:

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ja86 said:

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abacavir said:

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In before MLS is the reason USMNT is terrible.

---

how about we shorten it to just Berhalter is terrible....

---

Berhalter's biggest problem is that we don't have the players he needs to run his system and we probably won't for awhile, if ever. I don't understand why he's so hellbent on making this work.

Let's just go back to solid defense and counterattacking....

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you will never truly win anything if that is your style of play

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I don't know that I'd fully agree with that. Atletico Madrid has been very competitive in Spain by doing this. The USMNT has long had a tight defense and counterattacking style and this led to multiple gold cups, a runner up performance in the Confederations Cup, and many World Cup knockout stage performances.

Moving past that argument, do you expect this team to win anything right now with this player pool? I don't. This team has proven that it can't beat a good team by playing Berhalter ball and I think it's because we don't have the players. Why are we asking our players to play out if the back when we don't have the talent to do it? That's on GB.

GB's tactics might work if he were coaching Spain or Brazil or Germany....he's not though. He has to change or we won't make the next World Cup.

OregonAggie said:

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PatAg said:

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OregonAggie said:

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ja86 said:

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abacavir said:

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In before MLS is the reason USMNT is terrible.

---

how about we shorten it to just Berhalter is terrible....

---

Berhalter's biggest problem is that we don't have the players he needs to run his system and we probably won't for awhile, if ever. I don't understand why he's so hellbent on making this work.

Let's just go back to solid defense and counterattacking....

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you will never truly win anything if that is your style of play

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I don't know that I'd fully agree with that. Atletico Madrid has been very competitive in Spain by doing this. The USMNT has long had a tight defense and counterattacking style and this led to multiple gold cups, a runner up performance in the Confederations Cup, and many World Cup knockout stage performances.

Moving past that argument, do you expect this team to win anything right now with this player pool? I don't. This team has proven that it can't beat a good team by playing Berhalter ball and I think it's because we don't have the players. Why are we asking our players to play out if the back when we don't have the talent to do it? That's on GB.

GB's tactics might work if he were coaching Spain or Brazil or Germany....he's not though. He has to change or we won't make the next World Cup.

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I didn't say we need to only do what Berhalter attempted in that friendly, though I personally think the mistake was personnel based on not just tactics. I think the goal is to be able to play out the back and maintain possession when the tactics of the game need it, not just only do it. I also don't see a world where Trapp or Zardes are starting meaningful games, and if they do then Berhalter was a mistake.

You argument is we had some good performances, which is true advancing to knockout rounds is a great accomplishment, but the goal is to actually become a country that contends for World Cups I think GB is foolish to think he can force square pegs into round holes, but I think it is realistic to expect the US as a whole to progress towards that goal.
You see it at the club level, and youth levels the past 5-6 years, most are trending towards better possession and pose on the ball, more technically gifted players who also move well off the ball and think ahead. There is a reason we are putting a lot of young players into European leagues. It's not something that happens overnight.
The real question will be, can Greg adapt tactics in game, we have the player pool to really wreak havoc on teams in transition, and ball hound the hell out of the midfield. As useful as it could be in his mind to commit to practicing building out of the back, its probably equally useful for him to actually recognize the opportunities in game, see if he can communicate to his players, and see if those players can execute the tactical changes.

I saw an article about it online, but it's a bit naive of Greg to think he can implement a complicated system like this with players he doesnt train with year round.

Starting lineup today:

We got some youngins out there boys.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote but I'll just say that the playing out of the back isn't always a bad thing....unless you play a high press team. Which Maurice Edu is saying this right now on the pregame.

I'll also say that I think we need to focus on defense and counterattack now but we can absolutely move to a possession game/wide open offense when our player pool improves. If he keeps making us play like this, we're gonna lose every game against a like or better opponent.

I have to say I really don't get how pomykal didn't start or play in the last game, and is not starting this game. He's out playing every other option in mls in league play, and he played aweskme in the u-20 World Cup this summer.
Maybe I'm somehow over rating him because I'm an FC Dallas fan but I'm usually pretty good about not doing that. And numerous people who analyze soccer for a living speak about his ability as well.

The whole thing is stupid though because I like the other midfielders that are playing this game too and it's so dumb that none of them are going to play with Pulisic or McKinney because we had to play trapp

Totally agree with you. To me, Berhalter has to prove that he can adapt to what his happening in the game. A real coach can adjust in game to take advantage of. What the opponent is doing and leaving open

We can also agree on being FC Dallas fans. I'll definitely be buying tickets to the FCD game when they play here in Austin and wearing red, white, and blue!

I would really love to know how GB truly rates Trapp. If he is just playing him as someone who understands the role of the 6 in this system so others can adapt, I understand it. I think it's stupid but I at least understand it.
If he actually rates Trapp at this level of play and thinks he belongs, than we are in trouble.

Holy crap Tyler Boyd is going to regret not scoring today. Missed a shot from inside the 6 off a cross....yikes

Tyler Boyd is this generation's wondo apparently.

Boyd needs to finish that.

Every generation needs a wondo...

This team is starting to cause me more grief than A&M and that takes some doing

This is a much better performance than the Mexico game.

JJxvi said:

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Boyd sucks, he should move to MLS just so everybody that only judges by the crest on the club shirt will realize it.

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Boyd looked good in his first few matches... since then....

Mexico played with a purpose, uraguay not so much. .. and no trapproblem and brick.