Meh. It's a friendly. And we played like it was one. When you make 6 subs (or 7) in 45 minutes you are going to be disjointed.

Not sure where to put some generic USMNT discussion, but I just read through this twitter thread and I think he has some interesting points.
I think most of us were pretty set with Musah, McKennie, Adams midfield, primarily because no other players were really establishing themselves on their level.

However with Aaronson continuining to improve, Weah being in great form and also improving, you then have those two along with Reyna and Pulisic.

I like his thought about when we know teams are just going to sit back and try to be hard to play through, we need to get 3 of those players on the field. I just dont think, currently, Musah and McKennie are good enough yet at linking into the attack.

Like others have said before, our whole player pool is still so young and developing it could change between now and the World Cup too.

Anyone else feel the same?

That's not a bad thought. We definitely need to figure out how to be more creative when teams park the bus.

Personally, I think we need Pulisic to run inside all the time. Almost to the point of making him a 10. Jedi provides good width on that side. I've yet to see Pulisic make a really compelling cross, but it he's outstanding with the ball at his feet and draws a ton of attention when he cuts inside.

Also I'll probably be run out on a rail for suggesting this, but I've often thought that we shouldn't play Adams when we know the other team is going to park the bus. Not saying it should be Acosta instead, but it might be good to try Musah or McKennie out as a 6 and bring Aaronson in. That said, I did see Adams try to get involved in an attack yesterday which was encouraging. I wasn't looking for it so I'm not sure how often it occurred but one time I definitely spotted him make a pass and then run into the box looking for a 1-2. It's something Leipzig have had him do a lot more.

deadbq03 said:

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That's not a bad thought. We definitely need to figure out how to be more creative when teams park the bus.

Personally, I think we need Pulisic to run inside all the time. Almost to the point of making him a 10. Jedi provides good width on that side. I've yet to see Pulisic make a really compelling cross, but it he's outstanding with the ball at his feet and draws a ton of attention when he cuts inside.

Also I'll probably be run out on a rail for suggesting this, but I've often thought that we shouldn't play Adams when we know the other team is going to park the bus. Not saying it should be Acosta instead, but it might be good to try Musah or McKennie out as a 6 and bring Aaronson in. That said, I did see Adams try to get involved in an attack yesterday which was encouraging. I wasn't looking for it so I'm not sure how often it occurred but one time I definitely spotted him make a pass and then run into the box looking for a 1-2. It's something Leipzig have had him do a lot more.

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That's a good point regarding Adams, he has clearly been working on the offensive portion of his game.

I agree with you on Jedi providing great width, and his crossing has improved a lot. My only real issue with Pulisic pushing inside is that he tends to then clog up the middle, which somewhat prevents Musah from getting on the ball and doing this thing. That might just be on Pulisic still needing to learn to move more off the ball more consistently, he has shown he can make those nice runs in behind.

It might sound dumb, but I think as we have more positions on the field filled with players that can be dangerous on the ball and maintain possession, its actually going to unlock Pulisic to impact the game even more.

I think one issue GGG needs to work though is how to handle Weston in the MMA midfield with CP. It seems like both Weston and CP are given freedom to roam. Then Weston runs himself out of defensive form to be an outlet for an attacking CP it opens up so much space on that left side which exposed Scally. Adams could never cover that much ground to slow counters.

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It might sound dumb, but I think as we have more positions on the field filled with players that can be dangerous on the ball and maintain possession, its actually going to unlock Pulisic to impact the game even more.

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Creating the extra space for CP is a key but one I think teams can strategize around. Weston is more of a industrious player and Musah can be slow with his decision making and dribble himself into bad spots. I think teams will give both those guys a little more time and space on the ball while shading a body toward CP. At least for now

tysker said:

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It might sound dumb, but I think as we have more positions on the field filled with players that can be dangerous on the ball and maintain possession, its actually going to unlock Pulisic to impact the game even more.

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Creating the extra space for CP is a key but one I think teams can strategize around. Weston is more of a industrious player and Musah can be slow with his decision making and dribble himself into bad spots. I think teams will give both those guys a little more time and space on the ball while shading a body toward CP. At least for now

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For sure, I am not remotely upset if we go with the MMA midfield as it stands now, without accounting for any development by them between now and the World Cup.

I think there is room for us to run different starting lineups based on the opponent, or even situationally within a game. We have real depth at positions now, its awesome

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It might sound dumb, but I think as we have more positions on the field filled with players that can be dangerous on the ball and maintain possession, its actually going to unlock Pulisic to impact the game even more.

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I don't think it's dumb at all. I think in the past, Pulisic doesn't necessarily trust the other plays to combine off of, so he goes hero ball and dribbles himself into dead ends. He's starting to truly trust players to combine off of and the last two matches he's shown he's less likely to dribble into deadends.

The combination he played with McKennie in the Uruguay game was great.

Yep, there were several games in qualifying that CP was almost a liability on offense because he'd put his head down and dribbling directly to the top of the 18 and lose the ball when he ran into a clump of defenders. He's actually starting to play off of his teammates and it's starting to open things up for us.

akm91 said:

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It might sound dumb, but I think as we have more positions on the field filled with players that can be dangerous on the ball and maintain possession, its actually going to unlock Pulisic to impact the game even more.

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I don't think it's dumb at all. I think in the past, Pulisic doesn't necessarily trust the other plays to combine off of, so he goes hero ball and dribbles himself into dead ends. He's starting to truly trust players to combine off of and the last two matches he's shown he's less likely to dribble into deadends.

The combination he played with McKennie in the Uruguay game was great.

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Would you trust some of those guys he had to chose from?

I mean they're some of the same guys he's trusting now, so yes.

jeffk said:

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I mean they're some of the same guys he's trusting now, so yes.

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Exactly. Other than the revolving #9's, it's pretty much the same front 7.

jeffk said:

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I mean they're some of the same guys he's trusting now, so yes.

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Arriola, Zardes, Leget...etc.

Ken Scarborough said:

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jeffk said:

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I mean they're some of the same guys he's trusting now, so yes.

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Arriola, Zardes, Leget...etc.

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I mean Arriola and CP started together and both scored in that dismantling of Panama back in March. Zardes and Lletget are both fringe guys who are trending down and out of a roster spot (which I think is a good sign for squad strength and depth). My point is that CP has improved his approach and is now being better at trusting his teammates (many of which are the same from early this calendar year to now) and that has improved our level of attacking play.

Zardes did start in that disaster-class up in Canada in January. Which I think may have been the final straw for him even though I think GB and the whole team just laid a collective egg that day.