I agree Mild. It isn't helping us that father time seems to have finally caught up to Ream. Meaning we need 2 starters back there that can play. And IMO an upgrade at keeper as well.
Is Mauricio Pochettino the right USMNT head coach hire? Tactics, style as US Soccer reportedly makes big but risky splash | Sporting News
U.S. Soccer has made a big splash hiring former Tottenham, PSG, and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino as the next USMNT head coach, but it's not without a few risks as well.www.sportingnews.com
Not 100% confirmed yet, but that’s the rumor. Interesting choice as he seems philosophically and dispositionally not too dissimilar to GB. In any event, he faces the same highly problematic situation as GB - a weak back line that lacks depth. That will be the number one challenge and priority, I suspect.
OT: 2022 World Cup Thread
- Thread starter cshelley
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Yep. And there’s precious little time to find the players and then get them playing well together prior to the next WC. As that article points out, a national team doesn’t have the luxury of unlimited practices ‘cause the players are off with their club teams most of the time.
Probably not what people want to hear, but I think patience may be required.
i'm very fond of Poch and think he was unfairly sacked by Chelsea. But...I do have reservations about how well he can embed his principles with a national team. He usually takes preseason and even in season trainings to get guys used to, and committed to running themselves into the ground. If you're unwilling to run, he's not going to play you. i hope he's successful, not only for us as a national team, but because he deserves to rescue his reputation after taking the blame for two clubs who were highly flawed and dysfunctional.
Anything is better than GGG. At the very least we shouldn't like like Deer In Headlights clueless with some of the lower level CONCACAF teams.
At this point it will be up to the players to step up. Coaching will not be an excuse.
At this point it will be up to the players to step up. Coaching will not be an excuse.
I think it likely that we will still look bad against teams with a pulse until we fix the back line. And I think that’s largely a personnel problem, and worse, a familiarity problem (our current group might all be skilled, and might do okay with their club teams, but they seem to not work well together in USMNT games).
Given such limited time with the players, fixing that problem might be more about selecting a set of skilled players that work well together naturally, than about coaching tactics. In my experience, it’s actually very easy to coach good defending at the back when you have the right players. When you have the wrong players, not necessarily unskilled or slow, just incompatible, it’s next to impossible.
I am curious how much freedom the USMNT coach has to pull in other players. And what kind of visibility the coach is given into alternative players. If he has a lot of freedom and good visibility into potential roster additions, that could be helpful to him. If it were me, I’d be hunting far and wide for new defenders, and not necessarily those playing on club teams in Europe.
Good PR hire, but not sure it will be enough to get into the later rounds of non-CONCACAF tournaments. Good for solidifying a defense but not sure he has the time to fully implement his system. First time as a national team mgr, so he could find himself a bit frustrated. Very good manager with a very good reputation so he will have the players' attention. If he can figure out his best team & possible options, it will be interesting. Will be interesting who he calls in.
His defense works because defending starts from the front, and Poch is good at instilling the principles of his press. He failed at PSG because he had Mbappe, Messi, and Neymar, who all refused to press and had the weight of their superstardom overriding the wishes of the coach. If guys like Weston McKennie or Gio half-ass their roles in the press, they won't play. And that would definitely hurt our ability to progress in your aforementioned non-Concacaf tournaments.
Good PR hire was one of the two main qualifications for this job.
With no real competitive games before the WC, the USMNT needed someone who could make casual fans believe the US could be markedly better without meaningful wins.A good tactician with no name recognition had no chance to do that.
Of course, the other huge question is whether his skills translate to coaching a national team, but major win on the first big step.
In my experience, a solid back line is an absolute prerequisite to employing a high defending style. No matter how good the high defending is, it always results in moments of intense pressure on the back four. IMO, it's a very high risk approach that is only made doable by having a solid to very good back line.
It can always work against weak opponents but we need to prepare to for strong opponents who can handle high pressure with composure. I mean, Mexico tried to use high pressure against us and, in the GB era, we became good enough to beat that pressure regularly, often leading to multiple scoring chances. And we're nowhere near as good as many potential opponents are at handling that kind of high pressure.
My issue with Gio is that he can be a net big asset when he doesn't have a lot of defensive responsibility. No matter how good his work rate is, his relative lack of pace is the problem a coach must account for. For him to be at his most effective for us, he needs to play a certain role that focuses on attacking creativity with a zonal defensive responsibilities only, because that doesn't require him to cover a lot of ground which will never be his forte.
IMO, that role for Gio is only possible with a strong defensive back line. GB tried to play him at wing mid in that last game, with typical defensive responsibilities and that burned out Gio very quickly and often took him away from where he needed to be to quickly facilitate the attack. And he was not highly effective on defense, adding pressure to our weak back line. A lose-lose situation for us.
A summary of the USMNT schedule:
Versus Canada, New Zealand and Panama - September and October, 2024.
Gold Cup - June/July, 2025.
Nations League - September-November, 2025. I think the USA will play 2 or 3 matches, of course depending on how we fare.
The most interesting is the Gold Cup. While the format isn't set, there are rumors that teams from each of the other Confederations will be invited for an expanded 24-team format. I've read that the locations will be held the same sites hosting the 2026 World Cup - so the Gold Cup matches be in USA, Canada and Mexico.
There are lots of slots for friendlies - particularly winter and spring of both 2025 and 2026.
I think this will offer plenty of opportunities for Pochettino to firm up the squad before the World Cup hits.
Versus Canada, New Zealand and Panama - September and October, 2024.
Gold Cup - June/July, 2025.
Nations League - September-November, 2025. I think the USA will play 2 or 3 matches, of course depending on how we fare.
The most interesting is the Gold Cup. While the format isn't set, there are rumors that teams from each of the other Confederations will be invited for an expanded 24-team format. I've read that the locations will be held the same sites hosting the 2026 World Cup - so the Gold Cup matches be in USA, Canada and Mexico.
There are lots of slots for friendlies - particularly winter and spring of both 2025 and 2026.
I think this will offer plenty of opportunities for Pochettino to firm up the squad before the World Cup hits.
Gio can run all Poch wants, Gio’s not gonna be any faster. It’s his pace that’s the problem in a high defending style. The secondary issue is that it wastes Gio’s best contribution to the team.
Doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Does mean it limits the effectiveness.
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