Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - Episode 111: USA v Canada, a referendum on Berhalter only in our minds

Episode Date: November 13, 2019

We do actually think of a couple tweaks Berhalter could make that would inject this game with some hope and joy. Before that we talk about Earnie Stewart’s assessment of Berhalter’s performance in comments to reporters, give a sense of what the Canadian player pool is up to these days, and discuss potential lineups for both teams on Friday. At the end we briefly discuss the U23 Olympic qualifying camp in the Canary Islands. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the scuffed podcast. I'm Adam Bells in Minneapolis. With me is Greg Velasquez in Des Moines. We talk about U.S. men's soccer. The U.S. men's national team faces Canada on Friday night in a quote-unquote must-win game. Christian Pulisic will not be available. There is much to discuss. Greg, how are you? Bells, I'm good. I'm glad we've graduated from meaningless friendlies to meaningless must-win games. Yeah, I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to feel. about this whole situation, hoping you can help me figure it out? I mean, I think we know what it is, right? Like, there's no real accountability. So it's just a matter of sort of circling the wagons, protecting the guy that, in Ernie

Stewart's case, I'm referring, obviously, to Ernie Stewart's comments about Burrhalter's job, not being on the line because it's just one game, even though, again, they've said it's just one game six or seven times so far in the Burrhalter era. He's clearly protecting the guy that he chose. That's sort of the one thing he's done so far besides being promoted. So he's going to sort of die on this hill. Yeah, it does appear that way. Or climb this hill to World Cup triumph.

Man, is that hard to see at this point? So, yeah, as you alluded to U.S. soccer is calling it a must-win game. And it is if we want to advance in Conca Calf Nation's League. But let's get that one thing out of the way that you also already. alluded to Greg Berhalter's job is not on the line. Stephen Goff from the Washington Post and a few other reporters got on a conference call with Ernie Stewart. Scuffed was not invited to the conference call.

Didn't know about it. And Stewart said this, we're looking at the future. So when I evaluate Greg and the staff, what I've seen today, I'm a pleased man. An individual result is not going to change that. It's just not. I've seen that progress. And when you look at these individual results of the Canada away game, no, we weren't happy. We weren't happy at all.

We have now a moment to rectify that. this Friday is about that we need to perform okay i mean so like we weren't i guess we aren't worried about rectifying the mexico friendly we're we're just now focused on the latest game that we have to rectify yeah there's so many ways to attack this freight all these phrases from ernie and and you know there's a feeding frenzy on twitter today about it let me just read a couple more things he says i have no fear at all that we are not going to qualify for the world cup i am very very confident of that uh never mind the construction of the sentence. I think what he means is he's very, very confident that we will

qualify for the World Cup. Sure, sure. Even though, you know, a grammarian might argue that he actually said the opposite. And then asked to describe signs of progress, which I think is kind of the key question here. He said, quote, everybody looks back at the last result. That wasn't good enough. However, I've seen, I'll reference first 25 minutes versus Mexico in the Gold Cup. Our players show they can perform at a really high level. There have been some other games. Now, that is a quote that Goff related to us via Twitter.com. There may have been more to it, but I think that was probably the essence of it.

Goff is a reputable reporter. Greg, any off the top of your head reactions to those comments? All right. So you can start immediately with if you only have 25 minutes of good level play to fall back on, that's already kind of a red flag. Secondly, those 25 minutes that were legitimately competitive with Mexico, and we actually, you know, threatened their goal several times, came from playing sort of the opposite of Burrhalter ball. It was actually like the style of play. Burrhalter criticized his own players for playing following the game and ahead of the friendly.

And then I believe following the friendly as well, as in we were too eager to play direct. So he's essentially saying that's not how I want to play. So all of the success that Ernie is referring to came from the type of play that Berhalter doesn't want to play. So if you're looking for progress or signs that Burhalter's style is working or being implemented successfully, the last thing you can really do is invoke the first 25 minutes of the Mexico Gold Cup final. Yeah, it's really disappointing statement from Ernie because it seems like he doesn't care when he says that kind of stuff. You know, it's like he doesn't even care to come up with a compelling case. Right.

And what's funny about that is he wasn't obligated to do this, right? He literally had a press conference just to essentially say that Burrhalter is safe. He didn't have to do that. There was no, he wasn't, you know, pinned by a reporter somewhere and forced to sort of answer some questions off the cuff. Like, they called this press conference. Is that your understanding? Yeah, that's my understanding.

And to be clear, I'm glad he did it. I'm glad he had a press conference. I think you should have more press conferences. I'm glad he did it, but the answer just indicates it's just shoddy. It's like, no, that is not evidence of progress. I mean, maybe there's something, you know, there could have been something else. There could be other things that he's seeing that are progress. That, you know, behind the scenes, buy in from the players maybe.

Or, you know, he sees the games in ways that maybe we don't. Like if we do a couple of these things a little bit better, then Burrhalter's system will start to work better. But no, he spot, like you said, he spotlights a passage of play where we lump the ball to Altador's head and got two scoring chances from it as evidence that Burrhalter is having success. And then he says there have been other games. And so he doesn't even know which games he's talking about. I don't think there have. There haven't been other games. There was, there was one.

We've talked about this on the podcast, right? The first 15 minutes against Jamaica in the goal cup semifinal. when we looked really good. We did actually look really good. Yeah, we were lights out for 20 minutes. And then they actually shut the lights off in the stadium. And we had to adjust after that. And we didn't do a very good job of adjusting after that or since, for that matter.

Yeah, Jamaica adjusted to us. We did not adjust to Jamaica's adjustments. And even though we won the game, it wasn't a pleasant viewing experience from the U.S. fans' perspective. We should go back, though, because, again, I feel like, Ernie could have made a little bit better case. And you kind of alluded to it, but other smart people are sort of defending Burrhalter, at least defending, saying that maybe we're a bit too reactionary and trying to at least point out specific examples within games of like, here's something you can see where a slightly

better execution, maybe if we have slightly better players available back from injury, like suddenly maybe we're cooking a little bit here. Right. I don't think that was the exact phrase they would have used because nobody says that. I say it. I say it sometimes. As soon as we're cooking, Greg, I'm going to say that we're cooking. But that's really, we have to start.

Somebody needs to like, if we're going to make that case, somebody needs to actually present that case. Because I don't think I've seen it presented. I just see a lot of people saying this is going to take time. But it's like, yes, it will take time. But we're not guaranteed that there will be progress over time. There's no guarantee that that will happen. certainly not with the coach we've chosen. Yeah.

Well, so there are, like you said, there are people doing a better job of defending Burrhalter than Stuart is. I feel like now is a good time to air those views. There's a good segment from Bobby Warshot at the end of Friday's edition of The Total Soccer Show, which I recommend you listen to, where Warshaw says he gives Burrhalter a longer leash the most because A, it was always going to take time to implement a possession base. style with the national team. B, Warshaw's not sure the idea of treating the national team like a club team that is picking 20 players and sticking with them isn't actually a good idea as a way to get a competitive advantage even though the U.S. is not a true pure soccer nation like the big

dogs on the world stage. And then C, the only thing that matters is the hex. So we have to judge Burrhalter on that alone. Do you want to react to that before I read the dummy runs statement? So I appreciate that that line of reasoning from Worshaw. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it was nice to sort of hear it actually laid out like that. I'd seen something similar, I think, from somebody on Twitter, Kartik Krishnyer at KK-FLA 737, who has a lot, who makes a lot of like sort of, to me, feels like sort of out there claims, but he always seems to actually be trying to back him up somehow. And it was something similar where one of the advantages Burrhalter has and trying to implement a system is this sort of built-in January camp that most other national team managers don't have access to.

Ah, January camp. If we choose our players from MLS and sort of lean on those players, then Burrhalter gets an extra five to six weeks every year to train with them. You know, it's a double-edged sword. It means their club season is sort of not running the same. calendars, everyone else's club season. But I think it's okay to at least put that argument out there. You know, the implicit in that is that MLS players are going to be sort of favored over non-MLS players, which a lot of people have said is not the case.

That's not what happens. USF, they pick the best players. You know, these MLS guys are just better than the guys who are not getting called up. So, you know, it's not like Burhalter specifically said, no, I'm choosing these. players because I have more access to them. I feel like at some point, are we going to hear that? Are they going to specifically say that? Or is that not something you can ever say?

Yeah, I don't think it's something that can ever be said. But I mean, Burhalter has made it clear with his selections and with his language about the group that this is the group, you know, this group that is, you know, roughly 75% made up of January camp call-ups. I cannot believe that this is true. So my big problem with that is I think you're actually in this scenario creating a locker room problem. And I know it sort of started to recirculate the Jeff Cameron piece from following the Kuva disaster about, you know, Cameron was sort of suggesting that there's a divide between the MLS guys and the guys who play in Europe. And I think Cameron's stance was that U.S. soccer should be trying to encourage as many as possible to actually flee MLS.

to go to Europe once they've maxed their potential in MLS. But with what sort of warshawn, with what Chris and I are saying is the exact opposite. And that's really what seems like it's been playing out is we've gone the other way, where if there's even a question between a couple of guys, we're going to go with the MLS guys and hopefully the extra time and training that you get with MLS guys will be the difference maker. Yeah. And I think that can lead to some real locker room issues. The same way people criticize our obsession with getting the young guys in there because

one of the things I'll say is that really can destroy a locker room because you have guys jumping the line or they're perceived to have not earned it. It sure seems like that perception is going to exist in a men's national team locker room where Daniel Levitz becomes an untouchable player in the pool. Right. And to be fair, as we always are on this podcast, there's only, you know, really two guys, I think, who are clearly, well, there are two guys who are, for me, obvious call-ups who weren't called up. And those are Dwayne Holmes and Matt Miasga. They were left off in favor of, you know, Christian Roldon, Jackson Ewell, you know, whoever you want to pick in that midfield.

And Walker Zimmerman. Will Trap. Will Trap. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I guess there's an argument for Julian Green, an argument for Fabian Johnson. I mean, there are a few others. But it's not like, just to be fair, it's not like this isn't an elephant in the room at the moment, I don't think. Well, I even want to be done with that sort of line of thought because, again, I'll keep saying, I don't know that Dwayne Holmes is going to come in and be a U.S. men's national team caliber player. The game that he looked good in was against Jamaica, and Jamaica were not an excellent team. So maybe he's going to come in, and he's not capable of making a difference against Mexico or Canada either.

I don't know that. What I think is basically, like, ridiculous is that in this time of transition where the U.S. team is turning over its entire roster from the 2018 cycle, almost, that we're just not even taking any, there is no process to identify who should be transitioning in. Like that's what I'm saying is that part of Burrhalter's job is exploring and identifying. So the fact that he doesn't call up a Dwayne Holmes shows that he doesn't feel that any exploration is necessary. It's not that I think Dwayne Holmes for sure solves it. So when people are talking about, well, there's no obvious snubs. Of course there aren't any obvious snubs. There's no obvious player pool at the moment other than Christian Poole Sick and Tyler Adams.

You know what I mean? So there aren't any obvious players. So part of what we need to do is be exploring. and when you keep calling up players who have shown that they are non-difference makers, then you're saying, I don't even need to go through the process. I'm just good with what I've got. Okay, fair. Can't disagree there.

Let me read something from an anonymous friend of ours on Twitter, The Dummy Run. He follows NYCFC and the national team when it suits him. He has watched the Canada match, oh, a thousand times, I believe, and here's his take. Burrhalter is a thoughtful, communicative soccer coach who has demonstrated that he can coach effective possession soccer. He's gradually implementing it at the national team level and has buy-in from his players. It will be effective if and when they've had enough time to train. Key players are available and some of these kids y'all hype come good and fill holes in the roster.

End quote. So there's another sort of patient take, kind of a similar flavor to Warshaas, I'd say. Well, I don't necessarily think he's going with the warsaw row. I think he's basically saying that what Burhol does trying to implement is sound. And when we get certain players back from injury, probably, I mean, Dr. and Tyler Adams, maybe Tim Wea, we're adding Sergenio Dest into the mix now. That that will sort of put us over the edge and suddenly things will click and we will be, we will be cooking. I just I'm really skeptical of that and I feel like it's possible but it's also possible that trying to implement possession soccer

the way Burrhalter is trying to do it he's just simply not the right guy for the job I don't want to abandon possession soccer I actually really think that US soccer and Ernie should could stick to their guns and still not keep Greg Burhalter around yeah it doesn't have to be Greg Burrhalter around yeah it doesn't have to be Greg Burrhalter's possession soccer or defend and counter like those aren't the only two options available right I just find myself not really knowing how to feel about the game on

Friday part of me was hoping for another stumble because I thought maybe it would result in a coaching change now that's apparently off the table and and I don't want to root against the national team I don't so I'm so I guess I'm hoping for a good performance but you get that in any sport like there's always a time where even like die-hard fans will be like, oh, man, for their, this, the program needs to change, and the only way that change is going to happen is going to happen clearly is for a spectacular failure, because apparently continued mediocrity gives everyone just enough rope to hang on to that nothing changes. So, like, you'll probably take a lot of heat for saying that you were hoping for a stumble.

Of course, we want the U.S. to come out and play a completely fluid, carve them up, like, dominant 5-0 win. but we're intelligent people and there's no indication that that will happen I think we're probably much closer to playing a replica of the October game do nothing do nothing do nothing lose slowly and so if we

if that's what it would take to get some change to happen and it's like okay well then let's just have this let's let's try something else right but yeah you're right now that we're not going to be trying so we know we're not trying we also don't know that for sure either GMs are famous for giving managers their 100% support days before firing them.

Yeah, that's true, I guess. But like you said, what was the point of having a press conference to say something that's not true, calling a press conference to say something that's not true? I don't know. So I guess I'm hoping for a good performance, but we're looking at as Rob Usry said, and we should probably start sending him royalty checks for how often we quote him on this podcast, but he said watching the MLS All Star Reject Squad

and quote, play for the next 1.5 years. And I'll be honest, it's exhausting to think about another 1.5 years of this cold oatmeal doused in sour milk. It's not exciting. It's not exciting to think about watching this game on Friday. No, it's not. It's so not exciting that when Christian

Poul is sick pulls out because he ran into a post scoring a goal, it's almost just like a shoulder shrug. Like, eh, all right, well, we're not going to have him. We took him off after 60 minutes last game anyway. He wasn't going to he wasn't going to help us apparently in the last 30 minutes of the game. Let's like let's just let's just watch this clock expire. All right. We'll be back in a second and we'll pre. We'll be more upbeat because I don't know, we'll talk about we'll talk about the 23s. Well, we're going to preview the match on

Friday. Greg. Well, you've got everyone excited to hear about that preview. All right, we'll be back in a second. All right, let's get to previewing the Canada match. We lost to them in October 2 to 0, as you may remember, on goals from Alfonso Davies and Lucas Cavalini. I still think the best summary of what happened is found in the Spielver-Logarin breakdown by Austin Reynolds and Janus Salitzitis, which I will link to in the show notes, and which describes how Canada set up a box midfield to exploit Burrhalter's 4-42 defensive shape. Greg, is that how you remember it? Yeah, that's how I remember it. And watching, watching again, because like Dummy Ron, I did watch that game about a thousand times, all together by watching various sequences over and over. It's not

just that we're in that shape of a 4-4-2. It's that Canada knew that our front two in McKenny and Zardez don't necessarily come. Sergeant. It was Sergeant. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. McKinney and Sergeant aren't necessarily going to come out like firing, like flying in to put pressure on you. So they could basically leave their two centerbacks deep alone in two v2 like on the ball so their centerbacks could just be playing side to side with each other two on two with no real worry that they were going to lose it so that's why they could do that long enough that when something did break open in their numerical advantage in the midfield they could easily pick it out as we've discussed seemingly at length on this podcast the the press is not really a press it's you know I don't know what it

What is it? A mid-block, is that what you call it? Yeah, it's a mid-block when we're just waiting for another team to get impatient, make a mistake. And then we will slowly work into our slow offense. Yeah. Well, Canada pushed fullbacks Richie Laria and Camal Miller up to force Pulisic and Morris to be kind of of two minds, whether they should cover inside or cover outside. And then Samuel Piet and Mark Anthony K. slash Liam Frazier were the deep-lying part of the midfield box for Canada.

And then Samuel, not Samuel, Scott Arfield and Jonathan Osorio were the top of the box. And Arfield and Osirio had a good game and they've been playing well lately. Rfield for Rangers who just beat Porto in Europa League and Osirio for Toronto FC who just lost in MLS Cup on Sunday against Seattle. Yeah, Osorio and Del Bogato have been excellent for Toronto FC. Marky, where are you? So, yeah, it's not that they created a ton of chances through the middle of the field because they really didn't. But they, just on the eyeball test, they control the middle of the field, which is kind of a theme for the U.S. is being controlled in the middle of the field.

And then they, you know, they got their two goals on sort of, I don't know, transition moments in our half. They won some physical battles. Then they, in our half, and then they, you know, punished. sloppiness from us. So that's what happened. And meanwhile, as you tweeted out earlier today, the U.S. didn't create any chances going forward except for that one long ball that that sergeant flipped on to Morris and then Morris beat a guy to it and then squared it to Pulisic, who missed basically from point

blank range. Yeah, just kind of floated it to the goalkeeper's hands. So I would expect Canada to play the same way, don't you? I mean, yes, I think if we tried out the same thing, and it's not. unreasonable to think that we will. I would say Herdman probably won't change much in what they're doing. I think they have all of the same players available. I think Kyle Laron might be out with, he didn't play in the last game either, but I believe he's out with injury.

So I would expect, I would basically expect a similar lineup. They've got somebody back from suspension, right? Their center back. Oh, yeah. Donnell Henry, I don't know if we're pronouncing that right. Maybe Henri. So, yeah, like he said, he's back from suspension. Victoria scored a goal in Portugal over the weekend, played pretty well.

Derek Cornelius, the other centerback who played against us, hasn't played for a while. Neither has a couple of other players on the team. Kamal Miller left back, plays for Orlando City, so obviously he wasn't involved in the playoffs. And then Cornelius at the White Caps and Samuel Piet, the defensive. But the running theme is to an extent, like none of that matters. No matter who we play, we make them look really good. Yeah. I know they have some players who are.

are in very good form. But it's just, I mean, I think Liam Frazier came in and was instantly very effective against us. And I think he's like the third backup to Michael Bradley in Toronto. Everyone we play against looks good against us. I mean, it's true. It's true. I'm not totally ranty.

Again, I think things have to be a little bit different in this game because you're replacing, presumably, replacing Daniel Lovitz in the lineup with Sergenio Dest. I think that automatically will make our attack look a lot different and might change what Canada is able to do coming back out of the other way. Yeah, well, before we get into that, let me just, I mentioned the players who haven't played for a while for Canada just to sort of acknowledge that, but I do agree that it doesn't really matter. And we have a few players who haven't played for a while either.

Reggie Cannon is one, Jackson Ewell. Who else? Sebastian Leged hasn't played for a minute. So we could easily have two or three guys in our starting lineup who haven't played for a few weeks. So we've got Ariola, Lima, Trap. You will. Did you already say, you will?

Yeah, I did. So maybe five or six players in the U.S. who haven't played in a while. Meanwhile, Canada has a bunch of players in good form. Jonathan David scored a goal over the weekend. Alfonso Davies had an arguably man-of-the-match performance against a Dortmund for Byron Munich. So he's really...

Jaden, who? Yeah. Jaden what? And, you know, Arfield, like I said, subbed on in the 65th minute of a zero zero game for Rangers and help them get a two zero win over porto in europa league osorio is fresh off a good run for toronto and i think canada will be just fine with the roster that they have uh coming up against us i think what we'll see just to sort of let everybody know maybe maybe henry and victoria maybe cornelius and victoria maybe henry and cornelius at

centerback and then uh bourjean at goalkeeper i'm sorry for the pronunciations here everybody and then Laria and Miller probably at right back and left back, and then Piet and K at Center Defensive Mid, Osorio and Arfield at the more attacking mid, I guess you'd call it, and then Davies and David up top with the possibility that Cavalini could start and maybe Herdman does something totally different in this game since all they need is a draw to advance out of the group. So let's get to the U.S. I sort of came down on you for that. Why don't you go ahead and take that. So what do I think our lineup's going to be?

Whatever you want. Lineup. I think most people kind of have a sense of what the lineup will look like. You know, there might be some surprises, but we're all sort of expecting John Brooks to start in his return, assuming he can make it through this next four days and stay healthy, which probably means Tim Ream makes way. That's kind of tough to wrap your head around because Ream really seems to be the guy Burhalter leans on for leadership and he's been like the same.

staple in meaningful games. But I think we're all expecting John Brooks and Aaron Long to be the centerback pair. With Sergenio Serginio Dest reprising his left back role from the September windows. Now that he is not officially captied until the game actually begins, but he has chosen publicly that he's going to play for the United States. Really want that whistle to blow on Friday. That's honestly going to be our biggest victory. I think Friday is test officially being captied unless he's. He comes down with tendonitis between now and kickoff.

I don't know. I think right back is probably a toss up between Cannon and Yedlin. Yedlin, obviously, with the better pedigree. But Yedlin wasn't terribly effective against Canada. We don't know that Cannon would have been, but Cannon has been effective, contributed into the attack in his right back appearances for the national team. So he's got a case. Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I see both sides of the argument. I favor Canon. You know, Yedlin just scored a goal in the Premier League over the weekend, which was distributed widely on the Internet. And, you know, I've had some pushback privately from people on my assessment of Yedlin's game. And he had some good moments in that game against Canada. It wasn't all bad. I've said it was all bad, and I was probably wrong about that.

How about in the midfield? This is, I think, to me, the midfield is where we find out if Burrhalter is ready to make changes. And I think there could be reason for excitement in this game if Burrhalter switches up the way he does in midfield. All right. So what would give you excitement? Well, it's the same thing we talked about last week. If he did a McKinney Morales double pivot and then Sebastian Leggett as the 10, I could see us being difficult to play through and fun to watch.

Like fun to watch going forward, right? Like, oh man, we are putting them on their heels here. Yeah, it's not going to be. the beautiful game, but it's going to be, there's going to be energy to it and attacking verve. Well, that's exactly the lineup that I want to see, is Morales, McKenny, and it's legit. Do you think that is likely? I do not. I do not.

I think it'll be, I think it'll be Ewell, Morales, and McKinney, most likely. Which, you know, whatever, I guess. At this point, sort of, it's become, everyone sort of recognized it is talking about how it's a redundant midfield. Morales and McKinney and even to some extent, Yule, none of those guys are actual sixes. Certainly none of them are tens.

And so you're going to be left with something that will probably look as muddled as our midfield looked against Canada. There's the possibility that McKinney just has a blinder because he's capable, I think, of it. He's capable of making passes in tight spots. It's not

his game, but he could do it in a one-off scenario. Wait, is a blinder a positive thing or a Yeah, I think it's a positive. We're talking about him just going out and looking like a real number 10. Right. Yeah, he could do that. He could do a backheeled to ariola in space and Ariel could score a curler in the first

10 minutes and then, you know, everybody's going to feel great. Right. I just think long term that McKinney in that space is not a solution for the team and it certainly isn't going to put McKinney in his best position. So I would rather see McKenney sitting in the, in sort of more of the rural dawn space, Morales being a very competent passer sitting in the Michael Bradley role,

and then Leget being the guy who will try to force the issue and make things happen going forward. The reason I think that's totally unlikely is because Legit, otherwise, is the only real named attacking mid on the roster. So in my mind, that tells me that McKinney is the other one, and McKinney's going to start the game.

So I'm pretty resigned to McKinney being our attacking mid. Yeah, that's something I failed to mention when I explain the, the previous game. McKinney did have a really bad game. He had a, I guess, not a blinder, but something negative. Yeah, so it would be nice to see, it would be nice to see a change in philosophy in the midfield. It's not likely. How about on the wings? What do you got? There are three options here, so. Yeah, so I think Morris has nailed on. He has been one of the most effective U.S. attackers in the last, what, three games? I don't even know. I mean, Cuba shouldn't

even count in the total, but he's been effective in the national team shirt. And at this point, I think that's enough for you to keep your spot. He's also obviously been in form for his club for people who sort of think that's a really important thing. Should we talk, can we talk about Morris for a second? You made an interesting comment that I'll just sort of let you reiterate here. Well, it's watching him in MLS Cup, like he didn't have a terrible game or anything. He just, just how limited he is in that, from the wing, was a bummer for me to have to acknowledge that he's our second best winger. You know, he got the ball in transition and he beat a guy down the left wing. And he, you know, hindsight is 2020.

It's easy to watch a soccer game. But he took a shot with his left foot. That was a respectable shot, but easily dealt with by the goal. keeper where if you were just a little more thoughtful, a little more creative as an attacking winger, he could have stepped on the ball, cut back, and Nico Lodero, I believe it was, was drifting in on the back post, totally unmarked. So he just had to cut it back onto his favorite right foot and then clip the ball over everybody. And, you know, Lodero's not going to miss from that range. That makes it one zero. But Morris is a, you know, he's a simple man. He's a

He's a bulldozer, right? Yeah. Morris is a bulldozer. He's not going to do stuff like that. He's okay. I'm not hating on him. He's definitely earned his spot right now. But if he's the best we got going into 2022 on the wing, he's just not going to create chances.

He's not going to do it. Not against a good team. And it feels like for me, he's not going to create chances in the style that Burhalter wants us to create chances. He is a bulldozer. and when he's at his most effective, he is sort of running downhill in space. And he just builds up that momentum. And he's a wrecking ball. I don't think that necessarily helps us when we're trying to build up with 30 passes through a press.

Right. And then he has to tuck in inside and sort of operate as a 10 in much the way, same way McKinney does. And I think they're equally unsuited for that role. McKinney's better at it, I think, than Morris. Not only is he not a fantastic attacking player, but like you said, he doesn't fit the system either. But I'm assuming he will start because our other options are Paul Areola and Tyler Boyd. Presumably, again, unless there's a wrinkle somewhere that we're not expecting, we're going to see Morris on the right and probably Paul Areola on the left. Arola subbed in for Pulisick on the left against Canada.

He's a better soccer player than Tyler Boyd, so he should probably start ahead of him. Yeah, I agree. I mean, Boyd did score over the weekend, was it for Bissikdas? Midweek. Midweek game, the Europa League. Okay, yeah, he scored, but even in the goal, you see kind of a youthful naivety off the ball. He doesn't make the run until the ball is played. The ball plays him into the run, and that forces him to have to cut back on his left foot. Nice finish at that point, but he creates a problem for himself with his lack of movement. and he's you know we've seen we've seen boyd i think ariella is probably a better player i think he's a better

player and a much better fit for what we're going to need uh for the group that we're playing with and against that said none none of these wing options is uh is ideal i mean we want to see pulisic and wea on the wings at some point before you know before we die by the way way uh way is back in back in training so that's good back in training with Lille. Yeah, they actually said that he could actually appear in the game following the international window. So fingers crossed.

Not that it will be easy for him to take Jordan Morris out of that spot if he does, because Morris has built up quite a bit of U.S. men's national team credibility, I think. He's got a lot of institutional knowledge as well. Who's playing up top bells? Josh Sargent hopefully starts, but I think it's a toss-up. No way to know what Burrhalter will do here. I think it's Sergeant. I think it's Sergeant because

I think Berhalter at this point rates him ahead of Zardaz otherwise he wouldn't have started him in the other Canada game and I don't think that Sergeant has done anything even he wasn't elite in that Canada game

but I don't think he actually did too much to hurt us so I think he keeps his place anything you're looking for tactically from Berthar to try to solve the problems that we haven't been able to solve yet big thing I'm looking for

even if McKinney plays as an attacking mid which I think will be did like not great. The one thing I'm specifically looking for is will we defend with one one guy up top or two? And I really, really actually want to put some faith in Burrhalter changing and defending with just sergeant up top and everyone else sort of working off of him.

Cool. I think it might happen. All right. Boy, that would be a that would be a seismic shift in American soccer. It would really change. It would really change things though, man. And then what would happen? So McKinney would drop into the middle, and then we'd press people more on the sides.

Yeah, so Sergeant just sort of dictates play. McKinney then is able to help clog up, actually successfully help clog up the midfield, rather than even if those were the instructions for McKinney and Sergeant in the last Canada game, to deny those passes into Canada's holding midfield. Like, it basically just can't be done if the pressure is so low. Like, if we're putting so little pressure on the ball, like, you can't just continue to shadow those guys forever. So it would break down.

So I'm hoping that doing that will allow McKinney to actually clog things up and make Canada have to actually struggle a little bit to work the ball through us. Maybe create some chances in transition, which would be wild, but I would really enjoy seeing it. And let Jordan Morris run into space. Let Paul Aureola be a really good worker be. And let Sergenio Dest come flying into things. Let Paul Ariola sort of pinch in the way he has done when he would play.

play out wide and Pulisic was the central player. Ariel would go in. Pulis would go out here. I'm looking for Arieola to go in, des to go flying up. Yeah. And then isolate John Brooks with Alfonso Davies. Yeah, leave him on an island.

We're fine. Yeah, no, that would be great. You've got Guizan to sweep up behind it. Yeah, I think I'm slightly more excited about this game. If we saw the Morales, McKinney, Leggett, midfield, and sergeant pressing by himself, you know, in a line of one, that would be progress.

Yeah, that'd be huge. It'd show some adaptability. It would show, I think, in my mind, like moving towards the correct adjustment. But if we just see Sergeant McKinney trotting out there as a duo or Zardis and McKinney or whoever, two guys just sort of trotting around as our first line of confrontation, it's going to be bleak, man. And you can still win a game. Soccer is a low-scoring game.

It's high variance. The teams are going to be not so far away talent-wise that we can't still win a game if we go out like that. But again, it'll just mean to me it's so far from optimal play that it's going to be heartbreaking to watch if Burrhalter in this like completely desperate time just goes with the exact same thing. It's like, we'll try harder this time. Right. What do you think the odds are he does that? I mean, what percentage chance? I don't understand odds.

60-40 that he does it I mean he changed up against he changed up against Chile right mid-game 60-40 that he makes a change yeah I'll say 60-40 that we see a different defensive setup I mean he's got to be able to he's got to be able to have watched that tape watched how Canada

sort of completely were able to just bypass us at will and been like I need to solve this numerically like there's no amount of effort in the world that will solve this he could come out of that that watching session and say, well, you know, they got their chances on a giveaway in our midfield and then a goal kick. That's what you come away with if you just watch the highlights. But if you watch it like Dummy Run does and you watch every single play a thousand times,

and I'm saying this seriously, then the highlights start to lose the importance of like, oh, well, how do they score their goal? Like that matters, but that's just one chance. And how do they get four other chances? Like, well, it's because Sargent's not putting any pressure on their centerback who can just loft a ball over to Alfonso Davies running in behind against Tim Riem. Like that's that's not it's not a viable defense. We've got to change and it's not because Tim Rieme wasn't trying.

It's because what we're asking guys to do sets them up to fail. So I really am hopeful that he's watched it and he doesn't come away thinking it's just an effort and desire. It's sort of problem. Well, he hasn't said anything to that effect, but of course he wouldn't. He wouldn't want to tip his hand to John Herdman. Let's see. Before we get out of here, any other thoughts on the game on Friday? No, I want to hear what you're watching for specifically, Bells.

Like, what are you, what will, you talked about, you might be a little bit excited, like, what's really going to be like, all right, things could be turning here. It's a personnel thing. It's a personnel thing for me. Just put players in the middle of the park who will win battles and compete. I know that makes me sound like a high school football coach, but like Morales, McKinney, and Legette give us a chance to impose ourselves on Canada. I think that would make a lot of difference.

And I do think Dest is obviously a gigantic upgrade over Lovitz. So that's going to make it easier for us to possess up the left side of the field. Desk can solve problems. I'm excited to see that. And, you know, if I had not thought of the possibility that we would do a line of conversation with just Josh Sargent, but that actually does excite me. That possibility does excite me. I think that would be cool to see us take a different approach.

And it would show, like you said, that Berhalter isn't just sort of, I don't know, like a zombie, just doing the same thing over and over again. I'm also excited to see Brooks, you know, in a national team shirt. I am too. I'm really interested to see whether or not he really can have the magnitude of an effect that everyone sort of seems to be expecting him to have. because while he probably is a better passing centerback than Ream, I just don't know that the margins that we're going to gain there

are going to sort of put our system over the top. Yeah, I think he's quite a bit better. All right. I'm hopeful, those. I'm not going to be like I'm not wishing failure on him. I'm not wishing failure on anybody. All the political machinations and, you know, Ernie Stewart's kind of tone-deaf statements and everything, they're all going to, for me at least,

they're all going to go away once the game starts. I'm going to be rooting for the U.S. I want every time I see them play, I want them to win, hoping for progress. I want all of Ariola's hard work to be rewarded. That's really when I watch that guy play, man. I just want everything. I want at least a couple of times his hard work

to end in a goal for himself or someone else. Yeah, Paul Ariola brace incoming. Before we go, let's quickly talk about the U-23s because that's an exciting group of players, or at least some of them are exciting. There are exciting players in the group. Yes. They face Brazil on Thursday in a little four-nation tournament in the Canary Islands

where the teams will be getting ready for Olympic qualifying. These are the U-23s from Brazil, the U.S., Argentina, and Chile. The winners of the – so Argentina faces Chile and the U.S. faces Brazil. The winners go to a championship game, I believe, on Sunday, or maybe it's Monday, and the losers go to a consolation game. So all the boys are in a really nice hotel outside of Las Palmas, and they're getting ready for those games. Brazil's roster is very strong, includes Mateus Kuna of RB Leipzig, who is quite a player, and a lot of 21 and 22-year-olds on the fringes of the first teams at big five clubs across Europe.

Just quickly, the roster, are you okay with me giving the roster here? Yeah, can we get a little bit more commentary on the accommodations that they're staying in? I just saw that something on Instagram, and they looked really nice. All right. I've been to the Canary Islands. I went to Tenerife once on a ship. Oh, yeah. On a ship.

All right. Hells actually is a pirate. And it's weird because it's like very tropical next to the ocean. These islands are very tropical next to the ocean, but then you get up in the hills and it's like desert. So that's what that squares with the images we're seeing on social media from the players. Anyway. Oh, I appreciate. you establishing the scene.

That was helpful. Cool, cool. So J.T. Markankowski, Marsankowski, David Freeze and Brady Scott are the goalkeepers. Sounds like Freeze is going to be the starter. It has been the starter for this group. He's at the Philly Union, I think, right? Matt Freeze.

And Chris Richards, Mark McKenzie, Justin Glad, and Cameron Carter Vickers are the centerbacks. Kyle Duncan and Aaron Herrera are the right. backs, Anthony Robinson and Sam Vines are the left backs. Hassani Dotson and James Sands are the nominal defensive midfielders with Christian Cappy, Brennan Aronson and Georgie Mahalovich, and Richie Ledesma and Alex Mendez as the other. Redundant midfielers.

No, it's nice that it's not so redundant. Yeah, it does feel like Ledesma and Mendezer are the tens and then everybody else is an eight except for Dotson and Sands. And then Emmanuel Sabi got a call into a camp, so that's kind of interesting. He's tearing it up in Denmark. I think he has six goals now in the league already. That's pretty good numbers. And Brooks Lennon at right wing or on the wing, along with Jonathan Lewis and Sebastian Soussato.

Slightly less impressive numbers for Brooks Lennon. Yeah, zero and zero for RSL. And he's really a right back. He lost his job to Aaron Herrera. And then Jeremy Ababa Say and Mason Toy at Stryker. And, you know, those are, Babasei had 12 goals this season for the Portland Timbers, despite being played out of position a lot. So he's at least somebody to keep tracking when it comes to national team stuff.

And Mason Toy kind of broke out from Minnesota United this year. I think he had 10 goals in all comps. The most interesting thing for me, of course, is Will Richie Ledesma start against Brazil? and then how can we compete with them? Because this is a really strong side we're up against. I want to see Mendez play too. Sounds like Dodson was a strong performer in the last camp, and he is a six holding midfielder,

which is something we are missing in our pool outside of Tyler Adams. Sands is kind of in the same boat, right? Now Sands plays centerback for New York City. Do I have that right? Yeah, he does. I think he drops into a line of three for them sometimes. I don't know that he's played in a back four. It seems like a step in the right direction to be sort of trying to identify some guys who can fill in that holding, like an actual holding midfield role.

Right. Right. I hadn't thought of that. But yeah, there are, those are two guys who don't really fit the Michael Bradley Wiltrap Jackson Ewell format, you know. They're not diagonal ball players. They are guys who defend and cover and destroy. And I, you know, I won't say too much more about it unless you got some more thoughts, but I think you should check out the latest total soccer show for Brian Shoretta's take on

Why the Olympics Matter. He points out that it's a platform not only for the public to get excited about the national team and national team players, but it's a platform for these players to move up to the national team, at least historically. And, you know, there are some names on here, Ledezma, Mendez, Robinson, Richards, Mackenzie who would love to see them make that step up. Yeah, I mean, God knows that we're kind of hoping that a couple of these guys just get an emergency call up between now and Cuba.

I know. Flying back over. Yeah, just fly him straight from the Canary Islands to Grand Cayman. No, that won't happen, Greg. I'm pretty sure. All right. Well, we'll be back. Anything else on the U-23s from you?

No, I got nothing else in the U-23s. Okay. All in for the U-S. the U-23s. We'll be back on Friday to recap the game against Canada. And until then, we'll see you.