re: United States of F#ck Yeah v. A Better Team | Friendly | 7 p.m. CT (FS1)

quote:

---

The USMNT’s absolute insistence on playing through Mexico’s press was an extreme overcorrection for the Gold Cup final. Specifically, for the second half, when the U.S. neither possessed the ball nor progressed it into dangerous areas. Berhalter felt the answer was more possession. Some players felt otherwise. Berhalter, between then and now, evidently informed them that his answer was the right one. And so he set up a training session Friday. To correct the undesirable behavior of July – “in the Gold Cup, we were too direct” – he taught undesirable behavior at the other end of the spectrum – “in this game, we were not direct enough.” The idea is that the exercise will help yield desirable behavior as a long-term compromise. But the exercise was extremely flawed. Viewed as an experiment, it was unsuccessful. If coach did in fact instruct players to resist their own best judgement, refrain from playing long, and plunge into the teeth of the press at all costs, Friday was almost something less than soccer. It was blind adherence to ideals. Stubbornness that won’t serve the USMNT well in the long run.

---