Lost in most of this, Arriola has been the worst US player on tge field, again. Sure good to get 3 points and save legs, but he just gives nothing but energy. Zardes blows a 4th chance...
And so Pepi can go Sunday Oh it's a tactically sound move as long as 2 goals is enough, which it should be. Zardes plays great hold up ball but is just abysmal with the first touch.
[Really, the Lions should have had 3 and outs on consecutive drives. Smith turns his head there and has an INT at midfield instead of inside the 10. Sketchy roughing the passer call on the next drive, and the bulk of the Lions offense has been penalty aided
Dalton, instead of taking a 5 yard sack on first down, sprints backwards to take a 15 yard sack and kill the drive. Can't fault them for going for it on 4th and 15, a FG doesn't do anything for them here.
:Jamaica and Costa Rica came off as the weakest teams in the group this first week, and Jamaica was screwed by COVID restrictions, not having some of their best players. CR has 1 point from 2 home games so far.
Rewatching the game, I can't believe just how badly the team's shape was for the first 60 minutes or so. Then they brought on Yedlin for Sands and put Adams in the middle, and they absolutely dominated from there.
Better than no points, which is what they managed against T&T last cycle. Effectively, not getting a win here means they'll need to get some results against Mexico and Costa Rica. CONCACAF gonna CONCACAF though.
Pulisic is not on the team flight to El Salvador, building up fitness in Nashville to prep for the Canada and Honduras matches. Considering the tight window, this makes plenty of sense. Slot in Aaronsen and win anyway.
It's amazing to me that in 4 years we've gone from "Is Wondo really our best attacking option?" to "Which of the 5 Champions league attackers on the roster should we use?"