I encourage you to watch NZ's goal again. Blaming Dietz and Miles is incorrect imo. Miles at RB has to respect the speed of the winger, to gain an extra step, and gets the ball passed behind his trailing leg. I'd blame the coach for putting him in that position. Walker is too hesitant in his support, and gives space for the cut back. Dietz steps too aggressive and fails to intercept the pass, but the support from midfield was late to arrive. Tessman and McGlynn left the back line exposed, one of them shouldn't have drifted so far forward. Since Tessman was on the weak side I'm more confused in his positioning and lack of urgency.
That’s a fair assessment, I still think Dietz deserves the most blame because he messed up the crucial part but it’s true that the midfield wasn’t really there.
I think it's criminal that Yow and Booth aren't starters. Those 2 should be the story of the tournament for us. I think Busio and Tessman are currently the 2 best players, but every time those 2 come on and Mihailovic and McGuire are off, we look way faster in transition. Those 2 are scary and young enough that they still can only get faster and stronger physically and technically. I hope we can win Koleosho, but boy, if those 2 can pan out plus having Haji and Weah, I won't complain about our winger pool. This game gave me tons of hope for those 2. I hope they pan out bc they're making me seriously consider putting them on my 2026 WC team.
Sidenote: I like McGlynn too. But, midfield is seriously stacked. Still will consider him for 2026 but it would help if he moved to Europe. I like Cremaschi but I see 2028 and 2030 for him. I rate him, just not right now.
Agreed, I would love to see them both given more minutes against Guinea. Spots on the senior team should in theory be up for grabs, it’s time for them and several other young stars to capitalize.
Spot on with the ratings, except for Busio, the goal changed everything because he was being very wasteful with the ball, hope he recovers soon anyhow!
Great analysis. Player ratings are pretty spot on. Would have McGlynn and Yow more like 7.0 or 7.5, but they both were good. Paxten Aaronson and Tolkin were our best players… both were just excellent. Hope Busio is OK and that we have a quick start against Guinea and see up a spot in QF!
Player by player: Schulte: Made some good saves 1 big, very unfortunate for the goal Harriel: Put up a very good performance, both defensively and attacking Zimmerman: Same goes for him good performance and nice goal Robinson: Was alright just felt like when the team was up he was less Sharp Tolkin: Looked great if usa goes further in the Olympics we could see him leave the red bulls Tessmann: He is really showing his worth with the interceptions and passes. He sometimes escaped tight spaces, could be on the 2026 wc roster Busio: Played could have been a bit sharper with his finishing, but overall pretty (except for the injury) Mihailovic: Had a okay game (penalty and assist), but still think there are better options than him Paxten: Dude is a baller the Olympics and if he does well at Utrecht, Frankfurt needs to give him minutes McGuire: Hasn't really been impressive, especially this game you would expect him to score. Think it's time for the bench, give him a little fire to work hard Parades: Same with him both games he fell short, plus kept spending time on the ground SUBS: McGlynn: A beast really and truly underrated, his passes good and a left foot that's a rocket. Europe could be calling, needs more minutes in the tournament Dietz: Was okay, wished it was Caleb do Yow: Baller aswell, instead of a better Belgium club he needs to find a club in the top 5 league's Cremaschi: Was okay, Lost the ball 3 times do. I think with him he needs to focus on what he got, being a work horse and can find himself in good positions in front of the goal. Booth: Another the guy that deserves more minutes and I he keeps on going could be on the wc roster
The overall Mihailovic bias is quite off from an objective standpoint. This player is technically strong in his control, use of both feet, passing, shooting, etc. He’s a fast and smooth runner too with stamina. Not starting a lot for AZ isn’t a reason to be so biased against someone. AZ is a big Dutch club with lots of 10s and creative players in the pipeline. A coach favoring someone else doesn’t make Mihailovic bad. Mihailovic always looks skilled & graceful in his play. All of you guys seem to not recognize that our players don’t move well without the ball which is necessary for a player like Mihailovic to play 1-2 touch soccer and orchestrate the play. Props for giving Mihailovic a fair rating and not pretending that he was bad. There’s really zero evidence that Mihailovic is a weak link. It’s just a false narrative from people who don’t understand how collective team passing works. Much easier to scapegoat an MLS guy. I’d love to hear someone actually point out some specific aspect of Mihailovic’s skill-set that’s sub-par. Let’s be honest & admit that Paredes & Aaronson & Busio aren’t that good. Busio this game had like two awful balls played right to defenders in the box plus the shanked shot. Not a big deal to you but it should be to you guys who are overcritical of minor mistakes.
Mihailovic certainly has his supporters. And I'll admit I don't watch him in MLS. But the times I've seen him with the senior team and these past two Olympic games, I don't see him creating much or forcing his will on the play. As an overage player you'd expect him to have a bigger impact at the Olympic level.
Busio is one of our 2 best players this tournament. Him and Tessman have been amazing. Please start Yow and Booth against Guinea. We might have hit gold with them.
@@jonathonedwardmiller Hoping that Busio's injury is minor. Maybe hold him out of Guinea game and play McGlynn so that Busio is 100% for the knockout rounds?
Nice analysis guys! Pretty much agree with your ratings. I'm a DC United fan (though haven't been paying much attention to them recently), and when Paredes and Yow were playing for them, I was very impressed with Paredes and not so much with Yow. I still think Paredes has higher upside, but I'm very surprised at Yow's development. Hopefully he continues his development. He's always had a high work rate, but he seems much more technical now and makes quicker decisions. I'm just surprised at Paredes's relatively slower development, but he has time. Personally, I think it would be good for him to develop his defensive game and play more as a left back to give the senior team more options there aside from just Jedi. Hopefully the federation hires a competent manager...
That was surprising to me as well, Yow couldn’t really find a place with DC and Paredes was pretty solid there. I think it might have something to do with the physical profiles of the two, plus maybe Yow made the right call to go to Westerlo as opposed to a top 5 league immediately. Agreed that Paredes should be tried at LB, it’s just unfortunate for him that Tolkin is playing so well right now. I’m truthfully not sure what his long term position is, but the potential is there.
I can’t see Gaga playing honestly, switching GKs mid tournament is a very risky move. Cremaschi will get better, he’s just playing a cycle up and it’s showing. He should’ve been with the U20s this summer.
