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    This Underrated National Team is Actually Insane Right Now...
    World Cup 2026

    This Underrated National Team is Actually Insane Right Now…



    The US defeated Canada 2-0 in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Final with goals from Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun. Gio Reyna added two excellent assists. In the few matches before Gregg Berhalter makes his return, BJ Callaghan has shown to be a capable assistant. The USMNT is an underrated national team at the moment and will surprise a lot of people at the 2024 Copa America and 2026 World Cup.

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    View 37 Comments

    37 Comments

    2. Matt Marratta on

      My takeaways from the window:

      1) We have found our backup 6. I was impressed with how well Musah handled the role having little to no experience playing it with club or country. Honestly, with Musah's particular strengths and weaknesses, this could become his long-term position. At the very least, his performance along with the emergence of Johnny has probably retired Kellyn Acosta from the national team.

      2. Our speed in transition is downright scary. With the addition of Balogun and with Reyna in the midfield, our team can go end to end as quickly and be as dangerous as any team in the world.

      3. Pulisic, Weah, Reyna, and Balogun all have to start together for us to be at our best. The creativity and diversity they provide in attack outweighs what MMA provides in defense and energy. Then, when you add McKennie's long passing (an underrated ability of his) and Dest's abilities going forward, we can be absolutely lethal.

      4. Quality depth is vital when putting together a roster. 17 of our 20 outfield players got minutes in these two games, including all 4 center backs, and all were strategic subs. This tells me there is no room in a squad of 23 for Berhalter to bring his favorite MLS lifers, even as backups. You never know when someone is going to be called upon to play important minutes, and we can't afford to be stuck throwing guys like Long, Moore, Roldan, Yedlin, Ferreira, etc. in those situations.

      5. Not only did I like the freedom and fluidity that we had in attack, but I liked the fact that Antonee Robinson largely stayed home and played a more defensive role over the two games. I think this plays to his strengths as a player, as he doesn't get caught upfield out of position, and we aren't reliant offensively on his inconsistent crossing. Also, I thought him staying back gave Pulisic more room to maneuver.

      6. Good form in a lower league DOES NOT outweigh the quality of competing in a top league, even if your minutes are inconsistent. Let's put that myth to bed. Dest hadn't played in two months; Richards barely played post injury; Reyna and Pulisic's club minutes were inconsistent at best; Weah played most of the second half of the year as a left back; McKennie was relegated. Despite all this, the gap in quality was undeniable, and they totally outclassed the MLS, Liga MX, and other lower league players from Mexico and Canada.

      7. We've now seen what's possible. We seen what this player pool looks like at their best, and better yet, Hudson and BJ have left a template on how to maximize our talent with regard to tactics and roster construction. Now it's time to hold Berhalter's feet to the fire. He needs to be under pressure to keep this up. Don't accept the "system" BS. Obviously results are important, but they aren't the only important things. If we start to see this group backsliding, especially if it's due to the same old stubborn crap from the last cycle, then we may need to make a change before 2026.

    3. Brett Filbrun on

      Don’t apologize for your other priorities in life man. The quality of your content and the growth of the channel speaks for itself. You’re a top usmnt content creator in the eyes of A LOT of people. Keep grinding.

    4. Tt on

      It’s cool ppl are excited but I won’t believe this team is that good until they can do what they did to Mexico/Canada against a decent South American/European team

    5. Kyle Dane on

      Do not sell yourself short as a content provider in this space. We have plenty of cheerleaders and critics, we need someone who will set all that aside and calmly discuss tactical and skill strengths and weaknesses, and for my money, your channel and you personally are the best we have for that kind of content in this space. And yes, I watch all the other channels you mentioned.

    6. Ruben Leon on

      USMNT is looking great right now, hopefully GGG builds on it but our real test will be next year at copa America, we have a year to build and our players to gain some more experience and grow but really just beautiful soccer there playing at the moment

    9. Greg on

      Excited to hear your thoughts on GGG. It should be noted that teams often play better for a period under interim coaches (see the 73-9 Golden State Warriors under Luke Walton)

    10. Adonijah Morningstar on

      Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we beat a Mexico that is obviously rebuilding with more youthful players, they didn't lose because of lack of skill, they lost because of lack of team cohesion. That will change REAL fast now that the USMNT exposed them and they will be coming for blood because of that "3-0" loss.

      Canada is no longer a weak national team, they are getting better and better, it's just a matter of time when they will start to dominate in the CONCACAF, Jamaica looks like they are on the rise, we'll see how long that will last. The rest of the teams are just up and down right now.

    12. Cyclopsman3 on

      Reyna and Tyler Adams are locked for the midfield. Musha is very good but Mckennie is a huge threat on set pieces beacuse of his heading ability. Thats a hard one.

    14. Pico DeGallo on

      I think BJ has now proven that he can handle these guys. It will be interesting to see how Greg moves forward now. Will he still demand that the team play his style? Will he be more open to his coaches' input? What about his relationship with Gio and the others after the mess Claudio and wife put the US Soccer family through? While I understand that players can hate their coach, there are usually not parents involved at this level.
      Also, Gio grew up since the incident. He was 'on' for the entire games- v. Mex and v. Canada. No doubt, when he's on and has the correct attitude, he's a force.
      Good job on the content. Don't worry about the bigger names on YouTube. At one point, they all started small.

    17. Christopher Hoke on

      I think we have to willing to use multiple different looks in midfield, and not get stuck in using the same 3 midfielders every single game. Yes, consistency is needed, but for tournaments, players need rest in the group stage.

    18. Galo Guevara on

      As soon as Gregg "the gym coach" Berhalter comes back – you will see this team lose it's steam and go back to being sloppy and un-organized tactically. He is not the future of this team – PERIOD. I did not want him gone because of some BS issue from 30-something years ago – that was not even close to what fem-people are trying to make it out to be. And he was also forgiven by the person who supposedly suffered as the victim (supposedly). She ended up marrying him and having a family with him, going on 30 years now. And the scumbags that unearth this old stale dirt and made it more than it was…, those same scumbags ended up attending that wedding (of the supposed mad-insane "abuser"). So I did not want Gregg out because of that BS. But I still wanted him out for pure soccer reasons – he sucks and is the main reason why this talented promising team is not at its fullest potential. Berhalter is holding them back – he is not the future of USA futbol.

    21. Diego Garcia on

      Sir you definitely belong the only thing that matters is your ability to express what you think and why you think it. Also a love for the game, things you clearly show in your videos. Besides in the premiere league side of things big YouTube personalities also have clearly never gone to a high level but their charisma and genuine love for the game make them relatively big. Keep up the good work sir 🇺🇸🦅

    25. James Williams on

      I don't envy the decision Gregg has to make going forward in regard to midfield… There are times where MMA might still be appropriate (perhaps even swapping McKennie for Gio as much as I hate to say it), particularly against top 5 competition. I don't think Gregg will leave Adams off the field when he's healthy, but it's nice to know that Musah can operate in the #6… perhaps even at an elite level? I'd have to rewatch the match in its entirety, but in real time there were moments in the first half that I thought we were exposed in the middle of the field- in our defensive third, which Canada didn't exploit. Maybe I'm wrong. It's also possible that Musah cleaned it up by the 20th minute or so, I'm really just operating in my mind's eye.

      That said, I think that will be a key for us going forward – as long as we have at least two players versatile enough to play the #6 at the Tyler Adams level that would be ideal, and then any combination of Adams, McKennie, Musah, Gio, Aaronson, De la Torre gives me confidence. I'd also like to see how Musah, McKennie, and Gio would look together, as well as Adams, Musah, and Gio. A really nice problem to have.

    28. Jay Farewell on

      This was Canada's worst game played since they played Croatia. Canada has some holes and for this game it was Scott Kennedy. Our D is a major hole at times and great teams are going to crush us. He is not nearly up to par at this level as we got smoked because of it. Alistair Johnson is only one guy and he cant do it all… That being said the defensive mids were not doing great tracking back either. And we were not shooting when we should have. I am not sure what Herdman was doing tatics-wise in this game, I assume Vitoria was not 100%… he would have helped a ton on those two goals.

    31. Dustin Truesdell on

      The starting XI benefited from Tyler Adams being injured. The Adams/Mc Kennie starting combo kept Reyna out of the starting lineup. The team works better with Musah as the 6 because he defends and attacks. Tyler Adams just defends and back passes. If we can get Amir Richardson, then we will have a 6'5 attacking DM/CM and this team will be lights out….

    33. hez on

      Too bad they are bringing in that doofus to be the manager. Can't wait to get knocked out of the WC right after getting out of group and everyone calling it a "success"

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