USMNT 6-0 Trinidad & Tobago analysis | Gold Cup Group Stage Review

It's great to see Ferreira playing so well. I've always thought he had talent and a high soccer IQ. He just needs to play well against higher level opponents. I still think he's not a center forward, though. I think he'd work decently as a 10 or withdrawn forward with either Pepi or Sargent. We'll have to see how well he'd work with Flo, though. I'm sure Flo is good enough to work with a bunch of players, but he's only played a couple matches so far. Zendejas has been pretty darn disappointing. You can see he's got talent, but I think he's putting too much pressure on himself and not allowing himself to let the game come to him. Some very poor decisions and flubs in the final third. I didn't think Roldan played poorly. You can tell his soccer IQ is fairly high. He just doesn't have the talent level to play with the national team, I think. He reminds me a lot of Arriola, very high work rate, high IQ, meh talent. At least with Arriola, he'll make the odd goal contribution. I think Tac is right. Roldan, should he choose to do so, will probably make an excellent coach some day.

Nice Kurt Vonnegut book. I'm getting a "So it Goes" tattoo soon here to honor his famous sentiment

I really do want to see Jesus get to Europe because at this point, he has shown its time for a move, but a few caveats:

1. He will probably have to move to the 10

2. He will have to take a pay cut (Don't forget, he is a DP for Dallas, so it may be hard to get a team to bite for him).

Zendajas just couldn't finish and allowed his frustration to take over.

Dejaun Jones looks like a real potential.

Reynolds is legit and will probably be third behind Scalley; he may also be the most complete fullback on the roster in terms of both offense and defense.

Roldant, Yedlin and Gressel shouldn't be on the roster.

Busio needs to take the set pieces (everyone else sucked at it). Busio was also pretty decent – not great – but definitely deserves a spot on the roster; he was the USMNT'S best passer in the midfield. He needs 5 to 10 lbs of upper body muscle to push around the opposition and create space and win duels. He is not fast but he has very good vision and very good passing; strength will significantly help both of these elements.

Ferreira and Mihailovic need to show against better competition before anyone gets excited about them – also, Ferreira is still not a true 9!

Finally, Jalen Neal is so far the player of the tournament for me. The kid is already a better version of Edson Alvarez, and he's only 19! Btw, Edson Alvarez is really good!

The USMNT backline with A-Rob, Neal, Richards, Dest and the high quality backups has the potential to be world class!

It's been a good tournament so far – unless you're a Mexico fan. That loss to Qatar was ugly – time for a new coach??

Jalen neal has good future but this was his worst game.

Roldan proved once again that he did not have the quality to be in the Gold Cup. His match was as bad as Zendejas against St. Kitts. Just really really poor. Start the kids.

The Pirate of the Caribbean is a great nick name 😂

1. Jesus. My biggest complaint with him is that he is not a true #9. He is not a pure striker and does not really fit the role of a lone striker and has really only shown up for the USMNT against the island nations. He works better as a a second striker or even as a #10 because he is creative and can link of extremely well, and given the opportunity to pop up in the box he can be lethal. But his hold up play? His aerial prowess? The simple fact that he is always a good 10 yards behind the wingers? That alone puts him behind people like Balogan, Peppi, Sergant and battening with people like Haji, Pefok and Dike, all of whom are playing in Europe and have an edge over him due to the competitive nature of the leagues they play in. I'm not saying he is a no go for the USMNT, I am saying that he has work to do to prove himself and to push himself against better opponents.
2. Djordje. He did not have a very good game against T&T. In all honesty he didn't. He showed up big against St. Kits but he really took a step back against T&T. He is no where near ready for the A/B squad yet.
3. DeJuan. He absolutely need to move to Europe. There were already clubs looking at him and now that he has had some call ups with the USMNT (and has looked good so far in the Gold Cup even if he isn't getting the credit he deserves) there has been even more interest in him. He needs a move this summer / winter and he no doubt needs to our backup LB. He will not replace Jedi at all. But Jedi cannot play every minute of every game forever no matter how much GGG wants him to and Dest is just awful on the left.
4. Roldon. What in the actual ** was that ****? He looked worse than every single player on the T&T squad! That isn't hyperbolic, that is legit serious. He was ATROCIOUS! HE…SHOULD…NEVER…BE…CALLED…UP…AGAIN.

You can have all this world, GIVE ME JESUS 😂

Top three Vonnegut books?
My wife is easily stressed by content. Is there an Vonnegut that isn’t stressful in its content?
I would love if you did a random book recommendation video.

Is Cowell’s ceiling higher as a winger or striker?

Thanks for the Booth love.

For goodness sake everyone, clear your heads. They were playing St. Kitts and Trinidad & Tobago, two of the weakest teams on Earth. It's nice Ferreira scored some good goals, but they don't prove anything against such low-level competition.

* Yes, I do know we lost to Trinidad a few years back. That wasn't because they weren't terrible. We were just even worse.

Good stuff

I agree with you about Busio. I was surprised to hear people say he had a good game. I like him but I thought he looked mediocre at best and squandered quite a few opportunities.

Another very well prepared and well-delivered analysis. For US soccer fans, your channel is not to be missed. I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that a media outlet is going to pay you to cover the 2026 World Cup. Assuming you want such a gig.

The Soccer of United States against Tobago was amazing!!!!

Great points on Ferreira. I think the biggest factor that should be discussed (and not an original idea from me, as I've seen it elsewhere) is that the history of USMNT starts (Donovan, Dempsey, Pulisic, etc.) have also gotten plenty of games against smaller Caribbean nations and not turned out the same scoring rate as Ferreira. That combined with his age (also commonly overlooked) leaves me optimistic about his continued potential for growth and involvement with the full USMNT squad. Unfortunately for him, I would rank Balogun and Pepi as the 1 and 2 right now, and they are even younger. But Ferreira at #3, maybe competing with Sargent (depending upon form) is where I'd have things. I also agree on the transfer value to Dallas. They should strike while the iron is hot, and hopefully Ferreira can move to a league that gives a good balance between his skillset and the next level of competition he should target. Top half of the Dutch or Belgian leagues come to mind, but maybe French also if he can find a midtable opportunity.

On DeJuan Jones, I don't rate him as high as you. I think many don't acknowledge his age of 26. He's actually older than Jedi. That's a big downside for me, and I think that even if he were to move to a European league, his ceiling would be lower than the top 4 or 5 leagues (I'm rate him in the Dutch league, maybe English Championship), and his improvement would not be as dramatic as someone in their early twenties making the same move. That puts him still behind Scally as a LB option in my mind (if Jedi and Dest start, Scally should be first off the bench for either side), with the potential that a guy like Tolkin at 20 years old has more pronounced improvement in the next 2 years to leapfrog Jones on the depthchart. Even a guy like Caleb Wiley might improve enough (and should also look for a European opportunity sooner rather than later) in the leadup to 2026 to be a better choice than Jones in my opinion. Long story short, I think he's come into the picture too late in his career, with younger players already ahead of him (Scally) or too close behind (Tolkin and Wiley) and a starter that has consistently gobbled up the vast majority of the minutes and who won't age out anytime soon.

Also completely agreed on the evaluations of Neal and Cowell. I'd like to see Cowell over Roldan. I think BJ might be tempted to keep Cowell as a spark off the bench, but I think he provides the tone to force a more defensive posture from the opponent from the beginning, and that's more valuable in the overall gameplan as the competition builds in the knockout rounds. On Neal, super impressed. Besides general areas of development that any young CB should focus on, I'd like to see him improve on some exposure I've see when he presses too aggressively on a forward's back when space is available for a turn in behind him. The play he took his yellow on is something I've seen him do a few times with LA also. When he gets muscled and turned, he doesn't seem to have the recovery pace, and if the other CB isn't available to help as a second defender, it's a dangerous scenario. I'd like to see him recognize that danger and not overcommit. Allow a half-turn and force the player laterally while his teammates recover into the play. That will come with experience, but a particular area of focus I see as most necessary in his game. Him physically filling out will also help in that regard, and he won't get so easily turned and/or unbalanced during the turn as he physically matures.

Completely random side note. Great book selection. Vonnegut is my all-time favorite. Unmatched wit and combination of humor with often heart wrenching themes.