I fully agree with this statement. It’s pretty much what we’ve based our entire existence, up until this point, on.. that being said, behind that, as the base, is now talent, IQ, vision, understanding and ability. Those key fundamentals lacked severely in this country for decades but now, we’re here. If we couple that with our “fight” aka athleticism, we have a genuine shot.
I’m not saying it’s gonna be a walk in the park, but I’m saying it can be had.
The Dutch, with their reemergence after not qualifying for Russia (like us) are getting their feet wet again. They had 84 mins of hell with Senegal until late goals skewed that scoreline, a draw against Ecuador who had them on the ropes and a win over the hosts who aren’t fit to play in the local park. All in all, it’s not THAT impressive on that Dutch side. I would argue that the US domination of the ball over England, Wales and Iran (outside the lack of goals) were more impressive.
England > Senegal
Wales = Ecuador
Iran > Qatar
Advantage US.
I’ll get to the US offense and your question shortly..
Van Gaal’s possession is slow and relatively boring and always crumbles when you fire pace at it. The Dutch don’t like a scrap. They want the ball with time and that’s what we can’t give them. Senegal had the right idea and almost pulled it off.
Defensively, everything with the US has to be a battle. Everything. Every ball needs to be contested and won, and every Dutch player can’t be given more than 4 seconds on the ball, especially w/ Gakpo. Man is in form, but limit service to him and make them beat us by other means and we have a solid shot at this.
Now, going the other way and to answer your question, Reyna, Aaronson, & Peirera have yet to be used on the frontline, with only Aaronson being used, albeit sparingly in a bit part role, meaning those legs and creativity are all as fresh as can be. Berhalter is legit worthless to me, but even he has to see that he’s gonna need everything he has on Saturday night to win this, meaning they’re gonna play if he wants us to advance.
If we see Shaq Moore, Sargent or Haji anywhere in this contest, all bets are off. The MLS/other boys aren’t gonna be able to handle it well, but with Adams, McKennie, & Musah pulling the strings in the middle, Dest and Robinson in the mix, and any combo of Pulisic, Gio, Weah, Aaronson, and Periera mixed up on the front line over 90 mins, I can definitely see a 1-nil nail biter going our way.
Again, it won’t be perfect and it’s gonna be super tight, but it can be done.
