Chapter 1: What were the key moments from the USMNT vs Portugal match?
From 30 for 30 podcasts.
Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian.
An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest.
We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Hello and welcome to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas, Ali Moreno alongside me. We'll kick things off with the US taking on Portugal on Tuesday night. And it's back-to-back defeats from Richie Pochettino's side as they would lose by two goals to nil. Let's hear from the manager.
I think we compete really well. It was again Belgium first half and 20 minutes or 15 minutes on the second half. And in details, in small detail, I think we lose the game. We are USA. And we are competing again. Belgium, Portugal. I think for sure Portugal have in the top 100 player few or some player playing in that top 100. I think we don't have.
I am more positive now than before because seeing the team compete, we are not far away. It's only details that we need to improve.
Well, for more on this, let's welcome in, shall we? Go, go, USA. Ian Darke is with us, and we also welcome Jermaine Jones, of course, one of the best goals that the US has ever seen at the World Cup. Jermaine, stick with me on this, but I could ask you what we'd learn or which players stood out or who shouldn't go to the World Cup, all that stuff. But let's just focus on the facts, if I may.
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Chapter 2: Why does Jermaine Jones remain optimistic about the USMNT's World Cup chances?
If Arsenal beat Burnley 2-0, our lead is obviously Arsenal continuing. No one is talking about Burnley and not turning up and formations and players they should have used and tactics. Portugal have got better players than the US. Arsenal have better players than Burnley. Belgium have better players than the US. Why is there so much excitement and hype
around what Pochettino should be doing when in reality none of these US players get into the Portuguese squad. That's just where it is and that's fine, that's fine to accept, yet there seems to be so much talk around everything else, so much noise, which just seems to exceed all expectations.
Um, yeah, you know, for me, it's a little bit that I look at it different because I played against a real strong Belgium team at the World Cup in 2014 and a real strong team against Portugal. In Portugal, normally we should win that game. We made a mistake in the last minute and then they scored, they tied the game. Belgium, we were completely in the game.
A lot of good saves from Tim Howard at the time, but... Nobody had us on the loop. Nobody had even trust in us that we can do anything. First of all, get out of that group and everything. So and now for me, it's like look at it and go, OK, we play Belgium. But I think when we look at the Belgium game, the first 15 minutes, we were kind of in a game. And then it looks like a boxing match.
The Belgium is looking and seeing and trying to figure out what we're doing. And then at one point they step it up. And we have no chance to come back into the game anymore. The individual players step it up in the different makers of Belgium. And I think the same was against Portugal yesterday. So when you look at the game in the beginning, we had chances, we were there.
But then at one point, it feels like if the bigger countries in the soccer world to step it up, then we have no chance to get back into the game. And that's something we have to ask. My question would be then, why are we not playing the best 11 we have? Why are we not getting them to get used to each other?
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Chapter 3: What insights does the crew provide about England's loss to Japan?
Because we are 73 days away from the World Cup. And we're still trying stuff. We play a bit back three, we play back four. And I think that's the issue we should talk about.
Is that a point, Ali? Should he have used this platform to put out that starting 11?
I think we could make the argument that throughout Mauricio Pochettino's tenure with the national team, that is a valid question. When have we seen whatever he considers to be the best 11 of the United States play together consistently? It just hasn't happened. With this whole idea of culture, the new culture that he was creating within U.S.
soccer and within the national team, that he wanted to open up the pool to these players, to those players, to those guys, and this guy, fine. But once you're settling on what you think is your best 11, then this guy, to Jermaine's point, They have to be able to play together, and that just hasn't happened. Beyond that,
See, I have no issue with Mauricio Pochettino coming out and saying, look, Belgium and Portugal, they have some of the best players in the world, and so they're just simply better than us. And that is, I think, part of the conversation that you're having, Dan.
But you got to put it into context, because a couple of days earlier, the same guy, Mauricio Pochettino, was talking about how the United States should be making it to the semifinals. So one thing doesn't match the other.
If you're gonna sell me on the idea that the United States should make a semifinal, then in order for them to make that a reality, they will have to beat teams like Belgium and Portugal. That's just the reality of a World Cup setting.
As you get further into the competition, you eventually are gonna meet, literally you could possibly meet Belgium, but you are gonna meet teams of this caliber, of this level, and this is not the best version of Belgium. Let me just say, Jermaine mentioned Belgium back in 2014, that was a better version of this one, but neither here nor there.
The point is, you have Pochettino saying, semifinals is where we should aim, And then a couple of days later, because you have been humbled by a couple of results and a couple of performances, then you say, well, but these guys are better than us. So which one is it?
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Chapter 4: How does the USMNT compare to Portugal and Belgium in terms of player quality?
They're really hard games. As a player, would you have preferred to play someone more on your level, or would you get more out of playing against opposition like this? Because, I don't know, if I'm playing tennis against someone who just scores aces past me, what am I learning?
I think it's to be honest. I think as a player, you always want to play against the best. So I think you're in the wrong sport if you say I want to play against smaller teams just to win the games. Because like we talked before, you go into a World Cup, you have to face anybody there.
So if you go, you want to get out of the group stage, whoever you get, even like now when I look at the group stage, it's Paraguay, Australia and Turkey. So it's You're not just walking through that group. That's a point too. So now you're finishing up with Senegal and with Germany. I'm living here right now. I'm looking at it and I go like, guys, don't be silly.
Germany will not be just a walkthrough. They have a really, really strong team. Senegal just come back from winning the Africa Cup. And they have a good team too. But I strongly believe that we have a good team. But we have to find a way to put the best players on the field, put the players in the best positions they can play, and not just try stuff out. Because we all know it.
As closer you get to the World Cup, you have to find a balance in the group. You have to figure out who's working with each other. And then you will get like... Because now it's about like... bringing in that players have excitement to go to a World Cup, players have getting trust with each other, they get hope, they believe. And that was the Logan for us. We had always that belief, right?
Like we called always in the US, believe and believe. So if you get something like that, even in smaller teams, like what I said before, and go back to that, Pochettino says that, yeah, Portugal has bigger players and everything, but Hey, we have players that play for Milan.
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Chapter 5: What tactical adjustments should the USMNT consider before the World Cup?
We have players in England. Yeah, but not very good players, Jermain. Not very good players.
Christian Pulisic hasn't scored since December. He's struggling to get into this Milan team. He's supposed to be the guy, isn't he? He's supposed to be the focus that's going to carry the US in this summer tournament. Yet he can't even get a game domestically at the moment.
But it depends on how you see it, right? A couple years ago, we talked about it, and he was somebody who made the difference. And I always say that. Yes, we can say they're not good enough to make it and get that into the teams and everything, but... A couple of years ago, I remember he was the face of the country and I think he was even outside of the country. He played like really good soccer.
So we can go through Portugal, we can go to Belgium. Yes, they have good players, but not everybody of them is playing for Man City or for Chelsea or whatever. So that's the point. And if you don't have... The point is that too, if you don't have the individual quality, like you don't have Cristiano or whatever, then you have to be a collective as a team.
And for me, it's like even there, I think we struggle right now. And I believe that comes just from, because everybody's doing his own things. I don't think that everybody's clear. I'm going to the World Cup. I'm not. Like I passed the ball. I'm shooting for myself to get a bonus to maybe score. Like everybody's still in that feeling when I watched the both games.
everybody's hoping, oh, I'm trying to play my own game to get a good shot to go maybe to the World Cup. And that's just something where I believe if you make a clear picture of who's going and have an idea, then as a collective, as a team, you will actually play better because you're starting to fit the pieces and get a better look at the whole team. Ian Dogg.
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Chapter 6: Why is it important for the USMNT to play against stronger opponents?
Well, I think the point that Jermaine is making is a really good one. The time for experiments is over. I mean, it's like England the other night trying to false nine. They're not going to do that at the World Cup. But what I do like about the USA is instead of playing the endless.
games against CONCACAF teams they're playing teams where they will learn something they might not like the lessons they're learning they might not like what Belgium did to them in the second half the other day they might not like losing to Portugal but these I think are very very important lessons for Pochettino as he just tries to mold this team
and get it ready and i think jermaine's spot on he's got to play what he thinks is his best 11 in these two games against senegal who are really good team by the way as of course are germany he'll learn a lot more there i mean the job is to get through that group like jermaine was saying you know okay paraguay and Australia in the group. Turkey, I think, makes it tougher with them qualifying.
They've got, you know, good players led by Guler, the Real Madrid player. So, yeah, I wouldn't be giving up on the USA on that. It doesn't look good at the moment. And I think one of the big takeaways, really, from those two games is they're too easy to play against, particularly against Belgium. I mean, that second goal, Xiao Felix scores for Portugal. He has all day
for that ball to drop and there's still nobody near him as he rifles it into the corner of the net. I mean, all that's gotta change. All that's gotta change and they've gotta have the stomach and fight and the heart that those teams that Jermaine and others were playing in.
Talk to me about facing strong opposition. Yeah, look, he's talking about, Pochettino's talking about the details and that's the difference in his mind between Portugal and the United States. We're no kidding. Yeah. That is the difference. The fact that in the details, they are better than you. That in the details, Trincao finished to the far post, whereas Pulisic did not.
And so the difference, yes, it is indeed in the details, but the details are what separates the really good team from the not so good teams. Now, look. I'm not giving up on the United States. And I don't think that's what this conversation is about. I think this team can be a version of themselves that is not about we're going to play teams that are better than us straight up.
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Chapter 7: What challenges does the USMNT face leading up to the World Cup?
No, that they can be far more about, and it's a conversation that we had following the matchup against Belgium, where you can grind. It's something that Ian is talking about, that you can fight. And you can do that against better teams in preparation for the World Cup because that's how you're going to advance in the World Cup. That's how you're going to be successful in the World Cup.
It won't be because you will outplay a superior team. It will be because you outfought and outran and scored in a set piece. That is the more likely scenario. What I don't understand is why this team pretends to be something that they're not. They're not good enough, and by Pochettino's own admission, they're not good enough to outplay Portugal. So why are you trying to do that?
How about you use these games in playing against superior opposition to make it into the framework, into the blueprint of how is it that you can go about beating superior teams in the World Cup. Making it into a fight, making it into a physical game, making it into set pieces, making it into being difficult to beat. That hasn't been the case for Pochettino teams since he got to the national team.
He's always made it about how we're going to play out of the bag, and we're going to do this, and we're going to dominate games, and we're going to... All those things are fine and well against CONCACAF opposition. And even then, they've had some struggles.
But once you get to the better teams, to the superior teams, which is what we have seen so far, they struggle because they don't know how to grind. And it's not something that you learn a couple of months away from the World Cup. So hang on if you're the United States, strap on because this is going to be a really difficult conversation that we're going to have to have during the World Cup.
Jermaine, you think of that group, Ali used the word grind there, and no one gave you much of a chance really when you looked at the opponents. Within that group, obviously, you made it through. It's the kind of opposite going into this World Cup for the US. People are looking at Paraguay, looking at Australia, looking at Turkey, thinking, oh, the US should be okay here.
You know, for me, it's like something too where I look at it and I go, no, we're not. Because on paper, it looks easy. But I think it's like if you look at the games now that we've played already so far, it will not be that easy, you know? So, and I think... It's something we've been hoping since the last World Cup.
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Chapter 8: How can the USMNT improve their performance based on recent matches?
We're hoping that this generation will do something special. We even hoped already in the last World Cup that there's something special. Then we said, okay, they're young, they have to grow, and they will grow to the next World Cup. So it will be at home. And I think we don't realize that we play at home, that there's a lot of pressure alone on that, that we have to get out of this group stage.
Alone, the first game, opening game for our own country, our own club,
it would be everybody's excited we will hope that we get the win and if you don't get a win with the first game already it's a lot of pressure starting so and i think we we always you know hoping and hoping and hoping but i think the hope has to stop in like like you guys already said in the studio we have to start grinding we have to go back to that what made us strong we always knew that
we play bigger countries, it comes about like you put the heart and soul to the things, to the jersey, you have to fight, grind and all that stuff. And then yes, you will have talent where you can maybe score and make your points and get out of situations. But just to say like, oh, we want to play, we want to get there and do everything, it's not working, you know.
And then go back to Pochettino, that he talks about the details. For me, it's then second goal yesterday against Portugal. That's a detail. That's where's the standard coach to explain to guys, wait a minute, they block you maybe on the five and they play a long ball to the second, to the box. And then, you know, you can see that there was a surprise. That's details.
You know, you can win games with standards and you can lose the games with standards. So that's the details we have to focus on that we don't make that kid's mistakes.
It's not guaranteed they're getting out of this group, is it, Ian?
Well, it's never guaranteed. Nothing's easy at the World Cup. And there will be shocks. But I think the key is not to lose that first game. Remember, we've got a 48-team World Cup, 12 groups. Eight of the third-place teams are going to go through. So that makes the draw a little bit more valuable than it would have been because there's... now not quite so much jeopardy. So don't lose.
That's the first thing against Paraguay. But go for the win. I mean, the home advantage is going to be a big, big factor. You could say it ramps up the pressure on the players, but I think they'll get a tremendous buzz from the atmosphere there's going to be by the time that World Cup comes around and the feeling around the country for the team. So I think they'll get something from that.
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