In their last friendly chance at preparing for a busy summer, the US national team were able to grind out a 2-1 win away to Northern Ireland that was a little cozier than the score line suggests.
The visitors were frequently slow on the ball in the early stage of the contest and never really found a cutting edge in the attacking third, but they effectively controlled the proceedings from start to finish. In the end, it was their ability to penetrate Zone 14 on the fly that eventually paid off with a couple of goals.
United States Player Ratings
Zack Steffen (5.5) — Though he made a couple of comfy saves on long shots, it was not a busy day for the US netminder. Steffen himself would likely tell you he should have had the late Niall McGinn rocket that slipped through his hands from a sharp angle.
Sergino Dest (7) — Not that he pulled off any big plays in this one, but the Barcelona right back once again looked a different class than anybody on the opposing team. Dest shuffles the attack deck so effortlessly, sometimes it’s even tough for his own teammates to keep up.
Aaron Long (5) — While the Red Bulls defender never looked comfortable in the three-man central defense, he was still the most active US player at the back. The real issue on this day was his often troubling attempts at passing out of the back. A better opponent will happily penalize such errors.
Matt Miazga (4.5) — Playing in the middle of the three-man heart of defense, Miazga was often insulated on both sides. Because of that, he was able to keep things simple and efficient … that is, until he wandered onto Tim Ream’s worksite to make an inexplicable no-look play off his back that basically teed up the Northern Ireland consolation goal. I have no idea what he thought he was doing there, but will humbly request that he never do it again.
Tim Ream (6.5) — The Fulham vet also had a back-pass miscue, but it was much smaller and he was largely a settling influence in defense. Ream also moved the ball at times, such as on his clever assist pass to Gio Reyna.
Antonee Robinson (6.5) — For someone who gets into good final third positions so easily, it would be nice if his final ball was more consistent. There are no quibbles with Robinson’s work in the US end, though it must be said that this opponent offered little in the way of stern tests.
Kellyn Acosta (5) — After an excellent shift in defensive midfield against Jamaica, Acosta went the other way in this game. He was caught in possession near the US area far too easily on a couple of scary early occasions, and was caught missing from the gate to the US defense several times.
Yunus Musah (7) — Simply put, the kid is a human express train right down main street. Musah will eventually learn how to turn that transition work into final third chances, and probably long before anyone figures out how to slow him down through the middle of the park.
Giovanni Reyna (7.5) — In a game that could have easily turned paint-by-numbers, Reyna was the guy making sure Northern Ireland were never able to get comfortable at the back. He poked, prodded and pulled even when the rest of the team was standing around. Sure, his goal took a fortunate deflection, but sometimes finding the soft spot, ditching a defender and hitting a well-driven shot earns a just reward.
Jordan Siebatcheu (6.5) — He didn’t get himself a goal, but the Young Boys striker made all the little link plays that often get overlooked. We’ll see more of him this summer, to be sure.
Christian Pulisic (7) — There was a bit too much of Pulisic standing with a foot on the ball in the early going, but he came on as the game progressed. The spot-kick attempt was quite strange, but hey, sometimes strange works a charm. And though he wasn’t beating defenders off the dribble on this day, the Chelsea star did pick up extra work helpfully hoovering up loose balls all over midfield.
Coach Gregg Berhalter (5) — Gotta keep it real: I am not a fan of suddenly “experimenting” with a drastic change to the team’s set-up and wasn’t impressed with this one. If the 3-4-3 with a box midfield doesn’t look so hot in a friendly against Northern Ireland, then it’s probably going to look a lot worse in real games against better foes. Even the parts of it that did work were largely down to the individual quality of Musah, Reyna and Pulisic rather than any sort of tactical positive. Maybe we should get “Plan A” solid before looking for an odd second act.
Highlights: Northern Ireland 1-2 USA
Subs:
Sebastian Lletget (6) — It was a much quieter showing from the halftime sub, who mostly stuck to able possession support.
Bryan Reynolds (6) — My word, Reynolds motored into dangerous final third positions as easy as pie. Even more so than Robinson, though, he’ll need to work on that final ball.
Daryl Dike (6) — There was a fair bit of close but not quite for the Barnsley loan ace. Dike made all the right runs and found a couple of box chances in 27 minutes, so his first US goal seems just a matter of time.
Brenden Aaronson (7) — Just like against Jamaica, Aaronson provided an instant energy boost. He ability to pilot incisive moves through the middle just keeps getting better and better, and I’ll insist he should have started this match.
Chris Richards (6) — There wasn’t much to write home about in the birthday boy’s sub outing. Richards keeps making simple plays look simple, and you can’t ask for much more than that.
Luca de la Torre (6.5) — He only had 16 minutes on the pitch, but again we all saw the suddenly fast progress being made by the youngster. De la Torre is a bit tough, a lot clever and not at all slow with the ball at his feet.
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