The US men's national team beat a hodgepodge Jamaican side 4-1 on Thursday afternoon in Austria. They outshot the Reggae Boyz 28-9 and out-possessed them 69% to 31%. It wasn't precisely a "there's only one team on the field" performance in the way that recent wins over Trinidad & Tobago, El Salvador and Panama were, but there was a clear protagonist, and that was the US.
Owning that role and making it something the team's comfortable with has been head coach Gregg Berhalter's mandate since he took the job a bit over two years ago. I think it's fair to say that there's been some noteworthy progress, but that more is needed.
A few takeaways:
The Full Gio Reyna Experience
Reyna probably has the highest upside of any player in the pool, save maybe for Christian Pulisic (Sergino Dest would be in that conversation as well, but attackers are just more valuable than defenders). He is, at 18-year-old a regular for one of the best teams in Germany, and he has moments of skill that are inimitable from within the pool.
This is superb:
Reggie Cannon's overlap is late, so Reyna freezes the defense then cuts inside and draws the attention of almost the entire Jamaican backline. This was a "fine, I'll do it myself" moment out of the Clint Dempsey playbook. He was quick, decisive, ruthless and creative in that moment, and credit to Liam Moore for making a great read to get a block on Josh Sargent's shot.
You can't teach what Reyna did right there. Players with his combination of individual technique and athleticism are rare, and it's worth living with the mistakes he makes in terms of his reading of the game and ability to make his teammates better. But man, are moments like this frustrating to watch:
This time — which was earlier in the game — Cannon's underlap was perfectly timed and Reyna simply has to play him through. The whole point of positional play as Berhalter's system uses it is 1) to control the game, and 2) to put players in positions where their strengths amplify the qualities of their teammates. For the wingers, that often means making the right choice in that exact spot in order to get the ball into the optimal assist zone on the foot of an overlapping (or underlapping) fulllback for a pull-back across the face of the goal.
This was it. This was exactly how the system is supposed to work, and Reyna left Reggie on read. It was not the only time he did that (we'll get to the other one later on), and it is similar to what we've seen from him at the youth level, in his previous full US appearance and across this season for Dortmund. He had a chance to make the right play, but instead he tried to make the hero play.
It's exciting because he has the ability to make the hero play. There's a reason he's considered something like a $50 million asset. It's frustrating because the frequency with which he makes the right play is low.
We've seen it at the club level, too. Reyna had 2g/4a in his first five games for his club team this season. Over the subsequent 29 he's managed just 2g/2a and has pretty clearly dropped down the pecking order.
I don't mind this, by the way:
First off, that was the exact right run he needed to make in order to find the first chance. His touch got away from him a little bit, but that can happen to literally anybody. If Reyna's consistently getting into that position — a massive "if" given his off-ball movement still needs work — he will score goals.
Secondly, I absolutely do not mind the decision to shoot with his weaker left foot rather than slip a pass to Brenden Aaronson at the top of the box. Being selfish when trying to dribble four guys at the top of the box is one thing; being selfish when in shooting position with the ball on your foot and you're in the midst of a months-long slump? Zero problem with him having another crack at it there.
Anyway, at some point it's going to click for Reyna. He'll bring all his talent to bear and be both a floor-raiser and a ceiling-raiser and quite possibly the most important cog in this machine Berhalter is trying to build.
But as talented as he is, it wasn't today.
Kellyn Acosta, D-Mid
Defensive midfield is the thinnest position in the pool by most measures, and Tyler Adams having to withdraw from camp might've opened a gap for Acosta to work his way into the picture. Acosta has bounced between fullback and more of a No. 8 role throughout his career for both club and country, but today he looked like a true No. 6 in terms of putting out fires, winning the ball and organizing the attack. And he's got a real talent for ball-progression:
Yes, that's another missed underlap from Reyna.
Anyway, Acosta had a strong all-around day at an iffy spot on the depth chart. I'm not sure if that puts him into the mix as a defensive midfield in Berhalter's system on a longer timeline — he plays as an 8 for the Rapids and his low usage numbers would worry me if the US were determined to play through him — but he's made a solid case as a "break in case of emergency" defensive midfield substitute, and his ability to play multiple positions makes him a worthwhile gameday 18 type of player.
A few bullet points to think about:
- Set pieces were a problem for the US. Jamaica's only goal came from a counterattack off a US corner, and then the final 10 minutes were rife with US sloppiness defending restarts. I don't think it's a persistent thing, but I'll be keeping an eye on it for Sunday in this camp's second friendly against Northern Ireland.
- There is, quite obviously, a good case for Dest at LB. There is less of a case to move him to LB in order to get Cannon onto the field, as Cannon struggled. Of course, so did Antonee Robinson, who'd nominally be the starting LB if Dest is moved to RB.
- Christian Pulisic was poor in his 45 minutes of action, his first for the US since October 2019. I'm going to choose not to read too much into it for now.
- Brenden Aaronson, meanwhile, was a game-changer after he came in for Pulisic on the wing (told ya that's his spot). He constantly found space, pressured the Jamaican backline on and off the ball, created chances and even finished one. I don't think we'll be seeing a ton of Aaronson in the Free 8 roles going forward; I genuinely think he's a winger.
- I'm glad Josh Sargent got a lovely assist on Aaronson's goal — that precise play, which I don't think any other forward in the US pool makes, is precisely why I have Sargent atop my own, personal center forward depth chart. But beyond that play, his hold-up work was excellent, his pressing was very good and his movement in and around the box was encouraging. He deserved a goal.
- Luca De La Torre was a pleasant surprise. He's got a deceptiveness and a change-of-pace to his game that opened up space for both himself and his teammates, and he showed an ability to complete passes on the run. I'm not sure he played himself directly into the first team, but he's Olympic-eligible. It's very easy to imagine him in one of those Free 8 roles this summer, should the US make it to Tokyo.
- Calling Sebastian Lletget "Mr. Reliable" for the US is both a deserved complement and a disservice to his all-around ability. It is going to take a lot to get him out of the XI for any big game.
- If someone has a petition for Valencia to move Yunus Musah from the wing to central midfield, tweet it at me. I will sign it.
