It may be fleeting, but we sit atop CONCACAF for the moment.
Nice game. Pepi on the team for the next ten years.
Doesn’t help that ESPN thinks it’s important to dunk on soccer referees. “Hey, expert, give us a few seconds on how bad this ref is, eh?”
Pepi is filling a big need. We actually have a little depth up front outside and might not be completely overmatched in MF. It should be enough to consistently beat lesser teams if we stay focused. If we have to fall back, we should be able to play counter. I am liking the potential set up for next 5 years.
Other results all went our way last night. Canada looking more legit than ever right now. Costa Rica look worse than I can remember, they got lucky with a point at Honduras.
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A rare good game for the full 90 from the USMNT. It was a lesser opponent, but we went out and did what we were supposed to do. The only thing missing was someone to bang a ball into Gyasi’s face and
then into the goal.
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Only minor nitpick I would have is I wish Mexico won. They’re going to get a spot so I’d prefer they win every game to not give points to teams that could steal the spot from us. But it is nice to be on the top of the table right now
True, though Mexico have barely squeaked in before, like for the '14 WC, and the more games that are meaningful for them the more they will play tough.
You can’t throw guys into a match at this level with his amount of experience. Didn’t Twellman say that he has center reffed 1 Nations Legaue qualifier and 1 Gold Cup qualifier? They need to somehow get these guys from small countries calling MLS or LigaMx or European 3rd division games.
What do you think it costs to get VAR up and running in Costa Rica or Panama? $1M? Concacaf can find the $5M to install it in their couch cushions.
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Yup, ideally Mexico would win every game except for the US games to take points from everyone else.
this is true but emotionally it’s way more fun to root for them to fail
I’m a bit of a Mexico fan though (watched more of their games in my life than USA games) so I have some ulterior motives in wanting them to win beyond just US making it in.
makes sense, I’m just bringing the self-centered American viewpoint from my end 
Optimal outcome is every match is a draw, except for the USA winning.
And, ideally, qualification is sewn up before the March matches. More draws helps that.
Obivously didn’t get to watch the away game at Panama because U$ $occer has … rea$on$. I saw our opening lineup and immeidately reduced expectations to a 0-0 tie. Looks like we managed to underacheive that.
Not a great night for us. Mexico is still outstanding, but I expect them to take care of business and move to the top of the table. Costa Rica found life, Canada scratched out a point. 3 points on Wednesday night is a must, a draw still keeps us ahead of CRC but keeps pressure on as we approach Mexico I in the next window.
Awful. We didn’t create a single decent chance all game. Panama had a few.
Complete B team. I know some players weren’t available, but we should not lose to Panama. Berhalter needs to figure out how to get some of our best players to start. Arguably no one in our starting 11 tonight is in our best 11.
1-0 loss was deserved, we did basically nothing going forward. the worst game I’ve seen them play in some time.
I’m not that upset, but we need to bank the three points Wednesday to feel comfortable about the standings, we’re back in the mixer with anything less.
Not to stick up for US Soccer because they are all about the $$$ (see their latest plea for donations to help their youth academies), but they had nothing to do with the game being on Paramount+. That is a Panamanian soccer fed thing.
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I remember 2.5 halfs of terribleness a month ago.
The lineup sucked. Was the game plan just to play on our back foot the whole game? You would think the players would have some sort of “want to”, but that was missing as well.
Lleget and Acosta were god awful and had no thoughts of ever going into attack. It was back pass after back pass.
Zardes was non-existent (except for his own goal). Maybe that was because there was no midfield, but hopefully his time is near done.
The backs never really got into the attack.
Our strategy the last 10 minutes of just putting long balls on Zimmerman’s head (when he was wiped and could barely stand) was something.
And you gotta love the Concacafness of injury time. 7 minutes announced. 3 different guys running on the pitch halting play for a couple minutes. Balls being kicked from the touchline onto the field. And the ref still blew the whistle right at 7 minutes (not than an extra 2-3 minutes would have mattered).
Also, yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of Couva. I think we need to never play another game on 10/10
Here is a tweet thread of pain form soccer stats guy Paul Carr:
#USMNT loses to Panama for the…
- 2nd time in 24 all-time meetings (2011 Gold Cup)
- 1st time in 9 World Cup qualifiers
- 1st time in 6 meetings in Panama
#USMNT had 5 shots vs Panama. That’s the team’s fewest shots in its last 28 World Cup qualifiers, since 2013 at Azteca (1 shot in a 0-0 draw).
#USMNT xG: 0.22
Panama xG: 0.88
The five #USMNT shots tie the team’s fewest in 40 games under Gregg Berhalter. The 0.22 xG are by far the team’s worst under Berhalter (previous low: 0.53).
To @CharlieDavies9’s point about the #USMNT not winning the ball high up the field: The U.S. had ONE possession start in the attacking third tonight. In the first four final-round games, the U.S. started an average of eight possessions in the attacking third.
Last three #USMNT games on October 10:
- 2021: Lost 1-0 at Panama
- 2017: Couva
- 2015: Lost CONCACAF Cup to Mexico