Just got back from USMNT training a shade outside Amsterdam, so I have not watched this yet. But yup, our boys squeezed the Kiwis reeeeal good like, schooling hosts New Zealand 4-0 to book their place in the Under-20 World Cup round of 16. From what I understand, Mr. Zelalem did a little dance and made a little soccer lover out there today.
- Greg Seltzer
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You understand correctly. So smooth. That Rubin, Hyndman and Zelalem triangle in the middle looked really pleasing. The thing I liked most about Zelalem's game today (that I haven't seen from J. Green at toulon yet) is when he tries a take on, it isn't a binary result. If his move doesn't open things up it isn't an automatic turnover, he has a plan B (yes a different type of player than Green). Obviously lesser competition but a promising start.
Maybe I need to watch it again, but I felt like Zelalem, while good, slowed down the attack on a number of instances and demonstrated a complete unwillingness to use his left foot for anything.
Arriola looks promising as do the rest of the guys getting most of the shouts (Rubin, Hyndman).
@Matt There were a couple of times early in the match where he overdribbled a bit. Nobody is perfect. It wasn't a flawless game. It was a great game. And most importantly it displayed a suite of skills that are woefully under represented in our current USMNT pool. Rattle off the number of true number 10's (not named Bradley) that we can field. :)
This was the best I've seen Arriola look (albeit I have seen a very limited subset of his games) but I still felt like he was a rung below the middle attacking trio of Hyndman, Rubin and Zelalem. If he misses that goal I think I would have rated him as a 6.0 or 6.5 after one watch. Obviously he gets bumped up some for hitting it, but I guess I have just seen too many of those fired wide from him (in my VERY brief exposure) to be convinced.
While I am needlessly rambling about youth sides, can somebody explain the allegiance to Benji Joya by our u-23s or whatever you want to call em? I've been watching Toulon and it's driving me a bit batty(er).
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