The USMNT caused more new questions to be asked than they could answer in a 2-0 defeat to Japan on Friday, with head coach Gregg Berhalter and midfielder Tyler Adams left to explain their shortcomings after the game.
[ MORE: What we learned from Japan vs USA | Player ratings ]
Japan proved a difficult test just 59 days before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the USMNT had very few, if any, correct answers. Chiefly, the Yanksโ inability to progress the ball up the field in a meaningful way, which resulted in just four shots (zero on target).
Clearly, there was much for Berhalter and Co., to explainโฆ
Gregg Berhalter: โI didnโt see a lot of personality tonightโ
โIt was a really competitive match. I think we ended up hurting ourselves a little bit too much in the game with silly giveaways. And we want a little more personality in the match. Give Japan a lot of credit: Good team, competitive team, they pressed well, but we can do better.
โFor some reason, I didnโt see a lot of personality with that performance tonight.โ
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โWeโve got work to do. We clearly need to improve, but overall really good experience for this team.โ
On the reason for the struggles, and if the pressure is growing heavy on the USMNT already โ via ESPNโฆ
I donโt know if the proximity of the World Cup has anything to do with it, but the guys didnโt look fresh, and from a physical output we just looked a step behind,โ said Berhalter. โAnd then itโs difficult, a team like Japan will punish you.
โThe adjustment in the second half helped give us more control of the game, gave us more passes between the lines. But in the first half, I think it was just the lack of comfort on the ball, silly giveaways.
โWe built the opponent up after a decent start, but then it started snowballing and giving some balls away and it wasnโt what we envisioned.
Tyler Adams: โWe didnโt reach our standard today โฆ played into their handsโ
On failing to meet expectations and perform in an important momentโฆ
โItโs definitely a tough one to take. I mean, you come here wanting to treat it like a group-stage game at the World Cup, in preparation for the World Cup, and we didnโt reach our standard today.
โWe faced a talented team but in the end, it felt like we almost played into their hands. We had a little bit of frustration seep in. And you could just tell the team was off, a little late to tackles, late receiving the ball, finding solutions, being dangerous and creating chances like we normally do so. Itโs a learning experience at the end of the day, and something that we got to take on the chin for the next game.โ
On the USMNT game plan, and why it didnโt work โ via ESPNโฆ
โI think that some of the teams in CONCACAF โ you know, the Mexicos and Hondurases โ theyโve pressed us, and we found solutions. We just needed to find solutions earlier on. I think that we had a match plan and I think it wouldโve been effective if we stuck to our game plan.
โBut, sometimes I just felt that maybe we just started to search for individual solutions instead of sticking together, sticking to the match plan, staying disciplined in our game plan. And you saw Japan โ they did that well. They had one game plan and it was effective.โ
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โIn the beginning, it was: if the wingers were pressing narrow, then we were gonna find the solutions in the overlap; we would get Sergiรฑo [Dest] and Sam [Vines] the ball and find the channel down the line. If they were pressing wide, then me and Weston [McKennie] and Luca [de la Torre] should have found space on the ball.
โWe just didnโt find those solutions early on. I think we rushed things and forced things, and that caused a lot of turnovers in dangerous areas.โ
On the USMNT facing a team of Japanโs quality ahead of the World Cupโฆ
โYou have to give credit to Japan, theyโre such a talented team. I played against a bunch of those guys in the Bundesliga before and they have quality all over the field, and they showed it tonight.
โSo credit to their game plan, it worked. But it didnโt feel like we executed our match plan going into the game. We canโt just start to waver and do our own things and allow individuality to creep into the team. We need to stick together as a team at the end of the day and we didnโt do that.โ
