Typically, writing a preview is a somewhat absurd activity. Discussing what will happen in the future with any certainty is not something that the universe typically smiles upon. There are some parameters that can be discussed, ideas about style, positions, personnel, injuries, player and coach tendencies that do give an idea about what might happen. The moment the ball is kicked everything is thrown into chaos and any moment in the game can throw whatever plans coaches had into the dumpster and make
the work of a preview writer seem as foolish as it is.
It can be fun though, but nobody is laughing now.
At this point watching for something or previewing a match has become an act of grasping for hope. The team needs a striker, saying let’s watch if Josh Sargent can step up is a nice way of stating: there is no goal threat for this team and the options are wallowing in that reality or holding onto the belief that it will get better. The same can be said for finding a solid goalkeeper, reliable center back pairing, or functional managerial tactics. Worse still, it can also be said about team spirit and the former quality of American grittiness that has been absent now for almost a decade.
So far, the Pochettino era can be defined as a team that is searching for some – any – kind of consistency. That has been in short supply. From personnel decisions, tactics, and team identity there is very little that can be counted on aside from frustration.
There isn’t much to say about the Japan game. The team wasn’t good against South Korea and needs to do better. Poch hasn’t had the answer to how to make that happen against decent teams aside from bringing in an ever expanding player pool. At this point it’s difficult to even answer the question of – where does the team start from in order to improve?
It does seem like player selection is a big part of the answer to that. At this point there isn’t an A or a B team. Rather, Poch seems to have opted for trying to build competition in the player pool hoping that the cream will rise to the top. That is not working and now it’s on him as a leader and as a manager to start making decisions and give the players instructions as to how he wants them to play and set expectations as to what that will look like.
So, what should we watch for? Let’s start with if the manager does enough in this game to show he can lead the team in a way that does more than have us sitting here during the next international break grasping for yet more increasingly unwarranted hope.
