Long tore his Achilles tendon in 2021, forcing him out for a whole year. Long’s athleticism, size, and theoretically midfield-level passing game made him an attractive prospect, and West Ham nearly purchased him in 2020. European teams, and the USMNT, soon started calling. In 2018, he was named MLS’s defender of the year as the Red Bulls allowed only 33 goals in a Supporter’s Shield–winning season. Long never found his footing in the northwest, though once Jesse Marsch convinced him to switch positions and move to center back, he started crushing it. He envisioned himself as a “Brad Evans-type,” someone who could help a team anywhere from defensive midfield to any spot on the backline. Long played four years of college ball and languished as a center midfield prospect within the Sounders’ and Timbers’ systems. After three years of second-division soccer, Long broke into the NYRB first team in 2017, at age 25, completing a frankly incredible rise. Who Does He Play For?Īaron Long plays for the New York Red Bulls, an energy drink-branded concern playing soccer out of the tri-state area in the second-best league in North America. This is to say, Aaron Long, this week’s USMNT Guy, should not see the field pretty much ever again for the U.S. Without Antonee Robinson to provide width, and with a compromised center back pairing, the team’s entire way of playing falls apart. Berhalterball is all about attacking with the fullbacks and deputizing the center backs to play balls into space and advance slowly up the field. Two of those missing starters play along the backline in a unit that, without them, looked unprepared to control the ball, build possession, or even defend in space. At least three key starters were out, including Yunus Musah, who is starting to look like one of the most important players on the team due to his ability to build possession and attacks through pressure. Several key players-Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Sergiño Dest-are not playing much for their clubs, and they looked worryingly rusty. If one were to look for a silver lining, the compromised lineup would be the place to start. If the USMNT can’t even score one goal in 180 minutes against, by World Cup standards, relative chumps, what is going to happen to these poor bastards when they have to face Harry Kane and Gareth Bale in the group stage of the World Cup? Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT has not yet received its first meaningful test, and yet even against two non-elite national teams the U.S.’s shortcomings and limits of the squad and its organization were alarmingly apparent. managed two shots on goal, lost by an aggregate of 2–0, and looked somehow even worse than their meager statline would indicate. Playing against Japan, a fine team, and Saudi Arabia, a bad team, the U.S. The United States men’s national team has finished their slate of pre-World Cup tune-up games, and the mood within the fanbase is sour and recriminatory.
RUSTY PALMER SERIES
But keep up the good work.Welcome to What Is This USMNT Guy’s Deal, a regular series in which Defector selects a name from the myriad number of exciting young American soccer men playing in Europe and answers the question: What is this USMNT guy’s deal?
Clearly, the Patriots left you demoralized on many occasions, and it has damaged your psyche, and altered your view on life for the worse. You have to play well in critical situations and on critical plays. The other 7 years they were still a playoff team except for two season where they lost playoff tie breakers.
It takes a massive amount of good work to get there and win, let alone getting there 9 times in 20 years, and being in the Championship game 13 times in 20 year. You don’t dominate the NFL for 20 years by people “handing” you Super Bowls. I’ll continue to root against him and anyone else who handed New England a Super Bowl (talking to you Matt Ryan) Not his biggest fan, definitely have some impressive stats on his resume’ but he’s not my flavor. Look, the guy threw the worst pass in NFL history, so this can’t be a surprise.
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