If we want to read the worst into this game, it’s deeply concerning that the team was just not up to the pace of a match with a top tier South American side. If we got waxed this badly by Colombia then what chance do we have against Brazil, Argentina, or Uruguay? We should be able to get out of the group over Panama and Bolivia, but after that…tough sledding. Going out in the quarters would be a major disappointment for this team in our only truly competitive action between now and the World Cup in 2026. Berhalter would have to go.

If we want to see the glass half-full, this game is clearly not indicative of our team’s quality. Colombia’s first two goals were spectacular, we created plenty of chances for the first 60 minutes, and honestly the game looked like it was between two evenly matched and high quality side, as we’d expected before the game. The collapse at the end came with guys playing out of position, and at least some of the giveaways were from guys who haven’t played a lot towards the end of their club seasons and could legitimately be in need of match fitness. Cleaning up sloppy giveaways is a lot easier than fixing deeper problems and we will absolutely clean those up once the Copa actually begins.

We’ll learn more about which view is right against Brazil in a few days. Here’s hoping it’s the glass half-full view.

In our USMNT v. Colombia Preview article, we broke down our expectations for the match. Sadly, there’s not a lot we got right on this one, though we believe that even the most optimistic of Colombia supporters would have struggled to predict a result this lopsided. Let’s zoom in and see what we learned. 

The US was just not at the races against Colombia. Except for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half, Colombia won every 50/50 ball, and the intensity on their press overwhelmed our defense and midfield. We insisted on playing out of the back anyway, and committed critical turnovers that led to the last 3 goals. Those goals took this game from being a disappointing but competitive loss to a shellacking that could be a tough to recover from – especially if we have a repeat against Brazil. 

We were outplayed all over the pitch. Again, Colombia’s intensity was overwhelming and impressive. A lot of our players who either (i) play in leagues with a slower pace of play or (ii) haven’t been featuring for their club teams of late struggled to match the intensity and it cost us. The last 3 goals came off of unacceptable giveaways, but there were others that could just as easily have cost us.

We also will fully admit that our analytical model significantly underestimated several Colombian players. Most of them play in the Brazilian league, so we’ll be upgrading our assessment of that league to be on par with the Championship instead of MLS.

Not many high ratings here. Let’s get straight into it.

• Balogun (6.5) – struggled to get on the ball but did well when he did. Good hold up play retained posssession and brought others in to game. Perfect touch on the assist for Weah’s goal
• Pulisic (6.5) – created a few chances, won the ball back several times in the press. Minutes were managed given heavy workload at Milan. We agree with this given his injury history
• Weah (6) – ugh, what a mixed bag. Took his goal brilliantly but the giveaway for Colombia’s 4th at least offsets that. Otherwise he had a difficult time affecting the match. We viewed his positioning as too narrow which we frankly put squarely on Berhalter’s shoulders
• Wright (6) – looked dangerous for the first 15 minutes after he came on at half but really faded after that
• Pepi (5) – failed to affect the game in attack after coming on in the 71st minute. Waited for ball to come to him on a pass from Carter-Vickers in the 88th. Colombia stepped in to win it and scored their 5th on the resulting break. Yet another example of an American player not being intense enough for this match.

• McKennie (6) – some first touch passing helped create space for others, the team needed more of that. His positioning was WAY too high and wide for our liking – leaving us exposed in midfield and causing Cardoso + CBs to struggle to advance the ball through midfield. We also blame that on Gregggg. 
• Reyna (6) – Similar to McKennie, some good passes including several beautiful switches out to the wing when he actually had the ball, but struggled to influence the game given Colombia’s superior pace and agility. You can’t make cutting passes if we don’t have the ball. As noted in our preview article we would have preferred to see Musah in the starting lineup from a matchups perspective. 
• Cardoso (5.5) – We really want to like Johhny but this wasn’t his game. On the positive side, he had several good defensive wins including one against Diaz on the break. On the other hand, he had several misplaced passes in the first half that broke the fluidity of our attack, and generally struggled to advance the ball through Colombia’s pressure. The giveaway that led to Colombia’s 3rd goal was unacceptable . We know he’ll learn from this but damn did we miss Adams.
• Tillman (6) – hardly touched the ball after coming on in the 62nd. Another attacking mid who isn’t fast enough for these types of games in our view. Was also too high and wide for our taste, indicating McKennie was following Berhalter instruction and not drifting on his own.
• Musah (6) – caught once trying to dribble out of pressure, succeeded the next time. Needs to be more judicious about doing that in vulnerable positions. His pace helped us keep possession on some 50/50s and we think we needed more of that throughout the match
• De la Torre (NR) – came on in garbage time in the 83rd and didn’t have a chance to do much

• Robinson (5) – possibly the worst performance we’ve seen from him in a US shirt. He got into a lot of space down the left, especially in the first half but none of his crosses were dangerous. Had several bad giveaways. Unneccessary intervention on a pass that was going out of bounds led to Colombia’s first goal. He got outhustled by Sinisterra into the US box on Colombia’s 5th. Lost possession 18 times, more than any other player in the game.
• Ream (6) – Perhaps a quicker defender could have blocked the shot for Colombia’s first goal, but he was always at a disadvantage to get to the loose ball. Made a few good passes out of the back but got caught on the ball in the 19th in a very vulnerable position. Notably all 3 of the horrific giveaway goals came after he was substituted in the 62nd 
• Richards (6.5) – Looked less comfortable on the ball under pressure than expected for a guy who played in midfield in the Premier League a lot this year. Had a couple of bad giveaways, but they were at times when his teammates didn’t show for him while he was under pressure. Not all his fault. He defended well and was dominant on aerial duels. 
• Scally (6) – Tale of two Joeys. He was quite good in defense. He kept Diaz quiet on two 1-on-1 situations, and kept pace with him on a counter where we were totally exposed. On the other hand, he had 15 giveaways – third most in the game, and hit several poor crosses. We wanted him to stay at home and ensure a solid defense but he was far too high up the pitch for our taste almost all game. Case in point, he was standing at midfield when Weah was dispossessed for the 4th Colombia goal. What in the world is he doing that high that soon? Again, we blame Gregg. When TNT played Gregg’s mic’d up audio at half time, he was constantly telling Joe to get higher up the pitch. WRONG TACTIC. 
• Carter-Vickers (5.5) – not a great showcase for him. We don’t think this is the kind of game that suits his strengths. He’s a beast physically but not the fastest guy and that means he’s going to have a hard time matching up with a side like Colombia. Very bad giveaway at the back could have resulted in ANOTHER Colombia goal but Turner bailed him out with a great save on James.

• Turner (6) – always tempting to fault a keeper who gets beat near post, but the shot on Colombia’s first goal was absolutely perfect. The second goal maybe was saveable – but not one you’d expect a keeper to save. On the last 3 goals there was nothing he could do as he was completely exposed after the giveaways. Made a great save down to his left against James. Distribution was mediocre. 

Here’s are the top 4 things we think Berhalter got wrong:

1. Insisting on playing out of the back all game – after being turned over time and time again trying to build out. We could 15 times that we were dispossessed in vulnerable positions. That’s EVERY SIX MINUTES. Change the tactic Gregg. This reminds us of the warm up match for the World Cup against Japan where they turned us over again and again and again and we refused to change the tactic. We lost that 2-0.
2. Lack of pace in midfield – Colombia was first to virtually every 50/50 ball all day. In our view, Berhalter has to pick 1 from McKennie, Reyna, and Tillman to be on the pitch at any given time against these better South American sides. Having 2 of them in midfield at the same time just leaves us unable to keep up and let’s them run straight through us
3. Too open of a game plan – This played into Colombia’s hands in our view. We want to be aggressive and dominate games as much as anyone, but sometimes the matchups call for more caution. We need results against big teams and we have to get the tactics right for that to happen. We got it wrong against Germany and Colombia. If we do it against Brazil we will get shredded. Specifically – we pushed our fullbacks too high before breaking their press, leaving us vulnerable on turnovers. We also kept pushing McKennie and Tillman high and wide right while forcing Weah inside. That doesn’t utilize Weah’s best skills and leaves gaping holes in a midfield that’s already struggling to keep pace.
4. Approached game w/ perspective of “we’re going to try some things out” – this contributed to a lack of intensity among players. We get it, it’s technically a warm up, but this was demoralizing.

We would love to see Tyler Adams get 45 minutes from the start and put our best foot forward for the first half. That also means Musah in for Reyna so we have a more dynamic midfield. We lean towards Weah at RWB in that formation, but Scally did well enough against Diaz that we’d be okay with him there. We just don’t want him bombing forward on the break. If he starts, he needs to stay home. Given our inability to break the press on the ground against Colombia, we feel Wright is the better option to pair with Pulisic up top given his aerial ability – and we wouldn’t hesitate to hit some high long balls to him out of the back. 

 Some other tactical fixes should be easy, and we look for a cleaner, more mature performance against Brazil. First, don’t try to dribble out of the back. Second, don’t leave your teammates stranded with no options when building out of the back. Third, don’t be so open. At least 5 players should be hanging back – Adams, the 3 CBs, and either Robinson or Weah (only one at a time can go forward on the break. Lastly – play at a higher tempo. We can’t dwell on the ball, Brazil won’t give us that time. We need more first touch passes and to move the ball quickly. 

Keep your fingers crossed US fans. We can’t wait to see how the team reacts to this one.