I think in both games we came out flying, which was good to see. We were playing better teams, but weren't scared.
I was particularly excited in this past game where we had no true 9 playing to see the fluid, creative play up front. I had been begging for that kind of creativity under GGG when we were struggling to find an 9 who was worth a crap (but GGG kept trying instead of adjusting his tactics).
We also had some great pressing. We had them guessing early and we should've scored. Poch's tactics weren't the problem. Lack of clinical finishing and poor passing from Weah were the biggest issues I saw. Fix those and we're up 2-0 early.
On defense, it's mostly continuity IMO. Until we have a settled back line, it's gonna be disorganized at times. And I think having Adams this window would've done wonders given the almost reckless attacking we were trying to do.
The biggest thing Poch seems to struggle with is man management and motivation, IMO. And that's a big problem, especially in friendlies, because I think for our top players in Europe, there are several factors at play that make it harder for them to be motivated.
I'm cautiously optimistic that our guys will step up when it matters.
But also - Poch isn't the right guy and I hope he can find a great gig somewhere else and move on without costing us an arm and a leg. I think we'll do decently well this summer, but I honestly see us struggling in WCQ in the next cycle if Poch is somehow still here.
