USA vs Belgium:

• Really disappointing loss. I thought Belgium was the better team going into the match, but I expected Team USA's form and homefield advantage to push them over the top. I at least expected a close, hard fought match like Mexico delivered in the Mexico vs England game.
• The loss itself wasn't what was so disappointing—it was how poor they played. They couldn't complete a pass. They looked timid. None of them wanted the big moment. Just so disappointing that they played so poorly on the biggest stage.
• I have no theories on why they played so poorly. Rest shouldn't have been an issue. Maybe Pulisic had a knock going into the game. Otherwise, it's just inexplicable to me. It wasn't isolated to any one player either. Just about the entire team played terribly.
• Richards and Adams came to play and were able to at least look somewhat competent. Balogun wasn't terrible. Berhalter came on and sparked some life. Otherwise, McKennie, Robinson, Dest, Freeman, etc… were just bad.
• Tillman's issue has always been his quickness and high-end speed. His athletic deficiencies were on display in this game. It's always going to be tough for him at the highest level when he's at such a quickness disadvantage.
• Freeman's shortcomings came through in this game. The touch/technique just isn't there. He's going to have a tough time playing at the highest level unless it improves. Unfortunately, one of the weird quirks with soccer is it seems like by age 14 you either have the elite touch or you don't. I can't really remember any US players significantly improving their technique in their late teens and on. He's a great example of athleticism not being the end-all-be-all. He and Robinson were the most athletic players on the field and both were disasters.
• This WC summarized Pulisic's career perfectly. Came in healthy. Looked like one of the best players in the world in the first game. Took a knock and wasn't 100% for the remaining games, lost a step of pace, and was completely ineffective. Just so unfortunate how the injuries have derailed his career. Can't help but wonder how much better off he would've been if instead of moving to Chelsea/the Premier League he went to a less physically demanding league like Spain or Italy. Could've put him on a completely different path over the last few years.
• The positive side is this is going to spark a lot of debate about how the US is developing players, which is needed. We don't have a strong pipeline of young players in top European academies right now like we did 7-10 years ago. The 14-18 age crop looks excellent, though, and should start to revive that pipeline. It'll be interesting to see if the 14-18 year old crop has corrected the issues of previous generations. If not, we need to start seriously looking at how we develop technique, passing, vision, on-the-ball IQ, and playing in tight spaces. That's always been our issue and it was evident again against Belgium. At some point we need to correct this. We're just never going to compete against the top level teams if we don't develop better technical players.

Other WC Thoughts:

• Mexico was fantastic in their game against England. Such a hard fought game by both teams. That was the kind of intensity and passion I was expecting the US players to play with. Was a glaring contrast. It's a shame Roberto Alvarado never made the jump to Europe. He's such a great player. It would've been interesting to see what his ceiling would've been if he made the jump. Brian Gutierrez was bad all tournament. It's pretty clear why the US passed on him. Don't think we lost much with his switch.
• The Norway/Brazil game was absolutely shocking to me. Brazil were playing like an English 2^nd division team going up against Man City in the FA Cup. Was just absolutely blown away by how defensive and timid they were. Thought it was a complete hack job by Ancelotti.
• Definitely still looks like France is the team to beat. Argentina keeps its miraculous run going, but with how they've looked against Cape Verde and Egypt it's hard to see them competing with France. England have the athleticism and top level talent to keep up with France. Spain might have the horses to compete with them as well.
• If Norway manages to beat England, will Argentina have had the easiest WC opponents of all time? Their group was Algeria, Austria, Jordan. Then they played Cape Verde in the round of 32, Egypt in the round of 16, Switzerland in the quarters, and then it would be Norway in the semis. Just incredible.
• Ultimately I think England does the job over Norway. Norway have some weak spots in their squad and England should be able to prevail.