Santiago Moreno Dispossessions per Pass Received (DpPR):

DpPR in the Right Third: 0.053 (20/380)
DpPR in the Middle Third: 0.034 (6/176)
DpPR in the Left Third: 0.047 (4/86)

Santiago Moreno Take-Ons:

Take-On Success Rate in the Right Third: 31.5% (17/54)
Take-On Success Rate in the Middle Third: 27.3% (6/22)
Take-On Success Rate in the Left Third: 61.1% (11/18)

I was watching the Timbers play New England last night and saw that Santiago Moreno was gliding past his defender nearly every time - when he was on the left side of the field. But on the right, he was losing the ball. So I looked into it.

#rctid #timbers #ptfc #MLS

I don’t know how anyone can argue against this. He created 3 goals and scored another.

#usmnt #goldcup

Nicolas Jackson somehow getting a rating equal to his minutes played

This is how they scored. A diagonal ball into a central combination. Mosquera got the ball out wide at the top of the box, played a diagonal ball to Mora and kept running for a one-two, then got the ball back and scored.

In addition, the Timbers would play inside diagonal passes to break through San Jose’s midfield line or to try to create chances or combine with teammates. The diagonal balls helped allow the Timbers to play with central combinations.

With a less positional style, the Timbers often tried to use combination play to try to create chances. However, many of the attempts failed because of poor touches or because the players weren’t on the same page.

Here are clips showing how Moreno was always trying to get the ball off his teammates all across the final third. He tended to want the ball to feet, but was willing to make runs in behind. His movement is worth paying attention to in other clips in the thread as well.

Moreno was constantly floating around the final third to look for the ball to combine with his teammates, as seen in the Timbers pass network (by @cata-bush.bsky.social ) as well as a plot of his passes.
bsky.app/profile/mlss...

Luna’s movement was a huge improvement from the rigidity of the Panama game. Seeing the players deviate from the rigid positional structure and combining like they did for the goal is something I would love to see more of in the Gold Cup this summer.

(20/20)

It was after the switch that the US scored. Luna, on the right, played the ball centrally to McKennie before making a run to the left, where eventually Weah slid the ball behind the defense in the left half space for Luna to get the assist.

(19/x)

This brings us to the third place match against Canada. Instead of playing such a rigid 3-2-5, it was closer to a lopsided 4-2-3-1/4-2-4 with Pulisic as the 10 again. Weah held width on the right while Luna started on the left. Arfsten started as left back, Scally at right.

(17/x)

The semifinal against Panama was certainly the worse of the two this break. The problems started when Poch set up in a structured 3-2-5 in possession, with Pulisic and McKennie set up to play in the half-spaces between Panama’s defensive and midfield lines.

(2/x)

Thread on my thoughts about Poch’s first real games (mostly the Panama game) as #USMNT manager. In the first episode of The Third Circle podcast, @martinrafelt.bsky.social came up with the perfect meme to describe my thoughts on these matches.

(1/x)

Meme from @martinrafelt.bsky.social on the Third Circle podcast perfectly describes Poch's #USMNT