3 things we learned from Ireland’s 4-1 win over the USMNT

The United States headed to Ireland expecting a solid performance against a weakened Irish side. Instead, they were fairly poor from start to finish, and Ireland’s 4-1 margin of victory isn’t an unfair reflection on what the U.S. did in on the pitch.

Ireland were on the board just seven minutes into the match through Anthony Pilkington. No one closed down David McGoldrick in midfield, and he played an excellent through ball that hit Pilkington in stride. Matt Besler was asleep on the play, let Pilkington run by him, and the Irish winger scored with a gorgeous chip even though Bill Hamid was quick off his line.

The U.S. had the next two solid chances too, with Altidore hitting the bar just before the break and forcing a good save out of Shay Given just afterwards, but they fell behind in the 55th minute. No one was blameless on Robbie Brady’s 55th minute goal, which featured a turnover in midfield and Johnson standing around to keep Brady onside while he was running onto another brilliant pass by McGoldrick.

Bobby Wood, who came on at halftime, nearly scored his first USMNT goal when he ran in behind the defense in the 67th minute, but Given pulled off a brilliant kick save. Jordan Morris came on for his debut in the 77th minute and set up a chance for fellow sub Greg Garza shortly afterwards, but things fell apart for the Americans quickly after that.

In the 82nd minute, Shane Long hit the post and the United States were unable to clean up the mess. James McClean added to Ireland’s lead with a shot from the edge of the box that deflected off Geoff Cameron, fooling Bill Hamid.

Brady added insult to injury by completing a brace four minutes later, curling a spectacular free kick around the wall and putting it into a spot where Hamid had no chance to make a save.

Goals: Pilkington (7’), Brady (55’, 87’), McClean (82’)

Goals: Diskerud (39’)

1. The USMNT B-team struggled - When the United States has a first choice XI that trains together, they can play with anyone in the world. When they make wholesale changes, go experimental and rest some of their best players? Well, you get results like this. No one looked great for the USMNT on Tuesday, but the defense, in particular, really struggled.

2. Mix Diskerud, again, is servicable but not spectacular - Mix Diskerud is trying to win a job with a team in a big European league, since he can leave Rosenborg in January. He got two opportunities to do that in these two friendlies, and it’s unclear whether or not he did enough to impress scouts. His goal in this game was very nice, but he wasn’t terrific otherwise. He didn’t get a lot of help, sure, but this was a team built around him and his talents. He didn’t do much dictating of play or creating of chances.

3. If there’s a bright spot, it’s Alejandro Bedoya - Basically everything positive that the U.S. did against Ireland went through Bedoya, who had a solid World Cup and has been the team’s most consistent player in post-World Cup friendlies. While a number of players might have played themselves out of consideration for starting positions in the future, Bedoya certainly did not.