World Cup Qualifiers: Matt Turner struggles as USMNT falls to Canada

It was a cold day in Canada and in the hearts of United States Men’s National Team fans as the lovers of Tim Horton’s and poutine defeated the stars and stripes 2-0.

It didn’t take long for Canada to take control as seven minutes into the match, a short goal kick from Matt Turner ended up being a Cyle Larin goal seconds later.

While Turner doesn’t shoulder all of the blame, he will still be kicking himself. Chris Richards and Miles Robinson need to do a better job of pressing their opponents.

But personally, I would like Turner to make that save. He got his hands on it and was in the right position he just wasn’t strong enough. The second goal he was simply left out too dry. It was a dagger in the hearts of the USMNT.

Overall it was the worst game of Turner’s short international career. He wasn’t secure with his shot stopping and let up some poor rebounds. While Turner made a great double save, it wouldn’t have been necessary if he stopped the first shot and didn’t allow a juicy rebound. Ironically enough it was one of Turner’s better games ball distribution wise.

Looking at the squad as a whole, Weston McKennie was probably the best performer on the afternoon. He seemed to be the only player on the USMNT making an impact.

Also credit to the founder of this lovely website, Steve Stoehr, for pointing this out but Sergino Dest had a quality performance as well. Looking back he did a quality job of shutting down Tajon Buchanan which is no easy task as Revolution fans are well aware of. While fans will like more from Dest in the attacking third, defensively he had a solid performance.

Besides that it was a lackluster day all around. Christian Pulisic continues to look lost and far from the player he needs to be. It’s clear that he isn’t a left winger so Berhalter needs to stop lining him out there.

Speaking of Berhalter, he will continue to be the reason for my rage. As long as he is head coach, the USMNT will be going nowhere.

The decision to start Gyasi Zardes over Ricardo Pepi makes zero sense. This point was quickly proven by the youngster making an impact as soon as he was subbed into the game.

Berhalter has continued to get the best out of this very talented group of players. The USMNT has players competing across the globe with some of the biggest clubs. Multiple players have Champions League experience but for some reason they can’t come to play in World Cup Qualifiers? That sounds like a coaching problem to me. He also doesn’t do himself any favors with comments such as this.

The USMNT will get a chance to bounce back quickly as they face Honduras on Wednesday in the frozen tundra of Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. Turner will also look to end on a high note as he continues to battle with Zack Steffen for the starting goalkeeper job for the stars and stripes.