It was not a game that inspired a lot of confidence. In one of the worst performances the United States has put up under Gregg Berhalter, a squad consisting of mostly starters failed to find a goal against Saudi Arabia's B-team on Tuesday.
The United States registered just TWO shots on target across 180 minutes of pre-World Cup play these past few days. The first game, they played a good Japan squad that fielded a good portion of their starters. Saudi Arabia fielded their B-team.
Berhalter seemed dejected in the post match interview he gave with Fox's Jenny Taft. He told her multiple players lacked confidence in this game and he wanted to see that back.
Afterwards, he told reporters that players weren't bringing their A-game over the last two matches.
'There's not many players that performed up to their normal levels at this camp... anyone you'd want to ask [about], I'd say they performed below their normal levels.'
Berhalter fielded a majority of his starting lineup this game and came out of Murcia with exactly two shots on target. Both were easy saves made by Saudi backup keeper Mohammed Alyami.
It appeared that all the United States was going to do on attack was spring players forward for lofted through balls to set up a quick cross. That plan was often cancelled out by Saudi Arabia flooding the box with defenders and the ball hardly ever finding an American head.
A few players fighting for their spots started this game. Aaron Long put in a pretty good performance this game at center back alongside Walker Zimmerman. Mark McKenzie made a few mistakes when he replaced Long, but still looked good on the back line. Joe Scally was brought on as DeAndre Yedlin was taken off due to injury and didn't seem out of place.
Paul Arriola was brought on in the 30' after Gio Reyna felt tension in his hamstring and was taken off as a precaution. Arriola showed flickers of attacking talent which were quickly blown out with mistakes - such as blasting a one-on-one chance with the keeper 10 feet to the left in an attempt to curl it. That may have been the best chance of the night for the United States.
Starting this game at striker was Ricardo Pepi. American midfielders tried a few times to find him in the middle early on, but he never put up any serious attacking chances. He was taken off in the 60' for Jesus Ferreira, who put up a shot on target within minutes of entering the game.
After the game, Berhalter said that none of his questions surrounding the no. 9 position were answered by tonight's performance, saying that Pepi didn't have much to go on. Pepi hasn't scored a goal in his last ten games for the USMNT.
The USMNT roster is released November 9, with World Cup training camp coming shortly after that.