Hard to see soccer progress from dogmatic U.S. men's national team

The U.S. men's national team is still "making progress," according to coach Gregg Berhalter. Results from the past few months, however, are making fans question whether the team is moving forward at all.

Just before the last World Cup, Berhalter's team took on France. The group was extraordinarily young, set up to play defense first, second and third, and hope for a counterattacking goal. Somehow, the Americans held the French to a 1-1 draw. A month later, almost the same starting 11 for France won the World Cup.

That game came to mind while watching the USA get hammered 3-0 by Mexico last week. Berhalter had most of his first-choice team available, but winning the match seemed like a secondary concern. Instead, the USA stuck with the same dogmatic attempt — meticulously play the ball out from the back — that lost the Gold Cup final to Mexico in July. Once again, the strategy failed.

Apparently Berhalter's methods favor sticking with a plan, no matter how hopeless, over actually trying to win games. In terms of progress, though, it's hard to see how getting slapped around by Mexico is better for development than the team's pragmatic effort to get a result against the world champions two summers ago.

• Former New York Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch, who left New York last year to become an assistant coach at RB Leipzig in Germany, has been given the top job at RB Salzburg in Austria. All three clubs are owned by Red Bull, the energy drink giant. Marsch has made a flying start in the league season, with six victories in six games and 27 goals scored. Salzburg, in a Champions League group with Liverpool and Napoli, will hope to dent either's title hopes.

• Portland has led the National Women's Soccer League standings for most of the season, but two-time defending regular-season champions North Carolina took that lead back with a 6-0 midweek victory on the road against the Thorns. It was the biggest shutout in league history. The Courage now is the big favorite to win a third straight Shield as regular-season champs.

Bundesliga: Bayern Munich at RB Leipzig, 11:30 a.m. Saturday, FS2. Only one team in Germany has begun the season with three victories and for once, it's not the perennial champs in Munich. Leipzig feels like this is its year to make the German title race more than a two-team affair, especially after holding onto star striker Timo Werner this summer despite interest from — you guessed it — Bayern. This could be a title-affecting clash.

Writer Jon Marthaler gives you a recap of recent events and previews the week ahead. E-mail: jmarthaler@gmail.com