The Post-Mortem
Last night's shower of a performance was the most abject US display that I've ever suffered through. Getting pummeled by the Czechs and that Ping-pong dude in the last World Cup was easier to take. I am damned if I can take a single positive thing away from the game. What's even more alarming is the slide that it represents. We've not been good for several months, but have been sneaking it. Now what?
posted by gooner71 @ 10:34 AM
12 Comments:
The case for the defense.
Tim Howard - I thought he looked rickety again. He responded to our complete defensive breakdown by running around instead of bollocking the woeful Wynn, Gooch, Boca, and Beasley. He nearly fumbled in a header that he'd initially stopped, and upon repeated viewing of the first goal, I believe he should have had a glove on it. He stops that first one, and then shakes Beasley by the throat Homer-style, we might have kept in the match longer than 12 minutes. Key stops, but not confident at all 6/10
Marvel Wynn - Brought in allegedly because he plays for Toronto and as such should have been more at ease with the turf of Saprissa. The problem with that idea is that Wynne is an athlete first and a footballer somewhere down the numbers. And on turf, he turned into Bambi-on-ice. He continually exposed the team to counters when he went forward, he couldn't stay with the man on the ball when defending, and had a very torrid time. I felt sad for him that he was so out-classed by players, let's-face it, you'd not heard of before and who plough around the Mexican league. 3/10
Oguchi Onyewu - Extremely athletic, but just as extremely clumsy, and simply cannot play football. Exposed for pace, position, and class. Bradley simply must make him a second choice to DeMerit, now. 2/10
Carlos Bocanegra - He's not the most gifted of center backs, but I've seen him play much better. He'll never fix that reckless tackling, but we could live with the occasional careless gift of a free or a penalty. Quality aside, I look at him to be the leader in the defense and he didn't step up. He and Beasley conspired to gift CR their first, and he was the man they beat for their 2nd and 3rd. 2/10
Damarcus Beasley - He's not a full-back. Do you hear me? He's not a full-back. He's a small man who had speed before picking up his knee injury. He's made a bad decision to play in Scotland where he cannot compete with in the physical nature of Scottish football. Last night he was the single most hopeless player we had. He coughed up the first goal, and took out a covering player doing it. He played needless hospital passes to the midfield and CR came up with possession. When he did go forward, he pushed the ball ahead and lost it by simply running into his defender, not around him. When he crossed, it was hopelessly inaccurate. If he's not over his injury, why would Bob Bradley think that playing him in a unnatural position in a cauldron of concrete and piss like Saprissa would help him play himself into fitness. I never want to see him again in a US shirt at fullback again. Bornstein must start all future matches. 1/10
What did Beasley do to earn the "1". . .
Maggie nailed it during the national anthems "We look nervous." . . .
Some criticism there for the coaches for failing to put the lads in the right state of mind.
Midfield.
Johnny Torres - He's very small and last night suffered from a lack of protection from the more central Bradley, because Bradley had to sit deep to stem the tide that was not being dealt with by the defense. He's got a move or two, but not enough guile to get the ball to an open man. And he's intent on the tricky stuff in not dangerous areas of the park. He slows the game because of his Cruyff turns and Ronnie stepovers and clearly, Dempsey for one is bamboozeled and doesn't have a clue when he's going to be released or caught offside. Torres was simply ineffective and probably not a good choice in the first place. 5/10
Michael Bradley - Again we've seen him do much better. Last night he was taken out of the play by Beasley running into him and releasing the Costa Rican for the first goal. After that, he struggled to make up for the simply awful defensive display. He was no-where to help for their second, and woefully lazy in the lead up for their 3rd. He did however as the Gator pointed out, display the bottle and frustration by clattering a Costa Rican for a yellow that disqualifies him for a match. It showed a glimmer of character, but overall, he was disappointing. 4/10
Pablo Mastroeni - Awful. I read this morning that he gave away 4 fouls, but I seriously had forgotten that he was on the pitch until Adu came in to replace him. He's the kind of experienced gutty player that you don't expect skill from, but demand hard work and leadership from and he was entirely absent for 64 minutes. 2/10
Clint Dempsey - Also awful. Nagadotches Ice-Ice-Baby spent the whole time occupying negative space, playing negative and low quality passes, inevitably behind or completely missing the open man. His free kicks were poorly thought out and poorly executed. He fouled cheaply and again gave away possession. He seems completely out-of-sorts and in need of a rest. I'd be tempted to play Kljestan in his position for a while. 4/10
Johnno, I think Beasley is not trusted anymore on the left wing because of the seriousness of his injury. I think Bradley admire what Beasley was and hasn't come to terms with what he now is. He's the Michael Owen conundrum. Do you play him out of position because he might get or contribute a goal or two.
I think Bradley was wrong to start him. Bornstein is not as experienced, but he's a defender with the right instinct. Again, if we'd repelled them for the first half, we probably could have tied or kept it respectable. It's CONCACAF and after all, we did get the reward of a very dodgy penalty. Who's to say that a better defensive unit wouldn't have allowed us a 1-1 tie? Having ill-suited defenders blew that possibility after 12 minutes.
Forwards.
Jozy Altidore - Forwards depend on service and he got none. When he patrolled deep looking for the ball, our shape disappeared and we ended up with 6 in the midfield and no threat to their defenders. I'd have liked to see better movement from him and see him take up more threatening positions so that if the ball came to him, he'd be there. I remember one snap shot that really didn't come off, but it demonstrated that he might have been a threat had we not been two behind after 12 minutes. Still, what a shame that Ching wasn't healthy enough. This would have been a perfect match for a man of his talents. 6/10
Landon Donovan - Miserable. He occupied the negative areas of the field like a coward. Was he afraid to be at Saprissa? I do know that we've traded one blind alley in Reyna for another blind alley in Donovan. The difference is that I don't think I ever questioned whether Claudio cared enough to be professional. I see nothing admirable in Donovan's recent form and even less in his character. He continues to be the Tin Man of the US and will deprive us of the kind of leadership we need and possibly contaminate the youngsters coming into the side until Bob Bradley is replaced by a tactical lunatic like Sampson or Sacchi who is immune to the howls of criticism that will ensue if they drop the alleged most promising player of his generation. What really pisses me off is that he bagged that penalty that meant nothing to the result, but put him one step closer to the all time goal tally. Honestly, having this guy be our all time top scorer is akin to erecting a memorial statue of Alger Hiss on the national mall. A disgrace. 1/10
Subs
Sasha Kljestan - Came in at the half for Torres and gradually came into play. Was partially responsible for a CR break two minutes after the restart that really should have been their 3rd when he and Pablo passed it amongst themselves in a crowd. I don't think he could stem the tide, but we did look a bit stouter than we did when Torres was playing. Sasha needs to work on his vision of the field because his passes are not crisply hit or accurately enough gauged to the run of the man. His shot selection needs work too. 5/10
Freddy Adu -- Came in at the 64th minute for the absent Mastroeni. It was all but over anyway at that point. CR were content to sit back and defend as they were 2-0 up, probably a bit shagged from all the running towards our goal, but Freddy rarely troubled. He looks like a player who rarely gets a game. He was looking for space to work in more than he was showing for the ball, but his crosses were low or errant or woefully ballooned, and when he played the ball forward, it inevitably rolled to a man in double coverage. I wonder if we'll ever see the kid he was that ran at defenders and twisted them up leaving him the option of speeding by or laying off the ball to someone better positioned. 4/10
Charlie Davies - Very late sub who hardly had time to do anything, yet was more likely than either Jozy and especially more likely than Donovan to score because the Tico defenders were showing some tired legs. I'd have liked to see whether he could have cut inside on the ball, but he looked to prefer to run the line on the right. Let himself down a bit when he got involved in the kind of arrant nonsense that we've seen punished by CONCACAF refs before. NR
Finally, a shout out to Johnny Harkes.
He reacted the way I would expect a former player to. He sounded hurt to see us handled so effortlessly. But it was the sense of outrage that rang truest. Say what you will about Harkesy, he was always a 110% effort guy, and someone who stepped up to a challenge. It's no wonder that he railed against experienced players that just couldn't be arsed to pick themselves and their less experienced teammates up. When Landon centered that ball after their second goal, it wasn't just that he knew the jig was up, it was the painful-to-watch capitulation at the 12 minute mark that set Harkesy off.
I bet Harkesy is going to have to face a reckoning for suggesting that it would be good for everyone's morale if the Ticos started feeling a kick or two, but he was voicing the frustration that I felt watching this game.
Bless him.
Thanks for the thoughtful autopsy of one of the most depressing matches in a long time. I agree with all of your ratings, particularly of John Harkes, who was marvelous last night.
A lot depends upon how Bradley and the side perform on Saturday. That becomes a must win, mainly for the sake of morale. We'll qualify easily but I don't see us doing much next summer with this current squad.
Last night's performance underscores what's wrong with the American system of developing footballers through college recruitment, That system inevitably produces college kids who are insular and provincial, who can perform in front a friendly, flag-waving crowd and who piss their pants when they have to travel to a place like Costa Rica. Until we start attracting the LeBron James's of the athletic world to footie, that's going to continue.
So now what? We've got Honduras in Chicago. It's a trickier match now because we were so abject in Costa Rica. If we'd even been average, I'd have this down as a home banker. Nearly 48 hours after that catastrophe, and bearing in mind the lightweight character littered throughout the squad, we've got some worries.
First, Bob Bradley has to take charge and reinvest some pride in the starting 11. That means talking to Donovan, Boca, and Howard, and telling them in no uncertain terms that they cannot hide any more.
Second, he's going to have to cut his losses with Gooch and Beasley and Wynne at the back. He's got to replace his son at the destroyer position. And he's got to get maximum effort out of some players that looked tired after 12 minutes in Saprissa.
Ching/Altidore
Donovan
Beasley Kljestan Clark/Edu Dempsey
Bornstein Boca DeMerit Pierce
Howard
I'm taking Bob Bradley's job for this match and this is how I'd line it up. I'm making the assumption that 72 hours later, Ching will be ready to go. If not, Jozy again. Though he's not in my list of players in the squad, Harkes on Wednesday said he'd sub in Ricardo Clark. If he's there I would too. If not, Edu.
I've got Ching up top with Donovan central and tucked in behind as the second forward.
I've got Beasley on the left wing and Dempsey on the right wing with license to cut in to support the attack. I've got Klejestan and Clark in the middle, with instructions to move over to cover if the right or left come in narrow.
Bornstein and Pierce are my fullbacks, Boca and Demerit are my central pair. Timmy is my keeper.
My instructions to these guys is simple: Run! I've got no time for anyone who isn't ready or fit to run a minimum of 70 minutes. I see someone not running, I remove them at the half, and I remember it so that they have to work very hard to get back in a squad that will probably go to S.Africa.
Donovan has instructions to go forward, only forward. He is forbidden to look for space on the wings. I see him do it, I bollock him from the sidelines and tell Freddy Adu, Benny Fielhaber, and Johnny Torres to start warming up. I get Landon's attention, point at the 3 warming up, and run my finger across my throat and point back at Landon. Yes, you Landon. I will cut you out of the squad and you will watch SA2010 unfold from SoCa if you don't obey.
Beasley and Dempsey have my instructions to get to the byline. If I see either doing that maddening thing where they start and then pull up and pass it backwards to Kljestan or a supporting fullback, or slowing down an attack, I bollock them from the sideline and give them the hairdryer at the half. If I see them do it again in the second half, I tell Freddy and Charlie Davies to stand up and start warming up again.
What will instill confidence again is a good 2 goal winning margin. What will gain that margin is running forward, always forward when we have the ball, and hassling them when we don't. Honduras is a team that relies on running hard in the first and fouling and spoofing in the second half. We must get on top of them quickly, and have everyone hustling them when they get on the ball. We have no space for a luxury guy like Donovan that can't be arsed when we don't have possession. He has to run all the time.
The defense cannot afford any cheap screw ups. Timmy must take charge of his area and scream instructions at his central pair for the entire 90. Boca must behave like the experienced pro that plays for an English club team that finished in the top half of the table despite relying on the ilk of Zamora and Johnson and Camara for goals.
That's it.
Ching is injured at the moment, no? Otherwise, he might have started the other night. I'm with you - Jozy needs a striking partner. Dempsey has never really fit that role.
A reply to Bob, with apologies to Johnno and David:
I'm not a fan of the college system for recognizing footballing talent, but I don't think it's necessarily the college system's fault that our players wet themselves anytime they have to play in Central America or Mexico.
When you look at the guys who should have been leaders or at least calming the guys who hadn't made the trip before, those guys are Donovan, Beasley, Bradley, Mastroeni, Gooch, Boca, and Howard. I don't see a product of the college system in that group. Rather, I see American athletes that were cherry picked by the US Fed because they'd either played themselves from the MLS into European teams, or in the case of Landon, been noticed as a teenager and shipped off to Germany. These guys are the core of the team and the assumption is that they live a footballers life and have the experience footballers do.
Brian McBride was a product of the college system and you never once could question his commitment or professionalism. Brian wasn't blessed with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's or Hernan Crespo's technique. He was like Gary Lineker. He was there, always there, time after time available, working, and grafting. He was professional in outlook and unquestionable in his character.
That's what this US squad is missing now.
Fair point, particularly in relation to Brian McBride. We're really missing his leadership these days.
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