U23 Men vs. Cuba 3/11 7pm CST(R)

Not in the terminology I'm used to. I'm used to hearing only the wide backs in a 4-4-2 referred to that way. In a 3-5-2, you're basically using three center backs. Arguably it is indeed what we should have done.

No, you don't need a fullback in 3-5-2, at least not a traditional attacking/defending type.

In this game, Nowak needed to maximize the team skill on the pitch, not speed.

It was unlikely for Cuba to play the US straight up and run up and down the court.

Plus, as I had mentioned before, there was no need for a non-playmaking destroyer either.

The problem with some coaches is that they don't adjust to or can't anticipate the oppositing coach's most obvious game plan.

Well, the game did in fact play out what you're saying here. Dax + Edu seemed overkill behind Freddy, and meanwhile (especially since neither Davies nor Findley, who were basically playing their typical forward roles regardless of what Nowak may have told them) didn't show enough for Freddy to link to them nearly as much as they should have.

Part of the solution could have been to play Holden, the one real wide mid we had available (since Rogers and Zizzo were not. I'm gonna give Nowak the benefit of the doubt and assume Rogers was too hurt to play up to the pace of the game).

Now, the 3-5-2 typically puts a lot of pressure on the two wide mids to get up and down the field, contributing to both offense and defense, and I don't think anyone out there besides Holden would really have been up for it.

That said, it's probably closer to the mark than the formation we actually used, where we had two guys who couldn't perform their roles. At least with a 3-5-2, if Freddy is still a dominant force (that's the caveat though, we can't really assume he gets the ball in as many reasonably threatening positions as he did without actually being able to see it), he's going to be much more likely to find open guys even or ahead of him. It would have taken a lot of pressure off Jozy.

that is what I meant... u need a wingback to get up and down the field... Im not sure if Kamani Hill is that... in fact, I truly believe he is not that

It looks like there is a chance the US could be awarded with a victory over Cuba because Cuba may not have enough players to compete in their remaining games due to defections.

Winning by default is soo sweet!

I am surprised that someone like Freddy Adu was able to get away for the Olympics? If I were Freddy I would have stayed at Benfica and played for my club. The Olympics? Not exactly on the same level as the WORLD CUP. Espescially when the rest of the world doesn't really take the tournament seriously.

Freddy will soon be on what, his third coach at Benfica?

Man, I thought that was a joke until I was looking at some news later. Crazy: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/soccer/03/12/missing.cubans.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

If by the rest of the world you mean "Europe," that is correct.

If by the rest of the world you mean Africa, South America, Central America, and Asia, that is incorrect.

I don't know, I think he did the right thing, he's still playing up in age level, most of the guys he's playing against now are what 21-23? Plus at Benfica, Camacho was only giving him mop up duty and as of late, had not been playing young Freddy at all... And I believe it's the assistant coach that has taken over the team so maybe Freddy might not get to play at all(Too early to tell, but still).. Now he's getting a full game... Who knows, with all the turmoil going on at Benfica(3 coaches in 1 year), he might be on the move after this season(I think he'll stay, Rui Costa is a great teacher) and this is a great chance to showcase what he has learned so far and from what I can see, a whole lot... I for one thought he should've been getting more playing time and even started a few games(he did get a cup game a few weeks back), but he was always playing out of position, and I think he's showing us where he is the most lethal... As someone else said, maybe not all of Europe, but other parts of the world definitely take it seriously... Go look at the rosters for the teams from 2004 that got Gold, Silver, and Bronze (specifically Argentina and Italy) and tell that they weren't taking the Olympics seriously...

Now for a less technical matter: why did we wear the old jerseys?

That's just one of the reasons I keep coming back to this thread.

Not to mention the possibility that the American public might actually take notice, which should be at least as important to us as what "the rest of the world" thinks.

Personally my first exposure to soccer as a spectator sport was in the '84 Olympics. And that was when we completely sucked. With guys like Adu and Altidore there's a chance that we could actually get some new people excited about the sport.

i was wondering this also

I believe due to the USA's Nike Away not being offcially released by our main national team all youth's teams cannot wear it as a change and seeing that the only home and away "set" in use right now is the old, they had to use that. Just going on a limb here.

Cuba did a lot of fouling, especially in the first half, and especially against Altidore. Altidore drew a foul that should have been a yellow card when Bermudez pulled/threw him to the ground.

Davies did seem to go down too quickly one time very early in the match but I am 99% sure Miranda fouled him on the Davies dive call. Davies also took a hard foul later on and got no call. Overall, I don't think Davies played a bad game.

Cuba were very quick and broke up a lot of passes that the US probably thought could be pulled off.

Barrett had a very poor game, Kljestan wasn't very good either, but the rest of the team played at least OK.

Overall Adu was terrific, he could have had 3 or 4 goals with a little bit of luck, but he also was guilty of a number of bad misplays that gave up US possession.

McCarty did a number of good things also but also gave up possession very cheaply several times.

People probably wonder why Gaven didn't do better with his shot, but once the ball hit his thigh he had to rush his shot or he never would have been able to get a shot off at all.

Somehow my reaction to a game is always that the team I am rooting for, in this case the US, appears to play much more poorly the first time I watch a game than the second time. This game was by no means stellar, but it wasn't nearly as bad as my initial prognosis.

FYP

No one ever brings it up in their Top 10 lists, but arguably the '84 Olympics is the pivotal moment in US Soccer history, the fulcrum where, just as we were hitting bottom, grassroots forces were building that would boost us back up.

When Peter Ueberroth appointed Alan Rothenberg to run the soccer matches, and he did so with great crowds and a good profit, it helped make the whole Olympics profitable, Ueberroth look like a genius, and Rothenberg into a star with FIFA. FIFA responded by giving the US the '94 World Cup, and making damn sure it was Rothenberg who ran it. (See Bill Archer's recent blog on that topic.) That, in turn, caused MLS.

The capital of Soccer in this country shifted from New York and its moving-indoors Cosmos to LA, where it has arguably remained ever since, and just in time, too, since the NASL was in the process of going under in '84.

US Soccer fans should always be grateful for the impact Olympic soccer has had on the sport, and we should always be mindful of the impact it can have again if we can ever produce a contender.

A little strange this thread hasn't been closed at 800+ posts...

I was waiting for it to be closed at the completion of the match.

Last post! confused

I wish you were.

Obviously not.

Damn. Busted.