Post Game Analysis - vs. Argentina (R)

[Nutmeg]

Half-time thoughts:

The midfield is struggling in the first half. 1st goal was a complete breakdown in midfield defensive assignments.

US defense struggling to play from back. Victorine particularly vulnerable.

Mathis getting no service - and really no chance.

I always forget how dirty Argentina is. Dive, dive, dive.

Convey and DMB are not working together very well as of yet.

[lurking]

Players looked clueless and tentative on marking assignments in the first 20 minutes. Cleaned up since then. Olsen so far is a complete dud as central midfielder, he isnt adding anything to the attack at all, and isnt adding much defensively either.

In general the US looks dead on their feet. No energy from the start of the game. Lots of standing around and being caught flatfooted off the ball.

More thoughts: Convey looks like hes the one who should be the left mid and DMB the left back. Actually, DMB doesnt look good at all to be honest.

My request to Arena is to please replace Olsen with a forward and let Donovan and Mathis fill in that midfield slot.

[Cweedchop]

3-1 USA not looking like such a good prediction now is it Nutmeg? :p

Terrible midfield in the first half for the USA.. Not enough confidence on the ball to withstand the initial challenges of the Argie defenders and midfielders..

We played much better after about the 25 minute mark..

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by Cweedchop
3-1 USA not looking like such a good prediction now is it Nutmeg? :p
WTF are you talking about - they got their one ;).

[Various Styles]

Not only did the U.S lose the game in the field they also lost in the stands !!! It Looked like there were no US fans at the Orangebowl.

[Tejas]

Nothing like a loss to get the discussion flying again.
Didn't notice this thread anywhere else, so here goes...

[peledre]

We played like we were out of season (which we are), and Argentina was playing crisply, in season form (which they are). Not a whole lot of surprises.

[fidlerre]

Originally posted by Various Styles
Not only did the U.S lose the game in the field they also lost in the stands !!! It Looked like there were no US fans at the Orangebowl.

there were 14 of them :D

[dl]

A few thoughts:

1. Howard took a while to get into the game, but looked good late.

2. Garcia is a decent man-marker, but does not have the distribution skills to play at this level yet.

3. Pablo covered a lot of ground.

4. D'Alessandro will be an outstanding player (although that last bit after the sending off showed the need for some growth).

5. Dave Dir was OUTSTANDING on the side line. Whatever you feel about his coaching ability, or his deer-in-the-headlights television career, his insight from the sideline really added to the broadcast.

6. Carlos Bocanegra is really getting there.

7. Landon is special (I'm sure you all knew that).

[lurking]

Just a completely flat performance, deserved loss but not one to be overly worried about. However the lack of effort made it an ugly game on our part, so there isnt anything particularly positive to take away.

I now think Arena is wrong to put Convey at left back, he should be penciled in at left mid and it should be DMB that Bruce is trying to find a place for. DMB will beat a guy with a nifty move, but either lose it immediately after to the guy behind the first, or just have his body taken out, making it look impressive but in actuallity be pretty harmless. Convey on the other hand has better vision and is a better passer. Not that I think DMB cant play, just I dont think he is as complete a player offensively.

And as I said earlier, Olsen looked poor in the center of the field.

[Tejas]

We slit our own throats in the 1st 20 minutes, hell the 1st half. I'm not sure why it was so bad, Benny is a great player for us, but Argeninta could have been riding tricycles and still run through the middle of the field on us.

Not taking anything away from Argentina, and they were aggressive, but we allowed it to happen. I would be the first to admit it if they simply just outclassed us, but El Salvador would have probably scored on us with those gaps.

It shows how confident we have become that Bruce decided to get more experimental against Argentina, but I think it may have been one trick too many.

[dl]

Oh yeah, and:

8. Jeff Cunningham will never have a real National Team career. He simply won't play with the others well enough to survive.

[lmorin]

Landon is special, for sure, but IMHO Convey was the player of the day. Particularly when he was playing more of a midfielder. He did contribute to the midfield disorganization at the outset, however. The Beas needs to be careful; Convey is gaining on him and, perhaps, has already passed him with respect to variety, overall skill and intelligent play.

[lurking]

Merged threads made this post pointless, so its now doubly pointless!

[jelliot]

The first half was awful. Olsen was lost in the middle, Howard had zero distribution skills, Klien disappered for long periods of time, Califf was out of position, Victorene and Convey were terrible, Donavan was not getting enough touches.

The second half was a complete opposite. Howard looked good in goal and distributed the ball very well. It seems like Howard can not punt the ball, he has to throw the ball for us to keep the ball. Convey showed that he belongs on the field, Donavan was able to beat any of the Argentines at will, Beasley showed amazing pace, Pablo won more 50/50 balls, Garcia showed great hustle, Cunningham was extremly physical, and Bocanegra was a giant among men. I thought it was a great second half. What this game showed me is we have tremendous depth.

[Nutmeg]

Positives
Califf-Bocanegra - these two played very solid defensive games today. Boca was a great target on set pieces, but both could do a lot better in their distribution out of the back.

Howard - great coming off his line, a monster on crosses and corners, and a remarkable save. Nothing any goalie in the world is going to do with that goal.

Convey going forward - his defense was at times shaky, though not all that bad. When Bobby got shifted to the middle, his game came together and he looked much more dangerous. It will be interesting to keep an eye on him, wherever he plays.

Donovan - I liked that he was willing to mix it up, and his fearless attitude continues to impress. He made a better impact on the game when he came back to the midifeld, and he was one of the few players who was composed on the ball.

Mathis - the few times he did get the ball, he was one of the few players who showed he could hold it.


Negatives
Olsen - IMO, the experiment didn't work.

DMB - I don't know what was up, but his game just seemed to be off today, like he wasn't mentally in it. He got lost on his mark on the combination that led to the goal, and going forward, he just appeared hesitant and indecisive.

Composure - not just one US player, pretty much the whole team. They panicked on the ball, they looked lost on defense, and they seemed out of their element. They couldn't string passes together.

Support - there was none. Players would get forward and have no options. I found myself looking for players making runs, and instead there were players standing still.

Distribution - yuck. Play out of the back today was not good at all. For the US to have any chance of competing against a quality side like Argentina, defenders and midfielders playing deep have got to get the ball forward to attackers, and that does not mean hopeful long balls. Something to work on.

Organization - The midfield was lost. US players were running into each other. On set pieces, Argentinians were left unmarked. More to work on.


In short, I am glad this game was today, and not a year or two from now. There are so many elements this team needs to work on to get to the level of play we saw from the US in 2002. The good thing about this game is that we do not have to be at that level now, and this game - particularly this result - is a manifesto to US coaches and players that there is quite a ways to go.

Damn. Time to change the avatar :(.

[Tejas]

Originally posted by dl
A few thoughts:
2. Garcia is a decent man-marker, but does not have the distribution skills to play at this level yet.


Absolutely. Has there ever been a more marked contrast in the qualities that one player possesses?
He looked outstanding winning balls on the right side but his shanking of passes was just butt ugly. I like the kid. I just hope he can develope some ball handling ability.

Originally posted by dl

5. Dave Dir was OUTSTANDING on the side line. Whatever you feel about his coaching ability, or his deer-in-the-headlights television career, his insight from the sideline really added to the broadcast.


Totally agree. I was cheering him on too because every time he said something it meant that Ty couldn't speak :p

Go Dave Go Dave!

[Scotty]

Originally posted by Various Styles
Not only did the U.S lose the game in the field they also lost in the stands !!! It Looked like there were no US fans at the Orangebowl.

Nothing new.

[harttbeat]

Yeah...let's forget Olsen in the middle... i think it was his mistake in the 9th minute that let to the goal.

[appoo]

A very entertaining second half. Convey is THE MAN. with the exception of that one corner kick where he left 2 people wide open he was easily our best player. I thought what killed us was the fact that we got nothing from our right-side.
To simplify
Left Side: Good
Right Side: Bad

First impressions of players....
*Again Convey was our best player. Showed well defensivly and was a class act going forward and over-lapping. While people will think this is somewhat controversial, he is probably a better dribbler and passer than Donovan. I mean he sooo...smooth
*DMB did very well tracking back and switching with Convey, but wasn't one of his better games offensivly. For some reason, he refused to cross the ball when he had it, always going at the teeth of the defense
*I was impressed with Twellman in the fact that he did anything without ANY support. Didn't get any crosses, was forced to challenge like 3 players for high balls. Yet he still contributed every now and then
*Chris Klein isn't international material. Yea he had a few one-timers but he doesn't provide anything as a midfielder. Very rarely got into the flow and Argentina basically ignored him.
*Mathis wasn't assertive enough. If he is a star he has to take charge. He was laying off the ball way too much rather than just pulling the trigger. Started to do something in the last 15 but ran out of time
*Donovan...he had his moments but I'm not quite sure what to make of his game. He had some absolute brilliant moments (that pass in the box, forget which moment but it was beautiful), and some very stupid moments to where he just passed it into or dribbled into the Argentine defense
*Bocanegra is a stud. He and Convey were almost reading each others minds and he competly shut down the attack when it came at him.
*Califf was victimized in this game. By his midfield, but mosty byt he Argentines. Most of the dangerous pressure in the box went from The US right to the left. Luchi Gonzales scored after losing Califf. If Pope is there I think this is a 0-0 match
*Olsen was completly out of his depth as a central Midfielder. Offensivly and Defensivly. He just isn't good enough to man the middle, I wanted to see him on the right for Chris Klein.
*I was impressed with Arena. He had the fortitude to let his boys go toe-to-toe with Argentina. And, I think the US played them pretty evenly after the first 30 minutes. I think he showed his brilliance by moving Convey to Left-Back.

I think Convey just forced himself into the National Team Picture in a HUGE way. That was one of the more impressive performances i've seen from a US Player against a quality opponent. At least in a friendly. I also think DaMarcus better be careful as he could very easily lose his strangle hold as starting Left-Mid. The Right-Side is still a huge question mark and I for one, am REALLY hoping that Claudio Reyna makes it back to full health