Why don't you just come out and tell us how a German 352 in the hands of any half-competent coach would've turned this one around? I know you're just dying to...
Actually, Bob went to 3-5-2 late in the match. Too little, too late. They're obscure to you because you lack knowledge and reference. Regardless, it's nice to smoke out Bob's Praetorian Guard.
Normally you and I see things on a pretty similar take, but I disagree with you here. This year is exposing the limit of what Bradley can do as a coach, and here is why... Bradley has always been able to get the US playing a lethal transition game. In the run up to the World Cup the US could score against any team, anywhere, any time. But the US bled goals, too. It was the worst defensive US team since pre-Steve Sampson. The reason why is possession. The US could not hold it. Under Bradley they could counter, but they could not possess when needed. Bradley realized it, and is now trying to make adjustments. He is starting Goodson and Ream in defense, both miles better than DeMerit and Bocanegra in distribution. The US is even able to hold the ball better, as long as they are swinging it around the back. But the catch is, you cannot move the needle towards more possession unless you are capable of teaching your team to space, move, and attack when you hold the ball more. When the US slows it down and tries to play from the back, they fail to look even pedestrian. They look amateur, as if they have no clue how to space themselves, move off the ball, and create as a team. Spain gave them a final first hand clinic, but the reality is the US has been schooled all year. Bradley has not shown he is capable of coaching a team to attack when holding the ball better. The US has been pounded for the past year because of it. I think the US needs to make a choice. Go balls out in transition, as they did in the last cycle (and the last 30 minutes tonight), or find a coach that can teach the team to work the ball from the back. Bradley is slowing the ball down, trying to work from the back, only to see the US attack come to a stall. And the US is still as bad as it ever was under him defensively, possibly worse. The US gets the worst of both worlds.
We just lost to ********ing Panama at home and there are posters who have the balls to defend Bradley's coaching and preparation of the team for the match. ********ing amazing.
Why would anyone expect Bob to know this if he had never shown "knowing this" in MLS? The problem is that, when you're a one trick pony, other teams tend to figure you out. This means the US can play transition if it happens to have the players for it - currently, they do not - and if it is ahead. In this tournament, there are no Spains or Brazils. Teams won't lay siege to the US goal and leave themselves vulnerable to the counter. They're sit back and make the US come out first. And then they can counter against the US. And Bob has no answers to that, aside a long, high lob from the back.
I find it funny that after one crappy loss, everyone wants to revamp tactics and switch formations. If we were to change into 3-4-1-2 we would get demolished time after time. There is no way I trust our current defenders to cover more field than they already are. Currently our midfield is mediocre, our defense is nonexistent, and our forwards aren't creating and converting their chances. I realize what we are doing now is dull and frustrating but changing the look of the team in the middle of a (somewhat) important tournament is dumb.
To do the possession thing, more changes in personnel and scheme are needed than merely putting in Ream at cb. One thing that has really surprised me in the first two Gold Cup games is the play of Agudelo. He's been playing too high. I thought a major selling point for playing him was his technical ability and tendency to drop deep to get the ball. He's done that a little, but not enough. I don't know if it's his inexperience or bad coaching or both.
Look, you operate at an extreme on Bradley, one I am unwilling to follow. I have nothing against the guy, nor anything for him. I think he does some things pretty well. Build a team that fights for each other in a f*-the-world bubble. Never quits. Transitions well. Yet I do suspect he has reached his limit for reasons stated in my previous post. That is all.
I actually thought that with a 4-2-2-2, there's no need for him to drop that low because the center of the field was already occupied by Dempsey and Donovan, so Agudelo should have stayed on top with Altidore, who then was isolated all by himself. The fact that I thought Bob was garbage as far back as 2006 only puts me ahead of the curve and, considering that most people belatedly came to the same conclusion, inserts my opinion of Bradley into the mainstream.
I have been saying for ages that we should play that inverted line-up that the French '98 team perfected with Dempsey playing the hole, Donovan playing the Djorkaeff, and our RM given space to run into. This would get essentially 5mids on the field and our best players all at once. I don't think Bob is capable of coaching this formation, however.
The formation requires a masterful effort from the outside backs and generally isn't smart to play without genuine wing backs. If we had Leighton Baines as a LWB and Lichaj (3 years from now) as RWB this setup might be dangerous. Otherwise it's shite.