Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia: The Defense/Goalkeeping [R] Guzan has a future with the team Everyone else, not so much.... Bornstein>Pearce, solved that riddle quickly
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia: The Defense/Goalkeeping [R] I still give these guys a pass since they were constantly being shelled in the first half due to our forwards being unable to hold the ball.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia: The Defense/Goalkeeping [R] Their goalie got sent off...that was the only noteworthy defending or goalkeeping.
I feel asleep in the first half, did either center back win a contested header in this game? Because I don't think they did in the second half. In addition, on the break away late in the game, it was Clark chasing the Columbian with the ball and Nguyen that deflected the ball over the goal. Our defenders weren't anywhere to be seen. Guzman was solid, the defense wasn't. Pearce and Boswell are still relatively young and with experience may eventually figure into the Nats, but not now. Moore has Dolo and a lot of young players ahead of him. Califf doesn't belong.
I really had no problem with the defense. I had more problems with the midfield. No it wasn't pretty but Colombians weren't exactly taking it to us either. Boswell and califf looked a little stiff and were a little reactive instead of proactive but not to the extent where they were constantly beaten or left empty space. Moor and Pearce were ok at best. Decent on the ball defending but positionly out of sync a bit. I think that had more to do with the fact they were trying to push forward but it wasn't happening. Recoginition of when and how to push forward will come with experience. Guzan showed he will be behind Howard and Hahnemann. Quick off his line, a decent organizer but needs to work on his distribution.
Guzan was fine ... except for his right foot -- he gave a ball away at the end of the game (based on the crowd's reaction and when they cut back to the game Colombia was taking the ball down the left). Moor is overrated on these boards ... I much prefer Wynne. Califf and Boswell were not strong at all. And I expected MUCH more from a weak Pearce. Everyone except Guzan was very, very weak.
The midfield, especially on the wings, was so bad that it's hard judge the defense that much. The only thing I can say is that I don't think we could really tell anything about Pearce from this game. None of Columbia's offense came down his side. Didn't effectively get into the offense, but a defender's ability to get forward has as much to do with the midfield's ability to use him effectively and get him the ball as it does with his own skills. I'd like to see what Pearce could do with a better midfield before writing him off.
I have to give Pearce an incomplete. Hard game to judge him on. He was making good runs in the first half. The midfield couldn't hit him with a pass. Defensively ok. He remains in the player pool. Boswell, Califf and Moor are way down on the depth ladder. May not see these guys again.
I thought Pearce did fairly well, considering. The midfield was awful and created all sorts of problems for the defense, yet they allowed only one goal. Very little went past Pearce. More important to me was the fact that his timing seemed to be substantially better than Bornstein's. He did not commit forward at awkward times. He made plenty of runs, but had little support. How many times did Mapp hit a pass behind him, instead of in front? Mapp sucked and that hurt Pearce's game. So, bottom line, Pearce is still in the mix. IMHO, he was not worse than Bornstein. Where was Wynne? He would have helped. Moor had a pretty bad game compared to his last. Central defenders lucked out. An awful lot of fouls in dangerous areas. Mediocre marking. Guzan gave himself a big boost. Might have passed Keller with that performance.
He saved a poorly taken PK, made two good thrown distributions, made an easy save look difficult, and collected a couple of uncontested crosses outside of his six yard box.
Pearce was superior to Bornstein. The defense played, as usual, a high offside trap, and got burned on it. That's a (stupid) coaching decision. Colombia created a lot more chances vs. Argentina, albeit with a slightly different crew. Moor, of course, got burned for the goal but part of that problem was the uncontested cross. I am not sure if Mapp or Beckerman was supposed to pick up the player. But the ball was perfectly sent and the Colombian wing out-jumped Moor, who didn't "box out" as he should have. Guzan looked fine. A poorly hit Pk is still a PK and that one wasn't as poorly hit as contended. As to fouls, half of the dangerous ones near the box were given up by Clark.