Italy vs. USA 2/29 - the midfield

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by schrutebuck, Feb 29, 2012.

  1. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree Bradley was immense. He really has become a well rounded midfielder.

    Edu on the other hand was very poor. Just seemed tactically tuned out, dropped off way too far and lingered way too much on the ball.

    Instant improvement would be to drop Edu and Shea and replace with LD on the wing and move Williams centrally.
     
  2. Aaryque

    Aaryque Member

    Apr 26, 2007
    Norcal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Correct.

    But the actual question is what result you would reasonably expect given the same chances. I would expect Italy to convert at least a couple of their chances.

    It's not an important question when assessing the result of the match, but it is important when looking at the team performance/expectations moving forward. You simply can't expect to give up that many opportunities to Italy and come away with a result. It happens. That's sports. But you can't expect it.
     
  3. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    As much as I generally dislike the Italian team, I've long loved watching Pirlo work. He plays at times almost exactly like a great NFL pocket passer like Dan Marino, standing up in the pocket hitting his receivers in stride on post and flag and go routes.
     
  4. xsosx

    xsosx Member

    May 27, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Analysis from DaMarcus Beasley:

    And words from Klinsmann via Grant Wahl:

     
  5. Aaryque

    Aaryque Member

    Apr 26, 2007
    Norcal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed. It's fun to watch. Pirlo has been one of my favorites to watch over the years. With Donovan and Shea's pace it would be fun to see someone like that in a US uniform. Of course, we would need much better movement to take advantage of it.
     
  6. FuzzyForeigner

    Oct 29, 2003
    WA
    Club:
    Seattle
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    bradley was immense. simply put-if he can consistently perform like this he will be the best central midfielder ever for the US.

    one/two good seasons with Chievo and maybe jump to a team like juve?...i can only dream...Bradley/Pirlo as an american juventus supporter would be jizz all over the pitch
     
  7. Pass-n-Go

    Pass-n-Go Member+

    Jul 5, 2008
    I'm watching the replay at the moment. I am at the beginning. So far, it looked like Italy bypassing the US midfield and attacking the defense directly. Pirlo was dropping deep and finding space.
     
  8. JAV7

    JAV7 Member

    Jun 2, 2009
    California
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bradley = played great today, defensively and moving forward

    Edu = Did a good job defending but show he is not a good attacking player

    Shea= showe moments go good football, but also showed that he is young and need to improve on his movement and desicion making

    Williams= played poorly a first but improved during the game

    Shacha= showed he is not a winger, he was slow, and didnt show anything either attacking nor defending
     
  9. TheHoustonHoyaFan

    Oct 14, 2011
    Houston
    Club:
    FC Schalke 04
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We were playing a 4-2-3-1. Bradley and Edu were right where they were supposed to be on defense , the #10 (Dempsey) is the one that needed to be applying pressure on Pirlo.
     
  10. dethfire

    dethfire Member

    Jun 24, 2005
    Pirlo is far better than Bradley sorry. Pirlo's passing accuracy and ball control is stunning. His teammates let him down. With that said, I really enjoyed Bradley's play tonight.
     
  11. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Deuce was a withdrawn striker with a flat midfield 4 behind him. It changed in the last 10 minutes but the whole game Dempsey floated back and forth and between the touchline like withdrawn forwards tend to do. I doubt he had anymore defensive responsibility than to harass the nearest man with the ball.

    Why would Klinsmann saddle our most prolific attacking player with the responsibility of man marking Pirlo? That makes no sense.
     
  12. jaxonmills

    jaxonmills Member+

    Aug 26, 2011
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree with those who say that Dempsey needed to close down Pirlo more than he did. I think he played too high up the pitch defensively which left alot of room in the middle of the field in front of Bradley and Edu. We definitely had an empty bucket look at times. I don't know if this was JK's instruction, but I don't think Dempsey showed enough hustle defensively, IMO.

    Also, both Shea and Williams seemed to be stranded in possession when out wide. Their only outlets were often Cherundolo and Johnson, when they needed more support from the #8 and Dempsey in the middle of the field. It seemed like too often their only options were go 1v1 or play back to the fullbacks.

    I think Holden is going to be a significant upgrade over Edu in that he should bring a similar defensive presence with a very high motor and much more in possession and going forward. I do think Edu had by far his best game of the Klinsmann era, though. He's a nice option in midfield for when we need to defend.
     
  13. Arisrules

    Arisrules Member

    Feb 19, 2000
    Washington, DC
    The problem I have with people saying Dempsey had to close Pirlo, is that Williams was pinching in the whole game and doing NOTHING.

    He provides nothing offensively, and despite his "motor," doesn't do enough defensively to assist us.

    Why he is in that role is beyond me, but once again he was in that spot.

    Bradley is our best central midfielder by far, and probably our third best outfield player. that he hasn't started every game for JK, is comical.

    My question is what happens when Donovan/Torres are healthy? You are going to slot Torres in for Edu, and Donovan in for Williams? That's what JK wants to do, but we would be eaten up.

    And that is the question for JK. He wants to play super offensive, but the personnel on this squad is made for two d-mids sitting deep, absorbing pressure, and counter-attacking.

    In other words, I mean playing largely similar to how we played under Bradley and Arena. Which is how JK is playing this team now.
     
    1 person likes this.
  14. j0osh

    j0osh Member

    Dec 8, 2011
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wow, Sacha was baaadddddd tonight.

    Danny Williams can't play on the wing or against the touchline.

    Shea was careless and is looking more overwhelmed each game.

    That is all.
     
  15. StrikerX4

    StrikerX4 Member

    Jun 16, 2011
    Lawrence, NJ
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not much to add to what has been said. Williams doesn't belong on the right. Shea showed flashes, but made some bad choices with the ball. Edu really impressed and broke up some attacks crucially. He had a beautiful through ball to Shea too.

    Bradley's play was phenomenal. He was composed, and hardly put a foot wrong all night. One thing that I noticed is that Bradley's balls tend to put teammates in good positions. Many of the US passes lead to a guy in a tight spot, but Bradley always put people in a place where they had an opportunity to go forward or make another pass easily.

    I think MB solidified his place in the starting XI. He's as vital to this team as Donovan or Dempsey going forward.
     
  16. TheHoustonHoyaFan

    Oct 14, 2011
    Houston
    Club:
    FC Schalke 04
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, we played a 4-2-3-1. Clint played the CAM with Shea AML and Williams AMR.
    Not man marking. The #10 has defensive responsibilities for that portion of the field.

    FYI, Clint admitted as much in his post match interview.
     
  17. juniorLA

    juniorLA Member

    Mar 4, 2008
    El Lay
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So, just to clarify, you're criticizing the coach that just got the first win against Italy in Italy for theoretically moves that you are attributing to him but that he hasn't himself deployed.

    And also criticizing JK for his approach with respect to Michael Bradley even though he just coaxed his best performance every in a USA jersey.

    Um, yeah.:rolleyes:
     
  18. lmorin

    lmorin Member+

    Mar 29, 2000
    New Hampshire
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    According to the stats here, Pirlo's passing success rate was 85.8% (91 of 106) and Bradley's was 87.8% (43 of 49).
     
  19. iad_22201

    iad_22201 Member+

    Jan 2, 2009
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    Fulham FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Methinks you're giving JK far too much credit for MB's performance today...
     
    1 person likes this.
  20. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    C'mon. I'm a big fan of what Mike did tonight. He was superb. But somebody has to mention the difficulty factor of Pirlo's beautiful lofted attacking passes into the box from those deep-lying playmaker positions he takes up. A guy who can hit 85% passing success rate attempting those sorts of passes with any frequency isn't just good but "off-the-charts awesome," at least as far as passing is concerned.
     
  21. Pass-n-Go

    Pass-n-Go Member+

    Jul 5, 2008
    So Pirlo gets it on a degree of difficulty scale.:D
     
  22. Sam Hamwich

    Sam Hamwich Member+

    Jul 11, 2006
    1. I think he is one of those I "hate" this player no matter what they accomplish.

    2. He needs to re-watch the match.

    MB was the one early who was caught out and nearly conceded an early goal. Edu tracked back like a monster.
     
  23. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    Seriously, if we had a guy who could pass like Pirlo, judging by the way we remember O'Brien and (sometimes) remember Reyna and Ramos, he would be to us the greatest thing since someone decided to stick some ice cream between Maradona and Pele and call it a sandwich.
     
  24. dwsmith1972

    dwsmith1972 BigSoccer Supporter

    May 11, 2007
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Rewatching now. Edu has his limitations but he does cover an extraordinary amount of ground rather quickly and efficiently. He really glides and makes it look easy.
     
  25. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He was a playing as withdrawn striker but not a trequartista. Think Holland more than Italy. Since when does Deuce defend anyways?

    Again harass the nearest man with the ball for an withdrawn forward seems more likely the plan then have Deuce try and stop Pirllo.
     

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