http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...measuring-stick-before-qualifying-1.html#more "Taking the game to the young Selecao side is part of the plan for the United States. Just as they did against Scotland last Saturday and to a lesser extent against Italy in a historic win in February, the Americans want to try and get forward and exploit some of the space the Brazilians might leave as they push forward." This might belong in the changes thread but most of that revolved around formations. I am looking at the tactics. I was thinking that the plan would be smilar to Italy and plan to play solid defensively and rely primarily on the counter- but this sounds like JK wants to try to take it to Brazil and see what happens. THAT could be very interesting, where this match is less about getting a result and more about measuring how close the US is in being able to go toe to toe with the likes of Brazil.
Why not? The worst that'll happen is we get beat and the Klinsmannistas have some fodder for bitching on a message board. I think going after their midfielders makes sense. May as well see if Jones and Bradley can apply the same up field pressure now. If not, fine. We adjust and move on.
Yeah, if we decide to try to go toe-to-toe with them, it will be really fun to watch. Hagler-Hearns type stuff. Unfortunately, I think we will play the role of Tommy Hearns.
That's the way I see it. Especially as we go into a qualifier where we are expected to do well. Up the excitement and highlight how much the team has to do now... they built some confidence with the Scotts. Go at Brazil and see what happens. Learn from it and get motivated to who what they are made of during qualification.
The good thing is that a bunch of them have been quoted as saying that friendly results don't matter.
Going at them in the middle is key. Their CMs are far from impressive. Sandro, Romulo and Casemiro have 14 caps, all three combined. Sandro is by far the most experienced, but in Tottemham he plays with the very experienced Van der Vaart in front, and the very experienced Gallas behind. Here, he'll be playing with the still-green Oscar in front, and the even-greener Juan Jesus behind.
With a healthy Dempsey and Jozy, I would have liked to see a plain old 4-4-2 with Johnson overlapping and Donovan hugging the line. Then whip in as many crosses as possible. But they apparently have Thiago Silva and we dont have either jozy or Dempsey so a more central attack with Donovan/Torres making the diagonal runs inside and Jones / Bradley running off them for the shot or return pass. But the real story is going to be how we defend their counter if we press. Brazil can score in seconds from one end of the pitch to the next. We havent faced that yet in the JK era.
Wonderful news. And now is a great time to do it. We just had a strong win against Scotland. We have another friendly upcoming to reset ourselves prior to qualifying. Perfect opportunity to take this risk.
I'd honestly be disappointed if we didn't try to take it to Brazil. I've had enough of the passive tactics against the big teams. If we keep playing like the America of the late 1980s against them, they will never see us as a country to respect. If we lose, that's what everyone expects anyway. But what if we go out and pressure the Brazilians like they never have been before from a non super power, and win. People would have to pay attention.
I just want to see more of positive futbol. It is working now. We may have a few bumps along the way, but keep the team moving forward. It is good to see the learning of guys who played the "bucket". Go USA!
An article about the coming friendly, from the Sambafoot site (Portuguese): http://www.sambafoot.com/pt/noticia...anos_onde_tudo_comecou_para_mano_menezes.html "Putting memories aside, the game this Wednesday is important for both sides. The United States come very confident after having defeated Scotland by a crushing 5-1 this last weekend. Before that, already Donovan & co. [they know Donovan didn't play that game, but outside USA the press often uses him as the symbol of the USMNT] had defeated the powerful Italy 1-0, in another friendly on February 29th. Now, they intend to keep the run and bring down another giant. Klinsmann should have the center back Oguchi Onyewu, from Sporting, recovered from injury. Midfielder Clint Dempsey, one of the stars of the team, also should make his return to the center of the field, in place of Jose Torres."
You can press anyone, you just have to be smarter about it against some teams. "Pressing Brazil" is much different than "pressing Scotland", I suspect. It's more opportunistic and balanced. In a sense, I hope to see us press Brazil the way the Italians would- in spurts and at key moments. Of course, I trust their central defense more than ours, but we'll see. Regardless, it's a friendly- we shouldn't get too up or down about the result (see, 5-1 v. Scotland) but rather about the quality of play (see total midfield domination v. Scotland). Winning is more fun, though.
that attitude wont win us the game, and who cares if we lose. Its a friendly. I would rather see good attacking soccer and a 3-2 loss than stagnant, defensive soccer and a 1-1 or 0-0 tie. A win would be great, but we stand a better chance of winning by playing exactly how we did against Scotland. We scored 5 goals without Jozy or Dempsey. Dempsey will be a sub today and Jozy may start. If we arent willing to take it to Brazil in a meaningless friendly, when will we be?
The main thing we have to learn is how to recover defensively after committing to a full-throttle attack. Hopefully a lesson learned today.