A lot of US fans were pissed off at Dick Advocaat's postgame remarks after the US squirmed out of Amsterdam with a 1-0 loss. Despite the game's billing as a Friendly, the US came in with a posture that would make an outside observer think their place in the 2006 World Cup depended on getting a point away from home. Advocaat decided to call the USA out. 'We missed some sharpness tonight and performing against such conservative opponents didn't inspire us,' said Dutch coach Dick Advocaat. 'We were supposed to meet the Germans tonight and then we'd have had a match with enthusiasm and prestige.' All's fair in love and soccer, and yesterday the US got some of their own medicine. Poland, despite the friendly label attached to this game, came in determined to line as many players as they possibly could behind the ball and suffocate the US attack. They bunkered. In some respects, it made the game difficult to watch at times. In other respects, it was exactly the type of game the US needed. We learned a few lessons out on the field today, and those lessons will be particularly valuable as we head into World Cup Qualification against Jamaica, Panama, and El Salvador. Lesson 1 - The box midfield isn't always the right formation After we beat Mexico in Dallas, many fans were so enthused by the performance that assumptions were made that from now on, the US would line up with a boxed midfield. Two midfield players would be focused primarily on defense, two would be focused in the attack. It's a great tactic against a team like Mexico, a team that for decades now has built their entire system around possessing the soccer ball. But against opponents that are not interested in possession, like Poland, does having two dedicated defensive minded midfielders make sense? I don't think it does. The US was much more dangerous after both Mastroeni and Zavagnin had been subbed out of the game, and they were no more susceptible to Polish attacks. When our opponents set out to bunker in World Cup Qualification, we cannot use two spots on defensive midfielders. The "box," in those scenarios, will not be the right tool for the job. Lesson 2 - Finishing isn't just a forward's job Quick trivia question - who was the US' scoring leader in the last WCQ cycle? Who is leading the US in scoring this time around? Here's a hint - neither player lines up as a forward. So often we come down hard when guys like McBride and Wolff squander opportunities in front of the goal. I think that's fair. Their primary responsibility is to put shots away. But I am getting tired of watching US midfielders and defenders shank shots entirely, or completely lose their composure in front of the goal. That means you, Claudio. Against Grenada, you had a few shots in dangerous situations that you trickled to the goalkeeper's feet or simply shanked. That means you, too, Armas. Early in the game at Grenada, you had two shots where the goalkeeper was taken out of the play snuffed out because there was no attempt to place those shots. Convey, well, nevermind. And even you, Landon, need to rediscover your finishing touch. But at least you're making the keeper make saves, which is more than everybody but DaMarcus can say this year. This isn't Major League Soccer. The real chances you have at scoring in a game come in significantly smaller numbers. When you get them, regardless of what your position is on the field, you have to put those shots away. If a player has shown, repeatedly, that they aren't capable of finishing for the US, then I strongly question that players' place on the field. Lesson 3 - Wider is better It's not just a marketing slogan for the Pontiac Grand Suck. When the US lines up against opponents who shell up defensively, there is a much stronger likelihood that we can break those teams down out wide than we will down the middle. If you watched Euro2004, you saw how the best teams in that tournament were often also the best at getting wide. The responsibility to get wide comes down to four or five players. Your left and right-sided midfielders, whether or not they line up as "wingers," are obviously the first two. The second two should be your left and right fullbacks. Cherundolo has been pretty good at getting wide and serving crosses. See DaMarcus' header goal against Grenada for evidence. Convey hasn't been as effective. He - or somebody - needs to be better on the left side. The 5th player should be at least one of the forwards. This is where I think Wolff's game is still not where it was pre-injury. We need a forward who can occasionally get wide and break down defenders in 1v1 situations through speed, ability on the dribble, or both of the above. Basic soccer teaches you that as you get closer to the touch lines, you find yourself more and more isolated against defenders in 1v1 situations. When teams bunker, breaking them down anywhere is a very tough task. The middle is often so clogged, though, that it's nearly impossible. Beating teams wide requires that you have players with the right combination of speed, dribbling skill, and crossing ability. Lesson 4 - No sleep for the weary, or bored The US defense so dominated Poland for much of the game that I think three players simply let themselves slip mentally. Pope, Bocanegra, and Howard - all who should know better - dropped the ball and let in a soft goal. Pope had a questionable backpass. Bocanegra had an even more suspect backheel, no-look clearance into the middle of the box, and Howard simply wasn't quick enough to react on a secondary cross and as a result dropped the ball. In its entirety, that sequence took less than 10 seconds. That's it. That was all Poland needed to go up 1-0. Sometimes the most difficult challenge for defenders and goalkeepers when going against a bunkered team is to mentally stay on top of the game. Let yourselves drift for even a few seconds, and it can be costly. Lesson 5 - Free is a very good price Against both Mexico and Poland, scoring came down to corner kicks. Against Grenada, we had more chances at free kicks than I could count. I think that we'll see our share in WCQ as well. We have to be better. We need players who can put dangerous shots on frame. Clint Mathis is one of those players. We need guys who can serve in dangerous crosses, and we need targets who can finish those crosses. I don't think any US fan has been satisfied with our set pieces this year. I don't see how they could be. The US needs to be sharper. They either need more practice, or they need better execution, or if they need more capable players. It could be a combination of all of the above. Whatever the solution is, if I am Bruce Arena, this has now become one of my very top priorities. Every camp and every game in the next set of qualifiers, this becomes the part of the game that gets my priority. Players who can execute on free kicks and set pieces move up higher on the depth chart. Players who don't move down. I really think that this is one area that is keeping us from becoming a dominant team in every game we play. Had we converted the pk, a couple of set pieces in very good spaces, or seen better service on our corners, Poland never would have had a shot in this game. *** Despite all this, I don't think it was a bad game at all. In fact the US dominated play about 90% of the time. I suspect we'll do the same in our next set of qualifiers, especially at home. But we learned a few lessons about how hard breaking teams down can be, how there are times and situations for every player and formation, and how absolutely careful you always have to be defensively. Hopefully those same mistakes don't show their heads again over the next few months. If the US works on them, we'll cruise through the next round. If we don't, qualification will be much more difficult than it needs to be.
Definitely. There are a lot of teams that will bunker us in concacaf and we need to figure out how to score. Off set pieces is a very integral method of forcing a team to attack some to get even. One thing that is important to remember is *who* is playing in the box. Now, I know that Cladio wasnt there for mexico either, but ideally in the back you would have at least claudio and maybe even claudio and JOB. The reason why we lost so much last night and could in the future by having a box is that our d mids are ONLY dmids. Reyna on the other hand is a holding mid with the ability to play in both halves of the field. Amen. I love Claudio but he needs to put em on frame. DMB may be our leading scorer but all of them are off complete sitters. He needs to learn how to make that quick touch in the box as opposed to getting dispossessed while he breaks out the tee. Convey.... needs to just practice shooting on an untended net. That being said, there is no use whatsoever to a forward who can't finish and they shouldn't escape our scathing commentary just because we are used to them being awful. Also agreed. The best way I can think of to score against a bunker is to put in a goal or two off set pieces. That forces them to either accept a defeat or come out of the bunker. If McBride puts away his PK in the 11th minute we are probably talking about a 3-0 game.
Yes, we are not good on set pieces, but that will not ba a problem for Concacaf qualifying. Remeber, the European team (beside Portugal, Spain, etc.) are generally good on defeding set piecies by three reasons: 1. Size. They generally have a big size for almost all of players. 2. One-on-one marking. The European defenders are very good at marking. 3. Tactical awareness and decipline. In Concacaf, for example, Mexico, El Salvador, Guetemala, etc. don't have the physical sizes at all. If you have McBride, Casey, Ching, Twellman, Boca, Pope, Gibbs, and Albright all come up on the set pieces, you will kill them right there. For teams like Jamaica, T&T, etc. they do have size, but they don't have good marking ability and decipline (that includes all African teams, too), so we also can beat them on those too. Check this year, I can see a lot of scoring from set picese: 1. Boca vs. Poland 2. Lewis vs. Honduras 3. Sanneh vs. Honduras 4. Pope vs. Mexico 5. Califf vs. Haiti Also plus Boca's headers against Jamaica, Brazil, etc. We are not that bad.
Poland did something else that I think we will see from opponents who bunker; they tried whenever possible to create width on the attack/counterattack, to draw our outside guys away from OUR attack and prevent us from getting width. They did so via flighted balls to larger guys on our smaller "wingers" (Cherundolo and Convey). Watch Damani Ralph avoid a Pope/Boca matchup, and instead attack via one of the outside guys. Also, box formation or no, the central midfield pairing of Zavagnin and Mastro is clearly sub-optimal. When Mathis entered for Mastro, the game dynamic immediately changed -- even as Clint went deep to receive in a Claudio-like fashion.
Nutmeg - Great stuff in the analysis! Also, I'm glad that you mentioned the reversal of roles, because the Holland - U.S. match was in my mind as we watched. When it was 1-0, I thought, "Damn, these Poles are mighty excited. But the joke is on them. Regardless of the score, we've well and truly whipped them, just the way that Holland proved their superiority over us when we were too scared to send anybody forward. In this relationship, we are the alpha male." Karl is right, the Poles tortured our tiny backs, especially Convey, with flighted balls. About 3 times, Convey barely got the top of his head onto routine balls to flick them out for an opposition corner.
Very nicely done in this thread. We certainly carried the play in this one, and for the most part it was good soccer (although several gorgeous passes by Landon were spoiled by poor finishing). Poland's goal was pretty wretched stuff. Just as I was thinking about how solid a game Boca was having, he uncorked that absolutely wretched back heel. Put it out for a corner, duder. And Howard covers that ball 9 times of 10, and Boca's man was sitting goalside on him. Ugly stuff all around. I'm still in favor of the Convey/Cherundolo outside back pairing, but size definitely has to be a concern there. Nutmeg's comments about getting wide are excellent--part of the danger of running a box midfield is losing the width, and that hurts, particularly against a 4-5-1. Also, it was good to see Mathis in a US jersey again. His free kicks looked solid, and he seemed composed and aggressive. An addendum-- Why is it we never seem to have a guy that will get in an opposing player's grill after he chops down one of our skill players? We were getting hacked left and right toward the end of that game, and it didn't seem like anyone would stand up for their teammates. I'm not saying Kerry Zavagnin should go Cantona on someone, but cmon, you can't let yourselves be walked on.
On a personal level, I cheer for Steve Cherundolo. I'd love it if he were the answer at right back for each and every opponent. As a fan of the US team, however, I do not think that is the case. Against some opponents, Frankie is the right guy, and as Albright gets more experience, watch him get more and more minutes, too. The US coaching staff loves his size and athleticism, and he showed at least once how fast he can recover and get back. He's a work in progress, and although I think Dolo is the safer bet to be starting in Germany, I wouldn't be stunned if Albright made the squad and saw minutes. Convey is going through the learning process I've seen a lot of young transitioning defenders go through. Very few players pick the outside back position up right away. A lot of us have fresh in our minds how dominating Tony Sanneh was in the 2002 World Cup. We should keep in mind that at one point he was struggling so badly in the position that Steve Cherundolo, at a pretty young age, was called across the ocean into his first US camp and started as a right back in an away World Cup qualifier in Honduras. How's that for initiation? Given Bruce Arena's track record of gradually working players into his system, I think that says something about how long it took Sanneh to grasp the outside back position. When Bruce was asked about giving Cherundolo the position so quickly, his response was something along the lines of, "He's a right back." The inference? At the time, Sanneh wasn't. So give Bobby time. I think the best thing that can happen to him at this point is to get his long-awaited transfer to England. I think he's a player who needs the pressure to refine his game. If he goes to Tottenham, it will likely be as a left back. He'd learn the position, and the pressure cooker of European football will either break him, or refine his raw potential into a well-polished defender. Hopefully, he'll get the chance.
Solid observation. It doesn't matter the formation, when a team has Mastro/Zavag working the middle then the coach can not expect a effective offense attack. Mathis is the type of player to hold the ball, turn up-field, and distribute the ball to his teammates better than anyone on the team. Now, if he could only get into shape Mathis will be the right player to lead the USMNT in qualifiers. The outside defensive backs are not nailed down positions by anyplayer. Cherundolo has made his case, but hasn't seperated himself from the pack where he would be 1st choice everytime like Bocanegra. But, with the combination of Cherundolo/Albright/ & Hejduk I think BA has enough choices to rotate his guys appropriately depending the opponents skill & players. I know Clint Dempsey is in his first season and usually plays midfield, but I think he could make an impact at rightback before he would be moved to midfield for the US. Just a thought of getting some better options. As for LB, Convey and Bocanegra can share that position with Boca probably getting majority of time. There will be a few games that Boca will probably not make, and therefore giving Bobby a chance. But, Carlos has got to be first choice everytime - he is just too good not to be on the field as is Pope and Gibbs. We need these three guys in defense majority of the time.
We need forwards. I don't have the numbers but we have to score a higher percentage of goals from our midfield and defenders than any other team our quality in the world. I mean 9 of our 14 goals this year have come from defenders and midfielders (and one of the other 5 was scored by a sometimes forward who was playing midfield at the time, and another was a penalty). In 2003 15 of our 28 goals were scored by non-forwards (1 of the other 13 was an own goal incorrectly ruled a goal for one of our forwards, 1 other was a penalty) In 2002 things were much better with Donovan, Mathis, McBride, Wolff and Razov contributing 23 goals. Somebody needs to start putting the ball in the net.
I disagree. If the team is bunkering, as many of our CONCACAF rivals will likely be doing, I don't think the Armas/Zavagnin combination would be any more effective than Mastro/Zavagnin. None of these players are particularly good at creating opportunities for other players in international soccer. And against a bunker, that is what you need from your central midfielders. However, I saw nothing in yesterday's game that would lead me to believe that the Mastro/Zavag combination wouldn't have been every bit as effective against a possession side like Mexico as was the Armas/Zavag combination. In fact, if anything, Mastroeni - who was much better against Mexico in Dallas than Armas - has had Mexico's number. He owned Blanco. He owned Borgetti. I really don't think Mexico would relish seeing Mastroeni anytime soon. It's all about finding the right tools for the job. A twin d-mid alignment against a bunkered team is hardly what the situation calls for.
As much as I like Claudio, at this stage of his career, if he hasnt developed this skill yet, it probably aint getting any better... I wouldnt hold your breath..
Portugal just called. They strongly disagree. But I do agree with the underlying point, my nitpicking aside. I see 4 potential answers on the horizon: Taylor Twellman - Against Mexico, Taylor was given his first opportunity as a US national player to not be a target forward. Subbed in for Wolff, he finally got his chance to be the guy to face the goal, make runs off the ball, and get himself in scoring situations. And guess what - he looked good. He's just now getting healthy. If he starts to bag goals at his typical MLS rate, he'll be a part of the WCQ pool. That's not good news for Josh Wolff. Davy Arnaud - Did you realize that he's just one year older than Edson Buddle? I didn't. He's a young player who is getting his first chance at big-time minutes, and man is this kid producing. The thing I like most about Arnaud is how much he contributes to the Wizard's game even if he doesn't score. But he does score, and is tied with Ching as the leading American goal-scorer so far this year in MLS. Brian Ching - Two plays stood out in my mind from yesterday's game WRT Ching. His first touch header that led to a shot ?Wolff? should have put away. The second was his diving left-footed shot with a Polish defender draped on him that forced a good save from SuperCuts. He can set up his teammates, or he can get good shots off in difficult situations. He's been a consistent performer in MLS when healthy. Too bad he's paired with DeRosario this year, or I think he'd be even more productive. Edson Buddle - I hate to mention the guy, just because I seriously question if he'll ever get healthy. To me, he looks like a player who could really benefit from dropping about 10 pounds off his frame and seriously put some time in on his flexibility through yoga and/or pilates. I think his legs would hold up better and not be prone to all the wear and tear injuries he's struggled with since he came to MLS. But if - and it is a monumental if - he can somehow find a way to stay healthy (Preki, please give Edson a call), Edson could be a very good international soccer player.
I don't know where you get the idea that Pope's backpass was "questionable". The pass was perfectly innocuous, Howard just flubbed it. After heading the ball to the Poles, Albright then stood and watched instead of tracking back wide to mark his man on the flank. Then he couldn't get over in time to prevent the cross that resulted in Howard's second flub. The ironic thing is, if Howard had just let the cross go through, instead of reaching for it, it almost surely would have gone to Convey, or out the other side for a US throw or goal kick. Bocanegra had excellent position goal and ball-side of the eventual goal scorer, but when he saw the cross go behind him, he assumed that Howard would collect the ball and let the Polish attacker go. As my old high school geometry teacher used to say, "When you AssUMe you make an Ass out of U and Me."
OK - I wasn't at my house watching the game, didn't tape it, and have no way of reviewing the play. But I know you to be a fair analyst, NoSix, and I'll take you at your word. The point about it being difficult for defenders to stay on top of things and not mentally take a few seconds off against a bunker, though, is still a fair one, wouldn't you say? You and I had the same Geometry teacher.
I may be wrong on this, but didn't Masto play in the back against Mexico...perhaps a position now where he is MORE effective than central midfield? And while Borgetti did play, Blanco didn't? Anyway, I saw nothing in yesterday's game from my vantage point at the halfway line at Soldier Field to suggest that the Mastro Zavagnin pairing wouldn't be even MORE suboptimal against a possession style team like Mexico...as opposed to the the Armas/Zavagnin pairing which indeed HAS played v. Mexico and HAS been effective. Ain't broke, don't fix it.
Exactly. While not as fast as Wolff, Twellman makes better runs, is a better header of the ball, and is a better finisher.
The one thing that I think is killing Wolff lately is that he's lost that explosive first step he came into the league with. Twellman won't beat a lot of US players in a long sprint, but he does have a first step that creates space for himself.
Yep. I know you like Albright as a right back, but he's got the same basic problem as Vanney - too slow to keep up with the speed demons. Watching Albright get tortured for 80 minutes by Mapp just confirmed for me that there are some CONCACAF teams (Guatemala, Honduras) against which Albright just isn't going to be able to hack it.
Well, a lot of guys are going to get tortured by Justin Mapp before all is said and done. When that kid's on his game, he looks like he should be starting over DaMarcus. But it does bring up a fair point - and one that I'll happily concede. I do like Albright as a RB, but like Cherundolo, not for every situation. When the situation calls for a bigger, taller, more physical player who has enough speed to get by people and deliver very good crosses - he can be that guy. If you have somebody with Mapp's blazing speed, 'Dolo is probably the best matchup. I just don't think we have a one-size-fits-all RB in our pool. We have to platoon the best option on any given day.
Who cares if Claudio struggles to keep them on frame. There are plenty of examples of midfielders in the modern game that struggled to do the same. Just as I wouldn't bench Viera or Gattuso for that "shortcoming", I wouldn't bench Claudio.
Bocanegra and Howard made the big mistakes on that play. Boca misjudged a ball and was forced to try a back-heel clearance. The ball somehow found its way out on the Howards left side (Poland's right wing) to a Polish defender. Mostly while Albright watched. As the cross was sent in Convey was trying to rush back as a cover for Timmy, but was an instant to late as Howard basically batted the ball down for a Polish player to hit it. And did so just infront of Convey's outstretched leg. Pope really didn't do anything wrong. You expect Howard to be able to hand that back-pass. He plays for friggin ManU. But that was the initial mistake. The 2nd mistake was Bocanegra missing the cross, the 3rd being Albright ball watching. The 4th was Howards wave at the ball, the 5th (if you can call it a mistake) was Convey being late on the goal
Well, Portugal doesn't use forwards, they just play with 6 midfielders who take turns shooting. Oh except when Pauleta plays, then it's five midfielders taking turns shooting while Pauleta stands around and remembers the days when he used to be useful. But you're right in a sense. How about if we limit ourselves to teams who play two forward setups like we do?
Viera and Gattuso and Thierry Henry, Jose Antonio Reyes, Raul, and Ronaldo as the strikers. We have Josh Wolff and Brian McBride. The majority of our goal scoring oppurtunities seem to end up with an attacking midfielder shooting. If thats going to be the case then we better have attacking midfielders who can actaully force the keeper to make a save. I don't think anyone us truly suggesting to bench Claudio. But asking him to be more accurate with his finishing is fine
Let's be fair to the guys as well: Offense is the hard part. Only two countries have really perfected the art: Brazil and Holland, and Holland tends to forget it pretty often. So we shouldn't be overly critical. That said, I do think we're behind the curve offensively, even for teams who have their share of offensive struggles.