I'd have to watch the game again, but I thought he was not bad. He gave the ball away a few times, but not as many times, or in such bad position, as others. There were times when his ability to hold the ball under pressure was really a huge difference between this team and the team of 4 months ago.
It was funny, because watching him slide diagonally along the arc at the top of the box I kept thinking about the Honduran defenders "haven't you guys watched any tapes? He's going to unleash a heck of a low shot as soon as he gets to 19 yards out. Don't back up! Don't be doing that! BOOM!" That was vintage Bradley
"There are two kinds of American soccer fan - those who realize that Klinsmann is a fraud, and those who will realize it one day.. " https://www.bigsoccer.com/blog/2015/7/23/62u6mqffolantsjw9qcd5i8rgu8gkt
As soon as he started that run I started yelling (at my 13" MacBook) "SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT!" Then, three touches later, he did!
And I'm home already from the game! Fun, fun, fun! Christian is moving towards god status after this. Obviously Clint. Villafana was really good. I had a very close look at him in the 1st half just a few meters away. Reads the game very well. Also, Bedoya, gotta give it up. Not a fan, but he did very well tonight. Bradley had probably the biggest play of the game. But......he was worrisome too. Needs to play better in Panama. If Books can't go, not Ream in Panama. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Well he never gives the ball away. He often turns his defender and makes a simple pass. He'll run thirty yards with the ball and keep possession. He never gets caught behind the ball. He keeps possession in tight places. He is a shuttler. He helps Michael Bradley not do anything stupid. He offered Villafaña an imminent outlet. He does not do seven step overs and bicycle kicks. He is not going to bring offensive production, (to put it less passive aggressively.) But he wins his side of the field ALL game. He played tonight exactly how I thought he could be used in a big qualifier. Always calm.
To me, Bradley did the job of 2 players tonight. You never see a 4-4-2 with a totally committed Amid anymore. Bradley was on an island - defensively doing the job of 2. He made mistakes. But, this was a huge ask of him.
Bedoya is a better fit than lletget because he tracked back and stopped the Honduran outlet passes. Plus he pinched in centrally when needed. lleget will need to be that type of player to be more effective. He was good going forward, but did not track back as well. Nagbe displayed why he is so good and frustrating at the same time. He can hold possession and make long runs. He just lacked the end product. We are asking a lot for Bradley to be the lone man if the offense turns the ball over
The way we set-up looked a lot like Milan back when they had Kaka-Crespo-Shevchenko (Pulisic-Deuce-Jozy). Let the three attackers go crazy and offer lots of support with stay at home fullbacks and shuttlers in the midfield channels (Nagbe/Seedorf, Bedoya & Lleget/Gattuso) in front of your primary outlet (Bradley/Pirlo). Obviously a huge gulf in quality, but the roles were remarkably similar. Really a true 4-1-2-1-2.
What do you mean, if you do not score a goal you suck! I mean look at Tim Howard, he just sat back in his own box and never even made a run at goal...psh...Furthermore, he is lucky the ref didn't see all those handballs. Hello dude, this is soccer, you are supposed to use you feet dummy. Can someone tell me why he starts...
Johnson for who? Lletget/Bedoya or Nags? Yedlin for Gonzo, move Cam to the middle. Then Wood. I'm a Wood fan, but Jozy did yeoman's work tonight. I don't think I take him out for Wood.
My opinion: Pulisic was electric and the threesome or Pulisic, Dempsey and (in fairness) Altidore dominated this game in attack. Bradley, nice goal, god awful game. Particularly in the 2nd half. Good positioning but dawdles on the ball unnecessarily, inaccurate and dangerous passing. Concern about injuries with 4-5 key player hurt going in and now 3 more went down. Cautiously optimistic Brooks is OK. As for the relative newbies Nagbe and Villafana? were solid. Lleget too for 15 mins - scored the winner in his debut really in his home town- how cool!! Then got hurt. Bummer. Arena > Klinnsman. So glad we are done with that blowhard.
Villafana was quite unflappable back there. At 27 he's kind of a late bloomer for us, sure going to be nice to have him around this cycle though.
Was not that impressed with the defensive play despite the scoreline and was definitely not impressed with Micheal Bradley despite his well taken chance from outside the 18'. Honduras played like we did vs Argentina. Some possession but absolutely no product and by the time there was any real danger we had already relaxed. They were atrocious so it's no great feat to beat them on the day. Was impressed with the attack for the most part Dempsey is slow but still very smart and dangerous. He wants the record and one more world cup as well. If he can maintain anything like this form and stay fit then he will play the role LD should have played in 14 had he not been a spoiled brat. Pulisic was strong as usual. He dealt with the physicality of the Hondurans well enough and they were paying special attention to him. Even on the Bradley goal it was plain to see how they had three defenders marking him out of the game which left Bradley unmarked and when he is not facing pressure then he can be dangerous. Jozy was active and did about as well as he could as a target forward and not score. He unlocked Pulisic with a brilliant touch on the second Dempsey goal and he sprang Pulisic on the play where Lletget eventually scored. More thoughts later...
So he really is a Bedoya, Zusi, MLS type player...? I really don't mean that negatively because all the players in question bring a lot of solid, even if unspectacular, contribution to many important games. I just should reset my expectations.
Thoughts from Avaya: Pulisic is something else. Fooled by Randomness should be required reading for people analyzing soccer games. The US played much, much better than they have recently. But 6 goals on 9 shots? Outlier. The reaction on the US bench to the Brooks injury sure made me think he is out for a long time. Dempsey is such a fierce fighter. The guy never gives an inch. Donovan seems to enjoy the game now more than when he played. A lot of dirty work from Nagbe and Bedoya allowed Pulisic to be Pulisic. No surprise their work is under appreciated by some here. Bradley. Sigh. So many little errors that a better team would have punished. But what a goal. He is an 8, not a 6. Arena made good adjustments, especially given the two forced subs. He coached a good game. Avaya is a nice stadium, but the parking is in a swampy cow pasture, and the entry procedures into the stadium were a joke. About a 5/10 on overall fan experience.