2/9, USA at T&T, WCQ -- pre-, during- & post-match thread {R}

Because it was 92 degrees, you had a team that played together as a unit for three days, and half the guys (MLS contingent) were not in game shape. This is hard for you to understand?

I thought this was a great mature tactical win, and showed a coming of age. A team that can win without its A game - sort of New England Patriots-like. In the hex, its results, not style. Learn to like it.

 

i think you're both right! lol.

but i do agree KK was a bit too busy in this match.

 

So as long as Eddie Johnson is on a scoring tear in these games, he'll be getting most of the playing time.

Ching and Casey are mere McBride clones so to speak. Ching did have that timely goal against Jamaica in the semi final round but since some kid from Dallas started to light up the goals, he's been relegated to the sidelines. So as long as he can keep playing well for his club he will get a look. Casey if I remember did run into injuries. It's only a matter of time before Eskandarian gets a chance in the lineup.

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But with the team only together for a short time, the players off due to the labor dispute, and only the European players in game shape, compared to the MLS players who are in the off-season, getting the 3 points is a much desirable result.

With Friedel gone, might as well pencil in KK as the starter for 06 with Howard as his understudy. Cheers!

 

Great game for 75 min. I know they had a two goal lead but I can't stand to watch a team put 10 men behind the ball like that. It never fails that the more agressive team will score. A bounce here or there and that's 1 point. I'm thankful for the win but that effort will not get it done against Mexico.

I second that!!!!

 

Mister Cadaver, you my friend have pegged it. This match was about overcoming, overcoming the impasse, the missed friendlies and the missed time to prepare. Your take is astute and on point. We have survived and captured a critical three points prior to Mexico. Mission accomplished for now. Going forward, we can disect the squad and break every little nuance apart, but for now, we are elated with this result. Germany is more likely because of today and that is all that matters.

 

No, I wouldn't say so. It was a good through ball that caught Bocanegra or Gibbs not following the run, as a result Eve was basically alone at the end line and drove a hard ball in (more cross than shot); Keller dove to try to stop it and only got a piece, deflecting it into his net. I don't remember if there was a T&T player behind him who looked likely to finish it off or not, or for that matter whether it would have been on frame anyway.

More to the point, I don't think anybody who watched the match felt the U.S. was in control from maybe the 75th minute or so onwards -- see earlier posts in this thread or the new postgame thread. Even before then, T&T had their moments like Fitzgerald's break (mentioned in the article). So I wouldn't really say the goal was against the run of play.

 

Kasey has to punch it out. It was a horrible mistake.

 

I don't think KK could have done much with that. I was a shot from about 6 feet that deflected off him into goal. I thought he had the angle covered and his defense really let him down at the end.

 

Well, he admitted to his screw-up to JP on the post-game interview and the Telefutura announcers were saying something like "grave error" or "grande error" (my Spanish aint no good).

So, I think Kasey is a being a mensch about it.

 

LOVED our play for the first 65 or 70 minutes, considering our lack of preparation & fitness level. Thought our possession was VERY solid & the perfect strategy by Bruce.

- Keller was very solid. For not for that goal, he would've been my MOTM. That save on Fitzpatrick, right before Lewis' goal was the game-decider IMO.

- WHAT MORE can we say about EJ?? He's THE man and, until further notice, should start with McBride in ALL WCQs.

- Donovan was solid but I think that he should've played more forward. He seemed to be TOOOO deep in midfield, at times, and was much more dangerous when attacking. What the hell happened on that great dummy by Beasley?? GREAT opportunity for Donovan but I guess Hislop deserves credit for a great stop. Donovan probably scores on that same setup, 9 times out of 10.

- Lewis proved he belongs out there & worked very well with Beasley & Donovan. AMAZING shot on the goal.

- Mastroeni was SENSATIONAL IMHO. That 40 yarder in the first half was a thing of beauty & his defense and tackling was solid.

- The ref crew was, MUCH to my surprise, VERY good. I love a game where I don't notice the refs & this game is that!!!

It was not our best game ever (and that goal by T&T really "bugged" me) but we got the 3 points and, more importantly, we got NO cards or injuries.

BRING ON MEXICO!!!!

 

My thoughts on the match-
Mastro was great. Broke up tackles all day, and made some great attacking passes. He is our D-mid in my opinion.
EJ scores again, he's great, not much more to say about him.
Beasley's skills have improved a lot. We've seen it at PSV, now we are seeing them with the Nats. Not only can he cross now, he put in a few dangerous right footed crosses.
Donovan controlled the game. He controlled it much like Reyna does, but he can also go forward much more dangerously than Reyna
Lewis played pretty good, I just wish he woulc just cross the damn ball and stop dribbling in circles. Also, WHAT A GOAL.
I'm glad Arena played Dolo. He was great, didn't seem to have any problems with T&T's size
I think one of the most important things in the game was we got out w/o any cards. I thought the refs we magnificant. Some of the best reffing I've seen in CONCAF.
The few bad things/
Mcbride didnt do much. He didnt even win all the balls in the air like he ussualy does. I hate to say it, because I love him, but I think it's time to find replacement. Ching? Twellman? Casey?????
I didnt like the berhalter sub, and didnt like the albright for Lewis sub. Does anyone know what kind of formation we were in at the end of the game.
Anyway, great win, get ready Mexico.

 

10 men behind the ball.

 

And still, no Mathis. I am dissapointed. He was in the video, in T&T...why did they even bother to fly him there if he wasn't even on the bench?

 

That's an interesting question and I bet US Soccer is asking itself the same question!!

In regards to the match..we did indeed lose our overall team composure when Albright came in. Tactically, this move didn't work. Chris was put in, basically as the left midfielder and, IIRC, was beaten pretty badly on the goal as well as on a cross earlier. Why he was in at a position that he hasn't ever played is a question for Da Bruce. With only dress one midfielder sub playing in 90 degree heat after little to no training camp, appears to me anyways to have backfired a bit.

On the other hand, a win away is a win away. That it was done with little time together and in relatively convincing fashion is a testament to the fact that the USMNT is a GAT - Grown Ass Team.

A couple of other comments -
While Pablo was great - Keller was MOTM. The goal was a hard cross, two feed off the line, from close in. He had to make a play. He saved the early header by John (very good save) and absolutely stuffed the breakaway that would have tied the game (suberb!). He also snuffed out a couple of other relatively good opportunities.

LD has GOT to bury that goal. DMB must have been exhausted to not be able to get around the keeper when the keeper came out of the box to play him.

No yellows - that is huge...how many did Mexico get last night, 3?

We MUST play better if we expect to beat (or even compete) with Mexico. We need to be much better as a team collectively as well as individually. There are no excuses at this level, prep time, field conditions, jet lag, etc. Against Mexico we need to bring a lot more than we brought yesterday.

Congratulations to the team, a good start to the qualifying run.

 

But only one on the left of the field.....

 

He's someone you bring on if you need a goal. We were up two nil when all the subs were used. Plus, what else was he going to do. All the camp did was get him in shape.

 

I won't defend Boca's game since his 1 v 1 marking was suspect but if you follow the sequence of the goal, Albright turned the ball over to the TnT defender. He then failed to stay with his man, forcing Boca to cover.

Boca was slow getting over, most likely because he was not expecting the defender to be coming down unmarked.

And finally, the cross, although dangerous was not going in. One TnT forward had already overran it and another was completely marked. Had Keller left the cross or missed it would have been 2-0 finish.

Overall I think this was a great win under difficult circumstances. Tactically, we did take the foot off the pedal after 70 mins with a 2-0 lead. We probably could have scored more. But good teams hold leads, even on the road. And guess what...the lead held.

What Bruce needs to realize is that if you are going to Bunker - do it with holding mids, not more defenders or wingers. And you should have at least a nominal threat on the counter up top. At the end of the game our only counterattack threats were midfielders (Beasley and Donovan) who we needed to maintain possession.

 

it was a good win in the end,

yes it is very hard for me to undestand when they can do it for the first 75 minutes,they played the best i seen from them in a long time, your argument flies out the window.

yes it was hot/warm, they only had to keep possesion instead of chasing the ball

I am only questioning the substitutions that Bruce made, they were the wrong choices and it showed.
Coming of age will be when we can play consistently for 90 minutes .

We fell apart against T&T not Brazil.

 

"Falling apart" implies a loss. We won. We did just enough to win. If we win in Mexico, we will do just enough to win over there. Our boys will adapt according to whoever they are playing.

 

mexico seems to be on a high and they will play hard and dirty, but i hope you right
Nothing would be sweeter then a win against them in Azteca.!

 

enough about this game, I am now looking forward to Azteca and bring back another 3 points.

 

while that would be great....i doubt it will happen.....USA should play for a win, but should be extremely satisfied should they get a draw

 

Why does Bruce start MCBride everytime, couldn't we find someone else to replace him ? even Fulham knows him and rarely start him on the match.