Maybe it's because just about everytime we got close the Italians started hitting the decks and the dingbat ref pretended he'd never heard of advantage. You know, at least we had significant posession in your half. More than Italy can say. All those bootballs up the field were embarassing.
No way, Gooch is marking his man. Nobody wanted to play 'OFFSIDE TRAP' (sic) on an inside FK. Especially if it's kicked by the AC Milano. Playing the offside trap would be the dumbest trick on such kind of phase in WC finals against the inventors of soccer strategy. Nobody was at the first post. That's the HUGE mistake. Now we do know that the scorer was Pope's guy, but I think the whole defensive positioning is the main guilty.
To me, the real sad fact is that Landy did produce his best football against Italy, but it was mainly in defensive support. We need EJ or any available alternative solution upfront. The shot attempts are really too rare. Indeed, the best attempt was Mastroeini's... and despite McBride's great fighting spirit, nothing tangeible came of his efforts.
I just want to say that I just watched the match again. I saw it live in a sports pub, so the noise drowned out some of the volume. USA fans in Germany, you brought the funk! I could hear the singing and cheering in the background and I loved it! Now, I starting to see a few posts talking trash about few shots on goal. There's more to evaluating an offense than that. You think Italy was thrilled to see Dempsey's shot roll wide or Pablo's shot sail over the crossbar? Hell no. They were giving up opportunites. The shots may not be on goal but they help. A shot out front from 30 yards away can make a team step up to cut off that space, leading to space elsewhere - even if it's not on goal. It gives a D something to worry about. I know we didn't score a goal, but we looked a hell of a lot better in the final third than we did against the Czechs
which is why i am far more likely to praise the players for their heart and guts in this game...and Bruce for making some changes to begin the game.... As to the players creating that many good opportunities vs. Italy ... not so much....As to Bruce not having gotten any chemistry at forward going in these last 4 years to get ready for the Cup, even less so...... And we really need to turn it around vs. Ghana, we have no other choice but to do so in this dept.
This is exactly what I saw as well and I'm a very big fan of Beasley. However he jogged back into defense, and failed to pressure the Italians when they had the ball which was very sad to see as we had players who could barely walk out there. It was like his attitude was that he was going to attack in this game and would let the other guys do the defending. I mean if there ever was a time to play harder than you've ever played in your life, it was this game- and we needed reserves who were going to do the dirty work when we had nine men and there were tired legs everywhere. Why in the world would we put in a big lumbering defender like Conrad, who does no running, and a half-assed Beasley and still not use our third sub? McBride and Reyna were literally having trouble walking they were so tired. Very strange, very strange indeed. I assure you, we won in spite of Arena's coaching ability not because of it.
I agree with all of the Beasley remarks. I have been reading some of the other threads, and there are still a lot of people who would insert him into the starting lineup against Ghana. I am not sure what is going on with him, but obviously he was not playing well with his club team and has not played well in any of the games for the nats since the first of the year. Why would anyone want to give him "one more chance" in such a crucial game. I like him and hope that after the world cup he is able to get his act together, but I don't really want to see any more of him now.
Well, after the Czech game, he did say that's what he'd do next time. What I don't get is how Arena is praising him, saying he did a fantastic job when he subbed in. I mean, if he doesn't want to criticize him anymore, then Beas really shouldnt be mentioned. Because he didn't do a fantastic job when he came in.
Maybe Bruce realized DMB doesn't respond well to criticism? If so, he should be benched, quietly, and without criticism, until he realizes that there's no excuse for him to have been strolling around the pitch minutes after coming on. Maybe the silent treatment works better? Or maybe Bruce should have accepted DMB lost his will or ability to make a real difference against quality sides? Either way, he's certainly not looking like he will come out of this World Cup looking world class.
Exactly. Putting in Beasley for Dempsey was a loss, pure and simple. John O'Brien for Dempsey, if Arena felt he was too tired, and Johnson for McBride. Give them explicit instructions to pell mell back on defense, to give everything in the 15-10 minutes they would be in the game. Go for victory, and yet fresher legs to help out the defense [Reyna and McBride were little more than stumbling statues by the 80th minute]. No, we may not have gotten the goal and victory. But it was criminally timid [not conservative, timid] not to go for it. He NEVER TRIED FOR VICTORY with his subs. We had a golden chance to put our fate in our hands, and Bruce says "fuggedaboutit".....what a bloody waste of rare opportunity. Bruce got lucky with leaving group round in 2002, and now he thinks relying on luck is a "method"??? I've made excuses for Bruce for too many years...This WC absolutely must be his last.
I agree with everything about Arena. I can't understand his first half formation or his subbing (or lack of) for the life of me. Just look at McBride. He played solo in a 4-5-1 in the first half and was running his ass off. He got nailed in the face and probably had a partial concussion and was tired as hell at half time. Arena leaves him in for the second half. Second half we lose Pope and now McB is pretty much all by himself trying to get up and down the field without collapsing. Arena subs Convey and Dempsey. By the 75th minute McBride was at the point where he looked like he could barely stand. Does Arena use a sub? Does he look at EJ and say go get m tiger? Nope. He leaves a super ass tired player in a match of 10 vs. 9 and doesn't use his final sub!! I almost think Beasley would have gotten that goal had McBride had enough energy left to move back onsides. I just wish someone could explain to me why Arena didn't use that last sub in a 9 vs. 10 situation where he was down 2 players against Italy for 45 minutes! Pure Insanity. I had to watch the game a second time to make sure Sampson wasn't on the sidelines.
Arena was asked this on one of the USSOCCER podcasts, and basically said that he was not playing for a win and that he did not trust any of his subs to take the place of McBride at that point. I wanted him to go for the win as well rather than rely on the last game, but its debatable if that was a smart thing to do. He also said the thought that Beasely played very well (which even I, an ardent supporter of Arena and a forgiving fan of Beasely have a hard time buying!!)
...and the legions of the converted grwo each day. How can't they? Especially if you don't wear rose colored glasses or have a clue. Still too many who blindly listen to any BA explanation (at least he is forced to give them at the WCup while he doesn't have to any other time), and then rationalize the situation to match to his words. That waiting for BA and matching his words to justify has been amusing to say the least. ...and sad.
I know that's not a direct quote about not trusting his subs, but even if he didn't say it that way, his actions said it loud & clear. He has Wolff, Johnson and Ching on the bench. He should have shown the confidence to put one of them in - to do otherwise is to say a battered, exhausted McBride is better than all of you. I don't think that's true. The line-up against Ghana is going to be very interesting. The older guys, McBride and Reyna, will most likely not have enough in the tank to go all out again so soon. And I'm praying Bruce doesn't start Beasley & waste a place on the field. I do, however, give Beasley due credit for shooting the ball & getting it in the net. Too bad McBride was TOO TIRED to get back onsides. A sub might have helped there.
I think going for the win would have been a terrible idea. Considering our pretty feeble offense in recent games (including pre-WC friendlies), what are the odds that we would suddenly start mounting dangerous attacks against one of the best central defenses in the world and down a man? Really low, and a single sub wouldn't have changed that fact. On the other hand, the chances of giving up a goal were lot higher, and the cost of that would have been elimination. If anything, a defense-for-defense sub might have been in order, but Arena probably liked the organization the way it was. Arena definitely should have pulled Pope before his second yellow. Other than that, I'd say everything he did in this game was correct.
I've seen you post a lot in the past few days but I really can't figure out your point. If you would just stick to one topic, it would make it a lot easier to understand. Im guessing you didn't go to UVA.
I understand your point , but teh Czech game was not exactly a high benchmark in order to make a comparison...which is why i certainly would caution against overconfidence or thinking the game vs. Ghana will out of nothing improve our offense (that which has seen none of our players score in 180+ minutes) a great deal.... To be honst, i just hope for a win....tons of goals mioght be out of reach, since, the way this offense has played over a long period of time (thanks BA! ) i just don;t see much happening.... certainly hope i have eat crow in the end, however......
I'll start by saying that I am a great admirer of Dempsey's and believe he is a must start every game. But upon re-watching the first half, I came away with the inescapable conclusion that Clint is a liability on defense. When overlapped by Stevie, Dempsey would fall back as a right back, but then just let guys blow by him while running half speed and waiting for Dolo to recover. What's up with that? Anyway, Dempsey needs Dolo behind him, so I don't see how we can play three in the back with Dempsey on the right. In my view, we need Dempsey on the field, so that dictates four in the back.
From my recollection on only one viewing, I thought it was almost comical at the time. Dolo would go by, and you could almost see the thought process by Dempsey. 'Oh, yeah. Today I'm providing cover for the RB. Better drop back'. It wasn't very fluid, more like a practiced dance step that isn't natural yet. The interesting thing is that in the Jan/Feb camp and friendlies, Dempsey's defensive responsibilites were to provide central cover for Donovan, not cover for the RB. Which is more his natural position. I'm wondering if we might not see a 5-man midfield with Reyna/Donovan/Dempsey all central. No idea what to to about RM in that case. 3 backs, and Dolo at RM, I suppose.
That is a recipe for disaster as Ghana have great midfield play, both up the middle and on the wings. We need to pressure their back four, but not at the expense of allowing goals. Balance...
That's about as perfect of a summary as you are going to get. There's was one play in particular around the 30th minute where Dempsey dropped back and just let a guy run by him. Almost resulted in a goal for Italy. Seeing Donovan play (for the most part) on the right in the second half against Italy and play the best 45 minutes I can recall from him, I'd almost consider putting Donovan on the right and Dempsey at AM. Probably too risky for a game of this magnitude though. As for three-in-the-back, I wouldn't start out that way, but I'd field a line-up that allowed me to get there without a sub (i.e., Boca at LB and Dolo pushing up).
That's a good perception. Arena has failed to adjust his tactics to our best players. He has a select group that he wants on the field and he is married to certain formations and tactics. This is why he keeps trying to put square pegs in round holes. Rather than look at our strengths and best players, he came at it with commitments to certain players and styles and has been unable to adapt. Thus Cherundolo flies up the wing, even though there is no one to cross to and even though we don't have a 2-way winger on the right to cover for him. Instead of faulting tactics, people blame Dempsey. It's asinine.
If anyone can get me some clips of the Italians doing what they do best, I'd love to put together the Joga Bonito spoof. Email them to me at keepereusc@gmail.com