2/6: US vs. Mexico Post Game Analysis - The Attack [R]

Donovan had a 20 minute stretch where he was easily the best player on the field. I don't know if he ran out of gas or what, but he faded badly in the second half.

Altidore played great and earned a lot of respect from Mexico.

Dempsey should be in the midfield. He is a great distributor from there.

Convey was terrible.

Adu didn't have an impact. Neither did Lewis.

It was tough for any US attacker to get into the game because our distribution out of the back was once again horrific.

 

This seemed to be the best attacking effort in a long time. Fairly fluid, solid, and pretty abundant creativity. Would have been much better with more, better ball handling by the midfielders.

 

Mexico knew Convey and Corrales weren't going to play well so they made as much of the play go to the left and middle as much as possible. Donovan was well marked when Salcido was subbed out and didn't see a whole lot; something Mexico knew they had to do. So I had a feeling Donovan would have a quieter game. That said; Donovan's assist for Onyewu's goal was great and he did have a good first half - that shouldn't be forgotten.

Altidore was strong and I have high hopes for him. I will buy a US jersey with his name on the back. He took the pain, dished it out, played all 90 minutes, and got a sweet goal.

Dempsey was OK, but I could tell he was tired given that he featured in the Fulham-Aston Villa match. I'm sure if Bradley would do it all over again, he'd switch up Dempsey and Donovan. Especially in the second half.

Adu had a few decent touches, but it's kind of hard to evaluate how he did.

There wasn't a lot in the second half as the US didn't do too well in the midfield in holding possession. The addition of Benny Feilhaber helped a lot, but the momentum was definitely in Mexico's favor.

 

Donovan had a good first half, and a nice assist on the onyewu goal. Not a lot of attack through the mid, thats why we need to put Edu in there imo. Altidore is a beast, and can actually finish, thnik he will be a great player. Adu, didnt play too well, but when he had room to run on that last play, had a really nice dangerous run where they had to foul. Thought it was decent, but are defense didnt really help with the distribution.

 

Altidore just upended the Twellman, EJ, and Ching. thank freaking god. Rafa found out we have a forward that has presence in the box and pushes back now, not to mention has a bit of fancy footwork to boot.

and Dempsey had a GREAT goal today too, great individual effort from him today. I wont overlook that. That was Everton v Blackburn stuff right there. Glad to see Dempsey finally showed up for a Mexico match

 

Would have liked to see Landon in the middle. When he got the ball he was the best player on the pitch. Faded in the second have out wide.

 

One major story tonight: Altidore era begins. Taylor Twellman should have to shoot his way through stadium security to ever take the field again.

I mean, Jozy - just unreal.

Sharing handshakes and a laugh with Rafa Marquez after the game, too. What secret planet of preternaturally poised, confident, smooth, and classy 18-year-olds does he come to us from? Complete James Bond.

Beeline right to Sam's Army after his goal, kisses the crest - how long have we been waiting for this player? I don't believe in jinxes, so I'm going to start celebrating with some serious alcohol right now.

I really loved this game. 2-2, goal stolen, but hey. Pure good vibes, for me.

 

I am a believer in hype as much as anyone else. Jozy was good today, not great. Except for his goal, he did ZERO in the first half. You could see him get more and more confidence as the game went on, trying some tricks and being aggressive.

The good news is that he will get better and become a force in the attack for this team (provided we possess and advance the ball...prob save that for the tactics thread).

 

Agree with everything you say about Jozy. I was an EJ guy, but this could be the start of something really great for the future of our team. Jozy played really well tonight and looked really dangerous. This is so exciting for the future.

And don't forget about Freddy. I would like to see him get more time out there, he showed some flashes of brilliance and was definitely not scared of Mexico either. Heck, with how bad Convey was, I wouldn't mind seeing Freddy get the starts out wide left until Beasley comes back. He looked really dangerous when he got pushed out wide. But I still think he is most effective when playing in the hole, right behind the striker(s).

 

Agree 100% . . . but that goal was pure class and talent.

We need to get that kid to hang out with Brian McBride for a few months -- perhaps one more Fulham transfer

 

USA continued to have possesion dificulties. We continued playing long ball games.

#21 Moor was ugly and poor defender skills. He was responsible for the two goals. We need to find a better right and left back.

Corrales was okay but some difficulties in 1 vs 1.

 

Geez....don't put a curse on the kid!

 

I'm German and do usually not see US matches, at least not live, so I can't rate todays game and efforts in comparison to earlier US matches.

I am really surprised about the praise Altidore gets here. Besides the goal and a second half decent chance he didn't impress me much. Neither one was really through his effort, much more shabby defending by the Mexicans, especially Marquez at the goal. Of course the header was nice, no doubt about that.
Dempsey looked at least in the first half to me much better than Altidore, didn't see much from him in the second. Donovan was in the last 20 minutes of the first half pretty good, the rest of the game the Mexicans did a good job controlling him. For most of the game the whole attack was simply hanging in the air, not much support by the midfield, mostly long balls. No wonder the attackers could not really shine.
Most glaring deficiencie seemed to me the passing game from defence to midfield to attack. It was absolutly missing for most of the game, the US therefore never developed any control about the flow of the game. At times it really looked like a third league team playing a first league time in a cup competition, even so the difference in the quality of the players didn't really make that necessary.

On the other side, the Mexicans defense looked at times really bad. Some easily lost tacklings, shaky organization and especially bad heading. They did pressure and double the US attackers very well, which of course helped tremendously to stabilize their back four. If they failed to double an American attacker they often looked very shaky in 1 on 1s.

 

I think people are getting a little too excited about Altidore.

 

convey is really disappointing me with is awful showings. Beasley needs to heal like Wolverine at this point. Mapp get ready because Lewis isn't going to do it.

Donovan is just unlucky that the tactics were changed to help him get into the game. He's not going to steal the ball everytime, so things need to be shift so he can find more space. He did fine today and if he was to see more of the ball would have had a better game.

Dempsey has showed his potential but I too would like to see him in the midfield more.

Altidore was the one bright spot, because unlike EJ who misses headers he put his away. He also fought to get into the game and didn't prance around like EJ.

Adu did what he could when in a game were we were on our heels. He'll do better.

Bradley and Clark did alright but didn't control the pace offensively. Probably because they were busy breaking up counters.

 

It's two things -- 1) his age (18) and 2) his competition (nonexistent). We're desperate for a forward on at least the same level as our midfielders, and Jozy is the first one since Eddie Johnson sort of flamed out to look that good.

If we had anyone else who could finish headers that well, they'd be starting ahead of him.

 

compared to any other strikers we have: Ching, Twellman, Johnson, "Dempsey" (shouldn't really be played as a striker), or anyone else, he was so much better tonight. He looked very dangerous, he played hard, he was engaged, and obviously he had the great finish.

Remember, he is eighteen years old! This is only his 3rd cap and first start! When an eighteen year old player with tons of potential scores a goal in his 3rd cap, against our biggest rivals, and a world class defender like Marquez, I don't think there is a such thing as being "too excited"

 

Why? Because some German douche bag who doesn't know what he's taking about said so? He's 18 and just played against the toughest opponent he's ever faced. He scored a goal, had a few other chances, held the ball well, and wasn't afraid to run at defenders. This is only his third cap.

 

I'm thrilled about Altidore and will be amazed if he's not our top forward in 2010, but he certainly showed some areas he needs work. When he got the ball away from the goal he couldn't deliver a final ball. Our attack died this way more than once or twice. He also was a little wild whenever he got near the ball on defense. We certainly don't need a forward getting yellow cards from wild tackles. On the other hand, don't forget about the ball over the top when the defender fell as he felt Altidore tap his shoulder. I watched that again on the tivo and I'm convinced he was just beat and flopped. No way that little contact knocks him down. Otherwise we might be celebrating a win and a pair of goals from Jozy.

 

The thing is, Jozy consistently poses problems and gets results. One way or another, he seems to break through, game after game - for the youth nats, in MLS, and now for the senior nats. This in itself is the sign of a forward several cuts above what we usually field: he actually figures out how goals can be scored in any given game, and then plays to spec.

We're not used to that.

He's the real thing. He's got a nice set of skills, raw physical presence and ability, an eye and nose for goal, and the mental wherewithal to take his game as high as it can go. He has the intangibles, the tangibles, and the...dirigibles. Or something.

His touch gets knocked, but he's a newly-huge teenager growing into his body. He has sublime touches on the ball at times, and other times he does seem to lose control a bit. Thing is, he's actively working on it - and with his intelligence, willingness to experiment, work ethic, and natural ability, that erratic quality will fade.

I believe very strongly that he's one of those players who actually learn and improve - like Bradley, say - rather than one whose development stalls and falls off.

Yup! Also, he got yanked down by Marquez at a moment when he probably should've had his second. He could well have earned us his second penalty in a row.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, look at this picture:



L-R: Rafa Marquez, Jozy Altidore

Marquez was getting burned all night and resorting to fouls and flops; Jozy was just too much!

 

dempsey- beautiful touch and some nice balls over the top, i feel like the
more he plays against big talent the better he is gonna get. you
gotta love that he's not afraid of anyone.

donovan- looked awsome for awhile but did get shut down, i still dont know
when he is going to show up, but when he does its sweet

corrailis/moore- didnt cut it especially moore on defense. is hejduk still an
option?

altidore- great for his first big game and glad he went 90. his age will not
show as much as long as we have good balls in towards him.

adu- not scared either, good to see.

clark/convey- should be replaced by edu and feilheiber

edu- can really move the ball up feild nicely, we need that kinda still to
retain possession because that can be a huge problem.

feilheiber- still love the guy, hope he stays confident because i think he
desearves time at derby and could be very good. dont give up
on him yet.

 

i forgot:

bradley- didnt do all too much, hopefully he'll get more comfortable with the
pressure. you cant deny him deserving to be on the feild though.

howard- amazing keeper, not his fault both goals came off free kicks
or corners that were bad calls and moore fudging up.

 

My impression: He took the shot to the ankle at about the 38 minute mark that drew a card on the Mexican defender and did his usual post-hard-foul fade. I remember thinking, let's see if that whole disappearing-after-a-hard-foul thing is true. Sure enough, it seemed to me to be true in this game.