I'm just curious as to how this happened over and over. I know that before the game on the boards here we talked about attacking the left back space when Ashley Cole attacked, but either Donovan or Bradley figured out that Ashley was going to really lock in on Donovan and move out of his area to chase Donovan deep into the midfield. On three different occasions we exploited this Cherundolo vs Milner isolation. Now here is the interesting question. Did Capello instruct Cole to chase Donovan down and follow him wherever? When Donovan took up the right wing space and then retreated to central midfield Cole should have changed him off to Lampard under normal defensive schemes, but instead Cole just kept with him. Did Bradley see what was happening to Donovan and communicate that he wanted to start isolating Cherundolo? Or did Donovan just outthink Cole/Capello? For all the talk about who played how well, the chess games involving Donovan and Cole as well as Bocanegra vs Lennon. Bocanegra spent the entire game denying the space and basically challenging Lennon to make a good cross. Lennon never came up with a good cross even though he could get a step and cross off on Bocanegra EVERY single time. So its interesting how those two matchups played out and I'm really curious as to who was the brains behind the repeated Cherundolo isolations and why Cole and Capello let that happened more than once. I actually think the substitution of Milner had to do with Capello's gameplan of having Cole neutralize Donovan as much as possible. Once he figured out that Cole would have to stay home and let Donovan roam into areas where England would have trouble containing him he had to substitute Milner.
It's not a coach's game. It's unlikely that any of that was based on coach's instructions except possibly Cole following Donovan like a puppydog. Once Donovan notices, the obvious thing to do with an overly loyal marker is pull him out of position. Once Donovan does that, open space is like a big neon sign to everyone else on the team - Cherundolo to run into it, and to everyone else to play him into it. It doesn't take a genius or a coach. Those are just the first instincts of everyone involved. It's a case in point for why coaches should avoid trying to get too involved -- Giving Cole a rule like "follow him whereever" is a recipe for disaster. My guess is that Capello did not instruct Cole that way - he's not that dumb. But that he said something similar about stopping Donovan, and Cole overinterpreted it. This is ever the hazard for a stern disciplinarian - your gentle suggestions will be understood as dictums, and things you want to be heard with a grain of salt will be taken as gospel. God help the team whose left back follows anyone "whereever".
I think that's pretty much the problem of Lampard and Gerrard together in central midfield, and not having Gareth Barry there. People talk about player A being better than player B, but it's rarely that simple at this level. Dempsey and, to a lesser extent, Donovan are better forwards than Lampard or Gerrard are center backs. So England either had to trash their defensive shape and chase, as they did somewhat against Donovan, or risk exposing a CM against Dempsey, who twisted Gerrard around before getting off the shot. Weak shot, sure, but he had enough space and time to hit a better one. Green is right that he stops that 99 out of a 100 times, but with the space he had, Dempsey hits a better shot than he did probably 20%-30% of the time. This really is the key to the US, they have four legitimate forwards and four legitimate midfielders out there. It unbalances the opposition, and if some one else can step up and take advantage of the space or mismatches, the US can beat some pretty good teams.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/13/england-1-1-usa-tactic/ Zonal Marking has a good picture and explanation on Bradley's tactics. Bring the wide mids into the middle for a 4-2-2-2 rather than a 4-4-2. It helps to protect Lampard and Gerrard and opened up space for Cherundolo get forward alone vs Milner. Wright-Phillips had more speed to minimize Cherundolo getting forward and Bocanegra doesn't have the speed to get forward anymore.
I watched the game again and I don't think Cole necessarily followed Landon around as much as our wide mids really come inside to get the ball (as SUDano's post/link sums up perfectly). Also, the main way to gain a numbers advantage as a 4-4-2 (for the most part) against another 4-4-2 is to get a wide back involved. Dolo did get isolated but not necessarily because of man marking.
It's unlikely this was coaching instructions, at least in-game instructions. More than likely over-reaching by Cole, smart play by Donovan to pull his marker around a bit, and a very experienced, professional, and in-form Cherundolo taking advantage without even thinking about it. It's an example of the beauty of this game... you make it all up as you go along. A begats B, begats C, D and E. But if a player screws up the "C" part, you lose posession and the other team starts over at A and tries their luck.
In many ways, it's good stuff. It's insane on Onyewu/Boca. There are those who, like zonalmarking.net, believe that Rooney receiving the ball at 25 yards, directly in front of the goal, need not be marked, and that instead, one should anticipate a threat from Gerrard, running from above the corner of the box, directly in front of ... Bocanegra, who has no one else to mark ... and that therefore, Onyewu should ignore Rooney to fall back and cover Gerrard. These people should ask their physicians to dial back the medicinal marijuana prescription by at least half. I mean, wtf is Boca doing on this goal?
I agree. I was referring mostly to the 4-2-2-2 part. I partially blamed Gooch for the goal, but when you look at that picture, I think you want him to step up there. Clark is beaten and Boca is ?.
Well, it's inconceivable that Capello told Cole to keep an eye on Donovan. He's the only one of their defenders who has the pace and quickness to stay near him, much less mark him effectively.