Now that the group stage is complete, we have won the group, and we are looking forward to the Ghana game, I just wanted to highlight a point that I haven't seen emphasized in much of the traditional media talking about the US' performance. Of the 20 field players we brought to South Africa, 18 have played, with only Spector and Goodson not making an appearance. We may still need them yet, should any of our defenders on a yellow pick up one against Ghana and we make the quarterfinals. Considering the physical toll that these tight, emotional games have inflicted, especially playing all our games at altitude, it's been impressive that we've been able to get solid performances out of so many players. It's inevitable that roster decisions dominate the discussion around here before the 23 is set, but I think you have to say at this point that Bob chose a 23 that provided the depth needed to survive the first stage.
Interestingly enough, our depth hasn't been tested by card accumulation-- we've been very disciplined with only one suspension (on a bullshit call by an incompetent ref) and only ONE card given to our central defenders & central midfielders (for a very silly handball by Jay DeMerit). That was a major concern coming into the Cup and we've done remarkably well defending on our feet. The conclusion from above is that Bob Bradley is pulling a lot of strings and finding ways to make things happen with different players. Whether we win our next game or not (anything can happen), we are well poised for a deeper run in the tournement.
my conclusion is that BB figured some things out after the confed cup run, where i think we had the highest number of unused players at the tourney. in addition to using more players, he's no longer waiting until around 70+ min to use the first sub. part of this is having more confidence in our bench than maybe we had last year, which is directly related to the depth. i used to hate the fact that too many fringe vets were getting minutes while too few worthy players were getting chances. i'm not sure exactly what changed between then and now, but BB now has more quality "new blood" in the roster, and a new willingness to use them, use them earlier, and switch things up when necessary.
We still dn't have the depth of a real top tier squad, but consider that fact that Sturat Holden has YET to see the field. That is a rather remarkable to our growth. Any other Cup and he would be a key figure in the attack, if not a lock starter.
Another observation about our depth: we have players who represent genuinely different tactical choices (Torres v Clark, or Feilhabor vs Holden) as opposed to simple questions of form, fitness and quality. Again, this is far different than the past when the first 11 was always pretty much an automaitc decision.
I realized the same exact thing watching the game yesterday. As well as the second post about not having an issue with cards....I'm pretty damn impressed with how Bob and the team have responded to the World Cup. We've shown to be a deep team and a composed one, 2 fears I think many of us had coming into this tourny. props to all parties for readying the squad to step into this environment and perform. Go USA forza inter
He waited until WAY too late to make changes against England. However, I think he'd say that the formation was working and there wasn't a need for a change. In other words, he was playing for the draw and happy with it. That's a reasonable decision on his part. Against Slovenia, Bob gets credit for realizing that Torres was not the correct "attacking" option in the center midfield and but in Edu, allowing Mikey to become the forward CM. Again, a good decision and good recognition on his part that he couldn't afford to wait to make a change. Against Algeria, we just needed new ideas out there. Benny out wide really wasn't an effective sub, but one Benny was pushing into the middle (when Edu came out), Benny become VERY effective.
Quiet right - four minutes from time. Point still stands, however that in the past he would be playing a major rule.
whats cool is that...while we are not the most talented team on paper, and largely similar in quality at all but a few positions - everyone who's played has obviously bought into the team and played very hard. i also agree that the quality depth is better even though i would say its pretty consistent in quality. what we saw in the CC imo was a pretty significant dropoff in quality after the starting XI. i still lol when i remember the substitution against Brazil. Brazil bring in Dani Alves, while the US goes with....Sacha Kjlestan! Haha.
He may not have made all the right moves but his willingness act early and be daring has been impressive. A lot managers lose their nerves at the World Cup paralized by indecision. Bob seems to have found his. Finally, in a World Cup we get a US team that plays to win rather than not to lose. Watching the team create chance after chance in open play was a joy to watch.
I thought about bringing up Holden in the original post. Here's a guy who made a major contribution to the late qualifiers after a strong Gold Cup. Despite a tough injury, he has established himself at Bolton. There's no doubt he's a solid contributor. I'm not sure if he still has some form or fitness issues after the broken leg, but I can't think of too many US squads in the past that would only look to him for four minutes in three games. I think his lack of playing time might be due to having better options up front than we expected. There were an awful lot of pre-Princeton camp lineups around here that assumed Dempsey would be spending basically the entire World Cup at striker and starting Holden in midfield in his place. As it happened, we've used Dempsey at forward primarily as a tactical shakeup when down, never as a starting point.
What I find most impressive about our team and depth.... We finally have a midfield that, collectively, is actually decent with possession and passing through the midfield. They have progressively gotten better and it has mirrored Jr's improvements... 2-1/2 years ago we were simply not good at midfield possession against quality competition... We've made very good progress in that regard and that improvement, combined with our speed and counter-attacking breaks has forced defenses to play us more honestly and not overpressure us at or behind the midline... The midfield has indeed come a long way... It's vastly improved our quality as a side... and it is good to see...
What's amazing is that depth was one of our biggest problems not too long ago. I'm not even sure exactly how or when that changed, but it's wonderful to see.
Current 23 includes: 5 midfielders that are 25 or under- wow If it's not Bob, some coach has a great nucleus to build from in the next cycle, plus whatever increased stature/confidence this WC result brings. Bradley, age 23 Edu, age 24 Feilhaber, age 25 Torres, age 23 Holden, age 25 Bradley will be playing for one of the Big 4 in England by then.
Unless wikipedia is wrong, Bradley is 22, Holden 24, and Torres is 22. You got the other two right though.
The key difference to me and I have thought about this a LOT...is if one of our starting midfielders gets hurt, Ben Olsen won't be responsible for helping us get out of a hole. Don't get me wrong - Ben has the heart and workrate of a warrior, but seeing him come on for Claudia in 2006 didn't really help my confidence much. I'll still be very nervous if Landon, (in parallel to Claudia), goes down, but I have a LOT more comfort with our midfield being able to cope.
This x1,000,000 Our midfield is DEEP. Anyone can step in for anyone else and make a difference and its so refreshing, now we need to get that all over our line-up and we'll have the goods to go far every cycle.