Does the US now have the talent to become a good possession team?

YES YES and YES!

Watch these guys for their clubs and they definitely don't look out of place when their teams knock the ball around to try and break down a team (instead of long balls). The problem we have is that we are not a counter-attacking team, despite being under pressure for 90 minutes in our own half. Forget the Landon's Confed Cup goal, and ask yourself when was the last time we won the ball and immediately drove out towards the opposing team's goal in numbers. I mean, uruguay and Germany demonstrated how to counterattack. If we're going to soak up pressure, that's fine with me, but our next coach MUST teach us how to catch teams out of position when we regain posession.

The best option remains keeping control of the ball, however. If we keep the ball and make the other team chase shadows for 90 minutes, our fitness will definitely come into play.

 

The entire defense, and all the forwards have to have good ball skills for this to work. Don't think we're quite there yet, we're not so good in possession that we won't get counter-attacked to death by a good side.

 

going forward, "All the forwards" are Davies, Dempsey and Altidore, perhaps just the latter by himself. They are pretty good technically. Our defense is getting a huge makeover to help out the decent (technically) Spector and OK onyewu, and we have a great midfield. I say we have enough talent for it.

 

Good ball skills is only one part of possession soccer.

The other at least equally important part is movement into space, especially off the ball. We suck far more at this.

 

This is huge, but it's not like they don't do it with their clubs. Most times, the fullbacks are nowhere to be found and so the midfielders have no options because they get crowded out.

 

...as in no Jay DeMerits, love the guy, but hardly a Xavi on the ball

 

No, not right now. Maybe in several generations, when a much better technical environment is in place for the youngest players. The Spanish players did not just walk into good technical passing (and trapping) ability at age 15 or 16. They started very young, and came under the tutelage of coaches who understand how to nurture technical skill. Those types of coaches are still not found in the U.S., esp. at the youngest ages.

 

good post.

to answer - no we aren't close and it DOES take an entire team and it is MUCH MORE than technical skill.

several of the players who are capable of playing this style didn't get much PT during the WC...

Capable: Dempsey, Feilhaber, Torres, Cherundolo, Holden
Sometimes Capable: Donovan, Bradley, Altidore, Gomez, Bornstein, Beasley, Clark
Not Capable: DeMerit, Boca, Findley, Buddle, Goodson

 

The reason Spain is such an amazing possession team is the fact that they emphasize this style throughout their system. Youth Clubs, National teams U16 and Up, their clubs.

This is why Klinnsman is spot on, you can't be world beaters if your high school teams, club teams and the professional teams aren't on the same page.

 

Bingo! We are horrible at movement into space off the ball and defensively we are dang near clueless when it comes to spacing.

Instead of becoming a possession team (e.g. Spain or Mexico), we should strive to be a team that uses athleticism + some possession. I believe that would be the best use of our talent. We don't need 20 passes in a row (but that would be ok by me). We need every person on the team to be comfortable with the ball at his feet, can see the next 2-3 passes and has teammates running into the right spaces (and then the passer moves after making the pass). I would much rather us strive to become a German style team than a Spanish style team. The former (with a ton of work and a generation or two more) will be more attainable for the U.S. than the latter.

 

No.

And we don't need to be.


For the record, you can't put a couple decent guys in the center of the midfield and become a possession team. It starts at the back and we don't have a single defender in our pool capable of playing a possession game over the course of 90 minutes.

 

Of course we don't need to be. There's no FIFA agreement stating that we have to maintain above 50% of the ball to be a team, but if we do want to consistently beat quality teams, then yes, we need to be a good possession team.

 

I think he was oversimplifying but his point is valid that we don't need to be Spain because, as the other poster suggested, we could do well being Germany. Basically we need to get better at possession as opposed to becoming a "possession team". At least that's what I hope he meant

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. It takes positional awareness, confidence in your team and stamina to do this well over 90+ minutes.

The best teams in the world don't chase the opposition all over the pitch like I've seen the US do at times. They know where to go and they anticipate on defense and on offense.

 

Yep, if we could finish - then we'd be Uruguay.

So our choices are to get better at possession or find a nice Suarez/Forlan combo that can finish our few chances...along with an excellent defense...as we currently have neither (quite the opposite actually).

Trying to be a counterattacking team without those two components may increase your chances of winning/not losing, but it's definitely not going to get you very far.

Personally, I'd rather we get a little better at possession.

PS: Our movement is not good.

 

'Does the US now have the talent to become a good possession team?'

No. As a possession team the US would be about the level of Japan(a possession team) or a bit lower.

US players tend to be employed and praised internationally for their direct running, commitment, and endurance. That's the comparative advantage. Adding players into the lineup to improve possession can certainly aid performance but that's not same as being a possession team.

 

Sort of. There are very few teams in the world that you can categorize as possession teams. Then if you look at possession statistics in the World Cup, it doesn't always correlate to results.

We weren't posting dominating possession numbers this tournament, but we did have some solid possession for long stretches. With better finishing, we're playing Holland in the semis and are one of the higher scoring teams in the tournament.

 

Our first touch under pressure is atrocious. Until we have a majority of our players with a good first touch, we will not maintain possession. It was amazing to watch WC players bring down 60 yard flighted passes and drop them immediately to their feet. We can't even handle a simple 10 yard square pass.

 

Germany is, and will always will be, the most reasonable model for the U.S. in terms of national team style and how to run a league.

Man I get tired of hearing people fawn over Spain's "possession." For some reason they've conned millions into believing 1-0 wins are exhilarating exhibitions of harmonious, beautiful soccer. More power to you if you think watching hundreds of pinging passes 40 yards from the goal while the opposing players stand around waiting for something to f*&%ing finally happen is fun.

 

Extreme hyperbole like this renders the rest of your post to be mindless gibberish. Congrats for turning what was otherwise a cogent point into the ramblings of a moron.

 

Sorry, but it's the truth. Yes, with lots of space, we can manage, but with a defender hanging on us, we have trouble. See Rico Clark vs. Ghana. I watched Iniesta, Xavi and Ramos receive passes under pressure and they had no problem turning away from the defender under control.

McBride was one of our very best, but even his first touch was harsh compared to other WC forwards. Controlling the ball when no one is around is one thing, but being aware of where the defense is and bringing the ball under control at the same time is a skill we generally lack.

 

Being the posession team is relative.

You think germany couldn't posess against most teams?

But look at them against Spain.

So...we can posess against barbados.Watch for that one.