I think it's fair to say that we looked really good, and Scotland was really, really bad. We've looked good in the past, but there was far more purpose with our movements and passing than in the past when we've blown out garbage teams (and Scotland was garbage). Boyd, Bradley and Donovan were all really, really strong.
5-1. All in all, what you expect a team that topped its group in the World Cup to do to a team that didn't qualify to their continental NT competition. Very good: Bradley, Donovan, Johnson. Good: Jones, Boca, Torres, Boyd OK: Edu, Dolo, Gomez, Gooch, Beckerman Not so hot: Corona, Castillo, Cameron Keepers had no work, basically. MOTM: Donovan. Yes, Bradley was the director of the orchestra, but you cannot avoid giving the MOTM to the guy who scored three, had one assist, and started the play for the fifth. LD terrorized their defense.
Best I've seen the US play against a European side in a long time. Almost everybody played well. My only concerns were Edu's passing wasn't quite as clean it should be, plus Jones tends to scare me when he's trying to dribble out of trouble in our end. Can't wait for the Brazil game. I'm hoping Gomez starts, just so we can have some Herculez vs Hulk comments.
If you discount Jones, Herc and Donovan then yes, mostly Bradley. Like I said, he was very good and has been very good for us before going back to his brief debut versus Latvia to his 2 goal outing v Mexico to his game versus England and his second half versus Slovenia in 2010.
If we match the 4 - 2 summer friendly we played against them a couple of years ago in Chicago I'll be happy. They was highly entertaining.
Agreed. We're going to need better rotation out of d-mid. I just noticed a couple of times tonight when the Scottish right-mid had a lot of time on the ball to pick out his crosses. That works for me.
No, but we didn't really dominate play in that game. And we weren't nearly as proficient in the final third.
Just because we play narrow on offense doesn't necessarily mean we won't be able to defend the wings defensively. Especially since their wings would be sucking in to guard the middle of the park.
Fantastic team display. The movement and quick passing -- speed of play -- were very, very good. And that's the best the US transition game has looked since the brief time Davies was in top form. Donovan, Bradley and Jones in particular put on a clinic. Their movement and passing were excellent. Those three dominated the match. If I'm remembering correctly, all 5 goals came off combinations of those three players: 1. Bradley to Jones to Donovan. 2. Donovan (or Cherundolo?) to Jones to Bradley. 3. Jones to Bradley to Jones to Donovan. 4. Bradley to Donovan (was Jones also involved?) 5. Bradley to Jones to Donovan to Jones. Welcome back Landon Donovan. We missed you.
Landon Donovan since the 2010 World Cup before tonight: 1 goal, 2 assists, 11 matches. Tonight: 3 goals, 1 assist Nice recovery. And your larger point is excellent. These players were a class above tonight.
Regardless of the opponent, USA's quick-tempo decision making + passing accuracy were both outstanding today, which is invigorating for us to see. We've shellacked small CONCACAF islands 8-0 while looking far less coherent than this. 1 down, 4 to go (for this "month"). Our last 2 are the important ones, being WCQs. This is a tantalizing warm-up. Scotland had an off-night, and never seemed to match the brain-tempo. We've been there.
How many of the USA team play in the MLS because fatigue could be a factor too, if a lot of the team played in the MLS.