First observation as I rewatch the first half....this is a damn track meet. Players at full sprints for a lot of the half. We played at the edge of our physical abilities. Hard to be precise at this speed. Second...Landon not as bad as I remembered. Has connected well in the midfield even if he hasn't gotten into the final third a lot. Could be said about the whole team I suppose. At least his set pieces were dangerous... Third...we are so sketchy defending direct balls Fourth...Edu a little sloppy with the ball, but a beast closing down opposing players. Fifth...how do you all make grand tactical pronouncements about the match given the tight tv angle? We're you there? All you get to see is the ball and the three players around it on tv. You all must have had a better camera man than I did. What have y'all seen?
This was a better performance than some of our other CA away qualifiers last cycle, we had more control, but the lack of calmness on the ball and that frantic-ness led to some poor plays. We should be quick to switch the point of attack but not to force the long outlet, what's the worst part of it all is that our increased urgency didn't even lead to better switches. We did not create enough wide, especially on the right. We created very little from the corners of the box. I think the 4-4-1-1 with only one attacker/winger has been proven to be an attacking failure. If we had replaced Edu in the lineup with Lichaj, pushed Johnson up and Jones and Bradley one spot back and we run all over the Chapines without giving up anything on D. The introduction of Pappa lifted their team, I wish we could have countered with our own attacking sub.
I think we could have won. We played open and really went for it even at the end when they tied it up we did not let up we went harder. I think we just need to continue to grow into the system. and LD and CD need to support the forward. I would say Clint was really good at it and LD got a little too wide at times. But he has the least amount of practice in the system. we shall see.
I am sorry - all I see is a giant pop-up ad. Even for the second viewing. But them Russian Ladies surely are sexy and worth sending your money to.
So Donovan cannot adjust to the national teams intricate style of play because he hasn't practiced enough. This JK guy must be the most complex person in the world. Donovan can land in Liverpool and put on an Everton kit and step into their lineup after three days of practice and make a difference at a club team that practices together far more than a national team can dream of (unless you are Antigua of course)
at everton he is asked to play the wide midfielder roll he has always played. in the 4-3-3 you have to cut inside more. you can still go up the line but you need to cut up inside sometimes. I think LD will do it more often as he plays in the roll more often. I thought he did really well when fabian and him linked up. but sometimes he needed to cut inside and go for it. Im not dissing. I think he is good.
It isn't a whole lot different than the role that he was playing in Bob's bucket, sorry, dual CM pulley system. He (and Dempsey) were given the freedom and ability to cut inside and allow the speedy outside backs like Cherundolo and Bornstein to overlap.
I think we do a nice job as a team getting the ball to the top of the box. But we don't have the proper options when the defense collapses. Someone needs to be running behind the defense at that point, when instead they're all bunched - Altidore did this properly when he had a penalty shout. Dempsey has the skill to create a goal in that type of crowd - which he did. But that was an excellent individual play rather than a coordinated team movement play. We also need more width in the final third and it can't always come from fullbacks.
As you say to others, you are a hater, I can't take you serious. That applies right now to your moronic analysis. Bornstein had shortcomings. Speed was not one of them. Especially when you compare him to last 2011 when Bob moved Boca to the left side. It was crystal clear that there was no overlapping ability.
As a traditional LM wing player, Bornstein is not a bad player. I havent seen him play recently, but he is speedy and if he can cross, we dont need much more if we are playing a 4-4-2. Sometimes there is no need to be so clever. DM, AM, LM, RM. Play with width, whip the crosses in, pressure the edges and work the ball defensively into our CB's and DM to break up. RB/LB can overlap and the LM/RM cut in. If you have more talent then you generally dont need to do anything more than put that talent in a position to win.
If the team is to go with more speedy flank play and crosses into the box, then Altidore needs to replace Gomez in the starting line-up and Dempsey needs to be moved up top (4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2, what ever you want to call it). I think that might have worked against Guatemala but I'm not sold on that. We'd have the height advantage but they still had a lot of players parked back in their zone.
Johann Smith is perhaps the fastest American player I've ever seen. And yet, he washed out of the pro ranks after a brief journeyman's career. You're speaking as though speed is everything. It's not. Bornstein is pretty fast, but he's not a very good defender. It's not shocking that the manager of a pretty good Mexican club like Tigres decided that Bornstein isn't needed. JB has been loaned out to Atlante, a weaker FMF club. He'll probably get a shot at some playing time next season.
There is a reason very few of the top 15 teams in the world play a 4-4-2 as a matter of course. There is a reason that BB after WC2010 tried desperately to transition to a 4-2-3-1. There is a reason that after starting the GC in a 4-4-2 BB switched to a 4-2-3-1 for the last 3 matches. There is a reason that JK has only played a 4-4-2 in 2 of his 15 matches, the last v Canada. There is a reason that the 2 matches we played a 4-4-2 were 2 of the worst offensive and defensive performances in JK's tenure.
We played a nominal 4-4-2 against Slovenia, but I grant you, we looked Bob awful on defense there with that CM pairing getting carved up. By the WC, you are seeing teams that by and large are as talented as you are. Against CONCACAF I dont think we need to over think things. Having said that, these things are cyclical. If Uncle Woy makes the finals this year playing his flat-4s, you'll see the trend shift.
Bornstein was a forward in college, but doesn't have the quality to play professional soccer in an attacking position. Bob Bradley switched him to outside back with Chivas USA. He's a pretty decent MLS or other middle-to-low level professional league outside back, and he's probably still a top ten USA outside back, but nothing more. To be sure, his greatest asset (and the biggest reason he was able to play professional soccer) is his speed.
We played a 4-3-1-2 v Slovenia. I agree that that center mid trio of DM Beckerman and CMs Johnson and Bradley did get carved up by Slovenia's direct attack 4-4-2.