Last night, for the majority of the match, it was - -------------------------Gomez----------------------- --------------Dempsey-------------------------------- Donovan-----------------------------------------Jones -------------Bradley---------------Edu----------------- Donovan often tucked in to allow Johnson to overlap on the left but it was a fairly timid form of "tucking in", as he did not take his marker inside with him. Mikey performed as a cross between a "6 1/2" and an "8", Mo was fairly stable as an "6". Jones is miscast as a wide attacking player, even though he gives some flexibility in the formation morph from 4-1-2-3 but a more accomplished attacker would have been even better. The problem, as I saw it, was Donovan staying too deep while Bradley wasn't filling in the hole fast enough. Dempsey meandered/free lanced throughout and Jones was either too wide or too behind as well. When both fullbacks pitched in, it played to form but it was a departure from a previously practiced 4-1-4-1 of the "5-game tournament". A reasonable twist to introduce but it wasn't executed up to a professional standard, let alone perfection. As the old military saying goes, "Everything in war is certain until the first shot is fired". This looked good on paper but not so good on the pitch.
The importance of losing Chandler cannot be overstated. He was to be the width player on the right. Dempey - Donovan were to be free cutting inside or combining with the forward while the RB/LB were to provide the width. It works a treat on FJ's side where he plays a bit of a Glenn Johnson role. But on the right, 'Dolo doesn't have the recovery speed or the effective cross that Chandler possesses. Contrast even Frankie's performance with Dolo's where he was effective in getting forward and combining. This was the first time we've seen Donovan on the left. He needed to be more active in launching quick shots on goal from distance. They crowded and defended well, but there were opportunities. I think Jones can play this role on the right, but without a RB or faster support from Gomez, it was Jones against 3 defenders determined to get the man if not the ball. Or it was Jones as a converted DM holding back. I still feel as if Jones needs more active coaching. He loses the game plan too easily.
THought we bossed most of the game. guatemala was just going to hoof it up and hope. wasnt too effective really. just unlucky with the free kick. oh well.
You'll think differently once the chalboard comes out. They had more and better chances on goal. Our defense is getting worse. This was a Howard victory.
Reminded me of a US vs Mexico match from the Arena era. Mexico dominates possession, creates very few chances, but the US wins by creating more and better chances by playing quickly when having the ball.
they had 13 shots on goal we had 11. but I dont want our team to hoof it up all game. we either learn to play this way and succeed doing it or we stay as group stage departers or 2nd round exiters in the world cup. its time to grow through some growing pains and deal with it.
I think with a healthy jozy we win that game easily. it was evident he gave them trouble in the first 10 minutes he came on we had some of our best opportunities.
yes, Bob also had a way of condensing the match so that we really only had to play better for 5minutes out of 90. The rest were a lot of arm-holds in the middle of the ring. Still, anyone concentrating their efforts on anything other than the defense is not a good manager or observer of the game. We are a time bomb. It is going to get ugly.
Anyway to get this back on point, I would run out 3dm's in a more compact fashion and get those wingbacks up the pitch for crosses with dempsey, the forward and one of the midfielders, probably Bradley crashing the box. Donovan is then there to receive the cut back for a shot. -----------------whom ever------------ --------Dempsey----------Donovan----- -------Jones-------Edu------Bradley---- FJ-------Boca-----Whomever---something fast---- --------------GK rotation------------
what good would that do if the opposing offense is just punting the ball to the opposing 18 and hoping all game?
and thats not good enough to do anything in the long run. defense was fine. Does anyone remember we needed goalkeeping of the highest order in order to win games from 1994-2006. I mean bradley took this team higher and now jk is really trying to put the team in a place were we dont give up goals in the run of play. so far it has gone pretty well.
That would be perfect. Then we could walk it up the pitch and pass 25 times and exploit openings. Unfortunately, teams press us high and we cant keep possession. Which is why we need wide play from the RB / LB.
You are the kind of guy I love to see on my competitors long table. I mean you might be right, but are you looking deep enough at the aging back line? Are you realizing that Clarence was beaten in the air by a midget? Are you seeing those easy,uncontested crosses into the box where only miracle saves keep the score down? Did you see FJ's complete dismantling by simple 1-2 passes? Are you watching our set piece defense where we lose players time and again? You might be right, but I'd still be happy if you were my competitor.
umm thats the formation we were in. worked really well with fabian. when dolo got the ball he didnt pass quickly or well. whne he had space he thrived. By the way thats what they did almost all game is hoof it up. did you watch? it was all long balls to the box. they rarely sent midfielders forward ever. we sent forward midfielders all game. good for JK. 1 goal isnt enough. and we need to learn that.
if you looked down at the guats, they really only needed to attack with 2 or 3 players to imbalance us. They crowded the middle when we received the ball, got the ball out wide, then centered into the box. They Bob Bradley'd us for god sake! And it nearly worked because our defense is poor. ---------x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x------ -------------x-x-x-x-x------ -x-----------------------------x -------------x------x--------------
Miracle saves? there was one. and it wasnt a miracle. timmy honestly hasnt played very well these past 6 weeks. I think he played better in 2008-2009. But he only had 3 saves last night. one off a free kick. one off bocanegra getting beaten and one off cameron on a corner kick messing up. but thats old hat. our defense used to do that 5 to 6t times a game. aging backline? Cameron is young. Lichaj is young. Fabian is young. Ream is young. Castillo is young. We wont be taking boca or gooch to 2014. Newsflash. it aint happening. But to get there we will use boca. goodson played ok. but i didnt see howard having to do much. honestly everytime I watch us go on the road we tend to bunker. and im sick of it. and if we get some poor results sometimes because we decide to play possession (just like germany in 2004-2006 with klinsmann) and go for excellence rather than mediocrity then I will gladly watch and support. Im tired of the same product. I want to see more possession. better play. no more hoofing it up and more taking people on. I think if jozy is in shape and in form we beat them. once he came on we had many opportunities on goal. why? his positioning and his hold up play was what we needed. JK knew that and brought him on earlier because gomez was ineffective. Defensively we have always been a sieve. we are getting better because our defense has less to do in more games. it wont be perfect and we will slip up. lord knows germany did when it lost 4-1 to italy and htey wanted JK fired. but they reap the benefits since then. possession football wins tournaments. mexico figured that our 10 years ago and they worked extremely hard to upgrade talent and to play better. We just waited and waited to take these steps. we made fun of mexico as we beat them and beat them. then something happened. they played better possession football got better and are headed in the direciton we are finally starting to gear towards.
nearly worked? exactly. we are headed on a path to win the way teams win. total football. it wont be easy. defense is poor? most times they hoofed it up we sent it back. the best opportunity they had was actually due to a nice pass and had nothing to do with hoofing it up. it was a nice pass and boca was slow to cut it out. I am used to seeing being carved up like that for years. but mostly guatemala did not threaten.
there is a lot I agree with here, but you're wanting to fix the headlights before the camshaft. Focus on defense, defense, defense. there is enough talent up top so we are competitive. We need to keep formation and not allow any easy crosses, the ball into the box, etc, etc.
Ok but we dont have the tactical know how. it takes players playing more and more and play better d. it also means passing better out of the back. its hard to break down a bunker. but our defense HAS been better over these past months. we have given up 7 goals in 8 games. thats much better than typical for us. typically we give up more than 1 a game on average. if we continue to lower that avergae during this run we will get better and better. mexico in august will be interesting to see how we do.
Guatemala only completed 60% of their passes. US completed 77% and almost 200 more than Guatemala but didn't get the ball into as dangerous spots. The US could not get the ball into the channels inside the attacking area for nada. I think the Guatemalan coaches knew it would be difficult for the US to chip the ball into those areas with the fast pitch and we might have helped them out by putting Donovan on the left where he is more apt to cut in or cut the ball back then try to take it down the wing. Jones wasn't going to be a threat going down the right channel. Well done by Guatemala. Play it close at the back, don't gift anything and hope Ruiz or Pappa put one or two in.
If we had 11 shots on goal, I must have missed them going to the bathroom or something. I don't remember more than 2 or so. Or do you mean shots, not SOG?
I've come to appreciate what Jones bring more these last few games, but I still wonder if he helps as much as he hurts. He is slower to recover. Gives up possession unnecessarily too often, and as you say loses track of the game plan too often. It also seems possible he is too out of control for a 6 in JK's system. He brings a lot to the midfield though and is probably one of the two top two cms in the US player pool right now. So its a conundrum. Edu kills possession a lot but is a solid destroyer and very athletic.. Jones is a bit erratic but talented and savvy. And basically, there are not many other two way mids that can play both dmid and attacking mid as well as the three of Bradley, edu, and Jones.
Dempsey needs to stop dropping into central midfield. We had no one out on the right except for when Jones decided to meander over there. He either needs to stay on the right and cut in or be put on the bench.