That was a scary match to watch. I mean the defense held but it was far from a lockdown situation. In all honesty we should have lost 3-2 when you look at quality of chances and fouls in/around the box. I will say this though, the most important thing gained from this match was the heart and focus that the guys showed in the 2nd half. Japan was throwing haymakers in attack; I'm talking numbers, crosses, half-chances BUT our boys held on. Helluva job. Oh and I think McBride is awesome, a hero of mine honestly but Altidore needs more time in the game. McB hasn't played in 3 months and 75minutes in the first match was maybe 15min too long for my liking. You don't want to kill the old man in the first prelim... Edu, Wynne and Holden - Good games by all. Guzan - You Gotta Punch Out Better! My heart nearly leaped out of my chest on that one!!! TWO HANDS!
I've been up and down on Wynne, but today he showed what all the fuss has been about. I'm sure there were European scouts there looking at Bradley and others, and were saying to themselves, "who the hell is that? He's a beast!" Look for him to move to Europe shortly. A win is a win at a tournament like this, and I'll hapilly accept it. We've given ourselves a chance to get the 2nd round, which is all you want to see now anyway. You can't think ahead to the later rounds. Anything can happen. The result between Holland and Nigeria will be interesting. If Nigeria take points from Holland, then the group is wide open. Despite a decent performance by our defenders today, that will be our achilles heel against good teams. Edu was good for the first 75 minutes, but he tried his best in the last 15 to throw away the game. Mistake after mistake. I like Nowak, but he really should have called in a 2nd overage defender (Pearce or Bornstein at left back, move Orozco to the middle) and left McBride at home. I like McBride and he does a lot out there that doesn't get on the stat sheet, but forward isn't the major hole in this squad. With Spector out, it's clearly in defense.
Actually i think his biggest problem is dealing with speed...of which Japan has a lot. This is the game I was most worried about for him...and I was right to worry. I think he reads the game well and can be very physical as he showed in qualifying. I think those attributes will match up much better against Nigeria and Holland. YES. There was zero posession in the last 20 minutes and it almost undid us. What's the old saying? "If you play not to lose you're playing not to...?"
shaky game, but: 1. i'll take the 3 points considering that this defense was just thrown together with both edu and orozco playing out of position. orozco especially is just doing his best, but he just is not a left back at this level. so we should just say thanx for the 3 points. 2. adu needs somebody else with some speed and skill up top with him, or else the defense collapses around him and he does not have the strength to hold them off. 3. for the 378 thousandth time i ask the question. why is sacha so good for chivas and stinks up the joint just about every time he plays for the national team? is he just too slow? this is truly a most vexing question for which i need an answer.
Wynn - I dont know about him. I think he benefited immensely from the African ref, where muggings are legalized. He could have easily had two yellows. That was clearly the Japanese strategy on his side: dive, look for calls. Dont know if he will be so lucky against the dutch. If I were Nowak I would just take the Russian game plan and use it: Set Adu loose in the middle as they did Arshavin. Give him space in the middle and let him create. The dutch will give him space because they enjoy being beaten as much as they fear winning. I would pair Benny and Bradley in the middle, put Szetela out right with heavy defensive duties, rogers on the left and Adu and Altidore. Another thing I would do: Take Edu out as CB. He will be horribly exposed against a quick passing team like the dutch and only experienced center back will control their interior passing. Move Orozco back to CB. Out left...put McBride, I dont care. Nowak is an idiot for not bringing in Eddie Lewis, I mean Corrales, I mean...whatever. Put Holden back there. He is smart and fast and works very hard. I dont see him getting beat and liking it.
Nailed it. Feilhaber and Szetela entered the game too late to really make a difference in that regard. The "shut it down!" strategy only works if you have guys that can kill 2-3 minutes with the ball. Instead, we couldn't complete 4 passes in a row and suffered through wave after wave of Japan attacks.
1. Agree 2. good point 3. yes, but he's still young, so maybe better positioning from experience will help him compensate for his lack of quickness, but I'm not optimistic.
I did before the tournament, but with Wynne's form, I think we'll stick with a 4-4-2 with Wynne playing the Sorin role. The problem is that Orozco won't add anything to the attack on the left side (as he should rightfully stay at home.) This puts a huge burden on Rogers out left.
This seems to be an issue ith US coaching in general. You can hear the company line being echoed through the ranks and on TV. "Don't want to make a sub to early or it could really limit your options and handcuff you" crap. Every telecast, every team, its' the same theme. Subs should be used to help change games, even when we are winning or tied coaches, not as filler/time wasting or sub when the subs can barely make an imprint. Sure, sometimes you don't need to make subs and it can hurt, but with watching US coaches over the last decade it seems that playing it "safe" with the players you have is the route taken 90% of the time. First sub at 75 minutes then a couple with a few minutes left. Coaching is also about (a big part) reading the game, making in game adjustments and instinct when neccessary. We rarely do it properly IMO. "Instinct" for the game is something we have lacked and Nowak is showing some of those traits.
I think Holden was my MOTM - besides the goal, he and Rogers got us calmed down and playing soccer when much of the first 20 minutes we were hoofing the ball forward. Wynne and Adu were solid for stretches, but they were also let off the hook by some poor finishing by Japan - we were at sea a few times and a better team will punish that 10 times out 10. I disagree with those saying McBride should sit. He won a lot of fouls and headers which helped take the intense pressure off of us in the first half.
Orozco did his best out of position. His tackling was solid, he never lunged and he kept his cool. He is poised player who I'd like to see more. And if one of the starters must sit, it should be Adu.
Masterful job of coaching by Nowak, to my delighted surprise. Perfect starting line-up and had the guts to sit Jozy, which was the right call for this game and will be of huge benefit in the next two games. Made the right subs at the right time. Flawless. Seriously. As for the players: Bradley- 8 (MOTM): Dominant performance, stuffing plays and good distribution. Wynne- 8: Right up there with Bradley. Rogers- 7.5: The danger man for us. Needs to work on that final pass, but everything else looks sweet. McBride, Adu, Holden, Parkhurst- Good game from each. 6.5. Edu- 6: Played very well for the first 75 minutes, but the wheels totally fell off in the last 15. He nearly killed us. Orozco- 5.5: Huge props for playing a decent game out of position. He's still a big weakness for us at left back. Kljestan- 4: Bad game. Unable to make any defensive stops. Feilhaber should take his spot in the next game. Officials- Made some good no-calls and some bad ones. I wouldn't have called any PKs in that game, so I agreed with all three no-calls on those. Freddie was fouled in the box for sure, but I think refs should (and do) exercise some discretion and not call PKs when the play interrupted by the foul is not particularly dangerous. Edu's fouls were ticky tack and I agreed with letting them go. The worst call of the night was the failure to call offside on the free header by the Japanese in the first half. Both guys were 10 yards offside!!!
Altidore has to play. He just has to. He's the future at striker for the MNT and this is a perfect spot for him to get high level international experience. First it was the MLS schedule, now it's an overage player getting the nod on the Olympic team, etc. etc. Get the kid in the game. I never agreed with calling in McBride if it meant Jozy to the bench and I still don't. Could've used an overage outside back instead. If he's going to play in the next two then that's fine and I take it all back. If not then the point stands. Rant over. We obviously didn't do much of a job defending the lead, but I'm not as disconcerted with the overall performance as some seem to be. I'm still a little skeptical of Orozco and Edu playing out of position, but that's probably something I'm going to have to accept.
You know, that thought crossed my mind, Adu did not have a good game at all... At some point, you have to go on with the game and realize that you are not getting any calls so what's the point in continuing to after them??? Stupid card on his part due in part to his frustration from the calls and his bad play... When he beat the defender in the corner on the left, he should've crossed the ball in, but he didn't, he can't make decisions like this and expect the US to win... After watching that defense, Holland will definitely come down the right side against Orozco, the Japanese continually got in behind him with the SAME give and go move and what about how he got turned inside out by that one player??? Holland have way better attackers than the Japanese with loads of speed so he better step his game up... But, essentially the US puts itself in a very good position to go through which is what matters the most, this was a must win game and we won it... Wynne played about as good as I've ever seen him, he still can't cross the ball worth a crap, but what he does offer on the defensive end more than makes up for it...
Nowak was known for using his subs sparingly in DC, sometimes not using them at all. As a DC fan it used to drive me crazy. By the end of the season the "A" team was completely gassed. Then he won the cup in 04, and you can't really complain. The most accomplished coach in MLS right now, Dominic Kinnear, does the same. He'll often go whole games without using any subs. Especially in tight games. Down the stretch Japan threw the kitchen sink at us, and had chances. You'd expect that. That should leave them exposed at the back, and we didn't even remotely take advantage of that. Jozy had a clear opportunity for a one-on-one with the keeper, and had a bad first touch that pushed the ball to close to the keeper. Part of the problem was that Kljestan, Rogers, and Holden were gassed, so I don't understand why they weren't taken off earlier. Saying that we won a game at a pretty big tournament, and I can't criticize the coach too much.
You'll be pleased to have a fully rested Jozy Altidore for the next two games of the group stage. Trust me.
Wynne, Holden, Edu, Parkhurst, and Bradley were solid. Orozco, Rogers, and Klejstan were considerably less than solid. Adu and McHead did fine with what the midfield gave them. Guzan was very lucky. Scott
Anyone know what time the Dutch game is on Saterday for those who live in the Uk? A response would be greatly appreciated.
If he can't handle speedy smaller guys, he's going to have a hard time with a speedy bigger guy like Ryan Babel.