Is life better through these?
I did live commentary for this game for TSG. Like a lot of supporters of the USMNT, I was eagerly anticipating this game. Sure, there were several starters missing, but I was curious to see how the “bubble” players would do. There were several players Torres, Holden, Beasely and Edu who were trying to get into the starting 11 and others such as Findley, Pearce, Bedoya, Johnson etc… trying to get on the plane to South Africa. I was hoping for a win but I honestly thought based on the growth I’ve seen in the past year from the USMNT, that some form of score draw or a very close game with the Dutch eeking it out, would be an accurate result. What I left with was near complete disappointment. In short I thought the US played a very bad game.
Reading all the comments and recap pieces, I just feel that most people are looking at this game through rose tinted glasses. As we all know, Holland won 2-1, but the score flatters the USMNT. The US goal was very VERY well taken but it came off a set piece (more on this in a bit). Everyone seems to be making excuses for this game, some valid, but most are just plain excuses.
First off, there is nothing wrong with having a bad game. It happens and its better to have it during a friendly then in an actual competition. One can and should learn from having such bad games. England won 3-1 against the African Nation Champions – Egypt, but no one is praising them for their performance. They were terrible and booed after the first half. The only positive from the game is that they showed grit and determination (about 40 minutes earlier than the US) to win 3-1 (third goal was offside). The English were for the most part very poor and most people are not making excuses for them.
The excuses -
1. The USMNT were missing some key players. – This is valid. They are a much different team with Gooch, Dempsey, Davies etc…They are more fluid and confident, they pass the ball better (IE hold possession) and they communicate better. That said the spine of the team – Howard, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Donovan, Junior and Jozy were all there, and one would have hoped that their veteran leadership and communication would have kept the others from making bad decisions and passes.
2. The US only had two days to train together. – Meh, this is weak at best. So did the Dutch, so do every other international team that meet up for these friendlies and use them for experimentation. This might be true but its across the board for all teams and a sad excuse.
3. The Dutch were world class and are pretty much guaranteed a semi’s birth at the WC. – The Dutch were barely interested in this game. For long parts they acted like this was a training exercise. Occasionally (see second goal) they decided to play somewhat to their potential and for 5 minutes or so they were unstoppable, pinging passes around and getting behind the US defense with relative ease. Their poor finishing, Tim Howard or dallying on the ball too long were the only reasons the score wasn’t 3 or 4 – 1. Around 80 minutes, they lost total interest whilst the USMNT stepped it up and started to play like the team that we know and eventually got a goal for their effort. I thought the Dutch were very disappointing and based on THIS performance, are a quarters team at best.
Why they were so bad -
The USMNT are a very good team. This I believe is a fact. They played a terrible game against the Dutch. This too I believe is a fact.
There are two reasons why i thought the USMNT played badly. They chose the wrong tactics (IE scared) and forgot what it is that makes them a dangerous team and a team that can compete, challenge and worry the big boys.
I do for the most part agree with peoples assessment of the individuals performance for the USMNT. Individually, players played well. Altidore has improved leaps and bounds in his brief stint in the Premiership and his holdup play, ability to drive at the opposition and using his bulky presence all showed against The Netherlands. Bocanegra showed that he can create space off a free kick and scored a very impressive goal with his head. In one on one battles against the Dutch forwards, he demonstrated he can hold his own. Same goes for DeMerit who came in with challenges and acquitted himself very well. Edu showed in the short time he had to impress that he can be the holding midfielder that the USMNT need, and Howard, per usual was excellent.
Tim Howard is a top goal keeper and its often because of his stellar play that the US are in and or win big games – BUT the US does not have a world class outfield player that can grab the game by the scruff of its neck and influence it even if they are having a poor game. Landon Donovan, arguably the USMNT best player might have either been marked very well or was not interested, but what was obvious was that he couldn’t get in the game to exert anything. The excellent form that he has showed with Everton the past month was missing in Amsterdam on Wednesday. Whether he was tired (terrible excuse) or earmarked by the Dutch coaches as the man to shut down, he didn’t get in the game.
You don’t see a Kaka, Messi, Ronaldo, Torres, Iniesta, Xavi, Rooney, Gerrard, Drogba etc… ever be anonymous regardless if they are playing well or not. As captain for England on Wednesday, Gerrard had by his standards a terrible game, but he found a way to contribute with tackles and being involved in the set up of the first goal. Its just a fact that the US players individually are not world class (with the exception of Howard) BUT as a team they can beat world class teams who possess world class players. Wednesday they were not a team at all.
All the bright spots for the US were in individual performances. Altidores back heel nutmeg or great shot at the end of the game, Beasley’s set piece to Bocanegra, Torres cannon of a shot over the bar were all individual moments in the game. This could have been because so many of the players were looking to impress instead of trying to play team football. They couldn’t ever keep possession for any worth length of time. They lost the ball cheaply or through mental errors. They didn’t communicate or play team defense which lead to the penalty, second goal and several other opportunities for the Dutch. The one time they decided to play as a team, they deservedly got the coveted TSG golden shinguard award. Junior charging at the defense with his team mates making intelligent runs to spread out the defense, laying the ball off to Beasley who sent a cross across goal with a late charging Jozy outstretching to put the ball in the side-netting.
This was a great move. It was unselfish, all the forward player were involved directly or indirectly and the Dutch were lucky not to be scored against. This is what I believe everyone is glossing over and making excuses for. The USMNT did not play with the usual fight, heart and all for one, one for all mentality that has seen them become a team that other teams have to take very seriously.
Secondly, I feel the tactics taken by Senior were based on fear. This is most certainly not a characteristic of the “new we beat Spain and scared the hell out of Brazil” USMNT. This team post Confederations Cup played with a deserved swagger and bravado but in Amsterdam it seemed Bradley decided that because he was missing some key players, that he didn’t want to get embarrassed by a potential blow out loss. This would explain Bocanegra’s pre-game statement that they were going to play counter attacking football. Really? This is not how the US beat Egypt in a do or die game. Where as they did play counter attacking against Spain, it wasn’t because they were afraid, but it was because Spain kept attacking. In that game, the US played without fear and as a team BUT still attacked as much as possible, as a team, together.
I hope the USMNT and their supporters look at this game with very open eyes. That they don’t try and blame the Ref or DeJong – a late and bad tackle to be sure but he’s no goon (he immediately went over to Holden to see if he was ok). He’s a defensive midfielder who plays with passion and heart (sometimes too much…Gattuso or Keane anyone) and someone that Junior or Edu should look at. The USMNT and their fans need to realize that their team played a poor game but that it says nothing about their abilities or their standing in the world. That they got some answers to some questions and the next time they won’t make those same mistakes.
Hopefully against the Czech Republic on May 25th, the US will have Gooch, Dempsey etc… back and that the bubble players (trying to get in the starting 11 or on the plane) and coaches realize that the USMNT is strongest as a whole, complete fearless team, rather than a bunch of individuals.
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Posted by Swa on 2010/03/05 at 2:04 PM
Channeling a little Pacino??
“Either we heal now as a team…or we will die as individuals.”
Posted by sfshwebb on 2010/03/05 at 2:07 PM
HA…i actually had no idea but what a great quote!
Posted by i like tuesday on 2010/03/05 at 3:04 PM
I am in complete agreement about our team performance, especially in the middle 1/3 of the match. I think the dutch would’ve happily settled for a 4th 0-0 draw if we hadn’t made defensive mistakes. We really only came into the match once the dutch lost coherence through substitutions and no longer had anything like a defensive midfielder on the pitch. Still, I am happy enough with the tactical approach in the opening stages because there’s nothing that can kill our chances against a top team like giving up an early goal. Scoring an early goal and sitting back too early is also a recipe for disaster. The best route to an upset is always to score on either side of half-time.
To me, the positive is that this sort of performance means we’re figuring out how we can beat top teams more regularly – you just don’t do it very often with the type of balls-out, guns blazing performance that worked against Spain. It was a blessing in disguise that we needed 3 goals against Egypt because otherwise we would’ve shut-up shop too early. Nowadays, even Brazil and the Netherlands are trying to figure out how to win ugly – not conceding, scoring a goal and making it count – because that’s the way you contend in international tournaments.
Posted by Evan on 2010/03/05 at 3:45 PM
The thing I took from the match was that beside the Chance Elia (or however you spell his name) had at the beginning of the second half. USA didn’t really allow any clear chances for the Dutch team in open play. Yes there was the penalty, and the second goal, but If USA can play that well defensively against England then they have the chance to steal 1 point or perhaps 3 at the end easily.
Posted by Swa on 2010/03/05 at 3:54 PM
During the match there was a lot of talk about Elia screwing up that chance but really after seeing it about ten times I don’t see where he could have shot it any earlier without putting it over the bar. If that’s the one really legit chance a team like the Netherlands is going to get against us then we really should be in good shape. Also not mentioned much is that this particular play was Bornstein’s one bright spot Wednesday, hustling back to knock the ball away.
However the fact remains that if you want to take 3 points from England or anyone for that matter you need to put the ball in the back of the net. We can’t rely solely on PKs and set pieces although we do perform quite well on them.
Posted by sfshwebb on 2010/03/05 at 4:13 PM
Evan – There were a couple of saves (albeit easy) that Howard had to make but the Dutch had poor finishing. There was also a ball that GVB sent over the top to Robben who if he had controlled with his right foot instead of left would have give him a clear shot at goal. A lot of the Dutch attacks were snuffed out by their poor play rather than US challenging. There were a couple of examples like how the second goal was scored where the dutch went around unchallenged as they were being watched by the US defenders. That said with Dolo and Gooch their, the chance of that is unlikely to happen.
Also the Dutch took a bunch of players off in the second half and didn’t really try. When they did put an effort they seem to run circles around the US defense.
The problem with all this is that it was a friendly so tough to judge everything at face value. I do agree though that the US’s defense was a lot better in the second half. They regrouped much better and seemed to communicate better.
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2010/03/05 at 6:05 PM
Robben also got behind you twice quite easily in the first 15 minutes – if his final ball was better, you would have been in trouble. You cannot let teams get behind you like that.
“Bocanegra showed that he can create space off a free kick and scored a very impressive goal with his head”. He didn’t create space, it wasn’t like it was his movement that lost the player picking him up – he just wasn’t marked by the Dutch. It was a decent delivery and a brave header, but a goal the Dutch manager would have been cursing.
Posted by Biggy on 2010/03/05 at 5:26 PM
glad to see someone else wasn’t particularly impressed with either team.
Posted by dude on 2010/03/05 at 5:31 PM
Good thing you saved the “de Jong is no goon” line for the end, because you lost me. People don’t make challenges like that because they have a passion for the game, they just lack precise technique and/or think they are better than a card.
Though I never credited Bob with too much attacking courage, I think the timidity had a lot to do with Findley losing the ball every time he gained full possession of it. Everyone was hoping that Findley or Johnson would show that they can at least be half as effective as Davies. They were not. If they were, then we probably would have seen a far more robust performance.
Regardless, I hope we don’t wait till two games in at the world cup to attack the opposition.
Posted by Rhodie on 2010/03/06 at 12:28 AM
I just finished rewatching the first half of this game and a few things stood out for me:
First and formost, Torres was terrible. There is no other way to put this, other than his one shot and one single decent ball, he was awful On offense he crowded his own team off the ball and did not make intelligent runs. On defense he was worse, he was out of position 80% of the first half, including a few times that he was further up the pitch than Donovan on defense, there is no way that was how Bradley told him to play. Most of the reason that Junior looks bad on defense in the first half is with Torres out of position he is forced to cover for him pulling him out of position. The one bright spot is that Holden often is sucked into the middle of the pitch. We were fortunate that they constantly attacked up our left side. This allows Holden to play were Mikey is supposed to be when he has to cover for Torres. I also didn’t see a lack of hustle from Junior anywhere in the first half.
Secondly, in the first twenty to twenty-five minutes, possesion is about 50-50. The US really doesn’t look horrible until right after Holden goes out. I’m sure there are a number of reasons for that, worry for Holden, and giving up a goal, but I believe that a main reason is that Beasley typically plays far wider than Holden, thus opening a lot of room in the middle of the pitch, again because of Torres.
Thirdly, Donovan needs another offensive threat. We all know that Donovan can be marked out of a game, but that means that a team is concentrating their effort on one half of the field. This means that Dempsey or Davies, or really anyone other than Altidore who is a legitimate threat, has almost guaranteed one-on-one opportunities, on the side away from Donovan. This is why Davies made the team so good, other teams weren’t able to focus on Donovan, which is a recipe for our success.
Lastly, I have no problem with playing counter-attacking football. As long as I can remember that is the way the US has played, not because we are scared of other teams but because that is the talent we have on the team right now. We don’t have quality players in the mid-field that can both possess the ball and unlock the defense, so we went with the more important of the two. Dempsey, Donovan, Bradley and Holden all have the ability to make the killer pass, none of them would be considered a possesion keeping player, maybe with the exception of Dempsey. Playing to the strength of our team is not scared, it’s smart, albiet much less exciting.
Posted by sfshwebb on 2010/03/06 at 1:46 AM
Rhodie – I do agree there is nothing wrong with playing counter attacking football if there is an intent to really go for it when you do counter. It could very well have been the personnel on the field but they just didn’t really muster anything until the 80th minute. You’re also correct in saying those 4 have the ability to make the killer pass but the problem is they didn’t maintain enough possession or passing possession to make that pass to Altidore or findley or to Donovan.
Assuming that Davies does not make it back (i’m sure he will) and with Deuce and Jozy playing, whom do you want as that other offensive threat?
Posted by Rhodie on 2010/03/06 at 7:38 PM
Let me clear up that statement, I believe that Deuce is that other player, at least the one that I am counting on. Davies can be that other player, although my natural tendency is to assume that he won’t be back in form before the cup, fit maybe, I worry about form.
The other possibility that I wonder about would be to slot Holden (please get well) into the center holding role with Edu, and let Junior attack. Mikey doesn’t have the creativity that I would like to see, but he does have a cannon given space to shoot, which he should have a winger and at least one center back marking Jozy and Donovan.
The last possibility that I see could be Beasley bringing a time machine for the US sidelines and being an impact sub across from Donovan, with Deuce or Ching partnering Altidore.
Posted by KMac on 2010/03/06 at 5:34 AM
First, I am a big LD and MNT fan to be clear. Below is a facebook link and quote that gives a glimpse behind Mr. Donovan’s muted performance – perhaps partly due to Landon’s physical and mental condition on Wed (and the whole previous last week or so). I do think that coupled with Rhodie’s third point (makes several excellent points above) the facebook quote goes a long way to pinpoint the root cause of LD’s game on Wed. As Landon’s game goes, often does the result of the MNT as many have remarked – often the difference between a decent MNT team performance vs a better one is that Donovan spark, Charlie in a bottle, or Dempsey grit and nose for the net.
My speculation is that LD is clearly wrestling with flu, and I would argue perhaps still mentally affected by missing the goal chance the previous weekend (which even Ronaldo, Rooney, Drogba, Defoe and others have certainly done one or another time in their career by the way – no one is flawless 100%). Time to forgive yourself, use some positive mental visualization, and move forward on you path to success LD! Get well.
Chuck D – how about helping LD out with some of your infectious determination to rise above real adversity and your positive can do attitude!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/landondonovan?ref=nf
Landon Donovan:
” I apologize for the absence, it’s been a tough week. Still trying to get over this illness and traveling a lot isn’t exactly the best remedy. I’m excited to be back in England and ready for Hull tomorrow. This will be my first game against a fellow American so it should add a little something special. See you guys …tomorrow, hopefully I get a chance to make up for last weekend.”
With that said as a USMNT fan first, and a de facto Everton fan second (because of him and Tim H.), I would value a little insight from LD about Wed too!
Posted by Doug on 2010/03/06 at 10:07 AM
I think the change of shape brought on by Edu’s entrance was huge for us.
Torres was never comfortable doing Edu’s/Rico’s/JJ’s/(Mastroeni’s) job playing along-side/behind Jr Sweatpants, especially with the Dutch holding so much possession. I would’ve rather seen Edu in to start and Torres up for Findley as CAM (call it 4-5-1) or withdrawn forward (call it 4-4-1-1). Consequently, Torres’ lack of defensive presence rendered Landy/Holden (i.e. flanks) useless as they were continually drawn backfield.
Shame we couldn’t get anything going against a clearly disinterested Dutch side.
Posted by KMac on 2010/03/06 at 10:25 AM
Also a good point Doug. I am rewatching the game today on dvr. First half really wasn’t all doom and gloom like so many articles/comments portray.
1st half Rewind:
The US came out with decent shape, but did not attack the game ( early Confed Cup, not latter Confed cup)
Yes the dutch ran the possession edge.
Yes they ran the wings wide and deep as I predicted – but Spector recovered or contained well on the right side.
Holden had the best offensive midfield performance before the unfortunate touches in terms of passing, creating space
Findley did well to get to space on a couple of occassions, but offered very low threat
Take away the Torres shot on Howard, the Bornstein penalty (and should have been penalty, and it is a tied game at the half