oh, this thread does still exist...
so now that it's back up front, and we've been pretty clearly put in our place, where does the USMNT go from here? It's really clear that our squad is STILL tactically poor. How do we adjust? For me, the most damning thing is that Freddy came back after two years and made himself the best player on this team over the course of two games. Great for Freddy, but he still has the same problem that's kept him from getting playing time anywhere in europe. He pressured Mexico's back line several times tonight, yes, but with one or two exceptions, he never really made any moves that indicated to me that he was thinking ahead. He lost the ball trying to dribble through people. He passed to the most obvious (and least deadly) players, often teeing it up for his backs rather than passing it into a lane for them to run onto. The one time he had an apparently clean look at goal, he passed it off sheepishly. And he was still more effective than anyone else in white tonight. That should be concerning. He's missing that 'game knowledge' that separates the good from the great, and when his tactics function within a team, that means the team itself lacks that knowledge.
For more proof, let's dig in to exactly how our defense was cut to shreds. It wasn't so much individual errors tonight (although they didn't help), but a general lack of shape that cost us. Starting from the first whistle, Mexico attacked down the right hand side constantly. And every time they did, some or all of our defense would slide over to deal with it. All fine and good, except that our midfielders failed to come back and cover the now open spaces left behind. Jones and Bradley both went M.I.A. for large portions of the match. Our wings weren't providing a lot of support either, though they weren't necessarily expected to. On the off chance we tackled or intercepted the ball, Mexico's strikers and mids kept the pressure on, so instead of keeping composed and passing laterally or back out of trouble (for there was no one to pass to), our backs were forced to play bootball, which seems to be the American default. Anyone who's played a high school level game knows that turns into a crapshoot REAL fast.
So yeah, the problems are crystaline. My question is, how do we fix them? I mean, maybe we can blame bradley, but even then...how many people on this squad would actually be able to carry out the game plans of a competent coach? Honestly, I don't think it's more than maybe two or three players. My real question after watching this is whether it's possible to salvage USYSA and/or the NCAA or whether serious players need to get pulled out of these for good to reach their potential. Because in their current forms, they're not working. We reached our peak in '02 and we've been trending level ever since.
so now that it's back up front, and we've been pretty clearly put in our place, where does the USMNT go from here? It's really clear that our squad is STILL tactically poor. How do we adjust? For me, the most damning thing is that Freddy came back after two years and made himself the best player on this team over the course of two games. Great for Freddy, but he still has the same problem that's kept him from getting playing time anywhere in europe. He pressured Mexico's back line several times tonight, yes, but with one or two exceptions, he never really made any moves that indicated to me that he was thinking ahead. He lost the ball trying to dribble through people. He passed to the most obvious (and least deadly) players, often teeing it up for his backs rather than passing it into a lane for them to run onto. The one time he had an apparently clean look at goal, he passed it off sheepishly. And he was still more effective than anyone else in white tonight. That should be concerning. He's missing that 'game knowledge' that separates the good from the great, and when his tactics function within a team, that means the team itself lacks that knowledge.
For more proof, let's dig in to exactly how our defense was cut to shreds. It wasn't so much individual errors tonight (although they didn't help), but a general lack of shape that cost us. Starting from the first whistle, Mexico attacked down the right hand side constantly. And every time they did, some or all of our defense would slide over to deal with it. All fine and good, except that our midfielders failed to come back and cover the now open spaces left behind. Jones and Bradley both went M.I.A. for large portions of the match. Our wings weren't providing a lot of support either, though they weren't necessarily expected to. On the off chance we tackled or intercepted the ball, Mexico's strikers and mids kept the pressure on, so instead of keeping composed and passing laterally or back out of trouble (for there was no one to pass to), our backs were forced to play bootball, which seems to be the American default. Anyone who's played a high school level game knows that turns into a crapshoot REAL fast.
So yeah, the problems are crystaline. My question is, how do we fix them? I mean, maybe we can blame bradley, but even then...how many people on this squad would actually be able to carry out the game plans of a competent coach? Honestly, I don't think it's more than maybe two or three players. My real question after watching this is whether it's possible to salvage USYSA and/or the NCAA or whether serious players need to get pulled out of these for good to reach their potential. Because in their current forms, they're not working. We reached our peak in '02 and we've been trending level ever since.
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