Association Football

The United States eeked out a win on the road in World Cup qualifying, vaulted to the top of our qualifying group, and because other results went our way, we stand on the verge of qualifying for South Africa. For all the good to come of the result, however, the actually playing of the game was cause for serious concern as US coach Bob Bradley prepares for the last two qualifying games and the road to South Africa. The old adage of world football is that it’s a hallmark of a great team to play poorly and still get a critical win. We got the goal we needed—and it was a great goal after our best move of the game—but we were extremely fortunate to still be level and should count ourselves lucky that we were playing the group’s bottom team.

The Good

Goalkeeper Tim Howard was excellent. He made a fantastic save on a first-half free kick and commanded the penalty area with confidence and consistency. If he doesn’t make that save from Trent Noel’s shot over the wall, the US may have gone down to defeat. He made another crucial save on a Kenwyne Jones header from close range that looked easy but only because his positional play was spot on. Without Howard’s impressive performance, the US would have been sunk.

Ricardo Clark’s winner was a stunning strike that came after the US’s best move of the game to that point. Clark’s first touch was perfect and his swerving shot was unstoppable. The US had picked up their play in the second half, but still didn’t really look like scoring until Clark lit up the night. It was no accident that the goal came from a patient move that strung a dozen passes together to create the space first for Donovan on the left and then for Clark to blast home. Continue reading →

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Well that performance epitomized winning ugly. The difference between good teams and mediocre teams, is that good teams have the quality to put the ball in the net even when they are playing badly. The U.S. has quality players on the field, and quality players in a 90 minute game can do quality things. And Ricardo Clark took his chance with a fantastic strike. In general, a big athletic team like Trinidad was bound to give us more trouble and be more dangerous then many anticipated. That said the performance was really poor. Most worrying was the team’s total lack of urgency.

First the few bright spots:
1. Howard – I think he was the man of the match for the U.S. Nothing all that spectacular but was sure handed.

2. Feilhaber – Perhaps it was more the goal right before he came on, but the game changed with him on the field. He worked hard defensively and possessed and distributed the ball well. We looked much more in control with him in the game.

3. Altidore, Davies, Donovan – I thought they all looked very dangerous when they got the ball. The problem was they didn’t get much of the ball. The guys over at MLS talk thought Davies had a poor game – sure some of the decisions could have been better, but he was still lively. A quick thought on Donovan – I think the big disadvantage of him in MLS is that he never became that natural Michael Owen-esque finisher that he probably would have become had played in Europe, since in Europe he would have played as a striker not all over the pitch. He had a couple great chances that he didn’t put away.

4. Clark’s strike – Clark had a poor first half like most others, but his strike was cooly done and showed that he has class. In Copa America Clark also showed his ability to hit the ball (unfortunately that one didn’t find the back of the net). After the goal, Bradley was right to keep him in, as he helped close out the game.

The stains:

1. Dempsey – Talk about dogging it. His performance will be scrutinized in another post. But lets just say it was the worst, most infuriating performance I have ever seen from him and was a big reason for the overall dreadful first half performance from the team. No work rate and wasteful in possession. Only looked interested when he was in the box.

2. The central midfield – Bradley rivaled Dempsey for the worst first half performance. His touch was truly awful and was anonymous for long segments. He played better in the second half and had a few could interchanges, but he really is not looking good right now. Clark was also wasteful in possession.

3. Bocanegra. In the first half he reminded me why he used to make me so nervous. He was turned on the throw in and could have been called for a penalty after first letting the ball bounce in the box and then wiffing on the clearance.

4. Effort and intensity. The lack of defensive effort, the failure of wide players to trackback, and to close down Trinidad in the midfield allowed them to pour crosses in to Jones at will. There was no intensity from the U.S., which is shocking considering a win was absolutely vital. Bob Bradley deserves some fault for not lighting a fire under them and I thought he should have made a change at half time by taking off Dempsey, Bradley, or Clark. But in the end he was right to close out the game the way he did after the goal.

Worst tactical mistake came from Trinidad. Putting Carlos Edwards on the left – instead of his usual right – to go at Spector instead of Bornstein was boneheaded. Spector is an EPL player – maybe the coach saw Aaron Lennon torch him a few times, but Edwards is no Lennon. Bornstein had a decent game, but he was also given a reprieve by the Trinidad coach.

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The US doesn’t have to win tonight against T&T to qualify, but a loss or a tie sure would make the last two games a lot more difficult than necessary. But beyond the result, this game will be a great test for the US team as it builds towards South Africa 2010. What will I be watching for outside of the result?

1. Confidence

This is a game the United States should win. T&T are no pushovers at home, beating El Salvador 1-0 and tying Honduras 1-1. Even so, if the United States is going to take the next step contend at major tournaments, they have to win games like this, and more importantly, they have to play like they know they can win from the start. This team has shown that it has the psychological strength to come back from going down even on the road. But what it has yet to demonstrate is that it can take the game by the scruff of the neck and just dominate the play for 90 minutes. The US should get on top and stay on top.

2.    Possession

International football is a game of possession, possession, possession. That’s why I rate the play of passing midfielders like Benny Feilhaber more highly than others and worry about Clint Dempsey’s sloppiness. I would like to see Feilhaber get a good run in the team but recognize that he’s not going to replace Bradley and agree that those two do get caught ahead of the play too often for comfort. If Feilhaber doesn’t play, then it place more of a burden on Donovan to get a lot of the ball and other US attacking players not to waste possession cheaply. Its hard to control the game if you keep turning the ball over and that’s what I want to see the US eliminate from its game: cheap turnovers.

3.   Defensive Composure

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