He did seen to make multiple mistakes in the late second half.
Except it really wasn't that great of a cross. Turkey should have handled it without difficulty. But the defender completely muffed it. It was right on his feet and he just took a swing and missed. Turkey gave that goal to Dempsey, not Chandler.
Which is depressing because I was really, really hoping that Chandler could keep Beasley off the field in Brazil.
Now all our hopes rest on... Yedlin? Sigh. Looks like Beasley again.
That was appropriate...especially in a game that probably should've been 3-2 USA.
Football!
Some (not very positive, (sorry)) thoughts on the game:
- Wow, sloppy on defense and sloppy on offense. Thank god this was against Turkey and not Ghana.
I guess, besides the fact that we won and nobody got injured, the bright spot of this game was that the US created a ton of chances. Or did we? I think it’s almost more fair to say that the US got into tons of dangerous spots offensively but even then not many of those plays ended up being shots or really concrete chances. They were more like opportunities for chances (wasted opportunities almost all of the time). The goal by Fab was a thing of beauty but we need to be WAY sharper when we’re given so much space on the offensive end. There were so many bad passes and touches when we were one competent pass or movement away from a sure goal.
Also, our defense was awful. Turkey could’ve bagged 3 or 4 easily despite not having that many final third entries (at least it didn’t seem like they had that many). But once they got the ball in our end it was just a comedy of errors and guys out of position leading to tons of chances for the Turks. It seemed like part of that the reason for that was because many of their final third entries were off of bad giveaways. If this were Germany, Ghana, or Portugal we probably would’ve given up 3 or more goals with the way we played.
But, like I said, we did win. Also, the refs probably robbed us of at least two goals, so maybe I’m overreacting.
- Poor (but positive) Jozy
The announcers made a big deal over the fact that Jozy didn’t get a goal and from a confidence standpoint I agree that it would’ve been really nice for him to get on the score sheet. But to sum up his performance as “he really could’ve used a goal but didn’t get one” doesn’t do justice to the way he played. First off, he did score a goal in the first half that got called back on a clearly wrong foul call. He also had at least two other sure goals that he was robbed of. The first was when Zusi only had to slide him an easy pass for a tap-in but instead decided to fire a wild shot that ended up way off frame and the other time was when Dempsey was wrongly ruled offsides on a pass from Tim Chandler. If it weren’t for the wrong offsides decision Dempsey would’ve had a really easy pass to Jozy for what would’ve been a tap in by Jozy. So Jozy put himself in great spots and actually put one in the back of the net but fate conspired against his name being on the score sheet today. Sucks.
With that said, Jozy’s play in every other aspect of the game was also a big improvement over what we saw against Azerbaijan. His touches were much sharper and smoother than what we saw on Tuesday night and he never stopped making dangerous runs. Even in the final minutes of the game when some others had pretty much stopped attacking (and Dempsey, his partner up top, had stopped doing anything really), Jozy was still trying to get behind Turkey’s backline – which by the way keeps all four of those guys from pushing up as far and limits their ability to get involved offensively. Jozy also defended a lot and fought for loose balls. I thought that overall it was a great performance by Jozy.
- Tim Chandler not nearly as good as Beasley
I get why they wanted to give Tim Chandler a run out. He’s a strong and fast guy who plays in the Bundesliga who on paper matches up with the attackers we’ll see in Brazil. With that said, if you base the LB spot on how guys have done for the US there’s no question that Beasley should be starting. Chandler had one really nice play where he intercepted a pass and played a great through ball to Dempsey that would’ve ended up being a US goal were it not for a wrong offsides call. But he also had a few poor turnovers AND he pretty much gave away a goal in each half – once by being caught way out of position and then again when he got muscled off a ball that he had lost on the play that ended up being a penalty. People might’ve overlooked the first mistake since it didn’t end up being a goal but if that had been Jonathan Bornstein US fans would've been up in arms and freaking out over his poor positioning. And the second mistake was worse still.
Beasley may not have all of the impressive physical attributes that Tim Chandler possesses but he’s clearly a way more reliable option on the field.
Oh, and if they’re going to insist on starting Chandler, why not at least have him and Fabian Johnson switch sides? At least that way Chandler could use his speed to contribute offensively by getting up the wing. On the left he doesn’t provide much offensively AND he’s unconvincing defensively.
- Julian Green rant. I mean, WTF?
So today confirmed what most of us already suspected. Maybe Julian Green’s a fantastic prospect and maybe he does some impressive stuff in training but in terms of being ready to contribute in Brazil he falls way short. Everyone was wondering against Azerbaijan why Green didn’t get in the game. After all, if you’re planning on using him in the World Cup, there’s nobody on the team (or probably on ANY World Cup team for that matter) who is in more need of experience before the tournament starts in Brazil.
Well, it turns out the reason it took so long to play him is because he’s just not that good (yet). I mean come on, he did absolutely nothing today to make it look like he had any business even being part of the 30 man camp. I think it was Kasey Keller who said after the match that Green looked like a kid out there and I agree with him. Yeah, Green is fast (and maybe his terrible corner was an anomaly) but he still just clearly isn’t ready to contribute. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. The dude had played like 40 minutes of first team soccer before today. WHY IS HE ON THE TEAM?
This isn’t just a Landon Donovan issue. This is a Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, Eddie Johnson, Juan Agudelo, and Break Shea issue also. Any of those guys would be a way better option to start or come of the bench in Brazil. Even Jose Torres or Terrence Boyd – neither of whom are really outside midfielders – would have a way better chance of contributing in some way at the World Cup than Julian Green.
Klinsmann basically just wasted a roster spot on Julian Green even though if there’s any team that will need to use its depth in Brazil it’s us. We’re in the group of depth and we have the worst travel schedule in the entire field, and somehow it was a good idea to bring Julian Green over Landon Donovan or Eddie Johnson? Truly idiotic. And it’s just weird that Klinsmann did such an amazing job of developing depth in our player pool over 3 years only to use none of it for the actual World Cup.
- The diamond
Did we stick with the diamond? It seemed like there were a bunch of times when Michael Bradley had to come as far back as the central defenders as to receive the ball. That doesn’t seem like what you would normally do as the offensive point of the diamond. Was the formation not working in those moments or had we scrapped it? This isn’t meant to be a complaint because whatever we were doing allowed us to find tons of space to attack Turkey in spite of our sloppy play. I’m actually inclined to think that whatever we were doing tactically generally worked. But I was confused to see Bradley so far back in those instances. Anyone know what was going on?
- Fab. Also Cameron, Gonzalez, Chandler, Klinsmann, and Goodson
Fabian Johnson looked great and the goal was fantastic. It really seems like he’d be by far our best outside midfielder if we played him there. He’s truly a quality attacker.
In the past I’ve wondered if our best lineup might include Beasley at LB, Tim Chandler at RB, and Fab at LM but Chandler’s shaky play today makes me think we’d be best off if he weren’t starting. But, I still kind of wonder if the best option might be for Omar Gonzalez to play CB next to Besler. That would allow Cameron to play RB which would move Fab to LM. I think Cameron’s more reliable than the mistake prone Gonzalez, but after seeing how shaky we looked today I wonder if Gonzalez’ chemistry with Besler almost makes up for the fact that Cameron is a more reliable central defender. I’d LOVE for Fabian Johnson to play in the midfield and I really think that a Beasley/Besler/Gonzalez/Cameron back line might be about as good as the Beasley/Besler/Cameron/Johnson back line that we saw against Azerbaijan.
This whole situation makes me REALLY wish that Klinsmann had included Clarence Goodson in the team. Start him with Besler and put Cameron at right back and you’ve got our best lineup defensively. Damn.
- Some thoughts on how the other guys did.
Davis - Unconvincing. I’m just kicking the shit out of a dead horse, but how is he a better option than Donovan or EJ? Also, if there’s anyone whose effectiveness seems likely to go down as the level of our competition rises, it’s Davis (because he’s slow for this level… sorry dude :/ ).
Dempsey - Sloppy. Well, his individual skill and dribbling was impressive at times but his passing, shooting, and understanding with the other guys just wasn’t there. He’s gotta be way better than that in Brazil.
Mix - Looked good again.
Zusi - Fine? Played one great ball to Green but he also wasted what should’ve been an easy goal the time he didn’t pass it to Jozy for a tap-in. And he ruined another attack by getting his pocket picked when he had tons of guys wide open and our attack had Turkey outnumbered. Overall, he didn’t make as much of an impact as you’d hope.
Jones - Fine.
Bradley - Always a really good player. Maybe wasn’t as dominant or as sharp I would’ve liked but at least he made an amazing pass for the first goal. We’re gonna need more from him in Brazil though.
Besler and Cameron - Tough to say. Neither of them made any obvious mistakes and both had some good moments, but our defense as a whole sucked. It seems like they still lack chemistry together.
Yedlin - Eh, would prefer Parkhurst or Evans. He’s fast but he gets caught out of position and commits stupid fouls. Basically, it looks like he’s everything (good and bad) that everyone thought about him when he got picked.
Brooks - Nothing to say. Is that fine?
Howard, Guzan - Fine.
Landon Donovan – WHY AREN’T YOU ON THE TEAM?!?!?!?!?!
Klinsmann – I think he already screwed up.
Hopefully I’m wrong. It seemed from the start like a really bad idea to not bring Donovan, EJ, and Goodson and now guess what? Brad Davis is starting at left mid and we’re short on reliable defenders. WHY?!? WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Hopefully I’m wrong and he turns out to be the crazy genius that we thought he was up until he picked a terrible roster. But Brad Davis is starting for us at left mid. I mean come on.
Of course Atlas Shrugged would be relatively brief. Dude, long post. Good points though.
Anyway.
1) Bradley. Superb play at times, but I want him to be more consistent. He was the reason we looked rough at times against the Azeris (well that and they parked the bus). Much better tonight. He was The Man as we need him to be, for the most part. Crazy work rate. Some excellent first touches. But if he didn't have every third or fourth touch suddenly drop in quality, I'd be much more comfortable going into Brazil. Of course, that might mean he'd have to morph into Zidane or something, so maybe I'm asking too much.
2) Yes, I'm 90% sure we dropped the diamond and went back to a 4-2-3-1 with Bradley coming back. That shut down a lot of the deep runs out of midfield that Jones and the center backs couldn't stop when they were the only ones back there.
3) I think a lot of the complaints people are making about our backline are better directed at the midfield diamond and a lack of communication. It opened up holes that we didn't have a way to plug.
4) That said, I still very much worry about the outside back opposite Fab and the otuside mid/wing opposite Zusi. I just don't know who should be in those roles out of the 23 we have. I guess Beasley is our best option at LB. And... I can't even think about who should be in front of him. Too depressing.
5) Which brings up my last point, same as yours: Klinsmann has already made a serious coaching error in this Cup. His roster selection is terrible. We are the deepest we've ever been, but we have just as many, if not more, position questions on the eve of the Cup than we have have before (well, since 98, and don't even get me started about that...). Julian Green on this team is insulting. I can see leaving Johnson off for throwing his teammates under the bus if nothing else. But Donovan, Shea, Boyd, Agudelo... I wouldn't want Torres or Corona, both too weak... Klinsmann let his personal feelings get in the way of his job as a coach.
All that said, I did find today's game encouraging in a number of respects. We'll see what happens.
Julian Green does not deserve to be anywhere near this roster. It's absolutely sickening.
And to think, we're struggling to find stability at the wing positions, rotating between Alejandro Bedoya, Brad motherfucking Davis, and Graham Zusi.
I WONDER WHERE WE COULD FIND SOMEBODY TO HOLD DOWN ONE OF THOSE POSITIONS
Nice tifo.
