Massive (Lack of) Attack
Going 3 and out plus finishing in last place did not come down to the squad that the US brought to Copa America. It came down to the coaching these players receive at their clubs. Don't think so? The glaring weakness in the US squad right now is an inability to put the ball in the back of the net. It is a simple game really. Score more goals than your opponent. To do so you have to take chances and you have to show a willingness to take the defenders on and move towards the goal.
Eddie Johnson didn't figure that out over the 3 matches played. The one time he did make a true run the Argentina defense got tangled up and he drew a penalty. Is his coach in the MLS teaching him to pass backwards on such a regular basis? Is he being taught to take the ball horizontally when he gets in the area instead of using his pace to beat the defenders? If he isn't being taught that he isn't being taught not to do that at Kansas City.
Lee Nguyen could teach EJ a few things. And Nguyen is just 19 years old and 140 pounds. But he plays for PSV Eindhoven in Holland and is part of one of the best systems in European football. From the moment he took the pitch against Colombia he wanted to score. He wanted to attack. Hell, when Colombia caught the US on the counter Nguyen was the one racing back to try and thwart a shot on goal.
Charlie Davies is an example of how to use blazing speed, ball skills and youthful determination when the opportunity arises. Davies, who plays in Sweden for Hammarby IF, looked prepared to show Bob Bradley something tonight. And if Bradley didn't see a bonafide attacking option in Davies then I fear we'll be seeing more of Taylor Twellman.
Don't forget the likes of Danny Califf - Aalborg BK (Denmark) - or Heath Pearce - FC Nordsjælland (Denmark) - both were very impressive tonight. Pearce in particular on some of his runs down the wing. Califf, for how he was willing to play a physical game and not show intimidation. The four aforementioned European based players are not featuring for clubs in Spain, England or Italy. They are playing in smaller leagues, but are still getting superior coaching and playing in matches where the competitive level is much higher than in MLS.
Anyone could have watched tonight's match and seen a real difference in skill when comparing these players to the ones in MLS. I don't want to knock MLS. I really don't. But I also realize that for the US to experience success at the next World Cup the entire starting lineup will probably need to consist of European based players. And your first 3-4 options on the bench should also be playing their club football overseas.
These players were not flawless. To be fair, they didn't have much time to train with or get meaningful matches with their teammates. I can't imagine when they get called back to the US camp they will miss having the likes of Kyle Beckerman, Eddie Gaven or Herculez Gomez around. I mean Eddie Gaven, you were shockingly awful.
So, if this Copa was to find the diamonds that the previous staff refused to dig deep enough to discover, Bradley has found them. Write the names down: Danny Califf, Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen and Heath Pearce. They are probably already in a limo on its way to the airport with Benny Feilhaber and Jay DeMerit heading back to their clubs. And they should be confident that this won't be the last time they pull on the US jersey.
Eddie Johnson didn't figure that out over the 3 matches played. The one time he did make a true run the Argentina defense got tangled up and he drew a penalty. Is his coach in the MLS teaching him to pass backwards on such a regular basis? Is he being taught to take the ball horizontally when he gets in the area instead of using his pace to beat the defenders? If he isn't being taught that he isn't being taught not to do that at Kansas City.
Lee Nguyen could teach EJ a few things. And Nguyen is just 19 years old and 140 pounds. But he plays for PSV Eindhoven in Holland and is part of one of the best systems in European football. From the moment he took the pitch against Colombia he wanted to score. He wanted to attack. Hell, when Colombia caught the US on the counter Nguyen was the one racing back to try and thwart a shot on goal.
Charlie Davies is an example of how to use blazing speed, ball skills and youthful determination when the opportunity arises. Davies, who plays in Sweden for Hammarby IF, looked prepared to show Bob Bradley something tonight. And if Bradley didn't see a bonafide attacking option in Davies then I fear we'll be seeing more of Taylor Twellman.
Don't forget the likes of Danny Califf - Aalborg BK (Denmark) - or Heath Pearce - FC Nordsjælland (Denmark) - both were very impressive tonight. Pearce in particular on some of his runs down the wing. Califf, for how he was willing to play a physical game and not show intimidation. The four aforementioned European based players are not featuring for clubs in Spain, England or Italy. They are playing in smaller leagues, but are still getting superior coaching and playing in matches where the competitive level is much higher than in MLS.
Anyone could have watched tonight's match and seen a real difference in skill when comparing these players to the ones in MLS. I don't want to knock MLS. I really don't. But I also realize that for the US to experience success at the next World Cup the entire starting lineup will probably need to consist of European based players. And your first 3-4 options on the bench should also be playing their club football overseas.
These players were not flawless. To be fair, they didn't have much time to train with or get meaningful matches with their teammates. I can't imagine when they get called back to the US camp they will miss having the likes of Kyle Beckerman, Eddie Gaven or Herculez Gomez around. I mean Eddie Gaven, you were shockingly awful.
So, if this Copa was to find the diamonds that the previous staff refused to dig deep enough to discover, Bradley has found them. Write the names down: Danny Califf, Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen and Heath Pearce. They are probably already in a limo on its way to the airport with Benny Feilhaber and Jay DeMerit heading back to their clubs. And they should be confident that this won't be the last time they pull on the US jersey.
posted by Anonymous at 8:01 PM
1 Comments:
Don't forget about Frankie Simek as well. You are absolutely correct. THe European based players that were virtually overlooked by Arena have shown that they are extremely viable options for the US National Team. The other pro about these players is their ages....either late teens or early twenties, which means that they will be around for AT LEAST 2 if not 3 WCs -
If Bradley and US Soccer start playing players that perform and start picking skill over politics we will see the team playing much better.
I don't see the Copa America as a complete failure. The game vs. Argentina for the first 70 was played about as good as you could play one of the best teams in the World. The game vs Paraguay - we could have finished 1/2 of the opportunities in front of the net - we would have killed them. Even tonight - with nothing to play for - you could see who was playing for something (their shot to be in the rotation for their "1st team".
I am a partner of the soccer website, www.zigazoga.com, and I have had numerous discussions with my partners about this. They all agree that we can be a team to beat in the next 2 World Cups if we start playing these players from Europe. I also think there are a few players from the MLS that could be viable options as well, like Ben Olsen to name one!
I think Twellman should have his pink slip after his performance in the Copa America, and I think that Landon is one of the most over-rated players on our team. He is Good when he is on - but his consistency is all over the place and he is off more than he is on. Eddie Johnson was very disappointing as well - with his speed he should be attacking every defender that he comes across.
All in all - this was a great learning experience for the younsters and although I thought the US should have taken this tournement more seriously, I think you will start seeing more of these "newer" faces appearing on the upcoming friendly rosters.
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