Time to look ahead to changes vs. Slovenia
by I need more Esteban on Jun 13, 2010 3:49 PM EDT
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After a hard fought point against the English, it's time for things to get real serious. In my opinion, we desperately need three points in this one. With Slovenia's 1-0 victory against Algeria today, they are in the driver's seat if they get any points in our matchup against them Friday.
I loved the way Jose Torres played during the Friendlies. He is a great distributor and I thought even made some great challenges on the defensive side as well. I start him and see if he can be an extra spark in the midfield. Then, when we're up in the 2nd half (I hope), Bradley could bring in Clark, Edu, or Feilhaber as needed.
The second change I would do is to start Buddle with Altidore up top. (Yeah big surprise right?) It's time for the wondering game to stop. Everyone wants to know if Edson Buddle is the real deal for this USMNT and it's time now to see what he can do. If nothing matriculates in the first half and early 2nd, bring on Findley as a speed spark or Gomez to score 2nd half goals like he's shown he can do. This is something that I would figure Landon Donovan would be clamoring for after he and Buddle's great start in MLS.
So let's get the discussion going. What changes, if any, would you make Friday?
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I agree
Torres should start, we need more offense against Slovenia, and Clark doesn’t offer that. Then he can be subbed out if we’re leading.
And I agree about Buddle, but Gomez should definitely be the sub. Findley has shown what he can do, now let’s see if Gomez can bring his magic to the WC. I would even considering Gomez for Altidore late in the game, if Altidore’s ankle still isn’t 100%.
That’s all I would change for now.
Insanity is just a state of mind.
100% agree...
… both with Torres and Buddle, and with your statement that this is a must-win. If we only get 1 point, we no longer have our fate in our hands going into the Algeria match. One would think that England should beat Slovenia, but if they beat Algeria and only need a draw to assure advancement, Capello will surely field a “B” squad, and Slovenia’s “A” team could very likely secure a draw against them.
If that scenario were to go down, England would be on 5 points, Slovenia on 5 points, and the U.S. on 5 points (with Algeria having 0). It would all come down to goal difference and goals scored… and those statistics rarely favor us.
Then again, we did beat Egypt 3-0 to advance out of the Confed Cup group… but I don’t want to have to rely on a result like that to advance in the World Cup. If we can manage to defeat Slovenia and Algeria, we can put it beyond all doubt. We need to come out with our hair on fire against the Slovenes, and Torres and Buddle are built for that kind of effort.
Not quite true
A draw and we still control our own destiny; a 2-goal win over Algeria would at worst guarantee advancing on goal difference if England, Slovenia, and us all end up tied at 5 points. On the other hand, a win of any sort over Slovenia means a draw against Algeria would be enough.
On the England B-teamers
England is in enough roster turmoil at present that I actually think that a squad of B-teamers would have plenty of motivation to play their hearts out and win a starting gig from Capello. Aside from Cole, the defense seems up for grabs and those guys would play hard. I’d expect Crouch work his ass off (what little there is to begin with…) to win the nod on teaming with Rooney for the rest of the tournament. Wright-Phillips would prefer to start, too.
In general, I absolutely agree that the US needs to go out and fight like hell to beat Slovenia. Slovenia, for their part, is not going to just sit back and look for a draw because a) they might not be able to draw with England in their last match, and b) as SpartanDan points out, they only beat Algeria 1-0. If the US and England do better than that, Slovenia would be SOL with only 5 points.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Totally disagree about the B squad
In your scenario of “England 4, Slovenia 4, USA 2” there is NO chance Capello plays for a draw. NONE. Maybe one or two “B” teamers will play, but Capello cannot take the chance that one more goalkeeping error will knock England out of the tournament. He has everything to lose and almost nothing to gain by playing the backups. He knows his team by now, there are no surprises and no reasons outside of injury or card accumulation not to play the starters and ensure winning the group with a victory. Depending on the other results Slovenia could hold the tiebreaker in a final game draw and win the group, and anything less than a group win is a failure for England. Capello has proven himself fairly smart and tactical so far and I cannot believe he’d take such a high-risk-low-reward chance.
by johnnycougar on Jun 14, 2010 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Not to mention
winning the group probably gets him Ghana or MAYBE Serbia in the round of 16, both surmountable opponents. Finish second, he gets Germany, and if Sunday is any indication, a trip home for the Three Lions.
Keeper blunders are the narrative this world cup
I so wish Algeria’s keeper had kept that late strike out; he just read the ball wrong and was poorly positioned - could have made the save. Now we face a really tough situation with Slovenia; they will be a tough nut to crack.
I like the inclusion of Torres rather than Clark, as Torres brings more creativity going forward and that is what we are going to need versus an organized and disciplined Slovenian defense.
With you on the changes
I don’t see any point in playing Findley (a striker who hasn’t demonstrated that he can finish) over Buddle (a striker who has emphatically demonstrated that he can) or Gomez (who seems to have an incredible knack for late goals as a sub). Less knowledgeable about midfield, so I’m not sure exactly what the best way to handle that is.
Is it possible that it would make more sense to start Edu or Holden in midfield
and bring Torres on at halftime or so? He’s a small guy, and I wonder whether the Slovenian midfield would just try to beat him up early on to get him off his game. If Edu or Holden starts, Torres could come on once the Slovenians are already a little tired, and his skills and precision might be more effective at that point. I’m no expert on midfield, by any stretch, but I’ve never been able to see what Clark brings to the team. And he really blew his assignment off that throw-in.
I definitely agree about Buddle over Findley. Is there any evidence that Findley can produce anything in a structured offense against a reasonably set defense? Buddle, on the other hand, seems like exactly the guy you want getting the ball 20 yards from the goal and ripping into the Jabulani to see if it’ll go in.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
I agree...
it seems most of us wonder why torres isnt playing more. You just never seem to notice that Clark is out there, except when he gives up goals, like he did to england and to brazil.
Altidore is the starter, but i get a sense that the other three are interchangable. Findley has speed, but so far hasnt really done much with the ball. He should be a 2nd half sub. buddle and/or gomez can succeed just because nobody really knows anything about them (just as landon did, 2 world cups ago).
Either way, i think those two changes would be small. I think the difference will be the way Bradleys play. He was terrible on sat. he couldnt dictate pace of play nor could he get the ball to duece or donavan. Maybe it was just the matchup since he played equally bad the last time we played england. and unfortunately, we dont have a substitute for bradley.
I didnt think England out played us or were any special. both teams just liked to kick the ball in the air. If we simply calmed down, collect the ball on the ground, and complete passes on the ground we would have looked much better.
Oh yeah, i dont know about you guys, but every time england had a set piece in our area, i had a heart attack. That also needs to improve…
Didn't think
Bradley was quite as bad as you say but I’m definitely not confident to say he played real well. I thought he did his job, though. We did not keep possession at all in the 2nd half so the blame for that can definitely be put partly on him.
You just never seem to notice that Clark is out there, except when he gives up goals, like he did to england and to brazil.
Put very well. Never hear his name at all until it’s something bad.
by I need more Esteban on Jun 14, 2010 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Agree that he didn't do much offensively
but I think Bradley’s assignment Sat. was primarily defensive. In that I think he was mostly successful: Lampard wasn’t much of a factor and aside from the early goal, Gerrard was limited also. Bottling up those two was key to the outcome, it forced Rooney to come back to try to get the ball, and the farther that guy is from your goal, the better.
Bradley should get more involved in the offense against the Slovenes, they don’t have any one guy that scares me and the US needs to dictate the pace.
Bradley
All he did was render Lampard and Gerrard completely ineffectual for 90 minutes. Defensive mids never get any respect.
Not mediocre. Right about average
by trza on Jun 15, 2010 9:48 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well, 86 minutes anyway...
Though, the goal certainly wasn’t Bradley’s fault. That belongs on Clark and Gooch. Clark for obvious reasons. Onyewu needed to commit to either the man with the ball or clog up the passing lane into the box. He did neither; just stood there like he was waiting for a bus.
I think Bradley and Clark both did their jobs very well on Saturday. Their jobs being to shut down the English central midfield. I believe that was the strategy employed by Bob Bradley (who also did a decent job on Saturday, though I would have liked to see the subs done a little earlier).
by DissidentAggressor on Jun 15, 2010 8:51 PM EDT up reply actions
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