Heart and soul: making sense of U.S. effort at South Africa 2010
by Steve Davis on Jun 19, 2010 10:28 AM EDT
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There can be no doubt that success will find the
The Americans may want to believe their collective game has grown to the point that results can be generated through skill and tactical acumen. But that’s just not the case.
At some point, you are what you are. And this team is one that simply cannot take the field with anything less than 100 percent commitment to the cause and an equipment bag full of fighting spirit.
Look, for instance, at how
The
Expanded player ratings are here. A breakdown the tactical goings-on is here.
Five quick thoughts on the match are here. (Those are all from yours truly.) Here’s a nice piece on the on the barroom brawls that ensue in modern penalty areas. (His take on the referee was slightly different than mine; diversity of opinion can be a good thing.)
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Bob Bradley
It sems churlish to criticize after such a gutsy display, but reverting to 4-4-2 straight after equalizing when the US had their collective boot on Slovenia’s throat was a bit craven, wasn’t it? The disallowed goal had the whiff of karmic revenge for such a pragmatic act.
How so?
They did switch to a 3-4-3, given the sub of Gomez for Onyewu. This contradicts Steve’s article somewhat, but it seemed to me that Edu did not exactly slot back to a defensive position, considering he was the man who put the ball in the back of the net. I thought Bradley’s subs were brilliant, some of the best in-game management I’ve seen so far this tournament.
Thoughts on the England match? I thought Capello should have subbed off Rooney and Gerrard, just to prove a point. Rooney’s mind was not in the match, and Gerrard was playing scared. Rooney was just standing around, not attacking the game at all. Whenever he loses his focus like that I think he needs to ask himself “what would Carlos Tevez do?” And Gerrard had an opportunity to pull a Donovan and attack the goal when he got the ball on the right side of the box. Instead he squared it. To an Algerian defender. Heskey, God love him, was having an off night even by his standards, but I though he still gave an inspiring performance, since he was one of the few who cared enough to fight for every ball. They were a mess, and Capello doesn’t have much time to figure out what to do.
Not mediocre. Right about average
How so?
Because as soon as they scored you cuold see Bradley giving the instruction for two banks of four which is what happened. as I said, it’s a little churlish given the display but I feel you missed the opportunity to basically qualify there and then.
As for the England game, it was horrible to watch. Terrified players thinking too much about a system they clearly don’t buy into. If Rooney was anyone other than him he’d have been off before the hour mark, Lenon was clearly under instructions to play inside, the exact opposite of his club role and negating his major skill, Lampard was as anonymous as ever in an England shirt and the non-appearance of Joe Cole is the single biggest mystery this side of the Atlantic since the hunt for Iraq’s WMDs all those years ago.
Ah well, things can only improve, right? Right??
The difference that a win over Slovenia would have made
is that it would have allowed the US to get out of the group with merely a draw against Algeria. Honestly, the last thing on Earth I want to see from the US team is another game they go into thinking, “Hey, a 0-0 draw here would actually be fine!”
They still control their own destiny. Beat Algeria and they’re through. Let’s see if they figure out how to play hard from the opening whistle, at long last.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
