In the rather choppy wake of its unbelievably bad fourth-place showing in the Gold Cup, it’s now time to begin analyzing what went wrong for the U.S. men’s national team and how it can be fixed ahead of what may be a make-or-break game against Mexico for manager Jurgen Klinsmann.
Other than a 6-0 demolition of Cuba in the Gold Cup quarterfinals, the U.S. team looked disinterested and without strategy or tactics in its remaining five games in the Gold Cup.
Klinsmann blamed the losses and poor play on the competitiveness of the tournament, saying how badly the other teams wanted to win.
Well, what did he expect? It’s a tournament. Every team, save for perhaps Cuba whose players were more interested in defecting, and the referees, who were more interested in Joker-style chaos, wanted to win.
And what does it say about his management that his players didn’t want to win on home soil as badly as the remaining teams?
If he expected this year’s Gold Cup to be like the 2013 version then he wasn’t paying attention. Many of the teams didn’t field their full-strength squads then, which is typical the year ahead of a World Cup.
How can Klinsmann and the U.S. get this turned around in time for the Confederations Cup playoff against Mexico on Oct. 9 at the Rose Bowl?
Because Klinsmann isn’t going anywhere as coach or technical director, the easiest fix is team selection. It needs to be improved, and meritocratic picks are a thing of the past.
In other words, if you aren’t playing well, you aren’t going to play.
Scrutiny should fall on the following players: Right back Timothy Chandler, center backs John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado, center midfielder Michael Bradley, winger Grahm Zusi and forwards Jozy Altidore and Chris Wondolowski.
Klinsmann is often criticized for his team selections – not having a replacement for Altidore in Brazil at last year’s World Cup – and leaving off Landon Donovan because he wasn’t fit come to mind.
Flash forward to this year: the U.S. defeats Holland and Germany in friendlies with a younger lineup.
Klinsmann carried some of those players over to the Gold Cup, including much of the same back line. He began to tinker with the midfield and forwards, not including Bobby Wood, Juan Agudelo, Jordan Morris and Danny Williams – each of whom played pivotal roles in those upsets of the European powers – in the Gold Cup. Some were injured, some simply weren’t selected.
It must be recognized that those players may form the nucleus of the teams that will play in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, assuming the U.S. qualified. Based upon the Gold Cup, that’s not a given.
Instead of those younger players in the Gold Cup, Klinsmann went with the usual (Altidore, Zusi, Wondolowski) and the results weren’t good anywhere on the field.
The U.S. had no offense, really not even a recognizable tactic, in the Gold Cup. It scored two goals in its final 210 minutes and both came off goalkeeper errors, as noted by the MLS Armchair Analyst.
The U.S. was outshot 85-47 in the tournament, not counting the blistering against Cuba. That stat came from the Armchair Analyst on MLSsoccer.com.
Because it couldn’t generate any offense, the defense was consistently under siege. Neither Brooks nor Alvarado played well. I’m not sure who would have played well facing that much pressure.
Something needs to quickly change.
First, bring back the young players that helped beat Holland and Germany. Zusi, Wondolowski and Altidore can be dropped.
Second, Either Bradley needs to be benched (which won’t happen), moved back to his defensive midfielder role, or, if Klinsmann is going to continue to insist that he plays as an attacking midfielder, he needs a partner in crime in the midfield to try to get the offense moving. That will necessitate a change in formation into either a 4-5-1 or 3-5-2.
Bradley has had a few good games in that attacking role. Unfortunately, almost all of them have been in friendlies and not in tournament games. He is a decent passer, but is hesitant to shoot when he gets the ball in the penalty box, which happened frequently in the Gold Cup.
Third, keep an open mind, something Klinsmann didn’t do in the Gold Cup.
It was obvious in the group stage that for whatever reasons Brook and Alvarado weren’t playing well. Klinsmann had a chance to make a fix before the the quarterfinal by bringing in someone like Matt Besler, but instead brought in left back DeMarcus Beasley, which served no purpose.
As for the rest of the squad, it’s time for Klinsmann to pick a lineup and formation and stick with it, barring injuries.
Saturday’s starting lineup was once again different than the previous game’s. Klinsmann hasn’t started the same 11 in consecutive games since 2014. It’s hard to build chemistry and trust when you never know who is going to be beside you and your role is constantly changing.
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