ASN: U.S. Veterans Unleash Harsh Criticism of Efficiency

Jozy Altidore, Tim Howard, and Bruce Area all expressed disappointment after Wednesday’s 2-0 win over El Salvador. Here is what the coach and a few key gamers needed to say concerning the efficiency.

BY

Franco Panizo

Posted
July 20, 2017
4:00 PM

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PHILADELPHIA—Sloppy, ugly, subpar. The U.S. nationwide group is aware of it was not at its greatest on Wednesday, and {that a} repeat exhibiting this weekend may spell doom to its CONCACAF Gold Cup title aspirations.

The U.S. moved by way of the quarterfinal spherical Wednesday evening by posting a 2-0 win over El Salvador at Lincoln Monetary Subject. Whereas the scoreline may point out a robust efficiency from the People, their effort as soon as once more left one thing to be desired.

The truth is, the U.S. prevailed solely by way of a late surge within the first half. That spectacular 10-minute spell apart, the People weren’t overly convincing or dominating from the run of play. Some may even say they had been poor.

“We have to do better. I told the team afterward I just thought it was some simple things,” stated U.S. head coach Bruce Area. “Our passing wasn’t good, we didn’t maintain the ball up effectively sufficient, we didn’t transfer effectively sufficient off the ball. We’ve got to be just a little bit higher.

“Give our opponent credit. I think they played us hard, they got in on a bunch of tackles that rattled us at times. We could’ve been a little bit better.”

The phrases “better” and “sharper” had been tossed round fairly a bit by Area and his gamers in the course of the postgame, and with good purpose. The People, regardless of having heavy hitters like Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley on the sphere, didn’t create a lot hazard regardless of successful the possession battle 59 to 41 p.c.

A scarcity of service to Dempsey and fellow ahead Jozy Altidore contributed that, however so too had been the general absence of concepts and sharpness within the remaining third from the likes of Bradley, Darlington Nagbe, and Paul Arriola.

“Sloppy,” stated goalkeeper Tim Howard of the efficiency. “Our passing needs to be better. We controlled large parts of the game. We just didn’t execute in terms of moving the ball through the midfield, doing it quickly. That needs to be sharper and better. We had giveaways in bad spots. They created chances based off our giveaways.”

For the People, this efficiency was not a one-off however quite an extension of how the U.S. has performed up to now within the match. This Gold Cup has seen the Yanks underwhelm in all however a 3-0 victory over Nicaragua, and even that affair got here with its struggles.

A stiffer opponent in Costa Rica awaits in Saturday’s semifinal, and the U.S. is absolutely conscious that it has to boost the extent of play to be able to proceed the pursuit of its first Gold Cup trophy since 2013.

“We’ve got to be better putting our stamp on these games,” Altidore stated. “Clearly, look, we gained the sport, we’re proud of it, however these are good workout routines for us to now develop as a group and study to dominate these video games higher.

“We can’t be coming out flat like that,” added Altidore. “As the games get tougher now, a good Costa Rica team, they’ll punish you if you come out like that.”

There’s worth in posting wins even when you’re not acting at optimum ranges, however the People have had a positive highway to the semifinals. Now, their first actual take a look at is on the horizon and with it comes the necessity to get higher and sharper.

“We know it’s going to be a tough challenge,” stated Dempsey. “We’ll have to be at our best to get to the final.”