ASN: Was Friday’s Loss a Hiccup or Proof that the US Stinks?

Disorganized, dispassionate, timid—the U.S. males seemed defeated from the get-go Friday night time. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta rewatched the staff’s 2-0 loss to Guatemala match and didn’t like what he noticed.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
March 27, 2016
8:00 AM

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THE LAST TIME the USA confronted Guatemala it cruised to a 4-0 win in a July pleasant at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Two years earlier than that the Yanks thumped Los Chapines 6-0 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

That 10-0 mixed rating line is to be anticipated as Guatemalan soccer has fallen on laborious instances. The staff completed in final place in its group on the 2015 Gold Cup and didn’t even qualify for the 2013 version. Ronald Reagan was president the final time Guatemala defeated the USA.

Till Friday, that’s.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s males made the hosts appear like an rising regional energy in a powerful 2-0 loss in Guatemala Metropolis. It appeared as if the USA, not Guatemala, had been the down and out program over the previous decade.

Whereas the People have superior out of World Cup group play in three out of the final 4 World Cups—a formidable file—current indicators counsel this system is in deep trouble. The disappointing pleasant leads to 2014 had been alarming. The fourth-place end in final yr’s Gold Cup—throughout which the Yanks had been constantly outplayed and outshot—elevated the hand-wringing. Mexico’s domination in October’s CONCACAF Cup confirmed suspicions.

And Friday’s horrible show counsel that the USA males’s nationwide staff has pervasive points—for ever and ever. 

The U.S. is now not a dominant regional energy. It appears like it’s simply managing to maintain its head above water. This is not about introducing a number of new gamers into the combo to resolve the issue. No, it runs deeper than that. The gamers’ physique language spoke volumes: They seemed defeated, pissed off, not sure of themselves, and confused.

I watched the sport a second time—so that you would not need to—and made various observations.

Lower than the sum of its elements

Sure, Klinsmann needed to cope with accidents: John Brooks returned to Hertha Berlin, Matt Besler suffered a concussion on Thursday, and Fabian Johnson continues to be recovering from a strained groin.

However this staff, on paper, was able to a lot greater than it displayed on Friday. The USA participant pool options sufficient expertise that it might produce six completely different groups able to beating Guatemala. Alejandro Bedoya, Bobby Wooden, Geoff Cameron, and Edgar Castillo are all having fun with superb seasons however none had been in a position to come near replicating that degree of play for his or her nationwide staff.

And sure—Klinsmann’s dedication to deploying his gamers out of place continues to perplex.

Alejandro Bedoya struggled in opposition to Guatemala however he spent so much on the left aspect of the midfield. At Nantes, he performs largely in a central, attacking function. (Sometimes he performs on the proper however he cuts in so much.)

DeAndre Yedlin is incomes common minutes at proper again for Sunderland and is performing nicely for the English Premier League membership. For some motive Klinsmann nonetheless doesn’t need to give Yedlin the keys to the proper again place for the U.S. and as a substitute strikes him into the midfield—the place he doesn’t look snug.

Michael Bradley continues to languish within the No. 10 place and whereas Geoff Cameron continues to see occasional minutes at proper again for Stoke, he has been fairly clear that it’s his third-best place—after central protection and central midfield.

Combine Diskerud, in the meantime, has been struggling for New York Metropolis FC and his function is unsure as both an attacking, defensive, or box-to-box midfielder.

Then you will have gamers like Michael Orozco incomes the beginning, which displays the coach’s unwillingness to broaden the depth chart. Orozco has had some first rate video games for the U.S. however he has not performed a minute in Liga MX in 2016 and the 30-year-old has even featured for Tijuana’s U-20 aspect. 

The USA doesn’t resemble a staff in the mean time. It is a assortment of people who’re not sure of their roles. 

One other Poor Begin

It will be one factor if the USA got here out swinging, struggled to execute, and Guatemala discovered objectives in opposition to the run of play. However that was not the case Friday night time.

Within the first aggressive recreation of 2016 (and the primary recreation to characteristic European gamers on a FIFA date), the U.S. seemed timid and unfocused from the opening whistle. There was no killer intuition on show regardless of the chance to ascertain a dominant place within the semifinal spherical of World Cup qualifying. There was nothing that steered the gamers had been hungry to place an unpleasant 2015 behind them.

The staff seemed completely unprepared. To get beat on a objective kick up the center is just inexcusable—one thing you by no means see occur to high quality groups. 

The People could not bury their possibilities however these issues occur occasionally. The shortage of preparation, nevertheless, displays a disconnect between the gamers and the coach and doesn’t bode nicely for future qualifiers and this summer season’s excessive profile Copa American Centenario.

Nagbe was a shiny spot

Bobby Wooden was fairly good and Edgar Castillo had his moments at left again, however Darlington Nagbe was the one Yank who actually had a great recreation. He got here on for Diskerud at halftime and proved efficient in main the assault. Early within the second half the U.S. generated a handful of high quality scoring possibilities and Nagbe was concerned in every of them.

Clearly, Nagbe is prepared for a much bigger function on the staff and Klinsmann must combine the Portland Timbers midfielder into his core group of gamers.

Tuesday is all of a sudden a must-win

Klinsmann will possible make some some personnel modifications for Tuesday’s rematch in opposition to Guatemala. He might even strive utilizing gamers of their pure positions.

However the first 20 minutes of the match needs to be revealing: If the gamers come out of the gate fired up and centered, it will likely be a really optimistic signal. If they don’t, the U.S. males’s nationwide staff program is in deep trouble.