OT: What went wrong... USA

What went wrong USA

So once the game ended and I stared at my half empty bottle of bourbon I decided to look back and see what really went wrong. Being a soccer player my whole life and coached by some of the best in the MLS (Caleb Porter) I felt like I would be able to come up with some thoughts as to what happened/why.

I first decided to look at our opening line-up vs Ghana since I have a good feeling this is what the USA would have looked like if Jozy had been fit. If you really look at it it's the perfect way for us to use all of our assets properly! You have Jozy and Clint up top to play off of one another, Bradley has plenty of help in the Midfield, and we have great cover with Beckerman. Jozy is best used as a target forward so he can hold the ball up and then Clint can play a little withdrawn behind him (false 9). If you watch the goal Clint picks the ball up at the top of the box from Jones beats a player then from there its classic DUECE! After that you really saw us trying to play Jozy deep and time after time Dempsey was withdrawn there to receive a pass if needed or make the run forward. 20 minutes come up and our hearts drop and you get that downright stomach ache when you see Jozy pull up in pain and go down. Jurgen decides to bring in Aron Johannssen and play the same way but we all saw that it wasnt as effective and Dempsey had to play that target forward with Johannssen withdrawn. However John Brooks Jr. can have multiple drinks on me and they said we werent GHANA do it but the Germerican had other dreams!

lol

Game 2 vs Portugal- After Jurgen saw the pressure/lack of possession we had in the Ghana game he decided to try a 4-5-1 with Dempsey again playing that lone Forward role. This time we got rid of the diamond midfield and played a more defensive shape with 2 Defensive Mids and 2 Wingers/Mids and Bradley was in the middle. From the get go looking at this line-up and the 1st games lineup you can see exactly how much more space Bradley is going to have to cover. Not only will he have to cover but he has to be that 2nd or 3rd guy in the attack, however Bradley is more of a DM, not an AM or withdrawn 9 like Dempsey played vs. Ghana with Jozy. We basically are playing a 5-3-1 if you really want to call it that, look how deep jones and Beckerman are that creates a ton of space in the middle and with only 1 true middle player that spells trouble. Yeah in the game it changes a little bit but we honestly couldnt connect 3 passes to break out of our defensive zone. Everything was kick it long and have Dempsey chase, again thats not Dempseys style or his strength. Yeah he should be able to play multiple roles but to compare the 2. Its like telling Logan to play TE and QB.. oh wait he did. Its like having your slot receiver run go routes all game. Hes not going to be very productive but he will do it. Back to the game, Bradleys lack of control/patience in the midfield was very visible and he seemed flustered with no help. What can you say; he basically had 1-2 options to pass the ball and really only 1 good option every time he got it. It hurt us because every time we tried to play out turnover or bad pass or a good pass but just not in the right position to receive it and play again.

lol

Game 3- Tim Howard was an absolute beats, played his heart out for his last WC game ever but came up short. The key moment of that game was when Lukaku came on and was playing against some tired and heavy legged USA defenders. That's just not fair, Lukaku is an animal, and for Belgium to have him on the bench is just unreal. However Origi did what he needed to do, run the US defenders to Brussels and back multiple times. We had to put numbers forward so Wondo comes on in the 80th minute and has some chances 93rd minute, somehow wouldnt have counted but there was a Belgian player on the post Had that gone in and the sideline ref called offsides oh boy talk about messy. But if you look back Wondo played Jozys role, Dempsey got back to his false 9 role and Bradley was in his DM/CM role. In Extra Time Bradley is able to pick the ball up and have 3,4,5 options going forward, yes we were pushing numbers up but this is where Bradley is magical. He has time and space, when you pressure Bradley he isnt as sharp/crisp. When he has time he plays great balls (fabians goal vs Turkey) and the ball to Green was classic Bradley, a peach of a ball over the top. In the end we were able to see the brute force Lukaku has and the man can finish. Id also like to welcome Kevin De Bruyne to the scene as he was Belgiums engine in the Midfield. Absolute tank with all the right pieces to become something special like a robben( minus the diving). The ball De Bruyne played for Lukakus goal was world class. How many times do you see someone put it to far in front or to fast or just not right, That ball was pristine, magical, orgasmic (you name it, it fits) and from there on out were in big trouble.

Screw Belgian Waffles and Chocolate, I prefer Hershey chocolate and Pie! #TeamPie

Key Points-

Jozy- I think the biggest reason we failed to control the ball and keep possession was the loss of Jozy. He gave us the flexibility to attack/kick it up and he could hold possession and play Dempsey and then were off. Once that changed youre trying to change the way the US has played for months. Look at all the warmup games lineup, its this Ghana formation. To change on the fly and have it work well or even somewhat well is extremely tough. Youre asking 2-3 players to change their roles and be more attacking/ play a different way and its going to take a while. Yes we saw glimpses of magic in each game, but the biggest factor was not being able to do it consistently.

Dempsey- Dempsey is not a lone striker; he is the perfect false 9. That means he will play a little withdrawn behind Jozy, collect the ball/header/pass and then find the wingers or Bradley making his run up to help. It worked so well in the 20 minutes of the Ghana game, we pressured and had some good chances. Once you put him on an island basically with only Bradley and maybe Zusi to help as we saw its not going to be too productive.

Jurgen- The guy is an absolute genious and for anyone that was giving him ZIMA before the world cup should go back to whooville. We had a young team, but the biggest reason we did well and never gave up was because it was a perfect balance between old and new. Jurgen was not afraid to put on youth and let them go, Yedlin played extremely well and has a bright future. Green scored a fantastic goal; the run he made was first class, Van Persie, Rooney, Sturridge like. He checked away then bolted toward the middle at an angle and then it wasnt the prettiest finish but damn it worked. Give Jurgen until 2018 and we will have a very special team for sure. He has a lot of young talent to work with but we also have some major holes. Howard, Jones, Beasley.

Ok Awards time!!!

Most Consistent Player- DeMarcus Beasley the guy busted his ass 90+ minutes every game, tracking back creating chances in the attack and really shutting down his side.

Secretary of Defense- Tim Howard I have no idea what life will be without Howard and I am a little nervous. However its been an absolute pleasure to watch the man play at the highest level for years. He is a top 5 keeper in the World easily and does so much for Club (Everton) and Country- USA!!!

Youngster of Tournament- This one was tough but Im going with DeAndre Yedlin- He came on in multiple games with 20 minutes to go and made instant impact. He set up the goal vs Portugal and had many crosses that were spot on. Ohh and he defended like a veteran and hes only 20, the future is bright for this man.

It was a great run, and I am so proud of our country for coming together and showing that soccer is a big sport in the US and its only going to continue to grow. The players did great getting out of the group and just came up short when it mattered. Yes we traveled the most out of every team, yes we were young but god damn were American and proud of it.

lol

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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This is my school
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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!