Sad, sad, sad! USA gets beaten by Ghana again.
The extra time goal by Asamoah Gyan was a killer. What can one say? What can one do? You can’t keep falling behind all the time and pick yourself up time and time again.
At some point you have to take it to them and force them to play from behind. The US failed to do it in all the matches.
There seems to be a theme.
The US is a counter attacking team:
It is not built around possession. There are dividends and drawbacks to be had in that approach. Looking back at last summer at the Confederations Cup, the US coming from behind and beating Egypt and then losing to Brazil after being two goals up. We found that the US had accomplished this despite being the poorest passing team of all four semi-finalists. It was evident when Brazil went down and were able to get back in the game up as the US kept conceding the ball.
At some point there has to be a medium between the two approaches which comes from a complement of players who understand the importance of both.
Looking back at the statistics at the World Cup, once again we are confronted again at how little we keep the ball and the accuracy we keep it with. Now there are teams out there who pass more with better accuracy but did not succeed like Italy and France who were let down by their lack of pace. Both attributes are essential.
External attributes of motivation:
Why do we keep coming unglued in the first few minutes?
The answer might lie in the external attributes of motivation. When we go down, it is time to fight back. In short, we need an extrinsic symbol of being in trouble. The fighting spirit that the US seems to be endowed with means there is always a mountain to climb. Somehow, deep inside, it means a sport that has to compete with others that are far more towards the US mainstream. We still have to come to terms that we are actually a good team. Playing skillfully is different from playing to prove a point.
2 comments on “The USA run out of miracles: Ghana through”
Agreed. While Ghana’s display of cynical time wasting after their second goal was a disgrace to the game, and because of it I will now relish their inevitable defeat, they beat us simply because we failed to settle down in the middle. The USA will never take the next step until they have a midfield that can dismantle a defense. While I credit Donovan for his performance this Cup, I was really underwhelmed by the rest of the midfield’s ability to create space. The only truly free-flowing goal was Bradley’s against Slovenia, and that was thanks to a great run into the box that left Bradley free.
As for tw team we do have, Bob Bradley didn’t do them any favors by starting Clark. On what planet does a defender run at a man from his back line when he’s got support in two directions? Mind boggling. It’s going to take quite an awful bit of convincing for me to ever want to see another minute of Clark in a USMNT shirt.
Also count menin to question starting Findlay over Gomez. Granted, Gomez didn’t make much of an impact when he came in, (that deep in the match I’m not sure anyone would have) but my God you’ve got to be more punishing than driving a ball directly at the keeper on a clear break. We don’t need an Emile Heskey.
Oh well, now everyone can go back to caring about artificially-enhanced baffoons in bomb squad gear knockig themselves into early onset parkinsons.
” Oh well, now everyone can go back to caring about artificially-enhanced baffoons in bomb squad gear knockig themselves into early onset parkinsons. ”
Now, now – do we have anything against NFL linebackers? 🙂 They are supposed to be as sweet as lambs off the pitch.