All right soccer fans, where does the USA go from here?

[patdog]

Great win last night, but it raises more questions than it answers. Who replaces Altidore? Where the 17 was Bradley all night? We possessed the ball only 41% of the time last night (seemed like even less) but still won. We can't do that against anyone else we'll play. What needs to be done to get more possession.

I think we need to ditch the diamond midfield and go to a 4-2-3-1 with Johnson, Cameron, Beesler & Beasley in back; Jones & Beckerman at holding midfield; Zusi (he's got to play more), Bedoya and Bradley at midfield; and Dempsey up top. I know striker isn't Dempsey's best position, but Johannson didn't do anything up there last night. What do some of you who know the game better than I do think?

 

[seshomoru]

Part of the issue was with just how poorly Bradley played.

Maybe the pressure and importance of this game got to him a little bit. I don't know. But he looked nowhere near himself. He did nothing to get the ball up the middle of the field and had some bizarre loss of possessions.

 

[AssEndDawg]

We possessed the ball only 41% of the time last night (seemed like even less) but still won. We can't do that against anyone else we'll play.

We possessed the ball only 41% of the time because we had a lead and we were playing a defensive set for nearly the entire game.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Bradley is the biggest question to me by far. If only Donovan wasn't playing FIFA on his couch. I'm just hoping it was a case of not being prepared to defend a lead for 99 minutes. But still. We just needlessly gave away possession so often. It was bad and Bradley was the biggest culprit. Good job by the defense though, being bombarded the whole game, they really didn't give Ghana that many good chances.

 

[civildawg88]

Bradely was TERRIBLE yesterday.

Me and my wife were wondering if he was blind yesterday because of the way he was playing.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Our lead is exactly why we should've had more possession. All we should've been doing, especially after Jozy went down, was holding the ball, shortening the game. But we'd try to play a tough through ball and give it away or boot it out of bounds.

 

[seshomoru]

Just checked the passing distribution stats.

21 of his 56 passes went to the backs. He just didn't have any creativity in getting the ball forward. And I realize part of that is figuring out to play with a lead 34 seconds into the game, but he looked timid.

 

[Dawgsnsaints]

Bradley has got to play better and I think he will. Biggest concern is who replaces Altidore? We have the best scenario of getting out of the group that we could have. Get a draw against Portugal, don't get blown out by the Germans and then hope they sweep all members of the group.

 

[RebelAlumnus]

If you go with the 4-2-3-1 I think you have to have Wondo up top, Bradley in the middle (essentially CAM) with Dempsey (left) and Bedoya (right) on the wings. Bedoya has to play because he is such great help defensively. And we will need him to help cover Fabian when he presses forward in attack.

Or you could play a 4-3-3 with a false 9 in Dempsey at the 9. Beckerman/Jones/Bradley in mid, Bedoya left, Zusi right. But that is very forward and would probably leave the back exposed.

I think the best move is to keep the diamond setup and start Wondo. AJ is better in our setup as a 60+ sub when he can be creative after the opponent is more worn down. Wondo isn't a hold up guy, but he's always good at getting on half chances, a classic poacher.

Obviously, more important than our setup or who plays is that MB90 plays better.

 

[Desoto]

1. Bradley will play better. That's the worst he has played in a while.
2. I hate Jozy is hurt, but let us not forget he didn't score for a long time before Nigeria and some wanted him out of the lineup. I personally think we are best with him but we can play without him.
3. I trust Klinsmann. Everyone rode him for bringing young guys. Like Brooks. The guy who got us the game winner. Also the two guys, Brooks and Zusi, who got us that goal were subs. Good job Klinsmann.

 

[patdog]

Exactly. 41% possession is exactly what allowed Ghana to eventually tie the game. I think Jozy going down really hurt us and hurt Bradley in not having that big strong striker up top to help out. I like Aron Johannson, but as Red Victory points out, he's more of a late sub than a 90-minute guy at this point in his career. I think we'll see Bradley play more of his usual game against Portugal.

 

[patdog]

1. Bradley will play better. That's the worst he has played in a while.
2. I hate Jozy is hurt, but let us not forget he didn't score for a long time before Nigeria and some wanted him out of the lineup. I personally think we are best with him but we can play without him.
3. I trust Klinsmann. Everyone rode him for bringing young guys. Like Brooks. The guy who got us the game winner. Also the two guys, Brooks and Zusi, who got us that goal were subs. Good job Klinsmann.

1. Agree. Bradley rarely plays a bad game. I think not having Jozy up top really hurt him more than anyone else last night. Klinsmann will adjust and Bradley will have a better game Sunday.
2. Even when Jozy wasn't scoring, he was still a big strong presence up top who drew defenders and opened things up for other players. We will miss him. But we will adjust.
3. Agree. Klinsmann has done an outstanding job.

 

[AlCoDog]

I'm glad to see a thread with you guys who know what you're talking about pointing out a poor performance by Bradley. I have not watched much soccer the last few years after living it growing up, and thought maybe it was just me. At one point I thought the mafia had gotten to him and he was in on a fix. I thought he was horrible and didn't even look like like he was putting forth an effort of any kind. Anyway, hopefully he is much better vs Portugal. Game was awesome. I yelled so loud on the Brooks goal my kids came running in and asked me if State was playing.

 

[dickiedawg]

Yeah Bradley didn't seem to affect the game at all.

 

[RebelAlumnus]

I think part of the issue is he was a little overrun in the midfield and Beckerman isn't much help with possession. He also seemed to have unusual trouble gauging how he should hit most of his short passes, which I think was a product of the pitch (they talked a little about this right before Dempsey scored).

 

[idog]

Bradley had no support

that doesn't excuse him losing possession on multiple occassions but Beckerman is clearly subpar in this competition in terms of athleticism, Jones is all over the place and Bedoya is not a possession type player. Our lack of possession is hugely concerning but i think we will adapt to the 4-2-3-1 that did well against Nigeria and rely on counter attacking against Portugal. Portugal looked flatfooted and uninspired. if we come out swinging i think they will go down easily. if we get down early they will be very difficult to break down. can't rely on goal difference in this one bc Germany is going to shred us(and probably Ghana). let's hope for some nepotism in game 3 if Germany is already through...

 

[af102]

Don't discount Jozy going out of the game when thinking about how Bradley played. He is at his best when he can play the ball up to the forwards and get it back in the space they create. Jozy is built perfectly for that role. When he went down and AJ came in, the team's tactics had to completely shift because we no longer had a guy that would hold the ball up top. Dempsey and AJ are both going to attack the goal as soon as they get the ball, and it takes a little time to adjust to other players' tendencies. We looked pretty decent for the first 20 minutes, and then never really looked comfortable the rest of the game.

 

[121Josey]

Don't discount Jozy going out of the game when thinking about how Bradley played. He is at his best when he can play the ball up to the forwards and get it back in the space they create. Jozy is built perfectly for that role. When he went down and AJ came in, the team's tactics had to completely shift because we no longer had a guy that would hold the ball up top. Dempsey and AJ are both going to attack the goal as soon as they get the ball, and it takes a little time to adjust to other players' tendencies. We looked pretty decent for the first 20 minutes, and then never really looked comfortable the rest of the game.

^^^^THIS^^^^

 

[Alexi_Lalas]

Don't discount Jozy going out of the game when thinking about how Bradley played. He is at his best when he can play the ball up to the forwards and get it back in the space they create. Jozy is built perfectly for that role. When he went down and AJ came in, the team's tactics had to completely shift because we no longer had a guy that would hold the ball up top. Dempsey and AJ are both going to attack the goal as soon as they get the ball, and it takes a little time to adjust to other players' tendencies. We looked pretty decent for the first 20 minutes, and then never really looked comfortable the rest of the game.

I think you are spot on there. Klinsmann committed to playing 1 at the top and had Jones, Beckerman, and Bradley in the game. However, the US has no player on the roster that can replace what Altidore can do as a true, hold-up ST. Therefore, the US was stuck putting Johansson in a position he was not comfortable. But, we couldn't make 2 subs that early in the game so that we could switch to a 4-4-2 where Aron would have been paired with Dempsey up top and we would have removed Beckerman and put a different wide player out on the left. When Klinsmann put 3 CMs out there to start the game he committed to his 4-4-1-1 with a narrow midfield diamond and when Altidore got hurt it really messed up the game-plan. There was no target man for Dempsey and Bradley to play off of and they are both most comfortable playing off a target man and running at the defense. Also, by playing so defensive early, the US lost the width that should have been provided by Beasly and Johnson. Earlier in the game when the US was attacking (before Altidore went down) Johnson and Beasly (to a lesser extent) were providing the width down the flanks that allowed us to keep possession. Once the US went defensive, that width disappeared to an extent and Bradley had fewer option forward once he got the ball. Never the less, last night was not one of Bradley's best performances, and the US should be happy that they won despite that because he really is the engine of the US team. He will have to be much better in the next 2 games for the US to get out of the group.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

^^THIS. The USMNT isn't Jozy and the Pussycats but Altidore has a vital role.

 

[af102]

Our favorite ginger is in the house!

If Jozy is out for the rest of the tournament (which I fully expect), they will probably switch back to the 4-2-3-1 with Dempsey up top, Bedoya-Bradley-Zusi as the 3, and Beckerman-Jones as the 2. We really just don't have another hold up striker- even one we didn't bring to the tournament. The closest thing to Jozy out there is probably Terrance Boyd, but he still just isn't that great. I like Wondo, but I'm not sure how he fits in to the current lineup we have been using.

People will probably yell and scream that this is why we needed Donovan on the roster. Having him doesn't fix our current formation problem (but I do think he should have been included over Brad Davis, but that is a different story)

 

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

People are discounting how awful Portugal looked

I have seen many people in this thread hoping for a tie against Portugal. Obviously, they didn't watch the game before ours. They looked pitiful. Ronaldo was a non factor and one of their best defenders will be unable to play against us due to a red card.

That being said, we played awful. Bradley looked lost the entire game. Despite how bad we looked, I don't think a win against Portugal is out of the question, and if we get that win, we are through no matter what. We should treat the next game as a do or die type situation because I don't have much confidence with our team against the Germans.

I would love to see us make it through, but if we do we do not have an easy road ahead of us. If we come as out # 2 in the group we will likely be playing Argentina in the first elimination round. However, it would be fun to see us take on Messi and a historically underachieving Argentina club.

Going to be an interesting 9 days. GO USA!

 

[Sutterkane]

I was really hoping we'd see Wondo over Johansen. Wondo isn't flashy but he gets it done. Dude seems to always be in the right place.

I think the conditions last night contributed to us playing a little softer after our goal. Seemed like everybody was cramping up. Fire the damn water boy and somebody get those guys some pickle juice!

 

[RebelAlumnus]

Twellman talked about this exactly extensively during the match. AJ is a striker who wants to make over the top runs. Bradley's poor game as well as who else we had in the game limited his service. If we go with AJ next match I expect Zusi to be in for Bedoya as he is the creative type who can thread passes over and thru defenses from an inverted position.

 

[rem101]

This is probably what I'd go with, though I'm not getting $5mil to type this from my work computer. I trust Jurgen and fully expect Bradley to be back to the player we all know he is Sunday.