US vs Jamaica

Going to need FJ and SC to provide some width moving forward. It's going to be a nervous match for sure. Hopefully we can control possession and assert ourselves early. I'm in the office, but will be checking in as I can and will drop in to the chat if the situation allows.

 

A very different lineup from Friday - really ambivalent about its prospects. Well, if all else fails...There's only one Tim Howard! There's only one Tim Howard!! There's only one Tim Howard!!!

 

Will wait and see on the lineup...may work, may not. Hopefully, JK will know quickly and adjust.

 

U S A. Come on guys!

 

ESPN showed the same players but a different formation Nev.

----------Gomez------------Dempsey-----------
-----------------------Jones-------------------
----------Torres------------------------Zusi----
----------------------WIlliams-----------------
Johnson--Bocanegra---Cameron---Cherundolo
--------------------------Howard----

I am good with Williams sitting at the base of the diamond but I will be holding my breath over Jones sitting at the top of it if they really are playing a diamond midfield. I am guessing that could easily wind up morphing into Nev's 4-4-1-1.

 

Halftime summary - Dominating US performance comes up unlucky in the score column.

 

You get that feeling it just won't go in. JK needs to ensure they keep up the pressure. It will come. I just fear we might need two.

 

Solid outcome - enjoyed my 5 minutes in the chat...I kept getting kicked out. I'm not suspicious or anything... :shifty:

 

:banana-guitar: for the three points!

First-half summary
The US came out to win the match and Jamaica's match tactics were to put ten men behind the ball and play for the point. As well as the US played in the first half a good portion of the credit for our possession has to go to Jamaica for backing off and being content to keep players behind the ball and in front of the keeper as long as the ball stayed out of their net. However, you can hardly fault the US for not scoring in the first half. Klinsmann's tactics were sound and the players moved the ball fluidly around the pitch while slicing apart the Jamaica defense like a side of jerk pork. Zusi glanced a shot off the crossbar, Dolo that found the right post on a deflected shot and Williams ripped a screamer off the left post. It seemed more like fate was keeping the US from scoring than the Jamaican defense and when the whistle sounded the end to the first half the 0-0 scored seemed altogether unjust.

While pretty much the entire US team should be applauded for their play in the first half a few stood out above the rest for me.
The combination of Dolo and Graham Zusi on the right was outstanding. Their interplay and overlapping runs put the US in threatening positions during the entire half. If there was one thing lacking from the two of them it was the final cross into the box. Fabian Johnson provided the width as I expected he would on the left and had a terrific match in general both defensively and in the attack. He is proving to be a real threat with the ball at his feet with his deft runs forward. Perhaps the best first half performance on the evening came from Danny Williams. While manning the holding midfield position he was efficient with the ball and showed he has a shot from distance as well. I would be interested to see what his his passing percentage on the evening was but it seemed like he converted a high percentage to both retain possession after winning the ball and to get the ball forward into the offensive end.

The first half ends in a 0-0 tie that flatters Jamaica as the US was easily the dominant team.

Second-half summary

Jamaica's change in tactics was apparent immediately after the second half kick-off. It was obvious to both us and the Jamaican manager that the Jamaican's were unlikely to survive another assault on goal so I was not surprised to see them come out with much higher pressure as soon as the second half whistle blew. It was a subtle shift forward and not one that had them pressing to score when the half opened but the defensive pressure applied started in the US half and whatever momentum the US had built up in the first half was suddenly being disrupted with some frequency. The pressure did not stop Dempsey from doing what he so often does in drawing a foul in a dangerous position and Gomez repaid the Jamaican's for their free kick excellency in the previous match by finally putting a tally on the scoreboard in the 55th minute. After that Jamaica pressed the US and whether it was the Jamaican pressure, Klinsmann's substitutes or some combination of the two the US went off the boil and gritted out what became a fairly even match from the 55th minute to the end.

Player thoughts

Timmy didn't have much to do but he did what was needed well per usual.

Boca and Cameron both had pretty good matches although I thought there was a time or two that it looked like Jamaica's speed caught Cameron by surprise.

Dolo and Johnson were both excellent on defense and provided some much needed width in the US attack. Dolo is the better of the two for the moment but Johnson is a nailed on started at left back and, in my opinion, has the potential to become the best American international playing in our back line since I don't know who.

Danny Williams gets two thoughts because he was excellent as the holding midfielder and just so-so when moved out to the right but I'll get to Klinsy later.

Zusi and Torres both had good nights playing on the wings. I might bump Zusi ahead of Torres just a wee bit but only because his interplay with Dolo stood out. Torres was certainly not the invisible man tonight and if he can find this kind of consistency his minutes are sure to rise.

Jones get my blah comment of the night. He wasn't bad but he just seemed to go missing for large portions of the match.

Gomez gets his propers for putting the free kick on goal but other than that I didn't see much out of him tonight. He works hard or at least it looks like he is working hard but sometimes it seems like he squanders opportunities or just isn't in the right place at the right time.

Dempsey gets my "You're gonna have to do better than that son" speech. I know he is not entirely match fit but if you're going to pull on the shirt then play like it's important to you and I didn't see that tonight from Clint. Too many attempted back heel give aways when he had better options and the stopping to whine at a referee when you lose possession instead of trying to win the ball back has got to stop.

Klinsmann and his substitutions - I haven't been a Klinnsmann basher but tonight I had to wonder if Klinnsmann and I were watching the same match. The tactical switches just all seemed completely wrong. I questioned them at the time they were made but with the benefit of hind-sight I now can't believe he missed seeing what seemed so obvious to me at the time the substitutions were made. Klinnsmann brought on Shea for Torres at 67', Edu for Zusi at 72' and Altidore for Gomez at 80'. In the course of five minutes Klinsmann removed all of the ball control changes he made from the prior match by removing Torres and Zusi and pushing Williams out of the holding midfield position to the right wing. If you compound that with the fact that he left what looked like a shattered Dempsey on the pitch along with Jermaine Jones who had disappeared from the match by the late stages it leaves me scratching my head wondering if his substitutions were preplanned. Personally I would have brought on Edu for Jones and pushed him back into a deeper position next to Williams to aid him with the ball winning duties and I would have brought on Altidore for Dempsey somewhere between the 60 and 70 minute marks.

At the end of the day the main thing is they brought in three points and moved back to the top of the group. Onward and upward as they say.

 

Nice analysis - though a little hard on Deuce, given how much ground he covered continually dropping very deep and was effective as an outlet in the middle. Any other player on the USMNT would not have gone the distance in these games after a 3-month layoff. He wasn't very sharp, but I don't question the effort.
Torres passes backwards a lot - when he doesn't, he had some sharp passes that tantilize........if we could only have more of those.

Brek Shea still has his pic on a milk carton somewhere. Dude looks out of it.
Speaking of out of it......Edu still looked out of his depth tonight. He could be losing his spot in the pecking order to Williams. He may also be seeing a lot of the bench at Stoke.
Jozy continued to demonstrate a first touch of stone. Any Chivas/MLS fans wanna update us on what Juan Agudelo has been up to? If he isn't getting called in, I take it the move West hasn't caused him to suddenly blossom....

Love me the Ian Darke. While I don't subscribe to the notion that we need all Brits announcing our games - I do enjoy his commentary. Thanks ESPN.

 

I think i'm in the minority on this one. actually i know i am because even my friends are telling me to shut up. but, i'm worried that we only managed 1 goal in that performance. yes, I realize Jamaica started with 10 men defending. but with the shots we were getting off and still creating opportunities, i would have liked for this game to be over at half. As the team progresses, they won't get 3rd and 4th chances against better competition. Don't take this as me being upset with how they played. I think they looked great last night. I loved watching Zusi and really wish one of his would have gone in because he deserved it.

 

The crowd at crew stadium was epic. I'm surprised no one has mentioned that. Maybe you couldnt tell on TV but pretty much the entire stadium stood for all 90 minutes - and the support was 95% red, white, and blue. That was the seventh USMNT game I've attended and I have never seen anything like it. A match I will never forget that's for sure.

The entire starting XI were truly responsible for last night's crucial win, but the standouts for me were Zusi, Cherundolo, Boca, Torres and Gomez. I also give huge props to Williams and was happy to see him play in his favored position. I'm not going overboard on him yet because he was playing def mid in a game where the opposition was parking the bus behind the ball so his job wasnt as difficult as it could've been for half of the game. When Jamaica pressed more in the second half I didnt have nearly as good a view of his play, but regardless he showed that Beckerman should never see the field for the Nats again in preference to him.

Boca is our captain and showed it last night. When you see the amount of space and how well he commanded it in the back, not to mention his communication with Cameron, I think he needs to be in the starting XI for all the remaining qualifiers. We simply need his leadership and he showed no signs of slowing last night. Cameron can learn a lot from him. Fantastic, inspired play from Boca, wow.

Zusi and Cherundolo, as everyone mentioned, were quite the tandem. I had no idea Zusi was so talented; at least last night, he showed incredible skill on the ball.

Torres was always, always there to support his teammates and keep the play moving. He should not have been subbed off and we suffered in possession once he was.

For me Gomez was the man of the match. He has confidence and works so hard, so nice to see from a forward. Jamaica left him very little room to work in and he managed it well, much better than Dempsey. I hope he is penciled in as a starting forward for all our games in the near future. As for Dempsey, I completely agree with those who said he should've been subbed. He wasnt going to score last night unless he was given the type of gift he got last Friday. Compared to the other nine field players, he wasnt chasing down gettable balls and he gave up easier in head to head battles. He had a two or three chances where he could've and should've taken a shot but he chose to pass it. An in form Dempsey takes those shots. Also his touch and passing was the sloppiest on the pitch for the USA. In his defense, I agree with SBG, he covered a lot of ground. At times he was deep in the def mid position and obviously at other times up top.

I thought Jones was fantastic last night. He battled and battled in the midfield and it was critical to the US dominance in the first half. He really is afraid of nothing. His passing was superb, quick and decisive, just like Torres. However, he eventually got too wrapped up in bickering with the ref and his opponents. I guess he shows the kind of "nastiness", and willingness to engage in head games, that Klinsmann wants more from the US players, but I prefer Gomez' way of getting the job done. Barry when Jones disappeared late in the match he was ball-watching, clear as day. Dont know if it was mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion, but there was a definite shift in that regard.

Fabian made himself a regular threat in the first half; his first touch was impressive. He was very good but US's left side was simply over shadowed by what was going on on the right. As it stands now I prefer him easily over Castillo and probably over Orozco-Fiscal at LB. But I think the latter is still worth a look by Klinsmann.

As far as Klinsmann's subs he got them all wrong. Torres and Gomez should not have left the pitch last night. I wont add to what others said about Shea other than after the way he was muscled off the ball on Friday by a smaller, less experience Darren Mattacks, he should not have seen the pitch in this match unless it was as the final sub. Jozy should've been the first sub (we really needed another goal), and while I love Mo Edu he was terrible yesterday and not good on Friday either so Klinsmann should've had a clue. However, I think Klinsmann may have gotten a clue about CONCACAF qualifying and might begin to show it the kind of respect it deserves. He looked completely exhausted and genuinely humbled when he spoke after the match about what a difficult team Jamaica is to play. Now maybe he will spend more time on the senior team and less time preventing 14 yr old prospects from playing high school soccer.

 

While I admit to watching very little MLS (love me the Dynamo's rockin' Orange shirts though) and even less SKC action - I did see Zusi when my son and I went to the USA/Venezuela friendly in Phx a while back. Zusi's talent and skill with the ball was evident, but he tended to dribble too much and gave the ball away quite frequently (as did Brek Shea in that game). However, the FBs that night were AJ DeLaGarza and Heath Pearce. Ugh. There was virtually no link-up play down the sidelines. He showed some flashes that day though.
Paired with Dolo last night - Zusi looked very good, and promisingly - composed with the ball. An American player - composed! With he and Torres together, our possession/passing was totally different just 4 days after we looked like poo. That was great to see.

I had watched Cameron play several times - thanks to Orange kits - and his coming out party vs. Venezuela was fun to watch in person. He was our best player that night, and his play continues to impress. The EPL could be good for his game, though he took a huge step down in the quality of the kit he now wears.....

 

Thanks for the first hand account Mo! Unfortunately the crowd noise did not come across well that I recall. The announcers made a big deal about the crowd applause between the 9th and 11th minutes and ESPN panned to show the crowd waving the flags but the noise level never really changed.

Sounds like the player that I might be under selling a bit is Gomez. Did anyone think the early contact in the box was a foul and a fair shout for a PK?

 

:clap: Great match wrap ups Mo & Barry!! Hope to hear from JackCaz and Mister F who were in the stadium also.

Barry, good no call on Gomez from what I saw.

I know it's easy to pile on Brek Shea for his play, but one thing that PISSED me off is when he flopped trying to get a yellow card when the ball was in the corner. It was something I would expect from a country (or Ronaldo) where diving is a perfectly acceptable practice. I hope Boca or one of the other leaders sees that on film, pulls him aside, and tells him if he does it again he'll hit the deck for real.

 

The AO and Crew Supporters section werent any louder than any other match I've been to, primarily because I didnt notice any drums or brass instruments. However, what amazed me the most was that everyone, not just the American Outlaws, stood the entire match, all over the stadium. I was really shocked. I thought after the two minute tribute to 9/11 people would sit down but they didnt. Also, there were little bands of organized support all around the stadium, not just in the AO section. It was just the most dominant American crowd I've ever seen and it was really nice. Just more evidence of the continued strong growth of the sport in this country.

I know Jamaica is a small country so you're not going to see the numbers that you see for Mexico, but I was at the Jamaica - US Gold Cup match last year at RFK and the crowd there was not so dominantly American. I'm biased because I grew up in the midwest but I would really like to see US Soccer have more matches in the mid-sized cities of Americas heartland. I bet you would get the sort of home field advantage you see in Columbus in a lot of other cities. We'll see when we play Guatemala in KC. I expect that crowd will rival if not exceed anything you've seen in Columbus.