Live Blog: USMNT v Belgium

I've never done this before, but apparently, in the world of push-button publishing, no prior experience is hardly an obstacle that proves to be insurmountable. Let's do this.

Glad to see the back of you. Photo: David Maxwell/EPA

Looks like the US will start thusly:

Howard, Cameron, Gonzalez, Goodson, Beasley, Zusi, Jones, Kljestan, Davis, Dempsey, Altidore.

Looks a decently strong lineup. If you'd told me two years ago Beasley would be getting his 100th cap tonight as the USMNT's most viable option at left back, I would have slapped you, made you wash your mouth out with soap and warm water, and then led you in a rousing rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner." But what do I know?  

Belgium's lineup:

Mignolet (Doesn't he look like a 1930s Irish Gangster? Needles Mignolet?), Alderweireld, Kompany, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Fellaini, Defour, Dembele, Mirallas, De Buryne, Lukaku.

Am I the only one who sees Mirallas and Lukaku in this lineup then skips back to reread our center backs and lets out an audible, lower register "Fuuuuuuuuuuck,"?

Also, how would you punctuate that previous sentence? Period, quotation mark, question mark? Comma, quotation mark, question mark? Quotation mark, question mark? Seriously. I need your guidance.

Enduring Sports Center on ESPN before the kickoff. They're reliving Wayne Gretzky's '93 LA Kings game 7 conference finals game. Two things: Make "Little Wayne's" head bleed. And Holy Melrose Mullet.

God Bless Ian Darke's dulcet tones.

Teams are lined up and about to walk out onto the field. I think Mignolet has been vacuum packed into his jersey. Looks like The Flash. The 1930s Irish gangster version of The Flash.

Looks a decent crowd, but the football stadium rather dwarfs the faithful. Cleveland: Soccer hotbed.

They got #2 from "Austin Powers" to sing the national anthem!!!!!!

[Moment of silence for Oklahoma]

2' Those giveaways clearing out of the back are going to be soaked up by Fellaini.

3' Well done. Zusi. Tracked back well. Altidore needs a goal to get off the schnide, but that shot was poorly considered. Caught the US in transition and sprang the Belgium attack.

5' USA Jozy just showed up in place of AZ Jozy. Trips over a ball he brought down in the box. Meanwhile, in Holland...alternate universe AZ Jozy is celebrating his 1,000th goal...

...followed immediately by Cameron and Gonzalez doing their best underwater soccer impression. Slooooooow.

1-0 Waffles.

11' Cameron ran out of ideas there and apparently decided just to give it back to Belgium. Seems reasonable.

12' Ditto Klejstan.

"Will Fellaini follow Moyes to United?" Yes, Sir Ian. He will. Next question?

16' Great spell of possession for the US there, and then Altidore rocked the cute little Eredivisie touch and the move is over.

I will say this, at least Jozy is getting involved. I've seen too many USMNT matches in which he was anonymous. He's getting into good positions, he just needs to calm down and play within himself a bit more.

23' GOAL!

Great ball back across the goal from Deuce off the corner kick. Waffles got caught napping on the back post after the initial ball cleared them. Maybe that woke up Cameron?

1-1

Zusi needs a new haircut. It's less "international soccer player" and more "Omaha soccer mom at LA Fitness." He's got resources. I mean, Dempsey plays at maybe the best hair side in club soccer. Surely he can do Zusi a solid and get him a good hair guy. Am I wrong here?

Ian Darke seriously just said "beautiful" and "Lake Eerie" in the same sentence. He's a professional, folks.

If I'm Belgium and I'm trying to get firmly back on top of this match, I start pressing a little higher, especially when Gonzalez, Cameron, or Goodson are on the ball. They look ponderous and unsure of where their outlets are. Belgium isn't pressing at all and Gonzalez especially is taking so long moving the ball that they're still closing him down.

36' Vermaelen is off and Potonglioliognioloio is on.

I want to see Davis on the ball more. Facially, he's like Stewie from Family Guy and Merry from Lord of The Rings had a kid, but he looks bright and sharp on the ball.

41' Oh, thank God. Dembele is coming off. Oh, fuck Benteke is coming on.

Hazard, Benteke, Witsel, Lukaku, Mirallas, Fellaini. These guys have a chance to be so good they finally put the kibosh on that whole Flemish v French thing.

First half takeaways: Our back four, minus DMB, are too Stoke like. Belgium hasn't put it past third gear yet and Cameron, Gonzalez, and Goodson just look too ponderous, ungainly, and lacking in recovery speed. If they were all superior technical players with flawless positional sense, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but there were at least three occasions in the first 45 minutes that had one, two, or all three of those guys in a really unflattering Monkey in the Middle situation.

When Winston Churchill described Russia as a "...riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma," he could just have easily been talking about Jozy Altidore in a USA jersey. I'm flummoxed. Can we get Gyasi Zardes in the mix already?

I'm off to grab a Kaliber out of the fridge. You heard me. Kaliber. It's a school night.

Ok, here we go with the second half!

Bring on the subs and let's watch this thing devolve into a disjointed kick in the park.

Worst thing for Jozy? Coming off at half time. What could make it even worse? EJ bagging a screamer.

50' Guzan claimed that fairly easily, but Gonzalez still let Lukaku walk right past him. How do you lose Lukaku? He's like The Predator minus that badass cloaking thingy.

53' DMB played that like a boss. Looked a terrible mismatch and Beasley stayed with him with every turn and won the ball back. Credit where credit is due.

56' Gonzalez and Goodson have been...poor. Twellman calls it growing pains, but that's a mistake in the international game as well as the club game as well as the pub game.

2-1 Waffles.

I just figured it out. Cameron, Gonzalez, and Goodson are in a competition to see who can most quickly go from goat to hero.

64' Boyd on for Davis. Meanwhile, Lukaku is settling into the game now and unleashes a bullet at Guzan. I would continue my Predator analogy, but I don't know what that little three pronged laser thing is called. Also, Fellaini just did what Fellaini does. Fro --> Ball --> Goal.

3-1 Waffles.

69' Besler on for Goodson. Evans on for Zusi.

71' That was too easy. Like way, way, way too easy. I can accept getting beaten by a side like Belgium if it's done with skill, but the old criticism of Klinsy's teams, that they look tactically deficient, is certainly going to be bandied about after this match.

4-1 Waffles.

I'm beginning to think the Kaliber may be a little too soft for me.

Beasley, minus getting walked past for the fourth, has looked good tonight. That's not the Kaliber talking. Or maybe it is the Kaliber talking. Kaliber is NA and I meant that as a stone cold sober observation. Yup, that's the Kaliber talking.

79' Beasley did BRILLIANTLY there. His little tip toe down the line deserved a better ball from EJ. Penalty is a harsh decision.

80' Deuce gets one back from the spot. score looks a little less ugly, but it's still discouraging to see nothing created from the run of play.

4-2

81' Holden is on! Bigger news, Holden's hair looks to be in decent form as well.

82' Johnson keeps getting into great positions but can't get the right ball in. Donovan *cough* Donovan *cough, cough*.

85' That looked a clear penalty. Whether Besler got the ball or not, he put himself in jail there with a terrible angle to the first ball.

90' It was only a matter of time before Jones got his name in the book. Probably looked up and saw the clock and panicked.

Well, that happened. 4-2 final score, but I think the score line flatters the US, if I'm honest. I don't think the sky is falling, but this seems to be a pattern under Klinsmann. Really all I can muster at this point is a slew of adjectives thrown on to the page like a bunch of spaghetti on the wall. Here goes: disjointed, tentative, lacking a focal point in attack (ok, that was a descriptive phrase...we'll call that a meatball to the adjective spaghetti), clumsy, faceless. Did I say disjointed?

Other US teams have been less talented, but they've played with a strong, shared identity and they've been better for it. The side under Klinsmann continues to look like a collection of 11 players who are all reading from a different book of music.

Final takeaway: If Belgium doesn't qualify for the World Cup in Brazil, there is no justice in this world. If you're not from Belgium (Flemish or French end), this should be your second favorite team. Also, waffles are delicious.

A Five Beer Analysis of The USMNT v Los Catrachos

I'm currently coming down (up?) from the emotion of right about 6PM EST and I'm feeling tentatively capable of putting fingertip to keyboard in an effort to process some of my thoughts regarding the US Men's National Team's loss today to Los Catrachos. It helps that I have a six pack of Rogue Dead Guy Ale in the fridge. Well, a five pack anyway. One down.

Two caveats:

1. Due credit to Honduras. This Honduras side is not your grandfather's Honduras side. They qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals and they seem dead set on repeating the feat in 2014. They are physical, fast, aggressive, and technically sound. Bonus points for having a jeans and faded polo wearing coach. He's like the anti Jose Mourinho. Many will decry the state of the pitch, the heat, and the humidity as being key, anti-US factors during today's match, but at this level, good teams should be able to overcome such discomforts and the Honduran players seemed to have absolutely no problem with the weather conditions.

Mandatory equipment this evening. 

2. This isn't a death sentence for the USMNT. CONCACAF qualifying is a slog. There are no easy games in the hexagonal round and a 2-1 defeat to Honduras in San Pedro De Sula isn't the worst thing that could happen.

Now that we have some perspective, let's talk about the match in a level-headed, sensible manner.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS JURGEN KLINSMANN THINKING?!?!?!

I  mean, good God, you've only days before fielded an entirely experimental side against a distinctly inferior opponent and called for calm in the wake of a horrifically amateurish performance using the excuse that it was an entirely experimental side in a nothing match and you were using the opportunity to bleed some young players into the full national team. Today, you run out Tim Chandler and Omar Gonzalez, two peripheral personalities in the full national side and you expected them to perform like precision machined replacement parts in a well oiled machine?

I mean, all week we've been hearing about San Pedro De Sula and how dangerous it is and about how passionate the Honduran fans are and about how hot and humid it is and about how CONCACAF qualifying is a long, arduous, difficult process and about how Grant Wahl was mugged there moments after meeting the Honduran president and about how important senior leadership is in away qualifying matches and about how Grant Wahl can't leave his hotel room and about how huge the strides are that Los Catrachos have taken in the last six years and did I mention how many times Grant Wahl has personally related his story about being mugged there?! And in response, we run out a starting XI that, while not experimental in formation, was decidedly experimental in personnel selection?

Hang on. I'm headed to the fridge for another beer.

Listen, I still have faith in the USMNT's ability to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil, but today's match, for me, was less about an undesirable outcome and more about the odd player selection and the manner in which said players were deployed. With Grant Wahl's unintentional help, I think we've established how difficult CONCACAF qualifying matches are when they're played away from home. In these sorts of situations, veteran leaders are necessarily relied upon for their experience, leadership, and general unflappability. Why Omar Gonzalez was starting in central defense next to Geoff Cameron, a player who hasn't played at center back for a considerable amount of time, is beyond me. Carlos Bocanegra is getting long in the tooth and Gonzalez would appear to be the future, but in this sort of match I want and need Bocanegra's experience and maturity marshaling the back line. On Honduras' first goal, I'm pretty sure Boca would have gone ahead and closed the service after the corner kick instead of tepidly running out to the left edge of the eighteen, having a think, and then crawfishing his way back into the area to nearly get kicked in the face while Juan Garcia posterized him.

Tim Chandler: Cap tied. 

The absence of Steve Cherundolo is more excusable as the right back stalwart and seemingly ageless wonder was ruled out of this match through injury. Having said that, watching Tim Chandler awkwardly run about and look totally out of his depth had me thinking, "This is what all the teeth gnashing was about? No wonder Germany didn't lock him up." He was more Timmy Burch from Southpark than Tim Chandler, saviour of American soccer's right flank. That was a short honeymoon. Chandler is cap-tied now and needs to get his shit in one sock ASAP. I know one game does not a career make, but Chandler looked consistently exposed, gassed, out paced, and decidedly un-Cherundolo like. There was a moment about three fourths of the way through the first half when Chandler was closing the ball down the right flank that I seriously thought was going to end with him on his back and a defibrillator hustled out onto the field. In a team that looked like it was playing underwater, Chandler looked like the manatee.

Hang on. That manatee reference made me thirsty.

Where were we? Ah, yes, the defense. Geoff Cameron is a legitimate talent and an incredibly versatile player. As The Shin Guardian would say, "He's a peanut butter kind of player." That is to say, he's versatile, smooth, and capable of holding different parts of the field cohesively together. While this is true, Cameron has been recently deployed for both club and country as a right back, center back, defensive midfielder, and attacking midfielder, it doesn't mean that he's particularly world class yet at any one position. Next to someone with the experience and leadership of Carlos Bocanegra, playing Cameron at center back is a calculated risk. Playing him at center back in an away qualifying match next to a green international is bat shit crazy.

On Honduras' second goal, Cameron failed to deal with a through ball he probably should have. In another match, maybe he gets away with it if his partner in central defense is alert to the possibility that things don't always go as planned and, hey, the ball could wind up on a platter for the guy I'm supposed to be marking. *Cough*, Omar Gonzalez. I think Bocanegra probably helps deal with that situation either by screaming his head off to make sure Cameron knows he has to deal with the ball or by tracking all the way back to cover behind the onrushing Tim Howard. Either way, he doesn't pull an Omar Gonzalez, start to track his man, think better of it, immediately regret his decision, and then wind up lunging desperately at the ball as Jerry Bengston scores the easiest goal of his international career.

Fuck. Fridge time.

There were some bright spots. Tim Howard did what Tim Howard does and can hardly be faulted on at least the first goal. Clint Dempsey scored a beautiful volley off a lovely chipped pass from Jermaine Jones. Seriously, it's a small thing, but the technique required to turn his foot over to hit that ball with his instep rather than the side of his foot is to be applauded. Classy finish. Jozy Altidore, although he had a serious drought of service, showed enough effort and desire to defend from the front that I think he may have taken to heart what is required to start for a national team. Midway through the first half, he chased a lost ball and put in a hard tackle to force a Honduras throw deep in their defensive third rather than allow the easy clearance back up the field. It sucks that I'm referencing Altidore slide tackles as bright spots, but I'm trying to stay away from the refrigerator for a couple of paragraphs.

Take aways from this match? A lot of attention has been directed at the defense and how it needs to adjust and improve with the looming retirements of Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo. I don't think that attention has been unwarranted and this afternoon's showing did nothing to assuage any fears. We're not blessed with a high capacity pipeline of players who can immediately plug into the national team set up. Gonzalez and Chandler have potential, but they aren't there quite yet and were cruelly exposed today.

"How was the game, guys?"

An equally pressing matter perhaps, is the lack of out-and-out wide players on the squad who can serve a ball and stretch a defense both horizontally and vertically. In the 4-3-1-2 the United States started in, with Eddie Johnson playing an odd left sided striker/winger combo role, the team seemed narrow and easily closed down (Landon Donovan). Klinsmann undoubtedly was counting on Fabian Johnson and Tim Chandler (Landon Donovan) to provide some width, but neither of them was able to get into the attack effectively and generally showed no impetus to do so (Landon Donovan). With legitimate wide threats (Landon Donovan), Klinsmann could have made a tactical adjustment to take some of the possession pressure off of the central midfielders and pin the Honduran attack back on the flanks (Landon Donovan), but all that was in his back pocket was Graham Zusi and Sacha Kljestan (Landon Donovan), two players naturally suited and more comfortable with central roles. The result was predictable. Needing a goal late in the game, the US was unable to find any width, stretch the Honduran defense, or serve a single quality ball into a dangerous area (Landon Donovan). If only we had a seasoned international with pace and the ability to play on either flank and produce quality service. Maybe one of these days.

Ugh. I want to end this with a carefully crafted and curled bow cascading in red, white, and blue, but I'm currently left with more questions than clear or even vaguely clear answers. Like I said before, today's result isn't a death sentence, but it was certainly an alarming knee-buckler. Here's to hoping we can get it sorted out. Was that a toast? I'm headed back to the fridge.
  

 

An Open Letter To US Fans and Pundits: Reactions to The USMNT v Canada Match

To Whom it May Concern:

There are all sorts of ways to evaluate a team's performance in any given soccer match. Some people use diagrams and arrows indicating general player position on the pitch and patterns of play, some just write about the match in general, and some people opt for the old reliable, yet incredibly subjective, 1-10 rating of player performance. I was toying with all of these forms of analysis last night while watching the US Men's National team take on Canada at Houston's new soccer specific stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, but I eventually scrapped all of that midway through the second half of what eventually ended as a 0-0 draw.

Said scrapping took place right about the time I hopped on Twitter to see what was being said about the match. You would have thought ESPN2 was actually broadcasting Jurgen Klinsmann and his USA C squad ritualistically defacing the Constitution and bludgeoning puppies with 2X4s. All the talk before the match centered around this being a chance for pool players well down the pecking order to get a run out with the national side and an opportunity for Klinsmann and his staff to evaluate individual capabilities.

Instead, fans and pundits alike, were busy making loud noises about how awful the quality of play was and how dire the state of US soccer that a national team couldn't beat lowly Canada in a home match. It strikes me that this is a little like going to your kid's high school play and being pissed that it isn't Broadway caliber or even watching a 4th NFL preseason game and drawing all sorts of negative conclusions about your team's chances to win the Superbowl.

Calm the @$#! down.

Of last night's starting XI, maybe two or three players who donned the US jersey are going to get significant minutes during the Hex. Of those, there's a very real possibility that none of them will feature at all if and when the US qualifies for the 2014 World Cup Finals. Realistically, many of the players in last night's team were just playing for another call up to camp and nothing more. Granted, the match was not pleasing on the eye, and that's an understatement, but there were a number of bright spots that should give US fans some hope that the squad has options and depth in certain areas. Kyle Beckerman was tireless in his role as a box-to-box midfielder; Juan Agudelo looked sharp in the attack; Matt Besler and Justin Morrow got forward well, although their final ball left a lot to be desired; and Omar Gonzalez did enough to suggest that he could be a viable option in the future as a partner to Geoff Cameron in central defense. To borrow from Robert De Niro's Untouchables speech, last night was essentially a time for individual achievement. Let's not beat the team or Klinsmann to death with a baseball bat because they couldn't get a win in an entirely meaningless match.

In some ways, the comprehensive outrage during and immediately following the match is a good sign that the USMNT is progressing to a point that they're expected to win all CONCACAF matches regardless the team that is fielded or the importance of the encounter. However, let's not pull an England and suddenly delude ourselves into thinking that we should win just because we are who we are. Canada parked the bus and we had zero success breaking them down, but it's not like even the highest quality national sides aren't prone to failing at this as well (see: every team Greece played in the 2004 European Championships, Manchester City yesterday, and Arsenal with alarming frequency).

It also strikes me as fairly ironic that some of the performances US fans and pundits coo over as all time great wins stem from playing exactly the kind of defense first, counterattacking style the Canadians tried to employ last night. There were the Italy and Mexico matches last year and the Spain match in the 2009 Confederations Cup.

In terms of tactics and personnel, I have every reason to believe that Klinsmann could have fielded a side last night that would have beaten Canada, but that's not what this match was about. CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying is a long, arduous, difficult slog and vanity wins over Canada aren't going to make that slog any easier. What does help is vetting young talent and knowing just what your capabilities are three, four, and even five players deep, even, and especially if, it turns out those players are just not quite yet up to snuff. Here's to hoping everyone has taken a deep breath.

Cheers,

Grass In The Sky

PS Still would have been nice to get that win though.