World Cup: USA v. Czech Republic
I'm going to talk about what happened today without falling back on my characteristic optimism. It's all in how I start.
What happened to the US soccer team today was a giagantic setback.
There. Now I'll skillfully smother some optimistic comments with commentary on what went wrong.
Going into the World Cup, we hoped that we were at least nearly on the same level as teams like the Czech Republic. Today we discovered we are not. We are a definite tier below, probably in the 10-20 range on the "Reality Rankings" compared to our 5th rating on the FIFA rankings.
Of course, the Czechs looked better than just about every team that has played so far. The only other team that finished as well as they did was Germany. The only other team that defended as well as they did was England, and that's only because Sven Goran Eriksson always bunkers in when he has a lead, no matter the time on the clock. Faithful readers may recall my previous statement that if you could combine the defense of England with the offense of Germany, you'd have your World Cup champions...ipso facto...ergo...thusly...valid...keep your eye on the Czech Republic.
It was the biggest blowout of the tournament thus far. But did the US play worse than any team so far? Let me rephrase that: did the US look like the worst team in the tournament so far? No. The numbers suggest that they very much in the game. The American's out-possessed the Czechs. They put up the same number of shots as the Czechs (10) with only one fewer hitting the target (3 on goal).
Speaking more subjectively, a number of players had excellent performances. Reyna was unlucky to hit the post in the 27th minute. Donovan worried the Czechs virtually every single time he dribbled the ball forward (which was, characteristically, not frequently enough). Oguchi Onyewu's poor clearance led to the second goal, but he was virtually unbeatable marking one-on-one. Eddie Johnson played excellent off the bench; he was the only American regularly looking to shoot.
OK, OK...too much optimism. I just wanted to say that the US has more talent than about half the teams that have played. I'll stop with the positive spin for now. There are plenty of other individuals that looked awful. I'm so disappointed in Beasley. Last year, he was scoring goals every fourth time he got on the field for PSV, and starting for the team during some champions league games. This year, his minutes have really fallen off. Now I see why. He looks terribly uncomfortable out there. Miserable, even. Part of the problem I think is he's playing on the right, instead of the left because Arena has Convey on the left. But still, he shouldn't be this bad. Where did the constant speed threat go from 4 years ago? The poor man's Arjen Robben? I might have to remove "DaMarcus Beasley Home PSV Eindhoven Jersey" from the top of my personal wish list if he doesn't shape up. I was calling for him to be subbed out most of the game.
Eric Wynalda (one of the few bright spots in ESPN's coverage of the Cup) blasted Beasley and Convey for playing the ball backwards too much, instead of taking on defenders. I agree to an extent. I think Convey played way better than Beasley, getting some crosses into the middle.
But the American crosses were no match for the Czechs. Brian McBride was thus completely useless. Overall, the Americans looked tiny next to the Czechs. I think they're a particularly giantic team.
The final point I'd like to make is that all three of the Czech goals were spectacular. The US didn't make a ton of mistakes on defense, but the Czechs made them pay for almost all of them. How many other teams have been as opportunistic? Rosicky's goals were two of the best shots in the tournament, and the Koller goal was a textbook finish off a textbook cross. Given those same chances, would England have finished as well? Not the England we saw Saturday. Not Sweden. Not even the Dutch, so far. In his excellent game log, Michael Davies points out that the US does not see finishing like that in CONCACAF. I'd go so far as to say that finishing like that will win you the World Cup.
But we'll see how things go in the next round of games...
What happened to the US soccer team today was a giagantic setback.
There. Now I'll skillfully smother some optimistic comments with commentary on what went wrong.
Going into the World Cup, we hoped that we were at least nearly on the same level as teams like the Czech Republic. Today we discovered we are not. We are a definite tier below, probably in the 10-20 range on the "Reality Rankings" compared to our 5th rating on the FIFA rankings.
Of course, the Czechs looked better than just about every team that has played so far. The only other team that finished as well as they did was Germany. The only other team that defended as well as they did was England, and that's only because Sven Goran Eriksson always bunkers in when he has a lead, no matter the time on the clock. Faithful readers may recall my previous statement that if you could combine the defense of England with the offense of Germany, you'd have your World Cup champions...ipso facto...ergo...thusly...valid...keep your eye on the Czech Republic.
It was the biggest blowout of the tournament thus far. But did the US play worse than any team so far? Let me rephrase that: did the US look like the worst team in the tournament so far? No. The numbers suggest that they very much in the game. The American's out-possessed the Czechs. They put up the same number of shots as the Czechs (10) with only one fewer hitting the target (3 on goal).
Speaking more subjectively, a number of players had excellent performances. Reyna was unlucky to hit the post in the 27th minute. Donovan worried the Czechs virtually every single time he dribbled the ball forward (which was, characteristically, not frequently enough). Oguchi Onyewu's poor clearance led to the second goal, but he was virtually unbeatable marking one-on-one. Eddie Johnson played excellent off the bench; he was the only American regularly looking to shoot.
OK, OK...too much optimism. I just wanted to say that the US has more talent than about half the teams that have played. I'll stop with the positive spin for now. There are plenty of other individuals that looked awful. I'm so disappointed in Beasley. Last year, he was scoring goals every fourth time he got on the field for PSV, and starting for the team during some champions league games. This year, his minutes have really fallen off. Now I see why. He looks terribly uncomfortable out there. Miserable, even. Part of the problem I think is he's playing on the right, instead of the left because Arena has Convey on the left. But still, he shouldn't be this bad. Where did the constant speed threat go from 4 years ago? The poor man's Arjen Robben? I might have to remove "DaMarcus Beasley Home PSV Eindhoven Jersey" from the top of my personal wish list if he doesn't shape up. I was calling for him to be subbed out most of the game.
Eric Wynalda (one of the few bright spots in ESPN's coverage of the Cup) blasted Beasley and Convey for playing the ball backwards too much, instead of taking on defenders. I agree to an extent. I think Convey played way better than Beasley, getting some crosses into the middle.
But the American crosses were no match for the Czechs. Brian McBride was thus completely useless. Overall, the Americans looked tiny next to the Czechs. I think they're a particularly giantic team.
The final point I'd like to make is that all three of the Czech goals were spectacular. The US didn't make a ton of mistakes on defense, but the Czechs made them pay for almost all of them. How many other teams have been as opportunistic? Rosicky's goals were two of the best shots in the tournament, and the Koller goal was a textbook finish off a textbook cross. Given those same chances, would England have finished as well? Not the England we saw Saturday. Not Sweden. Not even the Dutch, so far. In his excellent game log, Michael Davies points out that the US does not see finishing like that in CONCACAF. I'd go so far as to say that finishing like that will win you the World Cup.
But we'll see how things go in the next round of games...
posted by Prof. A at 8:33 PM
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