I took an early lunch this morning and stayed home to watch the USA in their all-important match up against Slovenia. It was a game of two halves, both in how we played and where I watched them. In much the same fashion as the England game, we came out flat and gave up a very early goal. I can’t explain why we’re doing this other then it’s down to unfamiliarity between the players and lack of confidence (i.e. our mental approach). Is this a sign we don’t really have a leader in the locker room and/or on the field? Possibly.
As the first half progressed, it was clear to me that our weaknesses were being exposed. Again, our defense looked shaky and our offense proved to be no threat to the opposition. The second goal went in and before the official scorer had noted it on the television I was already off the couch headed to work. Going down 0-2 against a very organized team who only gave up 4 goals in total in their 10 group qualifying matches was enough to head to work. Based on that, the way we were playing, and a likely England victory against Algeria coming later that day, our tournament looked all but over.
Before I get to the second half, let me give you a quick tactical insight into the sport and show you how we gave up two goals. From the highlights, it is clear to me that my less then favorite defender Onyewu (who was injured for 7 months before this World Cup started) played an extremely large role in our country conceding 2 goals in the first half. You’ll have to view the highlight video to see what I’m talking about.
First Goal
We were playing in a standard 4-4-2 formation. Slovenia had 4 players forward, all marked individually by our 4 defenders. We were in a man-marking situation, not a zonal-marking situation. We also had all 4 midfielders back, who had contained the 3 other players in front of them. The play happened in the space between the midfield and the defense. The Slovenian player, who was being marked by Onyewu, checked back and showed for the ball into the space between our midfield and defense. In this situation (man marking), Onyewu should have followed him and closed down the space. There was no threat as we had everyone marked. Instead, he stood still in the middle of our box. The Slovenian player received the pass in space and was allowed to turn and shoot the ball from the very center of the field without being challenged. In short, the goal was scored by Onyewu’s man that he let roam free at the top of our box. Just like in basketball, if a player underneath the basket makes a move back out (behind the 3 point line or wherever), his defender HAS to get out their and close down the space/contest the shot.
Second Goal
Slovenia hit us on the counter attack. Even though we had 2 defenders near the player carrying the ball, Onyewu got caught ball-watching and in no man’s land. He completely ignored the other Slovenian attacker and turned to face the player with the ball as if no one else was there to mark. He stood there flat footed and the pass was easily slotted past him and then tucked away into the back of the net. He wasn’t trying to play the offside trap as he didn’t make any movement forward…he just made the wrong decision especially as the last man back. He left the pass AND the other player open as he stood in the middle of our zone all by himself.
Not surprisingly, he was subbed in the second half as we chased the game. I really think we should start someone else on Wednesday against Algeria especially since they are adept at passing the ball all around big players like Onyewu. He might not be able to keep up. Fortunately (but unfortunately in terms of accurate analysis of the game) we decided to wake up in the second half and scored two goals of our own on mistakes by Slovenia’s defender/keeper and their midfield (by not not staying with Bradley on our second goal). Despite the referee having a terrible game and disallowing a legitimate 3rd goal, I have to agree with Alexi Lalas’ post game analysis. All of the talk will be about what a great comeback this was and how the referee robbed us of a win. This is very true and we should give the players the credit for fighting back. However, before we point the finger at the referee we have to point the finger at ourselves for such an abysmal first half performance. I tend not to take a game like this one as a positive…ESPECIALLY since this has become a pattern with this team (playing from behind, not being up for the game from the start, etc) even during qualifying. Ahem, Manager Bob Bradley. It was a great comeback and turnaround but we dug our own grave and the first half should have just enough attention paid to it as the second half. Of course, at halftime between England Algeria the highlights started in the second half after we were already 0-2 down. That’s NOT the entire picture…and based on what I saw today in the England Algeria match a win over Algeria is not going to be as easy of a task as many people might think.
England and Algeria tied 0-0, essentially blowing this group wide open for the last set of games. Except for one outside possibility, a win by any of the 4 teams will guarantee advancement for them into the second round. There are so many combinations that involve the tie breakers of goal difference and goals scored that they are too long to list in this post. For now, the easiest and simplest solution for the USA to advance to the next round is a simple win. Heck, a win and the right outcome in the other game would mean the USA would win the group. But let’s not get carried away – Algeria have proved to be a worthy opponent.