This is certainly interesting, to kick off the second half, Eddie
Johnson and John O'Brien are coming on, and Pablo Mastroeni and Steve
Cherundolo went off. Cherundolo I don't quite get since he's the only
guy who can cross. Mastroeni has been invisible, and Ajax youth teamer
John O'Brien is our most polished player when he's healthy (a rare
event). So it's an extra striker and a more offensive minded central
midfield, and hopefully Johnson's speed opens something up, and he can
actually make a run to give somebody a target. I say we pull the keeper
for Brian Ching and send Lewis, Beasley, and Convey forward in a 2-2-7
formation.
O'Brien's contribution so far was the (completely clean) welcome to the
NFL hit he just put on Nedved. It's a sign of the changes in American
soccer to see a US team that doesn't get pushed off the ball anymore.
The officiating has also evened out over the course of the game, so I
have one less thing to whine about. It would be nice to arrest the
trend of losing all our games in Europe. On the other hand, outside of
Europe, the US has advanced in 3/4 World Cups (Uruguay'30, Brazil'50,
USA'94, JSK'02) with at least one win in each. We're going to OWN South
Africa. (Still undaunted in my optimism.)
Koller's replacement Lokvenc is getting too much room and too many
opportunities. The Czechs really do look a class apart, way sharper
than the US, which is not exactly shocking, but I really hope we wake up
soon. This is how they played in warm up games against much worse
opposition like Morocco, and it wasn't working then either. We've got
nothing going on in midfield, and nobody showing up when they do get the
ball out of midfield. Time to form the human pyramid in front of the
goal and try to hold on to 2-0 if they don't wake up. If Italy is still
doing their "What is this 'midfield' you speak of?" all-catenaccio all
the time strategy, we may look a little better. And maybe we can find a
coffee bar and get McBride some espresso.
Another nice shot at least by Eddie Johnson in the 70th minute, a
bending shot from long distance that went just wide, but may be enough
to draw the Czech defense out a bit farther and create some space,
sparking our late comeback (undaunted). A little more build-up, still
nobody making the last pass, and a lot of people standing around,
though. Okay, first good chance in the 75th minute with Landon dropping
to midfield and making something happen, just missing hooking up with
Eddie Johnson. This is looking better, and Josh Wolff---
Okay forget Josh Wolff, Rosicky just scored again ('76). Nedved threads
the needle between four guys and releases Rosicky on his own behind the
defense, Keller comes out but not a lot he can do. Stealing one back
and losing 2-1 would have been huge in terms of staying in this group,
losing by 3 means we ain't getting much help from goal differential.
Wolff is coming in for McBride who's had the mobility and soft touch of
Frankenstein, and we've got to score, not to win, but to stay in the
running to lose to Brazil in the second round. And to restore our pride
and play better in the next two games.
81st minute, Johnson takes a nice shot that goes just over the bar and
settles on top of the net. Why oh why this guy didn't start is a
mystery. McBride was phenomenal as a target man in 2002, but there's
nobody giving him service, and nobody playing off of him like Johnson or
Wolff, Beasley doesn't know what to do, I don't know what Convey does,
and both central midfielders need to be involved in the game. No
energy... they can play a lot better than this, and their next two
opponents are beatable, so there's still room for optimism. Although I
am slightly daunted in mine. It all depends on how Ghana and Italy
look. Hey, Group of Death, you expect some rough days, right?
Czech Republic 3-0 United States
5' Koller
'36 Rosicky
'76 Rosicky
No comments:
Post a Comment