One, Oh and Away!

It wasn't pretty but the US went down to T&T and grabbed three points on a Ricardo Clark strike from 20 yards. Bob Bradley dressed for the occasion, the atmosphere was electrocuted, Bornstein started, our defending was atrocious, Onyewu looked rusty, play through midfield nonexistent, Jr had a stinker, Davies had worn himself out perfecting his stanky leg, Donovan was stuck on "counterattack" and Dempsey was indifferent. However, none of that matters because, with two games left in the hexagonal, we're a home draw away from the World Cup. In that spirit, I'm only going to write about positive things from last night:

1. Points. Three of them. It's entirely in our hands. An away win at Honduras or a draw with Costa Rica and we're in.
2. Dressed for success, Bob Bradley used his substitutions well. Even Ching. And they all positively effected the game.
3. We're set up to compete with the big boys, not to dominate mediocrity. I think we've learned some lessons this summer and Bob Bradley may be football's answer to Forest Gump.
4. Plucky little El Salvador. Their 1-0 win over Costa Rica means they drop as much as a point and we're in.
5. Just watching Wilson Palacios. What a beast - he's what you'd get if NFL inside linebackers played soccer. Was great watching him organize the midfield so effectively. Honduras put on a team defending clinic for about 75 minutes at Azteca and were the victim of a softish penalty call. I wish we had that kind of player in our central midfield - we'd shut up shop. Honduras away should be a tough nut to crack but they'll have to come out of the shell more at home needing 3 points and expose the spaces that opened against Mexico as they searched for a late equalizer.
6. Bornstein was our best player in the first half. That's really not saying much, i know, but this game was played at his level. Maybe I'm grading on a curve? Jozy had a couple of bright moments including his shot from distance and the two-man game with Davies but Bornstein made a couple important headers at the back post to keep things level and generally did an acceptable job, even covering up for his centrebacks who looked pretty suspect in the first half. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Bornstein is actually any good. If we had any talent at that position he wouldn't be in the program. I'd like to see Castillo given a shot to push him out of the mix.
   
7. I thought Clark had a good game. He gives us what Bradley Sr. needs from Bradley Jr. when he's paired with Feilhaber - a more conservative defensive midfield player to cover in front of the back four. If you don't have Wilson Palacios, you want a quietly effective game from your defensive midfield player which was what he delivered last night, capped off with the winning goal. Was less panicked in possession last night - hopefully someone in Italy will teach him how to set the tempo by playing short and simple.
   
8. We were so much better once Feilhaber came on. I would like to see a Clark/Feilhaber midfield but we all know why that will never happen.
9. On the right, I thought Spector had a really solid game and now owns that spot.
10. For once, last night, Harkes was right. I've been defending Dempsey a lot lately and I thought he was quite good against El Salvador. It drives me nuts when Harkes harps on his every mistake before excusing Donovan's every bad touch and poor decision. In fact, I've turned it into i like tuesday's official USMNT drinking game. However, Harkes was right. Dempsey had a really poor game.

Positive enough? Good. Now it's time for today's entirely positive armchair tactical critique in which I offer some constructive suggestions for tightening up that troublesome flabby backside:

I think the problem with our team defending is actually deceptively simple. Our back 4 just need to play a bit narrower. Against Spain we held a narrower shape to good effect simply because they tend to play through the middle. Brazil under Dunga have a more expansive style with overlapping wing play spreading our defense and opening space to exploit. Both Mexico goals at Azteca came when we overcommitted to wing instead of worrying about the dangerous areas in and at the top of the box.

The solution is that the opposite side fullback should be tucked in much closer to the central defenders so it's 1 fullback on the wing and 3 in the middle. Think of two chains which run across the back four - one connects the two fullbacks but slides through the line of the central defenders, while the second connects the two central defenders. The fullbacks move together - if the left back is out on the wing, that should pull the right back into towards the back post and vice versa. The central defenders also move together but indepedently of the fullbacks, shading towards the wing with possession within roughly the width of the 6 yard box plus a yard or two. In the last two games our centre-backs have been getting pulled further out towards the wing to try to help the fullbacks do their job out there.

The chain between our fullbacks tends to run the roughly the width of the box (44 yards), a spacing of roughly 10 yards between our 4 defenders. However since the two central defenders, tend to play closer together than 10 yards, this leaves more space between the fullback and central defender. This channel is the most dangerous area on the pitch. We're leaving far too much space in this area when the ball is central.

Instead, both fullbacks should be tucked in more to shut down these inside channels. Our chain should be 10-15 yards shorter, with a spacing of 7 or 8 yards. We'll concede more space and possession on the wing where the defensive philosophy will be not get beat on the dribble and try to block the cross. If a cross does get through, there aren't too many strikers in international football that will trouble our central defenders in the air. The space left on the opposite wing makes a switch with one-pass tempting but that requires a risky 50-60 yard ball - conceding that ball can often win back possession with an unforced error. Both Bornstein and Spector are plenty quick enough to get out to the wing on a switch, but Boca might need help from a midfielder. With a shorter chain, many of the goals we've conceded could have been prevented, including both goals at Azteca.

I really think we need a third player in central midfield - our current system verges on the 4-2-4 of the 1958 Brazilians, without the unparalleled Pelé to pile in the goals. Instead of overlapping fullbacks, our suicidal central midfielders get very high up the pitch. That means when we lose possession we're vulnerable to the counterattack and our midfield is constantly over-run when they do get back. When we win possession it's like the 100m dash - no one ever shows to the ball. Where are Clark and Bradley going?

It would be nice to see Donovan actually show short more like he did a couple times in the second half and boss the game by setting the tempo in possession but it's like he's permanently stuck on "counterattack" setting. How many times were one of our back 4 left with plenty of time on the ball trying to find someone to play it to before deciding to hoof it long? That is the fault of our midfielders, not distribution out of the back. We have 2 up front with some quality in attack now but our midfielders are still playing like Ching is up there on his own.

I see the counterattacking merits of our 4-2-2-2, but I think that until our central midfielders mature we should really be a 4-3-3 (4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1) side with 3 of Davies, Altidore, Donovan & Dempsey up top and one more body in central midfield. In last night's second half, Clark, Bradley, Feilhaber did far more to control the tempo of the game and stop T&T's attacks looking quite so dangerous. Except for one moment of panic around 85 minutes, I felt a second goal was far more likely than an equalizer in the second half.

And ending on a final positive note, it seems that both Clark and Bradley have learned an important lesson in the Confederations Cup. Neither are going to ground to make hard, cardable tackles quite so easily these days, even with the generous CONCACAF referees around.