The American Gold Cup campaign begins tonight in Texas.
Jon Levy and Neil W. Blackmon
Have a championship level World Cup hangover? If so, it is time to channel your inner Carli Lloyd and find another level, because the American summer of soccer continues with the CONCACAF Gold Cup beginning Tuesday in Dallas.
Why does the Gold Cup matter, you know, besides for the fact that two teams line up across from one another and a whistle is blown? Well, the Gold Cup determines who the best team in North America, the Caribbean and Central America is.While the EURO and Copa América receive more acclaim, the Gold Cup shares championship pedigree and high stakes. The U.S. enter the competition defending continental champions, and should they repeat, they’ll receive CONCACAF’s automatic bid to the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia (for now?). Should the Americans lose, there will be a playoff to determine the CONCACAF Confederations Cup representative.
Klinsmann has longed placed an emphasis on raising the level of US competition– look no further than last month’s away friendlies in Germany and Holland– and a Confederations Cup gives the US those matches in a tournament setting. As such, qualifying for the Confederations Cup is a priority for Klinsmann. “The Gold Cup really is about getting the job done and winning it and qualifying us for the Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017,” Klinsmann said in an interview with ussoccer.com. “That’s why it’s really crucial for us to have players on the roster that have tremendous experience.”
To aid the US in winning a tournament that features two sides ranked higher in the FIFA rankings than they are(Costa Rica 14, Mexico 23), Klinsmann has selected an experienced team of 23 with very few fresher faces. The old guard- players integral to the success under Klinsmann in the Brazil World Cup cycle- will dictate success or failure this month in the Gold Cup.
Up first for the US? The toughest match in their group, against stingy and tough Honduras in Frisco, Texas (9:30 PM, ET, Fox Sports 1). Los Catrachos have qualified for the last two World Cups, and their presence in the US group makes it the only group at the Gold Cup with two World Cup sides. The winner tonight will have the inside track on a group victory, and better seeding in the 8 team knockout stages. That makes the American Gold Cup opener crucial.
Let’s kick around the usuals before we dive into the particulars.
Players like Roger Espinoza have kept this series tight over the years.
Series: 23rd meeting. United States lead, 14-4-4. Most recently, the Americans began the post-Landon Donovan era of US soccer with a mundane 1-1 tie against Honduras in Boca Raton, Florida last October. Jozy Altidore scored for the Americans- as he tends to do when he plays at home- but the US couldn’t find a second goal and conceded a late one, as they’ve been known to do a time or ten over the last year.
Of all the CONCACAF nations that have qualified for a World Cup, the US have had the second-best luck against Los Catrachos. Bonus points for the CONCACAF country that’s qualified for a World Cup the Yanks have fared the best against? All that said, the Americans did lose to Honduras last cycle in World Cup qualifying, 2-1 in San Pedro Sula.Our match wrap from that disaster. The defeat led to Brian Straus’ piece on Klinsmann’s leadership. And then the Snow-clasico. Well, you know the rest of the story.
Point is, there is history here and the games are almost always competitive, especially over the last eight years, when Honduras has been a peer of the Americans and not a CONCACAF minnow.
Every game between these two nations since 2005 has been decided by two goals or less.
Weather: Texas in July. 50 to 60 percent chance of a thunderstorm around kickoff, so lightning delays in play– and temperatures around 80 degrees with humidity. Not Manaus, but maybe Natal weather. Fabian Johnson Misery Index: 8.
What to Watch For From Honduras:
Following a messy contract dispute, Jorge Luis Pinto left Costa Rica after guiding the country to a World Cup quarterfinal and signed on to give it to the Ticos for not paying him good money by managing one of their biggest rivals, Honduras. It was front page news stuff in both countries when it happened and this tournament marks the first competitive outlet for Pinto as Honduras manager. It may be too soon to know if Pinto can make good on his promise to “revolutionize” Honduran soccer, but he believes the players and federation support is there to make good on this promise before the 2018 World Cup. Pinto promised, on his introduction, to create a team that is “tactically strong in all aspects and plays dynamic, quick soccer” and has quickly shuffled around his roster, injecting youth and phasing out the older guard who finished 31st in Brazil.
Jorge Luis Pinto hopes to lead another central American soccer revolution.
Pinto is a great tactical mind– he keeps his own blog complete with tactical posts and zonal marking videos-– and after remaking Costa Rican soccer in his own image, his hire by Honduras was nothing short of a coup.
Los Catrachos qualified for two World Cups thanks to a very strong group of midfielders, including Wilson Palacios, who Pinto has phased out due to horrid form. The younger part of the corps remains, and includes familiar names like Luis Garrido of the Houston Dynamo, who is not a great deal different than Palacios, except he drifts around the field more and is probably a less brutal destroyer. Under the old regime, Garrido would pair with Jorge Claros (this was the group for Honduras’ best performance at the World Cup, a fun 2-1 match against Ecuador), who does nothing exceptionally well outside of tackle but is a better passer than Palacios. Claros was the deeper-lying member of the empty bucket against Ecuador, but the more forward lying one against the US in Salt Lake City (a match that Garrido missed due to card accumulation, if memory serves correct.)
Pinto has opted against Garrido and Claros of late, however, experimenting with of all things a 3-6-1 and preferring a central midfield pairing of Alfredo Mejia, who plays in Greece, and youngster Bryan Acosta, who offers more creativity on the ball than any of the aforementioned players and can shuttle the ball to the team’s better wide players, like Andy Najar of Anderlecht. Acosta is much more suited to Pinto’s game- think more Celso Borges or Tejada from Costa Rica– and he can help Honduras play faster than the methodical and direct side we saw in Brazil.
Before Pinto, Honduras tended to play very narrow, even when talismanic wing midfielder Roger Espinoza was in the team (Tim Chandler will have to wait to exact his vengeance). Pinto hasn’t done that, despite the congestion the six man midfield has created in some matches, like last week’s dire 0-0 with Mexico. Like Costa Rica in Brazil, Honduras turns a back three into more of a back five, making the team play almost like a 5-4-1, soaking up pressure and daring you to bring on an extra forward to break through.
The US should avoid doing that– it is exactly what Pinto wants– a two forward US means Honduras are not stretched on the flanks, or outnumbered in midfield. With a spare man, they can sit deep against two strikers without too many problems. There is not yet a Cristian Gamboa type to really exploit teams who get caught too high up the field on the break– Brayan Beckeles just isn’t that player, and as of now, Pinto hasn’t slotted Najar back to a wing/fullback spot he’s played in Belgium for his club. That’s a pretty important piece of the Pinto puzzle- his blog, linked above, says so and anyone who saw this Ticos goal against Uruguay (1 hour, 22 minute mark) knows what happens when Pinto gets his wing backs out on the break.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3bkgETv4fE
In Brazil, the favored wing pairing was Espinoza on the left and Andy Najar slotted right, although they inverted Espinoza and played him with Boniek Garcia in the final match. Furthermore, there are questions about how much longer Los Catrachos will utilize Najar on the right side, especially with the Anderlecht man playing fullback for his club side. Najar and Boniek now move the needle when Honduras attack.
Roger Espinoza used to be the straw the mixed the drink for Honduras, as anyone who remembers the US-Honduras San Pedro Sula World Cup qualifier will recall. Honduras utilized Espinoza either flaring out from a central role or at left mid and wing to win duels high up the pitch and gain possession. Once possession was secured, Espinoza was typically in position for a quick lateral pass to the center or right-center, and his passes often latched on an attacker with ample space to attempt to do some damage.
This formula helped the Hondurans absolutely manhandle the US midfield in San Pedro Sula, and were a huge reason Timothy Chandler didn’t feature for the US again in qualifying, having been absolutely shredded by Espinoza. Chandler wasn’t the only player to blame– the US central midfield pairing was overwhelmed and it is hard to be effective when you are chasing the whole game– but there was some fear when the draw was released that Chandler v. Espinoza could happen again.
Defensive engagements and distribution maps for Honduras vs US, 2013. The Hondurans map on the left.
Much to the chagrin of Pinto and Honduras, it wasn’t to be. Roger Espinoza is a man searching for his immense talents right now and he turned down a call for the Gold Cup to get healthy and mentally right. Sporting Kansas City fans, as well as Timmy Chandler fans, must feel relieved.
Defensively, Honduras just held Mexico at bay in their final friendly and should play with confidence. That seems to be the one mandated area of a Pinto-led side that has transitioned smoothly. A bit of that is due to quality. Maynor Figueroa is aging but remains one of the finer CB’s in CONCACAF and while Pinto has phased out Figueroa’s longtime CB partner, Victor Bernárdez, young Henry Figueroa has stepped in and seamlessly replaced Bernárdez’s aerial excellence. Figueroa could be a difference maker tonight on a set piece. Brayan Beckeles had a brutal World Cup but has won Pinto’s confidence, for now– he’ll start behind Najar (or an inverted Boniek Garcia) with Brayan Garcia or Honduran-based Wilmer Crisanto on the other edge.
Up top, Roger Rojas hasn’t lived up to potential and has been replaced with a more fleet-footed core of forwards that will get in behind rather than hang off a shoulder. The one who can do both is Anthony Lazono, the Olimpia youngster who is coming off a monstrous club campaign. He’s struggled against high-level competition in the past, including a failed stint in Europe– but he will challenge the presumed US CB pairing of Omar Gonzalez and John Brooks, and if Honduras are to get a result, he’ll have to play well.
Kyle Beckerman and the US hope to start the Gold Cup grind with three points.
What to Watch for From the United States:
Gold Cups are about grinding. The opponent isn’t as good, the soccer isn’t as fluid, the fouls are harder, the game is chippier. All of these are reasons we need to see…
Something better than we saw Friday, particularly in the first half. As John Halloran noted in his recap, the scoreline Friday was flattering and when we had the chance to talk to Jurgen Klinsmann after the match, he insisted that the “US must play better and would,” emphasizing all the while his disappointment.
Most of the issues came in the back, where a limited Guatemalan attack stretched the US backline with regularity and with better finishing from Minor Lopez and later the Bartolo Colon-ish looking Carlos Ruiz, the US would have conceded multiple goals. Honduras have the quality to finish chances and the US will need to be more organized and communicate better in the back.
Most critically, the Americans need to decide what they are doing on the left: Fabian Johnson is the side’s best wide player. Will Klinsmann utilize him as the left back through the group stages, playing the steady Ale Bedoya ahead? (Two key Notes: 1) Bedoya alone could help alleviate some of the US issues that emerged Friday when Johnson bombed down the flank with little cover behind; 2) Kyle Beckerman can provide help too, and he is the guy who still brings the best out of Michael Bradley) Or will Klinsmann slot Johnson up, flipping Bedoya to the right and deputizing Greg Garza through the group stages until the side makes room for DaMarcus Beasley or Brek Shea(?) in the knockout rounds. Worth watching.
Because Pinto would like the US to play two forwards, soaking up pressure and making the US beat them with incisive passes from positions where the Americans don’t have numbers– we’re expecting to see Altidore alone up top tonight with the US returning to a five man midfield (4-3-3, if you must call it that) that allows Bradley to drop a bit deeper while retaining his role as primary creator. As anyone who watched the US play and beat Germany understands, MB 90 is the best MB 90 when he has help laterally and doesn’t have to play terribly advanced as the tip of the spear, where his natural inclination to “find the scrum” makes him a glorified marathon runner.
That leaves a US 11 with Altidore the top man, Dempsey to the right of him and Bedoya left, with Beckerman slotted behind Bradley and Diskerud. I understand this is distinguishable from the diamondish formations we’ve grown accustomed to under Klinsmann in competition, but I think it’s the best positionally against a three man backline playing functionally as five.
Mainly, the US will be looking for consistency at the back and fluidity in their passing– a return to the progress made in Europe.
Can Andy Najar change the game in Texas tonight?
Honduran Player to Watch: Andy Najar (Anderlecht)
It feels like it’s finally Andy Najar’s time to shine for the country he chose to represent over the US. I’m aware it’s odd to use the term “finally” in relation to a 22 year old who’s already been a factor for Honduras, but Najar’s got main event level talent, so expectations adjust accordingly. Just ask Mix Diskerud how that works.
Najar seemed destined for greatness in his first couple years with DC United, but was eventually moved back on the wing from midfield to right back, primarily due to DCU’s health and depth issues. This perceived versatility would haunt Andy in his early days with the Honduran national team too, as he was briefly deployed as a central midfielder in the 2012 Olympic Games. But after initially struggling to establish himself with his new club, Andy seems to have used his club form at Anderlecht to breathe new life into his national team career. He’s now being deployed in the advanced positions where he should be (generally on the right wing), and he scored two goals against French Guiana to help fire this not-automatically-qualified Honduras team into the Gold Cup. So as Honduras tries to figure out how to stay competitive whilst turning the page on a number of notable former mainstays, Andy Najar appears primed to take the reins and make this team his own. Hopefully he waits until the second match of this tournament to really find his form.
US Player to Watch: Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Timmy Chandler. US Soccer’s delightfully frustrating Germerican enigma. It sure looks like he’s going to get a chance to claim the right back spot as his own in this tournament, and that would be almost unfathomable to someone who had just watched DeAndre Yedlin’s star-making match against Belgium last summer. But alas, Jurgen is enamored with Yedlin in the midfield. Klinsmann also apparently thinks so little of our left back options that he’s willing to sacrifice what Fabian Johnson provides as a midfielder to have him back there at what I view as his old USMNT position. So we’re looking at right back Timmy Chandler, again.
Like most American soccer fans I considered Chandler a future “must-start” (you know, like Fab Johnson is now) when he received his first call-ups late in Bob Bradley’s reign. Timmy was fast, forward-thinking, defensively competent, and just overall exciting. He even showed the ability to play on the left when necessary in those early appearances. All of this on-field positive momentum continued until Timmy was thrown into the fire in the final round of World Cup Qualifying on the road in Honduras.
To say that the young defender looked out of his depth would be kind, and in the aftermath of what would later be seen as a reality check defeat for the Yanks, Chandler was not a member of the team that rallied and recovered. He spoke openly about the hostile environment, the heat, and his damaged confidence. And in truth, Timmy Chandler then spent the next couple years never really looking confident in his game when wearing the US shirt. He was given multiple chances in the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup, but consistently appeared to be disconnected from the rest of the back four. He also seemed to enjoy giving the ball away easily, which isn’t advisable for a defender. But after doing much of what I’ve just described last month against Netherlands, he was given a shot to prove himself against the best in the world, and somehow he didn’t screw it up. The US beat Germany 2-1 in Cologne. Timmy Chandler played 90 plus. He defended well. He linked with his teammates and seemed to understand the team defense concept. Oh, and for an encore he did all that good stuff again, this time against overmatched Guatemala, and he did THIS!
So what are we to make of Timmy Chandler now? Is he the matured gamer who steps up in big spots and cashes in on the immense talent he first teased us with in 2011? Or is he our latest USMNT head-case who will deliver either brilliance or absolute crap based on his mood and confidence on a given day? I’ve got no clue, but if he can deliver against his nemesis, the dreaded Honduras, I’ll lean just a little toward viewing him as a player we can trust.
Prediction: USA 1, Honduras 0. Gold Cups are about grinding. The US do just that tonight, and start with three points.
Jon Levy and Neil W. Blackmon are co-Founders of The Yanks Are Coming. Follow them on Twitter at @TYAC_Jon and @nwblackmon.