Under pressure, Jurgen Klinsmann faces off with Costa Rica tonight.
Neil W. Blackmon
The United States camp remains defiant following Friday night’s 2-0 defeat to Colombia to open the Copa América Centenario. They feel they deserved better, playing well only to be victimized by a tough penalty call and a set piece failure.
“We were absolutely OK with the team performance,’ Jurgen Klinsmann said following the game. “Obviously we got punished for two set pieces in the first half and then against such a quality team, it’s very difficult.”
He concluded the news conference by saying, “There was no difference [between the two sides] besides the two goals.”
Klinsmann’s takeaway is debatable. Los Cafeteros may have conceded a great deal of possession in the opening half, but the US rarely threatened the Colombian goal mouth, and didn’t get their best chances until the second half, when they trailed 2-0. Further, the US was “fairly even” and blamed set pieces against Jamaica in exiting the Gold Cup last summer. As Jeff Carlisle wrote this weekend, at what point does an excuse ring hollow? Or phrased differently, if set pieces have been a problem, the US should defend them better. Klinsmann has repeatedly insisted in defeat that his side weren’t outclassed or outplayed. Even in the CONCACAF Cup, as one-sided a game with Mexico as the US have played in recent memory, the manager insisted his team had been El Tri’s equals.
Jurgen Klinsmann: "I felt the game was very even."
— Mark Zeigler (@sdutzeigler) October 11, 2015
At some point, these claims become difficult to believe.
And so the Americans limped into Chicago last in the group, facing home soil elimination from the Copa América tonight against Costa Rica, a familiar opponent, but not a simple one.
The Ticos are without Keylor Navas, the Champions League winning Real Madrid goalkeeper so integral to their tremendous run in Brazil in 2014. But there is plenty of talent at manager Óscar Ramírez’s disposal, talent that paced the side to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2014.And following the side’s opening draw in steamy Orlando Saturday, the Ticos repeatedly stated they felt this tournament, and a tough group, presented a splendid chance for them to show they deserve more respect globally for that accomplishment.
“Being World Cup quarterfinalists, for our country, the accomplishment was amazing and we’ll remember it and cherish it,” Costa Rican midfielder Celso Borges told TYAC Sunday. “But yes, we aren’t satisfied. We are in a difficult group, playing three very quality teams, but we are a quality team too. We made the World Cup quarterfinals and people should respect that.”
Two motivated teams, one eliminated with a loss and the other nearly so. That’s the definition of a big game. Or, as Óscar Ramírez told the media yesterday in Chicago, “a CONCACAF clasico.”
The customary TYAC preview then. Usuals, then particulars.
The United States and Costa Rica have had famous battles in the past, including the Snowclasico.
Series: 34th Meeting. Costa Rica lead, 14-13-6. The Ticos have won the previous two meetings, routing a Michael Bradley-less United States 3-1 in World Cup qualifying in 2013 (a terrific rebuttal to the “Bench Bradley” crowd) and a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in New Jersey in a bizarrely scheduled friendly days after the heartbreaking CONCACAF Cup defeat to Mexico. All 13 wins for the Yanks in this rivalry have come on US soil, with the most famous being the Snowclasico last World Cup cycle. That win, in March 2013, came with Jurgen Klinsmann under heavy fire– the US will look to react in a similar way for their under siege manager tonight.
Weather: Sunny. Cool. Highs at kick around 58-60 degrees. Marvelous weather for soccer. Expect the US to have a tremendous home crowd, with much more lopsided support than Friday night’s game in Santa Clara, California. This is type of pleasant footballing weather that brings out the best in the US’s best– Fabian Johnson Misery Index, 2.
Bradley deeper, but this a potential US deployment.
What To Watch For From The United States:
Fight. The famous American grit. Resilience and a can-do attitude seem to be the tale of the day coming from US camp, with captain Michael Bradley and company saying the right things. But do they believe (that they will win)?
Michael Bradley is largely correct in his assessment yesterday evening with the media that “the US simply need to have players play better.” But there is a method to defeating Costa Rica, and these type of tactical considerations also matter.
Against Colombia, the US played well in spells but in the end delivered a disappointing performance, the manager included. Jurgen Klinsmann did, in our view, manage to put the best starting 11 players in the game to start, and the substitutions of Nagbe and Pulisic were common-sense moves that nearly worked. The issue, as it has been frequently under Jurgen Klinsmann, was positioning and a lack of tactical imagination.
This starts with the top three, coupled with the odd idea of playing a 4-3-3 against a team like Colombia that will funnel things inside-out in the midfield zones, meaning the US were both outnumbered and separated from their front three in the midfield. That can be offset with precision passing, but Michael Bradley, the team’s best diagonal and long-ball passer, had a bad day, and Fabian Johnson, the team’s best player and creator, was stuck playing left back. That spelled trouble.
Further, the ordering up top was poor.
https://twitter.com/nwblackmon/status/738887545610702848
These little things matter, for a couple reasons. First, even with Dempsey trying things and earning fouls from time to time, his career suggests he’s always been best in a 4-4-2, where he and a striker partner create chances for each other through movement and forward-moving vision (see Bobby Zamora, Oba Martins). In the 4-3-3, Dempsey dropped deeper and worked harder than I thought he would in our match preview– but this ultimately just mutated the formation into a bizarro 4-4-2 where the Yanks lacked any semblance of a target forward.
Bobby Wood, who is a CF, meanwhile, was left out wide, which hurt the US in attack because Wood spent most his time on the field attempting to cut central, making it for the US to generate the space for secondary runners when it did possess the ball in the final third. It also hurt the US defensively, because Wood, already cheating central, and never a natural tracker, had even farther to run to cover for Fabian Johnson. This compounded the problem of playing Johnson at LB, because the US either had to live with Johnson limiting his runs forward, and had to utilize Jermaine Jones to get wide and cover when Johnson did go forward. And the US, already outnumbered in the midfield zones, had now stranded its best midfield passer.
In that sense, US-Colombia was an object lesson on how positional errors beget tactical problems. And that’s before we get to utilizing Gyasi Zardes internationally in a way Bruce Arena has largely rejected in MLS- as a winger huggling a sideline. Zardes is flexible- and more capable out wide than Wood, but he’s also not as talented and at this level, you optimize his skill playing him where he can run face-up at the goal.
Playing these two forwards out of position not only hurt target play and impacted the US’s defense, it also contributed to a lack of positional understanding that decreased the number of secondary runners the US had when it did possess in the final third.
In a frustrating but predictable turn, Jurgen Klinsmann blamed repetitions, not positioning, for the lack of bite in the final third despite so much of the ball.
Quotes from Jurgen Klinsmann on the front line trio of Bobby Wood, Clint Dempsey and Gyasi Zardes #CA2016 pic.twitter.com/kZ80rwOit8
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) June 6, 2016
Playing Wood up top with Dempsey on a flank solves the problem, as would moving Fabian Johnson forward and starting Edgar Castillo, who has been terrific in Liga MX this season for Monterrey, at left back. The US could also switch to a 4-4-2, or even a diamond, with Bradley as the six and Darlington Nagbe high. (Editor’s Note: Starting Darlington Nagbe would seem to require this formation shift too, for what that’s worth) But it is imperative that if the US are to stick with the 4-3-3 they began the came with against Colombia, the personnel be moved around.
Defensively, the US were good against the Colombians for long stretches Friday night. I isolated John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin in particular as having good games, and while I took heat on social media for praising Yedlin, a rewatch confirmed my beliefs. Yedlin was good against a high-caliber wing player, earned the Americans corners on 4 occasions with deep, probing runs and made a play only a handful of players in the world could make in chasing down a breakaway. His defense has gone from liability to average under Sam Allardyce, and whether he is loaned to Sunderland again or Burnley (another spot with a terrific manager), the Americans have to be encouraged by his continued development. Brooks was steady all night, keeping Carlos Bacca in check and providing a third consecutive quality performance. That’s the most quality performances he has put together in a US shirt, and another great sign for the rest of the cycle. Geoff Cameron shouldn’t ever get lost on a simple pick play, but he did, which is a shame, because the rest of his evening was good. Indeed, Fabian Johnson probably struggled the most from a purely defensive standpoint- and that’s because? You guessed it- Juan Cuadrado isn’t the best winger to play against when you aren’t really a fullback.
The US do need to clean up set pieces, victimized by them against Mexico, Jamaica and Colombia, three of their last high-level competitive fixtures. It is even more crucial to win that battle against Costa Rica, who will be content to absorb pressure and counter, and will likely throw bodies forward on set pieces. Contain those plays, and the US will be rewarded with chances to break.
This game ought to be fairly static, with Costa Rica waiting for chances to counter. That’s probably a tactical argument for the 4-3-3 as well- with three American forwards, the US can occupy the Costa Rican CB’s to hamper their build-up play. Costa Rica will likely not want to go 3 v 3 at the back, so the wing-backs will drop back and form a five. If that happens, it will naturally limit the Ticos ability to counter, making set pieces even more critical as goal-scoring opportunities.
With all this in mind, look for a US lineup like the one in the inset at the top of the section.
Cristian Gamboa is one of the many talented members of Costa Rica’s World Cup quarterfinalist.
What To Watch For From Costa Rica:
Costa Rica are a defensive side that look to absorb pressure with five in the back and pick their spots on the counterattack. Under the Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto, a fine tactician, the Ticos set up defensively in a 3-4-2-1 n the rare occasions Costa Rica had possession, though it played more like a 5-4-1 with a central defender, Johnny Acosta, and a floating Celso Borges, who stars at Deportivo La Coruña, in Spain, as distribution fulcrums. They’re happy for the opposition to have time on the ball, concede space in midfield, and instead pack their penalty box. It’s a system that allows them to absorb pressure, close down the passing lanes, and look for spots to break when they win the ball.
In Brazil, this system, a world class goalkeeper in Keylor Navas, as well as an exceptional ability to defend set pieces and dominate aerials, helped the side reach the World Cup quarterfinals, where they were sent home after penalties in a static, goalless defend and counter affair with Holland.
Pinto and the Costa Rican Federation could not work out a new contract, and the Colombian left furious, ultimately staying in CONCACAF with Honduras. Paolo Wanchope, a former Tico great from the 90s, took over and his tenure was a mini-disaster, his players still celebrating their World Cup accomplishments and the team ultimately exiting the Gold Cup last summer after the quarterfinals. Wanchope had promised to maintain Pinto’s success while returning Costa Rica to the freewheeling fun soccer that characterized the country in the 90s. Instead, they looked like a team without an identity, sailing on their laurels. He was dismissed after a fight with a fan at a U23 game shortly thereafter.
Enter Óscar Ramírez, who quickly reinstalled the tenets of Pinto’s system for qualifying, where the Ticos are comfortably in position to reach the Hex. In particular, he has resumed Pinto’s customary tactic, deployed to great success against Italy and Greece, of pressing up the field in an effort to win the ball higher and generate counters faster.
The Ticos will play a 5-4-1 that can play like a 3-2-4-1 in attack, but ultimately is designed to defend first. Keylor Navas isn’t here (more on that below), but there is talent, particularly when the Ticos do get out on the break.
The central midfield pairing is a versatile double-pivot in Celso Borges, a marvelous passer and dribbler who learned how to play deeper because Pinto needed someone skilled on the ball to facilitate his fast breaks, and Yeltsin Tejeda, a classic ball-winner who plays for Évian in France. Tejada sits deeper, and serves as a go-between to clean up when the wing-backs, the pacy Cristian Gamboa of West Brom and NYCFC’s Ronald Matarrita get forward. I’m surprised that Ramírez starts both these players- neither are good defenders and Matarrita in particular plays with a frenetic attacking energy that borders on the reckless. Bryan Oviedo of Everton would make more sense- he’s quality on the ball and responsible, but his upside probably isn’t what Matarrita’s is after repeated injuries. Matarrita’s inability to make prudent decisions about when to stay home helped Paraguay get several chances on the break Saturday in Orlando- the US would do well to work that flank. Nonetheless, both Matarrita and Gamboa are quick and capable of whipping in a cross, and both also enable the Ticos to press a bit when they want, a tactic they use to win the ball higher up the pitch and launch counterattacks with pace.
The attacking talent is the best talent on the side, absent Navas. Joel Campbell is an enigmatic figure at Arsenal, and his link-up play is still touch and go, but he was miserable against Paraguay, isolated and unwilling, in the 100 degree heat, to do the work dropping deeper to become available. Nonetheless, he is fast and strong and has troubled the US before, and you can ask Marco Ureña if he can absolutely pick out a pass:
Campbell’s closest support comes in the form of the ageless Bryan Ruiz, who has been a thorn in the American side for a decade. Ruiz is a fine footballer with a good record in Holland and now Sporting CP (if not England, where his Fulham experience was disappointing). He is the longtime link between Campbell and the rest of the side, and is capable of holding up play and waiting for the wing-backs to offer an option – when Costa Rica get the ball wide, they’re decent at getting on the end of the crosses.
The danger in the Ticos attack starts and ends with Ruiz, a player who can beat you in a variety of ways and is extraordinarily difficult to defend.
Ruiz usually is deployed on the right for club, but has been a false nine and a trequartista for country, depending on the manager. He’s smart enough to beat you with incuts off his left boot and fast enough to blow by you on the dribble off his right boot. At Twente, he would often do the latter, getting out nearly to the sideline before receiving the ball, waiting for an incutter, and then blowing by his defender on the ball. There’s a reason he led the Dutch League in penalties drawn before moving to England- he’s a rare combination of sneaky fast and strong.
As ever, Bryan Ruiz remains a handful to defend for the Ticos.
Ruiz will float central from a more natural position on the right to find the ball, a technique that comes in handy for the Ticos on the road where they enjoy less possession. When Ruiz is playing more centrally, the onus will really be on Jermaine Jones and the US left back to make sure they know where he is and provide cover– Ruiz moves the ball quickly from these positions and the US center halves will have their hands full with the forwards in front of them.
Christian Bolaños of the Vancouver Whitecaps isn’t as talented as Ruiz, but better for the counterattacking system. Capable of using either foot, but more likely to cut inside and shoot with his right, Bolaños is a genuinely good ball carrier and therefore capable of turning defence into attack smoothly, although he tires and is often substituted, and did not start the opener in the Orlando heat.
The Ticos breaks in general were slower and less organized in Orlando, but according to Celso Borges, the heat had a good amount to do with it.
“The heat made it difficult in the first half, especially when we win the ball. Defending takes great energy and it was hard to attack,” Borges told TYAC Saturday night. “We were disjointed in midfield.”
The three CBs tonight should be Acosta, Michael Umaña , who was terrific in Brazil, and Espanyol’s Óscar Duarte. Collectively, they’ll fill in for the suspended Vancouver Whitecaps man Kendall Waston, the team’s best set piece player, who is a no-nonsense CB that is tough to hold the ball up against. It’s a loss, but not a devastating one.
The devastation comes at…
Costa Rica Player to Watch: La Eterna Estatua, Patrick Pemberton, Alajuelense, Costa Rica
Patrick Pemberton, the goalkeeper starting for the World Cup quarterfinalist Ticos, plies his trade in the Costa Rican Primera Division. That’s some ways removed from the Champions League division, which Keylor Navas, who plies his trade for a little club called Real Madrid plays.
You could say that Pemberton is the inverse of Keylor Navas, one of the world’s finest keepers capable of making superb close-range reaction stops, who nearly single-handedly won the Italy game for Costa Rica in Brazil and kept them in the Holland game throughout the quarterfinals. Pemberton isn’t that man, though he’s taller. He’s 1/Navas. The anti-Navas.
He does, however, have a great nickname- though is it really a great nickname, if you make your money as a goalkeeper? La Eterna Estatua, or, the “Eternal Statue.”
And how did he become known as “La Eterna Estatua” you ask? Great question. Mainly for not moving from his six and not being particularly good at soccer. See for yourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQURFdcosk
US Player to Watch: Jermaine Jones, Colorado Rapids
Herr Jones wasn’t at his best Friday night in Santa Clara, struggling to cope with having to help cover for Fabian Johnson and being the yin to Michael Bradley’s yang in the US center. Jones, who entered the tournament having shown well in friendlies and playing marvelously for the Rapids, was visibly frustrated when he was removed from the match by Jurgen Klinsmann in the second half.
Jones has had these types of disappointing performances in a US shirt before, only to bounce back in a big way almost immediately. And Jones has consistently been one of the best American players against high-level competition throughout his career. The US need him and Bradley to play well together to advance at this Copa, and tonight, they’ll need Jones to remember his defensive responsibilities and be careful with the ball, two things that aren’t always strengths, if they are to succeed.
Prediction: USA 1, Costa Rica 1: The Americans get a result to keep hope alive as they head to the City of Brotherly Love Saturday night.
Neil W Blackmon co-founded The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter at @nwblackmon.