Clint Dempsey scored twice to lead the US over Honduras in the Gold Cup opener.
John D. Halloran
The United States men’s national team opened up its 2015 Gold Cup campaign on Tuesday night in Frisco, Texas with an ugly 2-1 win over Honduras.
Clint Dempsey scored twice for the Americans with both tallies on headers from set pieces. The first goal by the former captain came in the 24th minute, when he put home a rebound that helped the U.S. go into the locker room at the half with a 1-0 lead. Then, in the second half, Dempsey doubled his total, and the lead for the U.S., putting home a Michael Bradley service in the 64th minute.
However, the Hondurans didn’t lay down and, five minutes later, finally capitalized on one on their many promising attacks to narrow the gap to one. The final twenty minutes of play weren’t pretty, but the U.S. managed to see the game out and pick up three points from the group play win.
Here are four thoughts from the effort.
MIND THE GAP
At center back on Tuesday night, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann started John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado.
Klinsmann has been full of praise for the 22-year-old Alvarado—who was cap-tied in Tuesday’s game—and Fox sideline reporter Julie Stewart-Binks said the coach told her before the game, “I don’t think he realizes just how good he is.”
But despite the praise, as a combination, Brooks and Alvarado struggled against Honduras, particularly in the first half. Both badly lost some individual battles with Honduran forward Anthony Lozano breaking Brooks’s ankles in the 30th minute of play and Andy Najar doing the same to Alvarado in the 45th minute.
More disturbing trend in the relationship between Brooks and Alvarado is the lack of chemistry in the partnership on the pitch. Time and time again, the two were too far apart as the Hondurans found space right through the center of the American defense on multiple occasions. Lozano had a field day with the errors in spacing, creating a number of chances for himself and his side. And this wasn’t the first game the gap between the Alvarado and Brooks was evident, as TYAC founder Neil Blackmon pointed out their frequent errors in the June friendlies.
A few examples of #USMNT center back positioning tonight. Lack of cover, loose runners, big gaps in spacing. pic.twitter.com/keOQgazvXS
— John D. Halloran (@JohnDHalloran) July 8, 2015
Through most of the night on Tuesday, U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan was able to cover for Alvarado and Brooks, either by coming far off his line to snuff out Honduras’ chances, or by making a big save, as he did in the third minute of play when Lozano snuck in between the center backs for an early chance on goal.
Finally, however, the errors cost the Americans when Carlos Discua took advantage in the 69th minute of play, running through the chasm between Brooks and Alvarado to score for Honduras.
Not all his fault, but Ventura Alvarado didn’t exactly cover himself in glory on the Honduran goal. Yikes. #USAvHON #usmnt
— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) July 8, 2015
The question going forward is: Can the two improve their pairing? Both obviously have talent, and it should be said that Brooks was better in the second half, positioning error on the goal aside- but at their particular position, chemistry with your center back partner is more important than one’s individual ability. Klinsmann has limited options (Michael Orozco, Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron and Steve Birnbaum were all left off the roster for various reasons), but the U.S. will no doubt need an improved performance from the two—or need to slot Omar Gonzalez into the starting XI—as the Gold Cup moves forward.
The Offense, Well, Sucked
Despite scoring twice and winning the game, it’s impossible to think the team, or Klinsmann, is happy with the team’s offensive performance in Frisco.
Veterans Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and yes, Clint Dempsey all struggled with their touches and combination play against Honduras and created few good chances in the run of play. And “wingers” Gyasi Zardes and DeAndre Yedlin were poor for most of the game with Yedlin, in particular, putting in one of the worst performances of his young national team career.
https://twitter.com/RobUsry/status/618620197100998656
Klinsmann made some interesting choices with the lineup, foregoing Mix Diskerud to start Zardes—who had looked bright off the bench against Guatemala. With Alejandro Bedoya still not match fit after a long injury layoff this spring, Klinsmann’s options are somewhat limited, but Zardes and Yedlin both appear better suited for a substitutes role where their speed can be effectively maximized against tired legs and where their lack of a refined touch is less exposed after space has opened up in the midfield.
Further, the US would have been tactically better off attacking a five man backline with three forwards, meaning the solution to Zardes’s woes (he’s not a winger!) was a relatively simple one. Honduras was able to absorb pressure and have a spare man in the midfield because Klinsmann played two up top.
Offensively, both Altidore and Yedlin missed golden opportunities and Yedlin’s poor touch and subsequent foul in the 93rd minute of play could have cost the Americans the win. When Klinsmann did go to the bench, he replaced Altidore with Chris Wondolowski—an interesting choice considering Aron Johannsson is on the roster and, presumably, fit.
The other elephant in the room is that the U.S. attack looked great last month against the Netherlands and Germany without Dempsey and Altidore in the game. In those matches, both of which were played—and won—on European soil, the U.S. offense seemed to click better without two of the team’s best individual offensive players. There’s an argument to be made that the US was playing differently in those games because the opponent was attacking more, but that argument is at least a bit soured because Pinto had Honduras playing positive football throughout Tuesday night. The US had space, they just didn’t exploit that space.
Timmy Chandler
After one of his best performances in a national team jersey against Guatemala last week, right back Timmy Chandler put in a more subdued performance against Honduras. It wasn’t as awful as some U.S. fans were making it out to be, but Chandler’s giveaways were a problem.
@YanksAreComing Chandler committed a couple bad turnovers in 2nd that prompted his substitution. I give him a 5. Not a disaster. 3/3
— Jon (@TYAC_Jon) July 8, 2015
To be fair, Chandler was far from the only offender in the U.S. lineup when it came to wasting possession and Chandler did have several important passes that set Altidore free. He also twice earned corners from his service on the flank.
Defensively, however, is where Chandler played best. Having developed a habit of contributing one mind-blowing defensive gaffe per game in the past, Chandler did his duty, especially protecting the back post when he was defending the weak side on services.
Many U.S. fans still seem reticent to give Chandler his due and, considering his poor passing rate on Tuesday, that tendency is unlikely to go away. But at the same time, it must be admitted his last two performances for the U.S. have been better than usual.
The US won because they grind and are pragmatic, more than anything.
In the end, Gold Cup games are about grinding, and the US won.
It wasn’t football for poets, but Jurgen the pragmatist will take the three points even as he acknowledged after the match that the team must play better and “the team was far from perfect to begin the tournament.”
But Gold Cups are like this: grinding matches against opponents with less talent in rugged heat and humidity. Teams play constricted soccer, foul early and often and line up in compact defenses, waiting to break. Referees don’t do much to prevent the matches from becoming chippy, street brawls. And the heat and short rest schedule is genuinely grinding.
The US won. They did so without playing their best. And they did so playing against the only other team in their group that can realistically win the group. That’s a good start to a championship that has never really felt underway until the knockout rounds.
John D. Halloran is a frequent writer for The Yanks Are Coming. His work has appeared on Bleacher Report and for American Soccer Now, among other places. He founded the soccer site American Touchline and is considered one of US Soccer’s preeminent minds on women’s soccer. He is also a state championship winning soccer coach. Follow him on Twitter @johndhalloran.