Neymar and Brazil are in search of answers. Tuesday night, they’ll serve as a final chance for the US to find answers too.
Neil W. Blackmon and Jon Levy
Friday night’s comeback victory over Peru in Washington D.C. was good medicine for the United States ahead of next month’s to the victor go the spoils Confederations Cup Playoff, recently dubbed the CONCACAF Cup, even if it was medicine that didn’t necessarily cure any of the American ailments.
And if we’ve learned anything, in the course of our continuing soccer education under manager Jurgen Klinsmann, it’s that we can’t really utilize friendly results in a predictive manner. Thrilling, counterattacking soccer producing wins in Amsterdam and Cologne over only slightly weakened world powers Holland and Germany were followed by a side that spent most its continental championship getting outshot by international footballing powers Haiti, Panama (twice) and Honduras. And a tournament where a final has seemed a birthright since at least the turn of the new millennium ended in front of a raucous home crowd in Atlanta with a loss to Jamaica, a footballing nation so rich in tradition they had beaten the US only once previously in their history. Of course that was also under Klinsmann, and when pressed for more answers last week, he blamed officials and cited the continuing education of American soccer writers.
Which is all a circuitous way of saying one good half against Peru isn’t a panacea for a side with some significant, though not insurmountable, shortcomings. But a win is better than a loss and Tuesday in New England the Yanks get one more chance to tune-up for October 10 and you-know-who and put a summer of failure behind them.
There’s still very little joy in Mudville, but we won’t know for a month whether mighty Jurgen has struck out.
For the final tune-up, the US Soccer Federation bring in Brazil, themselves still recovering from two consecutive summers of sadness, last summer’s 7-1 thrashing to Germany the deep wound that will take years to heal and this summer’s fifth at the Copa América, a tournament that manager Dunga-brought back to restore Brazil’s honor after their failure under Big Phil Scolari in 2014- hoped would restore Seleção to prominence, or at the least, return pride. Brazil still command an enormous audience, and the five stars on the shirt still shine, but it is a time of questions for the green and yellow, and there’s no guarantee answers arrive in the short-term.
Let’s kick the usuals around and then dive into the particulars.
Series: 18th meeting. Brazil lead 16-1.
The only win for the United States came in February 1998 at the Gold Cup, on a goal by #WheresPreki and more honestly, on a performance of a lifetime by Kasey Keller. It would, of course, be the highlight of 1998 for the Americans, who were embarrassed four months later in Paris.
It is fitting, in a way, that the US meet Brazil to tune-up for a Confederations Cup playoff. It was in that competition the Americans faced Brazil in the 2009 Confederations Cup Final. The Americans led that game 2-0, with Bob Bradley’s side pressing high early and putting Brazil on the backfoot. Brazil ultimately won of course, 3-2, but the Americans second goal remains perhaps the finest goal the US have ever scored from a technical perspective. The textbook counterattack can be seen below.
Weather: Wicked hot and stuff. 94 is the high in Foxboro tomorrow, which is about 20 degrees above normal, and while temperatures should get into the 80’s by kickoff, it will still be warm and humid when toe meets leather, meaning greater Boston’s famous 14 days of summer has found its way to September.
Will the ever-streaky Jozy Altidore provide another strong game?
Jon Levy on What to Watch for From the Yanks:
After the 2015 Gold Cup we should be getting used to this. The US is coming off yet another uneven performance, but at least they got the win. We had similar sentiments after the first two matches of Gold Cup group play, but eventually found out what was lurking, unsurprisingly on the other side of that coin. So how will the USMNT look to create a more consistently competitive performance against one of the giants of world soccer? We can start by looking at what went so wrong, primarily in the first half, against Peru.
Can Michael Bradley help the US retain some possession? Or against Brazil, any possession?
After the first few minutes of the match the Yanks seemed to cede possession to Peru without any fight whatsoever, which is unusual for a match in which Jermaine Jones started in midfield. In hindsight; however, the first half impotence made all the sense in the world. Jurgen played a 4-4-2 with no natural full backs, along with Gyasi Zardes as one of his wide midfielders, and winger Ale-Alejandro Bedoya in the center of the park with Jermaine. Without ball-playing fullbacks it was always going to be a chore to try and out-possess a technically skilled squad like Peru, and the midfield deployment of Zardes made it near impossible. And that’s not even our run-of-the-mill Yanks Are Coming swipe at Gyasi, who was actually pretty useful in the attacking third. He’s definitely shown some promise in that area this summer. But said attacking promise doesn’t change the fact that he was never going to be a force in possession (winning or retaining) in the other two thirds of the field. Essentially Jurgen was asking Jones, DeAndre Yedlin, and a CM version of Bedoya to get the ball through the midfield and link up with the forwards. Yes, I’m sure he was also quite hopeful that Tim Ream, Michael Orozco, and Gyasi Zardes would help in the process, but Klinzy had to know he couldn’t count on that, especially with Ream knowing that Gyasinho couldn’t be relied upon the cover for the overlap.
So what adjustments will we see out of the Yanks? I’m looking for a plan that makes more sense than what we saw for a little over a half against Peru. The likely reunion of Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones (wouldn’t the double pivot be nice?) should be a nice way to start. I also expect to see at least one full back by trade in the starting eleven. And since Jurgen Klinsmann seems married to a two forward approach lately, I think it’s time to see if the talent pool’s two best pure striker’s can forge a better partnership than we’ve seen thus far. It’s not that Altidore and Jóhannsson have looked like strangers on the pitch together, but they’ll have to be more productive more consistently if they want to give a sometimes impatient manager reason to stick with a 4-4-2 formation.
Dunga lifted a World Cup to restore a country to glory. Now he again triies to manage them back there.
Neil W. Blackmon on what to watch for from Brazil:
Dunga was pleased with his team’s performance in a 1-0 win over Costa Rica Friday night in New Jersey, where Seleção created myriad chances and attacked with gusto despite taking the lead through Hulk in the tenth minute. Dunga said that the team “didn’t play a perfect game,” but were happy with the performance despite not scoring more goals.
The benefit of the international tours for Brazil isn’t just money, although the CBF certainly profits massively from sending Seleção across the globe. The Brazilians also benefit because they can focus on improving and addressing issues outside the pressure-cooker of the home country and native press. The Copa América struggle is more quickly put into the rearview when that’s an option.
This isn’t a Brazil side without the usual big names: Neymar is here fresh off helping Barcelona win the Champions League and eager to put his suspension, so integral to the Seleção’s Copa exit, behind him internationally. Douglas Costa, Bayern Munich’s latest star, is in the team. Premier League fans will recognize David Luiz, Coutinho, Willian, Fernandinho and Firmino. And former World Player of the Year Kaká, always happy but now again healthy and influential for Orlando City, is back in the fold for Brazil as Dunga searches for answers. It’s the kind of star power that makes Michael Bradley’s “Brazil is…Brazil” comments to Grant Wahl ahead of the match make sense.
Healthy and influential in Orlando, Brazil called old hero Kaka in search of playmakers.
Yet what’s striking when you look at Brazil these days is the lack of electrifying playmakers. Yes there’s Neymar and the aforementioned Hulk is a capable enough tip of the spear, but the reason you recall a Kaká after a lengthy international break is you have a dearth of playmakers and the key to reclaiming Brazil’s joyous footballing identity is finding guys who can create the joy. It’s the reason Kaká received such a loud ovation in New Jersey when he entered and a sign that as organized and capable as Brazil are down the spine, they lack the imaginative teeth that’s long been the celebrated object of the street murals.
Tactically, Dunga hasn’t departed greatly from Scolari’s defensive setup, though preferred Luiz partner Thiago Silva is absent. Nonetheless, the formula remains: the the full-backs bomb on, the attackers combine nicely, the speed of transitions are very quick, the attackers work hard without the ball.
As is often the case, Brazil use two hard-working deep midfielders, although they’re likely to play different roles. Ramires is gone, but Fernandinho is here and Luiz Gustavo, who anchored the spine of the 2013 Confederations Cup champions, should join him. Neither are particularly inventive, but they are physically strong and play their roles well. Gustavo sometimes drops into the backline to further encourage the full-backs to attack, while Fernadinho ventures forward a bit more and can test a keeper from distance. When Brazil are ahead, however, expect the holding midfielders to stay in position and protect the centerbacks, especially David Luiz, who goes walkabout frequently.
Marcelo’s aggression continues to be a Brazilian weakness.
Still, there are weaknesses. Hulk is capable but it is odd to compliment a Brazilian forward by saying “he’s capable.” Youth abounds at other spots and internationally, its unproven. Marcelo was rightly blamed for many of the failures against Germany and Dunga hasn’t moved on, keeping the Real Madrid fullback on the left and continuing Scolari’s habit of bombing him forward with abandon. Gustavo protects, and Hulk does a bunch of running, but the Brazilians are vulnerable on the left flank. The US would do well to relentlessly attack the space between Marcelo and Gustavo.
The attack beyond the two holders is where Dunga is trying to implement change, hoping Coutinho can speed the game up and the likes of Willian, Firminho or even Barca youngster Rafinha or a healthy Kaka can provide more invention and imagination.
Scolari had changed the formula from individualistic talents demanding the ball at the 9 and 10 to the selfless Oscar and the awkward Fred, whose five goal Confederation Cup proved a mirage after a miserable World Cup on home soil. With those two gone, Brazil will again search for width instead of sacrificing it to give Neymar space to float and drift. But does the team have a number ten? And can they rely or get imagination from somewhere outside of Neymar?
Kaka is one, certainly, although he spent most his international career playing in a Milan side that simply played a different style of football to every other club in Europe. Their tendency to pack the midfield with central playmakers – up to 4 of them – meant that Kaka was not the only creative outlet in the center of the side, and Milan still played well even when Kaka had a poor game. Indeed, even at his peak Kaka was relatively inconsistent – certainly more so than Ronaldo or Messi were when winning their World Player of the Year trophies. He’s playing the Milan role in Orlando—but it’s MLS and unlike at Milan, Carlos Rivas isn’t ready to save the day when he has a bad game.
These are all problems Dunga is trying to solve, and the Americans may benefit from playing a Brazil team that certainly has boatloads of talent, but not the type of lethal attacking talent your father’s Brazil was accustomed to having.
For 5 years, Ale Bedoya’s brought his lunch pail. Now he’s a lineup fixture. But where?
Neil W. Blackmon on the US Player to Watch: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes, France)
Alejandro Bedoya is a rarity among US players these days, the college player who went directly to Europe and flourished. His success story flies in the face of the failures of his contemporaries, who either started in MLS, went to Europe failed and returned, or who opted to remain in MLS as the league’s repute and financial capabilities improved. Depends on which narrative you fancy.
Bedoya, first capped under Bob Bradley, has excelled in an international shirt essentially since being integrated into the side, bringing a tireless work rate initially and then supplementing it with an ability to keep the ball and- speaking of Oscar- an enormously high-soccer IQ and tactical intelligence that the US sometimes lack.
Bedoya appeared in all of the Americans games in Brazil, three times on the right wing and once on the left (filling in for Brad Davis), but never in the central midfield role he’s been tasked with by Klinsmann twice in the last three months. It isn’t a position that Bedoya has never played- indeed he’s featured as both a ten and a double-pivot center mid for Nantes in France, but it is an unusual shift for a player whose work rate, cover and ability to find space on the flank have all served the United States well in the past five years.
Bedoya’s track record makes him essentially a lock to make the starting eleven for the United States in October. What’s crucial now, against elite competition, is Jurgen Klinsmann the manager recognizing that one of his best players best serves the team out wide, not centrally.
Tomorrow, Klinsmann would do well to play him opposite Marcelo. His intelligence vis-à-vis Marcelo’s tendency to overpursue and get too far forward, could help the US exploit the space between and punish Brazil on the counter.
Will Liverpool’s playmaker unlock defenses for country soon?
Jon Levy on the Brazilian Player to Watch: Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s attacking midfielder/distribution machine could be a key player for his Brazil for the next decade, but he has yet to truly make his mark with the Selecão. And there are a lot of questions as to just what that mark will be. Coutinho is primarily considered a central attacking midfielder, but his occasional work deeper within the Liverpool midfield might intrigue a Brazilian fan base that’s had to endure CM “tryouts” by half the talent pool ever since Felipe Melo was disastrously sent off against the Oranje in South Africa. And of course we can’t mention disaster, without hearkening back to Germany’s destruction of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semifinal. That result, one of the most damaging losses in the history of Brazilian soccer, might mean that the county’s football intelligentsia is more receptive to outside-the-box thinking with respect to player deployments, like playing Coutinho in a slightly more withdrawn position than where we’re used to seeing him. Then again, Dunga coaches Brazil again, and he may prefer more steel and physicality in his midfield; yknow, players like him. So maybe we do see Coutinho as a traditional “number ten.” Either way, Liverpool’s diminutive master of the midfield should be a useful test for the US in much the same way that Peru’s rock-solid center back Carlos Zambrano was an important mountain to climb ahead of next month’s CONCACAF Cup winner-take-berth match against Mexico. My theory was that if the US could beat Zambrano and the backline he marshals, the Yanks would know they could break down Maza Rodríguez and the Mexican defense. In this match with Brazil there will be plenty of dangerous attacks coming at the US, but the creative Coutinho is the guy who can just as easily undress the valiant American team defense from 40 yards out as he can from inside the box. If these players can successfully cope with the skill and splendid variation in Coutinho’s game, they’ll know that the new hub of the Mexican midfield, Jonathan dos Santos, is a conquerable opponent.
Prediction: USA 2 – 4 Brazil
As happy as I’m going to be to see MB90 and Jermaine Jones reunited, I fear we’re in for another, less welcome reunion in this match. I think we could see the return of John Brooks/Ventura Alvarado in the heart of defense… against Brazil. That’s a scary thought given their performances against relatively lowly CONCACAF competition this summer. Hopefully I’m wrong and we see Omar Gonzalez and/or Geoff Cameron at center half on Tuesday night.
Enjoy the match, and Go USA!
Neil W. Blackmon and Jon Levy co-founded The Yanks Are Coming. Follow them on Twitter at @nwblackmon and @TYAC_Jon. Reach them via email at nwblackmon@gmail.com and jon.f.levy@gmail.com