Jogi Low and Klinsmann following the Americans victory in Cologne.
Neil W. Blackmon
The Yanks headed to Europe all Rusty Griswold, all growing pains and acne and physical and mental changes and challenges to deal with but dreaming big. Friendlies against two of Europe and global football’s giants on their turf the perfect measuring stick before their own continental championship in July. Even with the white noise about their manager humming along at home, the trip was low risk: get a result or (guffaw, two!) and change the optics on the manager and transform the confidence of the side, or lose both, safely able to argue that you continue to take on all comers under Jurgen Klinsmann and losing to championship-caliber sides on their soil is part of the process of getting better.
Then Bobby brought the Wood. (Sorry. Really I am terribly sorry.)
The much-maligned, rarely supported forward (I liked him before it was cool and I’m one of like three writers I know who can argue that with intellectual honesty- and that’s a straight brag, not a humble brag) became what I imagine is the first player in international soccer history to have his first two international goals be game winners on the road against Holland and Germany.
Wood scored twice. And the US won both matches. Won. Both. Matches.
First, the US came from two goals down with twenty minutes to play to defeat Holland in the Amsterdam Arena last Friday, 4-3. The win was the first for US Soccer as a federation over the Netherlands and only the third loss on home soil for the Dutch since 2008 (Bulgaria, Mexico). That result alone would have been an accomplishment, particularly coming against a Dutch side with nearly every healthy player it had available to play ahead of a critical EURO qualifier against Latvia tomorrow night. Whether that side has any clue how it wants to play or what its identity is under under fire gaffer Guus Hiddink is another question altogether, but don’t be misled by assertions elsewhere that the Americans played a “B” Dutch side. They didn’t. They played “best available.”
The Germans were missing their best defense, but the front six, including Schurrle, remained elite.
Five days later, the Americans traveled to Cologne to play World Champion Germany, and won again, 2-1. On German soil. Bobby Wood’s heroics won a game that was stunningly even in the second half against a German side with a large complement of regulars, including a front six that while without star Thomas Müller still featured Mario Götze, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, André Schürrle and Podolksi among others, and marked the debut of track star fast Patrick Hermann as well. Yes, the Germans played a backup goalkeeper and only one defender with double-digit caps and World Cup experience (Shkodran Mustafi), but this was still Germany at home with elite attacking talent coached by Joachim Löw. And judging by Löw’s reaction to the loss, it was a Mannschaft side that was playing to win and hoping to gain experience against a EURO-quality side. Germany hate losing at anything, as a rule. Losses to the United States at home are well…
What to make of this signal of American strength abroad? Here’s some observations:
With lateral help, and with Michael Bradley a great deal deeper, the diamond experiment is over and Jurgen Klinsmann is finally playing his best player in the position he’s best-suited to help the team in.
Man, MLS ruined MB 90, didn’t it?
This is vintage Bradley. I don’t know that I’ve seen him play better.
— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) June 10, 2015
Bradley is playing the best soccer he’s played in the national team shirt since 2010, when he ripped apart Mexico in his Dad’s double pivot in Columbus and shredded Slovenia and others with late runs from deeper in the midfield and with Maurice Edu playing the true six behind him.
The argument that Bradley shouldn’t be playing at the top of a diamond is one that has been rehashed here and other places plenty of times, but the argument has too often trained on whether Bradley is a creative playmaker or facilitator. That focus misses the mark, and reality is a bit more nuanced than that.
The argument isn’t that Bradley shouldn’t be at the top of a diamond because he’s not a creative player. On the contrary, Bradley in space with time to drop an inch-perfect pass is precisely what you want as the fulcrum of the US attack. The argument has been about how to deploy Bradley to allow him to facilitate.
I’ve been writing for some time now in match previews (and I’m not alone) that Bradley’s at his best with lateral help, deeper in the field and not put in a position where he’s a really high-placed regista and is forced to run a marathon, unsure of his role (The World Cup) or where his help in the form of multiple runners is lacking.
In Europe, and particularly in the win over Germany, Jurgen Klinsmann remedied this, allowing Michael to drop much deeper and protecting him and freeing him to run around and remain forward thinking with Danny Williams and later, more effectively, with Kyle Beckerman. This meant Bradley was free to go and seek the ball deep in his own end (below), and then move with the ball in space until he found a pass that was too his lacking. What was really odd yesterday was how often the Germans were willing to give him the time to do that- even the addition of Juventus bound Sami Khedira didn’t help– but even when Bradley was pressured, he often just juked German players out of their shoes.
Michael Bradley jigs Bastian Schweinsteiger almost out of his shoes with the fine stop & start ankle breaker. pic.twitter.com/IkRUORp9EO
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (IG:twdbk3) (@sluggahjells) June 10, 2015
Bradley was splendid yesterday, deftly deking defenders and zinging around threatening and accurate passes. Most impressive? Perhaps dropping in this bomb in the absurd 30pass build-up to the Americans equalizer (beauty of a finish by an improving under Jason Kreis Mix Diskerud too):
It’s difficult to argue, despite the excellence of Patrick Hermann for Die Mannschaft yesterday, that Michael Bradley of Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC wasn’t the best player on the field.
John Brooks was all smiles after he scored against Holland, but the Americans still have questions in defense.
Second, the United States comprehensively tested a young defense in these two matches. The defense didn’t fare well on that exam, but they should be better for it.
Jurgen Klinsmann left Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez at home for these friendlies, presumably to challenge young CBs John Brooks and Ace Alvarado out as a pair. The logic on this isn’t earth-shattering: Brooks and Alvarado are both already more polished movers of the ball and it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest they are already better 1 v 1 defenders. Plus, Michael Orozco was there to provide a bit of both and a veteran presence if need be. Besler as a positional defender is exceptional, and Gonzalez as an aerial presence and emergency defender is more than adequate, but it is about choice and vision, and Klinsmann would rather have 1 v 1 defenders who can help build possession from the back long-term. What better way to test that vision than by putting the young players who may execute down the road in against two of the game’s global powers?
The attacking talent on Holland and Germany alone would have served the “test the young guys” purpose, but Klinsmann upped the ante.
Klinsmann decided that he’d press both the Dutch and the Germans, which made service to the forwards a bit more difficult but when the Dutch did break the pressure it put the young defense in a number of situations where they were 1 v 1 defending. In the Holland game, this meant dealing with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin Van Persie with little help and with revolving gate Timothy Chandler and the “still learning to play left back” Brek Shea to help. Klinsmann loves tinkering and has said repeatedly that’s the purpose of friendlies- but this was ambitious even by his standards.
On the goals, the US limitations defensively were exposed. Depay was given entirely too much space on a flank to cross on one goal, and when the Manchester United signee finally hit the ball, Brooks and Alvarado were both well off their marks. Huntelaar may be a bootleg version of Ruud van Nistelroy, but he’s still scored a bunch of international goals and for much of the match in Amsterdam, he had easy pickings. Other times, Alvarado Brooks and later Orozco responded to the challenge, putting in last ditch tackles and pressure that prevented a heavier onslaught.
Against the Germans, the issues continued. As expected, the US struggled to deal with the blistering pace of Schurrle through the center and Hermann on the flank. Preoccupied with Hermann and with Chandler lost on one flank, the US fullbacks again were overwhelmed and of little help. Further, the American CB’s played entirely too far apart.
God look at the space between the US central defenders. Stuff of nightmares.
— ilit (@iltuesday) June 10, 2015
This is a strength under Besler and Gonzalez, but with Alvarado and Brooks, it was a disaster. Too far apart on the German goal, both reacted slowly. It’s one thing to be out of position, it is another to compound the problem by being slow to react. The Americans did both against Germany in the first half Wednesday.
The bottom line is that the US have difficult choices to make moving into the Gold Cup. Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez will help stabilize things a bit but if you had to pick four players today it would be difficult.
Brek Shea wasn’t particularly bad against Holland, particularly given he has been playing midfield in Orlando of late due to injuries. But DaMarcus Beasley is coming to the Gold Cup camp, which suggests Klinsmann may not be convinced about Shea as the immediate solution. Fabian Johnson acquitted himself as you’d expect he would: he’s the best player the US has from width, and mostly played that way. But Alvarado, while a raw talent with a skill set very unique for a US CB, was by and large poor and John Brooks continued his run of inconsistent play, something Klinsmann had to hope was remedied after a good year with Hertha Berlin. Timothy Chandler played poorly in swaths of both games, but in fairness probably had his best half in a US shirt in the second half against Germany. Whether that warrants more chances is at the very least a difficult decision. Michael Orozco is a consistent and capable depth guy, no more, no less. All in all, the US defense is full of questions.
Third, is Kyle Beckerman the player the US will struggle most to replace in the next couple of years? Will they have to?
Tweeted this during the Germany game.
https://twitter.com/nwblackmon/status/608726187792285697
It’s true. Once Beckerman entered for the United States, Bradley was loosed to think about proceedings moving forward full-time, and it seemed the US increased the number of runners accompanying MB 90 as well. The result was a second half where the US had plenty of excellent chances and fully deserved the goal by the time Bobby Wood scored it.
Beckerman’s consistency has earned the respect of the world’s elite players.
Kyle Beckerman is a really good soccer player, as I’ve been writing in this space for a few years. Jermaine Jones is already off the Gold Cup provisional roster, as he irons issues with form in New England. Alfredo Morales was poor again against the Netherlands and isn’t ready. Danny Williams was better against Holland, influencing play with help defense and short, calm and accurate passing from the back well before his howitzer of a shot was deflected on frame and went in late. But Williams has never played two consecutive strong games in a US shirt and given the start against the Germans, that continued. Williams was lost on early German attacks through the center, doing little to help halt the Schurrle/Gotze onslaught and doing even less to help keep the young CB pair organized. These are the subtle things a defensive midfielder does internationally the Reading man doesn’t get.
Beckerman gets that and does it almost every time he plays for the Yanks. His movement, tremendous positional sense and clean passing help the midfield run smoothly, and he does the dirty work that allows Bradley to shine as a marauding central midfielder. Beckerman is also brilliant at fouling without fouling- his little shoulder bumps and handchecks, which stem from his positional brilliance, really disrupted Germany’s rhythm Wednesday, just as they did to Portugal and Ghana at the World Cup.
At 33, he’ll be 36 in Russia, and probably too old. But he’s light years better than any other option right now.
Finally, the US confidence will be soaring heading into the Gold Cup.
Mexico hasn’t beaten the Americans in 1,448 days, which spans the entirety of the Klinsmann regime plus a couple weeks. The thinking had been, however, that due to the US poor run of form since the World Cup, the Mexicans were clear favorites to capture the continental championship and in so doing force a playoff to determine the CONCACAF representative at the 2017 Confederations Cup.
In your writer’s view, the US results in these friendlies changes that. The Americans are developing an identity now – an absorb some pressure, reclaim the ball deeper and find the gaps with their speed and with Bradley’s precision identity and it is at the least a combination that is good enough to win friendlies away against the #1 and #6 teams in the world. The Americans will face CONCACAF teams who benefit from familiarity and strategically approach the Americans differently, but Mexico might not necessarily and there’s little reason the Yanks can’t apply the principles of their gameplans in Europe to El Tri.
Costa Rica will have a say in things of course and El Tri have a way of making you believe that they only care about results against the United States in non-friendly matches, which means the Americans will get the Mexico “A game” if they meet in the Gold Cup. But I’m not sure anymore if Mexico’s “A Game” is consistently better than the US “A game” and it seems to me that Michael Bradley, with all due respect to Porto’s Hector Herrera, remains the best player in CONCACAF.
So the US has confidence and it has the best player. That’s often a recipe for a continental championship.
Neil W. Blackmon is Co-Founder of The Yanks Are Coming. He can be reached at nwblackmon@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @nwblackmon.