The US won its last Gold Cup tuneup Friday, defeating Guatemala 4-0.
John Halloran
Only four days before the opening of the all-important 2015 Gold Cup, the United States men’s national team cruised to a 4-0 win over Guatemala in a friendly on Friday night in Nashville. The Americans labored through the first half, but put on a show in the second frame to the delight of 44,835 boisterous fans in Music City. The fans braved a day full of rain to spend a holiday supporting the USMNT, and were rewarded on the back of a Guatemalan own goal, a Timmy Chandler golazo, a Clint Dempsey Panenka and a classic Chris Wondolowski tally.
Here are three thoughts from the match.
Credit Where Credit Is Due- Timothy Chandler had himself a game
I have to admit—I’ve never been a huge fan of Timmy Chandler. And I’m not alone.
Whether it was his initial lack of commitment to the U.S. at the international level—and a series of convenient “injuries” that kept him from being cap-tied—his seemingly indifferent attitude towards representing the Stars and Stripes when he does play, or the trademark mouth-dropping gaffes he seems to commit in nearly every game, Chandler has struggled to get U.S. fans on his side.
But on Friday night, Chandler put in a good account of himself.
As usual, his attacking play was solid, and he formed a strong bond with DeAndre Yedlin down the right flank. Chandler found Yedlin in space down the right on multiple occasions and even bombed forward himself twice in the second half. On both of those runs, he played the ball across the face of goal to Clint Dempsey, but neither chance was finished. On the first, Dempsey’s shot from just outside the six went wide; on the second, Dempsey anticipated an earlier service and when it didn’t come, was forced to stop his run to avoid running offside.
In the 58th minute of play, Chandler has his best moment, scoring a thunderstrike from distance. Cutting in from the right side, Chandler drilled the ball past Guatemalan goalkeeper Paulo Motta and into the side netting.
Sadly, many pundits didn’t seem to want to have an open mind about Chandler moving forward.
https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/617129355555250176
Others didn’t think he was playing well Friday night.
I think it's time to maybe call it quits on Timmy Chandler as a starting fullback
— AO Raleigh (@AORaleigh) July 3, 2015
Obviously Guatemala, ranked 93rd in the world, is not a top side and Chandler’s penchant for mistakes in the back won’t be forgotten overnight (For the record, he did have one on Friday, coming from a poor touch in the defensive third in the 16th minute of play). But it’s a little sad that many can’t seem to give him credit for the strong game that he did enjoy in Nashville. And it is a game that featured two strong halves, partly demonstrated by this passing map, which shows that in a half that saw Chandler handle a high volume of touches, he still managed to distribute effectively and accurately from his spot in the back.
Chandler passing chart vs. Guatemala.
Was the scoreline flattering to the Yanks?
Admittedly, it sounds a little bit silly to say the Americans were lucky after winning the match 4-0. But a close examination of the evidence reveals it’s not such an outrageous proposition.
The U.S.’s opening goal came off an own goal (to be fair, it was a beautiful play and service from Yedlin) and the Americans third goal came from a penalty (a beautiful panenka from Dempsey).
But the U.S. was outshot 15-11 by Guatemala in the game and La Furia Azul broke the American defense down time and time again.
Only a minute after the U.S. opened the scoring, Omar Gonzalez failed to clear a bouncing ball over the top and Minor Lopez snuck in behind Gonzalez to get off an open shot. Then, in the 33rd minute, the U.S. defense went to sleep on a Guatemalan dead ball as Fabian Johnson failed to track his runner and Ruben Morales nearly equalized.
In the second half, Jose Contreras missed two open looks from just outside the six-yard box, Carlos Ruiz—yes, he’s still alive and apparently can still play soccer—found a chance getting in behind Tim Ream in the 63rd minute and Guzan was forced to come up with multiple saves to keep the Guatemalans at bay.
After the game, Klinsmann admitted his defense needed to be better. “We gave away some chances you can’t afford to give away at the international level,” Klinsmann said. “We have to play more alert and more organized, and our players know that.”
Fabian Johnson was great getting forward Friday evening.
Left Side
Fabian Johnson got the start at left back on Friday and had a mixed performance. His attacking runs created havoc for the Guatemalan defense and bolstered the argument that he should be playing that position every time he plays for the U.S. It puts Klinsmann in the tough spot of choosing between utilizing his best wide player in the back, thus limiting his attacking influence, or pushing him forward and losing his experience in favor of Greg Garza.
An argument for moving him forward? Johnson seemed so intent on getting forward consistently to give the Americans width that he had bad giveaways, leaving the rest of the U.S. defense hanging and on one run, in the 21st minute, Johnson was very lazy in his defensive recovery. If the U.S. can come to terms with this, and find a center back pairing that can handle the inevitable counterattacks, Johnson’s ability to attack out of the back can be a dangerous weapon—one that’s really too good to pass up.
Johnson’s partner on the left was Graham Zusi, who hasn’t featured for the national team much since Brazil. Zusi struggled to make an impact on the match. Although he did find space on the wing when Johnson cut in, Zusi struggled to read Johnson’s passes and provided relatively poor service from the flank.
With Kyle Beckerman and Alejandro Bedoya (held out due to fitness concerns coming off injury) widely expected to play a big part in the upcoming Gold Cup, Zusi’s performance on Friday certainly didn’t held his cause.
John Halloran is a frequent contributor to The Yanks Are Coming. The Founder of American Touchline, his work has also appeared in Bleacher Report and American Soccer Now. He is also a state-championship winning soccer coach. Follow him on Twitter @johndhalloran.