So tonight I went to my first US men's national team game. They played Brazil at the Meadowlands and it was not their best performance. The only real threat came in the first ten minutes by none other then Donovan. Edu (or it might of been Buddle I forget) threaded a beautiful cut back pass to Donovan who maneuvered past two defenders and after the second defender was knocked off balance and once he stepped into the box the ball was poked away by a third defender and he fell to the ground. There could have been a penalty marked right outside of the box, although Donovan was making the case for a possible PK. Either way nothing came from it and that was the end of the night for the most part for the US.
The US played lethargic and out of place. Their midfield was basically just Bradley who was playing his usual holding midfield position but Feilhaber, Edu, and Badoya barely helped out and so Bradley had to move the abll himself many of times. It seemed to me that without either Dempsey or Donovan on one of the wings/sides, the ball could not be moved quickly up the field or precisely anywhere on the pitch. The midfielders struggled to get the ball to the two strikers, Buddle and Donovan. I understand Bradley's idea for Donovan up front, because of his speed, but if no one can get him the ball with space, Donovan is pretty useless. This was just one troubled spot.
The Defense played pretty stiff as well. They seemed to be playing an offside trap that completely broke down during the second goal. Gonzalez didn't mark Pato making a run, and Bocanegra either kept him onside when he attempted to chase him and tried to pull back to keep him offside, or it was just a nice run by Pato and both centerbacks were beat. Either way no fullback played particularly well. Bornstein got burned both trying to hold back Brazil's speedy wingers crossing the ball, and he got beat defending a cross and basically stood in front of a Brazil attacker as he jumped up and got a uncontested header for the first goal. It was sad to watch, but luckily it was just a friendly.
The strikers did no better either. As I mentioned above, Donovan was not able to find much space with the ball and so his speed didn't play a factor. Buddle had some awful touches, and it seemed that every goal kick that was sent his way he either couldn't get to, or he just headed it to nobody. I don't watch Buddle that often but I certainly wish he played more in the World Cup, but after tonight's performance his size did nothing for the US.
Even after all the subs, and it was awesome to see Jozy Altidore play (although he did nothing either), nothing really happened. Bradley had a nice chance but it was called offside, and like the whole first half of the game none of the midfield subistutes were able to push the ball to the fowards.
Overall Brazil played their normal speed and flash game, with Robinho, Alves and Pato all contributing in some form. They didnt play their best but they played better then the US. It was nice to see Bradley coach possibly his last game at the US men's head coach. Rumors have him possibly going to Aston Villa. Anyway even though the US lost, I still love them and I am glad I was able to see them play. I hope the next time they play better. But this was just the start to 2014...
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