- by Angel Soto, writing from California
1. New Faces?
In Saturday's match versus Poland we only saw one new face, and that was Shalke 04's midfielder Jermaine Jones. A long awaited debut was finally presented and the former German international impressed. Jones pin point passing and effective ball-winning was promising and left many USA fans wondering "what could have been" in this past World Cup. His vision brought the best out of the attack and he posted a problem for the Polish defense and midfield. In the 13th minute Jones sent a perfect pass to a striding Villareal striker, Jozy Altidore, in which Jozy scored and gave the US a 1-0 lead. Although his outing was mostly positive and impressive, Jermaine did make one crucial mistake that led to Poland's game tying goal to goal in the 73rd minute. Jones had a tough time clearing a ball at the edge of the United States' 18, and Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski finished impressively giving Tim Howard no chance to save. But despite that mistake, Jermaine Jones should be a great addition to the team, and the Gold Cup in 2011 should be his coming out party.
2. Rebuilding the Defense
We didn't get much to see of this in the past match, but we did see Bradley's intention of fixing this problem he has. He essentially tried out Maurice Edu as a central defender. Although it seems more so that Bradley tried to put in a lineup with the most talent that he had available, it was interesting to see Maurice in that position. Overall Edu played decent, not enough to win over some folks, but enough to see that he is a midfielder not a defender. His inexperience at the position showed as he tackled relentless and defended reckless throughout the game. It looks as Steve Cherundolo is still our best player at the right back position and that our left fullback position is still a huge question mark. Captain Carlos Bocanegra, provided very little in the attack and was susceptible to a quick winger. AC Milan center back Oguchi Onyewu was solid, but troubling on a few clearences, one that eventually led to Poland's first goal. It seems we are still having trouble in the back, expect to see a few changes on Tuesday's match versus the "cafeteros" of Colombia.
3. New Leadership Roles
This was one of the positives you could take from the match, as it provided great experiences for potential new leaders. Midfielder Stuart Holden is a prime example of one of the players to have accepted a "leadership" role. Stuart was all over the field, winning balls from his own half, and creating opportunities for the US to score. He had few mistakes(one costly) but he made up for them as he would not give up on showing a great performance. He took many set pieces and was successful, especially in the 52nd minute as he sent in a perfect cross to the head of defender, Oguchi Onyewu. He provided confidence in the midfield as he combined well with Jones, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, and Clint Dempsey. All of his crosses were treacherous to the Polish the defense, as they could not keep him quiet all night. Benny Feilhaber was a bit of a disappointment in this match as he didn't see much of the ball. Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones seem to have taking a bit of leadership roles into the team as they disrupted play all day long.
4. Depleted Front Line
After the first 15 minutes of the Poland match, it seemed the front-line troubles had withered away. But shortly after we would see that we still have problems with finishing in the final third within just our fowards(in this case foward). Jozy Altidore scored the opening goal in the 13th minute as he slotted home smoothly a perfect Jermaine Jones through ball. But throughout the match he would miss opportunity after opportunity, and it took a toll on the team as they let in an obviously less talented team stay in contention for the match. We didn't see Eddie Johnson to see if he is the solution or just another problem, which is frustrating being that coach, Bob Bradley, only made 1 sub in the whole match. The positive is that Altidore is young still, plays in a club with high caliber strikers he can learn from like, Villareal, and did finish one of his opportunities. But soon the US will need him to be the one they depend for goals, because with the talented midfield he will get many opportunities.
5. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
It seems Bob did not have a tough time deciding what he wanted to do. He wanted to put out the most talented group of individuals on the squad into the game. Putting in Maurice Edu ,who looks to be sitting behind Jermaine Jones on the depth chart now, in the defense was risky but understandable. He used Clint Dempsey as a central attacking midfielder and he provided depth in the midfield and did a lot of dirty work as well as create chances. Benny Feilhaber on the left winger spot looked out of place, but subbing in Alejandro Bedoya for him was a good sub as he provided a little more emphasis into the attack. Stuart Holden was providing attacking chances after attacking chances. It is clear again, that the US has one the strongest midfields, and its going to be attack almost impossible to stop once Landon Donovan plays with them again.
On To The Next One
As the next friendly versus Colombia approaches, it is not adventurous to assume that Bob Bradley will go with a completely different lineup, and the posiblity of seeing new faces seems very likely. Carlos Bocanegra has been dealt back to his club team St. Etienne in France, so the left back position could be given to either Eric Lichaj, Heath Pearce, or Jonathan Spector for the next match. It will be interesting to see if Bob uses Brek Shea in the next match or if we see a change from a 4-5-1 to 4-4-2. I like many enjoyed the 4-5-1 as we were dangerous for most of the match just by controlling the ball. We shall see what Bob has in store for us and Columbia, Tuesday night at 8pm ET on ESPN2 as Chester Stadium shall host the United States Mens National Team for the first time.
