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USA 1, Jamaica 0: Match Highlights

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5CBZjcGpis]

Comments

  1. I’m pretty stoked on any of those formations and personnel combos. I think everyone would like to see Williams in his spot rather than Jones. I still like Jones, but prefer Williams to him.

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  2. Jones should have got a second yellow (for time wasting)on purpose at the end of this game. He sits vs. the minnow, clean plate for los Catrachos.

    Coaching error.

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  3. I’d like a lineup somewhat like this against Antigua
    http://lineupbuilder.com/?sk=bx2g

    Really Zusi, Donovan and Dempsey could be interchangeable in the attacking third. I think you can afford to sit Jones against Antigua so that he’s fresh and avoids a yellow that would keep him out of Guatemala. Also, Williams brings a bit more in the attack than Jones tends to, and we need to attack Antigua for as long as we can.

    Against Guatemala, we can likely drop Zusi for Jones, since we’ll need more of a defensive presence.

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  4. Counter attack will come back with Donovan on the right and Bradley’s vision. The opening 45 is the first time I saw the possibility of what JK is trying to do. Still not sold we have the players for it but it will be fun (and terrifying) to watch him try.

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  5. I think that if one has realistic expectation for a team that is in transition and fighting it’s past habits as much as it’s fighting the opponent in front of them, let alone having that opponent play bunker ball, this was a TREMENDOUS result. about 80% of the match was played in a patient discipline manner. They did sit back for a a bit after they scored and some nervy moments ensured to be sure, but the bigger take away was one and two touches on teh ball, making the simple pass, making the pass into space, staying patient keeping possession and waiting to take a chance and then shooting… so many elements of the kind of style we’re working toward were on display last night. Even if the match had ended in a draw or a fluky loss those elements of performance were top-shelf.

    What made the difference is that nearly everyone had a MOTM performance last night. Cherudolo was a man possessed last night (did anyone catch the shoulder check he laid on a Jamaican player in the first half?) Torres and Jones were a menace all night. The way the combined and circulated the ball with Williams, Zusi, Gomez and Dempsey was world class.

    Anyone who says that Boca has lost a step… all I can say is I don’t see it, and regardless, his leadership still makes up for whatever he’s lost or losing in terms of speed.

    this was such an important win these players. It makes a statement that there is quality depth.

    strikers: Gomez, Dempsey, Altidore, Boyd
    attacking midfielders: Donovan, Zusi, Shea, Beasely, Corona
    box to box/defensive: Bradley, Jones, Torres, Williams, Edu, Beckerman
    fullbacks: Cherundolo, Johnson, Bocanegra, Parkhurst
    centerbacks: Bocanegra, Cameron, Goodson, Onyewu

    Players that I’d still like to see in action/get a chance to show/still need to prove themselves:
    Lichaj, Beitashour, Greg Garza? Orozco-Fiscal, Castillo, Holden, Corona, Bedoya, Gyau, Barret, Wondolowski

    Things are looking good, but this home-at-home is a healthy reminder that it (qualifying) don’t come easy.

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  6. +1 rico..i remember the one chance in particular where a jamaican did a cross into the box and his teammate was back post and had a great chance with a header that flew high. That being said, great showing by US

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  7. yes, this is true that Jamaica was playing bunker ball, and this did allow the US to easily push the ball up the field. That said, when the US crossed midfield and had the ball in the bunker half of the field with 11 Jamaican defenders, we were still holding the balI well and making great passes. Almost took my breath away. And even in the last 20 minutes when Jamaica was threatening to equalize and it got a bit nervous, we still had decent possession, only not nearly as good at the almost perfect first half.

    Anyone trying to talk down the excellent performance of Jermaine Jones or the fine job done by Jose Fernando Torres should look at Greg Seltzer’s player ratings on MLS Soccer dot com. I don’t always agree with him, but he is normally among the best and this time I think he was spot on.

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  8. If you’re lauding the team for its possession you must have missed the fact that Jamaica kept 10 players behind the ball for the entire first half. We knocked it around and showed some good patience, but Jamaica was not pressuring the ball in the middle-third at all.

    We should have scored more, but sometimes it goes that way. I thought Jamaica would escape with the point, and it was pretty lucky that Herc’s free kick went in. We did become noticeably less aggressive after the goal, but I’m not sure if we manage to score even if we stay on the offensive.

    This was a great performance by a few individuals, but I’m still having serious reservations about the mix of players and some of our regulars in the lineup.

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  9. what a splendid first half. really good stuff. i too was disappointed how we completely changed our approach to the game after we scored. the 3 subs were poor and jozy (of whom i am a massive fan) was a huge disappointment. when was the last time we had 80% of possession, even against a minion (which jamaica is not)? like, never. so i will look at the glass being half full

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  10. Agree with comments above, a very nice showing, with overpowering possession in the first half–sort of an elementary version of Bacelona’s tiki-taka that no doubt will get better in coming months (if Klinsmann does not play three d-mids at the same time). What was a bit disappointing in my mind was lack of a lightening fast counterattacks. Even during the first half when the US was dominant, whenever we had numerical advantages for a good counter, they always slowed it down. Klinsmann needs to develop better counter-attacking to complement the tiki-taka.

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  11. Anyone see Martin Rogers piece on yahoo today? Did he watch the game? Yes it was a GK error on the free kick but the US should have had 2 more goals were it not for Miller’s excellence.

    Jamaica never threatened us either.

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  12. Overall, the effort was fantastic. The opening 45 minutes was complete domination, and we should have been up 2-0 at halftime. I did not like how we scored and immediately sat back. Our players are obviously so much more comfortable taking the game to their opponent than sitting back and trying to counter. Every counter play we got in the last 25 minutes moved at a glacial pace.

    Dolo’s still got it, as does Boca. Cameron was impressive. Danny Williams played a fantastic game, and should have moved ahead of Beckerman (and even Jones) in the D-Mid pecking order.

    I was happy that we got through these two games with at least 3 points while missing two of our three most indispensable players (while the third was completely lacking sharpness). 4 or 6 would have been nice. Now, we need to put a whupping on Antigua (at least a 3 goal win) to make the final game a lot less harrowing.

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  13. THANK YOU COLUMBUS for the great show of support and national pride! Your class showed through in HDTV from hundreds of miles away. The flags were a great touch. Way to go Crew stadium, city of Columbus, state of Ohio, AO, Sam’s Army, boys and girls, and soccer moms and dads!

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