There is no other word to describe the U.S. Under-23 national team’s performance against Cuba on Tuesday night than disappointing. A 1-1 tie isn’t the worst result in the world but the Americans missed a golden opportunity to bag three points and make things easier for themselves in the rest of the Olympic Qualifying tournament.
Peter Nowak deserves the blame for a flat first half by his squad, a performance that was a product of lineup and formation that was just not going to work with the personnel he used. Yes, the first 15 minutes of the match were promising for the Americans, but that was down entirely to the creativity and trickiness of Freddy Adu.
The concept of using Charlie Davies and Robbie Findley as wingers was a nice attempt at flooding the U.S. attack with speed, but neither player looked comfortable on the flank and they wound up leaving Jozy Altidore all alone up top. Altidore looked lost at times as he waited for service that never came. Nowak’s decision to leave behind Robbie Rogers and Arturo Alvarez was only made more puzzling by the awful showings of Davies and Findley (though it should be noted that Rogers is believed to have been carrying an injury)
The second half was better for the Americans, particularly the play of Dax McCarty, Maurice Edu and Sacha Kljestan, but the forward trio of Davies, Findley and Barrett looked just plain awful. I know Altidore didn’t have a great first half but he is head and shoulders above those three forwards and it is scary to think what the U.S. team would do without Altidore for an entire tournament.
The defense also looked extremely vulnerable. The fullbacks looked decent in the first half but I saw them beaten too many times in the second half. Luckily for the Americans, Cuba just couldn’t deliver the final pass to create quality chances. Aside from the equalizer of course.
So what now for the Americans? Scrapping the 4-2-3-1 formation is a start (not just scrapping it but burning it in a fire. The 4-4-2 the U.S. team used in the second half was effective and Nowak has the players to make it work.
What did you think of Tuesday night’s performance? Share your thoughts below:
Look, I wouldn’t get too carried away about this one game. At the U-20s last summer the team also started off poorly with a tie against South Korea. Obviously South Korea is expected to be a lot better than Cuba, but the point is our team came out tentative and not firing on all cylinders.
Its just the first game people!
Most of our players were clearly not in their top form, so they have a lot of upside to improve in the next two games. I wouldn’t throw away the entire game plan. For one thing, we created a lot of opportunities. Our problem was that we just didn’t finish them, but I have a lot of faith in Altidore’s, Davies’ and Findley’s ability to finish, so on another night when our guys are in form we’re going to do much better.
Defense also looked rusty, I would have liked to have seen Spector but from the YNT blog on ussoccer it looks like neither Spector nor Zizzo were available for the game (on the team sheet, their names have an “A” next to them… don’t know what that means).
I think the biggest break down was in midfield. Personally I thought it was Dax that wasn’t linking up with Freddy, the forwards/wings, but perhaps it was both Dax and Edu. I thought Kljestan would look better, but he also looked rusty when he came on.
I still see this formation as a 4-3-3 and not a 4-5-1. I just don’t see how you can say Davies and Findley, two forwards, were playing as midfielders and not as attacking wingers. Maybe they didn’t perform well in their wingers role, but I do think Nowak’s intention was for them to play close to the opposing goal and attack.
Switch Holden in on the left and Zizzo in on the right and we’re likely to get a better result on Thursday.
angry johnny – completely disagree with your assessment of McCarty: he was excellent coming in as a sub with the U20s, especially when he filled in at RB, and he was a bright spot last night. He is a smart player and good distributor.
He was solid for FC Dallas last year. Finding a spot in their midfield is no small accomplishment. And his ability serving the ball afforded him the opportunity to take many of FCD’s set pieces. I was also impressed with his commitment last night, getting stuck in and challenging hard on 40/60 balls to keep Cuba pinned.
Freeman, Findley and Davies are the three players who need to be replaced and Ianni is borderline. Here’s hoping Kljestan, Holden and Zizzo start from minute one tomorrow.
Why was Altidore taken out at halftime? Why is Feilhaber not on the team? I think these are horrible decisions by Nowak.
Fixed your lineup. I like it too.
———-Seitz———-
Wynne–Ianni–Spector–Freeman
———-Edu————-
Kljestan—————–Holden
————Adu—————
——Barrett—Altidore——-
Somebody said:
“Just like in the U20’s this summer. Dax McCarthy showed that he is a very useful player at the youth level. The question still remains on whether or not it will ever fully translate to the pro game, but the kid deserves to be on the pitch at this age group.”
Actually Dax sucked at the U20 WC and the US won every game that he didn’t play significant minutes in and didn’t win every game that he did play significant minutes in. Look it up.
After last night’s game it is clear, when Dax plays the US sucks. If he is replaced the US will qualify, if not it doesn’t look good.
He is a combination of low skill on the ball combined with an absolute lack of creativity.
I agree with the first half being complete garbage for the US. I am completly against the lone striker role, unless its the US against Brazil with a 1 goal lead with 15 minutes or so left in the game. Yes Altidore is an amazing striker, but with him all alone it just makes it that much harder for him, cuz you know he will have 2 guys on him most of the time. I would like to see how Barrett and Altidore do together up front. I think they could be a duo like that of Germany’s Klose and Podolski. One guy great with the ball at his head and the other with great footskills and spead. This is what I would like to see next game.
———-Seitz———-
Wynne–Ianni–Spector–Freeman
———-Holden————-
Kljestan—————–Edu
————Adu—————
——Barrett—Altidore——-
I agree that Nowak made some strange decisions and deserves to be questioned on it. However, the U.S. did not blow this game because of Nowak.
What does Nowak have to do with Altidore missing a great chance seconds into the game? He wasn’t tired or beaten up at that point. Perhaps Nowak shouldn’t have played him? I like Altidore, but why is he so untouchable to so many of you?
Then there was Sacha’s missed close range header where he decided to head the defender’s head instead of the ball. Should he have been playing?
Adu had a great game and one poster said: “Take that Nowak!” What does that mean? Wasn’t it Nowak that picked Adu even though people would have you believe he hates him.
Adu was very unlucky not to score more than one goal. Maybe Nowak should have known this and not picked him.
Seems to me a lot of people have been asking for Charlie Davies to be given a chance on the full national team, but now he doesn’t even deserve a chance at this level?
I think the worst thing is the attitude this team has. If they don’t want to play, let another group play. Obviously there were a few exceptions, but just a few. I expect a HUGE change in desire and attitude in the next game, and this might be an area where Nowak could be very helpful. He doesn’t seem like the kind of coach who would tolerate this kind of attitude and I suspect several players will be gone next game, and not just for their performance.
Yeah, I know. It sure felt like a loss though.
Nowak’s MO: I am the COACH. I have a big chip on my shoulder because I still want to lace up the boots and physically beat my own players. Therefore, the first order of business is the coaching surprise, canning deserving players to show who is boss! The next order of business is the secret managerial maneuver because everyone knows coaches singlehandedly win games with the my crazy new and devestating formation with players playing out of position. Third, in the wake of the loss, the players need an attitude adjustment, so a player who played well must sit to learn his lesson about why his teammates did not play well. The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Wow!!! Unbelieveably dum to start out with a 4-2-3-1!!! What was “Coach Ski” thinking? Yep, a good/great player does not a good coach make!!! Dont’s scrap the players, scrap the coach!!!
LJ- “Where’s Rogers? Holden? Zizzo? Alvarez? Feilhaber? Szetela? Ferrari? Nguyen? Dalby? Harrington? Purdy? Kljestan? Bradley? Spector?”
-Holden, Spector and Zizzo sat the bench (dunno why)
-Rogers is injured (slightly but enough for an impact)
-Feilhaber performed poorly at camp, and whats the point of a camp unless ur using that to evaluate
-Szetela, Ferrari, Purdy, Nguyen, Dalby, Bradley are tied to teams who werent forced to release
so out of the list you provided, 3 were able, 1 was injured, 1 failed in camp, and the rest were tied to teams.
I hate total football.
Where’s Rogers? Holden? Zizzo? Alvarez? Feilhaber? Szetela? Ferrari? Nguyen? Dalby? Harrington? Purdy? Kljestan? Bradley? Spector?
I mean, I know there are some reasons why players were left out. But if you were to tell me “hey, none of the players listed above will take the field on wednesday” I would have said “you are an idiot”. Because I was made to believe we were taking the U23 team seriously. I guess not.
Agree about Zizzo, I mentioned before Tuesday that Altidore, Adu and Zizzo should be all the offense the team needs during pool play.
Stuart Holden and Sal Zizzo should never be on the bench again for the rest of this tournament.
‘As disappointing as you want to call Altidore’s 45 minutes, he did have a shot on goal that forced a good save….’
Really Ives? I love ya man but that was not a good shot. It was right at the keeper’s feet.
I’m sorry but if you’re in alone the keeper better need to be at full strretch or the ball needs to be in the back of the net for it to be a good shot. Believe me when I saw the replays I was hopeing it was a good shot, it wasn’t.
All the forwards stunk last night, including Jozy and that’s the whole issue. Davies, Altidore and Findlay all had breakaways they all hashed them up. Should’ve been 4-1 (at least).
Unfortunately, these are 20 year old kids in their first match in months for the msot part it happens. No biggie. If they don’t win on Thursday then we all go bonkers. I’m afraid we’re all two days (and another poor result) early.
I really liked Hill at fullback. He did get into some REALLY bad positions at the end by trying to create too much by himself. He looked relatively sound and he’s a right back who is able to beat people off the dribble. It’s a good look for something that’s supposed to be in an experimental stage right now.
You could really see what Altidore could do at the beginning of the game. There was one through ball that he took from the left flank beating 3 defenders with speed and only got stopped by the keepers kick save. After that he was tired, mostly because he was having to take passes down the flanks because there was no one else there.
FIVE defections! Damn, I should have took the over. I was banking on two defections and one playing in MLS sometime this season.
Out of five, I expect one in MLS and two in USL. I need to call my bookie….
Also, Brett, you’re right about the other forwards. I mentioned how bad Findley and Davies were and that how their lackluster performance outweighed any mistakes Barrett had in his paltry 29 minutes.
Soccernoo…..
You stole my line, except I was going to say…
We are all gonna die! Fire the coach! Fire the players! We suck!
We got a point…it is the first game. We should really wait and see what happens on Thursday.
ives- ur right i totally spaced Jozy’s 1v1 that the keeper made a good save on. and i agree that he created some dangerous fouls. i never claimed you said he was a bad player, im just saying that none of our forwards had stellar and glamorous games.
and perhaps im just pinpointing it, as Barrett seems to be getting the bulk of the attention. perhaps i blew it out of proportion.
———————————–
Dominghosa- while i defend barrett as a player, i am not saying in the slightest he had an amazing game. i understand where he’s getting the critisism but my main point is that he seems to be getting the bulk of the blame. especially since he did no worse then any of our other forwards. ALL of them had horrible touches and terrible passes.
yet people seem to drone on about how horrible barrett is as a player
5 CUBANS MAY HAVE DEFECTED?
“Jose Manuel Miranda, Erlys Garcia Baro, Yenier Bermudez, Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto left the hotel”, Raul Gonzalez, coach of the Cuban national team, told ESPN reporter Fernando Palomo. If the Cubans are forced to fore-fit the tournament, will that void last night’s match? They currently have 13 players. Due to the red card, only 12 are available to play.
Unrelated to the play, but I live in Tampa and wanted to go to the games–the cheapest ticket after Ticketmaster cost was $22 and that’s low behind a goal. Sideline seats were 50-70. They are also charging $10 for parking.
Does that seem excessive for a u-23 Olympic qualifier??? Yes I know you get 2 matches that day, but the first one is at 5:30 and 2 teams I don’t care to watch.
I just don’t see how they don’t have some $10 tickets and some weeklong ticket discounts as well.
And after watching that display there’s no way I’m spending money to watch them in person when they are on TV.
It was dissappointing!! US should have made a statement and asserted its dominance. Instead we basically saw a team that has yet to gel and trust completely. the blame for that goes to preperation and coaching.. that being said i t hink the will win thier next two games handily (i hope)
We needed a better pivot in this game. Since Feilhaber is apparently out.. Bradley might fit that bill if he is released.
We needed real wingers yesterday with the initial line-up. otherwise play 2 forwards.
everyone keeps saying rogers wasn’t included because of injury, i’m not sure how much of that is true. I agree that he might be injured.. but to cut him entirely?? makes no sense.
Ives, good article on ESPN. Why didn’t you rate the players? That is always my favorite part of the ESPN post game reviews.
Ives,
I just read your recap article on last nights game. Great analysis.
The one positive about the game is the fact that so many people seem to care about an Olympic qualifier. I know it didn’t show in the stands, but from the reponse on this sight to getting a feature article on ESPN.com is great.
8 years ago or even 4, I think this might have been a two or three paragraph blip that never gets read by anyone. Now your article basically calls out the coach and most of the players, I love it.
Heerenveen let us have Michael! Benny get your head on straight! Novak, get the formation right and for goodness sake put the players you have in the right positions! Team USA – remember there are ninety minutes not fifteen! Where o’ where is coach Rongren!
For those defending Barrett, you really need to watch a replay of the match and find out why he’s getting so much criticism. Findley should get just as much because I really do need to watch the replay to figure out if he was even on the field in the first half as the lineup suggested. As bad as Barrett’s mistouches, bad positioning and bad fouls were, that doesn’t compare to Findley’s debacle of a 1v1 scoring opportunity with Cuba’s GK.
Jozy also blew a great chance in the first half but Findley’s atrocious attempt at a shot in the second half was excruciating to watch.
And if Davies kept his feet in the first half on another 1v1 with the GK, the US wins.
Quick notes, Dax was effective but you would be too if Cuba marked you like you were invisible. But on the other hand, the kid still impressed me and he showed a lot of skill. And Hill wasn’t that bad as a fullback. Well, as a fullback on offense he was great. But it’s obvious he needs more work playing actual defense.
Ianni should also receive much criticism for allowing that pass through, which led t Cuba’s goal.
On to Thursday and hopefully the fruits of what was learned on Tuesday.
Brett, in my ESPN.com piece on the game I point out that Findley, Davies and Barrett were all awful. As for Altidore, I just don’t think he was put in a position to succeed as the lone striker up top with no support. As disappointing as you want to call Altidore’s 45 minutes, he did have a shot on goal that forced a good save and he drew some dangerous free kicks. He did well considering the circumstances he was placed in. I can’t say the same for Findley, Davies or Barrett.
Maybe if I watch the game again I won’t be as harsh on Barrett but how anyone can say he played well is beyond me. And again, I’m not saying he’s a terrible player, just that he didn’t have a good game.
Ives- “Did Barrett score? Did he have a quality shot on goal? Did he turn the ball over repeatedly?”
did altidore/findley/davies score? Did they have a quality shot on goal? Did they turn the ball over repeatedly?
if that’s the basis of ratings, then perhaps you shouldve said “our forwards were awful” b/c noone did well up top… and lets not forget Barrett did have some quality passes to progress play and even a couple quality crosses back across the box
why is it that with Altidore, that his play was merely “Altidore looked lost at times as he waited for service that never came.” Altidore’s touch on the ball was just as bad, and he fouled up just as many plays. as I’ve said before, i believe alot of that has to do with him playing a solo forward, but still, it seems theres alot of biased comments going on. and that’s not neccessarily directed towards you
Undrafted – your fixation on, and unrelenting defense of, Barrett and his performance leads to the belief that you’re either related to him or friends with him. Fess up.
As for the performance, some perspective helps. With better finishing they’d have won 4-1 or 5-1. I chalk it up to pre-season type rustiness more than tactics or line-ups. Some better warm-up matches would’ve helped. I’d like to see Zizzo & Holden on the wings tomorrow.
We missed the creativity and crossing ability that Rogers brings to the plate. He works well with Adu and Altidore and his abscence will be missed. When you have dangerous wings you create the space that is needed and on which players like Adu and Altidore thrive on. Hell an injured Rogers still would have been way better than what was out there last night. Now its time to regroup. You only have one left footed winger left-thats Gaven-he has lots of experience thouh not real fast. Play him with Holden (due to experience) or Zizzo (due to speed). Do not keep Sacha K out ever again. His maturity and experinece are needed. Edu? What up with Mo? He can do much better and needs to step up.
Ives, and others, criticizing Barret, your not wrong. He looked like shite out there. Whoever said he had cement shoes on said it best. Every first touch he had, the ball ended up at least 10 yards away. He wasn’t alone in the shite category. Nowak was right there with him. 4-5-1? Davies and Findley out wide? WHAT? I’m not even going into the roster cuts.
I’m still scratching my head this morning trying to figure out how this team managed to look so bad after the first 15 minutes.
Let’s hope this is just a one game bump in the road on the way to qualification.
Ives, I agree with Fuego. The point is not that blunt analysis is wrong, but certain players get singled out for criticism more often than others. EJ and Barrett get tons of irrational criticism. I thought Barrett played fine, at least compared with the rest of the forwards on the field not named Adu. The criticism he’s taking here is out of proportion.
When Nowak was DC United coach, same thing. Wrong people in wrong formation. Most of us DC United fans were very happy to see him go and this is why.
Scott – nice analysis. I totally agree.
I think Nowak is just stubborn and does some crazy things sometimes. I played for a guy like this, too.
“The sky is falling! The Sky is falling!”
that is what most people sound like. I missed the game last night but from reading the Ives play by play. we came out fast and then fell asleep. we played on a bad surface and we gave up and easy goal. We doubled the shot total of the other team but could only get by the keeper once who sounds like he played an excellent game. Relax and lets see the next game before we get rid of the coach.
Ives,
I, for one, always like blunt analysis, even if I disagree with it (and I happen to agree with most of your points this time around). If a player has an awful game, call it awful; it isn’t objective analysis if you shy away from harsh words.
Case in point: can anyone on this board describe Chris Baird’s performance for Fulham this year without using the word “sucked”? I thought not.
As a DC United fan, I’ve become used to bizarre decisions from Peter Nowak. It seems that that has continued with the U-23s.
I’m not a fan of the 4-5-1 in any situation; it makes it too easy for the defense to key in on the lone striker. The wingers have defensive responsibilities, so they sometimes end up back by their own penalty area, unable to join in a counterattack. It hasn’t worked for Fulham this year, and it didn’t work for the U-23s last night.
Well, that was crap. Two big problems.
1) Formation was a 4-2-3-1. Without a Pivot. Disaster.
2) Davies & Findley are forwards, not wingers.
Basic tactical play of the 4-2-3-1 demands a pivot, a deep lying playmaker, to switch the field to the winger making a diagonal run behind the defense. Without a pivot, it forces the CAM (adu) to create triangles and passing lanes in the final third. When the defense packs it in, that becomes very difficult to do. Which is why normally, you transistion to a 4-4-2 when the defense is putting 10 men behind the ball. Now, you don’t have to transition to a 4-4-2 if your wingers are good on the ball, and can beat their man off the dribble, it can work, but it you need WINGERS not forwards on the flanks of the 4-2-3-1. With forwards as wingers and no Benny (the only real pivot we have). The game relies on Adu winning it on his own. Which he almost did. But the tactics was wrong from the start and a professional coach should never have fielded such a flawed formation. I seriously cannot believe Nowak is coaching.
PooBah
My point here was to show that comparing Barrett to McBride is less ridiculous than the crap he gets from many morons online. I can’t believe Ives has fallen into, much less leading the piling on that Barrett somehow doesn’t belong on the field. Imperfect as he may be, Barrett remains one of our top 5 striker prospects from ages 18-23. He’s no sure bet to be outstanding, but I’ll still take the bet that he’ll be a MLS all-star and USMNT contributor before it’s all said and done. So lets return to this discussion in 5 years or so.
Fuego, I’m not trying to sell a thing. I simply stated my opinion, an opinion it seems I’m not alone in having.
And exactly why should I care about Soccer America’s ratings? They’re entitled to their opinions as I am to mine.
Is awful too harsh a word? Okay, how about useless? Ineffective? Invisible? Answer me these questions. Did Barrett score? Did he have a quality shot on goal? Did he turn the ball over repeatedly? Maybe I’ll give Barrett a better rating if I watch the match 10 times but I really don’t know what in his performance would make me think he played well.
I’m starting to get tired of this whole notion that just because you criticize a player’s performance you somehow have an agenda against that player. I thought Barrett played poorly on Tuesday, plain and simple. If you disagree then that’s your right. Just don’t tell me I’m wrong for not agreeing with you.
Feilhaber should have been on this team. If Benny has an attitude problem, SO WHAT? The goal here is to qualify for the Olympics not to moralize to twenty-year-olds. Dax and Edu played great, but Feilhaber would have helped to maintain possession in the middle of the field. And with Cuba in bunker mode, he could have provided the creative passes we needed to break down the defense. Findley and Davies looked awkward and out of place on the wings.
Adu looked fantastic, but should have buried more than one of those shots.
Ives’ you’re the only person who seems intent on selling Barrett’s performance as awful. Soccer America rated his performance a ‘6’. For comparison, Altidore and Freeman were given ‘4’.
The formation was the problem. Playing Altidore alone up top was about as retarded as it gets. Pair Altidore and Barrett together up top from the start with Kljestan in the midfield and that game would have been 3-0 by the 30 minute mark.
Was it just me or did the passing look slow? I couldn’t tell if it was the length of the grass or just less power on the passes. Maybe it was just McCarty – who really perked up in the 2nd half.
1 question…How is Benny Feilhaber not in this squad? One of the bright spots of the FULL team last year and he can’t get a look, you’ve got to be kidding me NOWAK!!
For the players we have, results like this are UNACCEPTABLE, playing a defensive formation against CUBA!!!!
That game made me absolutely furious. The posters above who suggested we have to get serious about our coaches are absolutely correct. We’re developing the talent to get to the next level-now we need the coaching. Bradley hasn’t done anything to piss me off like this, but the U-17s play better ball than Nowak’s team last night.
The most troubling aspect of the draw is that it might make second place (rather than first) in the group a real possibility, which in turn may mean a semifinal (instead of final) match against Mexico, which once again could mean no Olympics.
Zungazan- AAAAA! LOGIC!!!! the power of christ compels you!!
Andrew- while he may be inconsistant he was the leading scorer for the Fire last season (still not saying much as it was a terrible season).
but he had 8 goals and 1 assist all season. Nothing stellar, but it is average on an MLS side. if he can consistantly post 8 goals a season, and have a healthy Rolfe, i dont see why he would be dropped.
The players didn’t perform. Simple as that.
Tony in Quakeland- ” what, is Poland a suburb of Milwaukee?”
i thought it was a suburb of chicago??
I don’t want to say the boys got complacent but check out the YNT blog: http://ynt-ussoccer.blogspot.com/
The post about Cuba tying the game 1-1 is followed directly by a post about the joys of custom omelet and pasta stations at the hotel. Hmm…
undrafted –
“barret is the next mcbride” ?!?!?
Hah, you’re delusional. Seriously. I dont come on here to flame or anything but thats just an insane statement. The only reason Chad Barrett is still playing professional soccer is his age. If he hasnt progressed in the next few years, he’ll be gone, nevermind involved with the nats.
Undrafted has to be related to Barrett. Only explanation.
As for the call for imported coaches, what, is Poland a suburb of Milwaukee?
Good to see that as usual, we are keeping the old axiom in mind that you are never as good or bad as you look.
As for the game, I think Ives has it right. Whether Nowak is a bad coach or not will be revealed in the next game and the adjustments he makes. But while I didn’t like his approach, some better finishing from Davies and Findlay and this would have been a comfortable victory. Maybe it is better that we have exposed some problems now rather than coast through and getting exposed in the semi-final.