The U.S. national team’s friendly vs. Poland is set to kick off shortly and if you are by a computer and want to follow along you can camp out here at SBI.
I will be doing a running commentary on the match and you are more than welcome to share your thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match.
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FINAL- USA 3, Poland 0. I know Poland was using several young players but the USA definitelydominated a match they were probably expected to lose. Aside from the forwards, the American squad from top to bottom enjoyed a really good showing. Who would have thought we’d see the day when the USA could beat a European Championship qualifying team on the road by a 3-0 scoreline?
Thanks for following the match here and continue to share your thoughts and opinions on the match below.
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92nd minute- Eddie Johnson with a chance to run in behind the Poland defense and manages to get caught and not even get a shot off.
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91st minute- Dempsey has looked strong? Clint Dempsey?
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86th minute- Clint Dempsey has been basically invisible tonight. The lack of playing time at Fulham is definitely taking its toll.
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85th minute- Benny Feilhaber coming in for Heath Pearce. Let’s see what he can do here. Expect plenty of lineup shifting.
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84th minute- Eddie Lewis is playing great here. Who says he’s too old?
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79th minute- Jay DeMerit comes close with a header off a Lewis free kick.
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78th minute- The free kick was blocked.
And another thing. Where are the "Why is Bradley calling up Eddie Lewis" people now?
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77th minute- Poland with a dangerous free kick.
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73rd minute-GOAL USA. Eddie Lewis with a BEAUTIFUL free kick goal. Artur Boruc had NO chance. USA 3, Poland 0
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72nd minute- Jonathan Spector coming in for Cherundolo. For those of you keeping track, Spector has gone from Nashville to England to Poland in six days.
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71st minute- I would LOVE to know what Poland fans are chanting right now. Sounds like "Sing when you’re winning" but somehow I doubt that’s it.
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67th minute- The best part about this match? Playing an opponent that doesn’t dive and whine and pretend it wants to fight. It’s all business. Makes for a clean match.
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63rd minute- Wolff for Ching, Demerit for Onyewu and Lewis for Donovan.
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61st minute- Here come some USA subs
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57th minute- Eddie Johnson back-pass. DRINK!
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56th minute- Oguchi Onyewu just got owned, luckily the chance went high (was tipped over by Howard).
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55th minute- The Poland fans are in full voice, No "You only sing when you’re winning" going on in Krakow.
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53rd minute- Poland made wholesale subs at halftime but its attack still isn’t clicking.
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50th minute- Heath Pearce with another good play. He’s having a solid game today.
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49th minute- I’ll give Donovan credit for creating that chance and showing some explosiveness. Would have been good of him to finish and show he can score on European soil.
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48th minute- Donovan misses a breakaway. WOW. That should have been a goal.
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46th minute- And we’re back.
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HALFTIME- The Ching-Johnson combo must do better with the chances it gets, though to be fair there hasn’t been a ton of service to them.
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HALFTIME- USA 2, Poland 0. Two set pieces lead to goals as the Americans actually outplayed Poland in the run of play. The U.S. forwards need to do better but it has been a solid effort all the way around otherwise.
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46th minute- Good stuff from Heath Pearce this half.
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44th minute- Eddie Johnson gets a turnover on a platter in the Poland penalty area and can’t convert as his shot is blocked.
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38th minute- New drinking game. Every time Christopher Sullivan says "Fantastic" we all drink.
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36th minute- Donovan’s corner kick was perfection, placed right in front of goal. Poland’s defending on set pieces has been laughable.
And here’s another corner kick for DOnovan.
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35th minute- GOAL USA!! OGUCHI ONYEWU heads home a Donovan corner kick. WOW. USA 2, Poland 0
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34th minute- This 4-4-0 formation isn’t working too well for the Americans (Um, Ives, it’s a 4-4-2). What? There are forwards on the field for the USA?
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32nd minute- Cherundolo with some class defending. He is the best right back in the U.S. pool by a mile.
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31st minute- Great save by Howard after some shaky defending from the USA.
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30th minute- Poland corner kick. Here comes danger.
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26th minute- Nice sequence from the U.S. team, good passes, until Ricardo Clark turns it over.
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25th minute- I’m not saying Brian Ching’s crosses have been awful but Frank Hejduk is back home thinking, "Ching’s crosses are terrible."
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21st minute-No Max Bretos, Clint Mathis plays at Ergotelis, Zurawski plays at Larissa. Slight difference.
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19th minute- Okay, it’s time for the Eddie Johnson back-pass drinking game. I know it’s the afternoon, but why not?
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16th minute- The Americans are winning the possession battle early.
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14th minute– Back to the goal, what was that some folks were saying about Landon Donovan’s free kicks?
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12th minute- GOAL USA!! And it’s Carlos Bocanegra. Take that Roy Hodgson.
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11th minute- Eddie Johnson goes at Poland’s defense…then gets stripped. Looks a bit familiar.
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9th minute- Okay, I’ll say it. I like the unforms.
There’s Heath Pearce getting turned. He’s another one with a lot to prove today.
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7th minute- Bradley looks sharp early on. Ching with a nice run but terrible cross.
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5th minute- I’m wondering if the central midfield tandem of Bradley and Clark will be able to control possession today. The young duo is coming off a shaky game against Mexico but Poland’s central midfield isn’t as strong as Mexico’s.
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3rd minute- I wonder if Ivan Putzki is at this match (For those of you younger than 30, he was an old WWF wrestler from Krakow, Poland).
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PRE-GAME- These uniforms look like club team unis.
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PRE-GAME- Not sure about these American uniforms.
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PRE-GAME- The crowd in Krakow is rocking. This is going to be a great environment and great test for the Americans.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the USA lineup:
—————Ching———-Johnson————-
Donovan—–Clark———Bradley———Dempsey
Pearce——Bocanegra——Onyewu——-Cherundolo
———————-Howard————————-
With all the issues on the left flank it is interesting to see Donovan as an option there.
The Ching-Johnson tandem will be an interesting one to watch. Also, the Clark-Bradley tandem didn’t play too well against Mexico so we will see how it does today.
First of all, the Dempsey bashing has got to stop, like, right…about…NOW.
Stop pulling things like “he’s not hustling” out of your asses. He’s at the end of a long, grueling club season and he played almost the full 90 yesterday. Give the guy a break.
He deserves a break because he’s probably the most skilled, technically sound attacking player that the U.S. has. Yes, Donovan has speed and can make plays, AND his setpiece deliveries were perfect yesterday, but on raw soccer touch and technical ability, Dempsey has him beat by a mile. Someone wants Brian Ching in the lineup instead of Dempsey? ARE YOU INSANE!?!?!?! BRIAN CHING?!?!
I think, as usual on the Internet, people nitpick stuff to death. This guy has scored consistently in one of the TOP LEAGUES IN THE WORLD (I realize he’s in a post-Christmas drought). He’s a key player for this team going forward, and he can play three positions at least serviceably: Forward, Wing and Attacking Midfielder. I like him best as the second forward.
If you don’t want Clint Dempsey in the lineup when games matter (i.e. WC Qualifying, Confederations Cup, World Cup), you should get your head checked…seriously.
What impressed me most about this excellent win was the team performance. While certain individuals did not have their best game (especially the forwards) as a team, we were superb. We dominated mid field, gave up few opportunities at the back, and created a lot of clear cut scoring chances. If our forwards had been sharp, we could have scored 5 or 6 goals. However, I do think the poor surface was a problem for both sets of forwards.
Bradley (coach) has to get a lot of credit for the collective performance.
It will be harder to repeat our success against England as they will provide more pressure and play at a greater pace. But it will be another great test on which to measure our progress.
Well done boys!
La Liga.
Anyway, just got done watching my DVR of the game. (Brazil-Sweden on as I type.)
Quick thoughts…
— Great win against a quality opponent in a great road atmosphere. Donovan seems to have learned something from Becks about taking free kicks. Would still like to have seen a goal come from the run of play but Donovan should have done that with a great opportunity he created all by himself.
— Wow, I really don’t like to watch E. Johnson play in a non-MLS match. He’s just not very good. What does he show in training that he doesn’t show in games? He really should not be in the starting lineup anymore if he even deserves to be called up again. The guy just can’t go forward at all with the ball at his feet. And that listless cross after beating a defender with the ball and finding a 2v2 situation by the endline was atrocious.
— After a shaky start, liked what H. Pearce did today. He tracked back quick on defense and won challenges while also going forward and contributed something in the attacking third.
— Dempsey really needs to get more time back playing in his more natural positions (either right midfield or right wing or central attacking midfield) with Fulham because he didn’t show anything of his former self.
— Bocanegra and Onyewu did very well. Cherundolo got beat a couple of times but both plays ended with harmless shots straight to Timmy Howard, who you could not find any fault from him tonight.
— Midfielders did well. Clark and Bradley pairing improved. Clark looks like he’ll have a great MLS season when the suspension is lifted. Bradley is played deeper than he would with Heerenveen but that’s where the kid apparently wants to play — “box-to-box.”
— Ching worked hard but he’s no good at this level unless Donovan is his partner up top.
— Nice to see DeMerit get time. Would have liked to seen it earlier and also get Gibbs some time.
But good win anyway for the USMNT. No goals from run of play but 3 road goals against a Euro 08 qualifier is still impressive.
The more accurate statement would be that Fulham isn’t that good. I don’t know enough about the bottoms of other leagues, but even if they’re better than the bottom of the EPL (which may or may not be the case, but they have to be better than Derby), I think the strength at the top of the EPL combined with the overall number of solid teams in the middle makes any argument that the EPL is horrible somewhat off-base. Granted, you can’t say it’s head-and-shoulders above Serie A or La Liga, but you can’t say it’s far worse, either. Fulham, though, is underachieving, most probably due to poor management. I’m not the biggest Bocanegra fan, but he looked really good today. He can’t get minutes, really? For a defense that conceded two goals to Newcastle? But I thought EJ had played well in his last few Fulham matches. I’m thinking he might be most valuable to the MNT as a 2nd half sub, just bring him in and tell him to go full speed at tired defenders. Of course, that would require him to actually go at a defender, which may be a stretch. As for the rest of today’s game, I thought Demerit looked good, and came really close to being the 3rd CB to score. He also dealt with a few tricky balls in the box (including the scrum that included R. Clark’s apparent hand-ball) that no one else seemed willing to go after. I think if the US is playing a team that doesn’t have a huge target man for Onyewu to match up with, a pairing of Demerit and Boca might be the best choice. It seems like Spain might fit that description, assuming they start Torres and Villa. I’d be far more confident with Boca and Demerit dealing with those two.
The Premier League isn’t that good? Wow.! Would you mind telling us about these leagues you know of that are just so much better than the EPL?
Matthew Maier: Because the PREMIER LEAGUE ain’t that good (ask Barnsley), especially the teams at the bottom.
Can anyone tell me how Eddie Johnson is playing in the PREMIER league? This does not make sense.
gel65,
Not to be insulting (maybe you haven’t seen too many games with the pertinent players), but I question your knowledge of football, if you’re making that statement. Jozy has touch, ball skills, target skills, ball striking ability, instincts, and coolness under pressure that E.J. has never had. Anyone who’s ever played the game can tell that very quickly. EJ’s problem is not work rate, it’s skill. He has the touch of a bricklayer with leprosy. Work rate can be easily improved, skills cannot. Watch the two and really pay attention to their skills and I’m sure that you’ll agree.
one more thing,i hate to say it but altidore is the 2nd coming of eddie johnson,if you watch him closely during games he is just as lazy as ej,hes not a true striker only a poacher and can only play when he has a juan pablo angel next to him.
eddie johnson is the back passin equivalent to pete vagenas of my beloved la galaxy.eddie should no longer be called up.hes a shamockery.
“get with it” makes a very fair point.
this was not the beautiful game by any stretch of the imagination.
to be honest, I just want to see the USA play with a decent shape.
I honestly think the following lineup would be the most satisfying in terms of possession and shape and creating opportunities (assuming the following players get regular PT and are healthy):
Altidore Donovan
Beasley Bradley Feilhaber Dempsey
Pearce Boca Onyewu Cherundolo
Howard
-replace Adu for Donovan
-Lewis or Convey for Beasley
-Nguyen for Dempsey
-And consider Spector and Edu for holding options.
-Gibbs and DeMerit are just as good in the CB positions.
But no more playing people out of position.
Look,any of the following two players are on the pitch – Altidore, Beasley, Adu or Dempsey – we will win dangerous free kick options.
I don’t know why people are still interested in Ching, like Twellman and others he’s fine at that level but cannot and will not rise up above it.
Here’s the line-up I’d love to see at the end of May vs England (hence Beas back in):
————Altidore—-Ching————–
—Beasley———————Donovan—-
———–Edu———-Bradley————
—Pearce——Onyewu—-Boca—-Cherundolo
——————–Howard—————–
Donovan has the speed and defensive awareness to play the wing, but he just has no left foot, and hence no crosses in the run of play. Put him on the right, that changes. Also, play him on the same side as Ching since they combine so well.
I still want to see Ching and Altidore paired together, Ching holds up the ball so well I thing they could really combine. However, if BB makes Ching run all the way back to defend every corner kick, I don’t think he can run the much. But come on, we can defend with 10 right? You have to have someone to clear it to.
I vote no Adu yet, since he doesn’t play nearly as well when put out on the wing, you just need to give him the keys to the car. And it’s not quite his time yet, save him for a late game sub to change the pace if we need a goal.
If Beas isn’t back to speed, I’d go with Holden on the left, his left is better than Donovan’s, he’s got great speed, and he runs back on d.
I think Dempsey gets the bench. He’s almost as bad as EJ for not hustling. All he did today was job and pant.
What a great game! I work with a Polish man (actually from Poland) and he was trying to convince me all week that Poland is in top form and I should expect the US to lose. I however, kept faith, and we pulled out our most dominating game in Europe ever. I hope my coworker was right and that is Poland in top form because that means the US is even better than I thought they were. I’m so happy; bring on England, Spain and Argentina!
Yes, I know I’m getting carried away, but I’m just too happy to care.
and i meant poland, not swiss – sorry
the day the US scores a good goal from the run of play against a quality opponent is the day i celebrate. under bob, the US has yet to do that, everything has been set pieces (granted there have been a few good move to create penalties, but the vast majority have been set pieces or garbage goals) – this is the most dominating performance the US has had, yet it was still weak, and the US would never score the goals they did against a quality team that actually marked on set pieces- the swiss marking was horrible. i am a US fan through and through and have played through the system my whole life, but i honestly wished the US had gotten killed so that people realize we are playing disgusting soccer and winning games based on set pieces alone, and if our record or England’s record can be used as any proof, thats not enough to reach success. we need to set our sights high and start playing attacking football – doing things like not playing 4 pure defenders and 2 defensive midfielders – more of the same garbage that has left the US a mediocre team in the past. i would venture that the US wouldnt have even reached the semis in the COPA or African nations cup with a full strength squad. i like bob, but he needs to take some chances and some creative things, and if he cant, then get him out of there. while some of nowak’s tests with the U23s might not have worked out great, atleast hes trying new things.
It looked liked DC United vs the Red Bulls… i HATE the new uniforms!! (i also hate united’s new uniforms, what happened to the adidas stripes?? i would rather have that than a sponsor.)
very good game for the us, they had there way with poland. this i think is the us’s best line up:
——————-altidore—————-
——–donovan——-Adu——-dempsey—-
————-Bradley——-Edu————-
—Pearce——Onyewu—-Boca—-Cherundolo
——————–Howard—————–
What does everyone think about this lineup, when beasly comes back i say he fights with dempsey for the starting role, i kike this formation for this team, and it gives adu and altidore plenty of familiarity.
I think this arguing about where Adu is going to play is a little bit silly. Adu at this point seems like he’s going to do the same thing whether he’s named a forward or an attacking mid: he’s going to roam from side to side, he’s going to spend most of his time attacking up front, and he’s going to track back to get the ball but not play defense. Call him what you want; I don’t think it really matters.
Were Grenada’s 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of their 10-0 win REALLY necessary? Granted, the last one was an own goal (ouch), but why were they still attacking?
some player ratings to discuss:
Howard 6
-solid, but not much to do.
Pearce 5
-did very well going forward at the right times, was beaten and sloppy in moments but never punished. i think he’s our man at LB provided he gets regular PT in a top league.
Dolo 6
-no complaints, total professional.
Gooch 7
-wow, I’m coming around. forget the goal. he is beginning to close in on people fast, and avoid cards and dumb fouls…great news.
Boca 8
-solid.
Clark 3
-I don’t get it. The best DMs know the game intuitively (ie Makelele), this guy? I’d rather see Spector there if you insist on using a DM.
Donovan 7
-Again, just think what he would be doing had he challenged himself in Europe. Don’t like him at LM.
Dempsey 5
-Frustrated, and why shouldn’t he be?
Bradley 6
-No alarms and no surprises.
Ching 3
-Makes me want to take another look at Kenny Cooper, to be honest.
Johnson 2
-The only reason this is not a one is because he didn’t manage to injure one of our players that actually might contribute to a match. Good luck Fulham.
Subs:
Lewis 7
-To be honest, he just keeps improving. A real professional and will be invaluable for qualifying.
DeMerit 7
-Very excited about the CB race…
Spector 6
-Great guy to have, period.
Wolff 6
-Wish he had gone abroad when he was younger. A smart performance.
Feilhaber 6
-Still the most imaginative CM we have had since Reyna.
*Welcome back Gibbsy!
71st minute- I would LOVE to know what Poland fans are chanting right now. Sounds like “Sing when you’re winning” but somehow I doubt that’s it.
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Nothing, it is just ‘lalalalala lalalala lalalala lalalala Polska!’.
When it is NT game the crowd can be more casual and from different parts of the country so you can’t sing more complicated chants. It is clubs when you have 30+ games season to practice something more than ‘lalala…’.
The support is almost never impressive comparing to the club soccer.
Btw, great blog Ives.
papabear:
E.J. played well for Fulham the last two times out?
I must have something wrong with my eyes then. I can remember a half where he seemed to do a decent job, but that’s about it. If he looks like he is improving sometimes I think it is only because he is playing so badly other times. He can’t even turn and face the goal or try to hold on to the ball for more than a second or two without desperately getting rid of it like it’s a hot potato.
We need E.J. to succeed, and I want him to succeed, but he really needs help right now and an EPL relegation battle seems way too overwhelming for him right now.
kswiss:
you said: “can you tell me why we shouldn’t at least try him up top?”
Yes, actually, I can. Freddy has made it crystal clear he likes playing where he is at, and after the debacle at D.C. United I think he would not like to be moved around anymore now that he is where he wants to be and is starting to improve as a player. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to be a striker. Besides we keep messing around with too many players by making them play striker when their not strikers. I think it hurts their development as a midfielder. It’s certainly not doing Dempsey any good at this point.
Capello’s using Gerrard as a withdrawn forward, I don’t see why we can’t do the same thing w/ Adu, Donovan, or Dempsey
I figured that’s what you meant. I didn’t notice slowness but it loaded funny a few times. I’m wondering if the traffic is starting to take its toll. Thanks for pointing out the slowness.
Ives:
I was referring to it slowing down to a crawl. It seems like it’s been doing that a lot during the commentaries. Was it just me today? I guess it’s to be expected with so many people posting in such a short period of time. It wasn’t really a serious comment.
Oh, sorry about the confusion Juke Box Hero. I meant that to go with my last post, saying that we should try Adu as a second striker with Altidore in the future, instead of having a 5 man midfield. I liked this formation a lot, too.
aristotle: EJ actually played well for Fulham the last 2 times out and was praised by the manager and fans.
Not defending him on the int’l level, but he has been improving over at Fulham. He definitely is a head case. It seems Onalfo is the only one who can pull any good out of him.
It was, by any account, a 4-4-2. I don’t want a 4-5-1 either. That’s why I complemented the line-up. In stark contrast to Olympic Qualifying, where Altidore was the lone striker and struggled. We need 2 forwards out there. But we also don’t need to sacrifice forward minded midfielders to do it.
I think we are being a little unfair to Eddie Johnson. This seems like an unusual situation. He really does seem to have a huge case of stage fright. He is not playing badly in so much as he is not playing at all. Every game is a deer caught in head lights.
It’s hard to understand why his coaches are allowing this to continue. It’s possible Hodgson is doing it out of embarrassment because he just doesn’t want to admit he made a mistake signing E.J. in Fulham’s current situation. I’ve got to believe that this is the last we will see of E.J. starting for the U.S. and Fulham for a while. Although, in the case of the U.S., we are pretty desperate up front right now. We seem to have almost nothing in the striker department other than Altidore and players who are not strikers. I think E.J. will be replaced at Fulham this week. Nevland will probably play instead.
“Who would have thought we’d see the day when the USA could beat a European Championship qualifying team on the road by a 3-0 scoreline?”
I believe I called 2-0 on the thread announcing the roster.
This is a match we SHOULD have won. Qualifying for the Euros out of group A wasn’t all that difficult. Portugal was the only other ‘real’ team in there. Put Poland in any other group (well maybe they escape G -think it was G) and they would have finished no better than 3rd in their group. They really aren’t that great a side.
Poland has always been more about ‘guts’ than skill (even more so than the US if that’s possible)
The last thing I want is a 4-5-1.
Antigua and Barbuda trying to blow it — up 3-0 on agg but get two reds in the 45th and 46th minutes. Wish I could watch that one.
Great performance! Boca & Onyewu have shown much better timing in their challenges. Donovan CAN be a dangerous & effective wing. EJ is no longer a confident player out there. Dempsey tired early. Bradley & Clark were very solid. Pearce improved his stock. Great match from Cherundolo.
I really liked Coach Bradley’s lineup. If you are going without an attacking center mid, you better have attack minded wings. Look for this type of tactical lineup to be repeated in upcoming games.
aristotle, I know he hasn’t played as a striker, but I would like to see him in that role, as a withdrawn forward behind Jozy. It may end up that he’s a lot better in midfield, but can you tell me why we shouldn’t at least try him up top?
Aristotle, why is my website dying?
Oooooooo – Brazil is pretty!
When is Eddie Johnson going to turn and take guys on?
The Newcastle game was back passes too.
He needs to score like now. What a head case.
Guiseppi Rossi would make this team a real force in the world. Then again, we’d all probably get angry at him for not scoring 2 goals a game or something.
Great game by the US back line, that starting 4 deserves the run of Euro games this summer. If I had to pick 1, I’d give MoM to ‘Dolo, but it’s really the back 4.
The US were very well organized (much like the U-23’s vs Canada), and then dominated set pieces.
I think I’d rather see Edu – Bradley than Clark – Bradley, but I bet BB sticks to the “2 D-Mid” mantra.
Ching was really quiet, and I’m not sure he should be in the line-up if BB orders his forwards back on every corner kick. If that’s the tactic, might as well play for speed on the breakaway.
Donovan had a good game, despite missing his breakaway. Best corners in a while, and plays such a complete defensive game, even though he also showed he couldn’t get a cross in during play.
But it was ironic they kept showing his breakaway vs Mexico, because I thought he really should’ve rounded the keeper instead of shooting, exactly like in Phoenix.
kswiss:
Since Adu is not a striker. Are you suggesting a five man midfield?
Donovan getting subbed fairly early is good news for me too.
Hopefully it means I’ll get to see him play most of the game on Saturday at Dick’s.
A good soccer week.
I agree with Evan. Replace Ching-Johnson with Adu-Altidore and imagine what this game might have been like.
Ok, this is spooky! I was just thinking that the only downer from today’s game would be our inability to score from open play.
Then someone posts my thoughts, using my real name!
Rod Serling is that you standing over there?
Eddie Johnson is SO frustrating! Someone needs to talk to him SOON about his playing. He just needs some confidence out there. He’s making this game way more difficult than it shout be.
Now if we could only score from open play. Otherwise a good performance and a win. Congrats USMNT.
Can’t wait to see Adu and Altidore added to the 1st team regularly, should be good.
Ives:
Your web…site……is………..dy…ing.
Trevor, you need to switch to decaf. No one ever said he’s a bad keeper, just that he didn’t look too good today. 3 goals in 4 shots (was it really only 4 shots?) is not a good game. And it’s no insult to say you’d rather have Howard – Timmy’s an elite GK.
US to face Barbados in WC Qualifying on June 15 in California.
Where the hell is the T.O. of US soccer?