By FRANCO PANIZO
HARRISON, N.J. – The U.S. men's national team saw an all too familiar game play itself out against Ecuador.
For the third time in five games, the Americans created chances but had nothing to show for it, falling 1-0 to Ecuador in front of 20,707 supporters at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday night.
Second half substitute Jaime Ayovi netted the game's lone goal, rising above U.S. substitute Tim Ream to head the ball past Tim Howard and into the back of the net.
"They played a brilliant first half, created lots of chances, didn't score, but didn't allow anything for Ecuador at all there," said head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who is now 1-3-1 as head coach of the U.S. team. "Then we had to make some changes … Ecuador, second half, got better into the game and created some chances but never really any threat for Tim Howard, so he never really had anything to do in that game besides that one beautiful goal that they scored."
Playing in a 4-1-3-2 formation, the United States began the game well, creating a chance in the opening seconds when Jozy Altidore got on the end of a quick throw in. Altidore then took a shot on goal, but Ecuador goalkeeper Maximo Banguera got down to make the save.
The United States nearly scored in the fifth minute as well, as Danny Williams fed Brek Shea for an open look. Shea unleashed a hard shot that Banguera was able to knock away for a U.S. corner.
Two minutes later, the United States had another chance, but left back Timmy Chandler's shot from just outside the penalty area went wide by inches.
"We came out and wanted to play," said Shea, who was replaced at halftime. "We wanted to do well and to come out and create chances. I think we did that."
Ecuador settled after the early chances and began to control possession a little more. But aside from Steve Cherundolo having trouble with the speed of Jefferson Montero on a handful of occasions, the Americans held their own defensively in the opening 45 minutes.
Chandler and Oguchi Onyewu, who started in his first game under Klinsmann, were two of the bright spots defensively for the Americans, with Chandler shutting down Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia and Onyewu continuing to show that he's back to top form.
"We saw many, many good things in that game. Starting maybe with (Onyewu) in the back, he's back. Maybe that's the easiest way to say it," said Klinsmann. "It's awesome to see. He's getting his rhythm; his presence is amazing and really good to watch.
"You see a Timmy Chandler at left back, he didn't allow Valencia not even one thing," said Klinsmann. "You're talking about a player that plays at Man. United and is a very, very good player, but you couldn't see him at all because Timmy Chandler closed him completely down."
The second half was a different story, as Ecuador was able to find a rhythm and hold the ball for longer stretches against a U.S. team that made four substitutions at halftime.
That played a role in the United States' struggles to create chances, as it took them midway into the half to create a quality opportunity.
"We lost a little bit of our rhythm after making so many changes," said Clint Dempsey.
Ecuador took advantage of that and went up in the 79th minute when Ayovi beat Ream to the ball and headed it into the back of the net following a cross from the left flank from his brother, captain Walter Ayovi.
Desperate for an equalizer, the Americans sent numbers forward but never found a goal.
The result marked the Americans' third shutout loss since Klinsmann took over.
—–
What do you think of the United States' loss to Ecuador? Who impressed/disappointed you? Wondering what cure is out there for the U.S. team's scoring woes?
Share your thoughts below.
Tim Ream needs a good, long break from international soccer….He needs to get his club form first before ever returning to the national team….
Completely agree with the positives and negatives DC Josh lists above.I think he biggest mistake was making as many changes at half as he did. I thought Edu and Beckerman needed to come out at halftime. Not Shea, Dolo or Jozy.
Edu and Beckerman did not do well. Beckerman was better than Edu on the night, but in a more comfortable role. He did well defensively, but not offensively. Edu was a mess all night except for a few good touches/passes. Edu cannot play in that advanced role. I thought Williams needed to move into Edu’s spot with Bradley coming on for Beckerman and Beasley coming on for Edu. That would have left:
—–Jozy—-Dempsey—-
———Williams
Shea—————Beasley
———Bradley———
Chandler–Boca–Gooch–Dolo
I thought Spector was poor last night too. We all saw though, that Ream is NOT ready for this level. Whether or not John and OG should replace him is another issue. But it shows that Orozco is in better form and the better CB right now.
Bradley did nothing except crowd out Beckerman’s space. They were both playing as deep lying defensive center mids when we needed one to be in the attack. Dont know if that was by design or not but it was a big problem in the second half.
that was an own goal and mexico ended up losing the game despite being up a player for the entire second half. and they were in mexico.
Klinsmann won’t be molding anyone, the player’s development occurs at his club.
Gooch, Chandler, Shea, Jozy, Dempsey = positives.
Ream, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Edu = negatives.
We need to drop one of our central defensive midfielders, and add an attacking midfielder ALA Kjlestian, Adu, Holden, Torres, Feilhaber, Donovan. Our attack is pathetic. Edu or Beckerman add NOTHING in the final third. We should line up like this in the next friendly:
——–Jozy——-Dempsey———
Shea———————-Donovan
——Bradley—-Kjlestian——–
Chandler–John/Gonzo–Gooch–Cherundolo
———–Timmy————–
Well, cp does have a broken leg, which makes it tough to play.
The Shat-List:
I still chuckle at the retards who said and say; “Tim Ream is the best passer of all of our defenders. His touch and vision have brought the likes of the Arsenal scouts to offer a contract.” I agree whole heartedly that Tim Ream is pure garbage. He daunts around counting how many pretty lateral balls he plays and then makes a catastrophic mistake that costs the USMNT a win on national television.
Beckerman; as I said it before and stand by what I said….NOT international caliber…he is number two on my Shat-list.
Third is 100% Mo Edu; that guy has two brick feet and has some sort of volleying contact problem. He covers ground but most of the time it is making up for some sort of comical error he just created.
Agedulo makes this list because of four things. He looks lost and is undersized for the international game…..he acts like he is 18! (insert troll tage here). He does not start for the freaking Redbulls; so why is he here??? I could have sworn that Klinsy said that he would not involve players who are not playing for their clubs.
If we need goals why not bring in guys like Herc who is scoring in Mexico?
In summery; it is pretty bad when the most attacking player on the night was Gooch. The man is a beast and certainly played like one…I will be the first to say…”welcome back son..wb!” RAWR!
Is that a joke? Starting and playing for a 1st place team 90 minutes every week in a European league isn’t worth a simple call up? Isn’t it Klinnsman’s philosophy that players have to play?
Gatt gets more playing time than Agudelo, if you wanna go that route.
If you wanna go another, tell me that you would rather call in Jeff Larentowitz with a straight face.
I didn’t say Gatt was Eden Hazard, but give the kid a look.
Much like under Bradley you can only go as far as your talent will take you. At least we look more professional- that is we don’t play like the ninth placed team in the SPL.
What we have here is just a lack of overall talent to play at the highest level. Managers can not change that and you can’t go out and buy what you need. Other then Dempsey we just don’t have the horses at the highest level but at least we have a manager capable of developing them if he find them.
Ladies and gentlemen that is the plain truth of it. Let’s wait and see if he can find the 10 he thinks he can mold.
you’re going to be that guy? sweet contribution
Can we stop the Tim Ream experiment? He sucks period. I just knew they’d score went in.of course he made beautiful passes…back to his goalie. He sucks defensively in MLS what makes anyone think he wouldn’t suck intl.
He’s just not good enough and never will be.He has shown very little improvement.
Ditto for Anguduelo since his first caps he hasn’t done a anything and he’s shown little if any improvement since his first callups. Again, he’s mediocre in MLS how does that translate to intl success ?
Obvioulsy NJ Red Metros care little for developing players it just suck at it. They are more convened with putting their Jerseys on washed up intl players
Right now Gatt is the most overrated name in U.S. Soccer. He has never done ANYTHING to deserve an international call up. ANYTHING.
Actually Ream was out there because Klinsmann called him up and put him out there.
Ream is 24 he’s not really a kid. Neymar is a kid.
If Ream’s character was the last quality to check off then this game would have been a good time to insert him, or perhaps a more meaningful game. But Ream’s problem is not character, it’s that he’s a poor defender. We can all see that from watching him in MLS. There are probably 10 central defenders in the pool better than him right now and at least a few are younger, as well.
You call winning 2-1 while down a man for half the game getting killed? That’s interesting.
+1 Colin…. what does Bunbury have to do to see the field? Jeez…
Simply put, the offense looked stale and lackluster without Jozy and Shea. They kept the offensive rhythm going. Afterwards, just lacked ideas seemed to wait for someone to make a move. That never really happened. Sucks to see Shea taken off (though I understand why). I thought he coulda put one in the back of the net eventually.
Maurice Edu sucks, I can’t count the many times I gave a frustrated “ughhhh” every time he touched the ball.
All Beckerman does is back pass. Get a haircut or join occupy wall street.
BRING ME DISKERUD AND GATT!
This loss is a good thing. It’s time to bring Feilhaber and Adu in as well as Cameron, John, and Gonzalez. Agudelo and Bunbury need to be given a start together. Clint Dempsey can’t beat teams by himself.
To me, this is a lineup that reflects our best options, obviously given Holden’s eventual return to health. See if anyone steps up to usurp a spot in that A Group.
I liked what I see from certain players. I felt we didn’t learn much because the players we’d expect to be strong were generally strong, those we thought would be mediocre in quality were just that, and the one guy everybody knows doesn’t belong proved it.
My player rankings:
Howard – 7
Chandler – 7
Gooch – 7
Boca – 6
Dolo – 4
Edu – 4
Beckerman – 6
Shea – 7
Williams – 6
Dempsey – 6
Altidore – 6
Subs:
Beasley – 5
Bradley – 7
Buddle – 7
Spector – 6
Ream – 2
John is a lumper who is
slow,
has no touch,
and cant use his left foot?
You sir are as wrong as you are ignorant
“Why aren’t we calling for CP?”
Beacause Pontius broke his leg in September.
You could call him up but the cast makes it difficult to control the ball.
Take out Adu, who is barely an above-average MLS player, put in Holden/Feilhaber/Diskerud/Fabian Johnson.
Move Chandler to RB.
Replace Bocanegra with Goodson.
Put Fabian Johnson or Lichaj at LB.
We need to start moving on from Bocanegra and Cherundolo, they should be occasional starters but mainly substitutes.
Bradley backed up by Williams/Edu, neither one should be a starter for us.
Gonzo is clumsy and slow.
Where do you go to learn how to be agile and fast?
Gonzo will have to move elsewhere and tune up his skills like Gooch did. Until he does that there is no need to call him into the national team because he isn’t going to develop those skills with them.
You’re acting like this was a knockout game in the World Cup.
It wasn’t.
Ream was out there because Boca was clearly gassed and needed a rest. Ream is his backup. My guess is he has been getting all these call ups so that they could see if he could learn something from Boca. I guess it hasn’t taken yet.
I don’t see his insertion as a mistake.
You’ve got to find out about the kid sooner or later and better now than later when it might really mean something in a real game. That is exactly what these games are about.
It was a bad time to put a kid into a spot (central defender who primarily moves the ball out of defense to the attack)with a lot of pressure. But that is exactly how you learn about someone’s true character.
JK was clearly putting Ream into the pressure cooker to see how he would handle it.
JK has a nice media presence but he is very ruthless.
If you ever saw him play you would understand that.
John and Gonzalez would contend for Gooch’s position. I haven’t seen that much of them but Gonzo strikes me as a younger, clumsier, less skilled and less mobile version of Gooch. From what I’ve seen of John he’s not as clumsy as Omar.
I’d be surprised if either of them gets into camp anytime soon. I believe that is JK’s view of them, not “his people’s” view, if such “people” exist. You know, the man was hired as some kind of personnel consultant for TCF , which is in MLS. And he’s lived in California all these years and I’m willing to bet he knows more about the Galaxy and Chivas players of the last couple of years than just about anyone.
The guy is only now getting his assitants ly under contract so you know this is mostly his show. He could probably stand to have some “people”.
Given that Goodson is still out there, that is four guys at least, contending for one spot. None of them are particularly mobile but all are very good in the air.
The problem here is trying to replace Boca and of the current pool, only Ream and possibly Parkhurst fit that mold.
Unlike you, I could not care less about the FIFA ranking,
Ecuador is currently ranked #50 and the US is #31. You saw the game.
What does that tell you about FIFA rankings?
RE: John
Because John has respect for his heritage and is good enough to be invited to train for the Greeks and for Blackburn to tentatively offer the MLS a multi million bid for his services he shouldn’t get a chance for our Nats? OK
Blackburn made said offer on the strength of his CLUB play that you seem to think is sub par yet hes been the highest rated player on his club team ALL year and BY FAR according to the castrol index..a team which includes Brek Shea.
Your take on John is perplexing…but you didn’t stop there..
RE:Gonzo
Hes the best defender on the best defense in the league. He may be slow but hes not any slower than Gooch from what I can see. Like Gooch he makes up for his lack of pace with excellent position. He deserves a chance to prove his worth period.
It is very strange that you would not like to see them or Cameron get a shot. You must feel Gooch, Boca, Goodson are not only impervious to injuries but also to aging
That’s the point the U.S hasn’t played terribly in the last few friendly and has looked the better side the only thing missing is finishing.
ok, then explain how they could rate John so low despite his good touch/passing/composure not even mentioning his D or athletic ability…?!?
Its either ignorance or stupidity…
I prefer to think its ignorance because an ignorant person can become knowledgeable very quickly.
Stupidity lasts a lot longer
I swear the way The Imperative Voice has being going on about Jozy seems like Jozy did something wrong to him. Jozy scores 7 goals in a free flowing offense but some how he’s not fit to play in the U.S version. I don’t know how you can watch him in the last 1 1/2 game and said he isn’t the best striker we have right now. He’ making good run holding the ball well, the pass for his run just haven’t been there. People talk about not having dribbling skill but he’s been the only person besides shea and dempsey taht has beaten someone 1v1 or 1v2 in the last 2 friendly. He may not be world class but he’s good enough to be the starter for our team.
Most people here are crazy. We looked good in the first half, had some chances. Chandler and Shea look really good together–Chandler ran a zillion miles today and always makes the overlapping run. Great motor.
Add someone creative in Edu’s place (probably Freddy Adu because there’s no one else) or change the formation.
And people hate on Beckerman, but he breaks up plays and is a decent passer. Good for where Klinsy plays him.
Relax all–we are making progress, and have figured a few things out. We’ve added useful players to the pool (Chandler, Shea, Williams) and identified some pretenders. Add Donovan and win tonight’s game, I think.
Talk to The Imperative Voice apparently Jozy doesn’t belong anywhere near a free flowing style of play like he plays at AZ. AZ made a bad investment I guess. So he shouldn’t touch the pitch for the U.S.
I’d like to thank SBI and the NY Media for overhyping Tim Ream for the last year and a half. The guy is a prospect but he is not and has never been worthy of national team caps. If he works his way up he could get there in the future but he ain’t close right now.
This looks a lot like the lineup I proposed above. I confess: I have not seen Holden play. How to you think he compares to Adu? I was very impressed with Adu in the Gold Cup–creative, exciting, aggressive.
@boosted335 – His ‘people’??? Ignorant of MLS based player??? Klinsman has lived in So Cal for something like 13 years and has been involved with MLS more than any other league since getting the boot from Bayern. He was involved with Toronto FC before the US gig and I’ve seen him at a number of Galaxy games in the last couple of months (Bob Bradley still shows up regularly at Galaxy game too). In other words – Klinsman is very familiar with Omar G, more so than Ream who plays on the other side of the country. As for his staff, Martin Vasquez has been assistant coach to both the Galaxy and Chivas USA, again, no stranger to MLS talent, Gonzalez in particular. I think the Ream preference derives from his passing skills. I think Omar has improved in this category lately and has been a brick at the back for the Galaxy who have the best defense in the league.
The main reason we lost is because of all the switches. When our starting squad was out there, Ecuador was not creating dangerous chances and we had most of the possession of the ball. It’s not even to say that the players that came in were at fault, but it definitely isn’t helpful making wholesale changes at once. It throws off the whole dynamic. Replacing a guy at a time here and there, that would make more sense, but I also understand the idea of getting a look at everyone.
Beasley was going into the middle far too much, we needed more width on the left. Beckerman was just okay yet again (not good enough for this level I think). Edu has been consistently inconsistent. He plays well, then gives up possession, but then finds himself in a dangerous spot, and then loses the ball in another. Certainly not a great game, but he certainly didn’t derail anything. Dolo was getting burned quite a bit, I’m hoping due to the fact he played a few days ago for the entire game in terrible weather conditions. Buddle did well I thought. He was starved of service, but was winning a lot of balls in the air to start forward movement. It didn’t help at all that Bradley and Beckerman were in the center of midfield in that their vision is sorely lacking. Also, Beasley kept getting in the middle, which congested our attempts at attack. Williams was nonexistent for the most part. Nothing bad, but nothing good. He’s got talent but out of position because we lack wingers and CAM’s on this particular roster. Ream was okay with one major mistake, a mistake we simply can’t afford. I’ve never been a fan, but I certainly wasn’t hoping for him to fail. His lack of defensive positioning killed us. Gooch was a beast and Boca did much better than the Honduras game.
Shea, Gooch, and Chandler were by far the best with Dempsey coming pretty close to their level, and Altidore right behind. Altidore being aggressive again, putting us in good positions, but that hit to the head got him pulled. It was a nice move too.
I think when we get/get back Fabian Johnson, Donovan, Holden, Bedoya, Klestjan, Adu, Gonzalez, John, and Lichaj (hopefully I didn’t forget anyone), we’ll be far better off. I think part of the reason we weren’t as good on offense as we could have been (we were creating some good chances though) was because we were missing a lot of attacking/creative players. Since the Olympics will be the test for the likes of Mixx, Gatt, Boss, and many other young players, I didn’t include them in that list.
Despite the loss I like what I see so far. No caricatures for this fan. The team is playing up tempo for a half at least and when Klinsi gets all the players that he wants and they are in the shape that he expects this U.S. team will be a force. J. Jones and F. Adu will eventually see time and will likely play key roles as this team eventually cracks the world top 10.
I can’t disagree. Another would be CJ Sapong for his holdup play alone to help the backline with his blossoming holdup target skills up top. Crack the D like that a couple of times while they’re pressing us with disrespect and all of the sudden there’s more space to play out of the back too
I could care less about the result (or the lack of a goal, honestly). I’m happy to the see the U.S. continue in its quest to play attractive attacking football. It’s not going to happen overnight, and yes, we may not have the players for it just yet. But you have to keep trying to play that way for now, and when we do bring in new blood (Mixx, Gatt, Gyau, Agudelo, Johnson, Williams, Brooks, etc.) they can be the players we need.
As far as tonight’s match, thoughts:
– Jozy’s hold up play has improved immensely and he has been combining well with Shea. Great to see. As long as he keeps getting PT, he will continue to improve and the goals in the USA kit will come.
– Shea can be a star for us. Another great game. Keep your head down and keep working hard to improve, kid.
– Dempsey looked tired in the second half, and was starved for decent service. He still dribbles too much for my liking but Deuce is Deuce and we love him.
– Williams needs more reps with the team, but I like the kid. Definitely needs to be playing centrally as opposed to on the outside (JK probably wanted to see what he could do offensively, though, and w/o LD I understand trying him out there).
– Edu has looked like crap for a long time. Maybe he’s alright in a pure defensive mid role (and even there he’s not my first choice), but his touch is crap, he whiffs on way too many shots in the box and single-handedly killed much of our offensive moves in the first half.
– Beckerman looked alright. Tired, but good work defensively. I don’t mind Beckerman on the Nats, maybe not starting, but he does well to break up attacks (though I’d be wary of pitting him against top caliber squads).
– Chandler looked great on the left. His chemistry w/ Shea is evident.
– Boca killed me all game. He was booting away possession more than Gooch normally does. That said, we don’t have any better options. Sigh.
– Gooch looked great, though I’d still be wary of him and Boca against better competition. So happy he’s back. I hope he can hold down that starting spot until one of the youngsters is ready (Ream, Brooks, Boss, Fehr, everyone’s favorite MLSer).
– Dolo got burned and lost possession there a few times, but I attribute part of that to his lack of chemistry with Williams and lack of club form. True, he’s getting long in the tooth, but ideally he can continue to hold us down there until Lichaj is back in our set-up.
I was never big on hating on MB90, but goodness gracious if I had a nickel for ever lateral or back pass from him in Ecuador’s half I’d be a rich man. I absolutely hate that. He slows down the attack and enables the defense to reset. Put him in that purely defensive mid role and keep him there. His set piece delivery was crap too. One corner too short, one too long, one free kick too high. His second free kick delivery was nice, however.
Spector looked terrible. No pace and way too nervy on the ball. Beasley is a nice guy to have off the bench, but that’s about it. No wide play or service from him, eh. Agudelo did his normal thing, I like him off the bench for a spark. Kid is young, no need to rush him. Let’s keep bringing him along slowly until he gets regular PT for NYRB. Buddle was alright but he offers us nothing we can’t get from Bunbury (and is older).
Big mistake for Ream. Kid’s not ready yet. He can and should be a good member of the Nats one day, but not now. Let him keep working and improving and then call him back up.
Moving forward, I’d love to see the following if we’re gonna continue with this kinda formation/set-up:
—–Altidore—–
—-Dempsey—-
Shea—Holden—Donovan
—–Bradley—–
Chandler-Boca-Gooch-Dolo
—Howard—-
Agudelo and Bunbury for Jozy, Beasley and Gatt (one day) for the wings, Torres and Adu for Holden, Edu/Williams/Beckerman for Bradley.
The results and goals will come. For now, I trust Klinsi to continue to coax more creativity, movement, and possession from our boys. It’s going to take some time to transform the team, and figure out the right players to excel in the new type of football we’re playing.
Chicken Littles, STFU.
wise indeed
+ 2
Adu is the obvious choice for central attacking mid. Shea and Donovan on the flanks, Dempsey and Altidore in front, and I think the goals will come.
In contrast, I dont think there is anything wrong with a methodical attack. Also, its better to keep possession and go backwards than boot the ball upfield and hope Jozy can hold off all 4 defenders in time for help to reach him. If you really thought Bradley’s approach was more fun to watch than Klinsmann’s….I dont even know. Granted, I understand this approach hasnt turned into W’s yet, but thats because it takes time to develop this system. But cmon, Bradley’s approach may have been tactically smart given our player pool and opponents, but immensely harder to watch.
Thank you. Jozy is the least of our problems right now.
He had a string of horrific games and was rightfully left out of the side for a while. I thought he was done. I, of course, am happy to be proven wrong.
There was nothing personal about “attacks” on him, the attacks were on the level of his play.
The internet doesnt lend itself well to sarcasm…but if youre not being sarcastic…it’s because his leg is currently in two pieces.
“Who honestly deserves a callup”
M Farfan. Enough said.
Can’t agree more, Cajun. So many people love hating on Altidore, but the fact of the matter is that most of the time the ball is just booted up field to him and he has little to no help in the attacking third. I think the infusion of Shea has added some creativity and opportunities. However, I got sick of the Edu-Bradley combo of two more defensively gifted CMs, hopefully Klinsmann will add Torres to the mix or Holden will spark some attack when he gets back.
I’d rather watch us win. I don’t care how it is accomplished.
+1
I don’t understand how ppl can keep saying that Adu doesn’t “deserve” a call back in. We need a midfielder besides Dempsey with some creativity and 1v1 skills. Look at the US in the Gold Cup when Adu was in! Completely different team! Bring him in Klinsi!! Just think of how he’d link up with Dempsey, Shea, Lando, and Williams!!