Photo by ISIphotos.com
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Just three weeks after making history by winning in Mexico for the first time, the U.S. team made history again, only it was the kind they definitely didn't want to make.
Jurgen Klinsmann had to know his U.S. team would be in for a tough night without a handful of key veterans, but he also has to know that his teams chances of leaving Jamaica with a point or three were going to hinge on his roster and lineup selections.
The squad Klinsmann came up with delivered an uninspired, forgettable and worrisome performance in dropping a 2-1 loss to Jamaica. A team that had never once beaten the United States in 18 previous meetings bossed the underwhelming Americans for much of the night.
"We created chances, but in between those moments we made things far too complicated, " Klinsmann said. "Then you give away free kicks in areas where we knew that the Jamaican team has their strength in set pieces, we knew that, so it was not a good idea.
"After that equalizer they rose to the occasion. They had a tremendous amount of energy and they gave everything they had and at the end of the day they deserve that win."They were hungrier and they were more determined."
The U.S. performance was a far cry from the effort put on by many of the same players that beat Mexico last month. The thing about that historic win was that, as much as finally winning in Mexico matters, the result overshadowed what wasn't really a beautiful game for the Americans.
What the U.S. had on that night in Mexico, but lacked on Friday against Jamaica, was the defensive discipline, organization and attitude necessary to win without the likes of Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Steve Cherundolo and with Clint Dempsey not being 100 percent.
"We got a good result in Mexico with some inexperienced guys," Howard said. "There was no reason to think we couldn't do that again tonight
"Any time you miss your big players, Michael (Bradley) course is a key cog for us and Landon makes things happen for us, but I don't think those are excuses," Howard said. "I just think we lacked concentration in some areas and we weren't nearly as resilient as we should have been."
"The guys that stepped on the field, they're in charge of it," Klinsmann said. "They are responsible for giving everything they have, they are responsible for the outcome.
"I think we have a good group here together that is able to beat Jamaica," Klinsmann said. "We were just doing too many mistakes after we were leading."
Klinsmann can certainly carry some blame for a lackluster showing because he ultimately made the decision to start three defensive midfielders, which led to a serious disconnect between the forwards and the rest of the team.
Both Herculez Gomez and Jozy Altidore were rendered invisible by a lack of service, something Gomez wasn't shy about pointing out.
"We need to definitely come together and sort this out," Gomez said of the floundering U.S. attack. "Guys like me and Jozy, and even Terrence (Boyd), we depend heavily on creativity and service so we definitely need to figure out a way to get more of that.
"I think Clint did as much as he could for us today," Gomez said. "He always gives his all. He's a great player, but we need more of that. We need more players like that."
There wasn't much Klinsmann could do about Donovan being injured, or about Dempsey's prolonged transfer saga keeping him sidelined and costing him match sharpness.
What Klinsmann could control was the cultivation of options, like Sacha Kljestan, who remains an afterthought in Klinsmann's set-up despite being the only American consistently playing in an attacking midfield role in Europe. There are other attacking options in midfield that Klinsmann has yet to see, such as Alejandro Bedoya.
Instead of developing some attacking depth, we have seen Jose Torres given chances to be an attacking option despite seeing repeatedly that he isn't suited for the role. And we have been treated to repeated helpings of Danny Williams as quite possible the least offensive wide midfielder in U.S. history (Here's a secret. Williams isn't a winger).
It is no secret that the United States still doesn't have great depth, and that's not something he can be entirely blamed for. But when bypasses clear-cut options to build depth in areas that sorely need it, and he continues to trot out ultra-defensive lineups, Klinsmann has to shoulder some of the blame.
Klinsmann and the U.S. won't have long to dwell on Fridays disappointment. They head into Tuesday's qualifier against Jamaica in Columbus knowing anything short of a win could put their World Cup qualifying hopes in serious jeopardy.
"Wins like Italy and wins like Mexico don't mean anything If we can't apply them on this type of environment," Gomez said. "We're upset but we're not defeated. The great thing is we have another opportunity on Tuesday and everybody's champing at the bit."
The sense among the U.S. players on Friday was that they realized and acknowledged that they just didn't play well enough. They know they must do better to win on Tuesday.
Klinsmann also has to know he will need to do a better job of fielding a team capable of not just winning, but playing at a level that can show us all that the U.S. national team is making progress.
The movement off the ball was the most disturbing thing I saw last night. Completely static.
You must be related to JK.
and is it not the Coach’s responsibility to prepare the team so that the energy and intensity is there when required? Especially a coack like Klinsmann, that emational stuff is his thing
look, he has a chance to use this loss, admit mistakes and make amends basically. One thing Pia was awesome at was adjusting her assessments and not clinging to mistakes. Coach’s are all imperfect and Pia seemed to know this and wear this very comfortably in her decision making, tactical adjustments during games, etc.
I expect an absolutely amazingly energetic and intense response from the boys Tuesday night.
Must Win
Mike r asked for an MLS homegrown player that is a star and Clint began his career with the Revs and is a star…that’s the question I was answering.
so what Palpatine 😉
he was talking about players currently available who could upgrade the attack, which after last night is not saying much. You are saying those players aren’t better attacking options, your assessment of them notwithstanding?
Anyway, from the players available, I’d bet Torres gets the call again over the one’s mentioned, perhaps with one of those others being called too
coaches don’t play, but they set the tone, pick the players, the tactics, the formations…
they are charged with preparing the team so they are ready to rip on all levels and perform when called, effort all out, and in that USA uniform, every time
you are saying that Coach Klinsmann accomplished this yesterday?
there’s the chance at redemption for all, at home, to come together and all that. I guess as far as coming together goes it’s better now than never if they can, and I hope the team does it no matter what formation or player choices are sent out there to do it
Bring in John and Gonzalez at CB, move Cameron to Dmid, Get Bradley and Donovan on the field, and find another Dempsey in the pool. Simple stuff (minus the last one)
Arena Tree… sounds like a band from the early 90’s…
I’ve seen Jones drop a 30 yard pass on a dime, same goes for Edu. the 3 DM = no service doesn’t hold much water on the international level. Beckerman’s role from day 1 has been make the tackle and the first forward pass to start the attack.
All three did not get the job done yesterday and sure they need to own up to that, but JK needs to own the fact that his subs failed to account for what was clearly happening–or rather not happening– on the field.
If his assessment was “you know what? if you’re gonna sit on that early goal and you’re not gonna fight then you deserve to lose so stay in until it matters enough to you to wake up and play,” that’s one thing, we’re at a point in the tournament where he can afford to take that risk, but he should have the stones to say that.
For folks who used to say things like “I can’t wait for the day when every CONCACAF match matters”, looks like that day is here. Just hope the starting XI realizes it, too.
Agree that it’s valid to lay this one at JK’s feet. It was a perfect storm of strange player selections, playing guys out of their best positions (Williams is *not* a winger), and poor strategy. JK is still learning about this playe pool and this region. Let’s hope he switches some things up by Tuesday.
I was watching Futbol Picante on ESPN Deportes and they even said the same thing. This American Team is by far one of the worst team we have seen in a very long time, they are not close at the 2002 team that came flying out of that world cup.
Great commnets above, our Team doesnt have the a number 10 to distribute the ball on all angles. Our younger Teams, US 17, 18 and 20 dont even played proffesional soccer until they are 20 something, and the younger players that are on MLS right now are not even playing at all. My point, we are going to have some very tough years ahead of us. We are going to be able to compete with other Concacaf teams, thats about it. We done have that many good players comming out of the younger selections, we very copy cat the mexican style soon and we need to control the foreigner players allow on the mls teams, they are by far to many on each team. It is very ridicoulous to see the current structure the way it is. I am in Costa Rica and i get it they dont have an excellent team at all but by a samll country like this and seen all the young guys played on their domestic league they are far ahead of us.
pretty much agree with all your points
part of the problem is how I laid out the formation. Torres would be the central midfield focus, but playing deep like he does at club level, not as a winger or attacking midfielder as Klinsmann keeps insisting on playing him (and then complaining that he is not producing). One time I want to see Torres play on the USMNT as a deep-lying playmaker–attacking if space opens up.
Actually, in reviewing the Germany line-up last night, I see that I neglected attacking midfielder Thomas Muller. This is sort of how it looked:
—————–Klose——
Gotze———Reus———Muller
———————–Ozil——-
———-Khedira—–
Bastuber–Hummels-Mertesacker–Lahm
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
So Klinsman could try basically the same style formation, but with our heros. And Torres would be playing the role of Ozil (except Ozil had two goals last night–highly unusual for him to score two goals in a game, let alone one).
——————Gomez——
Shea——–Dempsey——–Corona
———————–Torres—–
———Williams——
Johnson–Boca-Cameron–Dolo
————–Guzan————–
This isn’t rocket science. Keep possession, keep the opponent from gaining possession, and put it in the back of the net. What we lack is adaptability. We’ve been down this road before and I could care less about a player “playing out of his natural position.” Many great ballers all over the world don’t have the luxury to play where they feel comfortable. Edu aint a center back but held his own against Mexico. The ongoing excuse of players playing where they shouldn’t is crap. We constantly need to be able to adapt to the style we are facing and fill roles with the best available to do that, be it their “natural” position or not.
We use to be the counter attack kings. Now we hold possession and build up (at least try) but we get stuck in this rigid mindset that this is our style and we gotta play this way. Any attacking player should be able to track back, tackle and at least isolate and cause their opponent to cough up the ball. And any defensive minded player should be able to come up and put the damn thing away. We need to apply pressure on our opponents end of the field. Start defending from their third.
Beckerman is great in the MLS, but no way does he belong holding down the fort in international play and can’t handle the speed. Jones is fine when paired with Bradley. We have proven time and again that a lone striker just doesn’t work. they end up isolated and impotent. Altidore has become a target man and can play with his back to the goal, but leave him or anyone of our options alone and nothing is going to happen. We need to play with at least two up front. Someone scrappy like Gomez or Wondolowski with Dempsey behind them. When Donovan is better stick him out wide. Spread the play out.
With all this ranting, and my hands cramping up from typing, what I’m trying to say is all players need to be able to adapt, play in position, and adjust to different types of style they are faced with.
Last night, Dempsey seemed to be the only one who consistently adapted.
Just my opinion, but what do I know.
Well are talent pool isn’t very strong but, I think we should expect to get results against the likes or Jamaica.
What the team lacked was any hint of organization leading to a total inability to maintain possession or even counter-attack.
The US didn’t play a 4-3-3 last night.
Considering we played with 4 guys who are defensive midfielders by nature (5 if you count Danny Williams), I’m not sure what else we could have expected.
Dempsey is only a year younger than Donovan. So he can’t really be his heir apparent.
Next year we may not have anything to play for if we JK doesn’t figure things out on Tuesday.
Let’s not forget, JK came in promising that he would make US impose its style and will on other teams. Not only is he failing to do that, but now he is failing to get results in the games that count.
These worries are far from behind us…
Any update on Holden? and I like Coach Bradley over Klinsmen. Bradley used what he had in the best way he could. Klinsmen doesnt know how to use the pool he has been given. It wasn’t Bradley’s fault Dolo got hurt, and the logical choice at the time was Bornstein. It was just unfortunate Bornstein couldnt step up.
Well, when not one, not two, but THREE defensive style midfielders in the midfield, what do you expect?! Jones, Edu, and Beckerman are all similar players….I know it was a road game and Jamaica has speed, but come on, how about at least one less of those types on the field at the same time? I know Bradley and Donovan are missing, but there are still some adequate offensive guys in the squad.
How about Clint Dempsey…
This team needs 2 very good players back on the field, Stuart Holden and Michael Bradley
Hurry back, we desperately need you guys!
they may not be starter worthy, but they’re better suited for the job than what we’re playing.
Indeed, no amount of “concentration” is going to make up for the fact that you have 3 guys performing the role of 1 with 1 guy performing the role of 3. A frustrating response from Klinsmann.
Whether your playing out of position or not, you don’t give a free kick in a dangerous spot when 3 of your teammates are there to deal with a player dribbling to goal when you have a 1 to 0 lead away from home…just plain stupid…
not to mention he didn’t need to jump when he was in the wall…oh and I almost forgot…Altidore was too busy arguing with the ref when Howard was trying to form the wall…Not smart at all
Give me a break…
we didn’t lose because of JK, we lost because some of our players didn’t match the energy and intensity of the Jamaicans.
Next year, when our central midfield consists of a Bradley-Holden pairing, these worries will be behind us.
The only problem I see with this formation is you’re asking Dempsey to be a #10, which he is not. He’s not your creative midfielder, he’s your finisher. Until the US can trot out a guy in the Luka Modric mold (not meaning we need a world class player, but one who makes the offense click with his passing) then we’re going to struggle against teams who put numbers in the midfield or backline.
Thats the formation that Mexico has been using as well…
Zusi and Corona barely belong on the team and are not near starter worthy. The padowan Shea has much to learn still…like passing the ball once in a whole and not losing it
Altidore isn’t a good forward, look at all his bad decisions, poor traps, nonhustle to 50-50 balls, lack of soccer smarts…etc.
Thank you for a fair and honest assessment. It is very disturbing that JK continues to play guys out of position at this level (esp. d kids expected to create) while refusing to give looks to others in the pool and try to develop depth.
Personally if I have to watch the three d-mid midfield again it may be my last time
I agree. The US ha wasted too many years under the Arena coaching tree. Klinsman held a lot of blame but the reality is we dont have the talent. Landon is close to 30 and we have nothing close to a heir apparent. Our best new talent comes from Germany.
We don’t have any new special homegrown talent.MLS was supposed to bring more talent but I fear the reliance on run as fast as you can / hack a man soccer ( Arena tree) as opposed to technical ability.
The MLS homegrown players should have produced one starlet by now yet I any name one except for Najar who really wasn’t developed here. Who has MLS developed? Shea is 23 and is still raw despite playing frequently in MLS
Simple- Stop calling in an absurd amount of CDM’s which takes away spots from attacking players. I am sorry Bedoya should not even be mentioned in this article for a USMNT call-up. Kljestan I get( still not a fan of him.) Who should be upset that has not been called in is Chris Pontius. No way in hell Maurice Edu or Jermain Jones is a better attacking option than Chris Pontius. Even Eddie Gaven has been in real good form lately. As for finding a FWD/Striker that has an abundance of pace, and can beat opposing defenders off of the dribble uhm Eddie Johnson fits that bill who scored two more goals today.
The players on the roster that upgrade the attack would be Zusi, Corona, and Shea. Time to come out and attack Klinsmann which has been your mantra since taking over.
But hey lets continue playing CDM’s in attacking midfield roles who can’t provide service to the strikers; sounds like a good idea to me!
To be fair, the D worked well it was the midfield that sucked it up. Putting Boca in does not change the score
But Klinsmann should have left Beckerman or Williams home and brought in Sacha K or anyother attack minded center mid.
I think the thing that is most frustrating is we have guys playing on bigg-ish teams in big leagues, and we’re losing to quite frankly just ok national teams.
Jermaine Jones starts on Schalke, how is he this bad 3/4 games?
Edu is on an EPL team? I like him, but he’s been off for a while now.
It SEEMS like we should be better. Maybe we just have mediocre players on each team, or this is on the coach.
Lets relax guys ! You guys sound like the mexican press against mexico. playing jamaica is not easy The pitch sucks The weather sucks it affected The players. We did not play too well. Its not The end Of The world well be ok if we win tues. Lets stay optimistic.
Stop blaming Klinsmann for your favorite player giving a half-*ss effort. Jozy did nothing. Nothing.
Deuce? Disappeared. In a 4-3-3 the 3 up top players have to play defense or the midfield will be overrun. Jozy and Deuce did nothing. Didn’t come back to connect with the midfield either–just stood around.
Beckerman worked himself to death just trying to make up for the extra men in midfield that the 3 forward refused to help with. Jones let his temper get the better of him and just played way too emotionally. Guy can’t let late tackles throw him off his game. Edu played bad. Shea was given another chance and WAS AWFUL. Didn’t run. Didn’t move for passes. Nobody moved.
Defense played very well. Klinsmann covered for the lack of Dolo and Boca very well. People railed on him early for Parkhurst who turned out to be one of the best attacking and defensive options.
Coaches can’t play. They can only put the players out there to execute. Can they make an iffy decision? Yeah. But if the players half*ss it nothing tactical matters.
Gotta say, Gomez has evolved the past few months into one of my favorite USMNT players. Several of his comments above are spot on–he tells it like it is. Probably pi$$es off some of this teammates, but I think he should be respected for it. Plus the puts out 110%, as they say, every second he is on the field.
“We need to definitely come together and sort this out,” Gomez said of the floundering U.S. attack. “Guys like me and Jozy, and even Terrence (Boyd), we depend heavily on creativity and service so we definitely need to figure out a way to get more of that.”
Gomez: “We’re upset but we’re not defeated. The great thing is we have another opportunity on Tuesday and everybody’s champing at the bit.”
Also, the formation (a failed experiment) was a huge part of the problem. Beckerman was playing out of his typical position in a way.
I agree, the loss is on the coach.
Disagree and think your comments are off target. This wasn’t even the best line up for the players he had there, and it was certainly not the best selection he could have bought to this game.
This is Jamaica we are talking about – not Argentina. You could put together an MLS based team and with the right game plan, you can beat them.
This is on Klinsmann, period. This is not about being over rated or under rated. This is about Klinsman emphasizing friendlies over qualifying, speaking in inspirational platitudes, and not knowing how to pick a line up and not knowing how to make adjustments.
Some of those minor nagging doubts I have had about Klinsmann the past year, such as why in the hell does he play players out of their club positions and why is he not bringing in certain players for a look, well those little doubts are now quite a bit larger after the Jamaica debacle and for the first time I am a bit worried. And why did he bench Bocanegra? Was it only so he could name Tim Howard captain without hurting feelings?
I don’t like the pairing of Geoff Cameron and Goodson, no chemistry and the distribution was bad and contributed to the problems in the midfield. Either Boca should have been on the field last night or Klinsmann should have paired Cameron and Edu, who worked well together against Mexico and are now Premier League teammates. But no, Klinsmann dinks around again with a line-up and decides to play both DM Edu and DM Jones as attacking midfielder/playmakers with Shea, Torres, Zusi on the bench and Corona not even on the game-day roster and Dempsey and Altidore and Gomez hardling touching the ball.
As for the Jamica game next Tuesday, the USMNT needs to be fricking pi$$ed off angry about Jamaica’s dirty tactics last night and be very physical from the very beginning of the game and send a payback message. One of the big problems last night, I think, was having two forwards (or was it three). We have to kick-A$$ dominate the midfield Tuesday and to do that we need five bodies–meaning only one forward–a 4-2-3-1, which is what the German national team plays–last night they had Klose up top with Gotze, Ozil and Reus as attackers. Goals can be scored with that formation.
—————-Gomez——
Shea——–Dempsey——Corona
———Torres——Williams——
Johnson–Boca-Cameron–Dolo
———————————————-
(If you like Boyd or Altidore in place of Gomez; Jones in place Williams; Edu in place of Boca; Parkhurst or Orozco Fiscal in place of an injured Dolo; Guzan in place of Howard).
Can we all just accept that the USMNT is overrated and always has been overrated when they beat the likes of Italy and Mexico?
Out talent pool is razor thin. The fact that we throw out three defensive mids with limited passing and no creativity tells wonders. Bradley can be a passing central mid, but when he plays with the national team, he is either the D-mid or he tends to drift too deep and act as a second D-mid.
The US’s utter lack of creative players and lack of true wide players means we look feeble against lesser opponents. There is nobody with the skill to distribute and take over a game. Donovan could maybe take on this role, but he is often stuck on the wing.
We just have to accept that the USMNT isn’t very good. No coach can win consistently with our national team because our players are inconsistent in their talent.
I’m so sick of Klinsman going on about “wanting it” and “desire”. His game plan sucked. His selection sucked. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. This loss was on him, pure an d simple
Ridiculous comment about Altidore. Read what Gomez said. Three bone crunching defensive mids = NO SERVICE. You are blaming the wrong guy
The 2 biggest disappointments for me were Beckerman and Altidore.
Beckerman did not play smart and Altidore shows me nothing at this level
Very disappointing loss…
we played terrible!