It may not have been smooth sailing entirely, but the U.S. Men’s National Team started its pre-Copa America Centenario schedule on the right foot with a young squad looking to prove itself.
Using several newcomers and fringe players to punctuate its “transitional camp”, the U.S. went into Puerto Rico and defeated the CONCACAF lightweight, 3-1, in their historic first meeting on Sunday. The Americans were clearly the better side for much of 90 minutes at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium, but still had to endure some nervy moments before coming out on top.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s side surrendered a goal just when it seemed like it would post a lopsided win, and nearly gave up a stunning equalizer in the second half. Thankfully for the U.S., the debuting Paul Arriola put the game out of reach in the 56th minute to help the Americans cruise to the finish line.
While there were some negatives to take away from the first of three friendlies before the start of the Copa America Centenario, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann will likely focus on the positives. After all, he scheduled the game mostly to get players who will not be involved in this summer’s tournament some minutes before they head off for their summer breaks.
Here are some take aways from the Americans’ 3-1 win over Puerto Rico:
YEDLIN MORE COMFORTABLE AT RIGHT BACK
It was evident from the start: DeAndre Yedlin looks more like a right back than ever before.
Thanks to a slew of appearances at the position for Sunderland this season, Yedlin appeared to be much more comfortable playing on the right side of the defense. No, he was not overly tested by Puerto Rico, but still managed to impress with his defensive work and, most importantly, his decision-making in the attacking half.
Whereas in the past Yedlin would normally just try and blow by players, he took turns between using his athleticism and smarts on Saturday. There were several occasions in which he picked his head up to look to combine with teammates or whip in a cross from afar, and that should be a welcome sight for U.S. fans after seeing him be so one-dimensional in recent outings.
Yedlin is sure to be tested much more in the coming tune-ups against Bolivia and Ecuador, but right now looks a safe bet to win that starting right back spot.
ARRIOLA ONE TO WATCH FOR IN COMING MONTHS
Paul Arriola told SBI last week that he was hoping to make an impression in his first camp with the senior U.S. team.
Mission accomplished.
Arriola showed why he is one of the young players to keep an eye on in the coming months by scoring a goal and delivering a game-winning assist in his U.S. debut. The 21-year-old winger did have some long stretches where he did not see the ball, but demonstrated his willingness to go at defenders and forward-thinking ways when he received it.
He scored a much-needed insurance goal in the second half despite not making good contact with the ball – it ballooned on him and could’ve gone over the bar had he been further out – but that strike combined with his neat pass in behind the Puerto Rican defense for Bobby Wood’s winner in the 34th minute should have him in consideration for U.S. camps in the fall.
Jurgen Klinsmann will want to see Arriola continue to be a regular contributor, if not a full-time starter, for Club Tijuana next season, but all signs right now are pointing to the youngster being on the rise for both club and country.
MIDFIELD LACKED INCISIVE PASSING
While the Americans may have gotten goal-scoring contributions from three different players and ended up with eight shots on goal, they still lacked incisive passing in the midfield.
The U.S. struggled in the first half to break down an organized and disciplined Puerto Rico side, especially down the middle, and that was due in part to the Americans’ inability to combine quickly with one another. Yes, the players were largely unfamiliar with one another, but still should have done a better job of moving the ball faster with more one- and two-touch passes.
In fact, both of the U.S. goals came as a result of more direct play. Tim Ream’s 20th-minute opener came only after goalkeeper Matthew Sanchez pawed away a sizzling shot from distance from Alfredo Morales, and Wood scored a second on a quick play in transition.
There was less possession without production in the second half for the Americans, especially after both teams made a number of substitutions. Still, it would have been nice to see the U.S. do more with the ball in the opening hour, makeshift team or not.
THERE WERE WORRYING SIGNS DEFENSIVELY
One other area in which there was plenty of room for improvement was the defensive side.
You could possibly forgive the the U.S. for conceding a goal to a collegiate player in Luis Betancur because the Florida International University forward hit a heck of a strike in the 42nd minute that Brad Guzan could do nothing about. However, the Americans also inexplicably failed to track Manolo Sanchez on a play in the second half that nearly resulted in an equalizer for El Huracan Azul.
Those type of lapses could be chalked up to players’ unfamiliarity with one another, but that simply cannot happen in the coming weeks if the U.S. is to enjoy a successful summer showing at the Copa America Centenario. Stiffer tests await Klinsmann and his players, and they will need to step it up defensively and avoid those type of mistakes in order to give themselves a chance to win games.
Overall there weren’t too many megative takeaways but not too many positive ones either. Game felt like it looked: sluggish and sloppy. Players slipping on a bad field, 90° humid weather was to blame for the instant fatigue.
Arriola had a good debut contrary to others’ opinions.
Wood looked in form and active.
I thought Williams did well tho some wanted him more box to box but he was surely asked to “replicate beckerman” lol
Green looked like he was doing what the coaches wanted (run at defenders 1v1) but with little success. He still looks young and unconfident; oddly plays younger than Pulisic does
Other than that this was mostly a ‘those who missed the copa, we want to get a game look at you’ type thing. Ecuador and Bolivia should give us a closer look at the copa players
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Simply a disjointed exercise. Lineups will differ greatly when the games are serious. Gratefully no injuries caused by the crappy pitch. Wood is a difference maker!
A big problem in the midfield was the player selection, which is hard to fault because there really weren’t a lot of players to choose from because of MLS and Liga Mx playoffs. You could have brought in Gil,Torres, or Joe Corona but it seems odd to reward them for not really playing when Morales, Williams, and Kitchen have had good club seasons. That left us with a lot of DMs and not much for outside midfielders/wingers.
It seemed pretty clear the idea was to use Yedlin and Ream as the outside players with the Kitchen, Morales, and Williams inside with Bedoya playing as a false forward to run off of Wood and Arriola. PR did a good job of staying compact and pressuring Morales and Kitchen, which didn’t allow them to link up with Bedoya enough. When we finally found Bedoya in the middle we got the goal with Arriola. Offense looked better when we moved Yedlin up further and brought on Green and stretched them from sideline to sideline, but we were not able to capitalize on that space.
Maybe if Jk played players in the roles they play for clubs, then the missed responsibilities & poor performances would stop?
I’m a fan of Bedoya but when he was put in a role that he hadn’t played before at the club level, what happened? He stank!
A.morales and P.kitchen as wide Mids? You just asking for trouble
I’ve never seen a Nantes game before, but people have been clamoring all season why doesn’t JK play him in a CAM role like he plays at Nantes? I looked at some of their formations on Soccerway (which aren’t always accurate) and he plays quit a bit in the role he played yesterday. Can anyone who watches Ligue 1 comment?
I don’t watch every Nantes game, but from what I’ve seen and highlights, recently he’s played centrally behind the forward. It is the coach’s opinion he is better there. But in the fall, before his injury or whatever it was, he often lined up out wide. For what it’s worth his goals (except for a couple long distance strikes) seemed to always come because he was close to goal, crashing the back post on a cross or rebound.
My opinion of Bedoya is, partly from watching Ligue 1, that he is most successful when playing between the forward and midfield lines, not to centrally and not too wide. That’s not a position that I know of, but many players have been successful in Ligue 1 playing there – such as Valbuena, or even more so Lisandro Lopez who was great for Lyon. Hazard too for Lille. These players are/were a little difficult to mark because the shifted in and out a lot. For some reason Ligue 1 – a very tactically rigid league – teams have trouble with the unpredictability of this spot.
This argument is getting old. Regardless of what positions these professional players hold for their respective clubs, movements without the ball should be an instinct that they have had developed since day 1 in their young careers! Don’t just blame everything on the coach!
It seems to me that the midfield problem is related to lack of movement without the ball. A continuous problem of US teams is that the midfield is stagnant or predictable. To have incisive passing you must have movement off the ball with players making themselves available for passes by creatively combining runs through the midfield area overloading the defense and creating imbalances.
I’ve noticed we receive almost all of our passes in the midfield running back to the ball, which leaves us with nothing much else to do but pass it back. At some point the CBs get tired of playing ping pong with the midfield and try a long pass that is difficult to connect on.
Yep that’s been the American ‘kickball’ strategy that’s been present as long as I can remember