Armchair Analyst

26 September 3:45 pm

This is the first of a three-part series looking at the various moving parts that come together to create a long build-up and, eventually, a goal.

Thanks to our OPTA Chalkboards (and some hard work from Devin Pleuler, who writes the weekly Central Winger column), we've been able to chart every "possession" of 2012  from the squibbed goal kick to the methodical deconstruction of a pressing defense. For this feature, we've grabbed six of the longest build-ups of the season to date and are pulling them apart, trying to show you both how and why a given team was able to string 13, 14, 15 or more passes together.

Holding the ball that long is never an easy task, and no two long builds are the same. But they all have similarities, and identifying them can spark a deeper understanding of the game we all love.

Between the Lines: The Long Build Part 1

11 September 10:14 pm

"There's a nervousness about the USA just at the moment."
— Ian Darke, ESPN

That was the comment at the 84th minute, and I have to agree with him. The US national team was scattered throughout the end of the game on Tuesday night, and if they want to make it through the rest of qualifying unscathed, they'll have to rectify that.

But here's something: While the US as a whole were nervous and scattered — not a surprise since they were playing with three d-mids by that point, which as we've seen tends to have dire consequences — the back four looked just fine. For as cringe-inducing as the midfield and finishing can be, if the defense holds up (and it largely has since Geoff Cameron was given a starter's role), there's plenty of reason to be confident in US prospects.

Anyway, three more thoughts about the 1-0 win over Jamaica:

Playing with 2 or fewer d-mids sure makes a lot of sense

When Graham Zusi goes forward, he doesn't lose the ball. When Maurice Edu goes forward, he usually does.

Zusi was excellent for his entire shift, and deserves whatever plaudits are going to come his way (and there will be plenty). Edu is a very good player when used in the right spot. But they are not interchangeable.

The other change was playing Jose Torres at left mid (a risk) and Clint Dempsey in a free role underneath Herculez Gomez (common sense). Torres verged between "acceptable" and "pretty damn good" in his time on the pitch, generally performing well in traffic and opening space for Fabian Johnson on the overlap. It wasn't a "make the game yours" role — it was a "make it easier for someone else to make the game his" role. It's nice to see him used right.

Danny Williams did a lot of convincing at d-mid

Kyle Beckerman's taken a lot of undeserved stick over the past few days since Klinsmann put him in a no-win situation.

But the fact is, Beckerman is not a superior athlete. He's a d-mid that's very, very good when his team's in possession, but very, very susceptible to late challenges and being overwhelmed physically when his side's chasing the game. That's what happened Friday.

Williams isn't as polished, but his athleticism makes him a little more versatile, and a little better at snuffing out the screw-ups of others. Beckerman still has a spot, but Williams should probably be the starter at d-mid next month.

Our whole goal as a soccer culture has to be identifying guys like Gomez earlier

I tweeted this during the game, and professional skeptic Greg Lalas pointed out that maybe it's not a shortcoming in our development scheme. Instead, maybe it's a problem with other countries who are liable to give short shrift to late-developing players.

Greg's mostly wrong, of course. The reason being that in other countries, "late developing player" means 21, like Miroslav Klose, or 23, like Didier Drogba, or even 26 like Luca Toni (an outlier).

Gomez got his first look at age 25 — younger than Toni — but didn't get his first real shot until he was 28. And he's not an exception to the rule.

Consider that Geoff Cameron was 26 before he was moved to central defense full-time. Consider that Chris Wondolowski was 27 before he really got his shot in MLS. Consider that Zusi was an afterthought until the age of 25.

Obviously the development academy will help, as wil lthe rising tide (and profile) of the NASL and USL Pro and the expansion of the MLS Reserve League.

But it really can't come fast enough for me. If there's one thing I'm impatient for in US soccer, it's this.

07 September 10:02 pm

I said, quite a while back, that I was concerned about the US' ability to advance to the hexagonal. Obviously tonight's result in Kingston is a data point that shows I was within my rights to be concerned.

To put it into context: The US had not lost a qualifier that mattered to a Caribbean team since 1969 (credit to US soccer journalist emeritus Michael Lewis for that nugget). We hadn't walked on the moon yet. There was no such thing as "ESPN," let alone "beIn Sport." Jurgen Klinsmann was five years old.

This was a big deal. It doesn't mean the US is out, but it does mean we've got trouble.

If you can't possess, you shouldn't play narrow

And if you play narrow, you have to possess.

Klinsmann was handed the US job with the specific task of instituting a new, possession-oriented style. And for the most part, people have left him alone, taking a "wait and see" attitude as he tries to implement a transformation.

The main issue I have with this is that the results, thus far, have been unimpressive. Yeah, the US got those 1-0 wins at Italy and Mexico, but those wins had waaaay more to do with great goalkeeping and a few timely interventions than they did with keeping the ball. Even against Antigua & Barbuda, which was as unimpressive as a 3-1 win could be, the US were hardly dominant in stringing together long series of passes.

So the question is twofold: Does Klinsmann have the team to play a possession game? And if so, is he lining them up to do just that?

I'd say the answer to the second is "yes", but the answer to the first, with this squad, anyway, is "no." A US team that omits the most skillful midfielders in favor of multiple d-mids is not designed to hold the ball.

And, unfortunately, with the narrowness of the formation, they weren't designed to hit on the break, either. It's not a catch-22, it's just the wrong players.

Speaking of...

I still can't figure out what Jermaine Jones brings to the table

No one on the pitch was worse than him. No one.

Jones doesn't connect passes particularly well going forward, and he's not disciplined enough to play as a true d-mid. He's also poor in traffic, which means he's a turnover machine when two men run at him. Playing him as a true No. 8 (where he was played vs. Jamaica) is slow suicide.

The only thing Jones really adds is a fair share of simulation (blech) and effort tracking back in transition. But there are plenty of guys in the pool - younger, more skillful, more disciplined - who offer effort, as well.

Clint Dempsey is not a distributor

Deuce is one of the four most talented US field players in our history, but if you're relying on him to ignite the offense you're probably in trouble. He's a 9 1/2, not a No. 10, and that means he needs good service and someone to combine with right off his shoulder.

Playing him behind two true forwards can be done, but not if there's zero width and not if none of the three d-mids behind him can get him the ball where he needs it. This was ugly as sin.

And Tuesday is suddenly a must-win affair. Gird your loins.

06 September 2:34 pm







01 September 6:37 pm

I haven't found anything officially official yet, and I'm probably not going to because I don't read Swedish, but this guy was nice enough to tweet in English for us Yanks:

Brought to my attention by the always excellent Jonathan Tannenwald of Give him a follow on Twitter.

So... how should Americans feel about this? Our coach is leaving for a team that's a darkhorse candidate to win the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada - Sweden haven't been a true contender for almost a decade, but are most definitely on the up.

My vote goes to "We should feel grateful to her and absolutely, positively understand this move." Sundhage's teams didn't always play beautiful soccer - ok, they freaking rarely played beautiful soccer - but they sure won a hell of a lot. They also gave us some of the most thrilling finishes in the history of the game and - hopefully, anyway - laid the groundwork for a sustainable top flight women's league in North America.

So good luck, Pia. You have our gratitude and best wishes.

See you in Canada.

29 August 2:00 pm


Here are a couple of positives:



GOAL: Nagbe puts the Timbers ahead









And here are the negatives:









27 August 7:05 pm

All 32 goals from Week 25 action. Three belong to Fredy Montero, three to Federico Higuain. Two each to Alan Gordon, Simon Dawkins... and Kei Kamara.



20 August 8:43 pm







15 August 10:14 pm

Well ... that was cathartic. Jurgen Klinsmann didn't do everything I'd have done, but he definitely got the formation and shape right. That's a big step in the right direction. Here are three things we learned from the US national team's first victory in Mexico in 75 years.

1. This is now Geoff Cameron's backline

We at have been talking all week about how a generational shift in the center of defense has been needed.

Carlos Bocanegra has been a great captain and, at times, a great defender, but he's well past his prime. Oguchi Onyewu, meanwhile, simply hasn't ever recovered from that 2009 knee injury. We saw that much against Antigua and Barbuda. The other option recently has been Clarence Goodson, who is tissue-paper soft.

So that left first Bob Bradley, then Jurgen Klinsmann with the task of developing the next generation of central defenders, and to be honest, it didn't go as quickly as I'd have liked. I ripped Klinsmann in my column last Friday for sticking with the old guard for too long, and did the same to Bradley last summer after the Gold Cup disappointment.

The Antigua game, and the disappointing 1-1 draw with Guatemala that followed it, drove the point home, apparently. Klinsmann kicked "tried and true" to the curb in favor of Cameron and Maurice Edu, and was rewarded with one of the best defensive performances in years (this was miles better than the Italy game, in which the US were bailed out repeatedly by a flag-happy linesman).

Cameron was flawless for 80 minutes on the night, both in his distribution (expected) and positioning (a happy surprise). He'd struggled at times with Houston this year, playing more loosely than he should have. That was nowhere to be found against Mexico.

Edu was nearly as good, bar a couple of miscommunications in distribution. They both flagged down the final 10 minutes, but that's to be expected at the Azteca.

But man, was that a big step in the right direction.

The one concern now is that they both land with clubs that are only interested in playing them at midfield. Hopefully Stoke City and Valencia, or Ipswich Town, or whoever is going to sign Edu, watched this game and realized that these guys are defenders, not midfielders.

2. There may be no place to play Jose Torres against good competition

Look, he's gotten plenty of chances. On Wednesday he played 45 minutes with three defensive midfielders behind him, two pure attackers in front of him and a pair of fullbacks who could and would overlap if there was space. It was exactly what I asked for — a chance to see the guy playing his natural spot with plenty of support around him.

And Torres did nothing on either side of the ball. There is absolutely no reason to trust him against top competition at this point, especially if they're physical.

Would you want him out there against Jamaica next month when the games count?

Neither would I.

3. These aren't new tactics

When Klinsmann came aboard, he talked about playing a new, proactive style that would impose the game upon the opposition.

Those were his words. But his deeds have been the total opposite. His team stays deep, defends in numbers and punishes mistakes. They never hog the ball unless it happens to be against Scotland or the like.

That's been the recipe against top teams for 25 years (with a few exceptions). I recently rewatched the 0-0 draw from 1998 World Cup qualifying, and defensively it was pretty much a mirror image of this game.

So full credit to Klinsmann for realizing that, if he wants to write a new manual, he should at least master the old one first.

14 August 2:59 pm






