USA starting line up vs. Ghana!!!

USA Starting line up vs. Ghana!
http://www.soccerisfutbol.com/usa-vs-ghana-starting-lineup

Altidore's second touch is too much for his efforts. I agree with bringing in Herculez to replace him in extra time. Our defense gets beat again on the fast break for the second goal. We have time and talent to equalize and win. We have to remain confident. Discipline.

I hate it when we resort to long balls against defenders that are strong and fast. We need to be patient.

Right, the first half looked like a Saturday at Richland College. The second half offered more possession. The first 15 minutes of extra time was off the mark. We have 15 more to get this done. Go USA! Donovan is the best American player of the modern era. Maybe ever...

Cmon, red card that bicycle kicking flopper. Get off the field!

USA USA USA !!!

Good run for the USA! Someone will lose at pool volleyball this afternoon! Service!!!

soccerisfutbol wrote:USA Starting line up vs. Ghana!
http://www.soccerisfutbol.com/usa-vs-ghana-starting-lineup

"Bob Bradley looks like he wants to focus on controlling the midfield
with this line up."

How in Sam Hill is Clark anything of a controlling mid-fielder?? My first (and last) thought is "Has the coach lost his mind!". Oh, and then Clark all but concedes the first goal.

I think is the main problem with the US team is not Clark but is Bradley. Not the coach who seem to be doing a decent job but his son. Look at the games all the US games of the world cup. Look at Bradley. You will want to scream. The guy is jogging all game long, never putting any pressure anywhere never trying to recover balls never covering anybody. On the defensive side he expect the others to do the job; on the offensive side, I have seen one decent creative pass in 4 games. On that play where we took the first goal, yes Clark looses the ball but look at the pass, it is coming from bradley, who has no reason to pass to him, Bradley is not under pressure Clark is right next to him and the pass doesn't make the team progress or go anywhere. On that pass, Bradley gets rid of the ball too happy not to make a mistake and to happy to continue his ultimate strategy : being invisible.
In my opinion this guy sucks big time and he actually knows it, feels it. He goes through the motion of the game trying to play the least he can hiding from any potential mistake. Again look at the games and follow him. Despite the equalization goal in game #2he is simply terrible. There is no reason to start that guy; aside from father's blind love there is actually no reason to keep that guy. He simply needs to go. In that regard this is the main coach failure. But frankly at that level is it really serious for a dad to coach is son ?

I agree with Gababa. Bradley doesn't have good field vision and no creativity on his passing. He can't beat anybody one on one and even if he did, too slow and can't take advantage of the situation. USA made a great run and I am very proud of them but for us to be better, we do need a center half that can create as well as great vision.

Keeper - Really good, but not smart. Too many end-to-end kicks, etc. Couldn't keep his defense organized.

Defense
Central - The CDs didn't work together, too weak and too slow.
Outside - The ODs kept the defense out of balance the whole tournament. They were out of position all the time which forced the CDs out of position and left huge gaps in the defense. They were too slow, and not smart.

Blame the CDs for not keeping the OD's organized. Blame the GK for not making the CDs do their job. There's just no excuse. It's one thing to get beat on defense. Afterall, they are playing world class players. It's going to happen sometimes. But, time and time again, the first defender would get beat, and suddenly it was 1v1 with the GK from 25 yards out. That's not supposed to happen.

Mid-Field
Central - I thought these guys played pretty well much of the time. They aren't "quarterbacks" though. The attack rarely started here.
Outside - I thought these guys played pretty well too. If there was an attack, this is where it came from.

Forwards - No way. I did not like any of this. Altadore is big and strong, and has the first touch of a goat. Instead of using his size and strength, he flops around like a 130 pound, puny kid.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with the USA or their run. I was happy with it, just not impressed. Many of you are bagging on Bradley, and I mostly agree. However, as an attacker, he's pretty good. IMO, the USA defense was weak. That is to say, very few on the team wanted to defend. One step beyond that, the USA's defenders are just awful. This team was not not geared to defend against speed and strength. I'm not sure what that leaves, but whatever it is, it's not a World Cup defense.