The US looked impressive in the first half of their crucial 1-0 win over Jamaica last night in World Cup qualifying and kept a good enough
defensive shape in a nervy final half hour to hold on for the three
points. Despite failing to score in the opening 45 minutes, the US
dominated possession with 79 percent and created a number of fine scoring
opportunities. They struck the woodwork three times and forced decent
saves from Jamaican goalkeeper Dwayne Miller. The breakthrough came via a
Herculez Gomez freekick in the 55th minute. In truth
Miller should have made the save, but the US had been good value for
their lead.
Jurgen Klinsmann made five changes to the side that
started in Kingston Friday evening. Right back Steve Cherundolo returned
from a calf strain to replace Michael Parkhurst, Carlos Bocanegra
replaced Clarence Goodson at center back, and Danny Williams, Graham
Zusi and Jose Torres were brought into the midfield while Kyle Beckerman
and Maurice Edu sat. Dempsey was moved forward to a withdrawn forward
position behind Herculez Gomez, demoting Jozy Altidore to the bench.
The
US played something like a 4-1-3-1 with Williams playing as a holding
midfielder behind Zusi, Jones, and Torres and Dempsey operating just
behind Gomez. Zusi brought width and a direct vertical threat down the
right, while Torres brought composed passing on the left. He also
frequently drifted inside to offer an additional passing option for
Williams and Jones. Both outside backs in Cherundolo and Fabian Johnson
did a fine job overlapping into space when Torres and Zusi came inside.
The US looked particularly threatening down the right side with
combinations between Zusi and Cherundolo, though the Hanover 96 captain
struggled with his final ball.
Jamaica's defense sat
particularly deep, often keeping all four defenders within 12 yards of
the goal when the US were in the final third. Their deep line created a
great deal of space for the US just outside the 18 and the Americans
looked dangerous when they made delayed runs into this area (recall
Danny Williams' strike that struck the post and Zusi's volley blasted over the bar came from this area). Their movement was fluid and they
were able to penetrate gaps in the Jamaican defense with relative ease.
That they failed to score despite such an overwhelmingly dominant first
half came down to a combination of good goalkeeping, bad luck, and poor
finishing.
Perhaps fittingly, the US's revenge came in the form of a
freekick, the area of the game the Jamaicans had executed so well to
shock the Americans in Kingston. After going down a goal, Jamaica
committed more men forward and pressed the US higher up the field. In
response, the US began playing much more direct. Faced with the threat of
the pacey Jamaicans aggressively closing in on the ball, Klinsmann
could be seen on the sideline frantically urging his back four and
midfielders to knock the ball long into the corners.
This wasn't a
time-wasting strategy the US was employing to kill the clock off; they
were doing it with 25 minutes still remaining. Given Klinsmann expressed
desire to Latinize American soccer and the success the US had in
possession in the first half (they finished the half with 79 percent possession), it seemed a little surprising that Klinsmann would resort to
hitting long balls for the forward to chase while keeping a tidy
defensive shape with the other players.
However, the strategy made
perfect sense. At no point in the course of three halves of soccer had
Jamaica shown they could break down a compact US defense in the run of
play. They simply don't have the technically ability to break down a
team defending with two banks of four. By playing long balls into
Jamaica's defensive third, Klinsmann was minimizing the ability of the
Jamaicans to force turnovers in midfield and counter at the US defense
with numbers. Even if Herculez Gomez (and then Jozy Altidore) was unable
to get on the end of these long balls, the US was still forcing Jamaica
to patiently build from the back against a crowded defense. In effect,
they were forcing Jamaica to rely on their technical ability rather than
their athleticism to get an equalizer. Despite a nervous-looking
finish, the Jamaicans only really troubled Howard once.
The
decision of Klinsmann to move to a more direct and defensive setup after
getting the go-ahead goal also signals that he's not entirely confident
in his team's ability to kill off games by knocking the ball around and
preventing the opponent from getting possession (the way a team like
Spain would see out an important game). He was clearly concerned about
giving the ball away cheaply in midfield and giving the Jamaicans
opportunities to counter. That's a concern I shared and given the US's
precarious position in the group going into the game, minimizing risk
seemed a wise move.
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