Ok. I am finally ready to resume my blogging, and may even be ready to recount the criminal outcome of yesterday's 2-2 draw against Slovenia without writing 'fuck' every other word.
The Problem:
If you have been following the US this cup then I don't have to tell you what our primary issues are, but just in case someone that would be reading this hasn't been following the cup (seriously, if you are reading this and you haven't been following the US then we are no longer friends), I will outline the three primary issues that are keeping us from performing at the high level that we all have come to expect from the red, white, and blue.
1. The slow start: Listen, this is not a new problem for the US. If you watched our qualifying campaign you are already privy to our inexcusable lack of focus during the first 10 to 20 minutes of nearly every match. The big problem is that we have continued to come out of the tunnel with our heads firmly planted in our butts. Against England, we conceded a goal in the fifth minute...IN THE FIFTH MINUTE!!! Ridiculous. Slovenia was more of the same, and I do mean MORE. We forced the Slovenians to wait a little longer than our other opponents (Honduras, El Salvador, England...etc.), but it really wasn't that much longer. I believe the first score came around minute 15. I suppose we should be thankful that we forced them to wait until the clock was displaying double digits, but I am not that easy to please in general, so why start now?
2. Defensive lapses: Football is a fast paced game, but it is a simple game. If one person moves, everyone moves. This concept seems to be lost on the American defense in the first half of a majority of its most recent games. Against England, Demerit steps up on to Heskey and leaves a small city park's worth of open space behind him. The top of the box is the most critical area for defenders, outside of the box itself. It is here that a truly world class striker prefers to unload a shot at goal, because it is near enough for them to keep it low and it is far enough away for the ball to get some movement. When Demerit stepped up, Gooch needed to step into the space left by Demerit. Instead, Gerrard slid into the space, received the pass with a quality first touch into even more space left open by our outside fullback Cherundolo, who failed to pinch in to assist his central colleagues. It was an easy finish to convert...and it is this kind of lapse that we must stamp out. It would be helpful to see our wingers pitch in on the defensive rotations, allowing our outside fullbacks to get in to the middle to cover for our exposed middle when (and if...a big if)Demerit or Gooch step up to an attacker.
I yelled so much during the first half of the Slovenia game that my voice was nearly inoperable by half time. The first goal came from five yards beyond the top of the box, and not one of our defenders stepped up to challenge the ball. The problems for the US on this goal were compounded by the fact that Tim Howard, our goal keeper, was caught out on the six yard line. For those of you who do not know, Howard was injured in the first match against England when Heskey came sliding in to him with both feet extended, cleats up (not even a yellow card came out of the referee's pocket...criminal). That being said, when you are playing injured in football positioning becomes crucial. Howard had absolutely no business being that far out of the goal, given that the attacker was already well within striking distance.
and this brings me to my final point...
3. Tim Howard playing injured: Hey, I am as impressed as anyone that Howard has sucked it up and decided to play with his shoulder and ribs hurting. However, it is not exceptable for our coaching staff or Howard to put the entire team, and our World Cup hopes, in jeopardy by playing someone that can not perform at the highest level. The first goal from Slovenia aside for now, since I discussed it above, I became convinced that Howard was nowhere near 100% on their second strike. In all fairness, this second goal came on a wonderful break from the Slovenians and Howard found himself one on one with one of their potent strikers. The problem here is that Howard usually gets down onto the ground very quickly in these situations, to cut out the low shot to the back post. This was not the case on this second goal. Howard clearly favored his ribs on this play by refusing to go down onto his side. This made it far to easy for the Slovenian striker to slip it past Howard neatly on the ground...Hell, the ball didn't even need to be placed in the far corner on this one. Due to Howard not getting down, the Slovenian striker was able to finish the ball into the center of our goal. If Howard is hurt, then put Marcus Hahnemann in the net. He is an accomplished goal keeper with heaps of professional experience. He is coming off a fantastic season with Wolverhampton in the English Premier League and he has tons of confidence. Not a bad option when your number 1 is unable to do the simply things required of keepers at this level.
Conclusion: The first half of the Slovenia game was miserable...embarrassing...and more frustrating than I care to go in to. However, there is light here at the end of this tunnel. Our men came out in the second half and put together a world class performance; scrambling back from 2-0 down to win the game with a scoreline of 3-2 (for those of you that think that this game finished 2-2, shame on you). That kind of heart, determination, guts, skill, teamwork, and pride are what will allow us to move out of our group and make it very difficult on our opposition in the elimination rounds. Next up, Algeria. They are a dangerous side with plenty of quality.... It is time to see if our boys can come out and play a full 90 minutes, because we are absolutely going to need to do just that if we want to have any chance of beating the Algerians.
P.S. I am not going to discuss the goal that wasn't in this post... Suffice it to say that I went through the fucking roof for the rest of that day. I saw that bastard ref performing as a fourth official on a game yesterday and nearly tore my apartment apart.
