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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:12 EST |
Cup dreams still alive, but strategy has to be questioned
By Marc Connolly
[ABC Sports Online]
It's like a bad dream. Make that a recurring bad dream.
Just three months ago, American soccer fans were flexing their collective chest muscles to the rest of the region since the U.S. National Team had finally snuck out from under the glare of Mexico as the region's No. 1 power. It was hard to argue with 13 points in five games that included a historic victory over the tricolors and a gutsy triumph against Honduras down in San Pedro Sula.
The services of Claudio Reyna will be much-needed against Jamaica in October. |
Three losses in a row later, including Wednesday night's 2-0 loss to Costa Rica, and the U.S. is facing a scenario that calls for victories against Jamaica at home (Foxboro Stadium) on October 7 and in Port of Spain over Trinidad & Tobago on November 11.
It is not an excuse to say that the Americans have been fielding what has to be considered a glorified J.V. version of their National Team due to injuries to major talents such as Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff, Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride and even John O'Brien, who would have been a godsend in the midfield the past two games.
That's not Bruce Arena's fault, or anyone's for that matter. In fact, Arena should be commended for utilizing so many players since he took over in 1998 to help develop tremendous depth for the National Team, something that didn't exist when Steve Sampson qualified the Yanks in 1997.
At the same time, one has to question Arena's strategy the past two games. Against Honduras last weekend, his three-forward attack without any flank midfielders was puzzling considering they were playing the quickest team in the region that could take advantage of David Regis and Steve Cherundolo sneaking up the field to fill in the gap between the wingers. That backfired on him, and resulted in the Hondurans having enough scoring opportunities that it's fortunate the U.S. didn't lose 6-2 or 7-2 rather than by a 3-2 margin.
As any good coach should do, Arena made changes in his formation and in personnel for the Costa Rica match. Unfortunately, his moves were the wrong ones.
For starters, what did he expect to happen with a 5-3-2 formation? Did he expect to counter-attack the Costa Ricans to death up the flanks when he didn't play with any wide midfielders? And were neophyte Greg Vanney and Tony Sanneh supposed to provide such an offensive presence on the outside once the U.S. regained control of the ball?
Playing in a hostile environment such as Saprissa Stadium against the region's first-place team calls for a defensive formation. It's not the time to go with a three-back line or with a flat four-man midfield in front of them. But going with basically seven defenders if you include dual holding midfielders Chris Armas and Richie Williams was way too conservative. Actually, that'd probably too conservative when playing France in the World Cup as well, never mind against a team that was defeated 1-0 by the U.S. in April.
What this strategy resulted in was Costa Rica having possession of the ball over midfield for most of the match. It also left the U.S. in a position where it looked for offense not by building an attack through the midfield (try to do that without any outside mids) or in counters, but through long, desperate balls played to Cobi Jones and Jovan Kirovski up front.
All that style accomplished for most of the match was that it was a great imitation of either a bad English club side or one of the several lower-level nations that utilize this bunker tactic against the U.S. women's juggernaut.
The insertion of Joe-Max Moore and Landon Donovan into the lineup helped spread the side out and gave the defenders more options to look to in front of them, but shortly thereafter the Costa Ricans went into cautious mode after Rolando Fonseca's second goal of the match knowing that they were less than 30 minutes away from securing a berth to the World Cup next summer.
Neither player added anything of note to the match, but perhaps the U.S, would have been better off with those two playing as front-runners from the start, with Jones moving to a flank midfielder role and Kirovski sent, well, how 'bout on a plane back to his club team in England.
Ultimately, we would have seen a different style and an altogether different match had Arena started a lineup that included Claudio Reyna to link the offense with the defense, change the point of attack and calm the pace down. Of course, either Mathis, Wolff or McBride (especially if they were playing long balls to a target man) would have changed everything by being on the pitch, but it is highly unlikely that we'll see any one of those players against Jamaica. Mathis has overtures about being ready for that match since he's recovered quickly from his torn ACL, but that's a long shot if anything.
What matters most is the Jamaica match. That's the one where three points are an absolute must. Trinidad & Tobago doesn't matter right now, and even if that team did, it's a team in disarray that will be hard-pressed to not lose to the U.S. by two or three goals come Nov. 11.
Reyna (groin injury) should be back for Jamaica and able to step in alongside Earnie Stewart in the central midfield. Against a team that will attack all day from the flanks as they did in the 0-0 tie against the U.S. in June, the Yanks will need superior play from flank midfielders (Cobi Jones is excellent in such a role when he's needed to play end-to-end ball) and outside backs.
This may be a scenario that is perfect for Steve Cherundolo to make it back to the starting lineup, due to his speed and ability to counter, as well. Greg Vanney looked solid in a difficult position last night, but it appears the team is better suited having Agoos on the left side if it's not going to be Regis.
It's not over yet. Six points against two very beatable teams isn't impossible or something that the current injury-depleted group can't handle. What is important is getting into the Cup no matter what it takes or who is on the field. Once that goal is accomplished, Arena will have plenty of time to field an entirely different team that was seen in Costa Rica on Wednesday night.
One that more resembles the side that gave U.S. fans a big head to begin with last spring when nobody ever considered calling for Bruce Arena's head.
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at Marc.Connolly@abc.com
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