USA vs. Mexico Liveblog Explosion

the videos on this post are getting me more pumped than anything else

http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/condederations-cup-semi-fina-usa-2-0-spain-or-why-every-team-in-the-world-should-play-4-4-2.html

i think bbc and fsc/espn need to switch announcers

US starting XI: 1-Howard; 6-Cherundolo, 5-Onyewu, 15-DeMerit, 3-Bocanegra (capt.); 8-Dempsey , 13-Clark, 12-Bradley, 10-Donovan; 9-Davies, 11-Ching

Ching over Jozy? Really?

Note: Liveblog will start closer to 4pm ET.

Looks like a more defensive team in my opinion. Cherundolo instead of Spector and Ching instead of Jozy. Hopefully the USA doesn’t just sit back and let Mexico take it to them. I would have liked to see Davies come off the bench for the last 20 minutes but lets hope his energy rewards the US early because he seems to fade as the game progresses.

Ching over Jozy? Bob!!!!

Fu*king Carlos Bocanegra, both goals are your fault.

Wow! That was the finest officiating I have ever seen!

btw, Bocanegra needs to sit the fuck down.

Just to clarify, the Daryl commenting in the LiveBlog wasn’t myself (at least not after 3:51).

Yeah, I figured as much, Daryl. You’re smarter than that haha.

Once again we score early and then pack it in. Ridiculous!!! By packing it in we allowed them to score the equalizer in the first half. The 2nd goal imo was lack of form on Donovan’s part. He needs to sprint to cutoff that guys path.

When you are so far back and trying to play two lines of defense, it isn’t going to work allow a guy to gain speed and run at a seam without challenging him. Donovan did it too late, but he had the speed to catch him at the end of the run. Not good. You are playing the most important game you can play in the Concacaf and you cant get that little extra spurt?
Also, it was quite obvious that the US were able to maintain more possesion once Clark and Ching came out. How the hell is Ching still on the team?

The USA was very lucky in the Confed cup. UNTIL YOU CHANGE YOUR MINDSET, you will not get consistant results. Yes, I am also an ex-college player so I know how US coaches prepare their teams and I have also lived abroad for almost 3 yrs and understand how coaches abroad prepare their teams.
You must have enough players on the field to control at least 45% of the game with a country like ours. After we scored it was fort knox. The USA in total spent about 30 minutes packed in. Ridiculous!!! The first goal the Mexicans got was exactly due to that mentality. The second goal was also due to that mentality.

The US tries to play two lines, 4 each, one that is supposed to hold 18 and another above it. The defensive lines ALWAYS breakdown and they claps back where the back 4 line is now at the pk spot and the front 4 line is at the 18. I’m sick and tired of it.

If we are going to lose I want to lose swinging, attacking…Clark was terrible. He couldn’t string any passes together if his life depended on it. Bradley was not good. I still think Spector should’ve played for Demerit. When Holden and Feilhaber came on the US was able to maintain more possesion but unfortunately Donovan couldn’t get the energy to back track, thinking BocaNegra would collapse on the attack. Yea, you can think that if the two lines are far enough away from the goal but the team was sinking back. On the second goal (look at the replay) you have Bradley and Holden practically on the goal line when the ball goes in. WTF???? PUSH OUT!!!

It is amazing how self-delusional Bob Bradley becomes when he tastes a little success from playing soo far backed in. It will NEVER be the right way to play in any environment. 10 minutes only, then you have to attack and take chances moving forward or you will LOSE more times than not. The law of averages dictates it.

I think Freddy Adu in the midfield for Bradley would’ve given the US more possesion. At least the Mexicans wouldn’t have been able to push him off the ball like a northern Euro team. Ridiculous.
Bob Bradley has to go. And don’t give me we have never won in the Azteca. We should expect to win or tie there every year.

GLTTMNT.

This is one of the most poorly officiated games I have ever witnessed. Its quite obvious that fan noise and the throwing of projectiles at our players were not the only advantage for the mexican side. There should be a serious FIFA inquiry.

Poorly officiated international matches will only contribute to american empathy toward soccer.

Mexico should be ashamed of their cheap victory in their polluted stadium against a country who doesn’t even care about the game.

The players I thought who played well were:

Davies, Gooch, Cherundolo and Donovan. That is it.

-Davies is always dangerous and is going to be a great asset for the US in the future.

-Gooch played with even more composure than usual and showed why he is on AC Milan. I was very impressed with his calmness on the ball, making good passes out of the back.

-Cherundolo played solidly on his side and didn’t allow too many dangerous plays on his side. He showed he could move up with technical skill but IMO Bob Bradley’s structure made it impossible for defenders (Steve and Carlos) to make overlapping runs with any attacking flow b.c they were so far backed in.

-Donovan gets the nod b.c if/when the USA decides to play forward, his pass to Davies for the 1st goal was world class.

The crazy thing is when Holden came in he gave Davies a phenomanal cross where Davies really should’ve put the header on goal. Dempsey got more into the act with Holden and Feilhaber. They were able to establish more ball control for about 15 minutes, then the USA just collapsed back into their bunkers. It was ridiculous.

Unfortunately it looked like Donovan was pretty tired and that was the indirect reason for the goal, the main reason is Bob Bradley and his style. I don’t blame Boca or Donovan for that 2nd goal. There was some poor communication and Boca was trying to watch his on the wing, but the larger issue is why were they soo far backed in…???

Pissed Off and this is forum is now the only venting I have on a Wednesday. If it were a weekend it would be a different story.

GLTTMNT

Freddy Adu? Did you WATCH him in the Gold Cup? He’s not ready to play right now.

I really fail to see how 5 or 6 of our best players playing below their best is Bradley’s fault. I think we had a decent game plan- we didn’t bunker, but we defended well and more because its what we do better. We strung some passes together and had some moments of good possession. We didn’t look very good, they didn’t either. I think both teams deserved a draw, but they got a win. Those are the breaks. People are acting like we were under siege like vs Spain, but that simply wasn’t the case- they didn’t have too many very dangerous attacks, and when they did, they scored. It was a lot of aimless possession because they’re a possession team and we’re not, playing in a stadium that favors a possession team.

The only complaint I have is that Ching started. He was beyond useless. Unfortunately, Bocanegra, Dempsey, and Clark were also bad, Bradley and Donovan were average, and our best player got injured.

1-3 Costa Rica was a game that was poorly managed. This was just a close loss in a game we were supposed to lose, and probably did what it took to earn a draw but didn’t get it.

No, this was all Bradley. Staring Ching at this point should be considered an insult. Yes, Cherundolo played well, but I don’t like taking out Spector and messing with the chemistry of the squad that beat Spain.

Subbing in a midfielder for Ching instead of Altidore was crazy. Especially Holden. I like the guy and he did ok, but don’t overcoach. Fielhaber and Altidore should have been the first two subs.

And again, Unbelievable is right. How many times is Bradley going to lose games for us? We looked so good leading up to that first goal, attacking and holding possession. Then Bradley gives the order to turtle and we lose. How many times?

“Mexico should be ashamed of their cheap victory in their polluted stadium against a country who doesn’t even care about the game.”

And that is why the ’stereotypical’ USMNT fan is just as much a douche as the stereotypical Mexican fan… they just don’t know it yet.

to be fair, jose, every comment but one here was about what the us did wrong today. take from that one comment what you will, but i’m not sure it’s strong evidence for spotting trends…

anyway, agree with everyone (else) here. it’s one thing to not be able to see obvious personnel issues and continue to start past-their-prime players. it’s another to be able to ignore an entire fan base screaming for those same obvious changes. but it takes a special kind of ineptitude to blindly stumble upon a winning formation in spite of yourself, and then less than 2 months later go back to your old losing ways. in his tenure here, bob bradley has managed to turn “don’t tread on me” from a menacing threat to a timid request. maybe nike should sew “pleeeease?” to the inside collar of our jerseys next year.

bah, i’m so tired of rooting for a team that’s playing merely not to lose, especially when we clearly have the talent to aspire to so much more.

*FRUSTRATED*

Mexico should be ashamed of their team and their fans. I have never in my life seen such poor sportsmanship in a game in any sport. I was shocked at the way the Mexican players constantly ran up to our players and tried to strip the ball from them during every stoppage. I was shocked at how they tried to force an injured player to his feet in what looked almost like an attack. I was shocked at how they blatantly delayed the game when they had the lead by taking the ball and playing “keep away” from our players when it was our free kick or throw-in. I was shocked at the fans throwing trash at our players as we tried to do a corner kick.

People wonder why soccer (football) hasn’t caught on in the USA? Maybe its because we can’t stand to watch a bunch of overgrown children running around doing whatever they can to cheat and steal their way to victory. The Mexican team and its fans are as trashy as it gets.

Wilson- Really? Because nothing like that happens in every country in the World. Because you know, in other countries they totally respect the players.
Jeeze, Mexico! Shame on you for being the ONLY place that does that! Shame on you! It’s your fault that the US can’t enjoy soccer. You have that much influence on one country. Tsk, tsk. I say throw Mexico out of FIFA!

Tough game to watch and even tougher loss to swallow. As others have stated the US and obviously it’s coach were playing for a tie. The problem is…the US team was more talented than Mexico and playing to tie makes no sense. I’m not going to sit here and call for Bradley’s head because it’s just not going to happen but when is somebody going to step in and tell Bob to stop the BS? The US is built to play like they did against Spain, not like they did tonight. Whoever said that Bradley stumbled upon success is 100% correct. Why when an individual strikes gold he continues to go back to mining silver is beyond me…

It truly saddens me that random people who post on a blog seem to have more knowledge about the US team and tactics than the actual head coach…

I’m not convinced Bob Bradley has ever watched a non-MLS soccer match.

I just god depressed as the game progressed. If the U.S. team actually makes it to the World Cup, the team won’t get very far using the Bob Bradley “sit back and let the other team score” strategy.

I support what Unbelievable said earlier. But I start by saying that the US team was not prepared to play in the Azteca. They look tire almost from the get go. Their strategy to defend for 90 minutes and hope for a miracle doesn’t work. Bradley should have learned form the 5-0 lost to Mexico last month. He just didn’t prepare the team for this game, strategically and physically. It is incredible that the US keeps waiting opportunitities, to show how the team can play.

Bradley’s tactics of having 4 midfielders play back and kicking the ball forward doesn’t work, and then he changes 2 midfielders and leaves his son in the game. I was listenning to the game in Spanish and not once the announcer call the name of Bradley with the ball. But he is the coach’s son, that counts.

Did Bruce Arena win at the Aztec stadium?…who did Bradley learned from. The US needs a coach that has the knowledge and experience of big time soccer. Also, I heard the pregame commentators and Mexico’s coach comments abou the US strategy. He knew exactly what the US was going to do, which was the way US played. He prepared the team for that strategy. I don’t think Bradley had an idea how Cuahtemoc was going to play and swithc sizes. He just put a 4-4-2 and hope for the best.

Let’s hope someone realizes that this team is not going anywhere with Bradley as the person that can prepare a team for a big game. Lets just watch now how Costa Rica is going to beat us in our home land.

1st….you will never win at azteca (this was ur best chance)

2nd…poor fans???…bad sportsmanship?….what do they teach in sports??…leave it on the field…win at all costs…leave no doubt…

3rd…US fans cant except the fact that the confed cup was a fluke…

4th…ummm…mexico has european players too…blanco was winded…osorio was too…salcido didnt know where he was….

shall i keep going???

just to summarize…the US cant win in mexico….its amazing to beat the US in 2 straight games..

As a supporter of both countries I wanted Mexico to win cause they really needed to, but I don’t think the US did as bad as some people are saying.

They play counter-attacking soccer and they play it well. I hate to bring up this excuse and I know Mexican fans don’t like to hear it, but it was the altitude.

My main reasoning, besides how lackluster the US looked the whole game, is the second goal. Donovan was beaten by Efrain Juarez. I’ve seen this guy play, I’ve seen him run many times. I don’t like him for Mexico, he plays and runs too slow. I was glad he made that run and created that chance, but the fact he could make that run and beat Donovan was shocking.

Then again, that is part of having the home advantage and the counter-attack has never worked in Mexico so I can see why some are angry with Bob.

Ok Alex, your not helping and the Conf. Cup was not a fluke. The biased and hate between fans just blocks out how good Mexico and USA can play.

Mexico and USA are underrated, even by our own fans. When we come up against big competition we do well.

dolo didnt play well today. he was repeatedly skinned by guardado and then vela.

Whoever answered me: my bad, I meant to use ’stereotypical’ as in “the exaggerated caricature” rather than “in general”, so I correct my word use. It would definitely not be fair to characterize USMNT fans in general like that.

But I will say that all this nonsense about how “we should always be beating CONCACAF opposition away” and “we can play head-to-head against any country in the world” is silly. USMNT fans (disclaimer: from both personal experience and the blogosphere) have come to lack the perspective that Mexico fans once lacked too.

On the Confed Cup, for example: the US played well against two great teams (Spain and Brazil) that a) underestimated the worst-looking team in Group B and b) didn’t take the competition too seriously to begin with. On Mexico: people forget that that Mexico actually won the Confed Cup a few years back, and usually does better than the U.S. in non-CONCACAF competitions (U-17 World Cup, World Cup 2006, Copa America 2007).

Perspective.

What happened, you should paractice a little more or maybe should not be nervous. Ignore the people who boo on you U.S.A.The next game be concetrate, and put a lot of eggs in the fiald and be concetrated on th BALL. You guys know what happend las time. SO ASHAMED’5-0. Me and my family and my friends love you guys.I want you guys to be in the TOP. Besides my name is Brendell and i’m a huge fan since I was five years old.So keep on doing drills ,and running. And don’t get nervous if the people boo on you guys. I hope you guys win when you battle Salvador. Don’t forget what I say. GO Bob Bradley, and U.S.A. You guys RULE.

Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico.

Bradley keeps using his “Let’s run up and punch the bully when he’s not looking and then turn around and run away” strategy and it isn’t working. I was pretty even-keel on the whole “Fire Bradley” train until this. I’m officially fed up.

Fortunately, Honduras bailed our asses out which at least keeps Costa Rica in striking distance. The Top 4 is only separated by 3 points and it’s going to be a wild 2 months.

How long will the USMNT ‘pretend’ to play compact, European-style ball? US v Mexico proved that when the US compacts the field they play defense and allow shots on goal. The BEST soccer the US plays is when we attack the other team’s defense and run the entire game. Altitude too high, air too thin…too bad. That’s what subs are for.

We can only be grateful that Howard was in goal or we might have had another 5 go in. Davies has come of age – Adu needs more confidence, he’s got the skills but hasn’t proven it to himself yet.

Why does Dempsey get to play mid-field? He’s an excellent ‘garbage-goal’ player and picks up on opportunities in the offensive third of the field. Run him and sub him when he tires.

The US should be a perennial top 10 team, we’ve got the athletes, we’ve got the international experience…what else are we lacking..? Bradley, look at our 2002 World Cup Team – that team ran, attacked and fought for every ball. Why doesn’t this one?

Bob Bradley (and the current US coaching philosophy must go/change).
The strength of US soccer appears to be speed, athletisism, and conditioning.
It is not possestion, first touch, and defense.
The usmnt had success in the world cup being aggressive as the underdog. When Arena changed thier style in qualys to a defensive/conservative style in the last cup he was embarressed and subsequently lost his job.
Now we have Bob. No continuity/chemistry is being developed by constantly changing line-ups, formations and play style.
When this team is allowed to stretch the field, they are very tough. Three goals against Egypt (because they had to press), 2 goals against SPAIN(!), 2 goals against BRAZIL(!), 1 goal against Mexico(AT AZTECA!)all against 0 scored upon. And then came the PLAY NOT TO LOSE, compact defense. The first Brazil game, Italy, dodged(luckily)many shots by Spain, the second half of the Confed Cup Champ game(Brazil had over 30 shots at goal), and now Mexico. The US is NOT a defesive team. It is not thier strength. Boca was out of position several times, Donovan should not have to be on the end line. The compact line-up does not allow for possesion and time after time claerance passes are just passes to the opposition.
Playing on their heels allowing shot after shot is not fair to Tim Howard, the US fans and to the players themselves. This team has shown it has the talent and can achieve great things, if only we can find a philosophy within the US soccer federation that is prepared to allow them to succeed.

I still don’t believe that Bob Bradley is responsible for this loss. It was just a loss. The team played fairly well, 7 out of 10. Teams can’t not when playing with only speed, athletisism, and conditioning. B/c every team around the world has this. US Fans are under the impression that b/c we have the worlds most atheltic players in other sports, Football, Basketball, etc. that we have the most atheltic players in soccer. That is not the case. I agree with the style that was played in Mexico last night. The US tried to play a counter attacking style, which is common amongest the best teams when the play away from home. But, the US didn’t make good passes and that led to them playing defense more than they should have. This is what led to the US players getting tired and in the end losing the game. Possession is the key to winning at any level. If you control the possession you can control the tempo, and can choose when you attack and defend. You can’t blame Bradley for the bad passes (last time I checked he wasn’t on the field). This falls on the players. All of the players that were there have shown that they can make passes and last night they didn’t.

Also, if people want to get mad at someone, maybe they should try Landon Donovan! He did an interview on Tuesday on ESPN and said that it didn’t matter if they won or lost to Mexico b/c they were in a good position in the table. I would agree with this as a fan, but I want my national team players to want to be undefeated. I want them to want to win every game and to treat every game as the World Cup final. Donovan didn’t care if they won this game or not, so why should the other players put more in it than their leader.

Morpheus, there are 10 other players on the field that failed in Azteca, not just Donovan. He played as well as any of them (except maybe Davies). The team did not play based on the tactics of Landon Donovan, they played using the outdated and predictable tactics of Bob Bradley. This team has talent…maybe not as much as some other teams, but enough to be quite successful. We need a coach who can maximize that talent and play a style that is not agony to watch. I have supported Bradley to this point, but I am at my breaking point with him.

(Start practicing typing “sour grapes,” even though you’re wrong.)

1. Bob Bradley’s tactics suck. It’s a team sport and the play of all 11, as a unit, is dictated by the coach. We’ve shown we know how to score when the coach let’s us play forward. When he asks the team to sit back and defend, we’ve shown we know how to make Tim Howard look average. Whover said we’re not a stronge defensive team is 100% right. And everyone who said it has something to do with Bradley’s tactics is 100% right. Bradley’s our coach for the World Cup in 2010. I think most of us agree U.S. Soccer could have made a better choice.

2. Yes, every team in the world does delay and interfere to some degree when they’re ahead late. Mexico is the worst of the worst. The ref had no control over the game, made a number of poor calls and missed several others. I don’t think he changed the outcome of the game, but he was awful. Take a look at the U.S. players when they’re ahead late and tell me we don’t act with a bit more class. And to whoever said this behavior is part of “win at all cost, leave it on the field” what the hell does that have to do with the SPORT of soccer. You don’t see this in american football, basketball, or hockey. Delaying the game is typically a penalty in every other sport in the world…you lose 15 yards, you’re down a player for 2 minutes. Why shouldn’t that type of sportsmanship be part of soccer as well? If you’re good enough to win, defend and win. Don’t act like a 12 year-old. Mexico probably would have won in any case, the way the U.S. played yesterday…but don’t be surprised if we respect you a little less after every match like this one.

3. The U.S. did not play well enough to win. Whether it’s altitude, the crowd, Bob Bradley…whatever. Our first victory in Mexico will take a better effort than we showed yesterday. That said, anyone who believes the current U.S. team is incapable of winning there isn’t a soccer fan–they’re a Mexico fan who is too partisan to be honest with themselves.

Delay tactics, faking a foul, moving the ball forward on a free kick, set up a wall as close as possible on a free kick…sll is part of hte game of soccer. It has been for ever and will continue to be part of the game.

Donovan and the rest of the team were victims of a poor strategy deployed by Bradley. Thin air, lack of oxigen, call it whatever you want. If the US wanted to win, they knew this game was going to be played on 9/12 in Mexico city and they were not prepared. The Mexico team look faster and completly dominated the game…it could have been much worst.

The mexican team looked faster because they played the ball to open space. I cannot tell you how many times I saw the US collapse to the sidelines and lose the ball…that is a problem with all of the Bradley era games (Confed Cup as well). Until we can play tactically and retain possession to set up the attack, rather than just play counterattack, we will never be able to reach the next level.

@Luis: “Faking a foul” is not the same as faking an injury every minute for the last ten minutes instead of playing the game. “Moving the ball forward on (your own)free kick” is not the same as picking up a ball and running away when a foul has been called aginst you. “Set up a wall as close as possible on a free kick” doesn’t mean stand 1 foot in front of the ball until the ref tells you you’re being retarded.

And I guess the following falls under “delay tactics” too: grabbing the head of a player on the ground and giving a little twist and throwing god-knows-what at U.S. players during corner kicks? Again, there are degrees of delay that are acceptable, but it shouldn’t be “anything goes.” If throwing 72oz containers of piss and D batteries is cool, why not just get some ball bearings and a sling shot? After a while, it’s not a sport; it takes away from what the game is supposed to be.

LUIS: Please answer these qustions: Would you ever say it goes too far? Is Mexico the worst offender in CONCACAF? Would you say the U.S. doesn’t take things as far Mexico because they just don’t understand the game?

(I actually agree with the rest of what you said! I hope you realize I’m talking about one small part of all this, and I’d be upset at the way Mexico and their fans acted regardless of the outcome. It’s not just about this game.)