Second of Three: USA v Turkey – Match Preview

May 28th, 2010 | by: Taylor |

Who: United States v Turkey
What: International Friendly Match
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
When: Saturday, May 29 (kickoff scheduled for 2:03 EST)
Why: Because Jonathan Bornstein hasn’t quite perfected his Bill Goldberg-esque “Spear” yet, and really needs the practice if he’s going to earn a horrible red card this June. He could also do well do have that music playing behind him any time he does anything.

Points to Ponder

1) I have no idea what to expect from Turkey. Obviously, they’re a fairly talented team (just ask Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Croatia: see below), and they play a ridiculously exciting brand of football… at least they did in 2008. Nowadays things are slightly different.

The Turks were favored to at least make the World Cup playoffs, but failed to even make it that far. Inded, they finished third, 15 points behind Spain and 4 behind Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their consistently intense Manager Fatih Terim accepted responsibility for the shortcoming, and promptly resigned hi post at the end of qualifying. That was in October, and a scant four months later famed Manager Guus Hiddink agreed to take charge of the Turks and, ostensibly, lead them to an amazing performance in Euro 2012. However, Guus doesn’t take charge until August 1, so until then Turkey is “somewhat” rudderless.

I say “somewhat” because they’ve already had a pretty successful summer vacation. On May 22, the Turks knocked off the Czech Republic in front of a packed Ataturk Olympic Stadium (it seats 76,000… there were 12,000 in attendance). Hiddink’s future squad then boarded a plane bound for the USA and, on Wednesday night, bested a young Northern Ireland team 2-0. So, uh, I guess the point here is that even without a manager, they were able to beat two pretty talented European teams. So… that could be an issue…

2) Is Oguchi Onyewu’s “Beard Situation” (yeah, in capitals) the opposite of Sampson? We all know Sampson. He was crazy strong, he posed in the “Naked” issue of ESPN: The Magazine, he let his girlfriend cut his hair, and then it all went to shit. One of those things may have been about Onyewu… I forget… The point is that Onyewu sans-beard was an incredibly talented defender that could have had an impact on an aging Meelan side. Bearded defender? He doesn’t appear to remember how to jump, he looks more than a little rusty, and apparently requires an entire glacier to calm his swelling knee. Now, I’m a big fan of the full beard (it’s how I’ve hidden my double chin for all these years) and I do think Gooch looks particularly terrifying with that thing in effect. However, Onyewu may need to learn a reverse lesson from The Bible… Cut the beard and your powers will return? Or maybe the lesson was “miss seven months because of a severe injury and maybe you won’t immediately return to form”…. I forget…

3) In order to properly explain our back line, I am forced to implement the greatest joke format of all time. “Hey… USA… The French Army circa 1940 called… They want their defense back!” Boom! Jokes! But yeah, seriously… what the hell are we gonna do about this one? The Gooch Issue (that sounds far too dirty) aside, we’re okay in the middle. Out wide? That’s a different story. Assuming Onyewu is healthy and DeMerit isn’t blind, Boca will probably fill in on the left side. On the right? Pick your poison: Spector, Cherundolo, or Bornstein? Basically, would Turkey rather run around us, directly through us, or be linebacker-style tackled by us. I honestly don’t know what Bradley should do here… but that won’t stop me from criticizing whatever decision he inevitably makes.

Fullscreen capture 5282010 81034 AM 4) Where will the goals be coming from? Obviously, Altidore will be starting up top but, assuming USA come out in a 4-4-2, who will be up there with him? There are four real options:

1) Edson Buddle – The LA Galaxy worked insanely hard against the Czech Republic, but wasn’t ever really able to establish his game. Plus, he spent 45 minutes trying to adjust to playing in slow-motion (per Eddie Johnson’s preferred style).

2) Robbie Findley – Is not a viable option… Now more than ever I believe the conspiracy theory I put forth in Thursday’s podcast. Basic idea: Bob Bradley was so fed up by people mocking him/hating on Brian Ching that he basically selected Findley so that when the Real Salt Lake goal scorer struggles to impress, Bradley can turn to the camera and say, “See? I should have brought Ching!”

3) Herculez Gomez – Okay, disclaimer: After watching him dazzle Altidore with his magical abilities, I have officially 1) developed a man crush and 2) decided that I will exclusively refer to him as “The Magician”. Also, he scores goals… So there’s that too…

4) Clint Dempsey – The odds on favorite, especially given Stuart Holden’s return from injury/ability to play out wide. When not busy rapping like a champion, Deuce also enjoys netting beautiful goals for club and country.

For me, it comes down to Holden’s fitness. If he proves he can do the full 90 AND STILL play a VERY productive role out wide, then Deuce should probably get bumped up top. However, if Holden struggles/still shows signs of injury/forgets to frost his tips, then 1) Gomez, 2) Buddle, or 3) Findley (in that order) should get a shot.

5) Which member of the podcast crew will make the biggest scene and/or be escorted from the stadium? Albert is the odds on favorite, Josh and I have similar odds, and Daryl is the longshot of the group. So who will be the winner (also the loser)? Well, if you’re going to be at the game, then you can see for yourself. Email us at soccer@wrir.org and we’ll let you know the pre-game details. If you’re not in attendance, then you are fully expected to do your pro-USA duties: drink whiskey, yell at the TV, and celebrate any goal by doing your best rendition of the “Stanky Leg”. Stuart Holden would be proud.

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Alejandro

Great post Taylor. Im also VERY worried about our D. The lineup of Spector/Cherundolo – Onyewu – Demerit – Bocanegra doesnt bother me though. Like you, I just hope they are all fit for the cup. If Onyewu needs to come out, then Goodson is a decent replacement.

I think our goals will almost exclusively come from set peices and corners. That is our number 1 threat to the opposition. Both goals in the Czech game and the only goal against the Netherlands came from those kinds of opportunities. This is another reason why im disapointed Ching didnt go, he can draw fouls in dangerous areas and now we will have to rely on Altidore/Donovan to draw fouls. But in the run of play I do have confidence in Dempsey's ability to finish. Set peices and Dempsey are where our scoring chances are.
http://usasoccerstud.com Blake

I'll worry a lot less if Bradley switches to a 5-2-3-1
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1442568130 Denzel Eslinger

Very confused, who is the leading all time goal scorer for the USMNT? Yet you don't even mention his name when asking where goals are going to come from. You diss on Robbie Findley but have probably never seen him play more than a couple minutes, there is nobody in the US forward corp who can keep up pace with Landycakes and Deuce except for Robbie. While he may not be the most refined finisher, you have to deal with his speed and by forcing teams to do so, Bob will open up chances for his other scorers (Jozy, Deuce, and most of all Landon) to do just that.

I will only say this, go ahead and hate on Findley, he is used to it as everyone hated and doubted RSL all last year, but in the end who was holding the trophy and getting their Championship Rings?
Lee

Until the US can figure out how to possess the ball for more than four consecutive passes we are always going to be in trouble regardless of who we put on the pitch. I've seen high school teams that at least understand the concept of “if we have the ball, the other team can't score”, but somehow that little tactical tidbit has eluded the US men for years. I fully understand that we are usually bigger, stronger, better in the air et al, but still you can't settle on one style of play regardless of the opponent. I also don't buy into the argument that we don't have the technical skill to hold possession for long stretches. While we might not have the skill of a Barcelona to link up lots of one touch passes in tight spaces, we certainly have the skill to knock it around and hold onto the ball for longer periods of the game. It's about mental focus and understanding you don't have to have that one “knock out” pass every time you touch the ball, and that mentality comes from the top and has to be infused day in day out in training. I'm praying for the best and expecting the worst at this point.
Andy

I hope to be travelling to Philly to watch the game…my background is turkish but feel as much American after residing in the U.S. almost two decades. My opinion is that I find the U.S. NT as one of the most athletic teams in the world. They have strong physique so they should use them for their benefit. Set pieces, korner kicks, dead balls can always be effective. Since they run the field well, and they have stamina, they need to put the pressure on the opponent without leaving much space for them.

How to win against Turkey. The weakest link in the turkish team is the defense. Watch all the goals they allow, you will see the central backs mostly do not know how to hold the right position when the opponent is attacking. Cross the balls at low behind them, around them, they will get confused and miss the opponent's offensive player. Also let the offensive players play on them. Usually, when when attacking, Turkish defense try to put the opponent in off-side position but if you let the two attacking players come out of the off-side possesion which means they won't meet with the ball, the player cross or pass the ball to a third player who suddenly move beding the defense, there is usually plenty gap between the central backs and the gola keeper; creating enough space for the thrid attacking player to meet the ball and place on the net in a timely manner.
Andy

Although the Turkish NT is made up of the same players as in the Euro competition, they have a new coach who is very disciplined and doesn't care about big names but hardworking guys. At the moment, there are more than a few new players were invited; old and new all are trying to impress Hiddink to have their place guaranteed. So I expect them to play well; otherwise, Turks almost never used to win friendly or pre-tournment games. They had a comfortable win against the Czechs a few days ago. Btw, the game was in NJ and not in Turkey's Ataturk Stadium.

Turks are extremely technical players and can be very fast moving the ball from the defense to offense. They are probably one of the most technical as well as physical teams in the world. They will not let the opponent have the ball possession more than themselves. They move the ball around very effectively. They usually lack disciplined, and focus or they are (most of the time) over confident; either way, it is against them. In world cup qualification games, they have dominated against Spain in both games, could have easily scored 5-6 goals, they were not lucky or ineffective at finish. Turks lose points usually against easier opponents due to their over-confidence.
jaderise

Is that 1 goalie + 5 defenders + 5 midfielders and 1 striker? I think we'd have a lot less to worry about if we got an extra defender out there in a 4-5-1. Not sure how legal that is. But if we get desperate, could be worth a try!
jaderise

I think given the issues with the defense- The best defense is good possession play. And importantly, we can't lose the ball in a dangerous position.

This is what I want to see against Turkey today with our A-team: (1) Smart passes and calm, cool collected play. (2) If we lose the ball, the holding midfielders have time to get back to help in the central part of the defense. (3) The defense moves across the field as one unit.