USA – Netherlands (1 -2) Post-Game Thoughts

March 3rd, 2010 | by: Marlon |

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Well, it could have been a lot worse. Tonight’s USA performance was far from good, but against one of the worlds best teams how much can we really expect? I know what we’d like to expect, of course, but then reality sets in. We can only hope that Bob Bradley’s men can turn out better performances once they have a full squad, and hopefully Stuart Holden will recover from that idiotic late tackle Nigel De Jong put in on him (it’s called a friendly for a reason Nigel! (unfortunately Michael Bradley did not take up my requests that someone put in a retaliatory reducer on Wesley Sneijder)). The Netherlands bossed the game for about 80 minutes, and were gifted two lucky goals by Honduran legend Jonathan Bornstein. The first was a soft penalty (though Bornstien should’ve known not to pull back Sneijder regardless) and the second saw a harmless shot bounce right off Jonny and into the US net. The troops equalized through a set piece. Without Dempsey, Davies, or Donovan on the pitch it seemed unlikely we’d score from the run of play. So, an ugly game, but perhaps things will get better? Here are my post match notes:

- Jay DeMerit was immense. Easily our best defender on the night. He was everywhere. Winning the ball on the ground and in the air. He looked much more comfortable than the other three US defenders. There’s no doubt for me that he should be a starting centerback come June. Bocanegra managed to make a number of stupid mistakes as DeMerit’s bumbling sidekick, but he did get a goal and he is probably our best option at leftback so when Onyewu returns hopefully we can sit Bornstein down on the bench.

- Hopefully Stuart Holden will be alright. He’s been playing well for Bolton at CM and got the nod from Bob Bradley tonight playing wide right before De Jong ended his game after about twenty minutes. If our squad could see the returns of Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, and maybe even Freddy Adu then I’d like to see what Holden can do as a CM for us. He’s won that position in Owen Coyle’s squad at Bolton, and while I enjoyed Torres actually getting some playing time neither he nor Bradley impressed me. Against Wolverhampton Wanderers I saw Holden have a very effective game attacking and defensively.

- As stated in the previous note: the USA central midfield did nothing for me. Bradley was decent defensively, but gave possession away cheaply and while Torres left footed strike that nearly dipped on target was nice he was unable to exert a real influence on the game. Mo Edu came on in the second half and he and Bradley served as a decent wrecking unit, but possession was leaking from the US midfield.

- Donovan was anonymous, but he didn’t have much support.

- Altidore looked up for the game, but Robbie Findley once again looked out of his depth. While Jozy dribbled past Dutch defenders and won free kicks, Findley spent most of his time passing the ball backwards and contributed nothing towards a possible USA goal.

- Beasley what was that freekick? At least try to go up and over the wall! At least try!

- I miss Clint Dempsey.

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Dave

i miss dempsey too
http://usasoccerstud.com/ USA Soccer Stud

DeMerit got beat several times. While worthy as a reserve, I don’t think he’s worthy as a WC starter, nor is Bornstein.
Ben

I thought Beasly was on form. Bornstein is shit, always has been shit, has one good header thats all in his life. Donovan doesnt need to be wide on the left, go upfront on the right or in the middle. I was okay with Bradley.

Demerit lacked quality.
http://usa.worldcupblog.org Marlon

What centerback options do you think we have that are better than DeMerit?
Dionne

So do I Dave
josh

i hope davies comes back. do you think bradley will not name him to the final roster even if he’ll be ready before the world cup?
josh

also torres looked good. he should get the call up. i don’t want to beat the dead horse but bradley has seen our defenders and we are lacking. call up edgar castillo please he has to be better than bornstein.
Patrick

I would still love to see Frankie Hejduk play – he brings toughness, and creative attacking energy from the defense that I haven’t seen from other backs.
SP

@josh- i think if davies is healthy, he’s on the plane regardless of form. he’s dynamic off the bench at worst but the morale boost that will give the team is worthy of including him in the 23 regardless. i wouldnt be surprised if he travels with the team even if he doesnt make it to the final 23.

as for demerit, he’s not your ideal starter but for the usmnt, he really is one of our top 3 options and top 2 if boca is on the left.

i havent been a fan of adu for a while, but i wouldnt mind seeing him go to sa as an impact sub and someone that could use that motivation and experience in the short and long-term future.

i’m not completely sold on beasley yet, but from what i saw yesterday, he has definitely put himself in contention to at least be in the pre-23 camp come may. it blows to see holden go down, but watching beasley helped a little with that. if beasley does get to the point where he could be a valuable sub for us, i would love to see holden partner bradley (and edu once bradley gets his inevitable red card) as a cm with donovan and dempsey on the flanks and davies partnering jozy up top, but there is a lot of rehab needed until we can get to that point.
marc

What really bothered me about the game was how much the Dutch outhustled the U.S. On the rare occasions where they lost posession, the same player would frequently hustle back and regain posession in seconds. They seemed to beat us to almost every ball. It took the U.S. a good 30 minutes to settle into the game and link more than 1 or 2 passes together. I agree with most of the comments above regarding individual players: Bornstein and Findley stood out as the worst for me; Torres was so-so; Bradley was not at his best, but even so, he brings a passion and desire to every game that’s infectious (he also seemed to spark the few chances we had on offense); I thought Spector and DeMeritt did well on D; Altidore played decent up front; Boca was kind of hot/cold; Edu played respectively well; and Beasley improved his chances of making the roster. How would Jermaine Jones fit into Bradley’s lineup?
http://usa.worldcupblog.org/group-e/bethany-dempsey-help-me-out-please.html Dave Martinez

BEST: Beasley, Jozy, Boca

WORST: Bornstein, DeMeritt, Findley

Beas played really strong! Bornstein IS TOO YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED TO PLAY AGAINST THE BIG DOGS! Kill that experiment already! Findley is not world class. EJ would have been better served. And DeMeritt isn’t a smooth CB. He is panicky, and would rather long ball than find a nice seam.
Samuel Oudegeest

Funniest moment of the game was when Findley got that beautiful pass right in the box and was too stunned to do anything.

Actually thought Donovan did pretty well. He was the only American threat who the Dutch paid attention to. As soon as he got it – the defence was all over him.
http://www.soccerclublist.com paul lorinczi

It continues to amaze me that when Donovan has a bad day, the assessment is, he did not get any service. When Beasley had a bad day, he gets cast off. Yet, Beasley is the most accomplished American player in Europe having played for Champions PSV, Rangers and appearance in a CL Semi-final.

Why doesn’t Beasley get the same props that Donovan gets when he plays well?

Once again, US Soccer gives Michael Bradley Man of the Match honors.

It should have gone to DaMarcus Beasley. He took over the game for the US and had a positive impact. His free kick to Bocanegra was 1st class.

Paco Torres gets limited opportunities, yet he is probably the most technical player we have in the pool. Once he settled down, he found his rhythm and showed composure in tight spaces. If you noticed, in the 2nd half, we lost possession in the midfield.

And yet, Michael Bradley gets Man of the Match.

What is evident is Bob Bradley has his favorites. He has built his team around his Son at the expense of what is best for the USA. Paco Torres should be further integrated into this team. If he is looking for his Claudio Reyna replacement, Torres has the technical ability to be it.

Not only that, he has International club experience with time in the Libertadores, World Club Champoinships and CONCACAF Champions League. Michael Bradley? US National Team coached by his Father.

For some reason, Bob Bradley thinks his Son is a player to build a team around. He is not.

The fact that he kept Bornstein in so long. Well, it just smelled.
josh

@paul i totally agree about torres. during the holden injury an assistant called him over and talked to him and after that torres looked amazing yet bradley pulls him out after halftime. you’re right that bradley has his favorites and doesn’t want to give some people a chance. ex adu, torres, castillo, cooper among others. while he sticks with bornstein, casey, findley who shouldn’t be on the team. i just don’t get it. its time to get a foreign coach. we screwed the pooch with hiddink.
http://usasoccerstud.com/ USA Soccer Stud

@Marlon. I don’t worry so much about center and wing backs, so I’d say shuffle around the best dbacks we have for the cup, boca and gooch primary among them, and either spector, cherundelo, pearce and goodson to fill in the gaps left by both damerit and bornstein. I like damerits hustle, I just don’t think he’s as talented as other options in our lineup.
bfos7215

No talk about the US goal being played in to an offsides Bocanegra? Also, we looked scared Sneijder and gave up way to much space for him to work. Their second goal came after Edu and (I believe it was) Bradley stood back on their heels instead of stepping up and challenging Sneijder.
Thomas Murphy

i dont think anyone could have expected much offensively from the usa because they were missing alot of weapons. i was impressed with the defense though considering the first goal was on a soft pk call (and was a terrible challege anyway). the second goal was also very unlucky for the usa
manny

Game was okay figuring it’s been a while since this bunch has been together. when they wanted to turn it on(in the last 15 minutes) they did and took it to the netherlands. ideally when clint dempsey comes back i beleive that he should be playing up top right behind Altidore and Davies. he’s to damn good of a finisher plus he’s got an amazing head on the ball for him to drift out to the wings, put landon and holden on the wings for those long runs and good crosses in the middle and keep clark in the center midfield or bradley or edu and play onyewu, demerit and bocenegra in the back. also freddy adu as a replacement sub up top for his creativity, and have beasly a winger sub, and specter and goodson defening subs.
Ruben

If Landon Donovan is so good like all U.S. fans say he is then why does he need help U.S. is just mad cuz we beat you guys!!! and who cares if t just a friendly a football game must be played like a real game under any and all situations….
unles your like the weak U.S. country why arn’t you guys like mexico instead?? you guys aren’t ready for the big boys yet and be like mexico and pixk on the lil teams but u get wins!
http://usa.worldcupblog.org/ Marlon

We’re not mad you beat us. We are mad your idiot d-mid hurt one of our best players.
Unbelievable

Win a world cup then talk. The Netherlands is like the 52 state of the USA. Speak your own language…!!!

Stop ridding our coat tails from WWII!!! lol

GLTTMNT
Unbelievable

51st being Canada. I suppose I should’ve clarified that before.

GLTTMNT
Rich

the Netherlands the 52nd state……how so? Oh and if you didn’t notice they do have there own language, it’s called dutch. Oh and when you say speak your own language, are you referring to dutch people speaking English? If so, well technically the Americans don’t have a unique language to call there own,English was spoken in many countries before the USA become a country, just saying! Unless you call that redneck talking language from the Southern states official.Ahh yes, last but not least, the Netherlands may not have won a world cup but they have come close on numerous occasions, something the Americans will never taste, that and the dutch are more respected around the world in soccer.
Rich

Ps – good tackle by the Dutch Player De jong, he went for the ball 100 percent, its a shame somebody got hurt, but that’s football.