The Soccer Thread (Version 7.0)

As a Timbers fan, I thought it was funny near the end of the game that some visiting Timbers fans broke out the "Onward Rose City" chant and were roundly booed by Seattle's fans.

 

What happened to defenders in this country? I started following the USMNT during the Arena era, when it seemed like our strength was always in the back line. Our defenders seemed to be the only unit that consistently played to international standards, although we had occasional stars in the midfield or up front. We always seemed to depend on strong defending to keep us in games against more talented teams.

These days, I'm seeing much more creativity and ball control in the midfield and up front. Better first touches, better pressure forward, more creative runs. Our strikers and middies are playing at a much higher level than in the past, but our defending really seems to have fallen off.

Evans works hard, but I can't imagine he's the best that we can run out there at RB. Beasley is who he is - a guy with speed who works hard, but is limited as a defender. Gonzalez and Besler, based on the last two matches, appear to be a solid pairing. But overall, the back line is the U.S.'s weakness.

How did our traditional strength turn into such a liablity for us? Is it a byproduct of a U.S. Soccer-wide increased emphasis on creative offensive play? Do we have better options than what we're running out there?

 

I dunno if defense has always been our strength, when Jeff Agoos played in the World Cup. But generally speaking, the defense has usually been organized, even the days of Lalas, Balboa, etc.

 

The USA defenders are better now than they've ever been. The difference is that the midfield and wingers are no longer sitting back and playing a pure counter attacking game. In fact, USA is relying on the defenders to defend without the added bodies.

Go back to the last World Cup. You had Onyewu, Bocanegra, DeMerit and Cherundolo. Granted, Cherundolo might be a better option than Brad Evans today, but Bocanegra, for all his worth, does not have the speed nor athleticism that Gonzalez has. Bocanegra was able to read a game really well, but that was his only strength. He wasn't great at passing the ball out of the back. Onyewu was the same way. I liked him, but he was a big stiff in the back. I'd compare him to the old NBA centers that were just brought on as big bodies but really couldn't do much else.

The defense is asked to do more now than ever before. Whether it is distribute out of the backline, cover passing lanes or defend one on one, the players are more capable than ever before.

I'd certainly like it better if we had better defensive players than Beasley an Evans. However, their skill level is higher than a Frankie Hejduk or a Jonathan Bornstein. Don't even discuss the likes of Alexi Lalas and Jeff Agoos. They were fine enough players back then. They wouldn't make the roster now.

USA used to be a defense first kind of team that would let the game come to them. They would absorb pressure and play cautiously up the field when they felt a chance opened up for them. That is no longer how the USA operates. They are more inclined to take the game to Jamaica, Costa Rica or even Mexico.

 

It's not quite that simple. The US has produced a decent pipeline of center back talent for years, but fullback has been a problem all throughout the modern era. Look at the defenders the US took to previous World Cups:

1998: Frankie Hejduk (23 years old), Eddie Pope (24), Mike "Near Post" Burns (27), Thomas Dooley (37), David Regis (29), Jeff Agoos (30), Marcelo Balboa (30), Alexi Lalas (28). Some young blood, a handful of holdovers from 1994. Agoos never saw the field.
2002: Hejduk (27), Gregg Berhalter (28), Pablo Mastroeni (25), Regis (33), Agoos (34), Steve Cherundolo (23), Carlos Llamosa (32), Tony Sanneh (30), Eddie Pope (28). Mastroeni was listed as a defender but played in midfield. Neither Cherundolo nor Regis played a game.
2006: Chris Albright (27), Carlos Bocanegra (27), Cherundolo (27), Berhalter (32), Jimmy Conrad (29), Oguchi Onyewu (24), Pope (32). Yes, Chris Albright.
2010: Jonathon Spector (24), Bocanegra (31), Onyewu (28), Cherundolo (31), Jonathon Bornstein (25), Jay DeMerit (30), Clarence Goodson (28). Anyone heard from Spector or Bornstein lately?

Playing non-fullbacks at fullback has been a tradition as old as the Hex. Bobby Convey and Eddie Lewis took turns at left back, and DaMarcus Beasley is in the midst of his second crack at it. Regis and Bocanegra were both out of position playing on the left. Hejduk came up as a winger before being moved into defense, and of course there's the current crop of guys like Geoff Cameron, Brad Evans, Danny Williams and Fabian Johnson. Then there's the Timmy Chandler drama, which is just silly. Sanneh and Cherundolo are probably the best of the bunch when it comes to pure fullbacks playing for the US.

Center back is steady by comparison. The Balboa-Lalas generation laid the foundation, followed by two cycles of Pope and Agoos, then Bocanegra took charge at the back and Onyewu burned brightly for a while. Behind the stalwarts have been squad players such as Berhalter, Goodson, DeMerit, Conrad and Chad Marshall -- maybe not certain starters, but guys you wouldn't be horrified to see take the field in a pinch. Now it's time for young bucks like Gonzalez and Besler to be the rocks around which the defense is built.

Pastor makes an excellent point on the demands placed on the defense. Under Arena and Bradley, the US was primarily a reactive team that defended in numbers, soaked up pressure and hit opponents on the counter -- a fairly standard approach in international soccer. The setup was primarily 4-4-2 with one or two midfield "destroyers" such as Mastroeni, Chris Armas, Maurice Edu, etc. sitting in front of the back line. That was fine against technically superior opponents or in tough road games, but carrying the play and breaking down teams emulating the US's own approach was a consistent problem. Now, with Jurgen Klinsmann's "defend with 10, attack with 10" approach, defenders are being asked to help retain possession by building from the back rather than playing the safety-first option and bracing for the next wave of pressure. That's a big shift in terms of greater responsibility and less cover, and one that may not necessarily suit the skill set of some guys in the player pool.

Bit by bit, this US team is taking shape. Goalkeeper is in good hands with Tim Howard or Brad Guzan, and Gonzalez and Besler are the starting center backs, health and cards allowing. Fullback is always an issue, though a healthy Cherundolo should start and, for now, Fabian Johnson is probably the best option at left back. That frees up Cameron to play D-mid -- his best position -- alongside Michael Bradley and someone like Eddie Johnson or Landon Donovan to play left mid (since Graham Zusi has a stranglehold on right mid). Throw Jozy Altidore and one of Clint Dempsey or Herculez Gomez up top and you've got yourself a nice little team that could do some damage in Brazil.

 

I-Darke was incredulous that this was only the second qualifier ever in Seattle. But you gotta remember the Sounders didn't play their first MLS match until 2009.

 

If I remember some pregame stories correctly, the onlg other qualifier in Seattle was at the Kingdome? Talk about bad ...

 

Interesting night in Brazil. Hope FIFA has some indigestion.

 

Tahiti scored! The rest of the Confederations Cup is gravy as far as I'm concerned.

 

US takes 1-0 lead over Honduras on goal by Altidore. Been putting on the pressure the whole second half and finally capitalized.