I decided to go to the game last night. That was my first chance to see some of those players in person and it's always illuminating. So I guess it was worth it.
Chandler, Brooks and Alvarado are terrible together. First half the defense was back on the north side where I was sitting. They were never organized. They never were in a straight line, and Tim Chandler is maddening. Honestly a traffic cone would defend better. Guzan was yelling at Chandler after that goal on the corner that was called back. Chandler just has a lazy demeanor, he just doesn't look switched on. I can't stand how he and Brooks just randomly decide to dribble forward. Just no discipline whatsoever.
Another player who was a non-factor was Alfredo Morales. Really, he should be the last player off the bench. Zardes and Wondo were kind of on an island in the first half. When Wondo got the ball, he would just make an errant pass out of bounds.
Basically in the first half we looked like a pub team, with no midfield to speak of.
Second half there was a big shift. Other than running really fast, Yedlin didn't seem to offer much. Dempsey however made a big impact. Since the US was attacking at my end it and the build up from the goal happened on my side right in front of me, I would say that it definitely looked like we tweaked the formation and went to a 4-3-3 with Bedoya, Dempsey and Zardes on the front line and Yedlin even pitching in as fourth attacker but he seemed to sit deeper than the other three until it was time for him to make one of his signature runs. Dempsey in particular pitched in on midfield play tracking back, starting the play and then surging forward.
You definitely got the sense the US was more talented, but the problem was like having a bunch of firepower but the organization wasn't there to capitalize on it.
It looks to me like Bedoya has come a long way since last summer. He's really impressive and he hadn't played a game in two months. Getting all those minutes in Ligue 1 seems to be paying off because last summer he looked pretty even with some of the MLS guys, but now he really looks to be on a different level and he is surprisingly quick.
Officiating of course was really frustrating. The officials fell for every dive and acting job. Panama is one of the worst for that, and Blas Perez is the biggest offender. We know him well from FC Dallas. Someone like Omar Gonzales or Matt Besler would have been way better at dealing with him since they play against him a good bit. John Brooks is a great athlete, but he lacks that defensive IQ, I guess he starts in the Bundesliga, for a really mediocre team, but I would say having him and Alvarado suspended for the next match is a real blessing. Bring on Omar and and Tim Ream!
So on twitter this morning it sounds like Jozy Altidore is being sent home, so it will be interesting to see who Klinsmann brings on as another attacker. I forgot who was on the the 35 man roster, I think Alan Gordon is one. But it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't backfill that striker slot with another striker but brings in another center back. From the post match presser it sounded like he said that everything was on the table.
Other than Bedoya, Fabian Johnson is super. I would love it if we could use someone else at wingback and bring him into the midfield. But having him and Bedoya on the same side seemed to work well in the second half. Bedoya should be one of the wide midfielders heading into the knockout phase. No idea who should be on the other side. Yedlin makes nice runs but his final ball is crap.
Really it was kind of a piss poor performance. Hopefully it was just the heat and the game not really meaning much. I was glad Jurgen made those adjustments because we still wanted to win the game.
Other than that, how did the crowd look on TV? Attendance was only 18,300 something and the seats were mostly full. CONCACAF doesn't allow the stadium to utilize the standing room area, but if they could, it would have easily been 22,000.
