No-one likes to watch a game like that. The charge at the end was scant consolation for the surrender that had preceded it and one suspects the Dutch had already gone home mentally.
From the early exchanges it was clear Arjen Robben was ripe for a repeat of his terrorizing of Frankie Hejduk at this stadium in 2004. His latest victim was the hapless Jonathan Bornstein, so painfully out of his depth he might have won the Man of the Match award for Holland if they had allowed it. Bizarrely, Bornstein began the second half with Heath Pearce having to wait until twenty minutes from time for his chance. Why?
Before long it was clear the Netherlands were a class apart. Their attacking was varied and inventive and as their midfielders switched positions at will, the US' rigid formation looked to be from a different era. While the Dutch changed the speed and direction of their attacks, the Americans' passing was sluggish and easily intercepted. The Dutch flowed, the US slowed and telepathy was almost nowhere to be found. Keeping your shape is an old soccer mantra, but as David Icke will tell you, your shape can also be a shifting one.
We had no-one to compare to the wizardry of Wesley Sneijder, the penetration of Arjen Robben or the striking class of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Just look at the two squads' club lists - Real, Inter, Milan, Bayern, Ajax and Liverpool versus Hull, IK Start, FC Dallas, Watford, Orebro and Real Salt Lake. There were some pluses - our goalie and the centre-back pairing were sound, while Jozy Altidore was good in patches and DaMarcus Beasley had a welcome return. But the Dutch were better, much better, and if we can look beyond the eulogizing of the Spanish and Brazilians for a moment, Oranje must be semi-final material at least.
Goliath can be slain after the Confederations Cup 2009, but David needs to bring his slingshot to the fight. It was the US of old again in Amsterdam - an emerging team too easily bullied by the big boys. Whiffs of the Wembley defeat by England and even the debacle against the Czechs in 2006 returned, as once again the States looked toothless and disjointed in the face of an established soccer power. An overcoached team lacking spontaneity and creative guile? That was us last night.
Davies and Dempsey was missing but so too was Donovan, who must have played one of his worst games for his country. Where was the Everton star who has been wooing and scaring English fans in equal measure in recent weeks? Let's stop using missing players as excuses - that's the same for every country and you need a strong squad to win tournaments. The US first eleven is a good one, but we cannot expect them all to be fit and fresh on the night.
I am a fan of Bob Bradley, but what does he do now against the big sides? Repeat the brick wall and break tactics which downed Spain so memorably, or attempt an expansive game the like of which failed so miserably last night? Radical changes are unwise so close to tournaments, but some rethinking is required. We don't want the US to make it out the group stage only to meekly surrender as soon as they meet a top nation like Holland.
England will not have lost much sleep watching the video. The Three Lions downed the African champions Egypt 3-1 tonight, while Slovenia beat Qatar 4-1 and Algeria lost 0-3 to Serbia.What threat can the Nats pose at the World Cup if they play like this? Not much of one. We know they can and must play better than this, but the tournament is less than 100 days away now.
So c'mon Bob, sort it out!
-Sean O'Conor, Amsterdam
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7 comments:
I was deeply offended by the arrogance displayed by both the Dutch squad and the referee. Neither parties showed any respect for the US last night. For all their dominance in holding and moving the ball, they were gifted both goals.
But I think the final straw were the whistles last night as Holden was being taken from the field. It was a brutal tackle and today we find out that Holden has a broken leg. I would have expected more class from the Dutch. Instead, they lived up to the idea they are a deeply insecure and arrogant people.
Holland was better than the US by a large margin. And they have players who play on bigger teams.
Whoda thunk it?
@ tom: I think you are quite mistaken. The crowd was whistling Torres, not Holden being carted off. They gave Holden a nice round of applause, as they always do for injured opponents.
I am also not sure exactly how one determines the Dutch are 'deeply insecure'.
Arrogant? Okay, sure. Deeply insecure? No. That is not the Dutch, my friend.
Do you actually think that Bob can "sort it out"? I don't.
i was disgusted by some of their players' gamesmanship, that tackle on holden was studs up nasty, and didn't get a card. while snjeider dropped to the deck like he'd been shot a couple times not even being touched or barely touched same for de jong who made a poor touch then dove, when beasley was clearly in on goal. when all you hear about is how flowing and beautiful dutch total football is, i was VERY disappointed. and while they were the superior side, i do agree with tom that they were gifted the two goals.
I have mixed reactions to the game. First, I was reminded that in terms of talent, the US is still a long way from world class. Seriously, can we not find 11 players in the entire country who can consistently bring a ball down with less than three touches? Also, the passes by the US were rarely on target or properly weighted. Maybe Bob should just do passing drills during the training sessions.
That being said, we only lost 2-1 to the Netherlands...I'll take it. Sure our goal came in "crap time," but their goals were preventable and unlucky, respectively. The Dutch controlled possession for the entire game, but there was not a barrage of scoring chances. The US showed a lot of heart defensively. Also, a few boneheaded plays notwithstanding, I have seen a remarkable increase in the team's "soccer IQ." You can see that there are some good ideas on the field, even if they can't always string them together (because they can't freaking pass/trap the ball). Also, you don't see the defense booting the ball down the field in a blind panic like previous WC teams (even the "successful" '94 team was notorious for that).
All in all, the US did enough to keep itself in the game until the end. Against teams like NED and ENG, that's really all we can hope for at this point.
Greg,
Just got home from my trip, and wanted to drop a note on here and say that it was a pleasure hanging with you in Amsterdam. Thanks for your hospitality, and hope to run into you again some time!
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