Real Salt Lake v LA Galaxy (2-3) – Galaxy Rally from Two Down with the Help of RSL Mistakes

For the first time in club history, Salt Lake lost a home match when they had a two goal lead.

Los Angeles Setup

     With Edson Buddle out injured and Robbie Keane returning from the European Championship, Bruce Arena elected to start Landon Donovan as a lone striker. The Galaxy played a 4-5-1 and looked to attack on the counter. The move would typically start with David Beckham or Juninho hitting a long ball to Donovan or Mike Magee, who played on the left wing.

     The visitors from California had an unusual shape to their 4-5-1. Juninho played as the lone holding midfielder and Beckham played slightly in front of him and to the right. Sarvas played in the middle and struggled to get on the ball or close enough to Donovan to provide attacking support. On the wings, Bryan Jordan played more defensively on the right and Mike Magee was used as the secondary threat towards goal down the left side. Interestingly, the fullbacks Sean Franklin and Todd Dunivant only combined for one cross. Usually, the fullbacks are relied upon to get forward when a team operates with one striker and two deep lying midfielders.

Salt Lake Setup

     Jason Kreis is known for setting his side out in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. Kyle Beckerman protected the back four. Will Johnson played on the left and Ned Grabavoy and Johnny Steele interchanged between a narrow right position and a central attacking position. Without a right sided player giving the side width, Fabian Espindola drifted out to the right flank which provided a one v one matchup with Todd Dunivant that produced the opening two goals.

Real Start Fast

     The matched started with the Galaxy willing to sit back and concede possession and Real looking to control the tempo and get the fullbacks forward. Nine minutes in, Chris Wingert switched the ball from the left to the right side to Espindola. Espindola was given space by Dunivant to reach the endline and play a low ball across the six yard box to Kyle Beckerman who made a clever near post run and slotted home the opening goal.

     Opting to play in a defensive and counter attacking style, going behind in the first ten minutes was not the end of the match for Los Angeles. Salt Lake continued to pour forward and push for a second which opened up space to counter.

     The Galaxy responded when Donovan got in behind the defense but Nick Rimando collected quickly off his line. Then the Galaxy threatened from the set piece on two occasions but failed to test the keeper. Although the Galaxy retorted well, they would find themselves two goals behind in the 29^th minute. Johnny Steele laid the ball off to Espindola who had room to cross from the right side. His ball was directed toward Alvaro Saborio whose (intentional/fortuitous) touch directed the ball into the far corner.

How Each Side Attacked

     Salt Lake were at their best when they pressed the Galaxy back four and forced long kicks up field. Applying pressure for 90 minutes is too taxing, so the home side pressured in spurts. Also, the understanding between the Saborio and Espindola troubled the Galaxy defense. Espindola’s runs out wide started to draw the attention of one of the center backs which allowed Saborio a one on one matchup the produced chances but not goals.

     The Galaxy were dangerous when Donovan had the ball running at the back four with an option to pass or shoot. He was able to setup Magee and Sarvas at the end of the half but the finishing was poor. Hopefully when Keane returns, Arena will use this formation and play Donovan in Sarvas’ central role where he would have the ball at his feet more and be the creator for Los Angeles.

A Two Goal Lead is the Most Dangerous in Soccer

     Trailing by two goals, the Galaxy looked bereft of comeback ideas. However, the home side gifted a lifeline to Los Angeles five minutes after taking a two goal lead. Tony Beltran played a lackadaisical back pass towards Rimando which was picked off by Landon Donovan who rounded Rimando and put his team on the board.

     Just after halftime, Olave was carelessly caught in possession by Mike Magee who had space on the left side and finished with his left foot into the far post. The Galaxy were now level after two Salt Lake gaffes. With Real pushing to try and retake the lead, the Galaxy almost scored on the counter. Beckham hit a beautiful ball to the left to Donovan whose first time volley went wide.

     Jason Kreis made two changes around the hour mark to try and win the match. Javier Morales came on for Johnny Steele in a like for like swap and Luis Gil replaced Jamison Olave. Will Johnson moved to left back and Chris Wingert to central defense. Bringing on two attacking and creative midfielders made sense but Salt Lake struggled to craft any chances in the last half hour. Since Gil played in the Morales role last season, the two players occupied similar areas on the pitch which made the side easier to defend.

     Bruce Arena made a key change bringing off Sarvas for Michael Stephens and moving Mike Magee into the middle. This switch setup the winning goal five minutes later. The Galaxy setup the counter attack after with Magee making a run to the left touchline opening up space down the middle for Donovan to run past Nat Borchers, who was caught to high upfield. Donovan received the pass from Magee and Rimando was unable to tackle the ball away allowing Donovan to score his brace with a simple pass into the net. After the goal, Real struggled to create for an equalizer and LA hung on to steal the three points.

Conclusions

     Suddenly, the Galaxy are showing life after taking six points from the last two matches. Although the result was great, LA were the poorer side during the 90 minutes and were economical in taking advantage of two horrible Salt Lake defensive errors. Real will be furious at throwing away a two goal lead at home in front of a sold out crowd but Jason Kreis will use the poor result as motivation in future matches.

Thoughts on last night’s MLS action or on the Euro’s?

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US v Antigua & Barbuda (3-1) v Guatemala (1-1)

The Yanks make a solid start with four points from their first two World Cup Qualifying matches.

US v Antigua & Barbuda

     The USMNT began a two year road to Brazil 2014 with a Friday night affair against Antigua & Barbuda. The tiny island side was clearly over matched but had continuity with most of the side playing for the Antigua Barracudas who are coached by the national team manager.

     Thus, the away side played a very organized and disciplined match for the first 43 minutes. They pressed early on but then dropped off after ten minutes. The Yanks controlled the ball early even though the conditions were wet. Carlos Bocanegra got the US off to a great start in the seventh minute after bundling home a rebound at the back post after Herculez Gomez’s header was saved from a corner kick.

     The American were at their best when Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey were close enough to link up with each other. They were able to combine and use pace to setup chances as seen in the 15^th minute which led to a shot that was blocked. Also, Michael Bradley was instrumental at starting the Yanks attacks from deep in midfield after winning possession. Antigua & Barbuda were playing long balls in behind which were dealt with well by Bocanegra and Goodson and quickly played forward to Bradley who would propel the US forward.

     Herculez Gomez played the lone striker role well in Klinsmann’s 4-3-3 system. He made clever runs in behind all night. His movement caused confusion for the back four which opened up pockets of space for Dempsey and Donovan. Two minutes before halftime, Bradley won the ball back and quickly played a pass up to Donovan. Down the left channel, Donovan and Dempsey combined opening up Donovan in behind the defense. He was taken down from behind with the referee awarding a penalty which was converted by Clint Dempsey. The positioning of Gomez on the right side was instrumental in occupying a defender which opened up the pitch for Dempsey and Donovan.

     With a two goal advantage, the Yanks continued to create chances in the second half but the intensity winning the ball back allowed Antigua & Barbuda more space. After Jose Torres went off injured, Bocanegra and Donovan combined excellently down the left wing to set up Gomez to rattle the cross bar.

     With the islanders losing their defensive shape as the match wore on, the US was creating chances through balls over the top or pockets between the fullbacks and center backs. Yet, the Americans failed to add a third and were pegged back in the 65^th minute. Cherundolo was slow to get back and allowed Ledgerwood in behind. He played Byers in who skipped past an unnecessary Onyewu lunge and was through on goal and finished over Tim Howard. The hulking central defender was off the pace of the game but he is still returning from injury and had just come onto the pitch.

     The goal from the islanders woke up the American attack up with Dempsey, Bradley and Gomez testing the keeper. Finally, the Yanks added a third when Gomez pounced off a fortuitous deflection and finished into an empty net. In the end, three points was the goal but the Yanks were far from emphatic in their performance.

US v Guatemala

     A much stiffer test was awaiting the USMNT in Guatemala City. The home side was keen on disrupting the flow of the match and making the game ugly. Constantly, the match was stopped due to consistent fouling and from the ball going out of play. Guatemala attacked by launching long balls to the two forwards, Carlos Ruiz and Mario Rodriguez. This strategy was as effective as trying to get rich through winning the lottery as Goodson and Bocanegra were solid in the air.

     The Yanks were very disappointing going forward. Since I refused to shell out $30 to line the pockets of the greedy Traffic Sports executives, I watched the match on a dodgy internet stream. Thus it was hard to make out the Guatemalan formation.

     Regardless of the defense, the Americans passing and movement in midfield was poor. They often lost patience and resorted to hopeful long balls which were not effective. It was almost as if they adopted Guatemala’s tactics themselves, like in youth soccer when one team keeps kicking long and the other team gets frustrated and does the same.

     Guatemala nearly opened the scoring before halftime with a through ball down the right. Fabian Johnson got turned around and Guatemala was free but the shot came from a narrow angle and was saved by Howard instead of squaring the ball to Mario Rodriguez who was all alone. One minute later, Fabian Johnson stormed down the left and cut inside and found Dempsey at the top of the box. Dempsey who skipped past two defenders (leaving one on his backside) and shot with his right foot into the left corner.

     The halftime lead forced Guatemala coach Hugo Almeida into making three changes. He went out to  attack with Marco Pappa, Manuel Leon and Dwight Pezzarossi to try and level the match. Wisely, Klinsmann did not allow a possible incompetent CONCACAF refereeing decision reduce his side to ten and he brought on Geoff Cameron for Clarence Goodson, who was carrying a yellow card.

     Guatemala was much improved in the second half. Pappa was drifting into wide areas to create an overload and get crosses into the two strikers. However, the Yanks continued to defend well and after Carlos Ruiz blasted a rebound over the bar, it looked like they could pick up three points. But, Marco Pappa leveled the match with seven minutes to go by expertly bending a free kick over the wall. The US failed to kill the match off by adding a second goal and controlling possession (the ref did not play advantage when Altidore had a clear chance called back for a Guatemala foul).

Three Points to Contemplate as We Move Towards the Summer of 2014.        

1. The talent pool is deeper than ever and more players will emerge as they stand out for their respective clubs. After looking up the team sheets from 2010 World Cup qualifying, various players were selected 1.5 to 2 years before the tournament that did not make the trip to South Africa. Players like Davy Arnaud, Conor Casey, Brian Ching, Pablo Mastroeni, Kenny Cooper, John Thorrington, Danny Califf, Heath Pearce and Marvell Wynne helped the US qualify but were not even considered to be in the World Cup squad.

          This summer’s squad should look much different than the squad in two years. Injuries, aging and rising young players will change the landscape of the team. Hopefully Klinsmann will have a hard time picking a 23 man squad because of how much player pool depth there is.  

2. The US needs to pick XI players to fit in a cohesive formation and setup instead of just picking the best XI players available. I think Jose Torres and Jermaine Jones are excellent players. However, it is hard to fit so many central midfield players into one team. Playing a 4-3-3 with two narrow wide players congests the field too much and the US needs to develop at least one winger to open up the center of the pitch for Dempsey, Bradley and Donovan to make runs. Dempsey is at his best when he plays in the center which allows him to best link up with Donovan. Whether that true winger is Josh Gatt, Joe Corona, Brek Shea or some else remains to be seen.

3. Even after five matches, most of the positions are wide open. At striker, Herculez Gomez impressed with his movement and energy. At times he was physically out matched and his finishing was average. Jozy Altidore had a great season in Holland but after suffering a late season injury, he did not see much time in any of the matches. Terrance Boyd’s move to Rapid Vienna should help his development as he looks raw but talented. With these three not cementing places in the squad, the position remains open for players like Teal Bunbury or CJ Sapong to make their way into the team in the future.

     In defense, the US needs some more young depth. Geoff Cameron played well and should continue to improve after moving to the position later in his career. However, there is a lack of quality center backs in the pool. Fabian Johnson has seemed to lock down a spot at left back after great performances. At right back, the position should be wide open. Steve Cherundolo is aging and looked vulnerable against Brazil and did not get forward as much as he did in South Africa. His place in the starting XI looks fairly secure since Eric Lichaj has barely played at Aston Villa and Michael Parkhurst looking more suitable as a central defender.

Which young players will emerge? Do the older players need to be phased out? What formation and system should Klinsmann play?

I would love to hear your thoughts either in the comments, via twitter @kpngacleansheet or on the KaCSFacebook page.

Also, I am live tweeting the Euro matches and posting short thoughts on each Euro match on Facebook so get involved!

Analyzing the Three US Summer Friendlies

     - The Yanks wowed with a dominant display vs Scotland and then struggled in subsequent matches vs Brazil and Canada. We compare and contrast the three performances based on four important factors.

Playing from the Back

     The most promising difference between the regimes of Jurgen Klinsmann and Bob Bradley has been the insistence on keeping the ball on the floor. This philosophy was on display in a beautiful manner against Scotland. It must be noted that the Scots dropped deep and applied little pressure to the Yanks back four which made it easy for the defense to find Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu and Jermaine Jones to advance the ball up the pitch. This ball retention philosophy allowed the US to dominate the run of play and also pin Scotland back and make them unable to counter attack because they could only recover the ball deep inside their half.

     However, the Brazil match was a different story. The Samba Boys applied higher pressure to the US back four and the American defense was rushed and uncomfortable. This resulted in long balls into Herculez Gomez through the center or out wide to Donovan or Torres. These low percentage punts upfield allowed Brazil to easily win the ball back.

     In the first half against Canada, the US followed a similar course. With Canada dropping all eleven players to midfield or deeper, the Yanks became frustrated. As a result, they sent long balls towards the front three which played into the Canadian’s strategy. As the game went on, Clint Dempsey became more frustrated and started to drop deeper to look for the ball which was good and bad. The good is that it gave the US a central numbers advantage and helped them move the ball towards goal. The bad was that Dempsey was often too far from goal to create chances in the final third. If the Klinsmann stylistic revolution is going to have a lasting impact, the US will have to play a more patient game in defense to try and break down opponents via player and ball movement like we saw against Scotland.

Midfield Shape & Setup

     In the three matches, we saw three different midfield setups and two different formations. This experimentation is what friendlies are for. However, only one of the setups was effective. Against Scotland, the Yanks played Edu as the holding midfielder with Jones and Bradley as box to box players. This setup allowed Jones and Bradley to spring forward using their pace and support the front three.

     Also, this shape allowed Michael Bradley to shine. Since moving to Chievo, he has developed from a player who relied on athleticism and effort to a player who still possess those attributes but also has tactical awareness and creative skill to craft scoring chances. For example, he slipped in Donovan for a second half goal against Scotland.

     However, Bradley and Edu swapped roles against Brazil. @BrianStraus of the Sporting News explained the move on twitter, “JK said MB deep v Brazil b/c of pressure, needed someone who could make good passes to feet. Canada yielding MF, so why not push MB higher?”

     Logically, playing Bradley deeper in the Brazil match made sense but the move neutralized the best attributes of Edu and Bradley. Edu’s best position is the holding role because he is not great as a distributor or a creator. He excels on stopping attacks through the middle which protects the back four. Bradley could have provided more of an attacking spark playing closer to goal. Also, Bradley at times struggles in his tactical positioning as seen in the goal by Marcelo. Brazil attacked from the middle to the left and Marcelo’s run into the box was not tracked by Bradley resulting in an easy goal.

     Against Canada, the US went with a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-4-2 look. Jones and Bradley partnered without a designated holding player. Often times they were fulfilling the same duties which made their roles redundant. They frequently dropped deep in tandem to collect the ball from defense which left a gap in the center.

Creating Chances

     After creating chances in multiple ways against Scotland, the US suffered from not having a plan b in the other two matches. The main difference was the lack of high pressure from the front men. The first goal in the Scotland match was a result of Torres winning the ball deep in Scotland’s half and striking on the counter. In the other two matches, Gomez was eager to work to win the ball back, but as a unit the front six did not press aggressively. This allowed the Brazil fullbacks, Marcelo and Danilo, time to gallop forward. Canada was allowed time to relieve pressure by simply playing the ball across the back four.

     The other issue was playing with two narrow wide players. Torres and Donovan are not natural wide players so they instinctively cut in to receive the ball. While this allowed the fullbacks to overlap to provide width, the fullbacks were isolated. This meant their only option was to cross. This tactic was fairly effective but too predictable. When the US scored v Brazil, Fabian Johnson was able to interchange and play a one-two to get in the box and cross from a better position. The lack of interplay or cutting inside from the flanks made the fullbacks role easy to combat.

     Finally, the US never tested the Canada defense by moving the ball from one side to the other. By switching the point of attack, the defense has to completely shift and the possibility of a rotational breakdown elevates. The only time the Yanks did the against Canada was in the second half when Dempsey started it on the left and it swung to Donovan on the right who crossed to Jones at the back post but his header was clear. This horizontal movement enabled a better crossing angle for Donovan.

Defensive Performance

     Since Klinsmann has taken charge, the US defense has been pretty reliable. However, the Brazil match exposed some flaws. Three of the four defenders, Cherundolo, Bocanegra and Onyewu, lack pace. This was troublesome especially against Neymar and Hulk.

     Furthermore, the three friendlies did not address whether Bocanegra and Cherundolo are in the World Cup 2014 plans. Being in the starting eleven suggests that Klinsmann is high on them, but the pair will be 35 in 2014. Marcelo and Neymar marauded down the left flank all night, making Cherundolo look like a traffic cone. They are two excellent players but the US needs to at least experiment with other options. I wish Klinsmann would have tinkered with a Goodson/Parkhurst or Goodson/Cameron pairing just to see what it could bring to the side.           

     At right back, Cherundolo is holding his  place due to a lack of competiton. With Timmy Chandler failing to fully commit to playing for the US and Eric Lichaj not playing often for Aston Villa, there are no viable replacements. Hopefully Lichaj can accumulate more starts next season for Villa or another club because he has the potential to be an attacking threat down the right. In limited minutes we can tell that Michael Parkhurst is not a right back. He was too timid to take on the Canadian defense in one v one situations and was exposed in the buildup to Simeon Jackson’s late chance in the match. The good news is Fabian Johnson has played very well and looks to be the right back of the future for the US.

     Overall, we have learned a lot about the squad from the past two weeks and that Klinsmann is still experimenting on how to incorporate Dempsey into the lineup. While a few question marks remain, the upcoming match against Antigua & Barbuda should allow the team more time to figure out the minor issues.

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