Last night, the Yanks opened up their Gold Cup hopes with a win over a rather impressive, though still not as good as they should be, Canada.
It was rather obvious throughout the entire match which team contained the better players overall and had more experience at a high level. Canada is slowly developing top talent, but anybody that could be linked to the French national team seems to slip away from them. It sucks, but we've had to deal with it in the states, too (Rossi, anyone).In short, the US looked the much better of the two sides. Canada did well for some short spells, but there was no doubt that the US was going to take the full 3 points in this one. The first goal was sloppy, but to Jozy's credit it was a well struck ball and caught most people, including the keeper, off guard. Should it have been saved? Probably. But you can't score if you don't shoot, so why not. The second half started a bit slow with Canada flying at the US in hopes of getting one back. While they have some very talented players, Jackson in particular, they don't seem to have that final touch or pass to make them lethal. It felt like watching an RSL game in the past couple weeks. Build, build, build, and nothing.
After the initial wave, the US took control and it was only a matter of time til they found the net. Dempsey was robbed of a scorpion kick goal (which would have been just ridiculous) but found the net moments later with a slide off a great cross from Jozy. Once up 2-0, the US was in the drives seat fully and Canada was already looking towards the weekend. It became apparent, though, just how short on decent players we are once Bradley started making subs. Chris Wodolowski and Sasha Klkjasdlkjfstan are not top players. Even against Canada they looked pretty bad. Edu was a great sub that I thought was long overdue, but given the score it wasn't a big deal. You look at the US bench, though, and its scary to think what would happen if we were to get an injury or an ejection in this tournament. We are not deep with good talent. To win this tournament, we have to go without ejections or injury to many, if not all, of our starters.
Man of the Match: Jozy Altidore
With a goal and an assist, you can't say it was anybody else, really.Wanker of the Match: Lars Hirschfeld (Canada Keeper)
The Canadian keeper really made a fool of himself in the first half. With his team doing their best to just keep the score level and weather the US attack, he let it a goal that most youth keepers would be embarrassed by. Really poor from the keeper in the first half.The US should walk through Group C. Anything less than 9 points is a bit of a disappointment. This Saturday against Panama will be a decent match, but it should be a convincing win by the Yanks nonetheless.
RSL @ Columbus
Shifting gears, now.RSL heads to Columbus today to take on the Crew in a mid-week MLS game. With the two teams already meeting twice this year, this game should be interesting on many levels. I'd imagine the Crew aren't too pleased with RSL knocking them out of CCL and want to seek some revenge. Injuries and national team call-ups, however, have plagued both teams of regular starters. Therefore, the game might lose a little bit of its skill, but I doubt it looses much bite. We've never really "got along" with Columbus, if you know what I mean, both on and off the pitch so this game will be heated.
Keys to the Match
For RSL to gain 3 points, which I think they are capable of doing, they have to build upon what they did against Vancouver. Namely, 3 things:
1) Have a higher line of defense.
- In the Vancouver match RSL didn't allow the Whitecaps to bring the ball too far down the pitch. In fact, they pressured Vancouver before they even left their own defensive third for large portions of the game. While Columbus might have a big more speed, this high line of pressure is key for RSL to get into the attack. This means Espy and Jean have to work as a unit and the midfield behind them has to be sure to not allow easy outlet passes. Hard work, but it can be done.
2) Get Gonzo/Warner the ball.
- Especially in the offensive third, we have been lacking creativity and that lethal pass. Gonzo gave us this, especially the first part, in the last match. If we get him the ball (along with Warner) in advanced positions, they should be able to show some skill and get Espy and Jean in good positions to score.
3) Don't allow Mendoza or Cunningham the ball into space.
- We've really struggled, in years past, with marking Jeff Cunningham. Most of his goals he has scored on us come in similar fashion. He gets the ball in the behind our defense and we are left chasing. If Borchers and, more importantly, Olave can keep Cunningham in front of them and force him to go wide, we will be more successful on the defensive side of the ball. Mendoza has quite the left foot, as we saw here at the RioT in the early part of the year, so pushing him to his right will be key as well.
Player to watch for RSL: Fabian Espindola
While Jean won man of the match against the Whitecaps, I think Espy showed that he is on his way back to being a dominant force for us. His hard work and tenacity finally paid off with a clinical finish to seal the deal. If we are to win this game, I'd wager Espy will be part of the scoring action.Prediction: RSL 2 - Columbus 0
Goals by Espy and Andy
FORZA REAL
Cheers,
15 to 32
No comments:
Post a Comment