Unfortunately, the World Cup has been characterized by terrible officiating that has shifted the emotional momentum of games, and worse cost teams games, indefensible flopping, and bringing out the stretcher after guys get tripped. The icing on the cake however is just watching these guys writhe in agony, as if they got shot only to be followed by them playing at top speed a minute and a half after they remove themselves from the stretcher that carried them off. It's comical.
I was sad to see the US team's 2010 campaign come to an end. They played hard. They have some good pieces, but are still a long way off from competing with those elite teams. I have assembled some observations and tactics that the US soccer program should consider going forward. Now these aren't all the way serious suggestions but they aren't tongue and cheek either. I know that at this high of a level, there is a certain elite style of play. BUT at the same time, the United States has proven that they can't play at the level they need to playing the way the rest of the world plays. It's time to reevaluate a few things, and these suggestions are meant to help.
1. WE NEED GUYS WHO CAN CARRY THE BALL THROUGH TRAFFIC: For a non-soccer guy, I think this is the biggest frustration. Why won't these guys be more aggressive and just try to dribble through people? Why are they always trying to be cute with little dinky passes and lobbing it into the middle? Those are fair questions. I realize that at the elite level, the best teams are passing technicians who make great vertical runs for goals. It's very systematic. Nobody touches the ball more than twice. Two touches and it's gone. It's pretty. And that's how the game is played. But I would like to see what happens if we had 5-6 guys who sacrificed a little fitness for power, and just worked to dribble through players with power with a high level of foot skill. There are so many times the non-soccer guy can point to examples when guys decide to carry and dribble the ball a little longer than they should, when they can look for easy passes, but don't and continue to dribble and draw a foul and free kick. That's more like it to me. Carry the ball, be strong, draw fouls. Which brings me into my next point.
2. AMERICAN FOOTBALL-LIKE SET PIECES RUN TO PERFECTION: This is another factor in a the game that I think is undervalued. That United States goal that was disallowed in the Slovenia game was run to perfection. Perfect ball. Perfect timing. Perfect spacing. We have to be much more advanced in the way we run these set pieces. We need to work hard to create situations that lead to free kicks. And think outside the box on how we can create formations that teams haven't seen. We basically need to bring in Josh McDaniel and Andy Reid. OR maybe Doc Rivers or Mike D'Antoni would be more appropriate. Have them create formations and sets in which all the guys on the field have an assignment. If they run it right, guys should come wide open. Some guys are screeners, some are cutters, etc. While I think there is a method to their madness, as evidenced by Maurice Edu's great goal that was disallowed, there is definite room for improvement. It requires new spacing, assignments, screening and picking legally, cutting to the goal hard, and perfect serving passes.
3. FOUL EVERY POSSESSION: Every time the opponent has the ball, he should be getting hit. We have to be as physical as possible, fouling with our legs and hips and butt. Every play. If you foul every play, they cannot call it every single time. If you make yellow card degree fouls every play, they can't call it every play. It's simple. Sure, we're gonna lose guys to 2 yellow cards sometimes. But as we get better at it, we'll learn to avoid making fouls that garner yellows. But when you're playing against teams with better players, you gotta be as physical as possible.
4. NEVER EVER FLOP ON OFFENSE: This is what amazes me. It nauseates me to watch these guys just flop and flop. These guys are without a doubt the biggest pussies in the world. I don't care how much money they make and how many girls are chasing them. It's unbelievable. But, no question, it gets rewarded. As we have seen throughout the Cup. My fix is to never ever flop. UNTIL it's the perfect moment. UNTIL the whole team hasn't flopped the entire game, and we get a run in the box where we're not gonna score but it looks like might. THEN FLOP. Flopping has to be timed perfectly. It has to be used only when we have a prime opportunity to create a penalty kick. If we haven't flopped the entire game, and have been playing through guys fouling us, the referee will be much more apt to believe us and reward us if we flop in a goal scoring situation. This goes back to being stronger and more powerful.
5. GOALIE OUTLET PASSES/PLAYS: Landon Donovan's game winning goal was spurred by an unbelievable outlet. You can argue that Algeria was out of position, tired, and that that doesn't happen often, but it created a great scoring opportunity. We need goalies who can throw the ball on time and on target to guys who can carry the ball and make something happen. The goalie has to be like a quarterback out there or like Kevin Love throwing outlet passes to Johnny Flynn. A great outlet pass can create positive momentum going at the goal.
6. LOCKDOWN BEASTLY DEFENDERS: If we are going to have guys carrying the ball through traffic more, and committing a lot of men to set pieces, we are no doubt gonna be caught in bad situations. So we need to put a premium of physical defenders who can ride guys out, steal the ball, and hold down the fort until we get more guys back. This is a pivotal ingredient.
That's just a couple things. Obviously, there are some problems and difficulties that arise with the suggestions. The simple and pretty way: two-touch, serving it into the middle, vertical runs, etc. is a beautiful way to play. No question about. But as team USA, we gotta think outside the box. We gotta use unique tactics. Cause we don't have any good players. Just something for USA Soccer to think about.
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