Veterans under pressure: lessons from USA's Gold Cup defeat to Jamaica
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Version 0 of 1. Bradley Jr provides the spark but Bradley Sr casts the shadow With USA needing something, anything, early in the second half against Jamaica, Michael Bradley finished off a move that had much to do with Clint Dempsey’s persistence, to pull the US back to 2-1. Bradley, who had replaced Dempsey as captain in the wake of his notebook-tearing antics, ran back up the field with the ball, pumping his fist and trying to rouse his team and the crowd. He then spent the next 10 or 15 minutes trying to drive his side forward, and making bursting runs into the box that never quite managed to create clear chances. He spent much of the rest of the game watching balls sail over his head – more of which in a moment. In the end it wasn’t a bad personal tournament for Bradley Jr, but as the team trudged off the field, it was hard not to think of his father Bob, the former US coach. When Michael’s father followed a second round elimination in the 2010 World Cup, with a loss in the Gold Cup final to Mexico that proved to be the final straw for his reign. Bradley was sacked and Jürgen Klinsmann appointed. And while Klinsmann has had a patchy post-World Cup period the more generous readings of his team’s performances and selections, including some on these pages, suggested that that was perhaps necessary experimentation before the Gold Cup got the USA’s 2018 World Cup preparations under way in earnest – with that 2017 Confederations Cup spot automatically available should they win this year’s Gold Cup. Instead the US face an elimination match against whoever wins this year’s tournament, with little or no sense of progress or coherence currently evident – the Germany and Netherlands victories, for example, now seem a long way away. Klinsmann likes talk of benchmarks for his players and team. But for the fans, this Gold Cup was always going to be something of a referendum on just how far the Klinsmann revolution had truly progressed. He was always likely to be popularly judged on this tournament and now definitely will be. Related: USA 1-2 Jamaica | Gold Cup semi-final match report While the USA were finding ways to win while playing badly, the grumbling could be just about kept under control, but in the inquests that will follow this tournament Klinsmann can expect at the very least a severe erosion of his mandate, while Bob Bradley might feel inclined to call him and ask just how his performances stand up against his own right now. The USA were not Concacaf’d, but they were Conmebol’d If there was any potential silver lining for the US in elimination in a Gold Cup semi-final – ensuring that the hosts would end their run of five consecutive finals – it might have been that the sheer oddness of Concacaf tournament play was to blame. As Michael Bradley put it before the Cuba game in the quarter-finals: I say this with total endearment: It’s a ridiculous tournament … Between the travel, the short turnaround between games, grass being laid over field turf, the weather – it’s a huge challenge. There’s a head-shaking line fans like to use about Concacaf play where odd refereeing decisions (such as the one that gave Mexico a penalty late in the Costa Rica quarter final, or took their semi-final against Panama into extra time), or general yellow card confetti/allergy, affects games to a degree where players looking for an excuse might claim there was nothing they could have done under “ridiculous” circumstances. That’s not what happened to the USA against Jamaica though. If anything they were Conmebol’d – knocked out by a team who had familiarized themselves with each other and forged themselves in punching-above-their-weight matchplay in the Copa America. Man for man, Jamaica’s talent should not have been enough to beat the USA, but their organization was redoubtable, and even under heavy pressure in the second half as the USA chased the equalizer, the Jamaicans held out with the type of defensive tenacity that had seen them win each of their last three games 1-0. The USA’s first loss against Caribbean opposition on home soil since 1968 was a shock, but it was no fluke. It’s an MLS thing (part one) MLS contains players from over 50 nationalities according to the players union, and inevitably, given the regional focus, they’ve been sprinkled liberally throughout this Gold Cup, with Jamaica no exception. A growing league on regional players doorsteps is a realistic aspiration. And in the opening 20 minutes as both Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo) missed relatively easy chances against the run of play, it was easy enough to find the odd knowing tweet from MLS fans making disparaging comments about their habits for their respective clubs. But those habits include goals. And while Mattocks’ opener was an atypical header from a throw-in straight out of the Stoke City handbook, Barnes has also made a habit of scoring long range shots for his club side, and more than one Houston and US fan may have been wincing as he lined up for the shot that ultimately won the game for Jamaica. Elsewhere on the side, Kemar Lawrence of New York Red Bulls has surely played his way onto a lot of scouts’ radars with his full-back performances, and he looked thoroughly unfazed, even when the supposed afterburner effect of DeAndre Yedlin was introduced late on. Other players on the roster have had experience of MLS, just as on several other teams in the tournament, and with Mexico’s Gio dos Santos making what could be a bellwether move to the league as well, we could be about to see some unintended consequences play out in the next four years – it’s not just US players coming home, it’s their Concacaf peers greeting them with a mix of familiarity and healthy irreverence. It’s an MLS thing (part two) Alan Gordon has come a long way, but at international level he’s not so much plan B as a useful distraction that might help plan B work. But with time running out on USA’s Gold Cup, ball after ball was launched at the head of “the big man”. It’s not to underplay Gordon’s talents. He’s got an underrated touch, his positional sense has improved a great deal over the years and he does have a habit of popping up for late goals against weakened defenses. But the USA’s deployment was, as one internet commenter put it, pure “Goonie-ball” – a reference to the infamous 2012 San Jose Earthquakes Supporters Shield winners, and their motto of “Goonies never say die”. In that side, Gordon and the equally physical Steven Lenhart cheerfully assumed the mantle of the “Bash Brothers” as they wreaked havoc and plundered injury time goals in opposition boxes, while Chris Wondolowski poached even more. And while Gordon’s introduction against Jamaica promised to make use of his aerial prowess, the extent to which that became the tactic to the exclusion of all others was a pretty damning indictment of the creativity and temperament of Klinsmann’s team – several of whom seemed to abdicate responsibility as their likely fate became apparent. In fairness Gordon won plenty of balls in the air, but Jamaica were rarely stretched unduly in dealing with second balls in the box, even as they tired late on. And ultimately the USA’s karaoke version of the 2012 Quakes actually looked like a pale version of the real thing. More USA losers than winners from this tournament Obviously no individual US player is going to remember this Gold Cup with any fondness, though some did their reputation no harm. Michael Bradley showed some leadership qualities and clutch instincts for goal, amid the usual consternation about where exactly in midfield he’s best deployed, while Clint Dempsey, given that little more freedom to concentrate on just being creative and predatory managed to plunder six goals in the tournament. Brad Guzan too did well enough to at least make sure there’s a discussion to be had about the number one goalkeeping spot if and when Tim Howard ends his international sabbatical. Gyassi Zardes put down a marker for the future too, without ever quite suggesting he had definitively arrived at international level. But others were not so convincing or didn’t get the chance to convince. Wondolowski saw no repeat of the performances that probably secured his World Cup spot, while at the back Timothy Chandler was the subject of a lot of fan criticism for his continued struggles at full back. DeAndre Yedlin showed glimpses of his speed, but rather more glimpses of his continued defensive immaturity, while the likes of John Brooks and Greg Garza have a lot of growing up to do. And in the final game, attention was turned to Kyle Beckerman, who had a first half to forget and was subbed off in the second – though in fairness by that time he’d begun to become an influence on the match. Beckerman may be the player who finds his moment has gone with the national team – his club performances have dipped this year and when your great attribute is your reliability in support of others doing your jobs, that’s not a luxury the national team can carry. It’s a shame if so, because the current USA team needs a Beckerman – a reliable counterweight who can break up play, support the attacks and generally maintain a midfield balance that lets Michael Bradley and the more attacking midfielders play with more freedom. None of the alternatives look quite right or ready to do what he does. But if this result suggests heads must roll, and Klinsmann himself finds his position inviolate, some veteran contributors such as Beckerman may now find that their number is up. He surely won’t be the only one. |