Ugly, Ugly, Ugly

Not only was the game a poor performance and a horrible disappointment, but the team appears to be losing its cohesiveness as well . From start to finish the game was played poorly. Contrary to what the commentators thought, I felt that we didn't look awed. Truthfully, the only players that might have been a little overwhelmed were Onyewu and Cherundulo (and it showed in their performance). There were few positives to take away from the game. We did have alot of possession but it was primarily deep build up play and its effectiveness was greatly diminished by the early goal. I thought, going into this game, that the plan would be to try to hold possession for long stretches and make the Czechs run, but that plan needed to be altered after the second goal, and it wasn't.

The other "coaching" criticism is Arena's reliance on flank attacks. We've always been a team that uses its wide midfielders and defenders to get the ball forward. That's Arena's style. In this case, the Czech's new that and exposed us on the flanks when we attacked while simultaneously defending the midfielders quite well. Many media outlets are taking Arena's comment that this, "Wasn't the '90 team" as a complement... I'm not so sure. The '90 team showed fire and heart that were decidedly absent from this team. Maybe that's what he meant?

Let's be fair, also. The 2nd goal was a sensational goal. Maybe the best of the tournament. It was struck well and hit the corner nearly perfectly. We could have closed Rosicky down but (prior to the introduction of this new World Cup ball) that kind of shot is a rarity and it's not wholly unreasonable to let him have the shot if Keller has a clean view of the play.

The individual grades are going to be harsh, so let's get into it.

Keller: Keller can't be faulted for much. Arena issued a mild reproach for his clearance on the first goal, but to actually lay blame with him for that is not very rational. Keller was dead to rights on the 3rd goal but I've seen him stop those and he was in good position to make a play on the ball. Still can't fault him for that much either. C

Cherundulo: Looked surprisingly lack luster. He didn't look BAD per say. But he didn't look good either. I think he was asked to stay back more then usual to try to counter Nedved and the flank attacks generally came from Donovan on that side. C-

Onyewu: Looked overawed and unprepared. He didn't take good angles and picked up an early yellow card that limited his ability to be physical. Clearly should have covered Koller better on the goal and took a bad angle on the 3rd goal to let Rosicky through. His clearance wasn't great on the 2nd goal but it wasn't the CAUSE of the goal... I'm not sure why people are giving him a pass on this game. He had a good game except for the 3 mental lapses that contributed to 3 goals. D

Pope: I'm pretty sure that Pope was not responsible for Koller on the Koller goal. The fact that he was trying to close him down shows just how much heart and hustle Pope has. I thought Pope had a decent game but never really stood out (a good thing for a defender usually, however). Pope didn't cover Koller well but I'm betting that he wasn't his primary responsibility. C

Lewis: Lewis's limitations at left back were readily exposed yesterday. Lack of speed, Lack of tactical awareness, Lack of ability to play out of trouble safely (critical for a defender). This is a game that screamed for Cory Gibbs out on the left. I'm also left wondering how Bocanegra would have fared against Grygera. D

Reyna: Now we get to it. I've been a silent critic of Captain America for some time. I think he's coasted on skill and talent for quite awhile and his mercenary attitude towards soccer has been apparent for 5-6 years now. He plays passionless soccer and it was apparent tonight. There was no hustle to close down Rosicky on the 2nd goal. There were times, early in the game, when he was jogging or walking while the ball was near him. His shot in the first half was unlucky and probably left him somewhat deflated but there's no excuse for not picking yourself up after that and playing harder. Reyna's vaunted ability to "control the pace of the game" and "make incisive passes" was nowhere to be found either. D-

Convey: Convey caught ALOT of stick from the commentators. In fact, right after the cross that almost got an Eddie Johnson goal, Balboa once again called for his substitution. He didn't look like the world beater that he has been lately. But I think that's because he's been able to beat people with dribbling skills lately. He needed to just hit and run more frequently and beat people with speed and force fouls. That's a lesson that he (hopefully) learned yesterday. Other than that, I thought he looked pretty good. At least he was aggressive and hungry, which is more than you can say for most of the rest of the team. B-

Mastroeni: I don't like Mastroeni. Anyone who knows me or talks to me on a regular basis (or reads this blog) knows that. But Mastroeni was not even CLOSE to the worst player on the field last night. I'm not sure where he was on the 2nd goal (couldn't tell from the replay) and he didn't win very many balls but at least his passing looked average (which is better than normal for him). C-

Beasley: The other blotch on last night's game. Beasley's play in the first half was blah but it would have been good enough for a C-. Beasley's performance in the second half was pathetic and warranted something lower than an F and his comments after the game are going to earn him a spot on the bench for the rest of the cup and probably get him booted from the team if Arena continues to coach the squad after the cup. He wasn't responsible for Nedved in the first half (Cherundulo was) and he should have been attacking up the flank. The excuse that he's left footed and not comfortable on that side is ridiculous. Discomfort in that situation comes with your final touch, not your initial run. In fact, your initial run is generally easier and MORE comfortable on the opposite side. In the second half, his responsibility for Nedved shouldn't be used as a crutch. Presumably he wasn't asked to mark Nedved constantly and never leave his side. Soccer is a team sport, there are people to cover for you. There was a play in the 60th minute or so in which he was passed the ball with enormous amounts of real estate to run into on the right, and yet he JOGGED into the middle?? I was appalled. F-

Donovan: Once again, we see Donovan going in and out of games. He's absolutely NOT the guy that should be asked to impose his will on a game at this level. Arena should know that by now. He had some good moments in the first half but was largely invisible once he dropped back into midfield with Reyna and O'Brien in the second half. That's a problem that I saw coming and that I pointed out on this blog a few weeks ago. O'Brien, Reyna and Donovan don't function together well. It's like the Lampard/Gerrard problem that England has. Donovan needs to play beside McBride as an out and out striker if Reyna and O'Brien are going to be on the field. D+

McBride: McBride was given NO service. NONE, NADA, ZIP. I can count on one hand the number of crosses or quality long balls that he was given. He was isolated up top because (as Julie Foudy pointed out) the USA was playing a 4-4-1 not a 4-4-2. There were no runners on the flanks for him to get the ball to and the Czech Republic was completely prepared for him. Maybe he could have done more... Maybe he could have moved around more... There are alot of maybes that only someone who was there, watching him the whole time could tell you. From what we saw on TV though, he was the forgotten man on the field. B-

Subs:
Johnson: The only real bright spot on the night. He injected some energy and was the only sign of lethality that we showed throughout the game. I thought he could have done better on the Convey cross but it's very difficult to tell. He beat Cech on his left footed shot and generally looked up to the task of playing at this level. That's a good thing because we need some threats to prevent teams from just choking McBride to death the way the Czechs did. B+

O'Brien: Played better than most people on the field but never really got going. I think he tried to get a little too cute on some of his passes but they occasionally worked and he was at least showing some creativity and flair. B

Wolff: Wolff came on late for McBride and didn't really get a chance to show anything. Had one shot that was blocked. No Rating

I was pretty bothered by the comments after the game from the commentators and Reyna in which they indicated that the best thing to do is to forget about this game and move on. Normally I agree with those kinds of statements. But in this case we weren't beat by the better team or by the referee or by lady luck or by poor tactics. We were beat by ourselves by playing like crap and having no energy or fire. This is the case where I want the players to dwell on this game for the next 5 days. I want them to think about every ball that they half-assed their way to or every pass that was played lazily or without inspiration. The only way we're going to beat Italy is if we come out and play the scrappy, desperate, dangerous style of soccer that used to be our hallmark.

One final note. Arena's comments after the game were somewhat troubling to me in that he saw something positive out of Reyna and Onyewu's performances. The Onyewu praise is at least understandable in that he played well except for some colossal mental errors. But the praise for Reyna (whom he says was "certainly" our best player) seems completely undeserved.

Projected Starting lineup:

Keller
Cherundulo, Onyewu, Pope, Lewis
Donovan, Reyna, O'Brien, Convey
Mcbride, Johnson

I think there's a very real chance that Arena is so pissed off that Cherundulo, Lewis, Donovan and Reyna sit in favor of Albright, Bocanegra, Dempsey and Olsen respectively. I don't think that such a wholesale change would be wise but I think that it's possible.
Olsen and Dempsey in particular could bring back some of the scrappiness that has been missing.

For the record, My starting lineup would be:
Keller
Cherundulo, Onyewu, Pope, O'Brien
Dempsey, Olsen, Donovan, Convey
McBride, Johnson

but I think the odds of that happening are slim to none.