Match Recap: USA 4 - 0 El Salvador
I liked the result. Good to see Twellman finally get his goal, at home no less.
The USMNT secured first place in Group B and will either play Guadalupe or the Group C 3rd place side on Saturday at Foxboro. This means everyone has more than enough time to get some rest in preparation for the Quarter Finals.
Is El Salvador really that bad? I say that because they came out flat in the first half but they actually pressed in the second half, but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Their shots were horrible. I can't really think that they are that bad, but considering this is CONCACAF, who's to say?
The officiating crew was a little better tonight. The linesmen still messed up several offsides calls, most of them against El Salvador. The ref did one thing tonight that should have been done in the Guatemala match; he took control of the physical play early by giving several guys cards. I think it helped the tempo of the match and could have saved the first match.
Gooch picked up an other Yellow Card tonight, I guess he is lucky that they reset in the Quarter Finals. He could have been given a second one near the end of the second half. It looked like he damn near put his elbow through an El Salvadorian forward's head. I really hope that he maybe slows his play down a bit, without affecting his play.
Michael Bradley scared me tonight. Not only did he pick up a Yellow card for a really bad tackle, but he made several more harsh challenges that were pretty late on the ball. He was lucky not to get another card.
Feilhaber looked pretty good. Several of his passes were a little soft, but overall I though he did well. I am pretty sure we will see him in the midfield for the rest of the tournament.
Pablo "Hulk Smash" Mastroeni returned from his World Cup three match banning, only to get another yellow card. Pablo did all right tonight. His composure in the defensive midfield helped out as Donovan and Beasley made their forward runs along with Feilhaber, Spector and Bradley.
Spector had a much better match tonight than I have seen from him in a long time. I would keep Hejduk on the bench and have Spector and Simek duke it out for the right back position.
Twellman and Ching worked really well up front, especially with Deuce behind them. Deuce was the friggin man in the midfield in the second half, especially once Ching came on. I liked how Twellman and Ching were looking for each other, but someone needs to teach Ching how to cross, he either sends the ball straight up in the air or right along the ground. If EJ is out with his knee problem (haven't heard either way) having Twellman and Ching play off each other doesn't look like a bad pairing.
Beasley was a real powder keg on the wings. His two goals were very good, his first one he was in the right place at the right time and his second one his speed got him on line with Deuce's pass. Good to see that he is playing like the old DMB that we needed last summer.
Overall, I really don't have that much to say. I think that the fact that this is the third match together and the fact that El Salvador decided to try for the draw in the first half did more for the result than anything else. Hopefully it took the guys three matches to gel together and now they will be able to roll to Soldier Field and the finals.
The USMNT secured first place in Group B and will either play Guadalupe or the Group C 3rd place side on Saturday at Foxboro. This means everyone has more than enough time to get some rest in preparation for the Quarter Finals.
Is El Salvador really that bad? I say that because they came out flat in the first half but they actually pressed in the second half, but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Their shots were horrible. I can't really think that they are that bad, but considering this is CONCACAF, who's to say?
The officiating crew was a little better tonight. The linesmen still messed up several offsides calls, most of them against El Salvador. The ref did one thing tonight that should have been done in the Guatemala match; he took control of the physical play early by giving several guys cards. I think it helped the tempo of the match and could have saved the first match.
Gooch picked up an other Yellow Card tonight, I guess he is lucky that they reset in the Quarter Finals. He could have been given a second one near the end of the second half. It looked like he damn near put his elbow through an El Salvadorian forward's head. I really hope that he maybe slows his play down a bit, without affecting his play.
Michael Bradley scared me tonight. Not only did he pick up a Yellow card for a really bad tackle, but he made several more harsh challenges that were pretty late on the ball. He was lucky not to get another card.
Feilhaber looked pretty good. Several of his passes were a little soft, but overall I though he did well. I am pretty sure we will see him in the midfield for the rest of the tournament.
Pablo "Hulk Smash" Mastroeni returned from his World Cup three match banning, only to get another yellow card. Pablo did all right tonight. His composure in the defensive midfield helped out as Donovan and Beasley made their forward runs along with Feilhaber, Spector and Bradley.
Spector had a much better match tonight than I have seen from him in a long time. I would keep Hejduk on the bench and have Spector and Simek duke it out for the right back position.
Twellman and Ching worked really well up front, especially with Deuce behind them. Deuce was the friggin man in the midfield in the second half, especially once Ching came on. I liked how Twellman and Ching were looking for each other, but someone needs to teach Ching how to cross, he either sends the ball straight up in the air or right along the ground. If EJ is out with his knee problem (haven't heard either way) having Twellman and Ching play off each other doesn't look like a bad pairing.
Beasley was a real powder keg on the wings. His two goals were very good, his first one he was in the right place at the right time and his second one his speed got him on line with Deuce's pass. Good to see that he is playing like the old DMB that we needed last summer.
Overall, I really don't have that much to say. I think that the fact that this is the third match together and the fact that El Salvador decided to try for the draw in the first half did more for the result than anything else. Hopefully it took the guys three matches to gel together and now they will be able to roll to Soldier Field and the finals.
posted by Brian at 8:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home