1. How come England had so many odd-man rushes in the second half? I realize that they started playing with three forwards, but that doesn't explain why the U.S. had so much trouble getting men back to defend. Was England faster, fitter, or both?
2. Everyone watching realized that Tim Howard had to make a few clutch saves to keep the U.S. level--what is less clear is how these chances arose. I didn't see anything other than the same telecast y'all saw, but for my money it seemed like there were communication problems in the back. This is quite disconcerting when you consider that the U.S. seemed to rely heavily on the offside trap. Now, maybe the U.S. won't employ this tactic against its next two opponents--the trap is typically used by the inferior team as a way to neutralize the more skilled team's talent, and the U.S. is on paper more talented than Slovenia or Algeria--but if Bradley sticks with it, we could find ourselves in a familiar spot--holding our breath as Howard has to bail us out. Hopefully, the next striker finishes as poorly as Heskey did today, but "we can't take that chance!"
3. Landon Donovan played a tremendous game today. He delivered great balls off of set pieces (corner kicks and free kicks were the only consistent way for America to threaten the English defense), got back on defense, and played with more poise than his teammates. While Onyewu was blasting the ball away instead of playing it back to Howard ("when in doubt, kick it out" stopped being a viable strategy after sophomore year in high school), Donovan played with aplomb and pace.
4. What's the deal with ESPN having an English play-by-play guy? I know he's distinguished and respected, but can't we get an American voice for the U.S. games? Am I the only one who misses Jack Edwards?
(The Gus Johnson of soccer features prominently in this video.)
5. If Rooney keeps performing like he played today, he won't be hugging the queen anytime soon. (I don't even need a hyperlink...by now y'all have seen the ad.) "But the U.S. locked him down!" Yeah, so what--if America can take him out of the game, what do you think Italy's gonna do?
6. I'm not looking forward to waking up at the crack of dawn to watch the next game, haha.
No comments:
Post a Comment