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Tough game, but it was always going to be tough. The US did what it needed to do. Bradley’s chutzpah were on display again – I especially liked that he yanked Kljestan at halftime, as he saw his uselessness. Agudelo needs to look for the pass a bit more, but I like his willingness to use actual moves.
I’ve said it before, but there remains one player in the US player pool who is capable of making a perfect, bending, cross-field pass directly in the path of the attacker, and that’s Freddy Adu. He opened up the game as most of us were hoping he’d do about 4 years ago.
I stayed up to watch Mexico’s game….I was very surprised at the lack of creativity they showed. The center of our midfield should be able to control the game. Guardado and dos Santos will be rough, but they always are.
Continuing on Mexico, their goalie made a ridiculous save in the 90th minute off an even more ridiculous shot that was headed for the top corner. Honduras simply ran out of gas in extra time – you could see it coming.
Honduras….no Palacios???
It was great to see Freddy play so well after his long absence from the team.
I just hope we can have a collective good showing on saturday. The individual good performances in different games has been nice but we need simultaneous strong outings from all our Yanks in the final – indivisible!
Baby Bradley and Germany Jones will dominate and destroy!
Your highlight video missed some highlights:
link to youtube.com
A. When have we seen Donovan do stuff like this?
B. I love how Freddy gets blamed for that bad midfield give-away. Jones played him right into pressure and then Jones ran right into him. There was nothing Freddy could even do. And even Kyle Martino was ripping Freddy on the broadcast. Open your eyes.
That Adu kid sucks…why did we even bring him?
1. The defense was solid. They all did well. I thought that Lihaj was good getting into the attack as well.
2. Freddy did his job perfectly. He needed to come in and provide some energy and a spark. He did that.
3. Anything can happen in the final. I hope we are lifting the trophy at the end.
Glad we won, but the lack of creativity in making chances was so frustrating to watch. for most of the game everyone would rather pass back than try to make something happen. The official stat was 2 shots and 1 on goal.
But isn’t this exactly what you expect from Adu. He has always had his moments. Can he do it consistently? That is why Adu is not a regular on the national team or any team for that matter.
I hope Adu can finally become a consistent reliable player. He can be fun to watch.
Bradley showed some real stones last night.
USA 1, Panama 0: The Highlights ONE
He’s showed much more maturity. From losing the ball and immediately trying to regain it (and fouling, but who cares), to skillfully taking the ball into the corner and winning a free kick, to not trying to beat every defender off the dribble. Those are the things that Freddy was always doing – like he knew he had the skills but needed to prove to others that he had the skill. If he can just work like this, his career will slowly rise again.
Now, watch him suck against Mexico (crosses fingers for not sucking).
I thought the lack of shots in the 1st half was on purpose. The idea was keep possesion to make Panama chase the ball becuase they were coming off a 120 minute match with only 3 days rest.
These are pro athletes coming off 3 days rest. You think they’re tired?
Please reference a game where Freddy sucked for the USMNT? I would like to re-watch the game film.
I am not an MB hater but am I the only one who thought he was really poor going forward last night. He was like an attack/counter attack killer. Constantly slowing down the attack or passing back when he should have been passing forward. Just not the link to the attacking players that he usually is. Jones looked more threatening. Anyway he was good defensively so it wasn’t a stinker but I just thought I would see if anyone else thought so.
What has been dogging Adu?
Lack of professionalism, immaturity and the night life.
His stint in Turkey has helped him immeasurably. One of the USMNT coaches is an old foe of mine on the pitch and someone I’ve gotten to know quite well over the years. In no uncertain terms, this is what he said…I’ll paraphrase..
-Adu has always had the footwork and the distribution skills.
-Defense was never stressed to him nor was fitness. Not a single club coach during his development held him accountable. At the professional level, this is expected of you and its unquestioned. It didn’t take long for professional coaches to see how useless Adu was.
-His fitness and explosiveness dropped considerably from his U-20 dominance in Canada until 6 to 9 months ago. He gained weight and partied like a rock star. This led to missed training sessions and frequent nagging injuries. Adu blamed everyone but himself.
-His mgmt team really fed his ego. The fact that nobody wanted him FINALLY opened his eyes.
-In Turkey, he played the CAM role to perfection and worked incessantly on his fitness. In addition, he’s spent time with trainers focusing on regaining his quickness.
-During Gold Cup practices, Adu worked hard and kept his mouth shut. Showed a lot of humility. In addition, he played simple and his skill was on display on a daily basis. Furthermore, he showed the willingness to track back.
All in all…a much improved player. Hopefully, he can latch on to a team in a 2nd tier but competitive league and continue his development.
While I disagree with not starting Donovan, I have to say that “BB” no longer stands for Bob Bradley. It stands for Brass Balls
Seriously? Trying not to score on purpose?
The plan was push hard for a very early goal, or 2, to demoralize Panama, then make them chase our posession. The problem was we could only pass the ball around the back.
He’s fatigued. His production drops immensely when he’s fatigued. The difference between Jones and Bradley is striking in terms of their approach to the game. Jones…is a savvy veteran…picking his moments and conserving energy. MB is literally the exact opposite. He forces the game instead of playing simply and quickly and often runs aimlessly on defense as he’s attempting to disrupt. MB will get better with more games.
Please reference where I said Freddy sucked for the USMNT.
great read. thanks
About the only thing Martino said all match that I agreed with is that; “our movement off the ball was lethargic and our passing predictable.” He then made a stuppid comment about how well Panama was doing marking space. That’s pretty freakin easy to do when no ones is moving. Credit Donovan for finally making a strong run, Adu to see it and connect, and then Donovan to Dempsey. When we make runs off the ball so we can be quick in transition we’re dangerous and almost all of our goals come that way. When people just lightly jog around, not much happens. Pretty simple stuff… Barcelona is sooo good because they move off the ball better than anyone else in the world. Players draw defenders into positions that opens up space for other players. The chemistry is phenominal. We’re better in our defensivee third now being patient and keeping possesion. We just need to learn to have better movement off the ball for a better/quicker transition through midfield & into the attacking third…
I thought that the game would be perfect for Adu, but never though Bradley would bring him in after more than two years in such an important game. Kudos on that one.
I think the official stats were 6 shots, 1 on goal. You had Agudelo’s header against the post, and also had 2 snap shots by Jones and one (hilariously bad one) by Kljestan. But Panama pressed big time, and no one was running behind them.
I don’t believe you unless a credible journalist gets the interview in no different terms. Ives?
What was ballsier? Not starting Donovan or bringing in Adu? I’d argue it was Adu. Either way, it was sweet.
Yes. Not tired like I have to lay down and take a nap at halftime. But a step slower, a soar ankle begins to wear down, focus not as sharp, etc. They are playing against other pro atheltes, so those little things make a difference over 90 minutes.
Yes.
‘What was ballsier?’
Starting Kljestan again.
I don’t give a rip whether you believe it or not.
Why do you think Adu was dropped by Aris? He held up a team flight during the playoffs…which was 1 of countless times he missed deadlines. This was the final straw for Cuper. This wasn’t reported in the press, but is a fact nonetheless.
Option 3. Well played.
More games? He has 58 Caps!
How many chances does he get to improve on the international stage? Freddy was exiled for 2 years (not sure why).
Oh yeah, coaches kid. I forgot.
Funny that Villa isn’t bringing MB back.
I didn’t say they were not trying to score. They were trying to maintain possession and not give the ball away with low percentage passes and shots. A push for an early goal or two causes turnovers and opens you up to concede and early goal. Does that sound familiar? I would rather see a conservative opennig half than to see an early goal conceded again.
Well said. I hope Adu’s change is a permanent one. Now, as others have commented, he needs to show some consistency. He makes sense as a late in the game sub (at CAM), meant to provide an offensive spark, especially within a system that has two CM like JJ and MJ. If we go with a more traditional 4-4-2, i don’t see him ever getting into the lineup. Bob Bradley Haters- give him some credit for subbing him in- definitely a ballsy move by professional coaching standards.
Yes, I also watched the game and Honduras played well. Honduras ran out of gas, but Honduras made Mexico work hard for 120 minutes and with exception of Guardado, who was subbed out early, Mexico will not have fresh legs for the final with such a short turn around. This could become a decisive factor in the final.
I hear ya, but my point is we should be able to break down a team like Panama better than we did, and be able to hold possession, given the pedigree of what we’ve got relative to Panama.
Bradley gets to play on the international stage until someone better comes along. This isn’t youth soccer, Bradley dosen’t get to play becuase his Dad is the coach. It is such a lame agrument.
BTW, Panama looked very composed, put together, and confident in their abilities. Best coached island team I’ve seen maybe ever. (australia/japan/england notwithstanding)
More games as a professional…day in day out…the more you play, the slower the game becomes…that’s why players reach their prime in their late 20s…not early 20s.
I’ve read some of that before
from Ives:
link to msn.foxsports.com
Maybe because Adu doesn’t even have a guaranteed starting spot in the second division of TURKEY. That’s why.
I was hoping to see the other pass from Adu that some commenters thought Bradley should have put away for a second goal.
Island team? Panama? The most southern point of North America?
Panama is in Central America, as in the Panama canal.
A bit fuzzy on the concept of a comment forum, are we? As comments go, Kimo’s was well written and informative…unlike yours.
A:39 minutes of highlights for such a boring game?
Watching the highlights I have a totally different take on player in particular than I had watching it live: Bedoya!
Bedoya!
Almost every offensive foray for the USA in those highlights involved a nice pass from Bedoya — including getting the ball to Adu, before Freddy launched his pass upfield to Donovan. Bedoya even made some nice defensive plays tracking back in the closing minutes. I was critical of Goff for giving him a 7 rating after the game, but now I’m thinking Bedoya was the MOTM.
=O Island team! Dude, we need a map, to help out some people on here!
Wish there was a delete comment function
^^This cracks me up.
What I want to know is why Donovan waited sooooo long to make that pass on the goal. It was a beautiful pass, but I thought he risked waiting too long when the pass was available earlier.
Adu did great work on that play and laid it to Bradley perfectly only to have Bradley inexplicably pass. That was ideal moment for a hard quick shot.