USA v Jamaica (1-2) (1-0) – The Difference was Simply Home & Away?

After worrying Yank’s supporters with a poor showing and a loss in Kingston, the squad rebounded in Columbus, playing a fluid passing style in their Tuesday night victory.

Each section of the article will focus on a tactical point and compare how the teams played in the two matches.

The Lineups

On Friday, the US played a 4-3-1-2, which resulted in a very narrow approach. They struggled to connect passes and build attacks. In response, Klinsmann benched Michael Parkhurst, Clarence Goodson, Kyle Beckerman, Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu and brought in Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jose Torres, Graham Zusi and Danny Williams. He reverted to a 4-4-1-1, Dempsey played in behind the lone striker Gomez. Williams played as the holding midfielder and Jermaine Jones had a license to get forward with Torres and Zusi out wide. In the back four, Fabian Johnson and Geoff Cameron played the full 180 minutes, putting in two good performances and cementing permanent roles in the team.

Controlling the Run of Play

In Friday’s match, the US struggled to keep the ball when they managed to wrestle it off a Jamaican attacker. The center of the midfield (Edu, Jones & Beckerman) did a poor job distributing to start up a counter attack. Thus, the midfield three and forward three (Altidore, Dempsey & Gomez) became two separated units instead of a fluid one.

On Tuesday night, the Yanks dominated possession from the opening whistle. Part of the reason was the deep lying defense of Jamaica. Manager Theodore Whitmore clearly set up his team in a defense style to try and earn a road point.

However, the true test for the Klinsmann regime will be to play proactively on the road and in the 2014 World Cup. It is easy for the team to keep the ball with short passes and move it from side to side against a side that are sits deep and concedes possession. The Klinsmann impact will be seen if we can play in this manner against a team that also wants the ball and is willing to pressure to win it back. If the US then resorts to long balls up field then not much has changed from the Bob Bradley days.

USA Width

It is not a very bold statement to say the US formation in “The Office” was illogical. He played three central midfield players, an attacking midfielder and two strikers. This forced Altidore and Gomez to operate as wide strikers to maintain any sort of width. Playing wide negated the best qualities of each player. Altidore can play with his back to goal and also link up centrally with Dempsey. For Gomez, he likes to operate off the shoulder of the central defense and get through balls in behind.

On Tuesday, the formation was balanced. Graham Zusi and Jose Torres, although not true wingers, did an excellent job at maintaining the shape. Williams and Jones won the midfield battle and distributed the ball effectively to the players further forward.

USA Fullbacks Getting Forward

The change in style of play from Friday to Tuesday was greatly seen in the play of the fullbacks. Michael Parkhurst is more of a steady right back who can get forward at times but wants to sure up his defensive duties. Steve Cherundolo plays with more speed down the right side and is aggressive in taking chances at getting forward. With Cherundolo and Fabian Johnson, the US has two forward thinking fullbacks who have pace to pin back opposition wingers.

Also, the Yanks were able to keep the ball on Tuesday long enough to enable the fullbacks to push forward. In Kingston, Johnson and Parkhurst were constantly pinned in their own half because the midfield kept giving the ball away. But, in Columbus, Johnson and Cherundolo could bomb forward because the US controlled the balance of possession.

Notice in the two pictures below, that Jermaine Jones and Danny Williams would play deeper roles to provide cover for the two fullbacks. Klinsmann used the two central players to stamp out counter attacks, which allowed the fullbacks more freedom.

Jamaica Getting Numbers Forward

Roughly, Jamaica played the same formation in both games. The drastic change in their style of play cannot be analyzed by their setup, but by their aggressiveness. Coach Whitmore wanted his team to pressure the US and frustrate them in Kingston. Once they picked up the three points at home, he set his side out to defend deep and try and get a nil-nil. It was surprising Whitmore did not play a third central midfielder; he opted to defend with one holding player and one box to box midfielder. If he played a midfield three, he could have clogged up middle and shut down the American’s central distribution.

This ultra defensive approach should be questioned. Coach Whitmore should have at least tried to hit the Yanks out on the counter attack. He could have given a start to Dane Richards to form a three man attack with Luton Shelton and Omar Cummings. These three players have great speed and could quickly steal a goal on the road. Instead, the defense and midfield were quick to just clear the ball away long and try and give Ryan Johnson a chance to win the ball in the air.

On Friday, Jamaica controlled the run of play, but struggled to create chances from open play. Their two goals came from set pieces. The crossing into the box was very poor and their shots from distance were off target. Coach Whitmore should be concerned about this lack of prowess from open play.

Conclusions

For all the dominance that Jamaica had on Friday and the US had on Tuesday, only one goal was scored from open play in the two matches. The Yanks created a barrel load of chances in the first half but were unable to find the back of the net. On the other side, Jamaica struggled to create chances and test Tim Howard, a problem that could plague them in upcoming qualifiers.

The performance is very encouraging for Klinsmann and the fans. He needs to instill this style of play in every match his side will play, instead of in home matches. The Stars and Stripes have to perform with more consistency in matches against proactive teams; if this happens the team will be poised to qualify and play well in the 2014 World Cup.

Side Note – I attended the match last night. It was the first time I have been to a US match and it was amazing. The Nordecke & American Outlaws were rowdy. The rest of the stadium was lively and creating a lot of noise. The pictures in the article were taken by me, it is great to see the entire pitch and all the movement off the ball.

Will this proactive style of play continue for the Yanks?