World Cup: hey Nick Rowe
June 24, 2006 at 5:24 pm (J333)
The games today were great, Germany and Argentina going on ahead. Very young players have made a great impact on this world cup. Which brings me to this point: Why didn’t Eddie Johnson play more for the U.S. in this World Cup? Think about it. The German kid who scored the two goals is 20 years old. Lionel Messi for Argentina just turned 19. The kid for Mexico is 19. And the other Argentinian threat, Tevez, is 22. Heck, even Javier Saviola is 24. I just think the U.S. attack was stale, I thought it was stale with McBride before (back in 2002), and well we could have done a lot more with our youth.
And what about that goal by Maxi Rodriguez?! He’s a hero til the day he dies, and his children, too. He hit that baby in front of the entire world. Man. What a perfect strike. I was going strongly for Mexico, and they surprised me - their defense was a lot stronger than I thought. Think about it. Argentina’s first goal was actual an own goal by Mexico’s Borgetti. Their second goal was a wonder goal. Argentina did NOT get actually get through Mexico’s defense for a straight goal.
And I gotta say - the winner of the World Cup will be either Brazil or the winner of Germany-Argentina. Miroslav Klose looks great - he’s the reason for both of Germany’s goals. The kid merely finished plays that Klose set up. Germany looks strong, I gotta say. They are playing more energetic soccer, they are on home turf, and Klinsmann has prepped them for a faster game. That one will be a war.
Nick said,
June 26, 2006 at 12:48 am
OK. I confess: I played a leetle hooky to see Ghana-USA. And I agree with you; USA underperformed. A couple of things to note in that game: Ghana was simply more hungry and agressive. Perhaps its the thing about hving the expectations of the continent on your shoulders, but they came to play, and it showed. Personally, I think Brazil better be careful. If they do the same thing as the Czech republic — not take Ghana seriously — they will get beat. I dont expect that, but Ghana are no slouches.
Whither Eddie Johnson? Good question. First, let’s not be too hard on Brian McHead, as he is known in some quarters. He has a reputation in the English leagues as one of the best with the headball, and he nearly showed that when he clanged the post. But his game cam be one-dimensional in that way, and if you put a hard boy on him, he can be neutralized. I think Johnson would have been a better alternative, but like most strikers, he needs a setup man, and the US simply did not have one that day. The two who shoudl have done it, Claudio Reyna and Landon Donovan, were invisible, and without that, the US attack was rather limp. With those weaknesses, you cannot fall behond early, which is precisely what they did in all three games.
The USA’s strength is its defense. Onyewu was rather consistent with only a couple of glaring errors (the one against Koller in the first game hurt), but he will be there for years as he matures. The midfield will only get stronger, too; Beasley will be around (if he improves his attitude a bit), Convey is a gem, Dempsey’s got skills. Lando needs to step up. But the weakness is up front. I think Johnson would do well to play in Europe. Freddy Adu? We’ll see. After that, I dont see much (maybe Taylor Twellman, but that’s about it). One thing this Cup is making clear is that you can have a solid defense, but if you want to win tournaments, you need someone who can bulge the net.
That’s why we are left with the usual suspects: Brazil, Germany and Argentina. All three teams can attack without mercy. The latter scared me after they demolished Serbia, but they became tentative with Mexico (no knock on them, but it should not have gone to ExTime). But then we would not have seen Maxi’s strike. Germany seems to have put some backbone into its soft defense, but I still think they will be exposed by Argentina. And BRazil is simply Brazil; I think they turned it on for this tournament after the Japanese had the nerve to score on them early. They stopped sleepwalking. And yes, Ronaldo needs to make way for Robinho.
fernando said,
June 26, 2006 at 5:51 am
Before the tournament, I had thought Mexico could make it through to the quarters. They are a better more competitive side than a lot of the press gave them credit for. Glad they went out fighting.
Argentina are still the team to beat.
The interesting bit of WC gossip is that Klinsmann may be a potential future US manager. This may just be a case of 1+1=689, since he lives in the US and is refusing to commit beyond the WC to Germany. That said, it would be in the US’ long term interest to sign a top class manager.
RC said,
June 26, 2006 at 6:53 am
NICK: I was with your analysis all the way until that Robinho comment. But we’ll see. Great analysis.
How could Holland not play Ruud van Nistelroy? Fire that coach.
It would be too good to be true for Klinsmann to take over the US. He does live in San Diego County, I believe.
Jon said,
June 26, 2006 at 12:25 pm
I’ve heard a number of calls for Eddie Johnson to have played more so that more goals will be scored, but that seems to miss the fact that Johnson’s had quite a hard time scoring goals. McBride had a goal in the last world cup, was inches from one against Ghana, and had a perfect should-have-been-an-assist with his head that Donovan blew. McBride’s experienced and he can finish. And against Italy, he could provide the defense they needed too. Johnson is young and has long stretches where he just can’t put the ball in the net at all. He’ll be around to contribute next time.
Nick said,
June 27, 2006 at 12:29 am
Just a final note on coaches.
Have no idea what van Basten was doing by benching Ruud. He’s a monster in the box, and if you make a mistake around him, you pay. That’s what his game is based on. And Portugal were not that clean in their box.
And I know everyone is all giddy about Klinsmann, but I am not quite convinced. He’s coaching a German squad that can make anyone look good; indeed, a knock on Klinsmann is that he did not pay enough attention to his defense. But here is my dark horse candidate for coaching the US: Steve Nicol, coach of the New England Revs. He is based here, has played in the big show (in England), and is a good tactician. Heard it here first.
And as for Johnson, as I have said elsewhere, he needs a decent set-up man. Here’s the interesting part: he tends to score goals in bunches, as Jon noted, and those are usually solo efforts. If he gets his own version of Ronaldinho or Riquelme, he starts looking like Michael Owen (the early version, without the injuries. Ouch).