1) Julian Green is the best player ever...just kidding…the kid was solid, not
great, but you saw a flash or two of his potential. He had a genuine free kick (maybe even penalty) shout after juking two Mexican defenders out of their shoes. He also got into a great spot for a shot but didn’t quite see it coming
and dribbled himself into an alley and when he did shot it was easily blocked. His only gaff was an untimely slip…and maybe you can hold him accountable for the first shooter getting loose on El Tri’s second goal. To be honest, I was much more impressed by Johannsson’s debut, Green seems to lack strength and is not ready to handle the game speed here. I get the feeling like he’ll be in the 30 and hey who knows with Bayern already crowned Bundesliga champs he may get a few run-outs with the first team before the roster is announced.
2) The backline is in trouble. I feel like I wrote this a month ago after Ukraine, and I remember thinking, ok well at least we’ll get our first team backline against Mexico…well we didn’t get Beasley or Evans…and Beslar and Gonzo were shaky against a depleted Mexican attack. I think Cameron and Goodson have clearly put themselves in the mix to start in Brazil just by being dependable, Gonzo still has boneheaded moments and two of them cost us last night. If you thought we just needed to sort out right-back…you are sorely mistaken
3) Zusi’s service on set pieces makes Davis and Donovan expendable. Ok, maybe the latter has other clubs in his bag, but Zusi is clearly the guy who should be taking the US corners and indirect free kicks (things we want a head on instead of straight shots). That corner that Bradley scored on was a thing of beauty.
4) Michael Bradley needs a partner with discipline. If only we could splice together the raw talent of Jermaine Jones, the athleticism of Maurice Edu, and the discipline of Kyle Beckerman …we might have a fantastic guy to sit in front of the D while Bradley does exactly what he did in the first half last night…heck what he’s done against everyone Toronto FC has faced this year…bomb up and down the field, create an early line of contention, win 50/50 balls and spray dangerous passes all over the field. Geoff Cameron and Danny Williams should find themselves in the conversation for central mid again…either that or Jermaine Jones needs to get a rather stern talking to by Coach
5) The diamond is a useful tool. But it made us very narrow and an athletic
team like everyone we are set to face in Brazil, would destroy a single holding
mid. It’s nice to see that we can do it, and I think changing things up, caught Mexico wrong footed…but they adjusted to take advantage of the space left by tucking our wide players more toward the middle
All in all, it was a B performance. An amazing first half almost destroyed by a gut punch of a second half. I would also like to make just a few quick bullet points here at the end
- The away kits are growing on me…I may just get one…leaning toward a
Bradley - EJ was onside, we
actually won 3-2 and if not we deserved a make-up call with the foul
on Green - Shame we didn’t play Luis
Gil who happens to play in a diamond 4-4-2 EVERY WEEK - Wondo is my hero