- Movement back to front needs sharpening
- Brad Evans does OK. Again.
- Mix Diskerud still not quite there
For a center back the game is all about “stop and distribute.” Omar Gonzalez is generally OK at the “stop,” the occasion switch-off notwithstanding. But the “distribute” continues to be a work in progress for the big U.S. center back and presumed starter in Brazil.
His passing accuracy is OK, but his choices with ball and speed in moving possession into midfielders was problematic Saturday. Even allowing for opening game rustiness, Gonzalez (pictured) needed to do better against the well-organized Koreans, and if he can’t sharpen the product coming out of the back before this summer, there’s a goal out there for Ghana, Germany or Portugal. (They’ll all be well organized, too.)
Considering the slim margins ahead in the Group of You Know What, that can’t happen. Not if the U.S. wants to play beyond that first round.
One of South Korea’s best opportunities of Saturday’s first half came as the United States began struggling to work the ball smoothly out of the back, about 15 minutes in. At one point, Gonzalez’s ill-advised pass into a midfielder under pressure was stripped away, leaving the U.S. back line and goalkeeper Nick Rimando with a problem to deal with.
(MORE: United States opens year with 2-0 win over South Korea)
South Korea couldn’t turn it into a goal. Germany probably will. Portugal and Ghana might very well, too.
Of course, he wasn’t alone. Just a few minutes later, a sloppy pass from fellow U.S. center back Matt Besler gave South Korea a second opportunity within a small window.
Midfielder Brad Davis, starting along the left in the 4-4-2, also gave the ball away in bad spots here and there.
And holding midfielder Kyle Beckerman, whose best work with the ball usually comes in the attacking end, when he releases passes quickly, sometimes gets overly cautious when turning with the ball in his own end. The result is an attack that labors a bit through the midfield, as it did at times Saturday.
Say this for U.S. defender Brad Evans: he delivers very predictable results.
That means solid defending and an honest effort … but not much of a contribution on the attacking end. In a match at home against a middle class foe like Saturday’s, it’s fair to expect the outside backs to get forward a little more often, to impose themselves a little more along the flanks, adding pressure by adding numbers to the attack.
And when they do, the crosses need to be zippy and purposeful, which doesn’t always happen with Evans.
(MORE: What went right in the U.S. win over South Korea)
He still looks like the starting right back of the moment, but that is somewhat by default. Unless the Seattle man (who plays midfielder for his team, remember) can deliver something with a little more authority, his position will be ripe for picking off.
(Although not by DeAndre Yedlin, as the Seattle Sounders ‘debuting international reminded us with a few “rookie” moments in late-game backup duty Saturday that he still has a long way to go.)
Bottom line for Evans: he’s probably done enough to warrant a place on the 23-man roster; if he wants to start in Brazil, however, he may need to do more.
The door is open for Mix Diskerud, but the young U.S. midfielder still cannot quite command a midfield the way an international should.
He’s young, just 23, so there’s still plenty of time. But his inability to be just a little better as a conduit, or to deliver a few more penetrating balls in the attacking third means Jurgen Klinsmann may still be looking in the months ahead for trusty a two-way midfielder to back up Michael Bradley.
