This World Cup
preparation friendly was notable as the first U.S. match of the post-Landon
Donovan era. Some would say the drabness of game—which unfolded on a cold,
windy field at doomed Candlestick
Park—stood as testament, or as a contrast, to the exhilarating technical quality and
intelligence that Donovan brought to the U.S. side. Others—like
coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s son Jonathan, who last week sent an all-caps tweet
reveling in Donovan’s omission from the World Cup squad—are delighted by the
downfall of “Landycakes.” I’m in the former camp, as I made clear in the very
first post of this three-year-old blog, in my most recent post, and in others.
There are of
course arguments to be made for and against Donovan’s omission from the final
2014 U.S. roster. It’s not hard to find them on the Internet, on podcasts, and on
TV broadcasts. I will not repeat those arguments here, nor rewrite previous
posts on Donovan’s merits as a player. I’ll only add that I suspect nine out of
ten national team coaches in Klinsmann’s situation would have included Donovan
on the final U.S. roster. Unfortunately for Donovan and his appreciators, only Klinsmann’s
opinion mattered. I find it galling that Donovan won’t be in Brazil to represent
the U.S. in a couple of weeks, and his absence will diminish my enjoyment of
watching the team. But as pop psychologists say, it’s time to move on.
And so: The U.S.
came out flat last Tuesday night against a side ranked 85th in the
world by FIFA and playing twelve time zones from home. The reliable Michael
Bradley had a sloppy, turnover-filled game that included a giveaway back-pass to
Omar Gonzalez early in the second half. A better team almost certainly would
have punished the U.S. for that one. Bradley wasn’t alone in looking out of
sorts. One of the U.S.’s most consistent defenders, Matt Besler, had a similar turnover
early in the first half that led to a rare Azerbaijan shot. Jermaine Jones,
playing just above the back four in the center of the midfield, was also erratic,
sending a head-scratching ball directly into the Azerbaijan backline in the 16th
minute, playing a similar ball through most of the field to the Azerbaijan
keeper in the 26th, and—showing his versatility—sending yet another
long ball forward and out of bounds in the 41st.
Fortunately for
the U.S., Azerbaijan players showed an even more stunning inability to get out
of their own way than their opponents. As competition goes, I’d put Azerbaijan (at least on this night)
at or below nearly every team the U.S. faced in last summer’s Gold Cup. And the friendly had something of the feel of one of those 2013 Gold
Cup games, minus the flair and confidence showed by the U.S. players last year.
Azerbaijan’s defensive tactics and general lack of quality on the night invited
U.S. fullbacks to make attacking runs all game long. Fabian Johnson looked good
on a few of those, especially on his dazzling dribbling run in traffic in the
56th minute. But, really, does it matter? The U.S. will not be
facing the likes of Azerbaijan, Belize or Cuba in two weeks’ time, and U.S.
fullbacks will not be spending most of the match in the U.S. attacking third. This
game was hardly meaningful preparation for the likes of Group G.
While the U.S.
failed to score in the run of play, they did score twice off set pieces. Again,
though, any optimism generated by those goals should be tempered. I can’t
recall having seen a corner kick more apathetically defended than the one that
produced the U.S.’s second goal. Substitute Aron Johannsson had a free run near
post and was wide open when he connected on Brad Davis’s cross. Azerbaijan
defenders looked like practice players who’d been instructed to stand still
just this once so the attackers could work on the direction and timing of their
runs. Again, that kind of thing won’t happen in Brazil. The U.S. actually had
to work a bit for their first goal, which came off another dead-ball into the
box by Davis and was ultimately finished by another substitute, Mix Diskerud,
who crashed a rebounded shot.
Supporters of
Klinsmann’s final roster selection will note that the three players directly
involved in the U.S. goals—Davis, Johannsson and Diskerud—all were fighting with
Donovan for a roster spot as forward and/or attacking midfielder. And those
players not only scored or bagged assists on set pieces last Tuesday, they were
generally effective in the run of play. A fourth player who helped usher
Donovan into national team retirement—the 18-year-old German-American winger Julian
Green, who plays fourth-division soccer in Germany and has played a total of 30
minutes in a U.S. shirt—did not get off the bench.
