And breathe.
That was the collective consciousness of US Men’s National Team fans across America on Saturday evening as Paraguay and Costa Rica fought — in some cases literally — to a 0-0 tie, taking a modicum of pressure off of Jurgen Klinsmann and his USMNT squad following their 2-0 opening day loss to Colombia.
Before, during, and after the game, social media was saturated with comments that called for the removal of Klinsmann from his position as national team coach. They regurgitated the usual reasons: playing players out of position, not starting the latest flavor-of-the-month player or players — Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic, in this case — and failing to change the game with his substitutions.
After the game Klinsmann’s comments further enraged the USMNT fan base. “Overall I was very pleased with the performance of the team,” Klinsmann said. It wasn’t really the way we all expected his press conference narrative to go the to go. But then again Klinsmann is an expert in the art of spin.
And followed it up with this:
Once they are up 2-nil and they drop deep, you don’t find much space [to create chances], so you have to grind it and grind it and work on it. That’s what the guys did, and we created some chances [in the]second half that didn’t go on…I think obviously you guys put the benchmark on the result, but I think that playing these guys, who they are and the quality they have, we were absolutely even. We had a totally even game here.
There are a few problems with Klinsy’s flimsy assessment of events.
First, the stats make this game look more even than it actually was. Sure, at one point USMNT had 61% possession, but as soon as Colombia went 1-0 up, the Cafeteros shut up shop, probably presuming the USMNT was not talented enough to penetrate their back-line. They were right.
Secondly, Klinsmann’s charges managed just one shot on target, and that came in the 64th minute. I’m sure all USMNT supporters would love to know what other chances that Klinsmann is referring to.
The United States is 0-0-3 in Copa America games versus Colombia. The last meeting was a 1-0 loss to close out the group stage of the 2007 Copa America. The all-time gets even worse, with the US running at a 3-4-11 clip.
Was the USMNT supposed to beat Colombia? The answer is a definitive NO. There was always hope, of course, but there couldn’t have been too many people who really believed it was going to happen.
The Paraguay-Costa Rica result was a blessing for Klinsmann’s team. The draw means the US still has a 38% chance of qualifying from the group stage, according to ESPN’s “Power Index,” and now faces a Costa Rica team without Kendall Watson who picked up his third red card in five games for club and country.
However, the 2015 Gold Cup has clearly taught Klinsmann nothing. The German took one step forward in that he brought a largely veteran team to this Copa America, looking to grind out results with experience and organization, but he still set himself up to fail. When you have players like Fabian Johnson playing at left full back, and Jermaine Jones on the left side of midfield, you have to wonder what exactly his decision making process is.
What’s next? Chris Wondolowski in goal? Christian Pulisic at center-back? Klinsmann rolled the dice with youth, inexperience, and playing players our of position at the Gold Cup and look where it him. Now he’s doing the same thing, with the only difference being that he’s relying on experience.
Klinsmann will protest that the national team is his team to do with what he might like. But if you’re going to play Fabian Johnson — a successful right winger in the Bundesliga — at left full-back, no wonder USMNT fans are frustrated with not just Klinsmann, but Johnson’s form for the national team, as well.
Playing Jermaine Jones on the left wing is something we’ve all seen before, but that doesn’t make it any less inexplicable. It’s not as though Klinsmann is Jose Mourinho playing Ramires on the right wing to nullify an opposition wing threat. He just seems to genuinely believe Jermaine Jones can play there.
Another failing of Klinsmann’s is his inability to get the best out of his best central midfielder, Michael Bradley. Bradley looks like just about any other midfielder playing in MLS when he plays for the USMNT. This is a direct indictment on how Klinsmann instructs, or rather doesn’t intrsuct, his captain.
ESPN’s Paul Carr used Bradley as a barometer for USMNT’s success. When Bradley completes over 80% of his passes, the USMNT are 10-3-3 since the 2014 World Cup. When he doesn’t, the team is 4-4-2 (Bradley passed at a 77% clip versus Colombia). If USMNT is to get the best out of Bradley, he needs some expectations removed from his shoulders. He needs to be given one job, and one job only — be the quarterback, spread the ball. He needs to do what he does best, rather than try to play “Captain America” and do it all — he can’t, and USMNT suffers when he tries.
Klinsmann and the United States have anything but a clear path to the knockout stages — even though Paraguay and Costa Rica tied. There’s much work to be done. The USMNT has its veteran core, but the fan-proclaimed “dynamic duo” of Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic needs some minutes on the field to prove it is exactly that, and ultimately, provide something different to what we all saw on Friday night.
Hopefully that will be some kind of catalyst that will help propel the USMNT into the knockout rounds of the Copa America Centenario.
The USMNT look to get back on track when they play Costa Rica on Tuesday evening at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL. Kick off 8pm ET.
USMNT
Copa America
