September 10th, 2008 - First Half of U.S. vs. Trinidad and Tobago

My next two posts are going to go together in as tandem piece. They both will be about the U.S. vs. Trinidad and Tobago World Cup Qualifying game.

This entry is one regarding things I saw during the first half of the game and the second one will be my observations from the second half. By doing this I can note the strengths and weaknesses in the first half, and then the second, so I can note the changes that are made by both teams at half.

Here we go…

First Half (start 7:12pm)

Strengths
-U.S. counterattacks were met by a sea of red players. Trinidad and Tobago got back, picking up open men and even more importantly covering the backside. Whenever possible the Trinidad and Tobago defense steps up to put U.S. strikers that are lagging behind into the offside position.

-The U.S. really took advantage of the large amount of space that Trinidad and Tobago was giving them in their offensive 3rd. The U.S. playing some very nice through balls lead to the second goal by Clint Dempsey.

Weaknesses
-Sloppy play by both teams. Bad first touches seemed to plague both the teams at the start of the game, however as time went on the team’s settled down.

-The U.S. is has to play early and more quickly if they’re going to catch Trinidad and Tobago in a bad position. The U.S. can play balls through slots between the defense, instead of trying to dribble. Just like in basketball, passing is quicker than dribbling. Switching the fields (passing the ball from the right side to the left side (or vice versa) in one pass) and one touching will also allow for quicker play.

-Although Trinidad and Tobago has numbers on defense, they don’t seem to have any on offense. Whenever Trinidad and Tobago controls the ball and tries to push forward into the U.S. half, they don’t seem to have players are joining the counterattack. In order to win in soccer you need to score goals, which can’t happen when you don’t step foot on the other team’s half.

Goals
Michael Bradley scored in the 9th minute on an outstandingly placed ball by Landon Donavan. The goal came as a result of a foul kick just outside the box. The foul was the first one made by Trinidad and Tobago in their defensive 3rd. I think they learned their lesson about how deadly the U.S. will be on free kicks by the Trinidad and Tobago box.

Clint Dempsey scored only 9 minutes later on a through ball behind the defense from Damarcus Beasley. Although Dempsey looked to be offside, the replay showed that he made his run just as the ball was being released. Trinidad and Tobago is going to have to figure their defense out if they’re going to want to have a chance to do something in the second half.

First half final: United States 2 Trinidad and Tobago 0