Editorial (March 25th, 2017)- Last night, the US Men’s National Team absolutely delivered in what may have been their most crucial game played in a World Cup Qualifying match since the 1990 cycle. You can go all the way back to the “snow-classico” where there was some worry about the form of the USMNT, but there was nothing like this. The rout of Honduras marked a return of their confidence.
Confidence Restored for USMNT After Honduras Rout
On the heels of their first loss in World Cup Qualifying on American soil in 15 years, the U.S. Men’s National team went down to Costa Rica and were beaten soundly. After it got to 2-0, it looked like they had given up. There was no confidence. You started to see the cracks in their performances. It looked like they were playing afraid. Afraid to make a mistake, afraid to lose. Yesterday, their was no fear in how they attacked.
The Yanks got off on the right foot. Five minutes in, Jozy Altidore looped the ball up to Pulisic, who smashed a shot at Donis Escobar. Escobar was equal to it, but then Sebastian Lletget crashed the back post and finished it off. The first thing Arena told them before taking the field?
“I have this copyrighted, but it was something to the effect of, ‘first shot, first tackle, first goal,” Arena noted.
The difference in the U.S. from the Costa Rica defeat to yesterday’s 6-0 win was simply that: a mindset. An aggression to go out and win the game, and not being scared to make a mistake. They played with a confidence that hadn’t been seen in quite some time. I really don’t remember a time they just looked that confident.
Under Klinsmann, they’d come upon crucial games, and they would never blow you away. They could (sometimes) get the job done, but never convincingly. Then their confidence would slowly build back up after more good performances.
Last night, there were no nerves. There was no second guessing themselves. They were comfortable. They welcomed, relished the pressure and anxiety with their circumstances surrounding this game, and duly delivered. It became increasingly clear that Bruce set the tone. The biggest thing was that players were put in places, and doing what they were comfortable in.
Christian Pulisic didn’t get Man of the Match, only because Dempsey scored a hat-trick. But overall, Pulisic was the best player on the field last night. An 18-year-old kid was the best player on the field. That’s so hard to wrap your head around. But you know why it worked? Because Bruce put him in a position to succeed.
Pulisic can play centrally. That’s a known fact. But prior to the Mexico/US game in October, he was playing out wide for Dortmund. Yet Klinsmann said that the spot underneath two strikers was what he had been playing. Fast forward five months and Pulisic has actually started playing there for Dortmund. They’ve had a resurgence with him there, and he’s been getting goals and assists left and right. This time he was ready for that role.
Arena elaborated on why he chose to play him there.
“Christian’s been playing in that spot a lot for Dortmund,” he stated. “They kind of play….I hate using these terms…but they kinda play with two number tens underneath a nine. He’s been playing there lately, and I think he’s been exceptional last couple months with his club team.”
And even though they talked about playing him underneath both Dempsey and Altidore, Dempsey didn’t exactly play like an “off the shoulder” forward. He played like a second number ten, exactly like he is used to playing. Altidore played as a number nine with two attackers running off of him. And Pulisic played with a “pure number nine” and a second “number ten,” just like at Dortmund.
“I was excited,” Pulisic emphasized after realizing his central role for the game. “I like playing in the middle a lot, especially in this team. I was just happy.”
So are you seeing the difference here? Bruce is simply instilling confidence into one of the most talented teams that US Soccer has ever put together, and putting them into positions they are comfortable with. Who knew that was all it took!
“He’s given us a ton of confidence by letting guys be themselves and (letting) everyone play their game,” center back Omar Gonzalez said. “As he told us in the meeting, he’s not trying to bring anyone down that every person is here for a reason. He just wants to let them go out there and do what they can do.”
Putting your players in a position to win is your job as manager. That means putting them in positions they are comfortable with, so they have a better chance to succeed. Jurgen Klinsmann didn’t do that. In an interview with Sporting News following their 2013 loss in the Hex at Honduras, Klinsmann said this:
“I can only get to another level by bringing in new players and challenging the older players. By challenging them in every training session, by giving them uncertain feelings here and there—‘Do I play or not play?’—and so on.”
By giving them uncertain feelings? That’s how you get players to do well? The signs were always there of Klinsmann’s tactical mismanagement, and bad man management. It’s been made well known by guys like Toni Kroos and Phillipp Lahm.
Now we’re seeing what a supremely talented U.S. team can do. Thanks to Bruce, and his ability to instill confidence back into the guys, they don’t face uncertainty. They know they’re role. They have confidence in their ability. That’s the difference from October to now. And that might just be the difference in getting past the Round of 16 in a World Cup.
Who knows, they could go on and lose every single game that remains in the Hex. But that doesn’t seem likely now. This is one of, if not the best teams in US Soccer history. They just needed to be reminded of it. Arena is doing that. Combined with confidence in their manager and their own ability, the Yanks should go marching into the 2018 World Cup.
