For anyone who watched the United States v. Mexico in the Gold Cup Final this past Saturday night there was 1 glaring problem that you simply could not miss: the defense of this US national team is terrible.
When I first heard that Freddy Adu would be in the starting 11 and Landon Donovan would be playing as the lone striker, I thought to myself "this is going to be a long evening." I thought going forward the United States would have major problems, there would be no real link up between the midfield and forwards, Donavan would be horribly isolated, and the United States would lack creativity in the final third.
Well, I was right, but Freddy Adu was not the problem. In fact, Freddy Adu was the best player on the field for the Unites States most of the game. Every time he touched the ball he caused problems. He made the right passes, stayed composed when double and triple teamed, and had a major part setting up both US goals when they went up 2-0 in the first half. So what happened?
My main criticism (as it has been for years) was that Landon Donovan was playing up front as a lone striker. Landon is not built for this role. This has been tried countless times on the international level and it does not work. There are times when you can do this against your Jamaicas, Guatamalas, or other CONCACAF teams that aren't as talented as the US. When you play teams with the class of Mexico (and most European countries) Donovan becomes isolated and a non-factor if left to fend for himself up front. He is made to be your playmaker; your #10 in the center of midfield playing in behind your main striker. You're better having lackluster Jozy Altidore up front to at least serve as a target man Donovan can play off of. You need to put your best players in their best positions.
So how does this relate to my initial point about defense? Quite simply put, there was no link up between the back line and the forwards. There was no real activity in the midfield. Michael Bradley was absent save his glancing header off of Adu's corner. Clint Dempsey was absent save his shot off the bar (which admittedly could have been a game changer in the 60th minute) and his assist, also a product of Adu's play. Jermaine Jones and Alejandro Bedoya don't even need to be mentioned as I barely remember their names being called during the match commentary.
This left back line without Oguchi Onyewu, an aging Carlos Bocanegra, and no Steve Cherundolo (you're best American player in my opinion). After Cherundolo left the game due to injury in the 20th minute the back 4 looked horrific. Jonathan Bornstein could not keep up with Giovanni Dos Santos or Pablo Barrera and Bocanegra was left alone to mark Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez effectively cancellong each other out.
So what now? Of course we expected the US to make it to the final and a loss to Mexico is not something to be ashamed of. A 4-2 loss and the way in which they lost IS something to be ashamed of. The Adu move was the right one. Playing Donovan as a lone striker was the disaster. Drop Landon into the midfield where he can link up with the strikers and distribute to his wingers. And put him in midfield so Bradley has someone to link up with. There is no predator on the US national team to take that lone striker role. For now, put Altidore up front with Donovan in behind him. This gives Landon space to be who he is, the best midfielder in US history.
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