Eric Wynalda, one of the first American international stars, in the immediate post-game commentary said “The fans were great, the players were okay. I’m more concerned about the managerial position of the United States national team… I’m going to be the first one to say that Bruce Arena screwed up this World Cup for the US team.”
What were Arena’s mistakes according to Wynalda? Public bashing of his own players. Not putting players in the positions where they can be successful. He did not make the right moves in today’s game, leaving us in a 4-5-1 formation until far too late when we needed another striker more than the extra defender.
Once again we suffered from horrific referee decisions. The worst was awarding the penalty kick in first half injury time against Onyewu for what was clearly a non-foul–the defender’s hands were out to his sides and back, nowhere near the Ghanian–as the player simply slipped, something that happened constantly during the match. At least this fool didn’t use red cards like prizes at a bingo parlor.
Still, the American players could have won with a better effort. Set plays were wasted throughout, typified by a free kick just outside and left of the 18 yard box: Landon Donovan kicked the ball yards high and over the goal. With clear height advantage in a crowded scrum a decent ball could have been put in the net to tie up the score.
Several times the Americans had clearances that became counterattacks but as soon as the player went over the midfield line he pulled back to dump the ball to Reyna (before he went out injured) or Donovan. Damarcus Beasley was wasted again, positioned inside of Eddie Lewis rather than on the wing where his speed could be unleashed; as a result DMB never got into the game except the one time he raced upfield and supplied the ball to Clint Dempsey for our only offensive goal of the tournament.
Time to go home. Time to replace Bruce Arena.
Final question: How can ESPN name Dempsey as man of the match? He scored our goal but wouldn’t a player from the winning team, either Draman or Essien, be the real, unbiased selection? Ghana not only beat us, they beat world #2 Czech Republic and in the tournament’s biggest upset so far will move on to meet (presumably) Brazil in the Round of 16.
BillSaysThis 