Tempo, rhythm and speed of play

     Watching the two different halves of the US v Mexico game on Juergen's debut made me think about what seperates countries like Spain from everyone else.  "Style of play" is definitely something he is going to have to cultivate.  The journey should be interesting with so many different influences that could lead to a more refined style of play in our National program.  With the influence of college soccer's prominence, combined with the our large Hispanic population and Coach Klinsman's experience the future is promising.

    However, I was more focused and astonished by how slow and clumsy the tempo, rhythm and speed of play was for the US in the first half.  Forget about "playing with purpose" and having Edson Buddle as the lone striker, the entire team played tentatively and were unable to relieve the high pressure. Mexico was applying pressure so high up the field because they saw how slowly the two holding middies took to move ball.  Mexico took advantage of the 2-3 touches our three center middies were taking.  As a side note, Michael Bradley should not be so far forward with his ability to play 1 and 2 touch while spraying balls wide so well.  My major issue was the amount of time it took players like Kyle Beckerman and Jermaine Jones to move the ball on and off their feet.......it was so painful to watch.  They would either get tackled inside of their 40 or would be forced by the high pressure to make a poor pass putting players like Buddle under pressure to be everywhere and handle difficult flighted balls.

    When Klinsy made his first two subs of Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo they immediately started to make supporting link up runs as well as forward, well timed penetrating runs while combining with rapid "ball handling".  The ball was moving about like a pinball machine and we were able to break the pressure through quick, clean, simple touches.  This factor combined with Donovan being free to make runs outside of the left flank put him in a position to be who he is and get involved with dynamic ball movement.

In summary, I believe the US will find success under Klinsman if he can get them to move the ball faster and not allow teams to get their teeth into our back 6 when they have the ball.