CONCACAF related friendly: US v Brazil, Sept. 8, 2015https://www.youtube.com/v/V1bM5VxfwQ0USMNT not up to speed in friendly loss against Brazil: "They gave us a lesson tonight"
MLSsoccer.comFOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Prior to Tuesday night’s tilt versus Brazil, Jurgen Klinsmann talked about looking at the friendly as an opportunity for his players to learn a thing or two.
After walking off the pitch, defeated by a 4-1 margin, the United States were taken to school in a big way, being outworked in nearly every aspect of the game.
“They gave us a lesson tonight,” said Klinsmann. “All the aspects there’s definitely a lot to take with all of us. The players get a sense for the tempo, the speed of play, the speed of thought, the speed of execution. For us it’s a huge learning curve, a huge learning moment for all the players that were on the field to experience that. I’m not mad at anybody.”
The two areas in which Klinsmann feels his team were outclassed on Tuesday happened with regards to tempo, both in regards to how Brazil controlled the play and how they thought about the following sequence.
“They’re not used to that,” said Klinsmann of his club trying to keep pace with Brazil. “It’s a tempo that is played in Champions League. You watch Champions League and this is Champions League tempo. It’s not only their technical tempo where they played one-two touches and then dribble whenever they think it’s the right moment to dribble. It’s the speed of thought. They are two thoughts ahead. It’s like playing chess and they are two moves ahead.”
“They were just mentally quicker than us and technically they’re very gifted,” said midfielder Alejandro Bedoya. “They just thought a lot better than us and even when you try to get close to them they’re able to flick the ball and play a quick one-two right around us.”
Of course, if the US are to change the result in their major CONCACAF Cup clash with Mexico on October 10th, they must be able to keep pace with El Tri both physically and mentally, and unlike the Brazil match, they will also need to impose their will and gain control of the run of play in order to tilt the scales in the ultimate must-win match.
“If anything it’s a motivation thing that we need to step our game up,” said defender Geoff Cameron. “Everybody needs to work hard, leave it on the field… We have to have a short memory with this, but at the same time we’ve got to learn that we can’t come out flat footed and we got to want to get on the ball, want to move, want to tackle and be aggressive.”
USMNT midfielder Alejandro Bedoya endures rough outing against Brazil in brand-new No. 6 role
By Nicholas Rosano (MLSsoccer.com)FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – “Sometimes versatility is a good and a bad thing,” says US national team midfielder Alejandro Bedoya.
Having a player that can fill in effectively at multiple positions is a valuable asset for any team, but when that trait is pushed to the extreme, things can get a little dicey, as Bedoya and the USMNT learned the hard way on Tuesday night.
Thrust into a defensive midfield role in the USA’s 4-1 friendly loss to Brazil, Bedoya looked behind the game almost from the start. He made one crucial interception early on, but afterwards struggled to make an impact on the game on either side of the ball until he was replaced by Danny Williams – a more natural defensive midfielder – in the 36th minute.
“I hadn’t really played there before,” Bedoya told reporters after the game. “... Over the past two games I tried to do my best somewhere, but I hadn’t really played [there] as a professional. But this is one of those games where you learn a lot and you take it from here.”
Bedoya, who plays his club soccer with Nantes in France’s Ligue 1, is typically more accustomed to playing in an attacking midfield role, either centrally or on the the flanks. In his latest stint with the USMNT, however, he was asked to play as one of two central midfielders alongside Jermaine Jones in a 4-4-2 formation against Peru, then in an even more defensive role alongside Jones, with Michael Bradley playing ahead of the duo, in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Brazil.
He admitted that he was able to train “a bit” in the so-called No. 6 role in the current US camp, but that when push came to shove, the circumstances were slightly different.
“I try to work on things in training, but obviously in a game environment it’s a whole different thing,” Bedoya said. “Against good teams like Peru and Brazil, it’s fair to say that I got exposed a little bit and not really knowing how to play as a No. 6, which I haven’t really played it as a professional, but everything’s a learning curve. “
The decision to start and play Bedoya in any position ultimately rests with USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who said that he’d seen some good things from Bedoya in more central positions in the last year, but that the experiment just didn’t work out on the night.
“Obviously playing Ale in the center there with Jermaine and with Michael in front of him was a very good option,” Klinsmann explained in his postgame press conference. “He showed that in a couple of other games after the World Cup that he can play inside.
“He just never caught up with the game. He was literally running after the ball and trying to get involved somehow, but he never connected, and that’s what you see then and you wait a little bit and then you say, ‘You know what, maybe it’s better if you make a switch there.’ And you explain it to him and you just cross it off.”