Over 77,000 fans trekked to the New Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey to see the American national squad take a pounding at the hands of a Brazil team that only had 4 players from the World Cup squad. The crowd was interested in the game, but the American players failed to deliver.
The American squad was sluggish; they got beat to almost every 50/50 ball and they were not working back on defense as much as Brazil. The Brazilians were running hard on and off the ball, making the American side look under conditioned. One thing that Bradley as coach of America has prided himself on is the conditioning of these players but last night was an exception to that rule.
The lone bright spot of last night for the Americans was the off-sides goal by Mike Bradley. He was a step or two off but it was a great play and his finish was strong. As soon as he headed the cross home there was no celebration. He was well aware he was in an offsides position when the ball was struck to him.
The two goals Brazil scored highlighted the weakness in the American defense. Pato was able to walk in and around Howard after some nifty passing from Brazil just inside midfield. Brazil demonstrated that their speed on this goal.
When America went on the attack it did not maintain its triangles and the team looked disoriented. There was no drop man for the ball and the square ball was almost never there. This was more a result of conditioning than strategy. When Altidore would receive the ball in the front he had no one to pass to and had no choice but to charge forward. He needs to be nurtured into his role as striker and if he does not start getting guidance from a strong center midfielder or more experienced withdrawn striker he is never going to reach his potential. He is young but without coaching he is never going to blossom.
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