Lack of Preparation for Azteca
See, there are soccer fields in CO Springs
I’m sitting here, reflecting on today’s mess in Mexico City and just can’t come to terms with our preparation & execution.
What was the reason for the 80 minutes of bunker ball? Was the team absolutely winded by the conditions? A further look into the so called ‘home field’ advantage conditions doesn’t provide alot of answers:
- The game was moved earlier in the day to supposedly smother the Americans in heat. It wasn’t hot, mid to upper 70s. Perfect soccer weather.
- The pollution makes it difficult to breathe for American players. The sky was blue with a few clouds.
- The Americans can’t play in altitude, Azteca sits at about 7,200 feet above sea level. Well let’s examine this one a bit futher
If indeed the overwhelming factor today was the altitude then someone please explain to me why the team trained in Miami for a day before flying to Mexico? When I heard of the United States’ pre game camp plans I felt like I was missing something. Why only a few short days to practice together when the Mexicans were preparing much in advance? Why train in Miami (6 feet above sea level) instead of Salt Lake City (4,226 feet above sea level) or Colorado Springs (6,305 feet above sea level).
Who makes these decisions and why? Is it because they don’t want the European players to have long flights? Why not do the necessary amount of preparation in similar conditions to that of Mexico City to win a crucial game in World Cup Qualifying? Whatever happened to ‘Winning is the only thing’ and ‘Whatever it takes to win?’
Needless to say there’s alot of questions that should be answered. Of course they won’t be.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Apparently arriving late as possible is the best thing if you don’t have 7-10 days to prepare for a game at high altitude. Since players had club obligations we couldn’t get the boys for more than 3 days. Training in Colorado wouldn’t help and possibly risked altitude sickness as their bodies adjust.
Many of the Mexicans players play in Mexico and were in camp since they were given a break after the Gold Cup. Jozy was finalizing his deal and training with Hull in the last week. Dempsey had a Europa match last Thursday. Germany and the Championship started last weekend. As did Ligue 1. I think Milan had a friendly in Portugal and then you have the MLS boys.
The 80 minutes of bunker ball, I can’t explain that.
I think Bradley was outcoached.
Us soccer’s medical advisors say training in high altitude will not help unless it’s done 10 days in advance.
My problem was with the tactics on the field, not the preparation.
The key to the Azteca preparations are a matter of physiology and time commitment. Mexico only committed so much more time to preparation because they were in a must win situation. The players on the U.S. roster coming over from Europe would have lost a lot of time training with their professional clubs in order to do high altitude training. Given there was not a lot of time for preparation in altitude, the next best thing is to train at sea level and go into altitude as late as possible. I have witnessed this first hand, because I often travel between Florida and New Mexico, with altitude changes almost identical to the ones the U.S. team was facing. The worst time is between about 3 to 7 days in altitude.
On the field, the U.S. continues to make the same mistakes. The defend and counter game does not work if you lack the ability to string passes together and actually pressure the opposition with your counter attacks.
If fatigue is a factor, or time killing is the concept, the team needs to focus on a possession game and beating pressure. If the opposition is pushing its defense out onto the field, balls back to the keeper are the worst idea. That generates 50/50 situations. And the lack of attention to the 50/50 balls just shows how poor the tactical planning has become. It gave the impression that the US plan was to give the ball to Mexico and then try to defend. The only way more certain to generate a loss is to give up the ball and NOT defend. US soccer deserved to lose to Mexico, just the same as Brazil, and even Spain. The last great game the U.S. played was in 2002 vs Germany in the world cup.
I completely agree that Bob Bradley should be fired. I have been a fan of US soccer since I was 8 years old, and this current period looks like the Steve Sampson days.
Lack of preparation…Mayebe those in charge should understand the game of soccer like the rest of the world, for us to get a fair chance. A couple of years ago when Bob was the interim manager, we should have payed a little money and hired a world class manager. I know that having a big name does not always insure victories BUT having a big name helps when you need to keep a Rossi or a Subotic. We need as much talent to stay here as possible.
Fire Bob and Nowak.
The worst thing the US National team could have done was to beat Spain. That victory puched our managers ticket to South Africa for sure. I pray to the soccer gods that we do not waste another FOUR years! Bob is not the answer. We need to make a change now and not waste the best talent that we have had in some time.
Watching the team under the leadership of Bob Bradley has become unbearable. No one, as we know, will be held accountable for horrible performances put on by team.
Jason,
As we know, unfortunately, Sunil Gulati needs a “yes, sir” coach. International coaches, like Klinnsman or Scolari or Hiddink, would not bow to Gulati.
These coaches need freedom to select players they believe would benefit the team. And this, my friend, Gulati is not willing to give.
blanco plays in chicago… the other top mexican plays in barcelona, another in england…
how long did the mexican team train at altitude?
The U.S. will not advance past the group stage in the World Cup if something doesn’t change real quick. The easiest thing to do would be to fire Bradley, but that may not be the best thing to do this late in the game. The real problem in my mind is the players he’s starting.
Ricardo Clark? Brian Ching? His son? These people are not going to carry us very far in the WC.
Altidore, Davies, Spector and Torres are the players that need to be getting as much PT as possible right now. They have the youth and the talent to make a difference in close games.
I really can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said with your comments.
This is not a good Mexico team and we simply waste our talent when our game plan is to tie or bunker.
Our team is good enough to be attacking and putting the pressure on any opponent. Sure sometimes you lose under those circumstances, but sometimes you win and mess up your opponents game plan. Also it prevents you from chasing and getting tired.
We need a coach with this mentality.
I agree completely, “Fire Bob Bradley”. Before the game even began i was already upset with Bob. What the hell is brian ching doing on the roster. why? do you start Ricardo Clark when you have Benny Feilhaber, a man with great ball movement, ablility to attack and defend and with a good shot from outside the box. “Our coach” bob bradley shuts down to of our very important attacking players. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. Why have them in there if they are there to help defend. ridiculous!!! im outraged and can’t take it anymore. I have not been happy with bob bradley since he started. happy with the great players we have but bob just does not realize what this team can do if they keep attacking. Bob bradley is holding us back and i don’t see anything good instore for USA at world cup if he isn’t removed unless team bails him out again and again like theyve done most of the time.
Given that Blanco and some others on Mexico did not train at altitude, the USA performance was poor. It could use some explaining.
But away teams do poorly in CONCACAF WCQ.
So far in Round 4 qualifying, the home team – no matter who was playing:
Won 78%
Draw 17%
Lost 5%
Thank God, there is a web site where sanity prevails concerning the incompetence of Bob Bradley. When I express my opinion on Big Soccer where ignorance is the rule, I always ask those who believe Bradley is a good US National Team coach : “Would another country hire Bradley? Would a foreign club? ” Of course the answer is NO. Bradley no only is always outcoached, but his stupidity harms US Soccer. He brings such an awful team to the S. American Championship that we were disinvited from Cups. Where can you play against teams such as Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina’s first teams in a real competition? Another example is his terrible lineup for the Gold Cup final. A 5 to 0 loss to Mexico damages US soccer. A coach with all of the talent the US has, could have lost by a much closer margin. Mexico had their B team. I believe he is not only incompetent but doesn’t care whether the US makes the World Cup. He is more of a politician playing his pets, not calling in players (as favors to other coaches) who would help the national team. How many teams who have been to the world cup have a coach who never played even one game of Pro soccer? The USSF head Gulati knows less than the average fan about soccer. He is from a country which must have the worst international soccer record per capita by far. So how can he be head of a Soccer Federation and make decisions on hiring and firing coaches.
I buy out-coached. I don’t think Bob expected to be up 1-nil in his wildest dreams. He went to Azteca hoping for a draw, and when he was served a lead he brain-locked. Same problem as Brazil. We had the crowd out of the game and Mexico on their heels and we played a flat 8 in the back for 80 minutes.
I didn’t see the game, but I read about it in a few papers. I think Bob Bradley just doesn’t know how to incorporate new players, or how to wisely use the players he has with him.
Why not bring Beckerman in to play with the A team? I was impressed with his passing ability in the Gold Cup. A scrapper.
Why play Dozey Altador, who half the time is offsides? He doesn’t let people shove him around because of his size, but where are the good shots?
I admit I haven’t been following the team but for the past six months. Since then, I’ve seen Coach Bradley forget he has subs to use, continuously play the wrong players, and exhibit a maddening resignation that losing is okay. Balderdash. Get angry.
Bob Bradley is so over-matched even in CONCACRAP it is sickening to watch.
Site seems a little ridiculous now.
LOL @ the very existence of this site.
How’s that crow tasting?
you still want to fire bob bradley
no your right now that we advanced in the 2010 wc lets get bruce arena back, who ever made this site is an idiot
oh and for you guys who think his son, the guy that scored the goal to extend the world cup bid for the us, has been handed his spot has obviously never had their dad as their coach, so shut your mouth.
I don’t know how France could have lost. That was a quick exit. I guess I just expected that they had a solid opportunity to do well in this years world cup. Maybe it was just bad luck. Maybe its time to jump on the Argentina bandwagon. Looks like Demichelis has already scored. Go Argentina. To make me feel a little better from that by France, I have been listening to some funny jokes.. This one made me laugh really hard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3j7uSbccSc
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