U.S. Soccer: Defense Exposed – Soccer America Archives

The elements of solid defending extend far beyond the goalkeeper and those players on the back line.

The sight of Kasey Keller throwing himself about to pick balls off opponents' feet or picking himself off the The elements of solid defending extend far beyond the goalkeeper and those players on the back line.

The sight of Kasey Keller throwing himself about to pick balls off opponents' feet or picking himself off the ground to retrieve balls out of his net served as a sobering reminder of what bad defending can do.

Germany's 4-2 rout of the United States in Rostock March 27 ended a crisp defensive spell during which the Americans had conceded only two goals in eight matches.

If the U.S. defense isn't as porous as the Germans made it seem, nor is it as impregnable as the six shutouts recorded in 2002 — prior to the April 3 match with Mexico — might suggest.

''We have good defenders,'' says assistant coach Dave Sarachan. ''But a clean sheet is a credit to the entire 11 and not just the goalkeeper and back four.

Most of the starting midfield and forward spots are all but settled. How they defend will be critical, especially since questions persist about David Regis ability to play left back, whether Coach Bruce Arena will prefer Steve Cherundolo or Tony Sanneh at right back, or what is the best central pairing amongst Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Gregg Berhalter and Carlos Llamosa.

In short, the U.S. defense isn't good enough to stand on its defenders alone.

ELEMENTS OF DEFENDING. To Agoos, captain and defensive leader, the issue of which four play in the back can't supersede what else must be done.

''You can't think one guy is going to stop one guy,'' he says. ''When you play good team defense, not just with the back four, you're going to have success.''

Many of the U.S. problems against Germany, as had been the case earlier in three straight Hexagonal losses, stemmed from disorganization, poor midfield play, and a lack of fighting spirit.

''We could have defended better and at times shown more commitment,'' Coach Bruce Arena says. ''They won a lot of the battles and in the end they were the better team.''

The Germans' power in the air was set up by crosses from the flanks. Its relentless breaches of the back line resulted from U.S. midfielders Chris Armas, Eddie Lewis and Earnie Stewart being overrun.

At times opponents must be passed on from one player to another as they move through different areas of the field. In other situations a supporting teammate is already occupied and so an opponent making a run must be tracked.

''There were tons of players coming forward and Chris had his hands full with two, sometimes three players,'' says Agoos. ''We didn't do a very good job of stopping them coming out wide and serving balls into the box.''

Without opponents pressuring the ball, an opponent has too much freedom.

''Nobody likes playing under pressure, with someone in your chest,'' says midfielder Earnie Stewart. ''Just about any national team can look great if they have the time and space.''

Sarachan says, ''Quickness and agility are always nice things to have, but you need an ability to get in on tackles and the timing of heading.''

''There's a lot more to it than being blindly fast or very strong. You have to have the brains to go with it. If you have that combination that's ideal, but at the higher levels you have to be a good thinker and decision-maker.''

Defending requires utter, unwavering concentration. This is one of Regis' faults. He wanders and ball-watches and often lets the play pass right through him.

When challenged from behind by Gianluca Zambrotta near the sideline in a 1-0 loss to Italy, Regis went down easily.

A shrewd defender would have either held his ground or fallen on the ball and held it to prevent a swift attack.

''There are some players in MLS you have to be on top of for 90 minutes, but there are also times you can turn it off a little bit,'' says Pope. ''At the international level you have to be alert every minute, every second.''

THE IDEAL. The necessary ingredients are different for an outside back than for a central defender.

A taller, rangier player, such as Pope or Berhalter, is usually preferred in the middle. Speed and quickness are more critical out on the flanks where roam dangerous dribblers and crafty crossers.

''As an outside back you have the responsibilities to support the midfield and occasionally support the attack,'' says Agoos, a former left back who now plays in the middle for San Jose and the national team. ''You're a jack-of-all-trades. It's a unique position.

''In the middle you're very much more a stereotypical defender. Your primary job is organizing a defense and mostly playing one-on-one against their forwards.''

Good in the air are Pope, Berhalter and Sanneh. Regis and Cherundolo are better on the ground than they are up top yet are often knocked off the ball. Agoos lacks pace yet has experience and toughness and is the best medium-range passer of the bunch.

Pablo Mastroeni has enormous potential but struggled to contain former Fusion teammate Saul Martinez in a 4-0 win over Honduras. Carlos Bocanegra and Richard Mulrooney are capable, inexperienced players of the future. Greg Vanney is another option on the left or in the middle.

STREAKS, GOOD AND BAD. During the Hexagonal the United States hit streaks of strong and weak defending. It conceded only one goal in the first five games then allowed six goals while losing the next three matches to Mexico (1-0), Honduras (3-2) and Costa Rica (2-0).

Two were on the road. In the Washington, D.C., game against Honduras the U.S. changed its tactics by deploying three forwards, which disrupted its defensive scheme severely.

''It was decision-making overload for a few of the guys and we didn't do a good job collectively of defending,'' says Sarachan. ''We were kind of all over the place.''

Playing without most of its European players the U.S. won the Gold Cup earlier this year by posting four shutouts in five matches. A lengthy preparation camp preceded the Gold Cup and the U.S. rode that momentum with shutouts over Ecuador and Honduras in March before the roof collapsed in Rostock.

The U.S. will have five weeks of training and games the World Cup.

''You can tell the difference between a team that plays together for a month, like we did when we won the Gold Cup, and a team that is thrown together for a couple of days,'' says Keller.

The MLS players arrived in Rostock Monday afternoon for a Wednesday night match. Pope flew from the West Coast to east Germany in 24 hours.

''We didn't do a good enough job of competing,'' says Agoos. ''Every individual battle we lost and the 50-50 balls we didn't win enough of.

''I'd much rather play a team like Germany in a friendly than play a team like Kuwait or weaker team and not have our weaknesses exposed. At this point we can go back and fix the problems we have.

''You want to defend not just with four but with seven or eight and when you don't get that support out of the midfield and the forwards it's going to be a long day.''

As it will be in South Korea if the lessons of RFK and Rostock are not learned.

by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney

ground to retrieve balls out of his net served as a sobering reminder of what bad defending can do.

Germany+s 4-2 rout of the United States in Rostock March 27 ended a crisp defensive spell during which the Americans had conceded only two goals in eight matches.

If the U.S. defense isn+t as porous as the Germans made it seem, nor is it as impregnable as the six shutouts recorded in 2002 – prior to the April 3 match with Mexico – might suggest.

-We have good defenders,+ says assistant coach Dave Sarachan. -But a clean sheet is a credit to the entire 11 and not just the goalkeeper and back four.+

In short, the U.S. defense isn+t good enough to stand on its defenders alone.

ELEMENTS OF DEFENDING. To Agoos, captain and defensive leader, the issue of which four play in the back can+t supersede what else must be done.

-You can+t think one guy is going to stop one guy,+ he says. -When you play good team defense, not just with the back four, you+re going to have success.+

Many of the U.S. problems against Germany, as had been the case earlier in three straight Hexagonal losses, stemmed from disorganization, poor midfield play, and a lack of fighting spirit.

-We could have defended better and at times shown more commitment,+ Coach Bruce Arena says. -They won a lot of the battles and in the end they were the better team.+

The Germans+ power in the air was set up by crosses from the flanks. Its relentless breaches of the back line resulted from U.S. midfielders Chris Armas, Eddie Lewis and Earnie Stewart being overrun.

-There were tons of players coming forward and Chris had his hands full with two, sometimes three players,+ says Agoos. -We didn+t do a very good job of stopping them coming out wide and serving balls into the box.+

Without opponents pressuring the ball, an opponent has too much freedom.

-Nobody likes playing under pressure, with someone in your chest,+ says midfielder Earnie Stewart. -Just about any national team can look great if they have the time and space.+

Sarachan says, -Quickness and agility are always nice things to have, but you need an ability to get in on tackles and the timing of heading.+

-There+s a lot more to it than being blindly fast or very strong. You have to have the brains to go with it. If you have that combination that+s ideal, but at the higher levels you have to be a good thinker and decision-maker.+

Defending requires utter, unwavering concentration. This is one of Regis+ faults. He wanders and ball-watches and often lets the play pass right through him.

When challenged from behind by Gianluca Zambrotta near the sideline in a 1-0 loss to Italy, Regis went down easily.

A shrewd defender would have either held his ground or fallen on the ball and held it to prevent a swift attack.

-There are some players in MLS you have to be on top of for 90 minutes, but there are also times you can turn it off a little bit,+ says Pope. -At the international level you have to be alert every minute, every second.+

THE IDEAL. The necessary ingredients are different for an outside back than for a central defender.

A taller, rangier player, such as Pope or Berhalter, is usually preferred in the middle. Speed and quickness are more critical out on the flanks where roam dangerous dribblers and crafty crossers.

-As an outside back you have the responsibilities to support the midfield and occasionally support the attack,+ says Agoos, a former left back who now plays in the middle for San Jose and the national team. -You+re a jack-of-all-trades. It+s a unique position.

-In the middle you+re very much more a stereotypical defender. Your primary job is organizing a defense and mostly playing one-on-one against their forwards.+

Two were on the road. In the Washington, D.C., game against Honduras the U.S. changed its tactics by deploying three forwards, which disrupted its defensive scheme severely.

-It was decision-making overload for a few of the guys and we didn+t do a good job collectively of defending,+ says Sarachan. -We were kind of all over the place.+

The U.S. will have five weeks of training and games the World Cup.

-You can tell the difference between a team that plays together for a month, like we did when we won the Gold Cup, and a team that is thrown together for a couple of days,+ says Keller.

The MLS players arrived in Rostock Monday afternoon for a Wednesday night match. Pope flew from the West Coast to east Germany in 24 hours.

-We didn+t do a good enough job of competing,+ says Agoos. -Every individual battle we lost and the 50-50 balls we didn+t win enough of.

-I+d much rather play a team like Germany in a friendly than play a team like Kuwait or weaker team and not have our weaknesses exposed. At this point we can go back and fix the problems we have.

-You want to defend not just with four but with seven or eight and when you don+t get that support out of the midfield and the forwards it's going to be a long day.''

As it will be in South Korea if the lessons of RFK and Rostock are not learned.

by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney