By Ridge Mahoney in Hamburg A final rehash of the Gelsenkirchen crunching will serve to examine the various spins put on the proceedings by the principals involved.
Just about everybody but DaMarcus Beasley accepted a share of the blame for timid, sloppy play. Coach Bruce Arena pithily examined the teamÆs shortcomings, singled out a few players for additional blame, yet also ventured into fantasy world a few times.
First, DaMarcus. Given the whole 90 minutes to shake out of a funk enveloping his last few internationals, he instead utterly failed to beat opponents one-on-one or get into threatening positions. He did track back a couple of times in the second half to win tackles.
His postgame comments featured complaints about playing right back û he did drop back in the 3-5-2 formation deployed by Arena in the second half — and questioned what the coach wanted him to do. Well, ôplay soccerö would be high on the list, and Beasley seldom did.
The stat sheet said Bobby Convey delivered nine crosses, although only maybe one or two werenÆt easily gobbled up by keeper Peter Cech or launched out of danger by his defenders. He did try to beat opponents one-v-one and the one time he did nothing came of it.
Still, that was one more time he beat defenders than Beasley did. Convey thought he should have seen more of the ball, especially in the second half, when the five-man U.S. midfield at least had equal numbers. But the Czechs, secure in the lead, shifted effectively as the ball moved, which made the sight of Convey waving frantically for the ball way out on the touchline somewhat comical. By the time the ball got to him, the Czechs had usually adjusted. And BeasleyÆs ineffectiveness on the opposite flank meant the Czechs were much quicker to close down Convey and Landon Donovan.
And, of course, the Czechs were content to let Convey flounder out wide, as they had superior numbers in the box and dealt with most of the crosses easily.
Arena lambasted Kasey Keller for booting the ball upfield prior to the first Czech goal, and itÆs true KellerÆs distribution has been an issue for years. But heÆs been more prone to throw the ball to teammates rather than hoofing it since leaving Tottenham for Moenchengladbach two years ago; on this night, very seldom were teammates open to receive his tosses.
And on that goal, his kick went well into the Czech half, and was touched several times before Thomas Grygera drove the cross that Jan Koller powered into the net. DonÆt blame the keeper for sluggish reactions by the field players who watched opponents and the ball zip past them.
So dire is the U.S. situation that Arena stated he believed the Italians will be happy with three points already in the bank and could be content to take just a point out of SaturdayÆs game. Yeah, sure, and what forces is he counting on to guarantee Ghana takes at least a point off the Czechs in a game that kicks off three hours prior to USA-Italy?
Otherwise, if Italy ties and the Czechs win, the Italians would be going into a final-game showdown with the Czechs two points behind knowing only a win will earn first place and thus avoid a (likely) round-of-16 showdown with Brazil. Of course, maybe Arena believes those same forces would unerringly propel Marcello Lippi and the Italians to a win over the Czechs and first place in the group, so a point in Kaiserslautern would be enough.
ThatÆs too many forces and spins to contemplate.