Best quote of the night: "Job done."
Dempsey was Man of the Match, easily. EJ on the wings is like a taller, stronger Demarcus Beasley-which is a beautiful thing. Johnson still shows problems with first-touch control, but his assist tonight was abandoning his weakness and going with a one-touch pass. Eddie's willingness to be aggressive and take on defenders is a characteristic sorely needed on this team. Bradley was solid and always seemed to be pressing forward. Zusi did well, providing service that was better than expected. Williams had an uneventful night, which is not altogether bad considering his limited experience. Timmy was surprisingly mediocre and the back four have problems. On the conceded goal, one defender was moving forward to play the offside trap while the other was retreating.
Very, very happy with Jurgen's tactics and how well Gomez played within that system. Let me explain: Tonight the MNT finally played a progressive style of soccer and may have found that missing identity in the "false number 9" tactic. They played more of a 4-6-0 system that Spain utilized in Euro 2012. I know Herculez and Duece are labeled as forwards, but neither is a hold-the-ball Center Forward. Other than set pieces, Dempsey has always been effective coming in late as an Attacking Mid and Gomez just seems more comfortable playing wide.
A number of fans have been pulling out hair at the inability to find someone up top who can be counted on consistently. Add to that, the inability to provide service for the forwards has been hindering the National team for the last decade or more. Credit Klinsmann for finding a style that accentuates the talent the MNT have now and abandon tactics that just show their weakness.
I've always believed a strong defense should be the highest priority with any soccer team, but Jurgen seems to be completely convinced that the opposite is true. His pre-game quotes were all about, "We don't want a tie", "moving the ball forward constantly", and "We want to win." Even his half-time answers to questions were about getting the next goal. JK seems to finally be getting his philosophy through to the players - with this squad, the best defense is a good offense... and it can be done without a traditional tactic or style of forward.
