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MOTD: United States 2-1 Panama

By on February 8, 2015

While the construction of the StubHub Center’s new JumboTron loomed large in the background, the construction process being played out on the pitch wasn’t quite as straightforward an operation. For while Jurgen Klinsmann’s redesign of US Soccer took yet another step, it’s unclear in which direction.  Despite the buildup of the 3-5-2 formation, that project was put on a temporary pause, and DeAndre Yedlin worryingly walked off injured from the aftermath of a terrible challenge, all while debutants Gyasi Zardes and Miguel Ibarra put in promising performances.

The “big shots”, as Jurgen Klinsmann referred to the US’ senior players, having rejoined the squad, this match had an almost entirely different atmosphere than that of the US’ recent loss to Chile, and Michael Bradley offered a reassuring reminder of his skill, highlighted with a brilliant Olimpico goal straight from the corner spot. Clint Dempsey later added icing to the cake with another goal.  Without many tactical or personnel experiments, considering the eighteen players Klinsmann has given debuts in the US’ past six matches, it seemed like Klinsmann purposely set up his squad to reassure with a clean result.  Patience for experimenting had rather run thin after the Chile loss.  Indeed, such was the storyline that the only similarity between the JumboTron and USMNT construction processes is that they both have a hard deadline — for the video board, it’s the LA Galaxy’s MLS opener and for Klinsmann’s project, the 2018 World Cup.

The theme of the night, then, was simply reassurance.  Questions had been asked and Klinsmann returned them with a positive answer, as the result suggests, albeit one still in need of improvement. Mix Diskerud was largely ineffective while a sloppy opening also backed Klinsmann’s complaints concerning his side’s match fitness levels. Not that the US were slow – in fact, some of their best chances, including Dempsey’s goals, came from quick breaks maximizing Ibarra and Zardes’ pace after the US caught Panama napping. Yet Yedlin misplaced multiple passes early on, and Nick Rimando’s poor pass to Matt Besler launched a sequence of plays in which the latter slipped, putting Panama two-on-one with Rimando, where only a ridiculously poor finish from FC Dallas’ Blas Perez denied Panama a goal. For the most part, though, the US’ back four in their 4-2-3-1 held up and Panama finished the match with just one shot on target.

At the opposite end of the pitch the US were outstanding, with Bradley spraying wonderful balls across the park that often found the feet of Ibarra, Zardes, and Altidore. On set plays, the US dominated Panama and LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, posting multiple players around the goalkeeper on corners.  Even before Bradley’s incredible Olimpico goal twenty-seven minutes in, in which the midfielder’s in-swinger just tucked itself into the top corner if the far post, Panama cleared another similar near post corner off the line right in the midst of the confusion.

In open play, the US were bright on the break, and thirty-six minutes in they all but sealed the win on in just such a style. Zardes won the ball in the middle and brought it up the pitch, tucking a lovely through-ball right into the run of Dempsey, who took it around Penedo before poking it home. Worryingly, substitute Chris Wondolowski scuffed a late second half chance — offering reminders of his infamous miss against Belgium in last summer’s World Cup — yet he too hasn’t played a competitive match since the end of the MLS regular season in October. Jermaine Jones’ free header from Bradley’s crossed free-kick fifty-nine minutes in also forced Penedo into action, but multiple late substitute debuts from the US, including that of full-back Harry Kitchen, failed to cook up much more excitement.
Man of the Match: Gyasi Zardes

Photo credit: Steindy on Wikipedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.