re: Jermaine Jones passing the ball, WTF?

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he was the direct cause of about 5-6 turnovers that lead to direct chances

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That's probably pushing it.

Maybe 3-4. One was an unfortunate interchange with Bradley where he played a quick, short pass slightly behind Bradley and the ball somehow ricocheted directly to a Turkish player behind him. He had another where Besler just kind of stared at him after Jones knocked the ball down and Besler was in a much better position to clear the ball.

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Ghana is going to expose our back four if he gives them as much open space as he gave yesterday.

There were multiple times when he wasn't sure if he should close down on the ball or man an attacker so he choose instead to do neither and become a spectator.

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But the main issue came in the middle of the field, where lone defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones was outnumbered 2-to-1. And with no defensive pressure on the Turkish midfielders, the visitors easily played their way through to the US penalty area.

After the USA's opening goal in the 26th minute, Jones says he took advantage of the break in the game to talk to Klinsmann about making some tactical changes.

"I was telling him that we have to drop one back and that [forward] Clint [Dempsey] had to go on [Turkey's deep playmaker Nuri Sahin] and that [US attacking midfielder] Michael [Bradley] had to come back a little bit. If we didn’t do it, I would always be two against one.”

But the changes suggested by Jones didn't take effect until the team went into the halftime locker to talk it over.

"What we needed to do earlier there is to drop Michael Bradley beside [Jones] to make it defensively a flat four and use the diamond going forward," acknowledged Klinsmann, echoing Jones's thoughts. "And so we corrected that at halftime and it then looked better. Even Clint [Dempsey] dropped a little bit more to look after Sahin, the No. 10, and it looked better."

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LINK

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But the main issue came in the middle of the field, where lone defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones was outnumbered 2-to-1.

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But instead of marking anyone he stood there and looked like a deer in headlights at times. He also made questionable decisions when he clearly was not "outnumbered 2-to-1". See my previous link to theshinguardian.com for one such situation.

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Why not just go back to the 4231 then?

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This is a valid question. It will be interesting to see what formation they roll out against Nigeria.

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We haven't been more creative, we haven't created more chances, Jozy still hasn't scored, and I'm not sure Clint has even had a shot.

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We created a lot of chances yesterday. If you're talking about the Azerbaijan game, it was a joke and a waste of our time and should not be used to argue for or against our strategy. We won't play anyone who puts 11 guys behind the ball in the World Cup.

Clint scored a goal yesterday and had 3 or 4 shots including some quality chances. Jozy was very good yesterday. He did everything you would want him to do outside of being a bit more aggressive in creating his shot in the box. He could have had 3 assists if Bradley, Dempsey and Diskerud finish.

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First send Yedlin home with a plane ticket for Donovan.

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That's silly. They're not the same position.

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That's silly. They're not the same position.

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We have more than enough defenders (some who dont belong defending in a WC) and not enough capable midfielders

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Even if Jones was "in position," Turkey has even numbers. That's a systemic problem, not a Jermaine Jones problem. I question his decision making from 42:50, but I'm not really sure why Brad Davis(?) didn't tuck behind him at 42:41. A "diamond" formation isn't supposed to involve a "CDM" who does absolutely fricking everything defensively.

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They don't have even numbers at 42:41 and Jones is too far up field. 42:50, as you said, is a cluster frick but he's effectively doing nothing. At 42:52 he's moving forward instead of getting back? WTF? I mean he doesn't have to do "everything" defensively, but he has to do something.

The highlights don't really show much in terms of the actual run of play, but check out 1:00 and 1:20. Both are just head scratchers for me.

USA Highlights

Think I counted the linesman. I still can't figure out where everyone is

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At 42:52 he's moving forward instead of getting back? WTF?

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Foolish, yes. Why no one is even really attempting to track back is beyond me.

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I mean he doesn't have to do "everything" defensively, but he has to do something.

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Sure, but we're all over the place in those series of screenshots. There were plenty of times where we were similarly all over the place, and he did something about it

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but check out 1:00 and 1:20. Both are just head scratchers for me.

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Yes, I remember both of them and even incorrectly referenced one of the incidents in my first post. He didn't really acquit himself well, but he pulled out of a tackle to avoid conceding a penalty and had trouble controlling a ball. There's a lot going on in both situations beyond Jermaine Jones, too

I would drop Green for Donovan in a heartbeat.

I don't think we can do a 4-2-3-1. We just don't have enough offense there. Jozy needs someone up top with him for multiple reasons I don't feel like rehashing here.

I would be ok with a 4-4-2. Diamond in the attack, but a flat formation on defense. Let Bradley play his box to box role and have JJ stay back. Keep our width.

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Then you are gonna ask your CAM to get back and play CDM on defense, but manage the attack once we get possession?

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It was a generic 4-4-2 where Bradley had near exclusive license and was encouraged to get forward. He wasn't teleporting, or anything

And has 2 functioning feet on the ball