target2019
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
First touch is so important. Much of the competition has it, and the US seems at times to be high-schoolers. One long ball from the back field. Try to receive the ball and take on every opponent in your path. Lose ball and repeat.Yes, I was thinking "creative" like Dempsey is creative. Dempsey played all but about 40 minutes of this tournament out of position, IMO.
Biggest issue I noticed for most of regulation was the difference in first touch by Belgium vs. those by the US. Belgium controlled the ball because they rarely mishit the first touch. The US couldn't settle the ball to save their lives in regulation. It got better later as they seemed to stop thinking about it once they were down 1-0.
I think the team has gone as far as possible. It was nice to win a game, and see the others end in a competitive way.