The United States has proudly announced its youth at the World Cup, and with good reason. A brilliant group of young people in their twenties, brimming with talent and fresh in body, ready to be uncorked.
Yeah, all that youthful intent and brave desire is great and all, until it’s not.
History has taught us, and the US result on Saturday served as a stark reminder, that high-pressure experience and high-level tactical knowledge count too.
The Dutch had more of the critical stuff that they carry on the day in the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Much more, as it turns out, advancing to the tournament’s quarterfinals with a comprehensive and fairly comfortable 3-1 win over Gregg Berhalter’s United States.
The Dutch team was clinical in the attack area, generally without problems in defense and almost always with a numerical advantage in midfield.
As such, Louis van Gaal’s composed group never came under serious pressure against the less experienced Americans, who had their chances but simply couldn’t muster the same degree of composure near goal.
The United States and all its youth can certainly be proud of the steps taken in Qatar. Before their role as co-hosts at the upcoming World Cup, Berhalter’s team had already answered the most pressing question; Yes, he was “good enough,” talented and energetic enough to break out of group play, which was always the defining line of US success in Qatar.
But once in the elimination game, it takes more than “good enough.” And it means absolutely not making elementary mistakes: Allowing uncontested crosses, not tracking runners out of midfield, not scoring accurately near the goal and not converting chances inside 18 opponents.
Missed early opportunities for Pulisic, Weah
The first 10 minutes provided great hope for the United States. Christian Pulisic, who is playing through pain, would love to get his first chance back, unable to convert one-on-one against Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert.
Timothy Weah got the next good chance for the US (and there weren’t many against Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake, the best Dutch defenders on Saturday) much later in the first half.
Here again we saw the ruthless lack of intent, that calm determination, which the Dutch attackers displayed so ably twice before halftime.
Memphis Depay’s goal in the 10th minute left the US team down for the first time in Qatar, the Barcelona attacker’s shot capping off a great sequence of passes through midfield.
Also for the first time in Qatar, we saw a bad moment from midfielder Tyler Adams, the eloquent US captain and arguably the best player on the team during the tournament.
He was following the play, unable to recover from being caught out of position.
He was hardly the only American player to make costly mistakes. Twice left-back Antonee Robinson couldn’t avoid Denzel Dumfries’ crosses that turned into well-executed Dutch goals.
Ferreira and Zimmerman start
Of course we can criticize Berhalter’s initial choices. But would anything else have really mattered?
The choice of Jesús Ferreira was indeed a surprise. He was not used to that moment in the World Cup and six weeks after his last kick in a competitive match, he lacked an advantage.
On the other hand, Ferreira was not the only one; while he was guilty of being sloppy with the ball at times, so was Tim Ream. Same for Yunus Musah, Robinson and others.
At the baseline, Walker Zimmerman regained his place ahead of Cameron Carter-Vickers. It was solid and probably the least of the US’s problems at the back.
Robinson was unable to prevent any of his side’s crosses which led to the Dutch’s first-half goals. At the other outside back point, Sergino Dest fell asleep at the wrong moment, allowing Daley Blind to ghost into a good shooting spot in front of goal, crossing for the easy finish on the last shot of the game. First half.
That was one of the moments that showed all that individual ingenuity. So was Haji Wright’s miss in the second half, when a terrifying Dutch pass put him on target, only to take a hard touch and miss the moment.
He made up for it somewhat with a lucky touch in the 76th minute that became his team’s only goal.
Van Gaal wins the tactical battle
Pulisic’s early chance aside, the Dutch game plan was spot on, set to neutralize the best part of the US roster: their highly mobile midfield.
Van Gaal had his team defend with two up front and three along the back line. That put five men in midfield, as those two Dutch forwards funneled the US right into the heart of a man-for-man midfield block.
It reduced the time on the ball in the American midfield and thus their effectiveness. Center backs Ream and Zimmerman were forced to supply the inning balls.
Speaking of Ream: Their defensive effort from close range was cleared in the second half, one of the few times in four games in Qatar that the United States has managed to be effective on set pieces.
That is surely one of the real disappointments of this entire run. (Pulisic is a great player. Of course he is. But the US just needs to find someone better to execute set pieces.)
Wright’s goal gave the US a brief hope, which was mercilessly snuffed out by another terrifying US moment. Robinson was unable to check his shoulder, not even once in several seconds.
No pressure in the middle (first mistake) and Dumphries completely unmarked at the far post (second mistake), that was it.
“Positives” will be taken and the mistake will be regretted. But this Pulisic-led group is undeniably talented. Berhalter did well to build a strong team spirit.
But best of all: the experience gained when the pressure is greatest in international football. We will see in the future if they put it to good use.
Photo credit: IMAGO/ANP
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