Just finished watching the US game. My random, assorted thoughts:
- MOTM: Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo - might be going a bit off the grid here, but I think they did a tremendous job. They both really showed their experience and class today. Cherundolo effectively neutralized Ribery and took him out of the game...really a great 1v1 night for him.
- Tim Howard had a solid game, a number of nice saves. That one save on the free kick was insane. Nothing out of the ordinary for him.
- I like Timmy Chandler, but wow, he was abysmal (IMO) tonight. Caught out of position on multiple French chances (he allowed Benzema to get behind him for a great chance and was in no-man's land on the Remy goal). Offensively, he just looked out of his element, gave the ball away way too much, too little composure. Bleh. Hopefully just an off-night for him.
- Edu and Beckerman sure faded fast, eh? I thought they were fantastic for the first 30 minutes or so, but really sorta faded away and I'm not sure why. Edu was dispossessed too easily and too often in the central midfield, and Beckerman just wasn't involved enough. That may be due to his deep-lying role, though.
- Not sure how I feel about Danny Williams. I saw some play that I liked and some that I didn't like. My jury verdict is still out.
- Altidore had a great game, and I LOVED how well he was holding up play. He finally looked like a target player, dare I say that he reminded me of Brian Ching a lot today....hopefully he can translate that into some goal-scoring. He really just looks like he's got a ton of confidence and looks to be in the best shape in years.
- There really just appears to be a lack of cohesion offensively. I don't know if this is due to the team missing Donovan or what. Dempsey was trying to do waaaaaaaay too much by himself tonight, and overlooked a number of good, simple passes in favor of 1v1 attacks that didn't work. It looked like the French made him a target tonight and tried to take him out of the game, and I think it worked.
- Overall I don't think it was a markedly poor performance, it just looked like a disorganized (offensively) one. Defensively, the team looks better-organized than I can ever remember; prior USMNT teams would've been down 1-0 within 15 minutes against a team like this. But Klinsmann's gotta do something to score some goals. I realize some of that is on the players, but Jozy isn't the kind of player who can sit up top and poach some goals at this point in his career and Dempsey almost looks like he doesn't trust him.
Nice.

I don't know if I mentioned that I missed the first half, so I can only comment on the 2nd.
I really hope Bocanegra has the legs to make it to 2014- the defense noticeably withers without him in there- usually by way of poor spacing between the 4 backs allowing large and easy gaps for the opposition to get behind.
Chandler seemed off- his work with the ball wasn't what we've gotten used to with him. I wonder if France was just putting more and faster pressure on them, which put the spotlight on players' deficiencies? With so little first team experience, maybe Chandler just hasn't gotten up to the pace of top pros yet? Same seemed to be true of Williams, who I really liked seeing live vs Ecuador- where he seemed to understand the runs of the forwards and what ball would best utilize them... combined very well with both the forwards and MF then and seemed to defend well too. Looked kinda lost vs France though and wasn't hooking up with anybody really.
Edu and Beckerman... also seemed off the pace of the game. We know that already about Kyle, who just lacks the step to keep up with his, IMO, superior tactical sense and vision. But Beckerman will only
lose pace as he ages- I would really like see other players tried out in there instead of him as WCQ approaches; Benny, Jones, hopefully Holden... any others? Edu... I'd have to look back, but I think he plays at his best combined with MB- haven't thought about why. I have noticed a trend with him though- he seems to be trying more offensively lately, and failing more- lots of errant passes and getting stripped in possession. Maybe it's good long term that he's trying, just to build the experience? Given that he's getting regular minutes for Rangers, I'd think he'd already be there though.
Yeah- Altidore has been looking better and better playing up top by himself. His abilities to find the runs, hold the ball and turn have been improving every year- but noticably more now that he's getting regular PT. I still think I've seen him at his best in combination with another forward (Davies, not Agudelo) or MF running closely off him (LD more than Deuce... although that was a nice backheel to free him up). If he's up there by himself, the team HAS TO commit at least two MFs (one for support, and one for the 2nd pass) to help him or we'll continue to see him isolated and the US attack stagnate.
Totally agree about the lack of cohesion going forward. Not sure if this is due to formation or personnel, but the MF has just not consistently linked well between the back four and the especially the forward(s). I'd still like to see one of the central MFs pushed higher up- not sure if this is a product of players being pushed back by necessity against strong opposition or some predefined by JK, but the flat 2 central MFs under Bradley was a weakness, IMO and seems to be continuing under JK. A higher central MF would provide better spacing to provide the support I just mentioned that Jozy needs LD definitely gives the team it's best solution, personnel-wise and allows Dempsey more room to do the things he does- and his absence brings the attacking level of the team down a notch for sure.
And yeah- JK has to get his team doing something to score more goals... but more importantly to me- they need to just be
creating the opportunities to score the goals. I'm amazed- given JK's edict of playing possession/attacking soccer- that the US has created so few chances under his leadership. Again- given what JK said he was trying to do, I'd be happier with the US giving up more goals and losing by trying to get forward more. But that hasn't happened and so far I'm disappointed and beginning to lose patience. But there's still time and I genuinely hope to see improvements in the attack over the next months before WCQ begin.