United States 2-0 Costa Rica: Ruler Theory

All shapes, sizes and qualities. All too big for some.

The United States Men’s National came out the other end of a scrapping slog against Costa Rica with a 2-0 win earlier today. It certainly wasn’t handed to the U.S. – Costa Rica kicked ‘em a couple times to remind the U.S. they were there to play (nothing malicious, just present) – and they struggled for long stretches of the game to play through a well-organized and well-coordinated defense. The break-through goals came late, though, and that’s the story of this edgy friendly.

One thing, though: I will never get used to Gregg “Both Gs” Berhalter’s fixation on dicking around with the ball in the back. I think I’m starting to get the risk/reward calculus involved – more below – but you saw the ball get tangled in Zac Steffen’s leg that one time in the second half, and I could feel the breath of that Costa Rican attacker on the back of my neck. Anyway…

The win felt good, especially in the sense that it underlined last weekend’s result against Panama, and in more ways than one, but I won’t project much out of it. From what I understand (I was only half-listening, honestly), the U.S. will have all eligible, healthy players available for the two friendlies coming up at the end of March – against Ecuador and against Chile – and those games will hand us all a big enough ruler to accurately measure the machine “Both Gs” Berhalter is building, and the ground underfoot will feel a little firmer after that. All the same, I plan on withholding judgment on the design and elegance of the car we’re driving till after this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Back to the Panama thing, the Americans started just as slowly in this game as they did against Panama, only with the twist of facing Costa Rica, a better team. The Central Americans’ counter was very much on at that point, and they caught the U.S. midfield too far forward a couple times. Their pressure was effective, but also efficient: they built it around positioning, as opposed to scrambling, and they had a player in the pocket of any American when the ball arrived at his feet, plus another player or two nearby foreclosing on available outlets. Yanqui players struggled with this, none more than the Chicago’s Fire’s youngster, Djordje Mihailovic. After impressing around the edges last week against Panama (with his movement, for me), Mihailovic reacted slowly here, and like his head was in different places there, but he coughed up the ball over and over again, and mostly via theft.

You can call it a falling off, but I’m more convinced Djordje’s bad day followed from failing to step up to better competition/sharper circumstances – and that’s exactly what I’m alluding to when I talk about the size of the ruler. I don’t think Mihailovic is ready for the U.S. first team under any circumstances beyond an absolute need for warm bodies – and I’d add Corey Baird, Daniel Lovitz, and (I am biting my tongue as I say this) Jeremy Ebobisse to that list. There are players from the January camp that I would gladly accept as credible first-teamers – more on that later – but, while I wouldn’t hang overmatched on any of them, and none of them outright fucked up, they didn’t contribute anything more than effort today. Maybe Mihailovic and Ebobisse can evolve - and I wouldn’t bet on Lovitz improving, but I wouldn’t bet against it either – but I think Baird has a level, one that’s under Costa Rica in a friendly, but one that will keep him employed professionally.

The U.S. piddled away the first half, maybe even the first 60 minutes, maybe more, figuring out how to change the game. But they did figure it out in the end. That’s what I’m most excited about in both this week’s and last’s performances.

If I had to choose between today’s goals from the U.S., I’d take Sebastian Lletget’s leaping-pogo header – the game winner. It was the build-up that made it, a play that started with an escape from “Berhalter’s Obsession” (i.e., the thing with playing out of the back; this will be a defined term in all future USMNT posts). Once they got the ball past midfield, Wil Trapp pinged a long diagonal to Jonathan Lewis on the left – and here’s the fun part: if you watch Lletget’s run, you can tell he wasn’t sure Lewis really saw him until Lewis’ cross went exactly where it should have. It was that long diagonal from Trapp, though, that I wanted to flag. That outlet only showed up in the second half and, if something I retweeted from the can (what? like you haven’t) a few hours ago is accurate, that opened up because Berhalter had dropped the CDMs deeper and pushed the wings higher. Trapp found Paul Arriola out there a couple times earlier, and Arriola did caused his share of disarray both then, and at other times.

The deeper point, however, is that the U.S. found a way to get around Costa Rica’s defense/pressure. And that was what changed the game. Neither of the post-January camp slow starts bothered me because, on the evidence, the U.S. made adjustments both times to open up options. They learned how to win, and in-game. Even the possibility of that holds promise for a happier future. A team that can adapt in-game has real potential.

As for Arriola’s goal, it was more brave than nice, but it was also damned brave. When Lletget played that ball behind Costa Rica’s defense (and way to hold that run, Arriola!), I went from “he’s not going to get through” through “should he get there?” through “holy shit, don’t get hurt!” to “GOOOAAAOOOOAAALLLLLLLLLLLLUUHLLLLLLLLLL!” inside just over a second. For all I know, Costa Rica’s Esteban Alvarado had the same thoughts, only his ended with “SSSSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!”

I thought Arriola had a genuinely good, whistle-to-whistle outing this afternoon, all the way down to providing a bright spot when the team needed one, but I’m still not sure how I’d feel about him as a first-team U.S. Men’s player. That’s probably down to hoping we’ve got better players for that role among players I haven’t even heard of – and largely due to my basic ignorance of Americans overseas, yes, even Christian Pulisic. Bottom line, though, if Arriola is the best we have, I’ll be fine. I just hope he’s not the best we have because, good as he was against Costa Rica, I’m worried he’ll start to shrink when the ruler gets bigger.

On that, I want to close out on performances and impressions for the Americans who played today. I’d lump a couple of these young Americans in the same boat as Arriola: Cristian Roldan and Gyasi Zardes. Zardes is a weird case, because I get why he started today, but also I don’t. On the one hand, I think he’s the player best-suited to what the U.S. needed today, but, on the other, he is also a very known quantity at this point (e.g., good speed, busts ass, holds the ball well enough, but he’s got a dubious touch and his shooting feels less than international class), so why not give Christian Ramirez the whole game, see what he can do? I say that knowing that Berhalter watches this team a helluva lot more than I ever will and, yeah, he probably built the game-plan around Zardes. Still, and I say this liking the player, if Zardes is the best the U.S. can field…I’m not wild about our chances in the clench. (Did I use that right? Is it important, so long as it sounds right?)

Let’s see…who haven’t I judged yet? Ah, Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long. If I had to choose between which guy to make a first-teamer after this camp, I’d go with Zimmerman. He looked big and strong out there, simple as that, and his head possesses the magnetic omnipresence of Chad Marshall’s, while I rarely saw Long. Then again, you know what they say about the defender you don’t see. In the end, I wouldn’t get bent, never mind out of shape, if either of those players stuck a “real” U.S. roster. I’d want to see how far they can go.

Wil Trapp falls into the same category, by the way, just in a different position. That also feels like a good spot for Lletget, who has looked really good coming in as a substitution in both January camp games. Nick Lima goes in here as well, but at a step higher. Again, I don’t know the U.S. player pool like I used to, but, given how far above he’s looked in both friendlies – and I mean across the board, effort, smarts, technique – I think he put real questions to any of the players hunting for the same job. Lima, along with Zimmerman and Lletget, looked like one of the better players on the field in both friendlies. And those seem like the kind of players you’d take a chance on when building a team for a tournament.

All right. That’s that. I’ll pick up the story the next time the U.S. Men’s team has a confab.