USA 3 - Ecuador 1 Analysis

A nice performance by the USMNT, though the scoreline didn't necessarily reflect the overall performance.

THE GOOD:

Landon Donovan - Obviously Donovan was fantastic today. His goals were all superbly taken, but he contributed in many other ways as well--making really intelligent and timely runs off the ball, tracking back in defense, organizing the US attack. The only real negative was his service from dead ball situations, which was fair at best. One of his best performances.

The New Guys - I'm not saying that Benny Feilhaber and Michael Bradley look ready to play in qualifiers, but I thought they both looked like very cultured, solid footballers in the midfield. Feilhaber looks to have real class--vision and creativity that has more substance than style. Though obviously very skillful, he didn't look for the "Hollywood Ball", but rather kept his head up and sparked several chances with balls into space. In addition, Bradley made an immediate and lasting positive impact, which brings me to...

Bob Bradley's Halftime Adjustment - The US team sorely lacks creative attacking central midfielders, so I'm always sad to see Donovan going up front, especially when our flank players were clearly out-of sorts. But this was more than just replacing a poorly performing Eddie Johnson with Donovan. Brian Ching held up the ball very well, and his old buddy Landon made very smart runs off the his old San Jose teammate. Moreover, Bradley clearly gave his son direction to focus on possession and distribution--making only a few targeted runs into the attack. The result was that the central midfield grew much more solid, possession increased, and Donovan was free to terrorize the Ecuadorian back line. An overall team adjustment that won the game.

I don't want to see Donovan up front every game, but it was the right adjustment for this situation.

Steve Cherundulo -- While the US defense struggled today, Cherundulo kept it all quiet on the Ecuadorian left side.

THE BAD:

Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley - DaMarcus appeared frustrated by the matchup with De La Cruz, who appeared not only stronger than DMB, but easily as fast. However, DaMarcus appeared to improve as the game wore on, and his assist to Donovan on the third goal was inch-perfect.

Dempsey had an industrious, but very poor performance. His footwork seemed pretty solid, but his passing was dreadful. He squandered several opportunities with simply mis-played passes.

THE UGLY:

The US Central Defense -- Onyewu and Conrad looked like the Keystone Cops, especially in the first half. Initially, their line was too high and it was continually breached. Even once they settled in, they were too passive at the point of attack--doing nothing to stand up attackers or close off passing lanes into space. They were always reacting to the fast, skilled Ecuadorian attackers.

In their defense (pardon the pun), Feilhaber was continually lost defensively--standing around while yellow jerseys poured around him. Obviously, he'll learn over time, but you could easily see how the situation improved as Bradley entered the game and provided additional cover for central attacks.

The US Attackers -- While Donovan was very sharp, the other US attacking options played very poorly. Ching had a very good game in several facets, but didn't challenge the goalkeeper enough. Johnson's touch betrayed him. Beasley didn't contribute much, and Dempsey missed an absolute sitter. I'm not even going to talk about Twellman. We still lack an attack consistently able to create chances and forwards who can finish them.

OVERALL:

B- - The Ecuadorian team faded badly in the second half and made us look much better, but there were several bright spots--none less than Donovan playing with such purpose and influence.