USA Grabs Turkey by the Legs

Jun 1, 2014; Harrison, NJ, USA; United States defender Fabian Johnson celebrates after scoring a goal against Turkey during the first half of their international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

After a sloppy 3-0 victory against Azerbaijan, USA finally put on a solid showing against Turkey with a 2-0 victory in front of their home crowd at Red Bull Arena. In preparation for the likes of Portugal and Germany, USA had to execute their offense via counterattack. In the 4-4-2 diamond formation, USA found great chances off the counterattack, at the cost of having to survive the barrage of dangerous passes from Selcuk Inan and Nuri Sahin and push for a perfect opportunity.

In the 26th minute, right-back Fabian Johnson got the Yanks on the scoresheet with his first goal on the USA national team. Johnson played a pass to Michael Bradley 10 meters outside the box, and then darted towards the middle. With one touch, Bradley played a through ball to Johnson who was rushing in box who only needed one touch to find the back of the net.

In the 51st minute, Hakan Balta gift-wrapped an easy goal to Clint Dempsey after misplaying Brad Davis’ cross from the left side. The cross deflected off of Balta’s foot and came right to Dempsey who was standing in front of the net to make it 2-0.

However, USA’s cleansheet was short lived after Geoff Cameron blocked Mustafa Pektemek’s shot with his left hand, giving Turkey a penalty. Galatasaray’s Selcuk Inan knocked the ball to the left to cut USA’s lead in half.

Although the Yanks found cohesion in playing the counterattack in their 4-4-2 diamond formation, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann still has some work to do in finding the perfect starting XI.

Tweets of the Match

Notes and Analysis

– Although Jermaine Jones is highly regarded by Klinsmann, the Besiktas defensive midfielder shouldn’t be starting for the Yanks due to his lack of cohesiveness with playmaker Michael Bradley. Kyle Beckerman did his best to be the steel fence that USA needed in front of their defense and has shown better chemistry with Bradley. While Jermaine Jones likes to play the ball and get involved with the attack, USA does not need that type of production from Jones. Beckerman on the otherhand is more disciplined and love to focus on searching and destroying the opposing attack. Beckerman must start.

– Jozy Altidore did not score today, but he looked more confident than he has in the Azerbaijan match. It’s a matter of time (God knows when) until Altidore breaks out of the slump, but today used his physicality to box out defenders and win the ball at crucial areas in the box. His presence was made known today.

– Julien Green made his second appearance for the Yanks in the 64th minute and made one solid run at goal. Aside from that play, Green has failed to make a major impact and looked nervous during the match. He is the future and we’ve seen glimpses of what he’s capable of, but this World Cup is definitely not the time for him to shine.

– If there’s a finger to point for Turkey’s penalty, it’s not Geoff Cameron and his hand. The blame goes to Timothy Chandler who looked lost and failed to mark Mustafa Pektemek. Chandler doesn’t seem to be the answer at left-back that US is looking for.

– The backline did a passable job against Turkey and the pairing of Besler and Cameron looked solid; however, the performance could be taken with a grain of salt. Turkey does boast a great collection of individual talent, but they don’t have the dynamic and cohesion that makes Germany and Portugal (to a degree) a dangerous team. Moreover, Turkey was without their star player, Arda Turan.

– USA looked more impressive in this win, but they weren’t convincing enough to look like a team that can upset the Group of Death. They have one more friendly against Nigeria this upcoming Saturday before heading off to Brazil.