There has been a lot of anger directed against Ricardo Clark for giving up that ball to Kevin Prince Boateng. He was guilty as charged.
But he is not the cause nor the solution to this problem that has dogged the team from the very outset. A “collective asleep on the wheel” in the early minutes.
Group stage:
- England vs USA: 12th June, 2010
4th minute: A quick throw down the right and Lampard works the ball over to Emile Heskey. The Aston Villa man flicks the ball past Jay De Merit. No one picks up Steven Gerrard cutting from the weak side. Gerrard toe pokes the ball past Tim Howard for a shockingly early goal. The US falls behind.
Ricardo Clark starts this match.
- Slovenia vs USA: 18th June, 2010
13th minute: Valter Birsa collects the ball 25 yards in front of the US goal and with no one closing him down is given ample time to let go a cracking left footed shot that beats Tim Howard. Again no one closes him down. The US falls behind.
Francisco Torres starts in place of Clark.
- Algeria vs USA: 23rd June, 2010
6th minute: A long ball from the Algerian midfield finds Jay De Merit failing to deal with the ball effectively and it bounces in front of Rafik Djebbour. His shot luckily rattles off the crossbar. A close call and the US again nearly falls behind.
Maurice Edu starts in place of Clark.
Round of 16:
- Ghana vs USA: 26th June 2010
5th minute: Ricardo Clark starting in place of Maurice Edu has his pocket picked by Kevin Prince Boateng who given yards to run unchecked unleashes a left footed grounder to the near post which should have posed no problems to a known shotstopper like Howard. But the ball goes under him. The US falls behind.
Bradley substitutes Clark for Edu in the 30th minute.
Extra time:
3rd minute ET: A long ball from the Ghanaian midfield finds Carlos Bocanegra weakly head the ball into an inviting spot for Asamoah Gyan who bulls his way through, shrugging of both Bocanegra and Jay De Merit. A fantastic piece of individual effort for his goal. The US falls behind.
There is a pattern no matter who the individual. The USA is most vulnerable in the first 15 -20 minutes before introducing some coherence at both ends. Not just on defense but on attack. Ricardo Clark should not have been there for a tactical reason. He slowed down the midfield. But the goals given up elsewhere show that this was a larger problem than one individual.
Not once did the USA score first and give the other team a lead to chase. Against Ghana, a much more physical team with individually talented players unafraid to take on the USA one on one, this approach was going to be doomed.
The US is a collective – there are some individually talented players but their strength is teamwork. That quick passing game that stretches out the defense should not be left as a second half phenomenon or to catch up on the score. It should be present right from the start to put pressure and let the other team do the heavy lifting.