USMNT, JK-"Lol"

   The United States men's national team hosted and lost to Costa Rica Friday night at the Red bulls arena. The usmnt team currently sits 3rd in the CONCACAF hexagonal table and the last automatic spot for the 2018 world cup in Russia. I still see the US qualifying for Russia by finishing third. If the US finishes fourth, their path to Russia becomes a bit more exciting. The US will be forced to play a nation from the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) in two games-home and away- in  order to qualify for the world cup. If finishing forth isn't exciting enough no need to worry, a possible opponent for the US could be Syria! But, that's living in the "what if" realm. What should be discussed is what happened in the 2-0 defeat to Costa Rica.

  The US team wasn't as disappointing as the 2-0 result suggests to those who go simply by the score. The US created chances early on and pressured Los Ticos on their final third, but that allowed for the US to be exposed on the counter-which the Los Ticos did-and fell behind 1-0. The US had no other option but to attack which created the same scenario for the second goal to occur, which it did, in the later minutes of the match. The US team still can't manage to control a match with possession of the ball. They lose it too often which disrupts any real momentum. I would describe the US style of play as counter attacking, but with possession. Which sounds silly, I know, but it describes the current style the US has. The two weakest links for the US were at left back and one of the centerbacks. The US has a history of somehow never finding a player that could play that position well and constantly. Jorge Villafana is the current player tasked for the job and is being overwhelmed by the burden. Decision making is off or too slow, as well as his runs, even with advantage position and possession, when he goes on a run he constantly loses it by being too slow and putting the ball too far ahead or just simply losing the ball to his opponent. On the defensive end Villafana is average at best. Fabian Johnson was quiet as well at the left midfield position. But, based on the players past performances one could judge that the left back hindered any positive play for the player ahead of him. Tim Ream looked awful at centerback. His play looked too casual without any real grit or intensity paired with a few poor decisions that could have added to the deficit. Bruce Arena should see that Ream is a national level player, let alone a starter. Arena would be wise if he were to call up Matt Miazga and give the 22 year old defender a chance to prove himself instead of waiting for him to turn 29 and have him realize he is a Tim Ream. The US will qualify for the world cup, but that doesn't mean there isn't much to improve upon-there is plenty, especially if the US wants to be competitive among the world's best.