Hamburg, Germany – Pieces of the U.S. soccer team were scattered around its training headquarters here like so much broken glass Tuesday. Its dream isn’t shattered yet, but how coach Bruce Arena picks up the pieces this week will determine whether the World Cup becomes a major step back for American soccer.
Monday’s 3-0 drubbing by the Czech Republic had Arena criticizing players, blaming himself and vowing – with powerful and confident Italy awaiting – fans will see a different team Saturday.
“Yeah, we will make some changes,” Arena said at Tuesday’s news conference. “I don’t think (after) the result (Monday) night I need to say that 11 is the one we’ll go with again against Italy. It’s obvious we need to make a couple changes.”
He wouldn’t say which ones, but it’s safe to say midfielder DaMarcus Beasley will have a comfortable seat. Arena criticized him Monday for getting “nothing” out of him and could replace him with the injury-plagued John O’Brien, who played the second half, or Clint Dempsey.
Forward Landon Donovan, who did little despite his role as perhaps America’s most dangerous striker, will have a different role at midfield. The changes started at halftime with Arena inserting Eddie Johnson and O’Brien for Colorado Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni and Steve Cherundolo. Later forward Josh Wolff replaced Brian McBride, the team’s all-time leading scorer.
“We could’ve made seven or eight changes, but they only allow three,” Arena said sarcastically.
He said he would talk to Beasley soon. One thing he may mention is he doesn’t blame just him or the players. Arena denied he “called out” players after the game and said he would take responsibility.
“I take all the blame,” he said. “All. You can check all the boxes. Blame it all on me. I accept that. Players play a little role in that, but I’m willing to take the big hit.”
However, Arena struggled when trying to explain what happened. It could have been the same score as Czechoslovakia’s 5-1 win that devastated the U.S. in 1990. In 2006 some U.S. veterans played as cautious as rookies out of the Southeastern Conference.
Only Claudio Reyna had a solid shot on goal, which bounced off the left goalpost in the 28th minute.
“Really, we weren’t dangerous enough,” Arena said. “Some set pieces (free kicks) were poorly executed technically. It’s the worst I’ve seen our team play in a long time.”
It wasn’t just the score. A program that reached the 2002 quarterfinals with a limited fan base played as though the program was in its infancy. The attacking style that made Arena famous and the U.S. competitive internationally was nowhere to be seen.
“I was disappointed at the confidence some players had on the field,” Arena said. “They need to play with confidence to make plays happen. When in reactionary mode, you won’t be successful. We reacted to too many plays instead of anticipating.”
The loss did have some positives, although you would need to carefully watch film to see them. Arena praised midfielder Bobby Convey, in his first World Cup, for “having the courage to attack. Few others did that.” Arena praised Reyna and the defense on Czech star Jan Koller and on Czech’s free kicks.
“Our defense on their set pieces was as good as I’ve ever seen,” he said.
However, this cannot be a confident team. No player appeared at the news conference, but goalkeeper Kasey Keller said after the game in Gelsenkirchen: “We didn’t play well. We didn’t compete. We didn’t make the plays. It was just a shame.”
Arena could sense this was not what they returned to the World Cup to do. Through 12 games in Germany, this was probably the biggest mismatch of the tournament. Arena pointed to 2002 when Poland gave the U.S. a 3-1 thrashing in Game 3, and the U.S. went on to beat Mexico 2-0. But the U.S. entered the Poland game with an upset of Portugal to open the tournament and knew it would advance if South Korea beat Portugal.
This week is different. Italy, which beat Ghana 2-0, is waiting for the U.S. like a vulture hovering over carrion. This is a confident, healthy Italian team that is attacking more than it has in years. It also knows it must win Group E to avoid a round of 16 showdown against favored Brazil.
It will be motivated and confident. The U.S. will be desperate and hopeful. Different, too.
“We’re not going with the 3-0 loss game plan,” Arena said. “We threw that page away after the game.”
John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
