United States National Team friendlies often prove little to nothing in regards to the overall quality of the individual players who step onto the field of play. Players may be coming off domestic league ties only two or three days before. Some will be players who struggle to earn first team minutes with their club side. Today's match against Colombia, which took place at Craven Cottage in England, is no different.
Mix Diskerud did play in Rosenborg's final match of the 2014 season. The match took place on November 9th. Diskerud then stepped into the starting line-up for the U.S. today. He promptly became a ghost.
Wearing the #10 shirt, Diskerud rarely touched the ball. He could often be found deferring to Kyle Beckerman. Beckerman played a nice game, one of the few U.S. players who performed well.
Now, Colombia is a very good team and forced the U.S. struggles in almost every aspect of the game. The United States' early 1-0 lead belied the fact that the red, white and blue was outplayed the entire match. Colombia could have won today's match by three or four goals.
If Mix Diskerud had shown up to play today, he would have made a significant difference in the U.S. level of play. Having a #10 be involved as little as Diskerud is a recipe for failure. No rhythm was established. The mistakes the young players were making, both on and off the ball, were not being corrected or minimized by the #10 recognizing their limitations and then adjusting his own play in order to help.
Mix Diskerud is a quality player, he may even be the kind of player who can help out a team like the Columbus Crew Soccer Club. Rumor has it that there is some interest on the part of the Crew. At twenty-four years old, Diskerud is going in the right direction, but adding another central midfielder to the Crew roster, one who scores very few goals and does not have the mindset to improve his teammates play via his own actions, is not what the Crew need right now.
Perhaps, one friendly didn't do Diskerud credit. Maybe he is just what the Crew need. But maybe, just maybe, he is more suited to another team, a team that plays a different style.
No comments:
Post a Comment