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Tim Howard: USA Needs To Bully Teams More
The next step for the U.S. is to dominate games, says its goalkeeper.
Jul 22, 2010 6:21:00 PM
By Zac Lee Rigg
Having made it to the knockout rounds of the World Cup in two of the last three editions, USA goalkeeper Tim Howard thinks the team now needs to learn how to dominate full games.
Under coach Bob Bradley the United States has excelled at holding a defensive shell and striking out quickly on the counterattack, especially against bigger teams. This method proved especially effective against Spain in the Confederations Cup semifinal and against England in the 2010 World Cup group stages.
Now the team must hold possession and batter teams less talented than it, claims Howard.
“We probably need to, at our best, be more dominant,” the Everton shot-stopper said in an interview with the New York Times when asked where the U.S. needs to improve. “We have a good team with very talented players who play in big leagues and big games. Collectively we need to be able to come together and, in a game like the Ghana game for example, dominate.
“From start to finish, be the team who do the bullying. That takes time, it's a mindset, but we have the ability to do it.”
The Ghana game Howard speaks of was the Round of 16 matchup which the Americans lost in extra time to the last remaining African team.
“We feel good about some of the things we did. We expected to do those things as well, but it is nice to accomplish them,” Howard said. “We're disappointed because Ghana was a game we felt we could win, going in to it we felt this was an opportunity for us to move even further in the World Cup and we didn't do that.
In order to qualify for the knockout rounds, the USA rode an injury-time goal from Landon Donovan to beat Algeria in the last game of the group stages. That win meant the Yanks qualified top of Group C. Howard remembers the goal fondly, especially as a long throw from him instigated the play which led to the game-winning goal.
“It was pretty wide open at that point, the game, really back and forth,” Howard said. “I remember the cross coming over and, once I got the ball and ran forward to throw it to Landon, I had an ocean to throw it in. As pin-point and accurate as the throw was, it wasn't very difficult. Landon, as he does when I get the ball, gets himself in very good spots. As you know, the rest is history. He made the play work.”
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Under coach Bob Bradley the United States has excelled at holding a defensive shell and striking out quickly on the counterattack, especially against bigger teams. This method proved especially effective against Spain in the Confederations Cup semifinal and against England in the 2010 World Cup group stages.
Now the team must hold possession and batter teams less talented than it, claims Howard.
“We probably need to, at our best, be more dominant,” the Everton shot-stopper said in an interview with the New York Times when asked where the U.S. needs to improve. “We have a good team with very talented players who play in big leagues and big games. Collectively we need to be able to come together and, in a game like the Ghana game for example, dominate.
“From start to finish, be the team who do the bullying. That takes time, it's a mindset, but we have the ability to do it.”
The Ghana game Howard speaks of was the Round of 16 matchup which the Americans lost in extra time to the last remaining African team.
“We feel good about some of the things we did. We expected to do those things as well, but it is nice to accomplish them,” Howard said. “We're disappointed because Ghana was a game we felt we could win, going in to it we felt this was an opportunity for us to move even further in the World Cup and we didn't do that.
In order to qualify for the knockout rounds, the USA rode an injury-time goal from Landon Donovan to beat Algeria in the last game of the group stages. That win meant the Yanks qualified top of Group C. Howard remembers the goal fondly, especially as a long throw from him instigated the play which led to the game-winning goal.
“It was pretty wide open at that point, the game, really back and forth,” Howard said. “I remember the cross coming over and, once I got the ball and ran forward to throw it to Landon, I had an ocean to throw it in. As pin-point and accurate as the throw was, it wasn't very difficult. Landon, as he does when I get the ball, gets himself in very good spots. As you know, the rest is history. He made the play work.”
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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