An Unmarked Man, A Bad Plan, A Canal...Panama

I think maybe too many people pointed to the U.S. being undefeated against Panama in Gold Cup play. Way to jinx it, guys.

Anyway, the obvious storyline is that the central defense played badly in the first half. They certainly did, but there may have been a chain reaction up the field that helped contribute. Part of the reason Panama's forwards were able to give Clarence Goodson and Tim Ream so much trouble was something Kyle Martino pointed out in the broadcast, namely that the midfield was giving up too much space. Jermaine Jones seemed to struggle with this, in particular -- he made some good tackles here and there, but his read of the game seemed off.

Which, in turn, makes me wonder, why yield so much possessions in the center of the field? I have a hunch that Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan (possibly the two players on the team most likely to take Panama lightly) might have been shirking their defensive duties, so both central midfielders would have been more tentative in committing so that Panama couldn't just march up the flanks. I'd have to watch the game again to be sure, and I'm not that kind of masochist.

And through what commentary I've seen on TV and online about the match, I haven't seen anyone point out how badly Goodson blew the offside trap on the first Panama goal. If it was just Carlos Bocanegra stepping with his arm up on the play, I would have thought maybe it was an ill-advised trap, but Ream looked like he was on the same wavelength. Stepping up after the initial effort on a set piece is pretty much standard operating procedure, but Goodson apparently didn't get the memo, and ended up keeping all three Panamanians on. So while his goal was well-taken, it wasn't quite enough to get him out of the doghouse on the night.