[UNDER THE MICROSCOPE] The knee cap tendon that Oguchi Onyewu ruptured back in October has dominated coverage of the U.S. back line, yet hispartner, Jay DeMerit, has rather quietly played two very solid games. The DeMerit-Onyewu pairing in the middle of the U.S. back line is, on paper, an ideal melding of the smaller,quicker defender with a bigger, stronger counterpart. Their personalities are as different as their physiques.
DeMerit’s quickness and tenacity enables him to step forward out of the backline and nick balls away before they reach the intend ed t
Heskey occasionally caused the Americans problems by drifting out of the middle and pulling Onyewu with him.DeMerit would provide cover if possible but also had to keep an eye out for Rooney or someone else making a run into the goalmouth. Rooney dropped back into midfield during much of the second half notonly to escape DeMerit, but also find the ball earlier and more often. After scoring his goal, Gerrard only sporadically got into attacking positions, and not until late in the match did FrankLampard emerge as an offensive force.
Though he’s three inches shorter than Onyewu, DeMerit – honed by many seasons in the English game – is adept at eitherwinning balls in the air or jarring an opponent as they challenge. DeMerit narrowly missed scoring his first U.S. goal with a header from the edge of the penalty area against Slovenia; that’s aplay that draws notice, but more important are the duels he wins in the air or on the ground.
Milijove Novakovic and Zlatan Ljubijankic gave the U.S. backline problems with their movement and interchanging of positions. DeMerit tangled frequently with Ljubijankic; he blocked a cross by the forward near the goal line, and fouled him with a push welloutside the box. In the second half, he knifed into a perfect tackle that stripped Novakovic of the ball as he collected a cross from Andraz Kirm.
Midway through thesecond half against England, Rooney came back into midfield to play a ball for Heskey, and Onyewu’s late arrival resulted in a foul. Nothing came of the free kick from about 30 yards out, yet itis in this part of the field where DeMerit’s aggressiveness can be either a valuable asset or a risk.
In the normal U.S. back line, DeMerit plays the right-central position, betweenOnyewu and right back Steve Cherundolo. While the connection between Onyewu and DeMerit in the middle is often discussed, DeMerit and Cherundolo also need to be in sync to fend offattacks down that flank. If there isn’t support from midfielders, those two defenders are sometimes confronted by two or three attackers in a very critical area of the field.
DeMeritcovers for Cherundolo when he goes forward to produce the runs and crosses that are an important facet of the U.S. attack. While the U.S. defenders are often criticized for lumping too many long ballsforward, such passes are often hit to relieve pressure as much as start attacks. DeMerit has a ready outlet in Cherundolo, who is one of the best U.S. players on the ball, and whichever widemidfielder – Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan – is playing on his side of the field.
On Wednesday, Algeria’s attacking array thatincludes balls played along the ground and combination play will seriously test the ability of DeMerit and his teammates to track patiently and time their tackles and double-teams well. The securityof the back line will depend in part on how wisely DeMerit decides when to step up, and how cleanly he tackles.