US Collapses: is MLS to Blame?

Freddy Adu did not develop well in MLS

We’re constantly hammered with one side of the coin including Sunday at the conclusion of the US-Netherlands match on NBC by Marcelo Balboa: we hear constantly that Major League Soccer is responsible for the US being more competitive in major international tournaments. This theory is so often repeated it has become gospel for many fans of the beautiful game in this country. But is this theory in fact accurate or does their exist another perhaps less pleasant reality? Today I am going to present the other side of this debate, the one which never gets aired in the United States.

Watching Stuart Holden’s repeated mistakes at the end of the US-Netherlands match reminded me how poorly MLS prepares players for major international matches. The giveaways by an otherwise brilliant Sacha Kljestan and the lack of clock management by the US side in general both against Japan and Holland to me showed that unlike the young players in the J-League and the Erevidese, players in MLS never face the kind of intensity and urgency that you face in big international matches. Even the best MLS’ coaches like Dom Kinnear and Steve Nicol cannot simulate situations for their players like the end of both games because they do not exist in Major League Soccer.

Major League Soccer is on one hand very under rated and on another hand highly over rated. From a standpoint of individual players who make up the squads, MLS is under appreciated on the world stage. MLS has several sides that could, based on their players compete in top league in Europe: not compete to win the league but certainly compete to avoid relegation. Contrary to what is bandied about on some other websites, MLS has a few teams that I certainly believe would avoid relegation in the English Premier League. But on another hand MLS is over rated. I watch a lot of football, including during the summer matches from various leagues in Latin America. In every single league I watch, the game is played with more passion and urgency than MLS. This includes so called inferior leagues from the CONCACAF region. In addition, in MLS I see far more bad giveaways late in matches than in any other league I watch. MLS’ managers do not emphasize possession and ball control as much as they should and when those players form the core of your national team you end up with disasters like Sunday’s match. MLS teams and matches do feature more individual flair and skill than just about every Latin American league save Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, however.

Now we also must historically look at the US program to properly debate this subject. A revisionism has developed that the United States was not successful before the advent of MLS. This is patently false. The best result arguably ever for a US squad in a major competition was the semifinal run at Copa America 1995, when none of the US players were in MLS (which began play the following year) and all of them were fighting for playing time in Europe or Mexico. The United States continued to compete well on the international stage but as the players who made the core of that 1995 Copa team drifted back home to MLS, their competitiveness was robbed and we were rewarded with the infamous 1998 World Cup in France.

Fast forward to 2002. Half the core of the US National Team has left MLS and headed to destinations such as Germany and Holland to pursue their club careers. US Soccer has founded a national academy in Bradenton, FL whose first graduating class helped take the United States to the semifinals of the 1999 U-17 World Cup. The best player from that inaugural class, Landon Donovan helped lead the US to the semifinals of the 2000 Olympic Football tournament in Sydney and then became the best young player at World Cup 2002. In that World Cup, the United States made the quarterfinals. MLS got much of the credit as it always does when the US plays well, but what followed the next few years demonstrates why MLS perhaps cannot be trusted with America’s best young talents.

One by one top talents emerged from the Bradenton Academy and signed with MLS: Santino Quaranta, Eddie Johnson, Justin Mapp, Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela, Eddie Gaven, Mike Magee, Chad Marshall, Tim Ward and Quavas Kirk among others. Of the above list none, and I repeat none have reached their full potential sitting in MLS. The cases of Gaven, Quaranta, Marshall and Mapp are particularly frustrating as each of these players seemed to posses so much talent playing for US U-17 teams only to develop bad tendencies and have their game essentially neutered once arriving in MLS. Gaven for instance went from being a dangerous attacking midfielder whose on the ball skill was outstanding for a 17 year old to being hardly serviceable by the time he was 20. He’s bounced back this season but the damage has been done it appears to his game. Chances are Gaven will never be the player we expected him to be. Quaratana as as been well documented has had other off the pitch problems, but no question exists that his potential was largely unrealized in MLS, except for a brief stint when Peter Nowak coached DC United. Chad Marshall entered MLS in 2004 as a lock for the US National Team and helped lead Columbus to a great year. He displayed the same tendencies in MLS that he did with the US U-17 and U-20 teams for which he excelled. Yet much like Gaven and Quaranta as time went on his skills seemed untapped and his game grew unfocused and stale. Now he is simply an average and injury prone MLS player. Justin Mapp is too a serviceable MLS left sided player. But at the U-17 level and coming out of Bradenton he appeared to be on a level higher than DaMarcus Beasley or Bobby Convey was at the same age. Mapp has developed, but not as quickly as many hoped or into the player most hoped. He is now on the fringes of the US player pool. The cases of players Danny Szetela who had played only 18 minutes in MLS during the 2007 seasons before impressing foreign scouts at the 2007 U-20 World Cup and Freddy Adu whose game never really improved in his three plus MLS seasons have also been well documented. The fact that Adu rapidly improved as a player while playing sparingly for less than a season in Portugal after failing to develop at all in MLS while playing regularly speaks volumes as to MLS’ ineffectiveness in developing certain star players. The 2006 World Cup debacle for the US with arguably the most talented side the US had ever taken to a major competition spoke volumes as to how the lack of intensity and player development in MLS had undermined the competitiveness of the US program.

While we keep patting ourselves on the back for the perceived good work of Major League Soccer, nobody seems to want to explain why the United States gets progressively less competitive at every age level of FIFA Competitions. Why is the US usually among the best teams in the world at the U-17 and U-20 levels going back to the mid 1990s, yet less competitive at the U-23 level and hardly competitive on the world stage at the full international level?

What is the solution to this malaise? MLS isn’t going to become more competitive overnight since the passion of the fans and the intensity of rivalries doesn’t exists in this league on the level it does in leagues with admittedly inferior talent. MLS unlike those leagues can never simulate the passion nor the intensity of international football at the highest level. It’s frustrating because the current group of American players competiting in the Olympics could be the third most talented squad in the competition behind Brazil and Argentina. But they have the negative tendencies that they learn at the club level drilled into them which is why they are notoriously slow starters and haven’t played a complete match yet in the tournament. The performances are getting better because the more time they spend with Peter Nowak and Lubos Kubik two accomplished internationals who know what these sorts of competitions are about, their individual brilliance and confidence begins to emerge. But weening international talents completely off of bad habits and negative tendencies learned in MLS is almost impossible. Until MLS becomes more committed to the American player and puts more faith in the American player rather than importing washed up foreign players to replace young American ones, the United States will never reach its full potential as a football playing nation. At a time when the talent level in the United States is reaching its highest level ever, Major League Soccer has a role to play in this growth. But MLS seems committed to a different course entirely, so do not be surprised if the frustrating results for the United States continue.

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A New Day for American Coaches?

Peter Nowak’s decision to adjust his tactics (ironically enough in line with what most American Soccer Spot readers suggested the other day) shows a tactical savvy and willingness to take chances that many American coaches have quite frankly lacked in big competitions. Since the debacle of Steve Sampson 3-6-1 in the 1998 World Cup, American managers have implemented a very basic tactical structure one which is based on counter attacking and generally does not consider the strengths or weaknesses of the upcoming opposition.

In changing his tactics and starting XI immediately before a major tournament Peter Nowak has turned conventional American coaching wisdom on its head. A three point victory later critics across the blogosphere and among some of our best soccer writers are asking why and how did he do it? Many say benching Jozy Altidore whose performances for Nowak’s side have been average at best was risky. Others have stated that moving Mo Edu to center back was silly instead of picking a natural center back, perhaps at an over age level like Danny Califf or Jay DeMerit. I will state on both counts I believe Nowak made the right decision.

Several days ago, I called for Altidore’s benching. This was one of the toughest things I have written since beginning this website. Altidore hails from the town next to me and I have done everything I could to openly support him. But given Jozy’s form which was below average both at the Olympic qualifying tournament and at the ING Cup, he had to be dropped. Most disagreed but that is because of the culture in American Soccer that certain players are untouchable.

The benching will help Altidore long term as he will work hard, as he always does to regain his first team place. It’s not all his fault: the weight of Addidas ads, and the over hyping of an 18 year old by US Soccer including playing for his club, his senior national team, and his youth national team all at once has worn down the youngster as it would to any other human being.

The other big change in Nowak’s setup was to add a fifth midfielder, again a suggestion frequently advocated by your’s truly and our readers. Since the Bruce Arena era I have editorializing the need to make tactical changes before big matches and have time and time again seen the US come out with the same flat approach. That’s why Nowak’s changes were so notable yesterday. By adding a fifth midfielder, the US controlled possession and the flow of the game against a quicker, more attacking oriented and arguably more talented side. Nowak has done something most US National Team coaches have been scared to since Sampson changes blew up in his face: Could this be the dawning of a new more tactical era in US Soccer? One must surely, hope but until then job well done, Peter Nowak!

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US 0-1 Cameroon: Post Match Thoughts

Across the internet I see the panic button being pushed after this match. Sure both the performance and result were not encouraging, but the back line thought to be the weakness of this side when the squad was named over two weeks ago now looks like a rock at the back entering the Olympic Games.

In the opening forty five minutes, Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden were both poor out wide as was Michael Bradley in the middle and Jozy Altidore up top. For all the accolades Altidore has gotten his play with the U-23 team has now failed to live up to the level he established with the U-20, four of the last five times he’s dawned the US jersey. As for Bradley his summer of misery continued with poor passing, bad spacing and clumsy challenges. One such challenge conceded a spot kick which accounted for the only goal in the match. Bradley is becoming more and more dangerous to the US squad everytime he sees the field. This is a far cry from the confident player we saw on the national team level a year ago and the player who tore up the Dutch League this past season. With Bradley, Holden and Kljestan on the pitch the US’ spacing was poor and offensive flow did not exist.

The second half was better thanks to Freddy Adu and Benny Feilhaber. Charlie Davies also looked like he could add some spark either up top or on the right side. As always Brian McBride gave a workmanlike performance and actually may have drawn a penalty that the official ignored. Marvell Wynne, Mo Edu, Michael Parkhurst and Michael Orozco were all outstanding at the back as was both Brad Guzan and Chris Seitz.

Work is left to be done but based on the two friendlies this should be the US lineup.

——————–Guzan—————————-

Wynne———Edu———–Parkhurst————Orozco

——————-Feilhaber————————–

Szetela—————————————–Rogers

———————Adu—————————

————–Altidore——–McBride—————–

Thoughts?

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US 0-0 Ivory Coast: Post Match Thoughts

Let me first apologize for the delinquency of this post. I slept through this morning’s match and then caught the match later on the internet. The match today showed some weakness for the US at the back early in the match playing a 4-4-2, but the team believe it or not caught lightning in a bottle of sorts when Benny Feilhaber entered the match at halftime and helped control the next 15 or 20 minutes of the match. Dax McCarty was also quite good during this period. Danny Szetela played a nice second half as well. At the back Michael Orozco seemed overwhelmed by his responsibilities at left back but Marvell Wynne who represented one of my biggest concerns coming into the tournament looked comfortable at the back and very dangerous when he joined the attack as he did pushing forward late in the first half in a sequence that led to Sacha Kljestan having a shot to score but being denied by the Ivory Coast defense. Freddy Adu was solid creating chances and a penalty shout in the first half around minute 30. The last twenty minutes, Brad Guzan made some nice stops and helped keep the backline organized. All in all not a terrible sign: Solomon Kalou in particular gave the US fits going forward, but the solid play from Guzan denied the Ivory Coast a victory despite a superior performance. The US forwards, Brian McBride and Jozy Altidore, eighteen years apart in age showed some chemistry but also misread and misunderstood each other in a few critical moments. The important thing for Coach Peter Nowak this next week is to continue to build the team unit together.

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Benny Feilhaber: American Theo Walcott

Feilhaber’s Goal sunk Mexico in the Gold Cup Final/SI.com

In the recent history of American Soccer no selection of a player to a major tournament squad has elicited as much controversy and quite frankly anger as last week’s selection by Peter Nowak of Benny Feilhaber to the US Men’s Olympic Team. Feilhaber performance this past year with Derby County was beyond the use of any negative adjective at my disposal and after being cut from the US team prior to the qualify tournament it was believed Feilhaber was out of the mix entirely.

But Nowak’s choice perhaps was not as much of a shock as some people may feel. Feilhaber did make Coach Bob Bradley’s initial squad for the full national team friendlies versus England, Spain and Argentina before pulling out with an injury. Additionally, Feilhaber’s technical skill and game changing ability was on display for all eyes to see last year in the Gold Cup final versus Mexico. The Derby County debacle not withstanding, how many Americans can claim to have played in a champions league match at the Emirates Stadium? Just one, and his name is Benny Feilhaber.

But many (myself included) feel Feilhaber’s selection, especially in light of the last minute addition of a similar but more versatile player, Dax McCarty to the squad is a wasted spot much like Sven Goran Eriksson’s selection of Theo Walcott prior to England’s 2006 World Cup Campaign. What are the views of our readers and listeners? This topic is sure to bring our passions from all corners. (For the record let me state I believe the selection of Feilhaber was a mistake and could be costly for Nowak and the US team.)

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McCarty Replaces Sturgis: Thoughts

Dax McCarty from USSoccer.com

Peter Nowak swapped one Floridian for another as Dax McCarty replaces the injured Nathan Sturgis on the US squad. This leaves Nowak with only four natural defenders on the squad which leaves for Hong Kong and pre Olympic training tomorrow. The swap also gives Nowak more options in the midfield. McCarty and Strugis have both been solid performers for the US youth national teams recently unlike some other choices to the Olympic team, namely Benny Feilhaber. By picking one and not the other for his initial squad, Nowak made room for Feilhaber but essentially cut the number of defenders.

With this in mind should Nowak play a 3-5-2 or 3-2-2-1-2 in the Olympics? Is the 4-4-2 or the 4-5-1 not a feasible option for this side as reconstructed after Sturgis injury?

Here are some ideas:

—————-Guzan——————————-

Edu—————Parkhurst——————Orozco—–
————McCarty————Bradley—————-

Kljestan—————————— Rogers———-

——————-Adu—————————–

———Altidore——————McBride————

Or how about this?

————-Guzan—————————–

—-Edu————-Parkhurst———–Orozco——

————– —Bradley—————————

Szetela———————————–Holden—-

—————Kljestan—-Adu———————

———-Altidore————-McBride————–

If you go with the more defensive look outlined on top Dax McCarty replaces Danny Szetela who has a propensity to give the ball away when pressured and Robbie Rogers replaces Stuart Holden to help stimulate the attack. The lineup on the bottom trusts Michael Bradley to clean up in front of the back line and for Danny Szetela and Stuart Holden to know when they must drop back allowing Bradley to step up and join the attack. Marvell Wynne is the one viable option of the bench on the backline and he is right footed and sometimes gets caught pushing too far forward. Another possibility is to play Stuart Holden at left back and stick play a 4-4-2. If this is done I’d expect Danny Szetela to head to the bench, Marvell Wynne to replace Mo Edu at right back, and Edu to replace Michael Orozco in the lineup and Robbie Rogers to play wide on the left side. That would also effectively make Charlie Davies the only pure attacking option off the bench. Here is how that lineup would look:

———————————Guzan—————————————-

Wynne—————–Edu——————Parkhurst——————-Holden—

———————————Bradley—————————————

Kljestan—————————————————————Rogers—

———————————-Adu—————————————-

——————-Altidore—————–McBride—————————–

Thoughts? What was the point of Benny Felihaber’s selection with any of these tactical alignments?

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US Debacle vs Cuba Worrying

Work commitments precluded me making the short drive to Tampa last night for the first Olympic qualifier. My intent was to provide a press box report of a triumphant US win. However, in this case sitting in front of the TV set gave me all the perspective I needed to make a determination on the state of this team and its coaching staff. Let me first exempt Freddy Adu and Dax McCarty from any and all criticism. It also helped that both of these midfielders were actually playing in the position they are most comfortable with. That was not the case for the remainder of the players on the field last night who were playing out of position or depending heavily on players playing out of position.

The decision by Peter Nowak to cut Arturo Alvarez and Robbie Rogers from the squad has had a malign influence on the teams ability to play an active game using the flanks. Placing two natural strikers, Robbie Findley and Charlie Davies out wide was a foolish experiment gone bad. Kamani Hill looked totally out of sorts on the back line wandering forward too often for a right back but as often as you’d expect a natural attacking player to. Marvell Wynne would be logical right back choice on this roster, but for whatever reason he hasn’t impressed enough in training.

Getting your best XI on the field at a given time is always a dilemma for coaches in this sport. Peter Nowak has obviously opted to play his best XI many of whom are natural attacking players in positions that require defensive responsibility. Blaming players for executing in a situation which doesn’t best utilize their talent and skill level is foolish. Blaming coaches for putting players in a position to fail is at this point becoming counter productive because quite frankly the lack of tactical savvy among coaches in the US is shocking, and a product of a poor system more than the individual coaches like Peter Nowak themselves.. The US is in serious jeopardy of not qualifying for the Olympics yet again. In the last Olympic qualifying the US never performed half as badly as they did last night and yet still failed to qualify. That semifinal run at Sydney 2000 seems like a distant memory right now, as do the 1999 World Youth Championships and the 2002 World Cup. The US Soccer program seems to be treading water and that’s where the blame should lie: at the very top.

A word on Cuba. The entire Cuban national program is improving and last night they played very well after a rough start. In fact until the unfortunate red card, they badly outplayed the Americans, whose dominance of possession and shots on goal like Chelsea at the weekend amounted to little more than playing into the hands of a lesser talented team that had a clear counter attacking strategy. Cuba should have won last night: They deserved to win last night, but couldn’t finish the chance they had to win on the counter and had another chance controversially reversed and result in a sending off.

The US better beware because for all the tough scheduling for the full national team, playing Poland, whose team is vastly under appreciated, England, one of the most talented teams on the planet with a tactical genius now coaching them (maybe he’ll finally teach the English how to play in something other than a flat 4-4-2!), Spain, a classically over hyped team whose Euro qualification quite frankly surprised me, and the mighty Argentina, many CONCACAF nations have figured out how to bottle up the United States while absorbing lots of pressure but taking advantage of the U.S.’ consistent failure to keep its shape. We saw this in the Gold Cup, where despite a US title, the second half of the match against Mexico represented the only good half of football for the United States in the knockout stages. The US beat Panama because of a somewhat dubious PK, and a sending off. Panama still scored a goal down a man. Canada? They beat the US as far as many are concerned. I don’t want to rehash that match but it was a tremendous embarrassment for the national team. So while the US has figured out over the past ten years how to beat a more talented Mexico side, other CONCACAF nations have figured out how to frustrate and potentially beat a more talented US side.

Going forward in Olympic qualifying I’d like to Stuart Holden on the left side of midfield, Sal Zizzo (when he arrives in Tampa; my understanding is he is available on the weekend, but given the reluctance of Hanover to release him, Nowak should have kept at least one additional winger) on the right side of midfield. Dispense with Charlie Davies and Robbie Findley in the midfield and Chad Barrett altogether. Place Marvell Wynne on the right side of the back line and give Maurice Edu the freedom to go forward and allow Dax McCarty to drift back to temporarily cover for him. (McCarty’s size always worries me, but he is a pit bull when fighting for possession) Keep Freddy Adu at the top of the midfield and attack early in games so that possession play in the 2nd half can be oriented towards killing off an opponent rather than desperately seeking a winner like last night. The US can still advance to Nashville but no margin for error exists any longer.

Best and Worst of 2007: US Youth Teams

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Best Performance: The US’ 2-1 victory over the Pato led Brazil squad at the U-20 World Cup in Canada

Biggest Revelation: Sal Zizzo. The UCLA product playing out wide in the US midfield for the U-20s got himself a contract in the Bundesliga with his outstanding World Cup.

Worst Performance: John Hackworth’s U-17 team imploding at the U-17 World Cup

Biggest Dissapointment: Johann Smith and Quavas Kirk injuring themselves right before the U-20 World Cup. This pair could have been the difference in pushing the US to the semifinals and perhaps beyond in Canada.

Best Coaching Job: Wilmer Cabrera. It;’s early in his tenure but the U-17s looked more confident and composed in the Nike Academy matches versus Brazil, Russia and Turkey than at any point in the past two years.

Potential Breakout 2008: Dax McCarty on the U-23 team. He played a solid role coming off the bench with the U-20s and could feature prominently for both FC Dallas in MLS and the U-23s in Olympic qualifying and the Olympics itself.

Friday: Best and worst 2007: US National Team

Saturday: Best and worst of 2007: USL

Sunday: Best and worst of 2007: MLS

Monday: Best and worst of 2007: Yanks Abroad