Should the Deuce Be Cut Loose?

The lone American goal scorer from World Cup 2006 now has consistently played so poorly for the national team if the opponent is not Barbados, that his presence seems to actually help stagnate the side. Dempsey’s last good performance for the National Team against a decent opponent was last October in Switzerland. At the time “the Deuce” was on a nice run for Fulham, his club side and was playing with lots of confidence.

A combination of a managerial change at Fulham (A switch from Lawrie Sanchez who had a lot of faith in Dempsey to the old school Roy Hodgson) the relegation fight the Cottagers found themselves in and the need to help carry the US woeful run of play attack seemed to be too much for Dempsey to handle. He has now looked tired and disinterested on consistent basis in the last several months.

Bruce Arena seemed to have a philosophy as national team manager that if you were playing well with your club you would at the very least be called into national team camp. Bob Bradley on the other hand has proven to value the continuity of his squad selection above all, essentially narrowing his player pool down to 25-28 players and picking about 20 for each match from that group. Is this a good philosophy and is it smart to continue to pick out of players like Dempsey and Eddie Johnson over players in form? Or is it wise to keep as many familiar faces on the team, given the limited training time the national team has together? One thing is for sure: Dempsey’s play would have earned him a benching by now under Arena. But Bradley seems to manage his players differently even if his tactics are somewhat similar.

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The Great Escape: American Grit

Pundits around Britain will no doubt be discussing Fulham’s great escape in the upcoming weeks. Seemingly dead, the London side strung together some improbable results, particularly away from Craven Cottage to escape relegation on goal difference. Was it Jimmy Bullard’s return from injury, the timely striking of Dionmansy Kamara or even the managing of Roy Hodgson, a man left on the dust bin of British football but one of the few English managers of the last 15 years to really make it outside of the U.K? Truth is it was all of the above and something more: American Grit.

Fulham is after all the closet thing we have ever had or will ever have to an “American team” in Europe. The Cottagers have now for years been buying players from MLS, and for years have done enough with what they had to avoid relegation. It all started in 1999 when Fulham bought Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis from MLS in a push to move to the Premier League. The side had just been promoted to the old first division at the time. Lewis stayed with the team until they were finally promoted in 2001 to the Premier League, and that was the start of Fulham’s now eight year run in the top flight. Since then the club unlike many in Europe has not hesitated to scout and ultimately purchase American players from MLS clubs.

That’s why despite downplaying the significance of Fulham’s survival effort several months ago, I have felt the last few weeks Fulham had to escape relegation to keep going any positive momentum the US has created perception wise in Europe. Fulham’s failure could easily be pinned on its American contingent. Today Fulham’s success can just as easily be credited to the character of its American legion, led by none other than arguably the greatest and most important footballer our nation has ever produced, Goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Keller hasn’t played for the most glamorous clubs or for the most titles. In fact Keller has never once played in a Champions League match. However, he is as I have stated repeatedly before, perhaps the best keeper I have ever seen and if I had to pick a stopper for any odd one off match it would be him, even 38. He’s a keeper that has played at smaller clubs and excelled at those clubs. Four of the clubs Keller played keeper at are now in lower divisions than when he minded their nets. That’s how important he has always been to the teams he has played for. Keller is one of the great goalkeepers internationally of the last fifteen years. No greater star than Romario was so dazzled by Keller’s performance against Brazil in 1998 that he actually said “it was truly an honor to be on the field with him.”

Brian McBride also a gritty veteran, now going on 36 is equally significant to Fulham’s great escape. McBride was always to me a bit of a mystery. Why was a guy who was so critical and outstanding for the US National Team, also so average and injury prone at times in MLS? It seemed McBride’s injury problems hurt him in MLS but also seem to have ironically lengthened his career once he went back abroad. (McBride played in Germany for another American loving club, Wolfsburg before MLS began play in 1996.) McBride’s game changing ability has faded but his leadership and grit are as sharp as ever. McBride retired from the US National Team two years ago, but it deserves mentioning that he is still the second best active American field player (behind Landon Donovan). That is a credit to McBride and a damning indictment of the state of the US National Team’s current talent pool.

The rest of the American contingent at Fulham demonstrate why I firmly believe that the United States is in a dip on the international scene until the generation led by Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley and Robbie Rogers takes charge of the national team. Clint Dempsey is a player whose spirit and story I love and is uniquely American. But Dempsey is a limited player who often times disappears for long stretches in matches. That was the case in MLS and has been the case at Fulham.

Carlos Bocanegra’s club career is clearly in a tailspin. Bocanegra who has the distinction of being the only American player ever to score two career goals against Brazil, was largely responsible for Fulham’s defensive problems last season and his poor play continued this year. The mere fact that he is a scoring threat on set pieces has earned him more love than he’s truly deserved for both club and country. Roy Hodgson rightfully has kept him on the bench late in the season.

Eddie Johnson is at best an average player in Major League Soccer, and in the English Premier League, probably one of the worst transfers in recent memory. Anyone who watches Johnson as regularly as I have in both MLS and for the national team realized he wasn’t good enough to play at the Premiership level: or at the level of any major European first division. Yet Johnson remains quite possibly the best US striking option. How’s that for scary?

Fulham both honors the great strides the United States has come as Soccer playing nation since the late 1980s in Kasey Keller and Brian McBride, and the current malaise on the national team with the other three players. Fulham honors our proud recent past and our uncertain future. Regardless of what any American soccer fan told you today, Fulham’s result was the most important and most emotionally gut wrenching for those of us that love soccer in our country. The Cottagers remind us why the US got the quarterfinals of World Cup 2002 and why we beat Brazil, Germany (twice) and Argentina in a fifteen month period not long ago. But Fulham also reminds us why the US is a Landon Donovan or Tim Howard injury away from potentially missing our first World Cup since 1986. (With the fifth place COMNEBOL finisher facing the fourth place CONCACAF qualifer, the margain for error that both the U.S. and Mexico have had been reduced and right now I have sense that neither will actually win the Hexaganol, leaving if my gut is correct no margin for error for either. Mexico though could go to South America and win a playoff match. The US cannot. )

What has happened the last few weeks is remarkable. For many of us who have been fans of the sport we have chosen country over club as MLS wasn’t until recently far enough evolved to encourage a loyal fan culture and European football while important was distant. I’ve followed Manchester City Football Club for almost two decades now and consider them my favorite international club, but have always consider the plight of the US National Team far more important than any club’s fortunes. But now, I have joined so many Americans who also pull for Fulham because it seems the gritty group from London are in so many ways a microcosm of American Soccer and have made us all proud in so many ways to be an American and to enjoy the world’s most beautiful game.

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News and Notes: Agogo, Johnson, Bradley, Wegerle, etc

• Junior Agogo an MLS almuni who was decent with Colorado and a washout with San Jose scored the game winner for Ghana last night int heir African Nations Cup triumph over Namibia. Agogo now plays back home in England (he is English but was eligible to play for Ghana through his parents) for Nottingham Forest.
• Eddie Johnson will become I believe the first native Floridian to play in the Premier League when he makes his Fulham debut. Roy Wegerle, a longtime Tampa resident was born in South Africa and Joe Max Moore who lived in Miami for a long time was born in Tulsa. In addition Cory Gibbs a Plantation native (around the corner from me) was on Charlton last season but of course was injured all year.
• Michael Bradley is on pace the shater Wegerle’s record for the most goals scored in a European first division by an American. Wegerle scored 18 goals for Queens Park Rangers in the old first division the year before the Premier League was formed. (Bradley currently has 12 league goals in the Dutch First Division) Wegerle became an American citizen during the course of that season so you could argue his record technically doesn’t count, but as someone who had watched Wegerle and his brother almost ten years earlier here in Florida, they were both always plenty American in my eyes.
• Eddie Johnson credits Clint Dempsey with his move to Fulham. According to an exclusive video on US Soccer’s official website, Johnson credits Dempsey with convincing Roy Hodgson to pursue him, and then convincing Johnson himself to make the move when EJ had of course in the past rejected moves to Benfica Real Sociedad, and Derby County among others.
• MLS continues to pursue Latin American based players with National Team experience during this transfer window, which means the overall level of talent in the league among foreign players is likely to reach its highest point this season since the 1996- 1998 time period when virtually every non-Brazilian foreign player in MLS had National Team experience. In the 2001 to 2006 time period very few MLS internationals had been regular contributors to their national team set up.

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Developing Leadership for the National Team

With the annual January training camp in full swing for the US, and January B+ friendly as I like to call it out of the way let’s look ahead towards qualifying. Here and now in 2008 the US has a deeper player pool than ever before. But at the same time, the talent at the top of the pool, and especially the leadership from veteran players is arguably at its lowest point since before the 1994 World Cup. This squad doesn’t boast the veteran soccer savvy leaders like John Harkes, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda, Tom Dooley, Ernie Stewart, Joe Max Moore, Brian McBride, Eddie Pope or Claudio Reyna that we’ve seen in the recent past. Instead, this national team is being led by a generation of players most of whom were early graduates of the US Soccer National Academy who have never had to fight for the colors and the badge the way the aforementioned players did.

Landon Donovan showed remarkable growth and maturity in his conversation with our Peter Brown after the US-Sweden game. Yet Donovan who is about as mild mannered and personable as high paid professional athletes come in our society and can not be a leader. He simply doesn’t have the respect and admiration of his peers and the supporters of the game in this country. As good a guy as he is and as talented as he is, he simply isn’t passionate enough about his football 365 days a year. The current US Captain Carlos Bocanegra is in my opinion (and the opinion of many others I speak with) a below average left footed center back. True, until this season he has done alright at the club level, but that isn’t what concerns me; at the national team level he has been mistake prone and often breaks down in the most critical moments. We all recall his ill advised ball into the box against Ghana which caused a chain reaction that ended the United States World Cup. Few recall the numerous mistakes he made in World Cup qualifying for 2006 and in the Gold Cups in both 2003 and 2007 that the US was fortunate to overcome in most cases. DaMarcus Beasley mentally doesn’t seem to always be with “it,” so to speak and Bobby Convey is injury prone and has yet to develop the toughness many of us thought would naturally come when he moved to Europe. Tim Howard is a good vocal leader, but since Tony Meola’s outstanding leadership in the 1994 World Cup, US keepers seem to be less relied upon to be the leaders of the team in general.

That leaves Clint Dempsey. For my money Clint Dempsey is the best player and most passionate player in the US player pool. But as Jamie Trecker, our most recent guest on the American Soccer Show pointed out in his outstanding book Love and Blood, Dempsey comes from a completely different background than the vast majority of kids who play this sport in the country and the vast majority of guys he plays with on the national team. It is Dempsey’s background that have made him the footballer and person he is today. But Dempsey because of his background and lifestyle may not be the best leader because other players may feel they cannot relate to him personally.

For longtime observers of the National Team like myself 2008 could be a watershed year. The player pool is deeper and more talented than ever. However, the lack of leadership and savvy is painfully evident every time I watch the team play. Not only is leadership lacking but our top players, Dempsey and potentially Freddy Adu excepted are not as good as our top players in the 1994 to 2002 time period. That is an opinion which anyone with a historical perspective on US Soccer must at least consider. Again, I come back to the subject of leadership. Someone must step up for this team to overtake Mexico as CONCACAF’s finest, (more on why despite the US’ consistent wins over Mexico, I consider Mexico to be a superior national team program in a future post.) and as a potential World Cup spoiler.

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Keller Starts for Fulham.

Kasey Keller started his first match for Fulham (aka Team America) just two days after signing with the club. Fulham went ahead 1-0 over Aston Villa on an early Clint Dempsey goal.

Halftime Thoughts on USA-El Salvador

• Playing Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber and Pablo Mastroeni together is a mistake. You don't have anyone remotely resembling a playmaker occupying space in the center of the midfield, thus a tendency to push the ball exclusively down the flanks or play long ball seemed to set in at points during the first half.
• Landon Donovan and DeMarcus Beasley are supposed to be playing wide but have tended to push inside as the three aforementioned defensive oriented midfielders seem to be laying back.
• The US back line continues to be disappointing. Positioning for Jonathan Spector and Jonathan Bornstein seems to be a problem and Oguchi Onyewu lacks the closing speed and discipline to snuff out the opposition attack.
• DeMarcus Beasley's goal was a textbook example of why midfielders who charge the scraps on the set pieces should emphasize touch over killing the ball. Beasley's shot took forever to reach the goal but he placed it perfectly. If your running a clinic show your students Beasley's goal, not only for his shot but his perfect positioning.
• Beasley contradicted his own work with a muffed shot in minute forty three where he tried to kill the ball, once again showing he is much more comfortable with his left foot than his right foot.
• Beasley, Donovan and Clint Dempsey all play well together and understand each others game, but I have noticed in the two matches all three have played that they are playing one game and the other seven field players are usually on a different page. Not that that is an awful thing, because you want your veterans to lead by example and all three players understand this is now their team with the retirements of Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride and they need to step it up.
• Donovan telegraphed his first PK attempt and was fortunate to get a rebound for a goal that was nullified anyhow. His second PK attempt was much more accurate and well taken, even though the keeper did guess right again.
• I'm pleased Dave Johnson who has covered MLS and US Soccer for many years is being used by FSC on these matches.
• Guadeloupe is forty five minutes away from advancing to the Quarterfinals, and I want to double check this but I believe they will become the smallest nation to ever advance to the knock out phase of a Continental Championship in any Confederation.

Beasley and Dempsey Make a Point

Bradley's Style is Different Than Arena's in use of Flank Play

With the United States fielding a virtual "B" team for yesterday's full international versus China it was imperative for the two most experienced American attackers in the side to step up. Both DeMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey answered the call. Operating with more confidence in Bob Bradley's 4-3-3 formation than in Bruce Arena's 4-5-1 formation (which played like a 4-3-3 when Dempsey and Beasley pushed up) both veterans made daring runs, great crosses and created countless opportunities for the US tonight. They gave a virtual clinic on how to play on the flanks. The match began with the US swarming forward with numbers and signaling their intent to spend the night attacking. The first American goal came when Beasley dribbled around the Chinese keeper and was then taken down.

Hamburger's SV Benny Feilhaber scored the second US goal with some nice team play combining with Sacha Kljestan, but it was Dempsey and Beasley who continued to create countless chances, which China's goalkeeper did a very good job of reading. In the second half Dempsey finally scored after having been denied from point blank range twice and then Oguchi Onyewu who is currently club less and hoping suitors come his way scored the fourth US goal. The 4-1 final was a fitting result for a dominating performance with so many non regulars playing for the U.S.

The following American players received their first senior national cap in this match:

Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA, MLS)... Kljestan has been a key player for Chiavs USA
Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF, Sweden)... Davies has been getting regular playing time in Sweden whose season overlaps with MLS
Kamani Hill (VfL Wolfsburg, Germany) ... Has fought for playing time at Wolfsburg and shows promise
Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands)... Nguyen is among the most polished Americans and has become a regular for an outstanding club


Bob Bradley has to be pleased with the play of his youngsters and with the leadership both Beasley and Dempsey demonstrated. Bradley must hope that the MLS based players coming into the National Team camp this week feed off of this result and the energy Dempsey and Beasley have shown and have a successful Gold Cup. This was the fifth match for the United States under Bob Bradley and with the exception of the disappointing stalemate against Guatemala, the US has used pushing the ball down the flanks to create countless opportunities in the other four matches. Even though Bruce Arena professed a faith in wing/flank play to often the ball seemed to be floating in the middle of the pitch with the wing players coming inside. Arena perhaps had too much faith in Claudio Reyna and John O'Brien both central midfielders to truly give his wide midfielders the freedom to create opportunities with the regularity they have under Bradley. Which style is preferable for the US is debatable. Using O'Brien and Reyna as target men, the US were unlucky not to advance to the semifinals in the 2002 World Cup. However, the number of good chances the US has been creating under Bradley against respectable opposition seem far greater than any point during the Arena era, but the real tests are coming this summer.

Randon Thoughts

• It was outstanding to see Clint Dempsey score the winning goal for Fulham yesterday. In fact it is probably the goal that will save Fulham from the drop. Maybe that will earn Dempsey a new contract, that until yesterday was totally undeserved.
• It was fantastic to see Jason Kreis, one of the greats of this league's history become the coach of Real Salt Lake. Dave Checketts patience ran out on John Ellinger before local politicians and fans patience ran out on RSL.
• Kreis debut featured an epic comeback to draw with Red Bull New York. Only time will see if this a "new manager bounce" as our friend Phil on Soccer Shout calls it, or a totally new attitude in Salt Lake City.
• Dwayne DeRossario and Brian Ching once again showed yesterday night why Houston are the champs.
• Amado Guevara's stay in Los Angeles was a short one. Chivas USA has a good core of players and when Sasha Klejsten returns from suspension the problem child Guevara is totally expendable.
• Perhaps the reason why MLS keeps the season over the Summer is because they have a club in Denver. Last night was just another example of how horrible the weather is there. Three weeks ago when I was in Denver on what was considered a nice day the winds howling into Dick's Sporting Goods Park had my running to the coffee bar by halftime and ready for a long hot shower by the end of the match. Thank goodness MLS got rid of the shootout or I may have contracted pneumonia!
• I'm not sure why Toronto FC acquired the players they did in the expansion draft if they had no plans on keeping any of them. Paulo Nagumura is just latest expansion draftee to be dumped by Toronto FC.

Dempsey Headed to Fulham

Assuming Clint Dempsey's work permit gets approved he will be the third American at the London club, joining Carlos Bocanegra and Brian McBride. Bocanegra scored the game tying goal at Stamford Bridge versus Chelsea on Saturday and Fulham are in the top half of the table and exceeding all expectations. American fans just getting familiar with EPL clubs should seriously consider Fulham as a team to follow.