Who Should the US Start Versus T&T

Six points in the bag and little doubt the US will advance to the hexagonal. However the truth be told I think the United States finishes third in the hexagonal on current form and must improve its linkup play and general possession play in the final four matches of this qualifying stage. With this in mind this is the lineup I would like to see tomorrow assuming the bucket is being used by Bradley again.

—————————–Howard———————————-

—-Hedjuk————-Onyweu————Bocanegra———–Pearce—-

———————-Clark————–Bradley———————–

Kljestan—————————————————Lewis——-

——————————Donovan——————————–

——————————Johnson——————————–

• Sacha Kljestan is the right sided player that is most dangerous for the US. He needs to play out on that side.
• Eddie Johnson gets a chance partly so he can be safely written off after this match.
• Despite scoring a goal against Cuba, Clint Dempsey’s lack of creativity and bad giveaways should earn him a place on the bench.
• DaMarcus Beasley right now could not start for most of the teams left in CONCACAF qualifying. We are allegedly better than these sides so why do we keep throwing him out there ahead of a steady, veteran Eddie Lewis who is better than any other left sided midfielder in the region?
• Rico Clark starts in place of Mo Edu who was woeful on Saturday.
• Frankie Hedjuk is now my right back until he cannot walk or is suspended. Steve Cherundolo’s lack of maturity demonstrated in the Guatemala game can be solved by watching Frankie perform since Hedjuk was equally immature at one time not so long ago.

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US Looks Shaky in Havana

Reuters Photo

Three points is three points I suppose. But tonight’s game unlike last months qualifier in Guatemala City has me very concerned about the state of play regarding the US Team. Against a side that in its own stadium last month gave up three relatively quick goals to Trinidad and Tobago, the US had to grind out a result again dependent on some clutch goalkeeping and quite frankly some mistakes by the Cuban team.

Right now the United States lacks the technical skill nor the clean finishing or awareness in counter attacking situations to ever put away the opposition. The bad giveaways by defensive midfielders continues to be a trademark of this team with its current lineup and the inability for the strikers to finish the chances created for them against respectable opposition is painful to watch. In the last twelve matches, the current set of US strikers, Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson have scored in only one match: the 8-0 rout of Barbados, while every US goal in the other matches has come from midfielders or defenders and typically off set pieces.

Today’s performance was substantially worse than the game many have criticized the US for in Guatemala City last month. Again thye most solid players were the keeper Tim Howard and the two center backs, Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu. The performances of DaMarcus Beasley and Mo Edu in particular were forgetable. Given Scotland’s loss today to FYR Macedonia in Skopke perhaps both players feature on one of the two big sides in the SPL because of the lack of Scottish talent, not because of their individual qualities. Beasley in particular is becoming less and less useful as a player as time goes on.

A word on the atmonsphere tonight: Give the Cuban players and supporters a lot of credit. Despite the political tensions which I am in particular familiar with because of where I live (South Florida) the event tonight was perfect except for the lighting, with a polite crowd, and some good sportsmanship among both sides. Football really can overcome the problems politicians and dictators cause.

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Bradley vs Arena: Different Styles

Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching celebrate a goal against Barbados, the only game which a current US striker has scored a goal in the last 14 months for the national team.

Bob Bradley’s tenure as United States National Team manager has gone about as well as can be expected: A CONCACAF Gold triumph, several victories in the “old world” and thus far a smooth run in qualifying including an elusive win over Guatemala. So with this in mind, clearly their will be no coaching change for the US in the next several years. But Coach Bradley unlike his predecessor Bruce Arena seems to be reluctant to use current club form as a guide to player selection. Arena, almost to a fault felt it necessary even during World Cup qualifying to call in any in-form American player to give him a look.

Bradley seemed to take the Arena philosophy early in his tenure. Bradley’s first year and change on the job saw the call ups of about 70 players. However since the March friendly with Poland, Bradley’s selections have become less and less creative and more and more predictable. Thankfully some of this predictability has been the now routine call ups of Frankie Hejduk and Eddie Lewis both of whom spent a year without being called in after World Cup 2006 when younger players tried and ultimately failed to fill their positions. Unfortunetely this also means the continued routine call ups of Eddie Johnson, now playing his trade in England’s second division, Clint Dempsey who has scored one club goal in the last nine months, DaMarcus Beasley whose role should be filled by Lewis until the later retires, and Ricardo Clark who has looked completely out of his depth in his last four matches for the United States.

The return of Clark to the national team for critical qualifiers is totally unjusitifed. Despite playing on MLS’ dominant team, Clark’s confidence is in the tank. He has been most unimpressive to me while playing for the Dynamo this year other than in a few glimmers. Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching the current US strikers have scored goals in only one match for the US in the last fourteen months: that match was an 8-0 thrashing of Barbados. Had Arena still been managing the national team, in form Kenny Cooper or Charlie Davies would have surely been called into this squad if for no other reason to judge them in camp.

Clint Dempsey not only has played poorly for the US, but seeing him in person now in several US matches over the last 12 months I fear he has gone from having a monster killer instinct to disinterest in the national team. This probably comes from being overworked at Fulham and now confused about his role there, thanks to Manager Roy Hodgson’s tactics. DaMarcus Beasley is a player whose hustle wins him accolades from American coaches and whose Champions League experience gets him love in the press, but whose utility on the international level appears to be waning. Beasley’s first touch and creativity are completely devoid when he needs it the most and I personally am much more comfortable with a wily veteran like Eddie Lewis on the pitch than Beasley whose mistakes and poor positioning are more likely to cost you points than win you anything.

Bradley’s call in of Marvell Wynne is long overdue. For some reason with Wynne available for matches against Mexico and Barbados earlier this year, Drew Moor was called in ahead of him as the first choice right back. Also the call up of Mexican-American fullback Michael Orozco who hopefully can earn his first full US Cap is a welcome sign.

The omission of Kenny Cooper, and Freddy Adu the most creative player the US has are glaring. Arena most certainly would have called both players in to camp in a similar situation. Only time will tell if Bradley’s decisions are justified.

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Bob Bradley's Tactics

Under Bob Bradley the USMNT has become reliant on set pieces for scoring and quite possibly more dependent on its center backs than any top 50 national team/photo from US Soccer

For all the criticisms of Bob Bradley’s tactics by commentators including myself, the continued success rate the United States enjoys on set pieces is remarkable. This is all the more remarkable when you consider the trouble the United States had scoring on set pieces in the 1999 to 2003 period after Eric Wynalda, Marcello Balboa and Alexi Lalas all outstanding in dead ball situations were off the national team. The resurgence of quality in these situations could not have come at a better time: It seems obvious that the United States does not have players with the on the ball skills or finishing ability to consistently score in the run of play. Or perhaps American managers do not know how to tactically put talented players like Landon Donovan in a position to succeed without relying on his dead ball skills.

If you eliminate the two matches against a completely outclassed Barbados team, six of the eight goals scored by the United States this year have been scored from set pieces. Of these six goals, four have been scored by the Center Backs, Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra. In other words in matches against
competitive opposition, chances are the US will rely on set pieces to score and additionally the chances that a non striker or midfielder will be the difference maker is also high. This is because in Bob Bradley’s “bucket” system the idea is to absorb pressure and to selectively counter attack. The intent of counter attacking by the US since 2007 has been largely to create corner kicks or free kick opportunity rather than to actually place a shot on goal.

Tactically it is extremely risky to rely on this sort of play. The inability of American strikers to finish and American midfielder to hold the ball or create chances may be why Bradley feels such a scheme is necessary. Very few national teams with the sort of perceived talent the United States has plays such a strange tactical scheme. At the very same time, very few international managers have two center backs like Bocanegra and Onyewu at their disposal. While it can be argued that one or maybe both are actually liabilities on the defensive end, both are deadly accurate when receiving service in dead ball situations. Watching as much international football as I do, I must state that I don’t know of two other center backs in the world who score as many goals with as few opportunities. John Terry, Rafa Marquez and Juan have all scored goals for their nations, but they do not I would venture to guess score as often in limited opportunities as do the two US backs.

The reality of the situation is this: the United States may have superior or inferior talent to most of its opposition in CONCACAF. But in fact right now it does not matter because Bob Bradley feels he has found a formula that works: sit back for much of the match and then hit the opposition not with a classic counter attacking goal but on a corner kick or free kick which is often times inevitable in a match. Bringing up the two center backs who are both physical and athletic causes problems for CONCACAF sides with smaller and less athletic players. Until someone in CONCACAF can shut down Bocanegra or Onyewu in the area or prevent the US from getting a Landon Donovan, Eddie Lewis or DaMarcus Beasley set piece, Bradley is going to keep his tactics consistent.

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Guzan Keep Clean Sheet: US Advances

Eddie Lewis’ goal was the lone strike in the US victory/AP Photo

Flattering headline you ask-What else would you expect? The reality of today’s match versus Barbados is complicated but before complaints about the performance get out of hand I want to state something very openly on the record: I have said for sometime that I felt the US program was slipping fairly quickly and that simply advancing to World Cup 2010 in an improved CONCACAF is the maximum expectation I have for this current group of American internationals. Would I like to see more? Of course, I would. Am I unhappy with the current state of the National Team? You bet, and next week I will be writing a post looking back at the vision Carlos Querioz outlined for US Soccer in the Q-Report ten years ago and evaluating why our national program produced better internationals early this decade than we are now. But lets focus on the reality of the current situation rather than lamenting the recent slippage in quality of the overall US program.

Today’s disappointing performance did not surprise me. When today’s team sheet was released I saw only three names of seasoned internationals and only two that I would consider professionals who will always give a top class performance: those two, Eddie Lewis today’s captain, and goal scorer and Heath Pearce were solid. (The third DaMarcus Beasley was as is so often the case with him completely useless) Freddy Adu was outstanding. The rest of the team needs work, but we knew that already. I see message board threads across the internet and have fielded phone calls tonight professing shock at today’s fortunate 1-0 US win, in a match where Barbados can feel hard done not to have gotten at a minimum a draw. With an eight goal cushion was it really necessary for the US to overwhelm again in what was a largely meaningless exercise?

CONCACAF isn’t the cupcake confederation many commentators simply assume it is. Playing on the road is difficult and if you come out determined to simply experiment and knock the ball around as the US did, you are going to get burned. Emmerson Boyce, a player of some stature in the recent history of Crystal Palace Football Club (the favorite club of one of my cousins and another my uncles who lived in the UK for many years) was the best player on the pitch. When you face professionals you must give a full effort which the US did not give. Content to knock the ball around for much of the early minutes of the match as the US was allowed Barbados to look dangerous and comfortable in the match from the get go. Meanwhile the young core of the US team looked very uncomfortable. Particularly poor were Sacha Kljestan a player I love typically and Danny Szetela, a player whose club performances with Columbus, Racing and Brescia have done little to justify his continued presence in the full national team. Kljestan improved later in the match but Szetela did not and needs to return to the U-23 setup before being called back to a full national team again.
John Thorrington looked to add some class to the US attack when he entered the match for Beasley and perhaps he should get another, longer look. Chris Rolfe also had some nice attacking play once he entered the match Barbados on the other hand must be lamenting having beat Brad Guzan twice in the second half and yet not scoring an official goal. The early second half shot that bounced off the crossbar showed Guzan’s limitations, and his other decisions on whether to catch or punch several balls were suspect. A reason exists that while Guzan is a great developing prospect, many US fans want to see Matt Reis or Kasey Keller back up Tim Howard.

Playing young kids in friendlies on US soil, or in a Copa America where the results do not matter is one thing, but playing them in qualifiers we learned tonight is downright cruel. Does Bob Bradley deserve the blame for tonight’s squad selection? No, that blame must be placed squarely on Major League Soccer and its clubs whose decision to play right through CONCACAF qualifiers and in the case of teams participating in Superliga accelerate their schedule. Work left to be done for the US, but thankfully another few months to prepare for the next round of qualifiers. Some highly rated CONCACAF nations such as Panama who the US has struggled to beat in the last two Gold Cups have been eliminated from qualifying so while the performance Sunday wasn’t at a high level, advancing with the US in a malaise is all that can be expected and quite frankly all that is required at this point in time.

Player Ratings:

Brad Guzan 4

Not his best day. Seemed half asleep at times.

Heath Pearce 7

Good match going forward and creating chances for the attacking players. A bad miss in front of goal but in fairness it was struck with his weaker foot.

Jay DeMerit 6

Solid, and as usual unspectacular.

Danny Califf 6

Didn’t make many mistakes and anchored a solid backline.

Drew Moor 7

Made some nice runs going forward and delivered some great balls forward

Michael Bradley 6

Solid bounce back game for Bradley who hasn’t been great lately, but still gave the ball away a few too many times.

Danny Szetela 3

Bad giveaways and poor positioning characterized a player who was simply put outclassed at this level.

Sacha Kljestan 4

So so match. Looked uncomfortable on the wing but settled down as the game wore on. Still a great prospect going forward to add depth to the pool.

Eddie Lewis 8

Steady Eddie gave yet another fine performance in a man of the match performance

DaMarcus Beasley 3

Is either still injured or has simply lost it. Five poor to below average performances in a row should get a player dropped from the starting XI, shouldn’t it?

Freddy Adu 7

A creative force in the midfield.

Chris Rolfe 6

Had some nice moments

John Thorrington 7

Good performance off the bench looking lively down the wing.

Chad Barrett NR

A cameo.

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Argentina-US Post Match Thoughts

In front of what must be regarded as one of the largest and most ruckus pro US crowds in sometime, the national team drew 0-0 with Argentina, who is currently ranked #1 by the odd formula that constitutes the FIFA World Ranking. After two successive matches where the performance was subpar to be charitable last night’s effort must be considered a step in the right direction. However, still much work needs to be done.

This match from my vantage point was more exciting than any match in the European Championships if for no other reason the lack of technical skill that the Americans posses save Landon Donovan and Freddy Adu creates bad giveaways and countless good scoring opportunities for the opposition. While the US played well, all eight teams that have played thus far in Euro 2008 have shown better technical skill and organization that the U.S. However, last night the US showed some of the flair going forward that has been missing for sometime, and more in the attack than all but two sides that have played in the Euros thus far.

The Bad:

• While Michael Bradley did more to support the attack last night than in the previous two matches he also gave the ball away 8 times in the first half. Yes, eight times. That’s simply not acceptable.
• Bob Bradley’s decision first not to start Freddy Adu and second not to bring him on until the 60th minute. How you can continue to leave your second best attacking player on the bench when you cannot score goals is beyond me.
• Steve Cherundolo isn’t physical enough or at times quick enough to be effective at this level. It’s a shame because he is one of the very few Americans that respectable club in a top European league counts on game in and game out. But with Frankie Hejduk even approaching 34, still in such good shape I see no reason why Cherdundolo should play ahead of him right now.
• I still don’t get the second yellow card for Pablo Mastroeni. The official game notes attribute the second booking as being for dissent. But Pablo said very little to the official after Mo Edu picked up his yellow. Given how light the ref was being at time on Javier Mascerano (who himself was sent off fifteen minutes later) the yellow card for Edu was at the very least inconsistent by the official.
• Clint Dempsey needs time off. I’ve said it before and will say it again. Oh and Clint those fancy moves you try and make may work against Barbados but they will never work against Argentina or Mexico.
• I don’t think Eddie Lewis has ever been comfortable with the idea of playing left back. Necessity has dictated the best US wide player play on the back line now in various points since 2005, but it seems like Lewis makes mistakes at the back he doesn’t make in the midfield and the bite he adds to the US attack crossing from a wide position also disappears with his defensive responsibilities.
• DaMarcus Beasley is simply put not a starting wide player at this level. He continues to have no technique despite having played for PSV (he was probably too old when he went there to learn the “PSV” way) and makes some of the most baffling decisions on the ball. As far as I am concerned for country Eddie Lewis at 34 is still a much better winger. He can still get forward down the flank and center a great ball into the box. Beasley cannot due either with regularity. (I don’t want to argue Rangers vs Derby County: Beasley may be a better club player but Lewis is a better international right now)
• ESPN in general. I love JP Dellecamara and am thankful he is finally the lead announcer for ESPN’s National Team Coverage. But the rest of the production is somewhat substandard and John Harkes is far more of a company man than he leads on, far less willing to criticize tactics and coaching decisions about players than Eric Wynalda or even Marcello Balboa was. Relegating Allan Hopkins to the work they used to give Heather Mitts is flat out insulting. Hopkins is one of the most knowledgeable people about the American game I have encountered and he is being absolutely wasted by the network. Stick him in the studio for heavens sake!

The Good:

• Landon Donovan’s return makes all the difference in the appearance of the US attack. Donovan also is one of only two American players with the technical skill and quality to play against the likes of Argentina: Freddy Adu is the other. 100 caps could not be more deserved for the signature player of US Soccer.
• Heath Pearce is turning into perhaps the best left back we’ve had, a position that has been a chronic problem for the US. Pearce gets ripped in other places but I am turning into a massive fan of his. He’s positioned well, is tough and simply put is getting the job done without much fanfare.
• Freddy Adu may not play at Benfica right now but that is no longer an excuse to not start him. Lukas Podolski doesn’t exactly play every match for Bayern, yet he can score two goals in the European Championship opening match. Freddy Adu is right now the only thing standing between the US and almost certain embarrassment either before 2010 or in South Africa. Without Claudio Reyna and John O’Brien, Landon Donovan has nobody with technique and certain flair to play off of, if Adu doesn’t start.
• Tim Howard: what more can you say?
• Eddie Johnson continues to be a poor finisher but a good hold up player who find space and makes the right runs at the right times. So frustrating is Johnson because after continuously panning Bob Bradley for selecting him, I now see why, even if the bottom line hasn’t changed. Johnson has the smarts as far as space and holding the ball up to be useful but still lacks the technique and finishing to be successful.
• Giants Stadium’s grass. Seriously, awesome job groundskeepers. Now get rid of the turf below it!

Player Ratings:

Tim Howard 9

Steve Cherundolo 4

Danny Califf 6

Oguchi Onyewu 6

Heath Pearce 8

Jay DeMerit 6

Frankie Hejduk NR

Eddie Lewis 6

Michael Bradley 3

Mo Edu 6

Pablo Mastroeni 7 (”Red Card” notwithstanding)

DaMarcus Beasley5

Clint Dempsey 3

Landon Donovan 8

Freddy Adu 8

Sacha Kljestan 6

Eddie Johnson 5

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US-Spain Post Game Thoughts

Last night’s US performance against Spain is difficult to classify but after all that’s what happens in friendlies when you are experimenting. On one hand I was more disappointed with the performance last night than against England because the team has now been together for almost ten days and seemed to fall into the age old American pattern of relying on counter attacking to stimulate any offense. However, the shape of the US at the back and the organization and spacing of the U.S. midfield was as good in the first half last night than anytime since the Gold Cup last year. Coach Bob Bradley mentioned that he was pleased with the passing in the first half but felt the movement of players to support the ball stopped in the 2nd half which led to gaps between the midfield and defense which was exploited by the Spanish.

One thing that must be considered is that Spain looked far from the top of their game. The technical ability of the Spanish side is among the best on the planet but let’s be honest: Spain has a history of under performing in major tournaments and based on yesterday’s performance and the amount of trouble they had breaking down an organized but not a very technical American back line you have to imagine those troubles will only magnify in the European Championships.

Spain’s Cesc Fabergas was the best player on the pitch last night, but Freddy Adu’s first half was outstanding. He provided the critical linkup play between the midfield and attackers that has now been lacking for the U.S. for almost a year. Maurice Edu showed far more technique in winning the ball and better distribution than Rico Clark did last week playing the same holding midfield position against England, and Carlos Bocanegra the captain bounced back with a nice match in tandem with his central defense partner Oguchi Onyewu. What was worrying though is for all the hype around young players in the US system, the two best Americans in the second half were as they were last week against Wembley, 33 year old Frankie Hejduk and 34 year old Eddie Lewis. “It is always important to look for the right time to move young players into the national team. But there is great value in some of the more experienced players. We consider that of big importance heading into World Cup qualifying. If a player continues to play well, then that helps everyone,” Coach Bradley stated in reference to Hejduk and Lewis.

My feeling is that Michael Bradley was again poor in this match. He made some nice passes and got forward to support the attack every now and then but by and large he was responsible for more bad giveaways than the other 10 field players combined and he was often clumsy and reckless in his challenges. Other poor performers last night were DaMarcus Beasley coming off and injury and Clint Dempsey who after a second straight grueling relegation fight with Fulham has little to give the national team for the time being. Dempsey needs to be given the rest of the summer off.

PLAYER RATINGS:

Tim Howard 6

Made one very nice save but otherwise had less than to do than it appeared

Steve Cherdundolo 5

Bounced back from the poor performance against England with some very nice challenges and good distribution from the back but still lost his mark too often.

Oguchi Onyewu 5

Why Onyewu gets wrongly blamed for most of the US’ defensive breakdowns is beyond me. He had another solid match, but was caught looking on the Spain goal.

Carlos Bocanegra 5

After a horror show against England he bounced back nicely and dealt with the danger well until the last 25 minutes when bad clearances led to increased Spanish pressure.

Heath Pearce 7

Pearce has solidified his spot as the US left back and his experience of a rough season in Germany has translated into the grit needed to play well for his national team

Frankie Hejduk 7

Hejduk, a golden oldie showed the understanding and initiative in the second half that Cherdundolo did not in the first. Much like the England match, Hejduk was much better than Cherundolo.

Michael Bradley 3

Bradley has talent no doubt, but he is too naive almost to play at this level. His distribution is mixed at best and his tackles are clumsy and reckless all too often.

Mo Edu 5

Showed a great deal of composure but also contributed a number of bad giveaways in the second half that allowed Spain to pile on the pressure.

Clint Dempsey 3

As referenced above Dempsey needs some time off. He always gives a 100% plus effort but his body right now is failing him.

DaMarcus Beasley 2

Beasley was brought back for these friendlies far too soon.

Eddie Lewis 7

Once again the grey beard of the American team was over the entire match one of the best US players. Lewis still has the wheels to get down the left flank and has the savvy and understanding of the match to create more scoring opportunities than any other American wide player.

Freddy Adu 8

He may be in the doghouse at Benfica but Adu is clearly much more skilled and attacking oriented than the other players currently in the player pool. Why he was subbed out after 45 minutes remains a mystery since Coach Bradley didn’t address the issue in his post match press conference.

Eddie Johnson 5

I’ve seen Johnson absolutely ripped on other sites all over the internet. As someone who felt EJ should never have been brought back to the National Team, his play yesterday was passable. Johnson showed an understanding of what Freddy Adu was trying to do and played better than any American striker recently with his back to the goal trying to hold up play. His finishing is still obviously poor and he needs another pure striker to play off of, but based on last night he needs more looks and more work.

Josh Wolff 2

A farewell for a job well done over a ten year period for the national team.

Pablo Mastroeni NR

A late cameo for a player who still has so much to give this national team if he Bradley doesn’t forget about him.

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Bradley's Bucket: Things Have to Change

Bradley Leads the US/NY Times Photo

We’ve discussed several times recently on the American Soccer Show the “bucket” formation employed by US Coach Bob Bradley. Part of me sympathizes with why Bradley is using this formation: from my vantage point the US has less attacking talent currently than at any point since the 1994 World Cup. However, the lack of creativity that the US team develops during the course of a match forces the US to rely on counter attacking, something Bob Bradley seems less comfortable with in his words than did his predecessors.

This is not to say Bradley is conflicted: I simply think the US doesn’t have the type of personnel and skill level particularly down the flanks for the Bucket to work effectively as an attacking oriented formation. The bottom line is the formation isn’t working the way Coach Bradley would like against respectable opposition. The bucket has also served to put Michael Bradley, the coach’s son in a very difficult position and a remarkable amount of responsibility for a 20 year old. The younger Bradley is depended on to be a creative force offensively while playing in a withdrawn position and is also counted on to break up the oppositions attack. As we saw against England, when Landon Donovan whose skill level is so high he can be a creative force from any position on the pitch is absent the US is completely impotent offensively. The US created exactly one good scoring opportunity before minute 69 when the wily veteran Eddie Lewis entered the match. Lewis would be the perfect wide player on the left side for Bradley’s formation, and it is no wonder why even at thirty four, Lewis has repeatedly looked outstanding when playing for the national team under Bradley, after looking less than adequate at times (while being moved to several different positions) under Bruce Arena. Lewis himself created more legitimate scoring opportunities in his twenty one or so minutes of action playing down the flank then DaMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey created combined in the previous sixty nine minutes. While this speaks highly of Lewis’ ability to play in the bucket it speaks also very loudly about the limitations the formation places on Beasley and Dempsey.

Given the limited capabilities of the current US National Team player pool, Coach Bradley must consider changing the formation, or at the very least tweaking it, so that a creative attacking midfielder can set up between the two wide flank players. I would strongly consider moving to a 4-5-1 formation with Landon Donovan playing in the center of midfield between Clint Dempsey on the right side and DaMarcus Beasley on the left side. This also gives Bradley the option of playing Freddy Adu in the middle while Donovan plays out wide on the right side and Clint Dempsey is the lone striker.

What are everyone’s thoughts on the US formation and what personel would you like to see against Spain and Argentina this week?

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The Wembley Experience: Lesson About Hooliginism

My experience at Wembley Stadium the other night for the US-England game was outstanding. Not only because of the atmosphere and enthusiasm around international football at England’s National Stadium and throughout London (Although I will point out that this visit reinforced a long held belief of mine having visited both cities on multiple occasions that Londoners are much ruder and more condescending than Parisians, but that people from England outside of London are simply more personable) but because of what I discovered about English football. As has been mentioned in a previous post many of the English fans I spoke to were from outside London and supported lower league sides. Many said that they find the Premier League dull and predictable while being curious about MLS, especially the play of the British players who used to play football in England. (I was asked specific questions about Rohan Ricketts, Terry Cooke and Ronnie O’Brien) This stands in direct contrast to the legions of American fans who flock to the Premier League and spend time ridiculing their own domestic league.

As has been discussed on both the American Soccer Show and on this blog the past few weeks MLS has a developing problem with controlling fan behavior. In my conversations with English fans I attempted to get a sense of how supporters of the clubs in the Coca Cola Championship, League One and League Two deal with the problems. The answers I got were fascinating. As Dougie Brimson pointed out in our interview with him a few weeks back, self policing is the key. If any fan attempts to create a violent atmosphere or a “showdown” with supporters of other clubs they are simply ostracized or thrown out of the supporters groups. In addition, supporters work with local police and with opposing clubs and their supporters groups to head off any problems before they become issues. Acknowledgment is a key to dealing with problems as I have been repeatedly told.

This was demonstrated to me as on a few separate occasions English fans did try and start unsolicited taunting of me or other US supporters only to be called off by another England supporter or to stop when they saw groups of four or five police officers nearby both before and after the match. The police presence was impressive but to me even more impressive was the maturity of some English fans to tell their fellow supporters to chill out when they saw me sporing a US jacket and scarf. That’s not to say I wasn’t taunted often or that some fans were trying to provoke a reaction out of me. For example, when I walked on the train at Queens Park Station to go to Paddington to switch to the Heathrow Express, four English fans greeted me with chants of “you are gay, you are gay” chanted like U-S-A, U-S-A. I did not react but did see others on the train sort of stare down the four young, drunk looking fans and I simply ignored them.

But as I said acknowledgment is part of solving the problem. This past week we had arguably the worst incident of fan behavior in the thirteen year history of MLS. As our friends at the MLS Rumors site have discussed in the conversation they have been leading for several weeks now, it is important to recognize and confront these incidents as they occur. When we discussed Toronto FC a few weeks back we saw somewhat militant but intelligent responses. It was obvious from some of the responses and my subsequent conversations that many TFC supporters take the situation seriously and are attempting to deal with it. However, anything that has gone on in Toronto pales in comparison with the events in Columbus this past weekend.

What’s even more disturbing about the situation in Columbus is that little accountability has been demonstrated by supporters of the Crew. When we discussed TFC a few weeks back, ironically enough a few comments were left by Columbus fans claiming that the behavior of TFC supporters who came to Ohio for the MLS opener had created the environment where many Crew fans were unwilling to go to the subsequent matches. Now we have learned if anything it is the behavior of the Crew’s own supporters and the lack of willingness of their supporters groups to police their own that have gotten us to this position.

So defensive about the situation are some Crew supporters that they have even threatened to go after the sponsors of the MLS Rumors site which broke the story. I ask those particular Crew supporters, Why stop there? Why not go after the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, WBNS TV, You Tube and the MLS itself, among others for acknowledging and confronting the situation in Columbus. If you are so convinced your fans are being thrown under the bus why not boycott any media outlet that doesn’t rubber stamp your agenda of sweeping these issues under the rug. From my vantage point the response of some in Columbus is simply nothing less than cowardly and insulting.

The incidents of racism were so ugly in Columbus on Saturday night that they do not bear repeating. They have cast MLS in a negative light in the mainstream media, the type of situation we had hoped to avoid and why specifically I wrote the piece I did several weeks back. The irony once again is that it was a few Crew supporters that claimed I was not tough enough on Toronto FC. But it is Columbus who now must do something about this situation before others are forced to take action against them.

One thing I have learned from speaking with Dougie Brimson and my experiences at Wembley is that while these sorts of incidents are common place still England, they are dealt with quickly and firmly be it by law enforcement or by supporters groups. If we don’t develop the same culture of self policing and honesty about these incidents here in the US we are doomed to a consistent repeat of the sort of ugly incidents that have engulfed so many football leagues throughout the globe in the not so distant past.

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Outclassed

A flat uninspiring effort left the US supporters here in London frustrated and in some ways shocked not only at the lack of quality the US demonstrated but also at the indifference many on the team seemed to play with. I have previously made the case strongly that I believe without Landon Donovan the top of the US player pool is at a pre 1994 state and that no replacement players have yet been developed for Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride and John O’Brien two years into the World Cup cycle.

Tonight’s match which I was fortunate or unfortunate to attend depending on your perspective clearly demonstrated how much trouble a team with a decent skill level will create for the United States in their home stadium. In addition, Bob Bradley’s continued calling into the national team of some players whose lack of first team action with their club sides is really showing itself these days. Eddie Johnson, Carlos Bocanegra and Josh Wolff all looked shaky at best in the first half and downright awful in the second half. In fact the US was completely embarrassed regardless of the artificially low score line until 34 year old Eddie Lewis entered the match and brought an intensity and skill level seemingly absent in the other US attacking players. So if Eddie Lewis, of dubious record shattering Derby County is your best player at Wembley, you have a problem.

Thoughts:

• Josh Wolff’s time as a National Team member should be over. Thank you for the spectacular goal against Mexico in 2001 and the setup for Brian McBride in the World Cup 2002 match against Mexico but his play in recent matches culminating last night has been well below par.
• Michael Bradley has a great deal to learn about international football still. He doesn’t seem able to anticipate his team mates as well as he should and he commits silly fouls. In addition much like the Mexico match in Houston, Bradley has shown a lack of understand with Rico Clark which will limit the US midfield going forward
• Heath Pearce despite being on a relegated side in the Bundelsiga has gained the confidence to become a reliable left back for the U.S.
• Carlos Bocanegra’s history of bad giveaways and poor clearances reared its ugly head again last night.
• I’m not sure what Freddy Adu has to do to prove he should start and that he is much better than the other, unskilled and inconsistent attacking players we have.
• Eddie Lewis is still at 34, one of the better players in our player pool. Can you imagine that?
• The US attack is terrible without Landon Donovan’s pace and skill on the ball. Both Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley are limited in their ability and when playing against skilled defenders like Ashley Cole and John Terry, they look pedestrian at best. Some of our readers and listeners wanted to see how the US would do without Donovan. I cautioned that it wouldn’t be pretty. Sadly, I wasn’t pretty.
• Spain will be an even tougher test than England, and Argentina even tougher than Spain. The US squad better get their head around what is going on football wise or risk being completely humiliated in the next two matches. Against Argentina this sort of performance instead of being a 2-0 loss will be a 6-0 loss because Argentina’s skill and finishing is far superior to England.

Some Thoughts on the Wembley Experience:

· Wembley is massive but the concessions are too pricey and the sightlines are somewhat poor.

· Public transit to/from Wembley is poorer than I had thought and gets confused on game days with bus routes being withdrawn and underground/over ground trains skipping Wembley Central and Wembley Stadium stations. The reason is logical: the traffic going through the game will congest rush hour London traffic, but it doesn’t help football fans at all and put my plans to arrive at Wembley two hours early into total chaos.

· England’s fans seemed to want to avoid talking about Premier League with me. Those who I spoke to seemed to mostly support lower league teams and wanted to discuss those sides rather than the PL. To me that is a concern for the Premier League going forward, because these fans represent the heart of English Football.

· Jermain DeFoe is so bad he could play forward for the U.S. The gentleman that won the halftime PK contest could probably win the starting striker spot for the U.S.

· England has a lot of issues and Fabio Capello can be pleased with the result but not with some of the execution.

MLS Schedule Limits Bradley's Ability to Gel Squad

Chalk this up to MLS’ unconscionable decision to continue play right through FIFA international blackout dates. Bob Bradley today named the squad for next Wednesday’s match at Wembley Stadium in London (A match I will be attending) and the team is missing several standards of the US setup including Pablo Mastroeni, Maurice Edu, Frankie Hedjuk and Jozy Altidore. Each of the aforementioned players was named to Bradley’s provisional 33 man squad last week but was dropped this week presumably because of the MLS schedule. While I am pleased that Jozy Altidore, due to this scheduling conflict will miss the match and we will see some other forward options (including the often forgotten Josh Wolff) we will not see a the team that will feature in qualifying playing together, using these friendlies to gel as a unit.

Thus the US team, already vastly inferior in talent and skill when compared to their English counterparts is entering the match shorthanded. Part of the US’ strength through the past few season has been the familiarity each player has with one another due to the January training camp, even when facing superior sides. However, only five players who participated in the January 2008 Home Depot Center training camp is on this squad. Only three MLS based players have been included on the US squad: Landon Donovan, Rico Clark and Brad Guzan.

Here is the US Squad:

GOALKEEPERS - Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

DEFENDERS - Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS - Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

FORWARDS - Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)

So it appears in the United States club has won out over country. Complicating matters further for MLS is the league’s new found love for artificial turf as evidenced by the situations in Toronto and Seattle. With turf once again proving to be unsuitable for the game and the problems of laying a new natural grass surface in short order in Moscow, MLS has a potential image and credibility problem emerging. It’s best MLS solve both its scheduling issues and it’s continued promotion of artificial surfaces in the near future. I will have much more on the debate about fake grass in the near future.

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CONCACAF Giants Being Exposed

The United States road through Olympic Qualifying has been littered with peril to this point. The three match group stage in Tampa featured exactly no United States goals from the run of play and three opposing teams who in their own manner showed better shape, discipline and quality than the United States.

But the problems for the red, white and blue pale in comparison to the problems of EL Tri. Today in Los Angeles, the Mexicans face an elimination match against Haiti. Either the Mexicans emerge victorious or they are dumped out of qualifying and coach Hugo Sanchez’s job becomes very vulnerable.

Mexico has looked exceedingly poor in it first two matches. After a wonder goal by Edgar Castillio on Friday night, the Mexicans allowed Guatemala to dominate the flow of play. Not only did the Guatemalans score twice but they looked to have much more quality than El Tri. Mexico has the talent, the quality, the skill and the stature to run anyone in this region off the field at any age level save perhaps the United States. Yet under Hugo Sanchez, the Mexican program has not taken any great leap forward despite the large numbers of Mexican players featuring for the very best clubs in Americas and in Europe.

Back to the United States. I’ve been called overly negative for many months now about the national team situation which I blame at least partly on the failures of MLS, our domestic league. Often times in the face of such criticism you begin to re-think your position and wonder if perhaps I had simply over reacted to what I had seen and was taking recent events out of historical context. Sadly, I now feel I have dead on since last summer when I editorialized that I thought after almost twenty years of upward movement the United States program had hit a wall and was now hitting the skids literally.

CONCACAF has figured out the United States. The reality is from a tactical standpoint we aren’t that sophisticated. Much like England, the rest of our region has figured out we have only one way to play. Unlike England whose recent failures have exposed the structure and culture of football in arguably the proudest and greatest footballing nation of all, we don’t seem to be willing to go outside the circle and bring in the type of coaches or technical directors that can change this. England upset many by hiring an Italian manager whose tactical savvy far exceeds every manager of British lineage that is alive save perhaps Sir Bobby Robson. We need to do the same. We need a technical director from outside to set the tone for the US National program. Simply having more talent and skill than Central American rivals is no longer ensuring a clean victory over these rivals.

Mexico is in a similar position. But I will not make the same suggestion for them because they will never take it. Especially when they are currently led by a former player whose career far exceeded any our nation has ever produced. Hugo Sanchez is a legend but for the good of Mexican Football he needs to show some humility and take on some help.

MLS Failing in its Mission

I must say I have listened with much amusement the last few weeks as people have tried to convince me that the influx of foreign talent to MLS and the outflow of younger Americans from MLS or in some cases skipping MLS entirely is a good thing for Soccer in this country. That view is in my estimation completely misguided and fool hearty. Keep in mind the initial aim of MLS was not create a mini Bundesliga or Premier League on our shores but to build a player pool or unparalleled historical depth and quality for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

When MLS began play in 1996, 22% of the players were allowed to be foreigners. This was at a time when the United States did not have the blooming soccer culture of the advanced player development system it has today. Now in 2008, over 45% of the Senior roster members are allowed to be foreigners. These foreigners are being paid the highest salaries under MLS’ embarrassingly low salary cap. So essentially, any American wanting to make a decent living plying his trade in the game he loves must either play for several years making less than his peer in his age group make doing any other professional job or he must move to Europe, where an investment in young American talent isn’t something club sides worry about. After their job is to provide entertaining football and develop good young players for their club. But that isn’t MLS’ mission: Unless I missed the memo.

To this point MLS’ has done a remarkable job of deepening the player pool for the US National Team and making the United States in say 2002 more competitive at all levels of competition than at any time previously in the nation’s history of playing the sport. However that has begun to change. At this point in time not a single American field player could make a 23 man Tournament squad for England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain or France. These leading European nations are in a position where their worst pool player is better than our best pool player. This wasn’t always the case however, as I could point to several players in the US pool who could have contributed to England’s Euro 2000 or World Cup 2002 campaigns. Today, with England in a state of decline the United States is possibly in a more rapid state of decline which has gone unnoticed by those not maintaining a historical perspective on current events or those buying the refrain that we are always improving soccer in this country. We are replicating England’s failures without any of England’s history or footballing culture to fall back on. It could be argued that just about every World Cup that England qualified for between 1966 and 1990 (66,70,82,86,90) that they had the best team in the world. Bad luck in many cases can explain the defeats as it did in 1970 and 1986. In the early 1990s after the disastrous 1980s from a club standpoint in England thanks to Hillsboro among other things, the Premier League was formed. The league combined exciting British style football with lucrative TV deals and revenue sources. I would point out 15 years later in my estimation the exciting British style football is now played in Scotland and in England’s lower divisions and that the league has essentially become a depository for foreign talent which has stifled the growth of the English national team. Of the top teams in the Premier League, only Liverpool with the incomparable Steven Gerrard and the rock solid Jamie Carragher at the back can be claimed to be “led” by English players. Sure I’ll hear the arguments as to John Terry, and Wayne Rooney but if you think those guys actually “lead” Chelsea and United to their success we’re not watching the same matches.

Currently in MLS, very few teams are being “led” by Americans. New England perhaps, but their best player Shalrie Joseph, is playing for another national team (although he is essentially American having grown up in New York). New England much like the Houston Dynamo remain at its core an American team, or let’s say a North American team including Canadian and Carribean players. But what about the rest of the league? Who leads DC United, easily the most successful team in the history of the league? It’s almost always been South American players and now in the form of Marcello Gallardo we have the latest. How about the LA Galaxy? David Beckham: Is he American even though his kid’s name is Brooklyn? How about Colorado in “middle america?” Try Christian Gomez! Kansas City? It looks this team is looking more Latin than ever with Claudio Lopez becoming a DP signing. I could rattle off every team and demonstrate that Americans are “leading” any of them outside of Houston and New England. Sure, such and such is the captain, but who really leads these teams into battle and wins them points when they achieve success?

This wasn’t always the case in MLS. But as the league has decided the club game trumps domestic player development much in the same fashion the English Premier League did, the whole landscape has changed. When players like Pat Noonan and Troy Perkins accomplished in their own right here at home have to go to Scandinavia to be compensated fairly for their quality services the warning signs are flashing at an ever faster rate. The bottom line is MLS has made a decision it must live with it: to promote the club game and the welfare of its teams over that of football in general in the United States. Now that may be fine and well: in fact that may be the way to go. I am not entirely sure as to whether or not football/soccer fans in this country would rather see a successful national team program or a top class international league. The two are somewhat mutually exclusive in the near term given the footballing culture and history in this country. This isn’t Italy where Serie A can import top Latin American players while maintaining a high standard for the Azzuri. Besides, when Americans go abroad they are sometime looked down upon and written off when they don’t develop to the standard of the club or country they have moved to. This has happened countless times with top American young talent that went to Europe at an early stage in the players professional development.

I hear English fans lament what could have been in Euro 2004. But let me be quite frank: other leading European Footballing nations such as Germany, Italy and France have had more than one major tournament in the past 18 years where they had a shot to win a trophy. I blame this heavily on the influx of foreign players in the Premier League that have relegated top English players to simply being what we in American Basketball term as “role players” on top clubs. The American clubs system is undergoing a similar influx without the history, culture or quite frankly the understand of football the English posses. So where does this leave us? Potentially, with a very good league in MLS and a National Team that struggles in CONCACAF going forward. Do we really want this? Obviously MLS, doesn’t bear the entire blame for a potential reversal in fortunes for the national team going forward. Youth Development, training techniques, and technical direction all need to be improved. But MLS needs to do its part to protect, nurture and promote young American starlets and on that count the league is beginning to fall way short.

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Looking Ahead for the National Team

The 2006 World Cup was a page turner for the United States. Not only because the result didn’t fulfill the pre-tournament expectations of many, but because of a coaching change and the departure of arguably four of the United States five most skilled players. (Eddie Pope, Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride retired from international play; John O’Brien has not played a competitive match since the World Cup; Landon Donovan is the only remaining American of what I would consider the top 5 skilled players entering World Cup 2006.) 2007 was seen a rebuilding year for the United States and the team entered 2008 with as many unanswered questions as it began 2007 with. However, some of the youngsters who must be counted on in 2010 seem to be stepping into roles beyond their years with the national side, and that is obviously a good thing. But the lack of leadership, the type of leadership Pope, Reyna and McBride provided is glaring every time I watch the United States play. Carlos Bocanegra and Landon Donovan may often wear the captain’s armband, but neither has the respect nor the aura required of a captain. In this article,I will attempt to scope out the player pool and make some suggestions for the upcoming two years leading into World Cup 2010.

GOALKEEPER

Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are the top two keepers in the pool right now, but with the lack of veteran leadership on the team I would not be adverse to taking Kasey Keller or Marcus Hahnehmann to a few qualifiers or perhaps even beyond. Tally Hall, Matt Pickens and Quentin Westberg provide potential young depth. As my co-host Dave Denholm stated on this past week’s American Soccer Show, no need exists to knit pick at what is always the strongest position in the American setup so let’s move on to more pressing matters.

DEFENDERS

From my vantage point the US defense is currently in its worst state since shortly after the 1990 World Cup. Perhaps I am being completely pessimistic or fatalistic, but the the number of defensive breakdowns in front of goal this past year are difficult to swallow when as fans we have seen center backs of high quality: Alexi Lalas, Marcelo Balboa, Tom Dooley (later in his career when he was moved to the back), Eddie Pope and others over the past fifteen years. I’m not someone who is gets terribly impressed because some guys play on good clubs or good league. From my vantage point both Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu have difficulty with positioning, and organization on set pieces. Bocanegra is also known to play some of the most desperate and errand back passes in international football.

Jay DeMerit, Eddie Robinson and Jimmy Conrad provide potential depth on the back line. If Cory Gibbs could ever get healthy he may be able to fight his way back into this mix, because none of the current US center backs are clearly better than Gibbs was before his injury in a tune up friendly for World Cup 2006. Jonathan Spector could also potentially play inside, but is better suited to be an outside back. Michael Parkhurst shows signs that he is developing further into a top class player, but his body of work on the international level is scant thus far and he cannot be counted on just yet.

The bottom line is that the U.S. badly needs cover inside. Onyewu and Bocanegra try and play a very physical game but are both prone to mental lapses and mistakes that you just cannot have in qualifying, let alone in a World Cup. But the problem is that the rest of the inside backs are untested at the highest levels of international football. This situation, I am sure will continue to develop going forward but right now not much exists to be optimistic about.

MAN MARKERS/OUTSIDE BACKS

The outside back are an even bigger concern, if possible than the center backs. Jonathan Bornstein has looked decent at left back but something still makes me very nervous about him. Heath Pearce continues to be an enigma and Ramiro Corrales did not do a whole lot against Mexico to inspire confidence. This is where perhaps leadership comes in yet again. Bruce Arena settled on moving veteran Eddie Lewis to left back where Lewis was less comfortable than in the midfield. In the final group match of World Cup 2006 Lewis returned to left midfield and delivered a perfect cross into Brian McBride, which McBride in his final international could not finish. Lewis could be a short term band aid at left back but since he is approaching the twilight of his career and will be almost 36 when the 2010 World Cup roles around he cannot be counted on. Besides, Lewis cannot play 90 minutes even at the present time, so Bornstein has to be vetted for the position. But I would continue to select Lewis and use him as a utility player on the left side of both midfield and defense until he is no longer able or willing to play internationally. Pearce is a touch and go situation. He is flamboyant personally and on the field as well. I’m not sure he meshes well with the rest of the team. Pearce is someone I have a hard time reading and I’ll let Coach Bradley be the ultimate judge of his capability in the future.
Right back is somewhat more stable when Steve Cherundolo is healthy. Size is Cherundolo’s biggest weakness but he’s someone that has played at the highest level for club and country now for a long time and is about as reliable as any American field player gets. Still Cherundolo lacks the overall skill and physical play that Tony Sanneh exhibited in the 2002 World Cup, and like many other players departed from the national team, Sanneh’s contributions weren’t properly respected or appreciated at the time. Frankie Hedjuk is getting up their in years but still has to be considered an option much like Lewis to provide leadership and depth come qualifying but not for World Cup 2010. The rest of the right backs are untested: Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Frank Simek and Jonathan Spector. Spector can play on the left side also but isn’t reliable and has been to me one of the most unimpressive players every time he’s been called into the U.S. camp in the last year. Some critics have pointed out to me that since he plays regularly in arguably the world’s top league (the Barclays Premier League) he must be considered, but my feeling is that a stark difference exists between the club game even at the top level and internationals and some guys are better suited for one game or the other. Eddie Lewis is a player I would argue has always been a better international than club player. The same for Frankie Hedjuk. Spector, much like Taylor Twellman may be the opposite. But Spector is still only 21 and should he do something spectacular for West Ham, he warrants another look but for now I would not bother with him.

DEFENSIVE/HOLDING MIDFIELD

No position has the glut of potential players nor the importance of the twin holding midfielders in Bob Bradley’s “bucket” formation. The bulk of playing time in 2007 went to Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber and Rico Clark in this role. However towards the end of 2007 Maurice Edu, the MLS Rookie of the Year began to emerge as a legitimate threat to play regularly and other capable options such as the veteran Pablo Mastroeni, and youngsters Danny Szetela, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty and Greg Dalby are available.

Feilhaber hasn’t gotten an opportunity to show his stuff with soon to be relegated Derby County in England. However, Feilhaber is too skilled a player, who is probably the American with the skill set that most resembles John O’Brien to be written off entirely. Nonetheless, Feilhaber must find himself another club preferably outside of England before he is called back into the national team. While English Football is a perfect game for some, like Brian McBride (who has quite frankly been more effective in the precision aerial based EPL than the ground slop that for years was MLS) it’s not good for others like Feilhaber who are more Latin oriented in their game.

Michael Bradley has been scoring goals at a torrid pace in Holland. We thus know Bradley is an outstanding finisher but his service and link up play with the attack is poor to say the least. Also we saw he doesn’t play off of Rico Clark particularly well against Mexico, unlike Clark and Feilhaber who seem to play off one another very well. Bradley has to be in squad going forward but he needs to develop a better understanding of the players around him and the system his father, the manager is trying to run.

Maurice Edu and Rico Clark both bring a toughness, both mental and physical to the fold. But neither has the skill nor technical ability of Bradley or Feilhaber going forward into the attack. Both should however figure in qualifying and 2010 as valuable reserves.

WIDE MIDFIELDERS

Bob Bradley’s bucket formation doesn’t provide for a true #10 to slide behind the attackers so distribution and service is critical from the wide midfielders. It has become apparent since last year’s Gold Cup that Bob Bradley sees Landon Donovan as a right sided player who has the freedom to come inside. Donovan continues to be the most skilled and talented American player, so it is bit disconcerting to see him pushed out wide. However, the new position may have its benefits for Donovan as his speed and crossing ability are far better than that of Clint Dempsey who seized the same position in the later Arena years. Sal Zizzo is a young option out on the right side, but Ben Olsen who seems to have been forgotten about by Bradley is once again healthy and infinitely tougher than most other American players. Olsen can play wide on right side or in the holding role. At 30, Olsen still has some good years ahead of him and Bradley needs to bring him back into the fold. Eddie Gaven is a player many in US circles have been high on for a long time, but even at just 21 it seems Gaven is not going to develop into the type of player he was regarded to potentially be. Brian Mullen is another possible option to add depth in qualifying but not a world cup quality player by any stretch of the imagination. Lee Nguyen has failed to develop the way many of us had hoped he would but his recent move from PSV to Randers FC in Denmark may get him kore playing time and another look from Bradley. Pat Noonan in my opinion isn’t good enough for international play and if we see him again that is a very bad sign as to the depth of the US player pool.

The left side is more muddled but contains some excellent good options. DaMarcus Beasley is the clear front runner but his recent very serious injury while playing for Rangers has brought the rawness of the rest of the options at this position forward. Bobby Convey was a prodigy who at 16 began playing for DC United. But Convey’s club performances with DC United and Reading haven’t been matched by his national team work. He is a hustler but seems to have lost his way lately with poor positioning at times and also the tendency to drift in and out of games. Brad Davis showed a great ability on set pieces against Sweden and then promptly got hurt. Young options on the left side include Stuart Holden and Arturo Alvarez, both of whom are high class players going forward with some questions marks defensively. Then of course we return to the subject of Eddie Lewis. Lewis cannot play 90 minutes any longer at this level. But his crossing ability and sense of positioning probably continue to make him a better option in critical qualifiers late in matches than anyone else save Beasley at this position. Freddy Adu is another option out here but it is difficult to place a player in a position he doesn’t fully embrace. Steve Sampson learned this the hard way with John Harkes many years ago. However, Adu needs to be willing to play out wide on the left side or risk not being part of the US setup under Bradley. Adu is too small and too cute in his habits quite frankly at this point to play up front in my opinion. Justin Mapp could also be in the mix come qualifying if he can stay healthy.

FORWARDS

Jozy Altidore proved in his last two senior national team appearances (vs Sweden and Mexico) that he is miles ahead of the opposition at forward. In Bob Bradley’s 4-4-2 bucket formation, two attacking players are required. Altidore is comfortable with the ball at his feet and is a lethal target in the air. Until Eddie Johnson proves he is durable and willing to run at guys using his natural speed I wouldn’t bother including him in any qualifiers. Charlie Davies, while still raw and Brain Ching who can play with his back to goal and is good in the air are better option. Taylor Twellman is worth another look because I have hunch he’ll play very well off of Altidore. Josh Wolff is getting upwards in age but I would keep an eye on his play for 1860 Munich. Wolff has in the past proven he can both set up and score goals in big games, something else no other eligible US forward has proven. Still a Wolff call up would be a sign that we are in long term trouble in the attack. Kenny Cooper’s injuries and lack of development from the time that Manchester United signed him at 18 have me concerned he like Gaven, Specter and several other young Americans who began their careers with high hopes will never develop into a capable international.

TACTICS

This brings me to subject of Clint Dempsey. No player gives more for the national team or paints American soccer in a better light abroad than Clint Dempsey. He has to be part of any and all US setups going forward. But what exactly is his role? I don’t like where Bradley plays him because for all his heart and desire he isn’t as skilled as Landon Donovan and should not be the focal point of the US attack instead of Donovan. Dempsey can never be a #10 and isn’t a forward either. So where should he play?

I don’t like Dempsey as an attacker up top, but I will admit finding a solution for his position as well as Donovan’s is very tricky. If Dempsey slides back to the right side, it is possible Freddy Adu could play right behind Altidore and Donovan in a 4-3-1-2, but that would require Bradley to shelve one of the two holding midfielders and play down the spine of the field something he doesn’t seem to prone to entertaining. Coach Bradley’s style seems to rely on flank play, something that any American team should stress. This is why Bradley’s approach I believe is much more likely to succeed than Arena’s that relied on the skill of John O’Brien and Claudio Reyna in the midfield and used the wide mid fielders as supporting players more often than not.

I think a solution to the glut of midfielders and some of the US’ other tactical awkwardness is to go back to a three man back line as Bruce Arena often used in the 1999 to 2002 time period. In this backline I would slide Carlos Bocanegra out wide anchor the middle with Oguchi Onyewu and then place Steve Cherundolo on the right side. This re-alignment would rely heavily on the two holding midfielders keeping their position and allowing the side to keep its shape throughout the match. Truthfully I am not terribly comfortable with this suggestion, but if Bradley insists on playing two holding midfielders, the only way to put Dempsey, Donovan and Adu together in an attacking formation would be to add an attacking central midfielder and to take Donovan off the right flank.

No easy decision exist for Bradley going forward. Our talent pool is deeper than ever, but we lack the experienced class internationals like the Eddie Pope’s and Claudio Reyna’s that have continued to move the national team forward. We also lack the natural leaders like Paul Caligiuri, Earnie Stewart and John Harkes that were the lynchpin of the development of the national team in the 1990s. Bradley’s job is made more difficult by heightened expectations and interest in the national team. I for one believe he is up to doing this job but must take a view towards qualifying first and then figuring 2010 out later.

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US 1-0 Brazil: Ten Years On: Keller Masterpiece

Sunday marked the tenth anniversary of the US’ lone victory over Brazil. The match in Los Angeles was sparsely attended with under 13,000 at the Coliseum. Unlike the next several US-Brazil games on American soil (2001 in LA, 2003 in Miami, and 2007 in Chicago, the later two games I attended) the number of American fans pulling for Brazil in the crowd was minimal and the US performance reflected a desire to win a Continental Championship- the Gold Cup. Nonetheless, Brazil was a superior side much of the match. The young Ronaldinho who had figured inthe previous two Gold Cup matches in Miami strangely didn’t make the trip to L.A. (I’ve never figured out why) That left Romario and Edmundo as the key Brazilians to dispose of. Ronaldo did not come to the Tournament.

This game will forever be remembered for Preki’s 65th minute goal off his left foot (incidentally about 10 minutes after I called it a night and headed to bed, leaving my VCR running) but the real hero of the night was Kasey Keller. Keller’s performance was perhaps the best in the history of US Soccer, making 13 saves, some of them simply defying logic and gravity! Romario, one of the great footballers of our time turned to Keller after a save in the 48th minute and shook his hand. After the match Romario said, “It was an honor to be on the field with him.” A few years ago I caught up with Romario after a Miami FC match, while he was playing here. Romario didn’t know a great deal of English, but I did gather from his broken words that he still considers Keller’s performance one of the best he has ever seen in football.

Kasey Keller has often times been a contradiction. A savvy veteran goalkeeper who makes amateur mistakes. A team leader who sulked when he was bumped in favor of his longtime rival Brad Friedel prior to the 2002 World Cup. A keeper whose US career is marred by his lack of big victories in major competitions. (the three biggest US wins in FIFA competitions with Keller on the squad were all started by Friedel- the 1999 Confederations Cup win over Germany, the 2002 World Cup win over Portugal and the 2002 World Cup win over Mexico- in the case of the Germany game it is particularly unfortunate because Keller was the clear #1 at that time and Friedel just happened to start that game because Keller was banged up in the previous match against Brazil) and whose desire and willingness to play for his country at all costs (unlike Friedel) has often times rendered him a journeyman club keeper in the European game.

Kasey Keller should always be remembered for this one game above all. On that special night in Los Angeles, he wasn’t just the best keeper in the world: he was the best footballer on the planet.

The US Lineup vs Brazil: Gold Cup 1998
——————————————–Keller————————————————-

—————————Lalas————————-Pope————————————-

Burns————————————————————————————Agoos–

——————————————Harkes————————————————

Jones——————————————————————————-Hedjuk—–

—————————————-Moore—————————————————

———————-Wynalda (Preki)——————–Wegerle (McBride)——————-

The US would go on to lose the final to Mexico 1-0, the last meaningful El Tri victory on US soil. Luis Hernandez’s 38th minute goal against the run of play would be blamed by some on Keller. But it was Keller who brought the US to the final in the first place, where unlike 1996 and 2003 Brazil’s watered down Gold Cup squad didn’t eliminate us from OUR continental championship.

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US Scheduling Tough Friendlies Almost Too Much

It seems the US Soccer Federation is eager to prove some of the critics of the game in this country wrong thanks to upcoming friendlies against Spain and potential friendlies against England and Argentina. Those critics who rightfully pointed out that between 2003 and 2006 we didn’t play many tough friendlies on the road have no recollection of the type of scheduling that the US undertook before and after the 1998 World Cup disaster and the scheduling that almost killed the team in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup. They do not recall the US beating Mexico on a Wednesday night in Columbus in an epic qualifier (at least in the eyes of US supporters) with Josh Wolff and Earnie Stewart scoring goals and then flying across two time zones to L.A. to nationally televised (on ABC) Saturday afternoon friendly against Brazil. That whole scheduling debacle took a toll on the team as we subsequently collapsed in qualifying, going as far as losing to Honduras at RFK Stadium. The temptation of Bruce Arena as it will be for Bob Bradley was to put his “A” team in against Brazil and thus wear them down for upcoming qualifiers.
In those days the majority of National Team players were in MLS and the ones that weren’t were generally in Germany. The toll the aggressive scheduling had was to put the US in jeopardy of missing the World Cup. In 1999, the U.S. played Germany, Chile (at that time a respectable footballing power), Mexico and Argentina shortly before playing Brazil, Germany and Mexico in the Confederations Cup. (An event some of the very same critics write off as meaningless, but how can playing Brazil, Germany and Mexico on foreign soil be meaningless? Does an event these days need Real Madrid or Manchester United to mean something?)

These same critics don’t recall the U.S. playing Argentina in Miami before flying off to France for the Confederations Cup in 2003 and then flying back to start Gold Cup play right away, where we’d be eliminated by Brazil in extra time on a golden goal. (The Brazil game was interesting- I was at the match and the number of Argentines and Colombians who turned out to cheer AGAINST Brazil was shocking) The same happened in 1998 you could argue when the U.S. played an ambitious schedule after qualifying, and then ended up flat for its three pre World Cup friendlies against inferior sides in May. By playing Holland, @ Belgium, Paraguay, and @ Austria in a four week period we ran down our players and allowed internal dissension to mount, something Steve Sampson was never able to deal with. The scheduling looked good at the time, but it was obvious in hindsight the decision by Sampson to begin yanking some veterans and playing youngsters or newcomers to the national team created a dynamic which in some ways still haunts US Soccer. ( Sampson made the decision to insert Chad Deering and Brian Maisoniueve altogether, as well as Frankie Hedjuk and Brain McBride in more prominent roles during these friendlies casting aside the very players who had been the core of the US team in 1994 and the successful qualification for the 1998.)

The problem is fixture congestion on the club level has led national teams to be less and less flexible in its scheduling. This isn’t the early 1990s when Bora was able to demand any American that wasn’t playing for a respectable club abroad, stay in residency with the National Team, and thus have a full team available for any friendly. These days you get released by your club 48 hours before a match and often times the players are weary from the travel and condensed club fixture schedule. In the case of Major League Soccer they aren’t even given a break during internationals. I am all for tough scheduling especially on the road but a balance must be struck so we don’t endanger our qualification to World Cup 2010 simply to satisfy some loudmouth critics of game in this country.

US-Mexico Analysis

Having been on hand in Houston for Wednesday’s mammoth and exciting clash and now having had over 24 hours to digest the outcome and impact let’s go through what we learned:

• Mexico has better talent and more skill than the U.S.

No real surprise here. With Carlos Vela, Mexico has a player who could be among the world’s best in a few years. Gio Dos Santos is also a skilled young player. Pavel Pardo’s work from dead ball situations has improved thanks to his current stint with reigning Bundesliga Champions Stuttgart. Johnny Magillion was fantastic not simply because of his two goals but the job he helped do shutting down the U.S. flank play almost completely. Mexico is entering a period where their talent level is going to be much higher than anyone in CONCACAF, but I remain unconvinced that the Mexican players have the mindset or the proper management to fully take advantage of the gap in talent between itself and the rest of CONCACAF.

• The US Has Lost it’s Psychological Edge on Home Soil

As we saw in 2001 when Honduras responded three times to defeat the U.S, in a critical qualifier at RFK Stadium (a qualifier which in many nations would have cost the Manager, Bruce Arena in this case his job), Mexico who previously became shell shocked when the US would score against the run of play learned how to respond and get a result on U.S. soil. The U.S. has now conceded five goals in the last 135 minutes of legitimate “A” international action of American soil. That is simply not acceptable for a nation trying to make its mark on the international scene.

• Communication Issues Continue to Plague the US Defense

We saw this in the World Cup and throughout 2007. American defenders regardless of who is in the squad communicate poorly on set pieces. Even against Italy in Germany 2006, the two most experienced US field players Claudio Reyna and Eddie Pope misread one another and gave up an all too easy goal to the Azzuri. Last year in the Copa America two different set piece goals were scored by US opponents on communications breakdowns between Kasey Keller and his backline. Wednesday saw Mexico score twice off set pieces with Tim Howard despite all his other good work, failing to organize the back line and the wall properly.

• Bobby Convey Should be Dropped

Convey has had his opportunity with DaMarcus Beasley’s injury and he clearly has lost his appetite for international football. His play was not only poor Wednesday, it was sorely damaging. By being out of position so often, Convey exposed unseasoned international Ramiro Corrales to the type of danger that Corrales couldn’t properly deal with. In addition, Convey’s meandering into the middle of the field forced Landon Donovan left to cover for him and thus took Donovan, the US’ most dangerous weapon completely out of his game.

• Jozy Altiodre is the Real Deal

It’s not all stormy for the U.S. going forward. For the first time since Eric Wynalda began to bang in goals in friendlies before the 1990 World Cup the U.S. has a legitimate, young, potential world class attacking player. Altidore has the size, pace, and stature to be a great one. He also has the right mindset, taking on defenders and making daring runs. Before the match I attended the Texian Army (Houston Dynamo Supporters Club) mid afternoon party and the subject on everyone’s mind was Jozy. Will we see him start and will we (to steal a quote from my co-host Dave Denolm) finally take the training wheels off him? With the expectations so high and seemingly the burden of an entire soccer fan community in this nation on his shoulders, Jozy delivered. Now the expectations are going to go through the roof, but I can assure you this kid is ready to handle it.

• Gooch is Back

After a forgettable 2007, the 2006 US Soccer Male Athlete of the Year signaled his presence in a big way again. Oguchi Onyewu was well position all night despite the frequent back line collapses and of course showed great skill in the air on his well taken goal. Onyewu also drew a yellow, when yet again a CONCACAF official misread a play and assumed that Onyewu had committed a violent foul because of his size advantage on the Mexican player.

• Qualifying is Around the Corner and Work Remains

As Bobby Convey’s play demonstrated some of the U.S. players of prime age have regressed since World Cup 2006. With the exception of Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo, Rico Clark and Clint Dempsey, no U.S. players have proved consistently dependable over the past year. Jozy Altidore should join that list but potential qualifying trips to Guatemala, Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago looming, the U.S. needs to figure a great deal out in the next few friendlies all of which could incidentally be against stronger opposition in more hostile territory than Wednesday Night was.

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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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US-Sweden Preview

For the second time in six months the United States will face Sweden in a friendly. But this time, the game will be played at the friendly confines of the Home Depot Center and without any of Sweden’s stars that play outside of Scandinavia. The last time the US faced Sweden, the Red, White and Blue were in my estimation embarrassed. That match was the only time in the calender year 2007 where the United States looked totally outclassed for an entire 90 minutes, including the Copa American debacle. The performances in the Copa with a “B minus” squad were far superior in my humble opinion than the performance in Gothenburg this past August.

The United States team has seemingly adjusted to Bob Bradley’s more rigid style after some early bumps. Bradley’s predecessor, Bruce Arena was not only somewhat less tactically savvy but he also had less of a structure around training. Now Bradley with a squad made up almost entirely of MLS based players will face off with Sweden again. As we learned in August, Sweden can hold the ball for extended periods of time and lull the American defenders to sleep. With Danny Califf, the most experienced defender on this particular squad pulling up lame in training the other day, it will be critical for the experienced center back, Jimmy Conrad to step up. At times this past year Conrad looked lost with Kansas City. He has not looked particularly sharp with the US either lately, which is a concern for Arena. Michael Parkhurst who had a good Gold Cup and an even better MLS season will be available for this game as will Ramiro Corrales who has not been capped in a long time. Corrales had an outstanding year in Norway with SK Brann, making the PFA equivalent in Norway’s Best XI and helping lead his club to the domestic title and a champions League birth. Corrales was at one time one of the great hopes for US Soccer winning his first full cap at the age of 19, in 1996 (in a game I attended by the way against Bolivia at RFK Stadium). Corrales had fallen off the national team radar but now appears to be playing the best soccer of his life and it couldn’t come at a better time for the US. Eddie Robinson one of my favorites from MLS should also feature in this match for the US. Marvell Wynne and Drew Moor should split time at right back, with Wynne looking to cement a place in the qualifying campaign player pool.

Rico Clark returns for his first competitive match after his nine game ban from MLS. He should anchor the US midfield along with Maurice Edu. Coach Bradley likes to use two holding midfielders at all times thus allowing one to push into the attack if necessary. Kyle Beckerman can be an option in the 2nd half playing in an attacking midfield role or even out wide. Beckerman has the skills of a #10 but in the U.S. setup under Bradley a true central midfielder isn’t in the cards. So Beckerman either will have to play out wide or in a withdrawn striker role. Justin Mapp returns to the national team for the first time since a frustrating Copa America. with DaMarcus Beasley injured and Eddie Lewis in the midst of a relegation fight with Derby County, the next few matches could very well be Mapp’s last best chance to create an impression for the coaches. Brad Davis could also get some time on the left side although long term, youngsters Stuart Holden and Arturo Alvarez are better bets.

Landon Donovan could start at Forward or out wide on right side of midfield. Wherever Donovan plays he’ll be likely servicing Taylor Twellman or Jozy Altidore, both of whom are unproven on this level. Of course, Altidore is nine years younger than Twellman, but Jozy didn’t show much of anything in his senior team debut against South Africa, a match where Freddy Adu and Maurice Edu, also inexperienced on the international scene played very well. Chris Rolfe could also figure in the match, but Juan Carlos Osorio’s decision to use him as a Left Midfielder for Chicago late last season may deem him too rusty to play up top. Jeremiah White has finally gotten a long deserved call up after another solid season in the Danish League. He however is unlikely to earn his first cap against Sweden.

Rumors are abound that Brad Guzan will be jetting to Glasgow for negotiations with Celtic. If Guzan only plays a half, look for Will Hesmer or Steve Cronin to get a first cap. Can the US win this game? Sure, but given Sweden’s proficiency in holding the ball and the discipline in the attack, the US will be hard pressed to break down Sweden. Given the “B plus” nature of the match, a 1-1 draw is likely. For real time coverage of the match please visit the Third Half with CSRN’s Johnathan Starling beginning at 8:30 EST/5:30 PT Saturday Night.

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