Things Fall Apart

I'm not sure I've ever felt so deflated about an entire tournament as the result of one loss.  After all the great moments and excitement from the US the last two weeks, they just laid an egg against an inferior team.  It's one thing to lose if we played well and just couldn't get it done, or we lost to a superior team.  This time, there's just four years of regrets and what ifs.

First, I finally went ahead and praised Bob Bradley for his moves this World Cup, only for him to inexplicably make the boneheaded decision to start Rico Clark over Mo Edu.  You know, because they're interchangeable defensive mids with the exception that Edu is better than Clark in every facet of the game save for long range shooting (not exactly what we should care about our D mid doing).

Clark has tremendous upside potential (thanks Simmons!) because in games where he plays well he can really be a great midfield destroyer. But he also has the worst downside, disappearing from games, being reckless in tackles, and hurting US possession.  So despite Edu being the better player and playing very well against Algeria, Bradley went back to his boy Clark, who subsequently had to be embarrassed in front of worldwide millions when his poor play help spot Ghana a goal 5 minutes in and necessitated a wasted first half substitution.  It's also pretty clear that Michael Bradley plays better and can advance forward more when Edu is playing alongside/behind him.

Not to put all the blame of Bradley Sr./Clark, Tim Howard played the shot by the German Ghanaian, Kevin Prince Boateng, very poorly and getting beat near post when that should never happen on that type of shot.  I personally was disappointed with Howard this Cup, despite playing well against England and of course his great outlet pass springing Donovan against Algeria.

I don't know if it was naively thinking they could beat Ghana by just stepping on the field and they were looking ahead to a reasonable passage to a possible semifinals, or they were really just dead from the physical and emotional toll of the Algeria.  But they wasted a half and they lacked concentration again in the beginning of the overtime.

The regret is that much greater because let's face it, Ghana is not a good team and they didn't even have their best player.  Ghana's decision making was pretty ridiculous.  A team that makes that many dumb decisions shouldn't be in the quarterfinals.  They also don't even have that much skill, though Gyan did very well on his winning goal (set up as it was by the pure luck of a blind defensive clearance).

Then of Ghana went into among the worst time wasting I've ever seen unrewarded by a single yellow from the ref.  It's understandable when teams waste time and exaggerate injuries when fouled, but the Ghanaians acted as if murdered when it was clear that they weren't touch at all.  Not light brushed or small touch fouls, I mean absolutely no contact -- pure flopping.  I have no love for Uruguay and their ugly style of play -- only marginally redeemed by the fact that it's executed by quality players, in particular that great strike force -- but I will be rooting strongly for Uruguay to beat the Ghanaians.

Lastly, even with all the above, the US still probably still should have put away their chances, only for the lack of a goalscoring striker to come back to haunt them.  Gomez and Findley failed to put away their chances this Cup, showing that being on form in the Mexican league and MLS means very little.

If you're world class you're world class (watch Miroslav Klose and Podolski, scoring goals like clockwork for Germany again despite both having a very poor club season), and the US just doesn't have such a player.  This is where they missed Charlie Davies, and Jozy Altidore showed how far he still has to go.  He too missed his chances, and he constantly reminded why he sometimes gets labeled as lazy and as lacking a soccer brain (so said Martin Keown on the BBC).  It's frustrating because despite all that, his talent and physicality still posed problems for defenders and gave the US great chances.  He showed why he only scored two goals for Hull this year.

So where does this leave the US for the next World Cup?  It's a big question mark.  The US needs to start developing strikers.  Can Jozy become world class?  I hope so.  Will Charlie Davies recover sufficiently?  With his injuries, I really don't know. Before I would've said he was a better bet to become a great goal scorer than Altidore.  Dempsey and Donovan will still be around in four years, but both will have a lot of miles on their legs.  They'll still be key players, but need strikers to support them.  The midfield will probably be very solid with Edu and Bradley both young, Stuart Holden also young, and I'm sure other midfield options will develop. 

The defense is another matter.  Based purely on age, we could see a number of the same players, but let's hope not.  Spector and Bornstein are young and will be around.  Gooch will only be 32, so he too could still be around, but let's see how his knee holds up.  He wasn't exactly fast to begin with, so that's a big question mark.  Even before this Gooch was too inconsistent and at 28, even for defenders who take a little longer to develop than great attackers, he's running out of time to turn into a world class defender.  Boca and Cherundolo -- the USA's best defender this Cup -- will both be 35, too old to realistically be relied on to keep up with the speed and quality at the World Cup (just see how 36 year old Fabio Cannavaro fared with Italy).  Similarly, DeMerit will be 34, and he's never really going to be much more than he is now.

With Germany embarrassing England this morning, we're slowly whittling away the weaker teams and setting up for some great matchups down the road. Possible Germany-Argentina and Brazil-Netherlands quarterfinals could be doozies, the semis could see Germany/Argentina against Spain, and the final will most likely have Brazil -- who has an extremely manageable draw on their half of the bracket aside from the potential Netherlands matchup -- against one of Germany/Argentina/Spain.  If the trio from that half of the bracket wins this Cup they will have fully earned it.  The Ghana match aside, this has been a mostly excellent and redeeming World Cup (including the French flameout, karma at its best), with the only thing missing as yet being a singular defining performance by one of the worlds greats (Messi, Ronaldo, etc.).  I can only hope Messi chooses to oblige us against El Tri.

USA, World Cup Readings

Before getting to the Champions League Final pairing of Bayern Munich and Inter Milan at another date, here are some links and discussion of some reading on the US team and the World Cup to be found on ESPN Soccernet and elsewhere.

They’ve been running a series of features, one series called “World Cup 101 – 101 features in 101 days.”

ESPN’s been using a lot of statistical analysis in its pieces, such as today’s piece on the percentage likelihood of each team’s advancement from the USA-England group.

Maybe what surprised me the most from the article was finding out that according to ESPN’s Soccer Power Index (SPI), the US has the 9th rated attack, whereas only the 34th rated defense. I’m pretty sure it would take you all of 1.2 seconds to name 10 teams with better attacks than the US. I don't even need to list them.

The weaker defense however actually shouldn’t be too surprising. Aside from goalie, the left back spot is always shaky, while injuries and inconsistency among the center back pairings haven’t helped either.

Still, some of the statistical analyses can be interesting, such as an examination of how the goals per game in the European leagues the year of a World Cup predict an increase or decrease in goals per game during the World Cup from previous years. (This year… look for more goal scoring than in past low years, but nothing close to historical highs. Old school defending just not exactly high quality.) Other articles range from highlighting players that could see a post-World Cup boost in transfer value, and why the cooler weather could lead to a more exciting Cup.

Another interesting series of reads has been a best XI of position players. Always fodder to argue who the top 11 attacking or defensive midfielders have been.

Lastly, as time is running out for players to make their way onto the World Cup, there are a few questionable spots left on the potential US roster and there have been a variety of articles from experts on those who are in or out. Unfortunately there aren’t many forwards worthy of being in.

If there was something close to a consensus on the roster, it would look like this:

Goalkeeper (3): Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan
Defense (8): Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein , Heath Pearce
Midfield (9): Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber Landon Donovan, Jose Torres, Alejandro Bedoya
Forwards (3): Jozy Altidore and two of Brian Ching, Herculez Gomes, Charlie Davies or Edson Buddle

As you can see, picking Bedoya as the midfield wild card over DaMarcus Beasley is the only non-forward tough choice, and even then that spot is available only because Robbie Rogers hasn’t improved and there’s room for an extra midfielder because Dempsey and Donovan can play up top. I won’t presume between picking the forwards because there’s still a lot to be seen in terms of Ching’s and Davies’ injury recoveries.

Also, I’d like to remind everyone clamoring for Gomez, who was joint top scoring in the Mexican first division, that he was the top scorer in the Mexican first division, not exactly the Serie A of tactical defenses. Nonetheless I’d still take him because he’s on form and confident, something in short supply in the US camp. Here’s where I start praying that Davies can return to a semblance of his former self…

USA-Netherlands Fallout

The big news from the US game against the Netherlands yesterday was Stuart Holden's fractured fibula that will keep him out for six weeks. The current long-term injury list for the US includes Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo, and now Stuart Holden.

On the plus side, all (including Davies, according to reports) will be back on the field in time for the World Cup. The bad is still that five potential starters (at least three being locks) will be coming off injury layoffs and will not have the type of match sharpness and form heading into the World Cup that US fans would prefer.

This on top of the fact that potential US man Jermaine Jones is unlikely to suit up for the USMNT this summer either. Interesting, however, were reports that Jones was seen with the US team in Amsterdam wearing the US team gear. Clearly both he and Bob Bradley have spoken and wish for him to be around the team because the plan is to get him in the squad if he's ever healthy and they'd like it to be as smooth an introduction into the locker room as possible.

Back to Holden, despite his injury, Bolton manager Owen Coyle has stated his intent to extend Holden's option for the next season. Definitely good news that the Bolton manager see's the talent in Holden and views him as a key player for the future, "because of the belief I have in him, and the quality he has shown since he came to the club."

The injury occurred on a pretty bad foul by Nigel de Jong in midfield, but I disagree with anyone who puts particular fault with de Jong or thinks it should've been a red. Ref's have given reds for worse, but it wasn't necessarily malicious.

The thing that de Jong and midfield partner Wesley Sneijder did best was completely control the midfield and outclass their American counterparts. This is to be expected, the two being key players for Manchester City and Inter Milan respectively, versus the starting duo of Michael Bradley and Jose Francisco Torres.

Despite the Dutch pretty much controlling the entire match, the consensus is that there were a lot of positives to take from the game. Those positives include:

-The central defense, with the help of Bradley and Maurice Edu, after his second half introduction, more than held their own and weren't particularly bothered.

-Jozy Altidore, despite getting little in the way of good service, acquitted himself against the Dutch defense and threatened a late leveler.

-DaMarcus Beasley has gone from purgatory to being a lock for the World Cup roster. He was lively and the best American attacker, assisting on Bocanegra's goal.

-The US stayed compact and organized while continuing to show the type of spirit and fight that they showed last summer by never giving up, fighting back to score a goal and nearly tying the game late. This identity, borne in the Confederations Cup and solidified in the final match of World Cup Qualifying, is the most notable trait of the USMNT and surely their best hope for this summer. That and Tim Howard (what a save at the end!).

Still, this all masks some glaring trouble areas:

-Landon Donovan was a huge disappointment. If ever you needed proof that the US offense is entirely reliant on him being the midfield fulcrum, last night was it.

-Torres was even worse than Donovan. He played himself right out of any future starts and and he's now further down the list of substitutes, especially considering Bob Bradley never seemed to want to play him in the past anyway.

-Bornstein was torched. He had a rough night with the penalty and the deflection on the second goal. But every time the Dutch threatened on his side you never thought he could handle himself. Not good. He's a favorite of Bradley's but he's also allowing Heath Pearce to stake a claim to that problematic left back. For the thousandth time... Cherundolo on the right (when healthy) and Spector on the left. Please.

-Michael Bradley has horrible distribution. His defensive work remains strong, for the most part, but he needs someone who can distribute better. That was supposed to be Torres but he was not good. Edu is a much better distributor than Bradley, which is why I think Bradley's starting spot could eventually be threatened. Edu should be starting in his place with an attacking mid like Benny Feilhaber or eventually if Jermaine Jones is put on the team you pair Jones with Edu, since Bradley senior loves playing two d-mids.

-The US has absolutely no second forward options to play with Altidore other than injured players Davies and Dempsey, or Donovan. In fact, I'd say the next best player is Brian Ching because he's proven he can hold up the ball, distribute ok, draw fouls, and at least presents something of an aerial threat from set pieces. If the above three aren't starting up top, I'd rather have Ching than Robbie Findley or Jeff Cunningham, or god forbid the awful Eddie Johnson. Ching and Altidore may not be the best pair in terms of complementary talents, but you get the players out there who will help you the most and have the least amount of downside.

-Lastly, and I fully admit this is total nitpicking, but is Tim Howard any good at penalty kicks? He always seems to guess wrong and never comes close. Is there an example that I'm just not remembering? If so, let me know. Because even though it's not really good form to pull out your unquestioned #1 ahead of penalties (and you usually don't have that substitute luxury anyway, having subbed for field players and maybe one sub for a penalty kick taking specialist), I'd have to say that the US would rather have Brad Guzan. Guzan's turned into something of a penalty saving hero at Aston Villa. Not meaning in anyway to demean Howard, who I said earlier is probably the number one key to the US World Cup hopes, along with Donovan, but am I wrong to worry about that?

Still, I'll take some heart at a 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in Amsterdam, and just keep hoping that sometime in the future the US will have a healthy roster to choose from. Because as much as I have high hopes for this team, it's safe to say those hopes rest on a very narrow pool of players.

When the Yanks Come Marching In

Well that was exhilarating.

The USA clinched World Cup qualification with a rather stunning 3-2 victory over Honduras in San Pedro Sula last night. Due to the TV rights debacle, rather than watching the game at home, I watched the game at a bar in DC packed to the hilt with scream USA fans. That was $15 well spent.

So all discussion about the game begins and ends with Connor Casey. When the starting lineups were flashed and Jozy Altidore was not listed, there was considerable angst among the crowd. At one point early in the match, Casey was shown on camera and was actually booed by the crowd watching the game. Well, he certainly had something to say about that, didn't he?

He started off slowly, but his hold up play improved drastically as the first half wore on, and then he hit for the two goals. He gets all the credit for going in and challenging the 50-50 ball with keeper and not just slamming into him for a foul. And while Donovan's pass was amazing and had the bar on it's feet in anticipation of the go ahead goal, Casey did well with his first touch and coolly slotted home. He drew the foul on the third goal as well, completing a drastic turnaround from previous performances with the USA, receiving a vociferous standing ovation from the crowd at Fado in Chinatown.

I agreed with the analysis in previewing this game that it certainly had the potential for going back and forth attacking, but not necessarily goals. Well I guess the natural consequence of the attacking mindset of both teams was in fact goals, and it made for a great viewing experience.

The second half in particular was just great to watch. It was probably the best half the US has played in quite some time in qualifying, certainly the best since the first half against Brazil and the game against Spain in the Confederations Cup. The most encouraging sign to me was that after the first goal, the US sensed it could grab control, and they followed through in seeking and getting the second. Even more impressive, the US sensed a chance to kill the game right then, and while I couldn't hear the audio at that point, I'm sure the Honduran crowd felt the same. And when Casey drew that foul in perfect free kick territory, we all sensed this was the moment that would clinch qualification, and Donovan capped just an amazing string of performances for the USA this year with the ultimate game winner. By this point, I had long lost my voice, but I sure as hell was still screaming hoarse.

Of course, a CONCACAF match wouldn't be a CONCACAF match without the referee conspiring to let the home team back in the game. He continuously missed easy fouls against Honduras but made weak calls against the US. The second goal was initiated with a pass in the box that was so offside that I really don't know how the linesman could ever be retained for another WCQ after missing it. Then the ref ignored a blatant foul by Honduras outside of their box and subsequently gave Honduras a phantom foul call in the US half at the other end. That free kick resulted in the US hand ball and it seemed the like the ref blowing the game was going to be complete. The Football Gods however made sure that karma was restored, and Wilson Palacios choked from the spot, hitting a pretty nice field goal. The US killed the game nicely with neat possession, even getting a chance or two to salt the game away, though in the end it was enough to book their tickets for next summer.

A final note on watching the game. We couldn't hear the audio with the crowd so loud in the bar, and as the clock hit 90 minutes, we must have missed the sign for time to be added on and we couldn't hear what extra time was given. So when Stuart Holden was subbed, the fourth official raised the number 7, but without showing the substitute number (which turned out to be Steve Cherundolo), so the crowd initially thought this meant 7 extra minutes. Well, let's just say that if the ref had given that, we may have rioted right there in downtown DC, and somewhere Mark Hughes would be feeling our pain. But the US held on and showed great heart to pull out the victory, making sure that when I see them Wednesday, I'll be able to relax and give the boys a nice send-off to South Africa.

A few other things to add on player performances:

-Stuart Holden made a fantastic cross for Charlie Davies's chance in the first half, but was largely ineffective. I love his energy off the bench, but he didn't exactly earn a starting spot last night. He improved in the second half, but was still a little disappointing.

-Michael Bradley started off slowly in the first half, but was very good in the second half, covering a lot of ground. His long range shooting is probably overrated, and he took a number of attempts in the second half that weren't very close, though his accuracy was improving with each attempt, ending with one that was dangerous. His midfield partner Rico Clark was also not at his best early on, but improved as did the entire team in the second half, allowing Donovan in particular to start taking control as he sought to link with Casey. Yet, there still remains questions about who to pair with Bradley in the central midfield in my mind.

-Charlie Davies, how do you miss that chance?! His first header was great, drawing a fantastic save from the Honduras keeper, but you absolutely must finish the rebound. No excuses. He still fought and chased well, but his end result was lacking, and despite promising play from him in France, his play with the National Team has slightly dropped off from the summer. Wonder if he misses playing with his buddy and usual starter Jozy.

-Also missing a fantastic chance was Benny Feilhaber after he dribbled through the Honduras defense and was in one on one with the keeper. He went for the far post curl, typically the correct shot, but he missed badly. My brother thought it was a great opportunity to fake the shot and drag the ball past the keeper near post. He came on a little late for my liking, and I'd like to see him start on Wednesday.

-Spector was solid in the second half, and Jonathan Bornstein held up well opposite him on the back line for a second straight match. Maybe he'll have something to say about that left back position after all. He'll still be a liability against world class opponents, but he's forcing Bradley's hand.

-Gooch made some great interventions throughout the game, but also threw in some shaky moments, in particular his give away setting up his foul, which led to the first Honduran goal. His lack of playing time at AC Milan could be problematic if it continues through the Spring.

-I'm not sure how many coaches vacillate between getting things horribly wrong to getting things amazingly right out of left field any more than Bob Bradley. The Connor Casey pick over Altidore seemed destined to lead to further derision from US fans, but his faith was rewarded. Altidore has so much potential, but his loan move to Hull is increasingly turning out poorly, with his playing time being limited and of course Hull just sucking in general. Now comes the typical time where Bradley can experiment with his selections. Wednesday's match may be meaningless to the US, but Costa Rica still hasn't qualified and they will come looking for a victory, so it will be a good chance for Bradley to get some players a good run in against a desperate opponent without worrying about absolutely needing three points.

It was a great night of football that left me both amped and drained all at once, and I can't wait for the next stage to come for this US team.

International Fixtures Are A Coming

Today's draw between top four hopefuls Manchester City and Aston Villa signals an end to the most recent round of European League fixtures and a shift to the crucial final matches of World Cup Qualifying. The draw keeps Villa fourth, tied with Tottenham on points for third and one point ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal. Villa stays seventh, a further two points below 'Pool and Arsenal, while also tied on points with somewhat surprising Sunderland. The top seven were pretty much expected, with the only other team with honest lofty ambitions, Everton, sitting 10th after a slow start. As they continue to get healthy they could continue to move up the table, but I'd be surprised if the current top seven aren't the same come May, if not necessarily the same order. The season may end up a two-horse race between Chelsea and Man U for the title, but the season is shaping up nicely with the annual Big Four monopoly under serious threat this season. It's also very early in the relegation battle, with the bottom seven teams separated by four points. However, Portsmouth can be penciled in for the Championship next year. Done.

Maybe I (or someone else here) will go into detail about an early season review/outlook for the EPL, but it's still early and while some trends are shaping up, there's plenty other more pressing matters to attend to. (One last thing before moving on from European leagues, I can't forget to note Sevilla's nice 2-1 victory over Real Madrid, and though I can't provide any analysis of that match, I have noticed some slight hysteria at how the team performed absent one Mr. Cristiano Ronaldo).

The international date is upon us, with the USA taking on Honduras, who has a perfect record at home in San Pedro Sula, then Costa Rica at RFK Stadium in the Nation's Capital. To bzimzim's delight, as well as many others, it looks like usual starter Clint Dempsey is out for the match after suffering a shoulder injury. This could be a blessing in disguise considering Dempsey's recent form, and the fact that he defends as well as a lampost. Dempsey does not have the workrate needed on the road against a fairly loaded (by CONCACAF standards) Honduras squad, and both Jose Francisco Torres and Benny Feilhaber have shown the ability to possess the ball well. The other easy option is starting Stuart Holden in his place, which provides more energy than Torres or Feilhaber. I don't have an opinion on that yet. Yet.


I'm sure I'll be back later with more previewing the big US games.


There are a bunch of do or die games coming up elsewhere for WCQ. Portugal takes on Hungary, and anyone who is a fan of the game has to be rooting for Portugal to win and for Denmark to either tie or beat Sweden so that Portugal can get into a playoff spot. Who doesn't want Ronaldo at the World Cup? No doubt Ronaldo will be shaking off his ankle injury for this match. In another match of Earth-shattering significance, Armenia will look to build on its upset of Belgium by getting something from already qualified Spain in the great city of Yerevan. France take on minnows Faroe Islands, hoping they can catch first place Serbia, who take on Romania. The question really isn't whether France will win, but how will they look in doing so? They seemingly have a lot of young talent, but Domenech seems to have lost the team. My man Yoann Gourcuff is out due to injury, but Ribery and Benzema alone should beat Faroe Islands with an amateur side. Of course France still only won their first meeting 1-0 away in front of 2,000 people. Not exactly confidence inspiring. In South America, Argentina faces bottom side Peru, while hoping Uruguay can hold Ecuador and allow the Albicelestes to jump Ecuador into the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot. HalaMadrid's Chile is within reach of qualifying, taking on Colombia. Whoever finishes fifth will play the fourth place CONCACAF team, which could be any of the top four teams, including the USA even though they currently sit first. Mexico and Costa Rica host El Salvador and Trinidad respectively, so they have easier matches on paper than the US.

While not related to the international fixtures, still an international issue is the debate amongst the European leagues on how to curtail the outrageous spending by a few teams to the detriment of others. Well MLS commissioner Don Garber will be giving a speech to his European comrades on the benefits of applying the US sports model of a salary cap, revenue sharing, and the players unions and collective bargaining agreements to help level the playing field. Certainly he won't be slipping in slides of how the US model allows the Pittsburgh Pirates to compete with the New York Yankees. One of the interesting facts in support of his claim is that since its inception in 1996, MLS has featured seven different champions (DC United, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, Houston, Columbus, and Kansas City - note I was actually shocked to learn that KC had actually won a championship!) whereas in the same time frame the EPL has seen only three (Man U, Arsenal, and Chelsea). Not noted in that piece is that in that time frame, La Liga has seen four winners (Barca, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Deportivo de La Coruña), the Serie A has had five champions (Juve, Inter, Milan, AS Roma, and Lazio), while the Bundesliga has had six champions (Bayern Munich, Kaiserslautern, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart, and VfL Wolfsburg). So by reasoning of most number of champions means most balanced league, the tally looks like this: Premier League < La Liga < Serie A < Bundesliga < MLS. I've now proved that MLS is the greatest league in the world. It's science.

Meanwhile, the U20 World Cup unglamorously continues with the round of 16. In today's matches, Korea crushed Paraguay 3-0 and Italy beat Spain 3-1 thanks to two goals from Mattia Mustacchio. His cousin Frederico Fumanchu was unavailable for comment.


Coincidentally enough, all the English speaking sides crashed out of the tournament rather pitifully: England, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Cameroon (English is an official language with French), and the United States. It seems I've stumbled upon a second scientific truth today. Turns out the reason teams like the USA and England can't win the World Cup is because the English language is not proper enough, nay beautiful enough, for the beautiful game. What's that you say, Germany has how many World Cups? Hmm... Actually, two English speaking sides did advance: South Africa and Nigeria. Of course both sides have multiple official languages, of which English is just one, but still.


This US team was particularly pathetic. I've already bemoaned Thomas Rongen once before, and I'll do it again. His tactical choice of a 4-3-3 against Germany and Korea backfired spectacularly. And his team selections were just bizarre. One of the best players for the US was Bryan Arguez, who was only added to the tournament roster as a late injury replacement. Clearly Rongen has an eye for talent. I realize the US at least qualified and other teams like Mexico and Argentina did not, but let's just hope the USA is not relying on any of these players in the 2014 World Cup qualifying the way the current squad relies on players from the previous u20 team.

Changes in Store for USA Against Trinidad?

Despite another victory at home, the US remains in a rather precarious situation in the CONCACAF hexagonal for a World Cup spot. After a few shaky performances and some changes in personnel, I expect Bob Bradley to make a number of changes ahead of tomorrows match in Port of Spain against the Soca Warriors. What might we see?

-An entirely different backline. Part of this is good. Oguchi Onyewu returns after a yellow card suspension. The bad is Jonathan Bornstein has played himself into the Land of the Lost: population DaMarcus Beasley and Sacha Kljestan. Actually, that was probably one of the better things that could have happened, because it clarifies at least who shouldn't be playing and it didn't end up costing the US the game. With Jay DeMerit injured, it's likely that Chad Marshall will remain in the center and Carlos Bocanegra will shift to the left again. My unending clamoring for Jonathan Spector on the left wasn't helped by his average showing, which knowing Bradley will likely precipitate the desire to start Steve Cherundolo. I wonder how many people are now dying to see Edgar Castillo at left back, even though like every other left back in the US player pool he's not the best defender, though he is supposed to be an excellent attacking back.

-Changes in center midfield? It's possible that we could see a new central midfield pairing. Bradley and Feilhaber didn't play poorly, and the duo showed the ability to make some nice plays, but they got stretched and didn't control the tempo, particularly in the second half when slowing the game down with the lead would have been preferred. Dad will probably be tempted to play son with Rico Clark, a more defensive duo that suits the US tendencies on the road. That idea is partly based on the belief that Clark knows to sit behind Bradley when he surges forward box to box, whereas Feilhaber and Bradley can get caught high with no protection. Of course that's what Feilhaber is supposed to do, attack, so let me suggest something here that no one has really given thought to, or at least had the cojones to say aloud: maybe Michael Bradley's spot in the team shouldn't be so automatic. This is not to say he isn't one of the best options in the middle at this moment, but maybe a more defensive player like Clark should play with Feilhaber, and when other players get healthy, like Mo Edu and Jermaine Jones, Bradley's automatic place should be more in danger. At the least, competition for a spot will help keep everyone sharp. Still, Bradley is a gamer, he performs in the Bundesliga, and most importantly he's fairly consistent, so you know what you'll get from him, whereas Clark is much more volatile and offers less going forward, and Feilhaber has less defensive quality (though that part of his game is underrated in my mind) and he can disappear and be ineffective.

-More Jose Francisco Torres. Torres has always done well on the ball, and the youngster seems to have a strong backing from US fans. He finally saw the field Saturday, had some nice touches, and he had that one great run and header that would usually end up a goal more often than not. His problem is largely one of positioning, or rather finding the right spot for him in the lineup. He could start in the middle with Bradley, providing a calmer possession player in the middle than Feilhaber or Clark. Coach Bradley seems to like trying him on the left, but the wings are the purview of Donovan and Dempsey in the starting lineup. Nonetheless, I'm another one of those people who'd like to see more of him, and he may well come on as a substitute again.

-Stuart Holden is solidifying his roster spot. Anyone who has watched MLS the past three years or the USA Men's U-20s and Olympic teams has known for a while that it was only a matter of time before Holden started getting looks on the full Men's National Team, and he is certainly taking advantage of his opportunities. He brings a lot of energy, the ability to play on the wing or center midfield, and can actually hit a good cross and take free kicks. As a second half energy sub, especially against the speedy, athletic wingers on T&T, the US could do a lot worse than Holden.

-The same starting strikers. I will scream bloody murder if Brian Ching or anyone other than Altidore and Davies starts up top. That is all.

The Sports Guys opines on Mexico, soccer in the US

For those of you who are fans of ESPN's Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, he recently took in and wrote about the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Azteca.

Even though Simmons is not a knowledgeable soccer fan, the sport has been growing on him this summer, and he brings a nice perspective regarding the sport's place in US sporting culture.

As far as the match itself, it's always interesting to read about the experience of the fan at the game, as well as a before and after, and the Sports Guy certainly gives you a feel for what it's like to be in the Estadio Azteca and how nothing in American sports compares to the atmosphere of a game there.

Despite not being that knowledgeable about soccer (his analysis of the game is not quite correct in my opinion, and he doesn't address Charlie Davies' athleticism), he makes some good points I want to hit on.

First, he rightfully notes the long-known fact that only in the United States do the country's best athletes not play soccer. That is, until now. We see Oguchi Onyewu, and more importantly Jozy Altidore, and we see athletes who wouldn't look out of place playing next to LeBron or Ray Lewis. Certainly this will be key as US soccer looks to level the playing field with established world powers. Once upon a time, Eric Wynalda was the greatest US striker. Brian McBride added a level of strength missing before from skilled US attackers. Now Jozy brings with him tantalizing possibilities as we watch the 19 year old post up Joan Capdevila like he was Dwight Howard shrugging off Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Charlie Davies also marries true striker instincts with blazing speed not before seen from a US player. Landon Donovan is fast and can run forever like a Kenyan marathoner, but Davies has that extra gear that makes the defense worry every time he's chasing down a 50/50 ball.

However, the big point I liked about the article was how Simmons analogizes between Mexico's methodical, short-passing possession game (for which I'd use Spain as the example of, rather than Mexico) as the means of "building something from within and trusting the process," rather than "launching those 70-yard kicks downfield and hoping something happens -- aka the Beckham signing."

This is something I absolutely agree with. Soccer supporters in the US should not try to force the game upon people, nor should we be constantly hoping some huge moment (i.e., an upset of Spain, a deep run in the World Cup) will somehow be the tipping point and from that moment on soccer will be on par with football, basketball and baseball.

Building something like a true soccer infrastructure within the US sporting landscape akin to that of the other major sports will take time. The current generation of young adults and their kids will have grown up with MLS, EPL on Fox Soccer and now ESPN, the World Cup, and importantly, a continuously improving US national team. The Jim Romes of the country have less impact than before, and much of their unabashed distaste for something foreign to them will not be passed on to future generations. Practical reasons will also boost the game's popularity, as HD TVs allow viewers to really see the game and appreciate the beauty of the teamwork and athleticism on display. Not to mention that like baskeball, soccer can easily promote not only teams (or in the case of the EPL, the league as a whole) but also its stars individually because the players are visible and recognizable on the field for the entire game, unlike football stars, who are hidden behind helmets and play only a percentage of the entire game time. Furthermore, MLS players are more akin to NHL players in being accessible and relating to the common fan.

Simmons notes that the "most interesting thing about last week's game wasn't whether the U.S. won or lost, but that so many Americans were furious that they couldn't see the game." We've come a long way to reach that point, and that's something we shouldn't lose sight of.