U.S. National Team’s high hopes a bit dampened
I was reluctant to write about the U.S. National team following their two World Cup Qualifying games. I didn’t want to pile on with all the critics who were out for blood following two lackluster performances. Fast forward to the Confederations Cup currently taking place in South Africa, the home of 2010 World Cup. The U.S. have played Italy and Brazil, two of soccer’s superpowers, so there is no shame in losing. However, the big question going into the tournament was to see how the U.S. would stack up against the world’s elite (not Costa Rica & Honduras). Unfortunately, neither game offered any hope that the current American team can compete at this level. They have been outshot 37-14 and outscored 6-1. The only goal coming on a Landon Donovan penalty kick. Seriously, when was the last time Donovan or the U.S. scored a legit goal during the run of play? I think that Donovan has scored 90% of his National team goals from the penalty stripe. Here is my analysis on the state of U.S. Men’s Soccer:
1) Coach Bradley – even though he has always been subject to scrutiny, I have supported Bradley
and think he is doing a good job. I feel that he gives new players an opportunity to play for the squad and did a nice job mixing things up and trying different combinations. For a while, Bradley had the pulse of the players and was making solid team selections. However, this has not been the case lately and I have to direct some criticism toward him for some very poor decisions in the last three U.S. games. I was outraged when Jose Torres (U.S. born player with strong Mexican roots currently playing for Pachuca in the Mexican Premier League who chose to play for the U.S. team over Mexico) was left off the squad against Italy. Instead, Bradley continued his obsession with using a “true” holding midfielder and started Ricardo Clark. Clark played a worthless 33 minutes until he was shown a red card because of a late tackle on Italian Genaro Gattuso. This forced the U.S. to play with 10 men for over sixty minutes. Needless to say, the Americans eventually broke down against the Italian pressure and allowed three second half goals. Against Brazil, Bradley mixed up the midfield again starting Sascha Kljestan and DeMarcus Beasley while omitting Benny Feilhaber & Torres. This was a catastrophic decision as Beasley missed a simple trap on a short cornerkick which led to a jailbreak counterattack by Brazil resulting in a Robinho goal effectively icing the game. Also, the insertion of Kljestan turned out to be a terrible tactic as he played poorly before being given a red card in the 57th minute. Honestly, these tactical decisions couldn’t have been worse. Furthermore, Beasley (who is washed up and pointless) and Kljestan (who had a good run of form in the MLS last season but has been awful starting for the National team) better not see ANY time for the National team in the coming months because both have been DREADFUL.
2) Midfield – After watching Jose Torres play a very classy half against Costa Rica, he has been left off the team the last three games. Torres reminds me of Xavi & Iniesta—he can receive the ball and distribute it with a high completion percentage. He has a nifty pirouette and is graceful and balanced on the ball. It is very obvious that the U.S. needs his presence on the field, yet he keeps being left off the team. If
Jose Francisco Torres
Coach Bradley is going to insist on playing a true holding midfielder, it has to either be Maurice Edu or his son, Michael Bradley. Pablo Mastroeni, Ricardo Clark, and anyone else need to be left on the substitutes bench. Edu has been emerging the over the last year and has earned a starting role for Scottish Premier League side Rangers. However, he is injured and currently unavailable for the U.S. team. Therefore, Coach Bradley has got to use his son in the “hole” in order to get the following five players on the pitch: Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley, Jose Torres, Clint Dempsey, and Landon Donovan. I am going to interview Fox Soccer’s lead analyst Christopher Sullivan next week and this will be my first question. I am passionate that Bradley can handle the defensive duties and that Torres can be the facilitator. Bradley has always reminded me of Manchester United’s Michael Carrick. Without Torres on the field, the U.S. has been too reliant on the long ball which has translated into very little offense. Torres is able to show to the ball and foster a more deliberate build up which allows more players to move into the attacking third. Long balls normally involve only 1-2 players and it is difficult to break down a world class defense with this approach. All five of these American players have legitimate class and can compete against top shelf footballers. However, they need to be out there together so we have a cohesive offensive approach that has been sorely lacking in recent games.
3) Goaltending – Tim Howard is a world class netminder for Everton in the English Premier League. He played in the FA Cup Final this year and helped lead Everton to another fifth place finish assuring the Merseysiders inclusion in next years UEFA Cup. However, his sparkling play abroad has failed to translate over to the national team. He has allowed a handful of goals from 30-40 yards out, and he should have cleared the ball on the set piece resulting in Brazil’s first goal. Howard has made some heroic stops, but he can’t keep allowing teams to score so early in the game and he must stop these long range blasts that keep beating him.
4) Forwards – there are 300 million people in the United States. We have thousands of world class
athletes with prodigal speed and athleticism. However, we don’t have one player in the entire country who can play center forward. Jozy Altidore starts for our National team, yet doesn’t even get playing time for his 2nd Division Spanish team. He is young and the verdict is still out, but his lack of playing time for his club has translated into some very poor performances for the U.S. His rust is evident as he is unable to receive and distribute the ball with any class at all. Connor Casey didn’t make it in Germany, so he obviously shouldn’t make it on the international stage. Davies is rubbish, Ching is injured, and there are ten other guys who are just as average. I find it very ironic that the answer to our woes could be American born Giuseppe Rossi who scored twice for the Italian team against the U.S. Even tough Rossi was born in New Jersey, he has always dreamed of playing for the Italian National team. Rossi is the real deal and would be the finisher the U.S. team desperately needs. But his Italian roots run too deep and the Americans are left with a dozen forwards who are all lacking in class. If it were me, I would play Dempsey up front and bench all of these other clowns. Freddy Adu is a player with a lot of hype, but is yet another American who fails to receive minutes for his European club team. If Adu could get on the field for Marseilles he may be able to earn some minutes for the National team. The opportunity is there for Adu to make an impact if he could just get on the field.
5) Defense – with injuries to our starting wing defenders it is difficult to critique this bunch. The one thing that is a concern for me is that Carlos Bocanegra is a right back for Rennes in the Ligue I, yet plays center back for the U.S. If you can’t start as a center back for a club team in France (other than Lyon), you probably shouldn’t be starting for our National team. I like Oguchi Onyewu and if we could find another legit stud to partner with him, the U.S would be very formidable on D.
I am not going to throw in the towel on this squad because I know we have some quality footballers. But we need Tim Howard to play better. We need to find a center back mate for Onyewu. We need the five midfielders I have discussed on the field together and we need a forward to emerge. The jury is still out on this team (which played very well last year). Stay tuned as I update the progress of the squad and to see if my prophecy comes true as Torres becomes a staple for the National team.
~Woodman – America’s Biggest Soccer Fanatic
Filed under: Soccer Tagged: | Bob Bradley, Giuseppe Rossi, Jose Torres, Landon Donovan, U.S. National Soccer, World Cup Soccer
Freddy got discarded by Benefica. He has been at Marseilles where he is also left on the bench. No club play, No National Team slot. Period. Let him go chase Sierra Mist bottles on TV.
What about McBride for 60 tough minutes and then Ching, or Davies, or shifting Dempsey to forward and bring in another midfielder? Or Kenny Cooper splitting time with McBride and Ching?
And Bocanegra is a left back for Rennes, and is good there, so we just need the other central back – Parkhurst or Gonzales – the U. MD back now at LA Galaxy. Or Chad Marshall, give him a chance.
Bradley has done well, Very well, but not perfect and the above would makea big difference.
McBride has a lot of miles, so it may not be the worst thing to limit his National team minutes until we get closer to the World Cup. I feel like Ching can play the same role and is efficient playing with his back to goal and keeping defenders on his hip. McBride has scored a bunch of big goals, but we need to find his replacement sooner or later. Kenny Cooper is another big guy who could be a striker option. I love Gonzales and his size, but he has to log the minutes. Hopefully he gets a call up soon and we can have a pair of 6’4″ beasts controlling the central defense.
Of course right after I write this article the U.S. Men’s National team plays an inspired game against Egypt and wins 3-0. To top it all off, Brazil beat Italy 3-0 so the Americans beat very long odds in advancing to the Confederation Cup semifinal. The U.S. will play world #1 and reigning Euro 2008 superpower Spain in the semifinals. Spain has a 35 game international unbeaten streak and it will interesting to see how the Americans match up. I just hope we don’t get any red cards so we can play with a full squad for 90 minutes. Kudos to Michael Bradley & Oguchi Onyewu for putting in brilliant performances on Sunday against Egypt. Onyewu is very underrated and is as good as any center back as far as I am concerned. Landon Donovan has been playing his heart out as well. And even though John Harkes has been hammering Clint Dempsey, kudos to the Fulham midfielder for scoring the U.S. ‘s third goal and sending them through. Still no Torres, but I expect to see him play more in the upcoming Gold Cup. Maybe Bradley wants to ease him in against weaker competition before he throws him to the wolves. How about Guzan’s performance in goal? Watch out Tim Howard.
USA 2 SPAIN 0!!!
What an effort by the US squad. It was pretty clear Spain was the better team but the US played their asses off and just out worked the Spanish team. I can’t say enough about how hard Landon Donovan has played in all 4 of these confacaf games, just seems like the guy never stops running and battling. Woodman I know you loved the late Benny Feilhaber substitution by Coach Bradley and the 2nd US goal was completely set up by Feilhabers impressive control of the ball in the midfield and lay off to Donovan in the box. Last thing is anyone else outraged over that phantom red card on Michael bradley in the 86th minute, are you kidding me how did that tackle merit a red card, bs call. Now he doesn’t play sunday in the championship and I think everyone can agree hes a flat out stud and the US plays better when hes on the field. You may get ur wish though and see ur boy Torres out there in his place sunday, will be a big test im gonna assume they will get Brazil again and can hopefully manage to play all 90 minutes with all 11 men on the field. Great win for the US team today beating #1 in the world, gotta go down as one of the best wins ever for them.
From my friend Stephen Bennett who lives in Madrid:
“Let me set the scene…Spain was ranked #1 in the world, had not been bested in 35 consecutive games, and had won 15 consecutive games outright. Needless to say, the American team was seen as no threat whatsoever and was made the subject of many backhanded compliments or straight-out insults. Everyone told me Spain would probably shut out the US and win by at least a couple of goals.
Today the country is in shock. My co-worker who bet me a 6 pack of beers is currently banging her head against her computer, and the guy who pays us has threatened to withhold our paychecks if anyone mentions the US victory.
It’s a great day.”
Woodman…I agree with much of your breakdown of the team and clearly, a lot has changed in the past few days.
Regardless of how the U.S. finishes up here (even if they shock the world and defeat Brazil who we all know is going to beat S. Africa), there is one area where I will have to completely disagree with you on and that is who should coach the United States.
Many may take the following statement as unpatriotic blasphemy but, if the United States ever wants any chance at succeeding in World Cup play (which as a Nation should be the end goal for any country) we need an international coach. A U.S. coach will never win a World Cup and, in reality, I’ll be shocked if we even come close in the finals of the Confed Cup.
I’m proud of what the team has accomplished and hope I’m wrong. I hope we win in the Finals and shock the world but, let’s face it. The United States only got out of their pool because of the idiotic tie-breaker rules of Goal Differential as opposed to head to head play. Beyond that, just as American’s have seen in the NCAA Tourney over the years, massive upsets simply happen here and there.
My take is that the U.S. generally speaking, has the best athletes in the world. Our best athletes DO NOT play soccer which, while I find unfortunate, is the case.
Other European or South American countries not only have their best athletes playing the sport but, grow up in a culture where they all play this 1 sport as opposed to the U.S. where just about any good athlete growing up plays 2-4 sports (2 or 3 in High School alone).
The reason the U.S. is outclassed by most international squads is because of the mentality set forth by the coach as much as anything else. Bob Bradley does not set a standard or mandate a culture that eats, breathes and sleeps soccer. While the U.S. has plenty of heart (as we have seen in the past few games), they were clearly the less skilled team against Spain and, barring Egypt, have been the less skilled team compared to everyone else in the tourney they’ve played thus far.
The skill and style of play will only change with an internationally born coach (possibly someone like Klinsmann whom the U.S. have had their chances with in the past). It will be nearly impossible to install a culture where great athletes want to play soccer at the highest level but, at least with an international coach, players would benefit from the knowledge of someone who has grown up in such an atmosphere.
I’m not trying to be a hater…I hope the team proves me wrong on many fronts.
don’t think I wouldn’t love to see Klinsmann in control of the U.S. National team.
Also, I don’t think Torres will replace Bradley on Sunday, I think it will probably be Feilhaber who takes his spot. Bradley is going to play Clark or a true hole midfielder, and I don’t think Bradley (coach) trusts Torres to work hard defensively. Obviously the Americans will have to defend with their life on Sunday, so they need their grittiest, hardest working group of players.
I think Torres will get a good run out in the Gold Cup.
One last comment: I have always defended Landon Donovan and know that he is world class. The guy has worked his ass off and deserves some accolodes. He has a lot of heart and has left it all on the field the last 4 games.