Confederations Cup: United States vs. Italy report card

Posted by Creaven on June 15, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World | 42 Comments to Read

Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

“Yikes” is what I said when I saw Ricardo Clark throw his legs at Gennaro Guttuso.

“Awwwww,” is what I said when I saw the red card above Clark’s head.

I talked myself into the United States getting a draw against Italy (maybe even winning) but all my hope burst out of me when Clark was ejected in the 32nd minute. Donovan’s penalty did make me think,”well, you never know,” but it was impossible to ignore reality.

The top tactician in the world, up a man, with world-class players was going into halftime to figure out a strategy to break down a backline of Spector, DeMerit, Onyewu and Bornstien. There was no way the U.S. was going to hold on and they didn’t. In 45 minutes, 1-0 U.S. turned into 3-1 Italy. To the grades….

GK Tim Howard — Should he have stopped Daniele De Rossi’s goal? Looking at the replays it’s hard to tell if he was screened on the 30-yard shot or if the shot simply surprised him. It would have been a very good save, but the top goalies in the world make very good saves. I’m beginning to conclude Howard isn’t one of the top goalies in the world. He did make two stellar saves in the final 10 minutes to keep the U.S. down only one and it goes without saying he had no chance at either of Giuseppe Rossi’s goals. Grade: B-

RB Jonathan Spector — I haven’t re-watched the tape yet, but it seemed the Italian strategy in the second half was to attack Spector down the left flank as opposed to going after Bornstien on the right. Maybe Italy feels more comfortable coming in from the left than the right, but I found it slightly curious Italy didn’t try to pick on Bornstien more. Anyway, Spector played OK. He was forced to defend for 90 minutes, holding his own for the most part. I don’t recall him making any horrendous errors. Even counting Cherundolo, I think Spector is the favorite to be the starting right back next summer. Grade C+

CB Jay DeMerit — Other than getting completely abused in the build up to the Italians third goal, DeMerit also played OK. He got his head on the ball when he had to and he didn’t wander out of position. Maybe he should have stepped up to challenge Rossi’s first goal, but if someone is going to fire a 35-yard shot like you just have to give him credit. He is no better or worse than Bocanegra. Grade C+

CB Oguchi Onyewu — It’s hard to overestimate how well Onyewu played in the first hour. He got his head on almost every cross and consistently broke up the Italian attack when it got into the penalty box. He seemed to tire as the match went on and his lack of concentration contributed to the Italians game-winning goal. Being out-of-contract right now, it’s safe to say there will probably be a few more clubs trying to get his signature after watching his performance. He’s by far the best American defender and you could make an argument he’s simply the best player. Grade B

LB Jonathan Bornstien — He looked quite scared in the first 10 minutes but settled down as the match went on. He had a tough time keeping up and his lack of size hurt him against the taller Italian attacking players. But in the end, (and I know I’m repeating myself) he played OK. He worked hard and made a couple of plays to at least stall the attacking onslaught. He definitely didn’t lose the match and if you had to chose a player before the match that was most likely to lose the match for the U.S., you probably would have picked Bornstien. Grade C+

RM\AMC Landon Donovan — The reason why you can’t say Onyewu is the best American soccer player is because of Landon Donovan. For the second straight match, he played fantastic. He made creative passes, ran at the Italians and he worked his ass off. His penalty was perfectly taken and he even defended well. You couldn’t ask for anything more, but one has to wonder if he will have anything left for Brazil. Grade B+

DM Michael Bradley — Maybe his worst match for the national team. Completely out-classed and little more than a cone to the Italian attack. In fairness, he was given an almost impossible task after Clark was ejected and his other central midfield partner (Feilhaber) isn’t exactly a great defender (that’s a huge understatement). But, still, he didn’t play well. Grade D+

DM Ricardo Clark — Clark came into the match in manic mode. He was sliding here and there, running every which way and turning the ball over when he kicked it up field. So you could kinda see it coming when he slid in late on Guttuso. Did it deserve a red card? Maybe not, but it’s hard to argue with the decision. Looking at the play in slow motion it doesn’t look too bad but in full speed it’s violent enough. It would have been one thing if he just slid in late, but he added a kick to the slide that probably sealed his fate. It was a stupid play on a non-threatening part of the field and put the U.S. in an impossible position. Grade: F

CM Benny Feilhaber — After I wrote my last U.S. report card, some readers left comments and sent e-mails telling me I underestimated Feilhaber’s contribution in the win against Honduras. OK, I thought, I must have missed something or I didn’t watch him closely enough. Maybe I did or maybe I didn’t but there’s no way anyone is going to convince me he played well today.

Before I explain why he had a bad game, I need to go on a rant….

I don’t understand why American commentators and supports seem so high on Feilhaber. He played well in the Gold Cup two summer ago, I’ll give you that, but what’s he done since? He spent a year at Derby where he was mostly hurt and then he went to AGF, a club in Denmark. I admit, I’m not an expert on Danish soccer but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the quality of play isn’t exactly top stuff. Are they really playing better soccer in Denmark than they are in Major League Soccer? If AGF played the Houston Dynamo tomorrow, who would win?

Nobody has seen him play in two years and for some reason a lot of people think he needs to be in the U.S. starting 11. It’s completely illogical. So I’m making a stand right now. NO MORE FEILHABER. If he goes back to Scandinavia and becomes the Riquelme of the Danish league, fine, he can come back. But all this talk about him being some brilliant creative midfielder needs to end.

OK, I feel better. For every good play Feilhaber made against Italy (I think John Harkes pointed out all of them) he made five bad plays. He turned the ball over way too often and was completely helpless in trying to stop the Italians coming forward. Italy’s second goal was a direct result of Feilhaber giving up the ball way too easily and, later, he was lucky he didn’t get a card (maybe even a red one) on sloppy challenge just outside the penalty box. He looked helpless. Grade: D

LM Clint Dempsey — When Dempsey plays for the U.S. national team, he reminds me of the Demitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian forward doesn’t run much and is invisible for 90 percent of the match but you can count on him doing something world-class in the other 10 percent. Dempsey is the same, except there is no other 10 percent. He’s just there, looking cool and wandering around the field. After the U.S. went down a man, Dempsey needed to start flying around the field and put in a real defensive effort. It never happen. Maybe he’s tired after a long and tough Premier League season but if he doesn’t play better in the next two matches the U.S. is going to finish the Confederations Cup with no points. Grade: D+

FW Jozy Altidore — After a decade of Brian McBride, American commentators believe it’s impossible for the U.S. to succeed without a pure “holding” forward. Someone to trap long balls and lay it off to midfield players. Therefore, less skilled players like Brian Ching and (heaven forbid) Conor Casey must be in the starting lineup. This train of thought needs to die because the U.S. has a forward that can do it all.

Can you think of an under-20 forward in the world that you would rather have than Altidore? I can think of one — Alexandre Pato — and I’m confident there might be one or two others, but I can’ t think of them off the top of my head. McBride in his prime couldn’t have played better than Altidore did against Italy. He held up the ball, he found open space against the best defense in the world and he was responsible for the lone American goal. The way he won the penalty was brilliant. As soon as he got the ball, his strategy was to force a foul and he did just that. It wasn’t a perfect performance; he passed off a great chance when he should shot early in the match and he did lose the ball a little too often. That said, this guy is for real. Grade: B

Subs

FW Charlie Davies (66)— Had the best scoring opportunity when the U.S. was down 2-1, but his wide-open header off a corner kick sailed over the bar. It was symbolic of his entire performance — rusty. He’s going to get another chance in this tournament and he’s going to have to be a lot better. (Replaced Altidore) Grade: D

MF DaMarcus Beasley (72) — He came into the match to give the team a spark and, in short, he didn’t. (Replace Feilhaber) Grade: D

MF Sacha Kljestan (85) — He did give the team a spark and had a nice shot from distance which made me say, “Ooooooo..awwwww, damn.” With Clark suspended, he will probably start against Brazil. Grade: B

Coach Bob Bradley — He likes Feilhaber more than I do, fine, I can accept that. It wasn’t outrageous he started, but it was outrageous he wasn’t subbed at halftime. The guy can’t defend and the only way the U.S. was going to win or tie was if it held onto it’s one goal advantage in the second half. Bradley does get some credit for not starting Conor Casey, which I really feared he might do. Grade: C

Note on Giuseppe Rossi — He saved the Italians. Italy probably would have scored anyway if Rossi didn’t come in, but the way Rossi took over the match as soon as he stepped on the field was impressive. He reminds me of a young Michael Owen, but he might be even better.

His decision to play for Italy over the U.S. doesn’t need any defending, but for those you out there (and I sure hope there aren’t very many) who think he’s being unpatriotic to play for Italy, let me say this. If I got married in the U.S. and me and my wife decided to move Italy and we produce one of the great soccer prodigies in the world, would he be betraying Italy if he wanted to play for the U.S., the country his parents came from? Of course not.

ESPN coverage — It wasn’t a complete disgrace. I know that’s a low bar, but it’s an improvement. Usually when listening to JP Dellacamera and John Harkes my neck feels sore after shaking it in disgust for 90 minutes. It wasn’t that bad today, but it sure wasn’t good.

What was terrible was the commentary after Clark got his red card. It was probably the most important and controversial play of the tournament for the U.S. and after the ejection JP asked the standard question to his color guy, “Do you think it deserved a red card.” Harkes response, “It doesn’t matter what I think.” True, it doesn’t matter what you think, or what I think or what all the people watching at home think, but, John, you’re getting paid to have an opinion. It’s your job!

Stunned by his answer, JP responded politely, “Well, I would I like to know your opinion.” Realizing his job entails having opinions, Harkes said he didn’t think it was a red card. At halftime, Alexi Lalas really didn’t think it deserved a red card, saying, “That’s not a red card in Rome, or New York or anywhere.” At least he had an opinion, but he’s wrong. Like I said earlier, it was a borderline call which probably deserved only a yellow but a red was by no means absurd.

The other big issue I had with the coverage was no one talked about how well Onyewu played in the first 60 minutes. He was literally playing the game of his life and was almost single-handily keeping Italy off the scoreboard. I think the hard core American soccer fans watching realized how well Onyewu was playing but the average sports fan, who makes up the vast majority of the audience, needs to be told when a defender is playing well. Instead, the only commentary about Onyewu came when he made a mistake on Italy’s second goal, which didn’t give him justice.

Tags: Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Bob Bradley, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, ESPN, Giuseppe Rossi, Italy, Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Bornstien, Jonathan Spector, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellacamera, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu, Ricardo Clark, Sacha Kljestan, Tim Howard, United States

Beaumont Livingston said,

You make a good point on Feilhaber, for every good pass, he does commit a horrible giveaway that often leads to a counter… the only problem is he seems to be the only person that can make a dangerous pass

As for Bradley, I think you’re way off – he’s the only guy that has any real skill in the middle of the field and he can actually win the ball without fouling. In fact, both of the US chances in the first half were created by a Bradley challenge.

And Tim Howard is not a world class goaltender – he plays at Everton. There are way too many big teams that need a world class goaltender (Barca, AC Milan, Bayern Munich etc) who would have tried to get him if he was.
jhgodfrey said,

I agree with most of what you said, but not about Michael Bradley. He was a beast, and one of the three best players on the pitch for the US. D+? Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Creaven said,

I’ll re-watch the match later tonight and see if I have different feeling on Bradley’s performance.
Jose said,

I agree with the dissenters here. M. Bradley is the best U.S. midfielder they have at the moment and played well enough today under very trying conditions. Look for him to become more attack minded when Jermaine Jones arrives to become the regular holding midfielder for the U.S. Don’t know what Bradley sees in Ricardo Clark but the guy is not international talent and shouldn’t be on the field for the U.S. , agree F F F. I pretty much agree with most of your other assessments here but Dempsey I thought was more of a C. Problem is we need much more than a C from him and he hasn’t produced that in quite a while. Feilhaber, I had high hopes for him after the Gold cup in 07 but what has he done since then? Answer Nada. Kleisjan seems to be the new Feilhaber, was a rising star last year and since his hat trick against Sweden what has he done? Answer Nada. Sorry to say the team has a lot of holes to fill at the moment and our depth is not where it should be. Jermaine Jones and Maurice Edu will help tremendously but Left back is still a big question. Look forward to chatting with you on the Brazil game. Enjoy!
Shawn Gillogly said,

In general, your grades are a C+. Your grade on Bradley is absurdly low. Not only are you blaming him for Clark’s error by your own admission, but you’re entirely inaccurate in your assessment of his two way play. If he wasn’t behind Donovan winning the second balls and springing Donovan and Altidore in the first half, they don’t back off at all. Bradley won the ball with quality tackles that led to BOTH our best open field chances in the match. He rates a B at WORST.

Spector did little to nothing wrong. He got beat on the dribble perhaps once. He held his ground despite the Italians targeting him. And he was useful going forward. To have him and Bornstien (who was a disaster) rated the same is dubious. Spector played a solid match (I’d give him a B or B-). Bornstien was a disaster who gave away possession as cheaply as Feilhaber did (I’d have given him a D+ at best).
Jose said,

Good point Shawn. I hadn’t noticed he had Spector and Bornstein rated the same. Spector definitely played the better match and deserved a better grade. He should be a regular in the lineup.
Mike said,

Good evaluation for the most part, but I thought Bradley was the best player on the field for the US. He made several great tackles in the open field, he was very composed on the ball, and he started several promising counters.
Steve said,

I came away from the game very impressed with Bradley. Thought he played great.
Bennett said,

Overall, I will agree with your analysis. The Feilhaber analysis is really spot on. Your grading of Bradley really makes me question your soccer knowledge. No disrespect but you are gloating about Donovan’s incisive passes, without realizing how these situations where created. In both scenarios Bradley was the player who won the ball and started the attacks. He also is the best passer of the ball we have, and the only one of the 3 midfielders today who attempted to establish a rhythm to our possession game.

Also, do not make excuses for Altidore. When he missed that shot he did not pass it. He clearly shanked the shot. We as Americans may not want to admit it, because we have been disillusioned into believing is greatness, but anyone who understands proper technique of striking a ball would say he miss hit it. (Though, I would still argue he played well and is our best striker.)
Sean said,

I agree with most of your postings. I think that Dempsey is the most overrated American player we have. I don’t see what excited so many of his fans.

I think Bradley is one of our best players. I admit, his touch is a little off from time to time and he occasionally loses the ball in bad areas, but he does so much for this team.
Patrick said,

I’m not quite sure if this has already been mentioned, but why in the hell won’t Bradley start or at least sub in Adu. I know the kid hasn’t been getting much play in France or Portugal or whatever league he’s being loaned off too nowadays, but the kid doesn’t need to play at his club. Just look at his performance against Spain, Argentina, HOLLAND!!!! Perhaps the best game the US has played in a while was against Holland, and Adu led that attack. Against Spain he played well, and the same against Argentina. In the last under 20 world cup he was phenomenal. Is Peter Nowak the only American coach that appreciates Adu, or does Bradley just hate the kid. Play our younger boys in the midfield along with Altidore, and you will see results.
Donovan, Adu, Bradley, Altidore, Dempsey, and Feilhaber( he’ll get better).
Patrick said,

P.S. I hate Bob Bradley. He’s uncharismatic, a bad talent scout, a bad tactician, and doesn’t understand the concept that smart soccer is the best soccer. Most of these guys play in Europe nowadays and know the importance of passing, distribution, etc. It seems that when they come together to play for bradley, it all goes out the window. I’m sorry, but Bradley is not the right guy for our national team.
Mark said,

Bradley played great, and the Danish league is actually very good. AGF would beat the Dynamo
Creaven said,

A 2,500 word column and you guys are killing on the grade I gave Bradley; OK, fair enough. I watched the match over again and it wasn’t a D+ performance; a C+ would have been more fair (he played pretty well in the first half, but he wasn’t freeing up Donovan and Altidore for a ton of chances). I certainly don’t think he was “great.” But, like I said, it’s tough grading a defensive midfielder when his team is down a man.

Like some of you guys (and girls, maybe) I also think Bradley is a key player for the U.S. He’s the most talented central midfielder the U.S. has.

I also should have given Bornstien a lower grade. I forgot about the own goal in the first half, which was called back because of offside (which I don’t think was offside), and just about every time he got the ball he lost it. I should have given him a D.

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but Feilhaber probably deserved a better grade too. For some reason, I thought it was Donovan who freed up Altidore for the penalty kick. He deserved a C-, but I still don’t think he should be starting.

Overall, I deserved the C+ grade Shawn gave me .

Patrick — I like Adu too and I think a lot of people forget he did just turn 20. He played really well in the Olympics last year but it was against under-23 teams (that’s when he played Holland). He might be the U.S.’s best player for the 2014 World Cup.

Mark — The Danish league is “very good?” I know Aalborg had a nice like run in the UEFA Cup last year but does the Danish league really have depth? Maybe it does, I’m just surprised to hear it.
Beaumont Livingston said,

I like your work Creaven, keep it up – as for the announcers getting better, did you notice in the 53rd minute when JP said everyone remembers Zambrotta from the last World Cup because of his incident with Zidane? And Harkes agreed!!!
Jose said,

Adu can’t defend to save his life and he is too small for the current US style of play. Could he be effective on a different team in the right system, maybe. He may make a fine attacking midfielder at some point. The problem is the U.S. doesn’t dominate possession and play the type of game where 1. he can see lots of the ball and 2. his defensive liablities will not be as harmful as they are right now. Yes he is still young and we can’t lose hope for him just yet. He needs to play more for his club and Bradley needs to play him more if he is going to grow. Assuming the U.S. loses to Brazil, why not see what he can do against Egypt. Whats the down side they go 0 for 3. So What. Problem is Bob Bradley will play the wrong players so he can lose 1-0 and possibly save his job instead of playing some of the kids who need playing time and experience and losing 3-0.
RSE said,

Welbeck.
Macheda.
Douglas Costa.

That’s three under 20 strikers, off the top of my head. At least Sir Alex Ferguson would rather have them than Jozy.

I like Jozy, and he is head and shoulders above any striker developed in the U.S. and playing today, but come on. None of the three I mentioned would have hesitated to take on Buffon.

Bradley was the best U.S. player in the first half. Spector was solid. Landon drifted out of the game after the penalty.
Patrick said,

I agree that Adu is not fit for the current US style of play. But that’s the problem. The US style of play. I’m sorry but it sickens me to see so many balls being lobbed upfield by the back line, so many balls squandered by the midfield, altidore holding the ball up front to receive no support. The US style of play has begun to remind me somewhat of England. No definitive style, always just trying to get what they can. And it doesn’t work. That’s why England hired Eriksson and now this Italian bloke. Because they want to change their style of play.
Maybe someone like Nowak would do a better job. Someone so understands how to add style and flair to the game. If you look at reviews of the US vs Netherlands, English papers stated that not only did we outplay the Dutch, but that we taught them a lesson on total football. And it’s the truth. You tube it. The US style has to change and fast. Adu can’t play in this team because this team doesn’t know how to play football. No possession. No vision. No patience. It’s hard to watch and appreciate what our guys are doing out there.

Ps. I’m not just arguing for Adu. I’m arguing for the young guys who should be out there getting caps and learning the ropes. I think we have the potential now more than ever to develop a strong midfield that can control a game. But only if our style changes.
ben said,

man I really wish we had Maurice Edu he, could be the next claude makelee type but bigger faster stronger, I hope he heals well. And again it seems like officiating has it out for the US squad. however US also needs to learn how to create and take fouls. offcourse the red should have been a yellow with a stern warning. there goes the game.
we also need to learn how to finish with a killer instinct, you watch soccer outside the US and players when they miss an opportunity they look like someone killed their family, that’s just how serious a goal opportunity is to them. all or nothing. last we need to really consider what the best formation is for the talent we have. Altidore is a beast up front and scares defenders but he need help, a dynamic passer, ball controller, who can strike from any distance.
Ryan said,

Thank you for taking Harkes to task on his color analysis. In the most pivotal moment of the game (the red card), he sounded like he was describing his neighbor’s lawn. I’ll give Delacamera the pass on the Zambrota mistake – a glaring error but he is better than most on soccer play by play. He is also not critical enough of our continuing inability to finish on the very few chances we got (Altidore and Bradley’s breakaways and Davies’ header). I acutally miss Wynalda because he tells it like it is…

Regarding our inability to finish, we will never be a contender until we find someone who converts on the chances we do get, because we won’t get many with our current passing ability in the midfield. Maybe Altidore can be that guy in a few years, but he reminds me of Eddie Johnson right now…
Jose said,

Patrick I agree with you 100% but I am not so sure we have the talent at the moment to play a beautiful game. But yes, play the youngsters and start working on it now during these meaningless matches. World Cup qualifying yes we may have to play our current style or lack therof in order to qualify. But in these games we shculd be developing younger players and molding them to playing football the proper way. Gold Cup they better be playing these young guys and leave the old washed up farts at home. That tournament means nothing anyway. Use it to develop players.
Shawn Gillogly said,

I’m going to dissent on Adu. Quite frankly, he’s not done anything as a professional to even deserve a call-up to the National Team. And personally if I’m the coach, I leave him off the squad entirely. It’s not a matter of not fitting the style of play. He’s simply not good enough yet as a two way player. And it’s not the place of the National Team to be developing players.

Adu has a lot of skill on the ball, no doubt. But his mental side of the game is entirely lacking. And worse, he’s done nothing in his career to improve it. He doesn’t work consistently on the defensive end of the ball. He’s prone to lapses of concentration on the ball, and he’s managed to earn the doghouse at every professional stop he’s made so far.

The only reason he’s even in the discussion is his play at the U-20 level has made him a USSF starlet. But youth hero does not translate automatically to a great pro. Personally, I really think we need to be invoking the “play at your club if you want to play for the National Team” rule. I’d maybe make an exception for Altidore because Villareal got hoodwinked when they loaned him to Xerex. That wasn’t a matter of Altidore not being good enough. It was a matter of Xerex making sure one of their promotion contending rivals didn’t get a player.
Patrick said,

I could understand your argument if there were players playing for their clubs. An overwhelming amount of our players have seen little starting time with their clubs, so that’s not a measure to go by. What can we go by? Experementation. To say he doesn’t even deserve a call up is pretty extreme.
As for the style of play, of course it’s about the style of play. Perhaps if we had one we wouldn’t be so mad about being crushed by Italy. But oh well. If younger players aren’t the remedy, then what is?
Jose said,

I think we don’t have enough quality players to invoke that “play at your club rule”. If we did that our starting 11 would be pretty lame indeed and our bench even weaker. Big soccer nations have options and if a player is not playing at their club and out of form the go with the othe option. We just don’t have that luxury. This is the same reason Adu needs to play in some of these upcoming meaningless games like the gold cup. Is it the purpose of the national team to develop players, no. But again the US is not in a position where they can let the potential of an Adu or an Altidore go to waste. Can they develop them in qualifiers, no but there are enough friendlies for them to get some experience and Bradley still doesn’t give the kid Adu a shot.
Shawn Gillogly said,

Jose,

We did invoke this rule the entire time Arena was coach. And our performance overall was higher. Our talent pool overall was deeper. And there was more competition for places. I don’t think you can honestly say that we have less talent now than we did 4 years ago.

The issue is that Bradley plays favorites. He has the guys he likes (the people we know and hate to see again and again regardless of their actual form). He has the guys the USSF foists on him (Adu and Feilhaber fit here). And then there’s other people who don’t register to him at all, whether or not they should (Kenny Cooper).

The fact is Bradley refused to take this model when he became coach, he kowtowed to the USSF’s desire for the media darlings. And now we’re paying the price for not acquiring squad depth when we should’ve been.
Patrick said,

Well said jose.
Jose said,

Hi Shawn,

I understand your point but you contradict yourself a bit. First you say our performance was better and talent pool deeper under Arena. And I am not arguing with you on this point. But then you say that I can’t say we have less talent now than we did 4 years ago. So which one is it. Did we have more talent 4 years ago which you state or now which you also state? Not really arguing here just looking for clarification. My main point is Bradley needs to play a wider range of people, particularly young players in the friendlies results be damned. Let them learn the hard lessons while he figures out if they have a future or not. We are not learning anything about these players when they are sitting on the bench. Play Torres, Adu,Kliestjan,Altidore, and some of the other under 21’s. I am not a fan of Adu and am not convinced he will pan out and I certainly don’t think he should be starting in any meaningful matches at this time. But if we are ever to know what this and other kids can do we’ve got to see what they can do. That’s all I’m saying. Assuming we lose tommorrow, play the kid’s what’s the downside.
Bill said,

US Soccer’s Issues

The problems with the US MNT have been laid bare in their last three competitive games and can be summarized as three principle topics: an overemphasis on athleticism, an underemphasis on skill, intelligence, guile and coaching. Perhaps the biggest problem is the complacency of US Soccer from top-to-bottom. The US MNT shows how US Soccer stacks up against the rest of the world, and we don’t stack up very well! We need change top-to-bottom now!

A lot of bloggers will comment about how great it would be to have the best US athletes playing (imagine LeBron James in the box! Imagine Urlacher as a center back! Imagine Tiger Woods taking a corner (haha) ? …). First, the other major sports in the US are more driven by pure physicality (size, power, etc…) and we won’t be able to attract them to soccer. More than that I don’t think we need to. Soccer is structurally different from other sports with a greater demand on skill and intelligence along with different physical attributes. Granted that size, power and speed help, but without intelligence and skill, they don’t make a great player. The emphasis on physicality is present all the way down to the youth level. Just look at the Club/select tryout process in most places or ODP and you’ll see where this all starts (coaches are responsible for the problem across the board). You’ll also see where it must change. We need to change this at both the top and bottom of the soccer food chain.

The overemphasis on the physical characteristics of the players leads naturally to an underemphasis on skill and intelligence. Too many players can be hugely successful without skill. This was painfully evident during the US game versus Italy where players chose to play the ball with their right foot because their left foot was unreliable. Most painfully, Gooch’s swing at De Rossi’s shot should have been a simple clearance with his left, but instead he clumsily switched to his right and missed. The result is a goal for Italy, but worse a display unacceptable for an international match from a team with any aspirations. Our soccer intelligence is also suspect as exemplified by Ricardo Clark’s foolish foul and resulting red card. This scenario has played out before during the Olympics with US players engaged in numerous foolish plays resulting in red cards or the failure to put a game away (the Netherlands game for example during the latest game).

Bob Bradley is a good US coach. He also isn’t a very good coach at the international level. These statements don’t contradict each other. The issue is that the coaching in the US is competent, and competent doesn’t equal success internationally. We need inspired coaching to take us to the next level (or out of the doldrums we find ourselves in). He is being outcoached internationally and no one in charge seems to notice. His man management is awful as evidenced by the poor performances of players like Dempsey, and Howard is the US shirt. His tactics are stale and he fails to make adjustments during the game.

Ricardo Clark’s red card was a bad call in the United States and the UK. In most of the World, it was a straight red. The standard of refereeing in the US and UK allows much more physical play than the rest of the World. Refereeing is contributing greatly to holding the US back by allowing the emphasis on physical play and players to reap benefits. The physical play also keeps more technically minded tactics from succeeding and encourages teams to play a kick-and-run style. The US needs to adopt standards of play more consistent with the rest of the World if we are to compete successfully. This needs to happen all the way from U-6 to MLS. Ricardo Clark played the way he had succeeded with in the US, but he did this internationally and his naïve action cost the US any chance in the game.

What’s to be done about all of this?

1. The US is stuck in neutral from a competitive point-of-view. If we want to change our status, the US needs to introduce some innovations to the game. Where are these ideas going to come from?
2. The US has a lot great coaches, but they are all coaching other sports (basketball & football for example). These coaches are constantly innovating their respective sports. We need to develop and implement some innovative tactics to give our team an advantage. We have a number of professional sports with elaborate tactics that could be adapted and adopted to soccer. We need the element of surprise and a playing style all our own. Examples might be various motion offenses or presses from basketball or pass coverage or blitzes from football.
3. We need first class coaching education patterned on a country like Italy. Our current coaching education is not up to producing the number of professional coaches and the environment needed to find our “Sacchi” or “Ferguson”. Read the book “the Italian Job” if you really want to understand how Italian and English soccer differ. A lot of the commentary on the English apply to the American version of the game.
4. Unfortunately we will not be successful with innovation until we have a pool of players whose presence and playing time on the MNT is based on skill and intelligence rather than brute speed, size or power. The selection process for players at all levels of the game should start being more skills based. We also need to have a more skill focused youth development system. By the time we get to the MNT all the players should be completely two-footed, and amazing from a skill standpoint. Jozy Altidore is a wonderful talent, but imagine him with the level of skill found on other National teams.
5. Move the ODP, and National player selection process onto a different calendar system. At the time of puberty, too many good players are being squeezed out by their failure to be early maturer’s. Perhaps we can select teams on a six month cycle rather than annually. If we can identify, and more importantly develop more players, it will be an advantage.
6. Start working toward a playing style that is more suited to technical development. As part of this, discourage competitive play until U-12 or U-13 across the Nation. The manner in which youth Clubs work is destructive towards achieving improvements because competitive success is stressed. At the younger ages, success can be achieved by picking the biggest, fastest kids and booting the ball down the field. This style persists at every level and its maddening at the international level.
7. Referees need to adopt a standard that discourages physical play somewhat and is more consistent with standards from continental Europe (not the UK!).
8. We need more outreach of the game to kids in both rural and urban areas, and perhaps most importantly to the Hispanic/Latino population, which from the standpoint of the MNT is an untapped potential.
9. Fully implement small-sided games for the younger age groups (no 11-a-side for 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 year olds.
10. More futsal (not indoor with walls) especially for the younger kids.

I don’t think any of this will be done, the people running US Soccer simply aren’t smart enough to do what it takes to be successful. They aren’t brave enough to upset the status quo.
Jose said,

Bill I agree with everything you said and if it ever was implemented it would help is in 7-10 yrs and beyond. I think one of the reasons Klinsman wasn’t interested in the job here was because he wanted autonomy on all decisions and I am sure would have applied some of what you mention here and probably more. Of course no one in US Soccer is gonna cede power to him or anyone else that would take guts,selflessness and a true desire to advance the game here. We can only hope at least some of these initiatives come to fruition. In the meantime what do we do about the players we do have?
Bill said,

Jose,

That’s the million dollar question!

The key is to admit that WC 2010 is probably a lost cause. What do you do? Start emphasizing the future, play the younger players who aren’t completely lost causes. In reality, you start mixing things up. When in doubt, hedge toward the youth. To be sure some players like Dempsey and Howard (and others) need to start earning their spots and playing up to their ability. Donovan, Beasley, Boca, Ching are the past, let’s move on. I’d rather see a player performing above their ability and losing than players performing well below their ability and winning (like Dempsey).

In moving to the future, we need to start playing a more possession-oriented game. Move in a focused manner away from long ball except in very specific and well-chosen situations. The US used to have an advantage in fitness that seems to have left us (something else that is wrong, and worked far better under Arena! Or the rest of the World caught up and overtook us). We need to get our fitness edge back. With the fitness, the US needs to implement a hard pressing, and high-pressure approach to play (Dempsey’s jogging would be a thing of the past!). The hard part is that the USA has big problems on defense, particularly at outside back. We just don’t have the outside backs to play the game at the highest level in a positive manner.

The MLS needs to change its style of play both through coaching and a level of play appropriate for continental Europe, not England (no more getting stuck in!). In conjunction we need immediate changes at the youth level as outlined, we have to limit the damage that being done every day to our future.

Not playing Torres is an excellent example of many problems, he’s good enough to start and not playing him is sending a really bad message to the Hispanic/Latino players. Right now, Torres looks like a chump and Edgar Castillo looks like the smart one. The damage to the National program is probably greater in the long run than our imminent embarrassment at the Confederations cup.
Shawn Gillogly said,

Jose,

I’m not contradicting myself. The overall amount of talent available *is* deeper now than 4 years ago. The issue is that the talent the USMNT (under)utilizes isn’t as deep because Bradley refuses to examine the whole pool. The issue is Bradley and the USSF, not the talent pool.

Arena, for all his faults, didn’t play favorites. You earned your spot in the side, and you kept it by your form. The USSF chafed at that, because they wanted their favorites getting free passes into the side. When Arena was fired, Klinsmann wanted even more of a free hand. And I personally believe that the USSF wasn’t willing to give him that autonomy. So they went with a coach they could control, Bradley. And they made it clear that they would have a say in selections again (like under Sampson).

Also, Bradley has his favorites. Those players will always have an in. So now you’ve got 2 factors restricting the talent pool. Whereas before, if you had the form, you always had a shot of being called up, now if you’re not a media darling, a USSF fave, or one of Bradley’s heroes, you have a very tough time breaking into the squad. So even though the total US talent pool is deeper, the available talent to select is not. And the time to establish the depth of a talent pool has passed for this cycle. We’re stuck with what we have until after the World Cup.
Shawn Gillogly said,

Bill,

I agree with a lot of what you said. But Donovan isn’t “the past.” He’s still only 27. And that’s the prime of a midfielder’s career. And he played well against Italy. He hasn’t developed to his full potential because of his past decisions. But that doesn’t mean we should just ship him out. He’s not worn down, he’s played well when he’s been put in a position to succeed. The issue is the coach’s failure to use him in a sophisticated manner rather than him as such. And I’m not a Landonfan, as such. But I think saying he should be bounced when he’s played hard every time he’s come out and done what was asked of him for the National team is unfair.

Dempsey is just plain tired right now. And for good reason. He’s played the equivalent of 2 full seasons without a rest. He needs to be sat down for his own good. The August qualifiers are more important than a “dress rehearsal.”

I agree entirely on Torres. B. Bradley’s mishandling of Torres is disgraceful. And quite frankly, the USSF’s handling of dual-citizenship players in the last decade has been a mess. Leaving aside Rossi, whose heart was always with the Azzuri. Subotic should’ve been playing for us. Castillo should’ve been playing for us. We should’ve been courting Jones years ago. But between Rongen’s moronic policies and the USSF’s bungling of the talent pool, these and many others have gone by the boards. And it’s only a fluke we’ll get Jones in the end. Heck, the USSF still says they haven’t talked to him, and he’s come out saying he wants to play for us!

So yes, we send a horrible message to the dual-citizenship players. And it starts with Rongen and runs through the USSF to Bradley.
Jose said,

Bill, Shawn

I mostly agree with both of you. I don’t think Donovan is a lost cause he is only 27 and for better or for worse our best player at the moment. Point is we know this. We don’t need to give him experience. Let someone else get some PT and experience. We’re gonna get our clocks cleaned anyway in this meaningless tourny. Use it to develop a style of play and get our younger players some experience attempting to play positive soccer. Who cares if we lose 5-0, means nada. I agree Torres should be on the field at every opportunity. The few times I’ve had an opportunity to see him he showed me he has what it takes. Get him more PT. It’s frustrating to me that this kid is missing out on this valuable experience. He is capable of keeping possession and from my observations he actually attempts to make a positive pass every now and then. Bob Bradley continues to rely on defensive minded players and negative tactics and while this may be the way to proceed at the moment in WCQ at all other times we should be working on developing a positive possession based game building up the attack from the back and getting the younger players in these games and working on playing this way. Otherwise our immediate future is gonna be just more of the same. Long ball to “target” guy, lose possession or one pass to the one guy who got forward to help and then lose possession. It is really pathetic to watch.
Bill said,

Just saw the lineup for the Brazil game… shocking! Beasley is starting, how can that be explained. No Torres, no Adu,… No Boca so the long ball tactics will be a little less evident.

While I agree that Donovan is a good player, unless he changes his professional path, he is the past. If he’s our best its not good enough. IMHO his service on free kicks has been shockingly bad especially considering how important set pieces are to the US. We never score from run of play.

I agree that Dempsey is tired, and if he is he needs to sit or only come in as an impact sub. If that’s the problem than Bradley is committing malpractice as a coach.

We’ll see in about 2 hours how it all works out.
Jose said,

Beasley? Beasley? Of all the players on the roster I think we can agree he has been the lamest for a long time now. What is Bob Bradley thinking? I am shaking my head in shock and frustration. Beasley? Cmon r u kidding me. Anyone else but him. Anyone!!!
Jose said,

By the way, never said Donovan is good enough just that unfortunately he is the best we have at the moment. And yes his FK service has sucked. Dempsey is obviously exhausted so yes Bradley is guilty of malpractice. Put Donovan up top with Altidore for today and play Torres in place of UGH Beasley with Adu on the right. I am not an Adu fan at all but he needs to play, certainly over Beasley. Our options are limited anyway but don’t play Beasley he’s bombed for the last 2 years and certainly for at least the last 5 matches he’s played for the MNT.
Jose said,

Enjoy the match
Jose said,

Well we were right about at least 1 thing, Beasley has no business on the field and hopefully he convinced Bradley of the same and we never see him again.
Bill said,

I have to admit that I didn’t see the game, just followed it on the internet. I had to work, and the US MNT isn’t worth the time off! I DVR’ed it and might watch the carnage tonight.

Here’s what the BBC had to say about us,

“The constant sound of horn-blowing supporters aptly rang around the stadium as Brazil orchestrated a cavalry charge that the USA were powerless to resist, offering defensive naivety and ineptitude in possession in return.”

and

“USA were their own worst enemy in conceding the second goal as Rangers’ DeMarcus Beasley miscontrolled a corner, allowing a rapid Brazil counter-attack that passed speedily from Kaka to Ramirez and finally to Robinho unmarked in the box to side-foot home with ease.”

Pretty embarrassing! Maybe the US should get beat by Brazil, but embarrassed, that’s too much that time should have passed by now.

Wake up US Soccer, the time for action is right now!
Shawn Gillogly said,

It was disgraceful. Every tactical decision Bradley made going in was wrong. The team looked tentative and unprepared. Beasley and Sasha K. were disasters *again.*

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, what is Bob Bradley?
Jose said,

I don’t expect to beat Brazil but cmon are you kidding me. Beasley, Beasley get real the guys done nothing for forever now. How many shots does he get to turn it around. Ridiculous. I’m not one to question a coach so much because I know a lot goes in to making decisions some of which we are unaware of. But there is just no way of justifying starting or even bringing that guy. He’s done. If Torres and Adu are not in the lineup sunday Bob Bradley needs to get his head examined. The game is meaningless, this is the time to give em a shot. My suggested lineup
Start Guzan give him some game, we know Howard is the #1 get his backup some experience.
Gotta stay with Gooch and Hopefully Bocanegra. Central Defense is one area where consistency and the ability to work together is of the utmost importance so these two need to play together as frequently as possible. If not then you give Califf a go. DeMerit had hid 2 games and while nothing to rave about under the circumstances did fine. Give Califf the start. Keep the outside backs the same. Two young guys there really no one else anyway (yes I considered Pearce and Wynn) so give the two young guys some more experience. Midfield Play Torres on the left, Bradley holding, with Donovan in front of him and Feilhaber on the right. Adu and Altidore running up front. A great opportunity for these young guys to play and get experience. Give it to them please Bob Bradley.
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