USA vs Poland

Here is the roster for the USA:

G:
Marcus Hahnemann - Reading
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96
Jay DeMerit - Watford
Cory Gibbs - Charlton Athletic
Oguchi Onyewu - Standard de Liege
Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock
Jonathan Spector - West Ham United
M:
Michael Bradley - Heerenveen
Ricardo Clark - Houston Dynamo
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Benny Feilhaber - Derby County
Eddie Lewis - Derby County
F:
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Eddie Johnson - Fulham
Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich

Howard and Hahnemann: Both great keepers. No arguments here.

No real surprises at Defender except for Gibbs. Hasn't he been injured for 2 years and just now back for his club side? He can't be in good form yet can he?

The midfield has always been my problem with Bob Bradley. There are so many good options for every spot in the midfield except maybe right wing. Bradley just never seems to get it right, always playing two defensive midfielders in the center with no floating attacker. Midfielders playing striker with no support. We never seem to have enough people to win balls in the center of the field. Michael Bradley scores goal after goal in Holland, but here his role is to do the grunt work in the center of the field, meanwhile our strikers can't score to save their lives and our best goal scorer of all time is lost out wide playing defense against our opponents wingers.

I'm actually ok with the striker selections this time around. Eddie Johnson still has potential and at one time was better than any other option we've seen since. I still think Dempsey is out of position up front. He needs to get the ball with some space so he can take people on and this never happens when he is our target man. Josh Wolf is decent, still pretty fast, but why not Chris Rolfe? Brian Ching has proven himself almost as useless as Twellman at the international level, but hasn't had a shot in a while.

I'm not surprised that the youngsters from olympic qualifying aren't around for this match. We know who will be getting chances in the future and Bradley can be excused somewhat for their absence this once.
Here is how I'd like to see the US start out against Poland:

                     Johnson

      Donovan Dempsey

Lewis        Wolf

  Bradley    Feilhaber

Onyewu Churundalo

  Bocanegra

   Howard

More Thoughts on US Soccer

Since my last post the USA has beaten Canada 3-0 to qualify for the Beijing Olympics (thank god!). The U-23's played their best game of the tournament against the Canadians, where Freddy Adu scored on two spectacular freekicks. The third goal was well orchestrated from the run of play and provided some pay off for all the possession the US has had in all of their games.

Unfortunately the US lost to Honduras in the final. It was a game the US dominated by could not produce any goals. Robbie Findley missed the most glaring chance when he failed to convert a perfect cross from Barret, instead heading the ball directly into the ground causing it to bounce up into the crossbar. Speaking of Barret, I stick by my story that he is a good forward. He still makes mistakes but his ability to move into spaces and hold the ball help open up the play. Findley played well overall and demonstrated his speed and skill on several occasions, but failed in front of the net and often seemed to not be within the right passing lane, with multiple passes pushing slightly wide of him. Altidore came on as a sub and did very little. In fact he didn't play well at any time in the tournament. He seems to never be moving back to show for passes. At least not doing this well. He's a strong skillfull player but still has a lot of work, no doubt a lot of it tactical.

Some other positive notes from the final was the play of Maurice Edu and Eddie Gaven. Edu was very noticeable, breaking up plays, making good passes, and generally looking far more mature than any other player on the US team. Eddie Gaven was very creative and pushed forward, taking on players and putting in dangerous crosses.

The US found themselves in front of the Honduran goal so many times during the course of the match, and their attempts on goal were generally dismal. A few players took at least one strong shot - Edu, Barret, Altidore, and Gaven. But most of the shots were really sad. One of Kamani Hill's left footed shots sailed out undeflected for a Honduran throw in. The US combined on several occasions with tight passes in the box, but all chances coming to naught. Overall a disapointing result but mostly strong play from the young pups.

On the US roster for the game against Poland...what is Bob Bradley's deal? Brian Ching? Really? And why call in Eddie Johnson? Johnson's play for Fulham has only served to reinforce my view of him as a terrible soccer player. He has no willingness to play hard, in fact he seems fearful of getting involved in the play. Not exactly the mentality you want in a striker. I'd much rather see Altidore. Why not try some other guys up front? Like maybe Chris Rolfe or Chad Barrett. I saw this coming. Bradley thinks like Arena. I'm convinced they think having a guy like Johnson just being on the field in a top European league is enough to improve his play. Like through some sort of soccer talent osmosis. As for the other call ups...why not bring some of the young guys that may be involved in the Olympics this summer (or fall whenever it is)? Bring Edu instead of Clarke, bring Adu and maybe Stuart Holden, Sascha Kljestan, or Eddie Gaven. Jay Demerit? Eddie Lewis? Come on Bradley bring in some young guys and give them a chance. Maybe try a different tactical strategy that puts players like Donovan and Dempsey in roles where they can thrive and be the most effective. I think Nowak did a great job with the U-23's. Maybe we could pull a pot-bellied switch and install him as the national team coach. Of course we can't but I still don't put much faith in Bradley. I guess only time will tell.

US Under-23's First Round

Some thoughts on the team and players after the first round of Olympic Qualifying:

Overall the US played sloppy, lacking in concentration for many spells during the games. Despite this they managed to outplay every opponent in the first round. They even showed glimpses of playing a high quality brand of soccer. In this regard they were very inconsistent. The most glaring weakness was their inability to create chances and score goals.

As far as the players there were some Pros and some Cons. For space reasons I'll just cover who I thought played well.

Pros:
Dax Mccarty: Played the role of tireless defensive workhorse in the first two games. His quality fell off against Panama, but showed a good intelligence and a willingness to fight for every ball.
Stuart Holden: The Houston Dynamo midfielder probably had the most consistently good performance of all the US players. A skillfull dribbler and smart passer who played with a professional attitude in that he seemed to retain concentration in all his time on the field.
Kamani Hill: Converted from striker to right back, Hill looked solid defensively and sharp moving forward.
Michael Orozco: This Mexican looking central defender seemed to have the defense organized in the two games he played in. Orozco always seemed to be well positioned and put up an overall solid performance.
The Female Streaker: The woman who ran onto the field late in the Honduras match, draped in the American flag and skimpy underwear had probably my favorite performance of the tournament. It's just that it seems like streakers are always male. And fat. It's nice to see a change. I hope we get to see her, or others like her, in more games this year.

Other:
Players like Kljestan and Adu looked really good at times, but made too many mistakes to put them in the "Pro" category. Edu was up and down as usual, while many of the other players played well at times. The team seemed to play better in each successive game, dominating Honduras possession wise in the final match. Hopefully this round has prepared the team to succeed in the next round and qualify the US for the Bejing Olympics.