“I won’t be looking at results so much as how we play, or which player seems to work in a given position and who doesn’t.”

And I’m quoting myself there, but I feel it’s significant. (NOTE: If you haven’t seen Kicking and Screaming – no, not the Will Ferrell movie, but the one by Noah Baumbach, do see it…and pay attention to Eric Stolz’ character).

So, raise your hand if you didn’t expect the loss to Italy. OK, the Benedict Arnold thing was a bit of a shock – et tu, Giuseppe? – but, absent extreme luck and joy, losing to Italy was always a question of degree and pain. (And, I kid: as my wife pointed out, given a choice, who would you play for, Italy or the U.S.? Wait…most of you will disagree with my wife…but I digress).

Wow. A lot swirling around upstairs, not least because that performance had a lot of weird little quirks - more than one typically gets from, say, a CONCACAF outing – so I may as well start general. And why not start with that hoary ol’ fave….

What Is Wrong with the U.S Men?
1. Preparing for the party after it’s started.
American players spend too much time thinking. Clint Dempsey getting caught out early in the first half at the top of the penalty area serves as the inspiring image, but it’s a defect that is simultaneously personal and general. Too often, our guys sit on the ball and get their head up in a two-step process, whereas people on the fashionable teams (and did you see that blue-brown combo Italy was rocking? My wife did…and loved it) tend to reduce this to a step-and-a-half…at most. Bottom line, speed of thought/speed of play constitutes the major divide between the haves and the have-nots; one can see this with the way Italy carved several openings they failed to exploit…not to mention the final deadly one they did…again, through that little bastard Giuseppe Rossi (again, I kid. Good luck to ya, kid). In general, though, people can’t stop what that to which they cannot adjust….or, in a better sentence, play fast, ‘cause it confuses the other team.

2. Full-Time Spazzing.
Americans, whether it comes from some kind of weird, culturally embedded Anglo-Saxon/Protestant work ethic or just trying to make up for the above, tend to work too goddam hard. We run and run and run. Meanwhile, the Italians are doing what every coach since the sixth grade told me to do: let the ball do the work. Sure, we went down to ten men but we worked far harder than we had to. Hell, Oguchi Onyewu – a defender, mind – looked set to faint and puke - and in that order - by game’s end. Frankly, I can’t believe Landon Donovan was standing at all by the end; the man must have lapped Pretoria six times with all the running he did. I love the effort, honestly, but one really has to wonder if it’s well spent. That’s all to say, we have issues with spacing and shifting without doing it at a spastic sprint. We’re fit enough to play this way, thank god, but one has to think better of the alternative.

3. This Isn’t the Team We Want, but it’s the Team We Have
Returning to this morning’s post, I really wish we did a number of things better….and possessing the ball tops the list with neon lights flashing a bells a-ringin’. Think what a couple breaks in the full-time Italian onslaught might have meant in the second half. Instead, one of our guys would get the ball – Josmer Altidore, Charlie Davies, or Clint Dempsey; take your pick – and attempt to rush up the field all on his lonesome. Two second later, the Italians are kicking the ball right back down our throats. To think what a couple considered passes meant have meant; a couple minutes rest for the leg-weary defenders only starts the list. Bottom line; urgency is good, but not always good. In the bigger picture – and this is BIG – we’re just kind of a counter-attack team and it’s time to accept either that, or a string of bad results while we learn how to play a possession game. And, well, may as well put this in bold because it’s the Big Theory from tonight….

WE’RE BETTER PLAYING AGAINST BETTER TEAMS BECAUSE WE SUCK AT CARRYING THE GAME.

Ahem. There it is. And, now, by way of balance…

What We Did Good
1. Stuck In.
Maybe this gets back to the part in big, bold caps above or maybe it’s just something we do from time to time, but, tonight, our guys generally stepped up very well...and that's unlike what we so appallingly failed to do against Costa Rica and even Honduras. And I rated Ricardo Clark highest in this category…until the 33rd minute, when dumbass got himself sent off. Top to bottom, though, we fought better than we played. That's why we look better on the bigger stage against the big teams…at least that’s what I think.

The Red Card
Nope, wouldn’t have given that one, not in a million calls. The issue is, Clark made the fatal mistake of giving the referee the option. And, whaddayaknow? - the ref took it. I really wish it was more complicated than that, but it isn’t. Clark has to grow up…really, and for our sakes as much as his. And that makes one hell of a segue to…

Thoughts on Players….

…but, wait, wait. What about the Italians? Well, what about them? I’ll confess here (as opposed to at the top of the page) I love the way the Italians play: smart, sophisticated, effective, sweet Jesus, what’s not to like. They started strong and, in spite of bogging down in the middle, they created enough chances to score five goals; thank god for the curse of the Italian forward (e.g. you can have only so many Paolo Rossis, right?). What most impresses about the Italians is the way they make passes our players are generally too timid to try, just these impossibly hard and fast things right up the gut; hell, they started the game with one of these things, a kind of an announcing of intentions. Sure, it took them 60+ minutes to come good on the threat, but they did…and with some style. Italy is good. We should aspire to look so good.

Right, now, Thoughts on Players
Rather than get into ratings and that kind of thing, let’s just break this down into the general concept of what works and what doesn’t.

What Works
First and foremost, Landon Donovan leading the attack. No, he’s not the player we all hoped he’d be, but he’s still the best-ever American player. And he gave the Italians fits at least twice only to have, 1) Michael Bradley and 2) Altidore scuff positively gilded opportunities. A generally good game – topped off by plenty of hustle and one great shot later – gets Bradley off the hook; as for Altidore…more later. Our defense worked, specifically, I like Spector as either starter or back-up to Steve Cherundolo and, in spite of his near-horrific gaffe, Jonathan Bornstein is officially my first choice left back; sometimes the best you can get is all you can get. At this point, I’m willing to dismiss Costa Rica – and, OK, much of the last year – as an anomaly (love that word lately). Sure, we coughed up three and, at times, didn’t step like we needed to, but, again, this was against one of the best teams in the world. I think we have a good defense that is, to be blunt about it, suffering from a lack of midfield cover. Finally, and I touched on this above, but will repeat it again, Bradley has got game. I believe in coach’s son…finally. He’s our most consistent two-way performer, hands-down.

OK, category three….the Interstices…in two parts
- Ricardo Clark. For the first 33 minutes, he played like the heir apparent to Pablo Mastroeni, that midfield wrecker vital to making what passes for the U.S. game work; moreover, given the upside on offense, I think he’s a better player than Mastroeni ever was. He’s got range, energy, aggression….about that last bit, he might have too much of it. Here’s to hoping he got his ass ripped after the game because that was, for lack of a better phrase, a child’s foul: dumb, petulant, and utterly useless. But we need a player like Clark on the field and this is a two-part argument because…
- Benny Feilhaber. It’s entirely possible I want this guy to be something more than he can be. And I think having someone like Clark behind him constitutes a necessity to fulfill the potential I’m seeing. But I have seen enough from Feilhaber to have two thoughts on him: 1) make an earnest effort to get the National team used to him around playing; play Donovan at “second” forward, even if it means sitting out Altidore for another World Cup; 2) make him swallowing his pride and finding a club where he’ll play every damn week a pre-requisite to #1. Suck it up, Benny. I’ll give you a chance if you take one on your career.

What Doesn’t
Until 2009, I counted myself a straight-up Dempsey whore, but something has changed to totally turn me off on the man. I’ve heard him talk about being a better player, and he may be for all I know, but I’m not seeing it on the field when he plays for the Yanquis. I know sending Yanks abroad is some kind of Holy Grail of player development, but I think it also depends on the player; where Dempsey is concerned, it’s only taught him caution and self-doubt. Frankly, I’d rather see Sacha Kljestan get a spell, even if he’s got this weird quirk…I’ll have to describe on another occasion. DaMarcus Beasley at left back; yes, I know this didn’t happen tonight, but here’s to hoping it never does again. Finally, the way Altidore spurned Donovan’s set-up tells me he’s not ready. Take him as a sub, absolutely, and give him time to play besides – especially against Italy and Brazil in a meaningless tournament - but Brian Ching is the starter for now.

And that’s all for now…hope I didn’t miss anything.