US Soccer

A couple weeks ago, I flippantly dismissed the Gold Cup beat down of the US C Team as a fluke. Today I feel differently. Mexico's dominance over the best US Team Bob Bradley could call today was no one time act.

Get the word out. Mexico is back.

For 10 years the US has played rope a dope with Mexico, allowing them to possess to their hearts' content in a "bend but don't break" scheme. And for 10 years it has worked because while Mexico may have been a better,...

After watching almost every minute of both teams in the Gold Cup, it is not much of a surprise to see them both in the finals. Neither team has been dominant. Both teams have holes. Neither team has consistently played its best soccer. Yet both teams have been the class of the competition.

Scouting Reports

Mexico: It is more than a little ironic that Mexico has become a nation of worker bees. The technical skill of every Mexican player ranges from average to excellent. Many players perform their tasks well....

It was a game of two halves, and it was a game of two attitudes.



The first half was infuriating. US central midfielders often failed to check back to the ball and make themselves passing options. Defenders launched aimless balls forward even with better options available. Isolated forwards and attacking midfielders had few options, fewer ideas, and lacked the class to beat 3-4 Panamanians on solo runs.

Our "clear the puck" style distorted our spacing....

Warning: Post-game rant. Logic and reason not wanted.

I don't know if Kenny Cooper, Colin Clark, Michael Parkhurst, and Santino Quaranta got the memo, but...

Did they at least watch two minutes of the US Team in South Africa? There is one defining characteristic of the US Team - commitment.

If you don't have it, stay home. If you're going to half-ass hustle to 50/50 balls, step out of instead of into challenges, and spend your time away from the ball on a lover's walk on a summer...

Career Highlights:

~2003-2004: Two time All-American in Santa Ana playing for Mater Dei High School.

~2005: Starred as a Freshman on the 2005 national championship Maryland team with future US Teammate Maurice Edu.

~2006: Signed by Heerenveen of Holland, where he was seen as a promising young talent. In March of 2007, Heerenveen dissolved the contract at Robbie's request.

~2007: Signed by Columbus Crew via weighted lottery. Starts season as substitute, slowly works himself into the starting lineup.

~2007: Breaks out...

60': The US 4.4.2 is predicated on central midfielders who can win the ball. Beckerman and Pause are getting man handled here.

63': Rogers has been everywhere. Finally some subs on. Honduras is toast.

65': Freddy looks like a player between two minds. Honduras neutralized him with athleticism. Freddy will have to learn how to counteract that with combination play.

67': Honduras is hacking the crap out of our players. Fine. But ref, please stop falling for their dives.

67': Parkhurst doing OK. Not great. Marshall looking outstanding...

Mexico's attitude towards US Soccer over the past 20 years can be chronicled approximately like this:

<1990: The US plays soccer? Quien sabia?
~1994: The US fields a team of barbarians and plays a game resembling soccer.
~1998: The barbarians are well organized.
~2000: The barbarians are lucky.
~2002: The US is so lucky, they are the kings of lucky, er "fluke."
~2005: The US only beats us because they care more. Against the world,...

Some thoughts on the players from yesterday:

- Goodson was the most composed distributor from the US defense. His teammates often played back to him and let him make decisions out of the back. He was also dominant in the air and did a good job of denying the few passes that came into Grenada attackers. He struggled, though, with the physicality of his mark at times. He's slight of build, and I'd worry about him struggling against strong forwards.

- Beckerman does a good job of making himself an...

A few years ago one of the people I respect most in the game told me to look for the guy other players look to when they aren't quite sure what to do - the team's safety valve.

That player was Stuart Holden, easily the classiest soccer player in Qwest Field today.

More thoughts tomorrow.

On the eve of the Gold Cup, some US players have with everything to win. Others may only have something to lose.

For a good part of the competition, the US will face teams unwilling to take initiative. Its group includes Grenada, Haiti, and Honduras. On their best day, the first two are batting practice. With Shalrie Joseph out, Grenada just became tee ball. Honduras should be favored to advance to the knockout stages with the US, but is bringing a skeleton of its best team. Of the players we saw lose to the US in Chicago, only 2 starters - Costly and Chavez - have been called...