Battle of Algiers, less blood equal amount of tears

So I’m writing this at 10:30 at night shortly after I watched the game. I had to wait until I got home from work to watch the game, I ignored texts and calls from families and friends, I prefaced all conversations to fellow soccer fans with “I haven’t watched the game, don’t tell me anything about it.” So after a shit day at work I settled down with a beer, dinner and my small MacBook screen to watch the game. Aside from the early scary shot off the crossbar by Algeria the US played heroically attacking, taking shots and just generally playing their hearts out. My heart started to break around the 85th minute thinking that, here the US is playing the best they’ve played all World Cup and they may end up going home with two goals dubiously recalled. Then a ridiculous throw by Howard, a pass, a deflected shot from Dempsey and the goal from Landon (I’m retiring the use of the name Landycakes for now, he’s earned it.) As the clock ticked down the final seconds I realized I had seen the best game of any sport I have ever seen. Better than Cal Ripkin beating Lou Gehrig’s record, better than the countless times the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Lakers and better than watching the Cal Bears stomp Stanford at the Big Game. It was the beautiful game.

Preview for USA /Algeria

USA V England

So before the England game what were you're real expectations, hopes and dreams for the U.S.? If you're telling the truth, I think you expected a loss, hoped for a tie and dreamt of a win. Me, I was expecting a draw, hoping for a win and having nightmares about a pasting like the one the Czech Republic laid on us in our opening group match in 2006. And then the game started and 5 minutes in, the nightmare seemed to be happening in real life. A complete breakdown of the U.S. defense in the middle of the field, some quick passing from the Brits and Gerrard is in on Howard alone for the easy goal. Fortunately (well fortunately assuming you are U.S. fan) the U.S. settled down after that and kept the solid chances to a minimum the rest of the game. Meanwhile the U.S. generated some chances with Altidore flashing an open header wide. Then Dempsey hit his hopeful shot that the goalkeeper bungled into the net and the U.S. was tied going into the half. Things were much the same in the second half with Altidore unlucky not to put the U.S. up 2-1. The U.S. played a tough gritty game, but I don't think they played as well as they can.



USA V Slovenia

This game was definitely a game of two halves with the US having defensive breakdowns and miscommunications in the back leading to fast counterattacks and goals being scored by the Slovenians in the first half to the US taking control of the midfield and furiously attacking in the second half with Landon Donovan playing the best game I have seen from him in a while. And if we're going to be honest here the US came back from a 2-0 deficit at the half to score three goals in the second (yes 3 Mr. Coulibaly). As the English fans at the bar where I was watching say, "we were robbed."


USA V Algeria

To start off I would like us not to go down by a goal or two first which seems to be our curious strategy this World Cup. Aside from the world cup games themselves the US were down a goal first in six of their ten world cup qualifying matches. Perhaps it is to lull the opponent into a false sense of security thereby making it easier to score goals or perhaps it is a conspiracy with ESPN to make soccer seem more exciting to new fans thereby attracting more viewers. Second I think Maurice Edu proved in the last game (and during qualifiers) that he is the better option in the midfield, Torres just got knocked around by the Slovenians and Clark was a bit slow against the English. Thirdly Findley being unavailable for this game because of yellow cards is a plus since it will force Bradley to play the exciting goal scoring Gomez or Buddle. So let's go USA and advance to the Round of 16!

Five Things I learned from Day 1 of the 2010 World Cup

1. France really really should have fired Domenech after Euro Cup 2008.

2. South Africa is leading the cup for best goal celebrations.

3. According to I believe Martin Tyler, Cuauhtemoc Blanco is not only one of the oldest field players this tournament but also he looks to be the heaviest. I love it!

4. Even the British announcers flub offsides calls.

5. Uruguay has a good chance of getting out of group.

So Group A predictions at the end of their first day of play I go for South Africa and Uruguay to get out of group. France implodes and Mexico continues to flub scoring opportunities which they will inevitably blame on the ball.

4 hours to Kick-Off

If you're not pumped yet for the US-England match there is really not much I can do for you. But here are five us soccer commercials to help get you fired up.

1. The Tony Danza Productions fan made effort
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBlpzVSOCQ

2. US Soccer's inspiring clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrCZIFNdW6Y

3. Gatorade's Commercial with nice use of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDgEosqZGCM&feature=related

4. One of the many US Soccer commercials using "Over There"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCqZsFM7Sg8

5. Nike's awesome jab at the US right wing commentators who have a peculiar animosity towards soccer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfRflwe1WXA&feature=related

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie ---3-1,3-1,3-1

Was the back line a little shaky at times, yes. Did Hahnemann miss a plethora of dangerous crosses, yes. But let's not miss the forest through the trees, the US Men's National Team soundly defeated a strong Australian team who had been on a winning streak .

In the lead up to the World Cup I had been more concerned with the front line and how we were going to be able to score goals which are necessary to winning, but now with the addition of lower profile players like Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez to proven goal scorers like Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scoring goals no longer seems like a concern for the Men's National Team. Indeed the play of Buddle against Australia not only alleviates the concerns over Altidore’s fitness after the minor ankle sprain. It may create an actual dilemma in Coach Bob’s mind as to who to start: Altidore or Buddle. And if Findley finishes his two golden opportunities or if Dempsey’s goal isn’t called back on a questionable offsides call, the score could easily have been 5 or 6 to 1 against a team that has a reputation for a strong defense. On the other hand it is becoming increasingly clear that once crowded back line that seems to be the weakest point of the team. In the first half only poor finishing on the Aussie’s part (particularly Kennedy) kept them from tying or going ahead. It was not the right and left back positions that were the issue this time, but the center backs. It did not appear that Goodson and DeMerit were on the same page. Clark had a better game then against Turkey, but there were still disturbing gaps in the middle of the park and the usual set of giveaways on bad passes. Bradley was not much better in the passing department. In the second half, the Onyewu/DeMerit pairing was much sturdier and the Aussies had far fewer solid chances. The commentators liked to pick on Onyewu as a the weak point but his play in the last two appearances (Turkey and Australia) has been very tidy.

While on the subject on the commentators, John Harkes, and Martin Tyler absolutely underwhelmed. US Soccer blogosphere has cheered their appointment with "at least they know soccer" but to me this is damning with faint praise. Harkes has consistently shown a lack of soccer awareness by touting the play of US players like Klejstan, and Ching while ragging on Dempsey and Bradley. You only need to look at the US starting lineup to see how prescient his commentary is. And while Martin Tyler may be British he was golf announcer boring. Although this will not be the case I would much prefer to hear Derek Rae and Adrian Healy announce the US matches, heck hire Greg Lalas and Jay Heaps who have done an excellent job covering MLS and are far more intelligent and entertaining than John Harkes.

Just for a moment, let’s talk about Herculez Gomez and Robbie Findley. With the few minutes Gomez has had, he has scored two goals and shown the ability to take his shots when they are there. This may seem obvious, but far too many times we have seen US midfielders and forwards pass up an open shot, try to make a perfect pass and give the ball away. The goal Gomez scored against Australia may have looked simple, but it wasn’t. He had to reach slightly behind him and yet still got enough power on the ball to drive it past Schwarzer before he could get down on the ground to stop it. Findley has shown far more class in his last two games then in any previous U.S. appearances or any of the MLS games of his I have seen. Perhaps he is poised for a breakout. I think there is a very good chance we see him starting alongside Buddle or Altidore against England.

Final thoughts- I think the back line needs to get it together to be able to face the speed and power of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Aaron Lennon but it will be a strong US team that will face England on Saturday and a tougher match than England is probably expecting. So watch out England, the Yanks are coming!

Thoughts on the Last Stateside Friendlies

After watching conversative Bob Bradley during qualifiers, we are now seeing Riverboat Gambler Bob. Robbie Findley? I defy anyone to say they predicted that. And no Brian Ching? Again I defy anyone to say they predicted that. Herculez Gomez? Edson Buddle? Two months ago they were off the radar. And yet they are in South Africa and Conner Casey isn't. Many predicted Klejstan would be on the squad ahead of Torres. Nope. Even Edu and Beasley could be considered surprises. After Beasley's disasterous outing in the Confederations Cup, most wrote off his national career. So again - what has turned Conservative Bob into Riverboat Gambler Bob? I have a theory and aren't you surprised? In qualifying the pressure is on. There is no room for error as not qualifying is not only unthinkable, but also career limiting. And make no mistake - Bob Bradley is an ambitious man. So why change course so drastically now? Well, Bradley is a student of the game of soccer. He was an assistant in 2006. And I am sure he watched all the games in 2002. What was the difference between those two squads and why were the results so different? A number of key players in the 2002 squad came out of nowhere. Wolfe, Beasley and Mastroeni for instance. O'Brien only 13 caps. In the 2006 squad most of the starters were all known entities with lots of experience with the exception of Dempsey and Onyewu. So who scores the only goal in 2006 for the U.S.? Dempsey. What would Bradley take from that? Maybe he gets the idea that the fellows with lots of caps have already shown all that they have. There won't be any surprises. That's good and bad. If your known entities are very very good - well you can count on they continuing to provide the kind of skill and inventiveness you have seen from them before. It they are just good, well you get what get. However, with the newbies, maybe just maybe you get a bit of inventiveness and guile that leads to something great. A Josh Wolfe run along the goal line with a great cutback pass to get the U.S. off on to a great start against Portugal. And the newbies might be too young or too green to understand the pressure they are supposed to feel. Sometimes pressure makes diamonds and sometimes it makes puddles of goo. So thats why I think Bob has turned into Riverboat Gambler Bob. To make it out of the first round and exceed whatever expectation Sunil Gulati has for him, he needs that inventiveness, that unawareness of the pressure that could lead to those moments of brilliance that lead to goals. And goals are what they need. So in light of that what are we too make of the performances against the Czech Republic.

Here is what I saw. Herculez Gomez is unafraid. Yes the goal he scored against the Czech Republic was set up nicely, but he scored it. How many times have we seen Ching back one off the crossbar or post in the same situation. Buddle throws his body around and sets up the first goal by going up against Petr Cech and beating him to the ball. He ends up with a bloody lip and a ticket to South Africa. Beasley proved he still deserves a place on the national team through an all out gritty performance against the Czechs. When he is playing well he torments the defense with his speed and draws fouls. Holden continues to press a case for a starting role. Pearce played his way out of the squad with a horrorshow performance. Onyewu looked rusty. Cherundolo was effective at times but was slow to close down a couple of crosses. Bornstein would have played his way off the squad were there any alternative at all at left back.

And against Turkey? Well, I don't think Spector starts. He pretty much ceded the starting job to Cherundolo. Not for the goal - he didn't distinguish himself and he didn't contribute anything on offense. The rest of the defense in the first half was meh.Turkey had way too many shots and only poor finishing prevented the score from being 3 or 4 to 0 in the first half. Not that the rest of the team distinguished themselves. The Bradley/Clark pairing was not effective and Donovan and Feilhaber just didn't play up to their respective billings. The second half was a completely different story. Findley and Torres opened up the offense, Findley with his speed and Torres with his passing. Onyewu came in for Goodson and the paring with Demerit brought back fond memories of the Confederations Cup. The U.S. outplayed the Turkish team and scored 2 goals and should have had 2 or 3 more. So what do we take from that? I think what we have known all along, that the US Men's team has a chance to shine in South Africa if they show up and play like they can or they could fade into mediocrity in the group round by playing without the daring and confidence they will need to succeed.

Watching the Revs from a Skybox

As a season ticket holder you get a few perks. A special line to go through, discounts at the merchandise store from time to time and this year we got the opportunity to watch the game from a skybox. When first presented with this opportunity I was fairly iffy on it, I like being amongst fans who are cheering and yelling at the refs (like myself) and didn’t know what it would be like up in a skybox. On the plus side the offer came with free food and non-alcoholic beverages. So after dithering for a few days, my wife and I decided what the heck. We had never seen a game from a skybox before, so why not.

Iit was like watching the game in someone else’s living room that you didn’t know that well. You couldn’t always tell who had the ball (well except for Larentowicz and Wells Thompson and it wasn’t easy to pick out what was happening when a lot of bodies were around the ball. In addition, we had the Comcast Revs broadcast on several T.V. and there was an 8 or 9 second lag, so you would see something on the field and then here it described in the background several seconds later.

During halftime Matt Reis came up to visit and he was very cordial to everyone – especially the kids that were there. If getting autographs appealed to me that would have been a great perk. All in all, I much prefer watching from my seats in section 106.

As for the game itself, I was already worried about facing a midfield combo of Mastroeni and Larentowicz and when the starting lineup was announced with no Sharlie Joseph, I had a sinking feeling. As the game played out it became clear that our midfield couldn’t handle theirs. Still, we had some chances early on but a chance that went begging led to a Rapids Goal. Dube missed yet another gift wrapped scoring opportunity and the Raped hit on a counterattack with Ballouchy hitting a bouncer past Burpo that I think he should have done better with. Shortly after that Nyassi won a free kick and Perovic hit a marvelous free kick into the upper right hand corner that the Rapids goalie could do nothing with.

Dube had another golden opportunity towards the end of the half but hit a harmless header to the goalie. The Revs again had chances in the second half but could put nothing away. Colorado got a goal off a great holdup play by Casey who managed to bring down a ball with Gibbs or Barnes draped all over him (I couldn’t tell from the skybox) and laid off a perfect pass to Mastroeni that he blasted into the net. After that it was all over but the shouting.

So what’s next for the Rev’s? One thing is clear – without Joseph, the combination of Niouky and Phelan is not the answer. Me – I favor putting Perovic in Joseph’s role and playing either Tierney or Mansally on the left side. We will see what Nicol comes up with in tonight’s game.