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England 2, USA 0: A look back

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It was ugly.

There is really no other way to describe the U.S. team’s 2-0 loss to England. The Americans were thoroughly dominated and had few players really step up to the challenge presented by the star-studded English lineup.

Wednesday’s loss wasn’t about what Americans were missing, not about Jozy Altidore being left home or Freddy Adu being left out of the starting lineup. It was about a U.S. team exposed for what it is, a young group still in transition after the retirements of several key figures.

The U.S. team had two glaring weaknesses, the lack of a central midfield presence capable of keeping possession under pressure (ala Claudio Reyna) and no target forward capable of presenting problems to the defense (ala Brian McBride). These are issues that have been concealed for the most part in the past two years, but issues that couldn’t be ignored against a skillful and experienced England squad.

So who do I think played well? Other than Oguchi Onyewu and Heath Pearce, I think the rest of the U.S. performances were pretty forgettable. Eddie Johnson had some decent touches but after hearing some good reviews of his performance I can’t help but wonder if he has set the bar so low in his recent national team showings that any sort of decent play could be seen as better than it actually was. As for Freddy Adu, yes, he showed something, but the game was already decided by then and there was definitely a foot-off-the-pedal feel to the game at that point.

I’ll re-watch this morning to see if anyone else stands out (I know, unlikely).

Who didn’t play well? Yes, it’s a long list but I’ll point to Josh Wolff and Ricardo Clark as two who stood out. Wolff looked completely lost while Clark had a hand in both of England goal’s. The first via a clumsy foul in an area of the field that is David Beckham free kick territory, the second when he completely lost himself in midfield and left Gareth Barry all alone to deliver a pin-point pass to Steven Gerrard (to be fair, Barry had just come into the match and neither Clark or Bradley picks up Barry). I like Clark as a player but he has not done himself any favors with his recent national team performances.

I’ll get more into the carnage later today. For now I want to hear from you, the SBI readers, and find out what your biggest complaints are about the England match and what you think were the high points and low points.

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. The game was hard to watch…one of the more frustrating USMNT games I have ever tuned into. People should lay off EJ. He didn’t play terrible this game. It has got to be hard when Josh Wolf i your other starting forward. Good lord. Josh FREAKING Wolf !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. It was ugly.

    There is really no other way to describe the U.S. team’s 2-0 loss to England. The Americans were thoroughly dominated and had few players really step up to the challenge presented by the star-studded English lineup.

    Wednesday’s loss wasn’t about what Americans were missing, not about Jozy Altidore being left home or Freddy Adu being left out of the starting lineup. It was about a U.S. team exposed for what it is, a young group still in transition after the retirements of several key figures.

    The U.S. team had two glaring weaknesses, the lack of a central midfield presence capable of keeping possession under pressure (ala Claudio Reyna) and no target forward capable of presenting problems to the defense (ala Brian McBride). These are issues that have been concealed for the most part in the past two years, but issues that couldn’t be ignored against a skillful and experienced England squad.

    So who do I think played well? Other than Oguchi Onyewu and Heath Pearce, I think the rest of the U.S. performances were pretty forgettable. Eddie Johnson had some decent touches but after hearing some good reviews of his performance I can’t help but wonder if he has set the bar so low in his recent national team showings that any sort of decent play could be seen as better than it actually was. As for Freddy Adu, yes, he showed something, but the game was already decided by then and there was definitely a foot-off-the-pedal feel to the game at that point.

    I’ll re-watch this morning to see if anyone else stands out (I know, unlikely).

    Who didn’t play well? Yes, it’s a long list but I’ll point to Josh Wolff and Ricardo Clark as two who stood out. Wolff looked completely lost while Clark had a hand in both of England goal’s. The first via a clumsy foul in an area of the field that is David Beckham free kick territory, the second when he completely lost himself in midfield and left Gareth Barry all alone to deliver a pin-point pass to Steven Gerrard (to be fair, Barry had just come into the match and neither Clark or Bradley picks up Barry). I like Clark as a player but he has not done himself any favors with his recent national team performances.

    I’ll get more into the carnage later today. For now I want to hear from you, the SBI readers, and find out what your biggest complaints are about the England match and what you think were the high points and low points.

    Share your thoughts below

    Reply
  3. It was ugly.

    There is really no other way to describe the U.S. team’s 2-0 loss to England. The Americans were thoroughly dominated and had few players really step up to the challenge presented by the star-studded English lineup.

    Posted by: gerrad azam | June 02, 2008 at 03:34 PM

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  4. You know what, I don’t blame Bob Bradley. I like the guy and what he has brought to the table. I feel no matter what team of Americans he would’ve fielded we still would’ve lost. That midfield England fielded, premier.

    One knock I do have though is that we, the U.S. national team, need to start fielding players that are playing and producing in their respective leagues and stop giving players a spot because they have been around. I think that would yield the best results.

    To start, why not let Jimmy Conrad play as a wide back? He scores beautiful goals on set pieces and plays solid defense. And Twellman, hear me out now, has produced the most goals over since 2002 than other other American striker has in their league. I just think we need to get him more minutes with the national team when he is healthy; it seems like the only chances he is given is when he is recovering from an injury or is ailing from an injury. I think he is a great aerial threat, maybe shades of McBride. After all, he is much better of an option than Wolff or Eddie Johnson.

    Those ar just a couple things that run across my mind……here is a tweaked roster from a couple days ago that I would love to see.

    GK: Howard

    D: Conrad, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Pearce

    M: Adu, Donovan, Bradley, Beasley

    F: Dempsey, Twellman

    Bench:

    GK: Guzan

    D: Spector, Cherundolo, Demerit

    M: Lewis, Edu, Mastroeni

    F: Altidore, Cooper

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  5. Lots of thoughtful comments. I share the feeling of national embarrassment. What most impressed me was England’s speed of play–reading predictable US passes and closing down quickly to limit options on the ball and the ability to make the series of one-touch passes. Superior awareness of space and time and the technical ability to use them efficiently. I totally disagree that the problem is athletic ability. My son recently played with a regional ODP team in Spain against an FC Barcelona youth team (that won last year’s Nike World Cup in their age group). If anything, the US boys were faster and just as athletic, but the difference in technical ability was telling. Our youth development program has been way behind and that really has to do with the historical lack of professional opportunities in the US. In other parts of the world, player development is a symbiotic relationship between vast money-making enterprises (professional clubs) and the athletic aspirations of young boys. US Soccer recognizes this and is trying to address it through their new Development Academy initiative, but really it’s the development of the professional game here that will eventually upgrade our player pool. No easy fix and probably a long wait, but we are going in the right direction.

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  6. I don’t think anyone played especially well. Some played better than others. The days of the respectable loss are over. Or at least they need to be.

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  7. I don’t think we need to overreact by this loss… Anyone who actually thought we were gonna go to Wembley and win this game is insane, especially missing our best forward (altidore), our best attacking player(donovan) and maybe our best defensive player (Spector)… A few observations however.

    – in my opinion, the problem at defensive midfield is and has been Michael Bradley for the past few games (Why Ricardo Clark has been taking all the blame from US fans I have no idea). I like him as a player, I’m just not sure where he fits right now, b/c his ability in distributing out of midfield are severely lacking, there are so many careless turnovers from him

    – I think Jonothan Spector is the best choice at defensive midfield. He is very intelligent and skilled w/ the ball, and he is also a very intelligent defender. Plus, he has experience playing there w/ West Ham

    – I know people moan about eddie lewis being included in the team all the time, me included, but when he gets into a game for a short period of time he is extremely effective running at defenders and putting the ball in dangerous spots, I wish he were about 8 years younger

    – Dempsey was effective, and Beasely was very good, what a different look w/ him out there, I wasn’t his biggest supporter, but I didn’t know what we had until it was gone for a while, and I’m not getting off his bandwagon again

    – Heath Pearce and Dolo were also good, was I the only one who thought Pearce was gonna get a goal on one of those shots from outside

    – Overall defensively, DUMB, I think Beasely was right when he said we gave them too much respect, our players where marking them like it was a basketball game, and every ball they played through The Defense happened b/c the marking was too aggressive, and they just slipped back door on the defenders (See Gerrards goal). It looked easy not b/c England is that good, but b/c our defenders just mentally are not that bright, particularly our central defenders (and it pains me to say this b/c i like both of them)

    – The lineup I would like to see for Spain

    ———–Altidore————

    Beasely–Adu—Donovan–Dempsey

    ———–Spector————-

    Pearce–Bocanegra–Oneywu–Dolo

    ————Howard————-

    OR

    -Playing W/out a forward Per Se, but allowing Adu and/or Donovan to release up field when either the other team is pressing so as to stretch the field and release pressure, or when they feel in the most dangerous position to make runs. It may or may not sound radical, but the fact is that we do not have a target forward capable of holding a ball long enough for the midfield to catch up, and instead we get flustered in midfield and play ridiculously pointless balls to a forward who has no shot at retaining possession (not necessarily the forwards fault, just a fact)

    Beasely–Adu—Donovan–Altidore

    ——-Spector–Dempsey———

    Pearce–Boca–Oneywu–Cherundolo

    ————-Howard————-

    THOUGHTS?

    Reply
  8. It seems like people are making too much of this loss.

    It is better for our national team’s development to play against better teams, than to play against weak teams.

    We played a team with the talent to be the best in the World. England have been underachieving for a long time, and Capello has the ability to get the most out of the English players.

    We lost one game against solid opposition on their home soil, and we didn’t get blown out. Our players learned where they need to be to beat a top team; so did our coaches. This will only help develop our national team.

    Bradley seems like a great coach. He has been mixing up the talent level we face, so that we have challenges, but so that we can also beat some teams and keep confidence. He has been bringing in young guys towards the end of matches, so that they are in a position to play without feeling the responsiblity of the loss. That’s great for their confidence.

    It doesn’t seem like a good idea to throw Adu out onto the pitch early because you could break his confidence before he is ready for the challenge.

    Also this was a friendly and Bradley put it to good use to see what he has in Europe to help in qualifying.

    The US has been making steady progress in football, but they can’t be expected to challenge for the World Cup. We don’t have a strong enough domestic league or domestic interest to have our best athletes play football.

    Given our resources I think our teams are very strong and that US Soccer has done a good job. Our consistency in qualifying for the World Cup is a testament to the strength of our coaching and national association. Even in a relatively weak group like Concacaf, it is still impressive to have qualified for every WC since 1990.

    I think people are being too pessimistic and unfair about Bob Bradley and the US National Team.

    Also I would like to see more games without Landon Donovan because we have to learn to play well without him. You can’t count on one player and we have already seen that disaster at the 2006 WC were Donovan played adequately, but certainly didn’t live up to the expectation that made Bruce Arena cast him as the lynchpin of the team.

    Eddie Johnson still has time to develop and is probably our best forward option in Europe except of course for Clint Dempsey, so I think you keep calling him in when you play friendlies in Europe.

    Reply
  9. My last thoughts on this game, and then I need to let it go, is that it secured obnoxious derision from the Brits, and we have no way to reverse it until the World Cup, at least.

    I’m dreading it, between friends and business contacts, I talk soccer with 3 of them, and they will be merciless and condescending.

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  10. If they play with that line up with that lack of execution vs. Spain the score line will 5 – nil

    Other then Wolff the greatest failure to me was Bradley followed by Dolo. Both were horrible and their touches on the ball were amatuarish. I was shocked at how bad they played. Everyone else was about what one would expect on an off night all around.

    Beasley gets a pass because he is clearly playing himself back into shape but his set piece kicks were awful.

    Note to the U.S. squad- play like your life depends on it these next friendly’s or risk setting back perceptions of America’s progress back 10 years.

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  11. And Bradley was complete garbage. He was asking for a yellow every time he put a challenge in, and he couldn’t make a five yard pass to save his life.

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  12. I thought Eddie Lewis was the best player on the field for the US by far. He gave effort the entire time he was out there, which is more than can be said for most of the team. Eddie Johnson had a good game, and if he had put away his one good opportunity allowed to him by the rest of the team’s poor play everybody would be lavishing praises upon him. Heath Pearce is a terrible defender, and Boca needs to be replaced. He is too slow and lumbering. Orozco and Spector need to get looks. I see them both as better options than Boca and Pearce at either CB or LB.

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  13. This was probably the easiest friendly of the three. Spain is going to be more challenging and Argentina is going to top it off.

    I don’t understand why Bob Bradley keeps calling on the same guys. ESPN was talking about Bradley’s last two wins in Europe, but frankly Poland is a joke and the Switzerland game was won by infusing the best players from our U-20s.

    I guess the good thing is that if we keep scheduling challenging friendlies, Bradley will get exposed for his lack of tactics and his tenure will end sooner.

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  14. It looked very 1994 for the US side out there last night. All that was missing was Balboa making square passes in the back that get picked off by poaching forwards.

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  15. I was at Wembley last night and we in the US section never had anything to get behind for the entire game. We didn’t expect to win but US fans do expect a more spirited effort. The team normally comes through on this. I don’t know what happened last night…Anyways, the Wembley atmosphere was great, just unfortunate we didn’t play a game that was more representative of our progress. The English think we are jokes after that performance…Good thing is the no one in the generally English public seems to care about the game last night.

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  16. Josh Wolff?

    Eddie Johnson?

    These guys started?

    No wonder the game was an embarrassment. These guys are has-beens from 2 World Cups back…

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  17. I agree with everyone who says the midfield killed us.

    That being said, Clark simply can’t cut it. He’s had enough chances on this level and he has failed to impress even a single time. Feilhaber really is a step up as crazy as it sounds. His touch and distribution are much better then Clark’s.

    Adu was outstanding last night for the time he was in, he was rarely dispossed and made smart decisions almost every time. His experience in Benfica has been invaluable to him. The time has come for him to become a fixture on the National team.

    This experience as a whole at Wembley as a whole has been tremendous for the team. Cheers to a much better showing and a victory against Spain!

    Reply
  18. Who didn’t perform well? Bob Bradley, this was the worst coaching game of his tenure as U.S. coach. Wolff over Adu? seriously.

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  19. Here is what I would have played, just for the hell of it and just to attack from the very first minute. Why not just be bold and go for broke? We know England and teams of their caliber are head and shoulders above us. Might as well make the game interesting!

    ———Johnson—–Dempsey——–

    Beasley———————Lewis—

    ———–Adu——Bradley———

    —————-Edu—————–

    ——Boca—–Gooch—-DeMerit—–

    —————Howard—————

    Honestly, I would have preferred that Bradley also call in Altidore in place of Johnson (or recall McBride), and a proper right wing like Zizzo or Jeremiah White.

    Michael Bradley has to play farther forward, he has shown definitively that given the mandate, he can score.

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  20. There’s not much more to add, especially since I think Ives’ assessment is exactly right: We don’t have target men. We don’t have target men. We don’t have target men.

    What can we do? I really think the only option is to completely stop playing our existing forwards. Altidore should be playing every game, and we need to find him a partner. There is no value in playing Johnson, Ching, or anyone else up top (I won’t write Wolff’s name there since he’s so pathetic) who’s been in the system for years. They haven’t been able to score in the past, and they’re not going to change that all of a sudden in the next two years.

    Play the future now since the present can’t play.

    Lastly, I simply don’t understand those of you who think Beasley played well. Every single free kick he took was atrocious. When was the last time Beasley truly mattered in a game? He’s not *horrible,* I can’t think of any game over the past few years where his performance positively affected the team in a way that other players are unable to contribute. Yes, the guy has some speed, but it just never seems to matter.

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  21. I don’t think this was about young American players in transition at all.

    What it was about was the best English players in the EPL playing a bunch of guys who either couldn’t cut it in the EPL or were on relegation quality squads (and I’m including Fulham in that bunch, even though they just escaped). Having Landon or Claudio in there wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference because those two guys are not substantially better in the big picture than the guys who were playing.

    Perhaps Brian McBride would have made a difference, but without a midfield, no one would have gotten him the ball anyway.

    2 things frustrated me the most:

    1. Why on Earth did Bob Bradley choose such a conservative formation and conservative gameplan when the game is in England’s home and we all knew we were playing a group of much better players? Why not just come out with an aggressive 3-5-2 and attack England relentlessly from the first minute? There’s not much downside for us because we were expected to lose, so we should just have gone for the upside. England was the team that had to be concerned with losing because it would have completely embarrased them in front of their media. I knew from the first minute when I saw that we were using the KC Wizards 2006 attack tandem (that was useless for KC in 2006), Dempsey at right wing instead of forward, and no playmaker in the midfield (or anywhere else for that matter) that we were in trouble.

    2. Ricardo Clark was called up. Frankly, after his attack on Carlos Ruiz last season, I started paying closer attention to Rico, who I had generally thought of as a good player. I don’t have it in front of me, but in his MLS games this season, he has drawn a yellow card very frequently and lately in almost every game. The guy is a very sloppy midfielder who gives away silly fouls and can’t play well enough to take the ball away cleanly on a tackle. Prior to giving up the Beckham free kick, which he SHOULD KNOW is a serious danger at that position on the field, Rico had made a series of poor foul decisions that had been close calls. On top of that, his performances in MLS have been poor and his club team is leaking goals badly and has generally sucked. Why would this guy get called up ahead of other American defensive midfielders in MLS or other leagues that have been playing better? Whose teams have been defending better and generally performing better? Stinks of favoritism to me. I don’t think the guy deserved the call up, let alone the start.

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  22. I think you are wrong. This definatly was about the players that were missing. The players who are going to need to be key players in two years at the World Cup need to be getting this experience. That is what these games are for. IF you are going to play someone like JoSh Wolff and you are not gooing to play someone like JOzy Altidore then don’t go to play the game.

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  23. On the US v England:

    I learned a few things…

    -Gooch is a good defender; I forgive him for the slip ups against Terry and Gerrard. He had a solid game.

    -Heath Pearce wasn’t afraid to get down the flank and push forward.

    -Michael Bradley needs to be more dominant in the mid-field, playing in the EPL (if he gets there) should help that. I miss Benny in the middle, I know that he’s jaded and immature but he can hold the ball.

    -EJ and Wolff are nowhere near Brian McBride in terms of class and Wolff seemed lost 98% of the game. Can we bribe Giuseppe Rossi to play for the US instead of Italy? At least he would bring a finishing touch to the team and a pedicure having played for Villarreal and Man U.

    -HAHAHAHAHA to all the MLS haters that thought moving to America would cause Golden-Balls to forget how to play. He had a SOLID first half

    -DeMarcus Beasley to me was the only offensive threat in the game and if his free kicks and corner kicks were a little rusty but he hasn’t really played in like 3 months… He and Gooch have to be revered as the best Internationals overseas at the moment.

    -I miss Lando as much as anyone but we Galaxy fans will tell you Donovan by himself doesn’t always make the difference.

    That’s all from me. I think that I should watch the game again to see if I spot anything else.

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  24. Just an FYI (for some of the commenters): 1860 Munich released Josh Wolff a couple weeks ago – hes clubless right now. I suppose we may see him pop up somewhere in the MLS – but after last nights performance, we may not.

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  25. I don’t understand Bradley’s inability to sever ties with the older generation who didn’t even produce when they were in their prime, like Wolff and Lewis. These games are perfect opportunities to give the likes of Cooper, Adu, and Altidore some top tier competition. Sometimes throwing young guys into the fire is the best way to get the best out of them (i.e. Altidore against Mexico). If I see Josh Wolff, Danny Califf, or Eddie Lewis in the roster again, I’ll be extremely disappointed.

    Exceptions would be Mastroeni and Friedel, guys who are older but have shown to be able to handle top tier talent.

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  26. You all saw the national program in a nut shell yesterday!

    They all played as they are in college! Remember Bob Bradley is a college coach! Coached as a youth by college coaches, played in college for college coaches, coached in college and coached college players in the MLS. Our whole system in made up of college coaches from youth to national level. Until we get rid of all this “college ball” in our system it will never change. We need professional coaches and it starts at the top but the powers to be will never let it happen, they will never let someone from the outside in their inner circle (it’s all about the cash$$$). Has anyone besides myself watch a youth national team play U15 to U23. Big, fast, fit, physical with little skill and that’s the feeder program for our national team. When these so called youth national players grow up in this system they can’t compete with international teams. Sorry but it’s the truth, so how can you expect our national players to compete with teams like England. One more thing, can Coach Bradley sub his kid out of the game when he’s playing like S____!

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  27. EJ needs to watch the tape of the game and see how England’s forwards pressed our backs in the first half. You wanna know why we had no service? B/c they were pressuring our defensive mids and backs non-stop. There was a hustle and determination from them that we NEVER see in US team. I think some of these players have begun to think it’s their right to put on a US team and the pride isn’t there. EJ is a perfect example.

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  28. Bob Bradley wins in Europe…he’s the greatest. Bob Bradley loses in Europe…he stinks. You hear from each camp depending on the result. Yawn.

    Johnson – No match sharpness + Rio Ferdinand = long night

    Wolff – struggled to find a role. Would have like to see he and Dempsey switched

    Bradley – Covered a lot of ground. Hard to knock his passing when his options were so limited.

    Clark – He is very good on the ball, but his tackles were consitently late, which drew ire from Ives and co. Maybe it’s just me, but I think a little time in the EPL or Championship would get his timing up to speed. I’m still very high on Rico.

    Beasley – Off the pace, but give the guy a break. Should be rounding into form by the time the 2nd leg of the Barbados match is upon us.

    Dempsey – Looked tired. The guy needs a rest to get that explosiveness back.

    Pearce – Excellent going forward. Got repeatedly abused on defense. My advice: switch to midfield.

    Cherundolo – Looked tired. Gerrard is a tough assignment for any back, though.

    Onyewu – Strong in the air, ok on the ground. Terry lost him for the opener, and didn’t step up in time on the second, but otherwise he’s better than this time last year.

    Bocanegra – Played well, IMO. Cut out some dangerous passes.

    Howard – No chance on Terry’s header.

    Subs

    Hejduk – Looked fresh and pacy. His crossing was spotty, but that’s expected. Still in the picture.

    Lewis – Still a decent winger. His left foot will be useful during qualifying.

    Edu – Tackles were behind like Rico, and he’s not nearly as good on the ball. Would love for him to move to CB.

    Adu – Showed flashes of how dangerous he could become. Needs club playing time ASAP!

    Jaqua – No time.

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  29. The Americans problem is lack of movement, and perhaps, lack of players who know where to move. I’d guess that the overwhelming majority of balls played were either (i) long balls in the air to a player with his back to the goal who either didn’t control the ball or couldn’t do anything with it or, (ii) point-to-point balls played at the feet of stationary players who were unable create anything if they controlled the pass. The Amercians seemed hopelessly locked into their 4-4-2 “positions” and are in desperare need of diagonal movment, the kind that created Gerrard’s goal, for example. Donovan helps here, and Adu clearly has the ability, but if Americans don’t have the technical skills of better sides, they do have the talent to work more to create by running around. If Bradley had a game plan against England, you’d be hard pressed to know what it was by watching. And the worst part about it is that England hardly has the reputation for creative soccer. Somebody like Torres or Iniesta will tear the U.S. apart. Ouch.

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  30. Wow, I can’t believe some of these comments. Eddie had a decent game? He is a forward and he needs to score. He had a lackluster game at best.

    Also, Heath Pierce isn’t ready for the big time yet? He was one of the few brights spots in the game yesterday if not the brightest spot.

    Do some people comment without watching the game?

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  31. I’ll take a “glass half full” approach. Wolf and Johnson are not going to play a significant role for the team as strikers against good opponents. No Dononvan and (for the most part) no Adu meant no penetrating threat from the midfield. Beasley (due to injury) and Bocanegra and Adu (due to their coach’s decisions) have not seen significant time in months. And through it all, they created a few very good chances in a road match against a top-notch, motivated team whose coach had something to prove. Bradley has been able to evaluate and give experience to a staggering number of both veteran and young players during his tenure so far. I would not draw any conclusions about the state of the team until WC qualifying finally begins. That’s what the last two years has been all about.

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