The U.S. men's national team takes on Spain today (4:30pm, ESPN) in the final tune-up before the Americans begin the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday against Canada.
The Americans will be fielding a young squad against the defending World Cup champions, with stars Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Carlos Bocanegra out of the starting lineup.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today's match, so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today's commentary is after the jump):
There was not a single player fielded today that Bradley (and the supporters) did not already know what they were capable of.
We lost 4-0 at home. Spain had a perfectly proper goal incorrectly canceled by a blown offside call. Spain hit the post 3 times. Spain moved through our team like Italy against San Marino. The truth is that the score flattered us hugely…for our play was thoroughly inept, completely embarrassing.
But then RoboBob doesn’t do embarrassment, so why worry? There is nothing to worry about. It isn’t as if the GC is a tournament at which we need fear embarrassment. Why, just last time…..oh….yeah.
You seem to love Bob Bradley. You don’t know much about the sport. How has the US team played these last 6 games? NO offense…NO defense. Long ball after long ball. I agree that he was resting our athletes but come on…he brings nothing to anything. He is not a good coach and that is that. Hear it from the players as they are tired of his ways and soon he will be out because he can’t coach. Let them play….its a friendly. I don’t care if we lose in a friendly but there is no improvement in anything…no wonder timmy chandler is having second thoughts…get rid of the dead weight bring a better coach
Of course, the USSF could set ii up just like American Idol so the fans could vote on starting lineups.
Of course how would they keep the Mexico fans from sabotaging things?
What were Bradley’s goals in this game? If one was to try out some young defenders (as it should be), why was Gooch starting? Yes, give Ream some exposure (and was he exposed), but do so by pairing him, on field and off, with a mentor whom he can work with and will be working with if he pans out. If another was to check out a new front line, it’s no time to experiment with a shaky midfield. Must say I was puzzled by the game’s scheduling but, given that, what the coach meant to do with the date.
Were they starting the equivalents of kljestan, ROGERS, Onyewu, etc? Just saying they probably were not experimenting. And I’m not bashing Bradley in this post, there is a time for experimenting, and before a major tournament is as good a time as any. Though I do think, from my couch, that we could have done better than Kljestan and Rogers even in experimentation.
It does. It shows he doesn’t want to waste our best players on a friendly right before a very meaningful tournament. What is wrong with you people?
Well, that question was answered.
I was about to post almost the exactly same thing. I really would be interested to see this squad start against Canada. The only difference is Bedoya for Lichaj. I love Lichaj, and I think he makes a great first sub for either wing back or right wing. : )
Agudelo-Dempsey
Bedoya———————-Donovan
———-Bradley-Spector————
Boca—–Ream—–Goodson—–Dolo
————-Howard————–
I agree with much of what you say. I do, however, respectfully disagree about the relative importance of this match compared to the match against Canada on Tuesday.
Considering he was stuck with the B-team, he looked good.
I think Jones is more skilled than Edu at the moment, though Mo probably has a higher ceiling given that he is not quite even entering his prime, while Jones is probably peaking just now. For this impending competition, I’d pick Jones. You might not see the passion because I doubt he’s gotten to know his teammates as well as Edu yet. Hopefully as he becomes more a part of the team, his chemistry with the other guys, as well as his passion, increases.
Still, his service can be a thing of beauty. For that reason, I’d pick him over Edu for the time being.
I’m mexican but I hate Mexico and it hurts to lose once again because of BB!
There is no game in the Gold Cup that is not critical, except perhaps if you have first place in the group wrapped up before the round is over. The first group game is absolutely a critical game. It’s foolish to suggest otherwise. Furthermore, after the first game (in three days), their next game comes four days later and the next comes three days after that. If the starters come into the first game tired, there’s no time for them to rest up.
If you think this is an unimportant tournament… I don’t know what to say. Confederations Cup qualification, hello?
Your comments are why no one takes you seriously. No need to play the A team 3 days before a major tournament. This is a perfect time to see what certain players can do, especially before a major tournament- not like Mexico playing crap teams and tying 1-1. Do you know anything about this sport?