"Everybody's Got A Plan, Until They Get Hit!"

Believe it or not, that quote is from Mike Tyson, not exactly one of the most intelligent of men on the planet. However, it's one of my favorite quotes in sports.

He was speaking to a reporter who asked a question about how opponents planned to fight him, and that was his response.

Cue the U.S. National Team last night in Costa Rica.

They had a plan, right? Start Altidore, Dempsey, and Donovan up front and attack the Ticos from the start. Put the pressure on the home team. Play Torres in support and let him possess and distribute. Have Bradley and Mastroeni disrupt the Costa Rica attack, while Beasley and Wynne guard the flanks and keep the opposition at bay for fear of getting beaten on counterattacks. Have the steady and reliable Gooch, Boca, and Howard clean up everything inside the 18.

Yeah, that WAS the plan...

Then they got hit...

80 seconds into the match...

There WENT the plan...

Went a little further south with another goal less than 15 minutes later...

Good night Gracie!

I'm not going to sit here and crush this team like nearly every other website and soccer reporter and fan will do, because it'll do little good.

We need to face the facts, people; we simply aren't that good this time around. Sure, there's almost no way we'll finish below El Salvador and T&T, so we'll at least finish 4th in CONCACAF and go to the 2-game playoff qualifier against the 5th place CONMEBOL side (I might be wrong, but it's too early in the morning and I'm too lazy to verify it).

However, I'm not convinced we'll place in the top 3 for the automatic bid. Mexico, despite their troubles, is still Mexico. Costa Rica proved last night they might be the class of CONCACAF this time around, and Honduras, even without David Suazo, is fielding their best team in 10 years.

Don't believe me? Still drinking the Kool-Aid? That's fine, but let me ask you this...

If we're so "deep," why are we still starting Pablo "The Butcher" Mastroeni? Sure, Edu was hurt, but there's nobody else? Ricardo Clark brings more athleticism to the game; hell, Clyde Simms is one of the top d-mids in MLS right now. You don't think he might be more effective? Experience (which is why Pablo was supposedly on the field) doesn't mean jack when you no longer have the talent to do anything with it.

Are we so thin at left back that we're forced to start Beasley, who clearly hasn't "embraced the position?" (don't worry, that's the only John Harkes reference I'll make in this column)

Another question; when was the last time Landon Donovan OWNED a game internationally that meant something? I'm not talking friendlies either. I'm talking about a game where so much was on the line. Sure, he says the right things, like they had their eyes opened after the El Salvador game, and they know what to expect and what they need to do to succeed. Really? Sure looked like those eyes were closed last night. Maybe the lights were too bright...

Regardless, that was the worst performance I've seen by a U.S. squad in more than a decade. They looked unorganized, confused, and worst of all, timid and scared.

I won't really blame Coach Bradley on this one. He fielded a lineup most of us have been asking for, and they completely s*it the bed. I guess now we get to go back to the conservative tactics Saturday for our "home" game against Honduras. Maybe we'll get a point? That actually wouldn't be terrible, as the U.S. would have 8 points for the 1st half of qualifying, and as Walsh and I have stated, we think the "magic number" to get through is 14. A loss on Saturday, though, and all bets are off.

Can they take the "hit" and get up for the standing 8 count, or will they roll over and take the knockout? We'll find out in about 48 hours...

Update from Walsh to finish the My 2 Cents 1-2 combo:

For the most part I guess I agree with Bushman that not all of the blame can be put on Bradley’s shoulders. It was interesting to see an attacking lineup on the road, but, as he said, it failed miserably. Perhaps had the group had a chance to get into the game it’s a different story, but being down a goal about 90 seconds in never gave them that opportunity. So here are some lingering thoughts from the night:

- To go beyond what Bushman said about Donovan, how, at age 27 can he still not consistently hit crosses on set pieces? There might’ve been one or two that gave the guys in the box a chance to get their head on it from LD. Too often they can’t get past the first man/wall. That’s just not good enough at this level and won’t get you a spot on a European roster. Perhaps that’s why so many short corners were played late in the game, which is really poor considering the big guys -- Gooch, Boca, Jozy, Dempsey -- that can all get their head on the ball.

- I haven’t seen any reason in my limited reading this morning, but I don’t understand taking Torres off at the half. Even more so when it was Kljestan, whose stock was in Bushman’s plummeting portfolio in the past six months, who came on. Torres was one of the few composed players on the ball after a rough first ten minutes. Kljestan seemed to be dead tired after 15 minutes and gave no effort in closing down on the ball prior to the third goal. On current form Brad Davis or Colin Clark should have his spot on the roster.

- Going back to what I said on Tuesday, if the U.S. was going to lose, might as well see the disaster that is Beasley at left back. Best plan for Saturday would be to move Bocanegra out to the left, where he plays for Rennes, and pair Jay DeMerit with Onyewu in the middle. But we all know that has as good of a chance of my late game text to a friend last night saying, “Bring back Regis. Even if he’s retired he can’t be this bad.”

- Staying with the defense, Spector has to start at right back against Honduras. A question about Marvell Wynne: if he ran the 40 in say 4.7 instead of 4.3 or so, would he even be on a USL-2 roster? His speed makes up for mistakes, for sure, but it might help if he was within 5 yards of his man when that player received the ball. I don’t think that happened all night outside of the box.

- Charlie Davies came to play. Having said that he certainly wasn’t Man of the Match as Stoner and Alexi said post game. That should go to Bradley, but that’s only due to a lack of other options and Torres only playing 45 minutes. While Davies was on he ran at players, something few others did all night. However, he threw an elbow into the face of a defender -- apparently a 5-game suspension in Sweden didn’t teach him a lesson -- and whether he kicked another guy in the balls (it didn’t appear so), Davies can’t have that reaction as the intent could have earned him a red card. Again, it’s not like the U.S. gets many calls on the road.

- On that note, good game for the referee aside from the weak card on Bradley that will force him out on Saturday. He did switch jerseys at halftime, which was odd. I also wondered why Gooch was still on the field after the hour mark when a card to him would have crushed any hopes for Saturday by fielding a lineup without Bradley and Onyewu.

- I still feel sorry for Timmy Howard. As did my girlfriend so you know it must have been bad.

- One last thought: the Confed Cup really screwed the U.S. This game should have been played next Wednesday, after the Honduras game. Then Bradley is eligible for Saturday’s game and maybe Mo Edu or Hejduk recovers with a few extra days. Ching as well. Then you field your strongest lineup in the game you have to get three points from and can go on the road and bunker and play for a draw. Not the most attractive soccer, but sadly it’s all about results. Instead a tired U.S. team will face Honduras, who can pull into a tie with the U.S. in the standings should they pull an upset, in front of a 50-50 crowd at best. Knowing a trip to Azteca is on deck the pressure is ratcheted up to win the game. Not an ideal scenario to say the least.