Con-Fed Up

I could've won if it was a staring contest...

Since Bushman’s living it up in sunny Florida -- at least he’s not on the government dime this time -- the reaction to yesterday’s game is left completely in my hands. As an initial thought, the outcome was about what I expected, though the game didn’t play out as I envisioned which was one similar to Costa Rica with a late tally by the U.S. to save a bit of face.

I’ll start out with the negatives to end on an upbeat note.

The Negatives

- If I gave player ratings, I might give Clint Dempsey an incomplete despite playing 90 minutes. He’s got to be the most frustrating player for the national team, as he just can’t fit into Bradley’s system for whatever reason. Sure, he has moments of brilliance, but far too often he’s invisible and yesterday the large majority of his passes were negative. Not something you want from one of your alleged creative players.

- Rico Clark deserved the red. He was late and he was high with his challenge. I thought at the time it could have been a yellow, but wasn’t shocked it was red. No matter what you think of the color of the card, though, Clark cannot put himself in position to be sent off. It was a reckless challenge 65 yards from your own goal, just not a smart play. Even with Clark out there, though, the U.S. doesn’t win.

- Here’s a two-part question: when was the last time one of Bob Bradley’s subs significantly changed a game? And when was the last time a decision Bradley made a move against the norm that worked out for him and gave us media types some crow to eat? I’ve no idea on either answer. My hope at this point is that Bradley the elder does not return with the Yanks to South Africa next year as I can’t really see how he’s improved this team since taking it over. He hasn’t significantly improved the player pool -- which, to be fair, has something to do with the pool itself not expanding, but his continued faith in certain players *cough* DaMarcus Beasley *cough* shows an unwillingness to change. In my cynical mind I almost wonder if Bradley purposefully ran out the 4-3-3 a lot of people wanted to see in a situation it was sure to fail in so that he could say “Hey, I tried it and it didn’t work so I’m sticking to my system.” Unfortunately, I don’t see how he’s fired unless Haiti or Grenada knock us out in the group stage of the Gold Cup. But this is setting up to be a second straight 0-3 in an international tournament on foreign soil.

- From that, I obviously think we’ll lose on Thursday. The Italian midfield sat back for much of the first half allowing the U.S. to dictate the play. In hindsight I wonder if that was Marcello Lippi’s plan to let the U.S. run themselves out of gas and take the game in the end (more on this in a sec). But Brazil won’t do that. Kaka will dominate the midfield and kill the back line with his passes. Danny Alves will fly up and down his flank with abandon. Gooch and Boca, if he’s healthy, won’t be able to keep up with Robinho and any fouls in our own third will be punished (as will continued poor clearances from the former Standard Liege defender). Gilberto Silva won’t let anything through and the U.S. will have to resort to playing long ball, which did work to a certain extent against Italy. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Julio Cesar Baptista, aka The Beast, in the lineup to see how the Yanks deal with his size and pace. In short, Thursday is going to be worse than Monday.

- Fitness was an issue, perhaps the deciding one. Benny Feilhaber made more and more mistakes as the game went on and his turnover to Rossi gave the Jersey-born Italian a good amount of space, which he took full advantage of in leveling the game. By the end of the match only Bradley was still chasing down balls from the remaining six starting field players. Again, the subs didn’t come in and help much, if at all. This goes back to playing guys who don’t see much time with their club. Jozy was gassed and had to come out. Feilhaber mentally broke down. Donovan showed that the international game is that much tougher than MLS as he started to disappear down the stretch. But I think the saddest part was seeing the team sit back and not challenge the Italians down a goal in the late stages. Why there were only four guys in the box on a deep throw in around the 87th minute is beyond me. But in midfield the Italians could do what they pleased over the final half hour and that’s when Pirlo showed his brilliance. Yes, Clark would’ve helped close down some of this room, but that overlooking the glaring issue at this point.

The Positives:

- For once, the U.S. didn’t look intimidated coming out of the gates. Maybe it’s playing the Italians, but you didn’t see much fear from the guys in white. Let’s hope that, and not conceding a goal in the opening 10 minutes, continues against Brazil.

- Jozy Altidore grew up a bit yesterday. After that performance I don’t see how Ching can start for the national team when Jozy’s healthy. Sure, he’s still raw and should’ve buried his chance in the first half hour, but he did well holding the ball up against a tough Italian back line and did a great job in drawing the penalty. If he was in shape and played the full 90 he might’ve been my Man of the Match.

- Instead I think that needs to be Donovan. The guy Americans love to hate has brought it in back-to-back games for the first time in a while against quality opponents. He was running at the Italians and set up Altidore’s chance with a great diagonal pass. Plus he finished from the spot -- it’s something that should be a foregone conclusion at the national level and that’s exactly what it is with Donovan. He faded down the stretch, but it was another solid outing. Think he might have visions of a European contract next winter dancing in his head?

- Tim Howard came up big several times and kept the score respectable, which is something given it was a 3-1 final. He’s going to be tested again on Thursday, that’s for sure and the Everton netminder will have to have a blinder for the U.S. to get a point.

- Lastly, the outside backs acquitted themselves well. Spector more so than Jonny B. But both had solid, if not spectacular outings. At this point I think Spector needs to be a regular starter either at right or left back. For my money, I thought DeMerit played well enough to look at leaving him in the center and moving Bocanegra out left, but that will not happen with Bradley. But going forward in qualifying, maybe one of the many questions facing this team has been answered.

- Pat Walsh