Random Thoughts...

No meaning to this picture, it's just that I like making fun of Bradley!

First and foremost, Richmond's home opener this Saturday against Orlando has been moved from 5 pm to 4 pm to accomodate the tipoff of the VCU-Butler game. VERY smart move for the Kickers! Although they have a pretty solid fan base, I bet they would have drawn less than 1,000. Good job by Orlando as well as USL for making the necessary changes.

The U.S.' Interesting Week:

I'm not sure how I feel about the U.S.' two games this past week against Argentina and Paraguay. Some obviously promising new players in Ream, Chandler, and Agudelo, and for their limited time on the field, Lichaj and Jonathan Spector showed they can contribute. Spector has been having a pretty solid year for West Ham and is worthy of a chance to get more playing time with the Nats this summer at Gold Cup. That's important because the schedule has the U.S. playing several games in a short span while flying all over the country to play them. Being able to play these guys against Panama and Guadeloupe and have your starters rested for the elmination rounds will be a key. I seriously don't remember the team having this much depth before, as I personally could be comfortable with 17-18 guys starting for this team right now.

That doesn't necessarily lead to results, as we saw this past week. Jozy Altidore simply needs more playing time SOMEWHERE to shake off the rust. He and Agudelo, through their size and athleticism alone, would cause some sleepless nights for defenders, making them less likely to push up in the attack. The result would be more space for our midfield. If Altidore continues to have issues, is it beyond the realm of possibility for Bradley to move Donovan inside as more of a withdrawn forward behind Agudelo (if he continues his current form)? Give Landon free reign to work his way into spots, and I think he's become a smarter player in the past few years at hiding himself and easier to avoid direct marking. Just a thought.

As for other players, although he played fairly well, I'm getting real tired of the macho bulls*it from Clint Dempsey every time he gets fouled. Dude, you're an attacking player. You're going to get fouled, especially against teams like Paraguay who break up a team's rhythm BY fouling (and 1 yellow card for the number of fouls Tuesday night by the visitors? Nice job ref!). Anyway, don't take every collision or knock personally where you have to get up in the guy's grill. You're not from the streets, dude. Get up, regroup, and get ready for the free kick.

Speaking of free kicks, do we have anybody other than Donovan who takes them? He did well on the kick that resulted in the goal against Argentina Saturday, but by and large, he has problems clearing the 1st defender on set pieces, particularly corners. I remember hearing Bruce Arena talk one time to Claudio Reyna about the importance of clearing that 1st defender, and he said "When that happens, it's a crapshoot in the box."

We saw that on Tuesday, when what was essentially a rugby scrum (how many players were on the ground at one time?) turned into the only goal of the game after a Paraguay corner. And although Jay DeMerit got blamed for the goal, he only left his defender to cover for Dempsey after Clint lost his man (thanks to Walsh for pointing that out as I initially missed it).

Tim Ream was REALLY good Tuesday. Great composure on the ball and some solid passing got him out of some tight situations where Paraguay's high pressure resulted in several turnovers for the hometown team. Onyewu hasn't looked the same since his injury more than a year ago, and though DeMerit's good at getting himself in good positions, his lack of pace kills the team against faster players. Unfortunately, the U.S. frequently finds itself playing against at least 1 or 2 speed demons in games.

Overall, the past week had some promising performances, but there are still some questions. Edu, Bradley, and Jones are all worthy of starting, but not all 3 can be on the field at the same time. Jones was terrible in the 1st half against Argentina but decent in the 2nd against Paraguay; Edu was good in the 2nd against Argentina but poor in the 1st on Tuesday. As for Bradley, well, we know he'll never come off the field unless he's suspended, ejected, or injured, so it's just a matter of which of the former 2 pair up with the letter.

One last thing and I'll shut up about this. No reason for Marcus Hahnemann to be playing in a U.S. jersey. He's done some good stuff and had a nice career, but is he really going to be Howard's backup in 2014? Really need Brad Guzman to step it up over the next few years and be a serviceable replacement, if not someone who can outright push Howard (who was ridiculously good agaisnt the Argies) for playing time.

I'd planned on doing a USL Pro preview this week, but unfortunately I've run out of time. The season really kicks off in full next weekend, so I'll try to get something up before then.

As always, thanks for reading!