The US boys put on quite a show these past few weeks.  First off they disappointed the fans with a very lackluster performance versus Italy and Brazil in the group stages.  Then they tore up the Egyptians, putting the US through to the semi-final round, and I was happy.  My expectations were met, and I had little hope for a win against the world’s number one team Spain.  But wait there’s more!!!  Holy *@#$, they won?  That’s right kids the underdogs came to win and they put the hurt on Spain with strong defense, and exceptional energy.  Now it was up to a rematch with Brazil, and this time I had hopes.  Brazil was set back on their heels after the US scored twice in the first half, again with strong defense and stronger energy.  The second half came and so did the US team from the early stages.  The team slacked off allowing open space in the midfield, and did not control possession of the ball well.

So, the question is obvious. What do we learn from this?  The answer is not so clear.  Obviously what worked for us was the pounding energy, and stifling defense.  What did not work?  perhaps the amount of running sapped the energy level late in the game.  Donovan, Dempsey, and Spector were among the top five players who covered the most distance.  The allowance of so many shots on goal, Howard did win the golden glove award.  How about not giving up so many yellow and red cards in the group stages.  I could go on and on, but the point is that the US needs to gain confidence in their performance and act like they deserve to be there.  Donovan said after the game that they weren’t looking for respect, they wanted to win.  I love that, and he played like he believed it, yet some of his teammates were a little to awe struck by the competition to be competent in their service.

Charlie Davis, Spector, and Demerit surprised me in their overall performance.  They seem to be fighting for their positions for next year.  Kljestan and Casey were less than spectacular, and need to make up for their performances.  Notable absences were Beasley, Adu, and Wynne.  With that kind of speed and fire power on the bench, the US must think highly of its other options.  The Gold Cup starts soon, and lets see if the US, with a largely different team, will take these adjustments into account.  Good Luck US Men’s Soccer!!!

I have a double-sided reaction to today’s performace by young American forward Jozy Altidore.  The first is “It’s about frickin’ time Bob!”  We’ve seen Jozy play well with the full national team whenever he’s been given the chance, and today he once again took advantage.  He has, I believe, 6 goals in 9 games now.  That’s a great strike rate.  It also seems to cast more mystery on his situation in Spain where he can’t even seem to make the bench.  Jozy is really showing himself to be someone who will be part of our plans going forward, and shurly part of the plan for South Africa.

My other reaction is more guarded.  Jozy’s not getting minutes in Spain, and although it’s great to see him utilize his time on the field well these performaces don’t mean that he’s finally arrived or that he’s the answer at forward right now.  I still think that Brian Ching has something to contribute, Kenny Cooper needs more looks, and we need to keep looking to bring in and develop more striking talent.  Look at Sasha Kljestan.  He puts away a hat trick, and has been pretty quiet since.  It’s certainly awesome to see, but it doesn’t take pressure off him to continue to earn his time.  On the contrary, it brings more pressure to continue this kind of production at the national level.

What I think this does mean is that Jozy needs to now be moved above some other folks in the pecking order for the time being.  He needs to stop sitting behind Ching, and the formations need to be adjusted to be sure he’s up top for now.  Give it some time, and then reevaluate.  He’s at least earned consideration when starting line-ups are being made.  Either  he’s growing, or this really is the beginning of the age of Jozy.  Either way it’s  good for him, and good for the US.

A note about my last post: I made the comment that I hoped the Sounders had the brass to “hang on” to Freddy Montero no matter what offers came in for him (right after I admitted that I didn’t know what the details of his contract was).  Well, it appears that I wasn’t just unaware of his contract details, I was completely wrong about him even having any kind of real contract with the Sounders.  Freddy Montero is on loan for the year from what I can gather from the news stories, blogs, and podcasts that abound in the footballing world.  So, in light of this new (to me) information I’d like to amend what I said.  Seattle needs to go shopping for a new DP tag from somewhere, maybe New York’s unused second one, and then launch a full out campaign to use it to SIGN Montero for all the reasons I already stated.  He’d be great for the long term future of the league, and then one day we’d be able to gain financially for him when his ambitions and the courting of Europe became just too much to ignore.

The 6-1 blowout of the Cuban National team by the US Men’s team is no real surprise, especially after several player “failed to show up” for the game.  The real story is the amount of production and the look of desire in the eyes of several players.  The score sheet on the national team has been full of names lately, from the superstars to the defensive line.  I love to see our boys kicking butt and taken names.  During the World Cup of 2006, our boys were tentative and reserved.  I put the blame on the over all offensive strategy at the time.  This WCQ season had me worried when they set up with a 4-5-1 set up.  I rarely have ever seen this structure be productive, consistently anyway.  Well, I now have to re-evaluate that analysis, because Bob Bradley has set the team in a very productive posture.

USMNT. Vs. Cuba

I have been singing the praises of Brian Ching long before he was a starter on the national squad (mostly due the fact that I’m from Houston).  Now he has been put into a position on the national team that suits his skill set perfectly.  As a holding/strong forward, he has been able to open the play for all the teams offensive threats, as well as being the point man for the team’s impressive crossing abilities.  Ching, lastly, has been annoying to defenses by always being around the back line putting pressure on the ball.  He does all things a forward should do, and he is doing it in most cases alone.

Bradley, Ching, and Kljestan

Oguchi Onyewu has been a mixed bag in international affairs.  His size has been an advantage due to the shear strength he posses. Yet, it is that size and strength that has him being a focus of fouls against offensive runs.  He seems to have been able to balance his skills of late.  His size has allowed him to be a great focal point in set plays, and he has been able to cut off offensive runs and kicks that would go past smaller defenders.  The strength he puts into the game is opening up play and providing confidence in the defensive line.

Jozy Altidore is a star that is rising very fast.  This youth player turned million dollar man is going to be a starter on the national team by 2010, and I don’t make predictions lightly.  His skill to open up play at the top of the field is amazing.  The speed and ball control he uses is getting more polished every year, and the international experience he will be getting will increase his rate of improvement.  I just hope he doesn’t push my boy Ching to the bench.

Altidore making it look easy

Lastly, DaMarcus Beasley has returned to his past glory, and this time he has the experience to be scary to defenses.  A few years ago it looked like Beasley was the shell of the man he used to be.  His injuries affected his game-play aggressiveness, as well as his frame of mind.  DaMarcus played scared most of the time.  He was fouled almost every time he touched the ball.  I don’t blame defenses for this, he is a speed demon and has a shot not to be underestimated.  He showed that to Cuba by scoring twice, and almost slammed in a third.  His history with Landon Donovan is storied, and the future looks even more amazing.

Welcome back Beasley!!!

I’m a junkie for goal scoring opportunities, and the 6-1 beat down of Cuba was candy on top of my chocolate syrup all over my ice cream.  Keep it up guys, and never loose that hunger for success.  Never be afraid to take the shot, and never ever think the other team is better then you are.

Jozy Altidore (let’s not forget he’s only 18 ) has signed a 6-year contract with Villarreal of La Liga in Spain.  It’s official.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about this…if only for the reason that we finally have an American in La Liga.  I know Giuseppe Rossi is also there, and he’s technically American according to some maths, but I think it’s time to give up on him.  If he was going to play for the States, he would have by now.  We all know he’s never gonna star for Italy, I’ll be surprised if he ever sees serious minutes at the senior national level at all, but he seems set to follow his Italian path in his heart.  If he’s not American in his heart, he ain’t coming.  Time to get over him.  So with Jozy Altidore goes America’s inability to break the La Liga ranks.  I think it would be a wise move for him to look to be loaned right away to a smaller club where he’ll see significant playing time.  If he is in fact loaned then I would like to see him play in the Olympics as well.  If he looks like he has a shot at breaking the line-up for Villa, well, the Olympics will come around again.  I’m hesitently psyched about this and happy for him.  I’m a little more conservative when it comes to Jozy Altidore, I guess, because 1) he’s still so young 2) I don’t want to see too much pressure heaped on him too fast and watch him crash and burn (like Benny Feilhaber seems to be doing), and 3) while I don’t just accept them right out, the reports about him coming from the New York camp don’t sound great (but don’t be too surprised if it was some attempt just to ward off foreign interest).  I’m not ready to call him the savior of American soccer, or pencil him in as a 2010 starter yet.  I think it’s always something you have to earn, to pull on that shirt.  We’ve seen promise, but not greatness yet.  But I sure am rooting for him over there.

Here’s a good video (if a bit over-excited) of some of his highlights from the Red Bulls.

Just let go folks…