A Program Comes To Life
The United States lost tonight by a 4-1 scoreline to Argentina and coach Bob Bradley's stock has only skyrocketed in the Vein of Form offices. What the hell is this guy saying to his players in training that gets them to leave it all out on the pitch every match? None of the goals tonight from Argentina were due to picking on a minnow of football. Nothing came easy for the world power. Each of the four were goals worthy of any competition against any quality side.
To take a 1-1 score in to half was an absolute thrill for US fans. Who are these guys? Many of them have less than 10 caps and none of them have ever experienced the likes of Lionel Messi, Hernan Crespo or Juan Roman Riquelme running at them full sprint. And they all stood up like heroes tonight for their colors. First things first. Some of these players need to leave MLS right now. Marvell Wynne, Jonathan Bornstein and Richardo Clark were brilliant. I have not been overly impressed with any during their MLS careers. But I have always believed the talent was lurking beneath the eratic play. Tonight has me convinced they are playing down to the competition in MLS, they are not getting tested in training on a daily basis and most important - the coaching is just not there. I think experience in Europe will do them wonders. And I think it is only a matter of time.
Jay DeMeritt has the work rate and talent of an English Premiership player and should find his way out of Watford in the coming weeks. I was extremely impressed with Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman as a strike partnership. Keep in mind, Bradley has tremendous youth and ambition on the bench at that position and he will be tempted to use them in the next two matches. However, it is obvious that advancing to the next round is realistic and he may decide to stick with EJ and Twellman.
There are still two matches in the group stage to be played, but Ray Hudson was spot on when he said this US side was as good as any team they've seen in the Copa thus far. The defending was so tight that it took nearly 70 minutes for a team of world class players to wear down the US and break open the match. The US does not have depth in this tournament, but it is clear they do have depth in the program. Argentina has an endless supply of proven class at their disposal and the result was probably inevitable.
But I am certain that in the next couple days Bradley will work his magic on the training ground and in the hearts and minds of these players. Paraguay will be a massive test. Was everything the US brought with them left on the pitch tonight? Will tired legs and minds recover in time to take points off Paraguay? I think a draw is the result the US should pursue. Colombia looked shocking tonight and are probably the worst team in the group. A draw in the next match might just inspire the US to push for the win against Colombia and advance out of the group stage.
I don't want to get ahead of myself though.
If you weren't pulling for the US in this match after the first 20 minutes you were either an Argentina fan or just a US hater. When EJ hit that penalty the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I knew they would need 5 more goals to hold off the Argentine fright train, but I believed the US came to play and not just experiment with lineups.
Coach Bradley has got his finger on the pulse of this program. He will lead them to something special in the coming years. A 3 goal defeat was just what the program needed. In a losing effort - an inspired effort - a relentless fight until the US had nothing left in the tank we discovered a sleeping giant of a program.
The talent is there people. The US is growing up as a potential footballing force in the summer of 2007. Enjoy this Copa.
To take a 1-1 score in to half was an absolute thrill for US fans. Who are these guys? Many of them have less than 10 caps and none of them have ever experienced the likes of Lionel Messi, Hernan Crespo or Juan Roman Riquelme running at them full sprint. And they all stood up like heroes tonight for their colors. First things first. Some of these players need to leave MLS right now. Marvell Wynne, Jonathan Bornstein and Richardo Clark were brilliant. I have not been overly impressed with any during their MLS careers. But I have always believed the talent was lurking beneath the eratic play. Tonight has me convinced they are playing down to the competition in MLS, they are not getting tested in training on a daily basis and most important - the coaching is just not there. I think experience in Europe will do them wonders. And I think it is only a matter of time.
Jay DeMeritt has the work rate and talent of an English Premiership player and should find his way out of Watford in the coming weeks. I was extremely impressed with Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman as a strike partnership. Keep in mind, Bradley has tremendous youth and ambition on the bench at that position and he will be tempted to use them in the next two matches. However, it is obvious that advancing to the next round is realistic and he may decide to stick with EJ and Twellman.
There are still two matches in the group stage to be played, but Ray Hudson was spot on when he said this US side was as good as any team they've seen in the Copa thus far. The defending was so tight that it took nearly 70 minutes for a team of world class players to wear down the US and break open the match. The US does not have depth in this tournament, but it is clear they do have depth in the program. Argentina has an endless supply of proven class at their disposal and the result was probably inevitable.
But I am certain that in the next couple days Bradley will work his magic on the training ground and in the hearts and minds of these players. Paraguay will be a massive test. Was everything the US brought with them left on the pitch tonight? Will tired legs and minds recover in time to take points off Paraguay? I think a draw is the result the US should pursue. Colombia looked shocking tonight and are probably the worst team in the group. A draw in the next match might just inspire the US to push for the win against Colombia and advance out of the group stage.
I don't want to get ahead of myself though.
If you weren't pulling for the US in this match after the first 20 minutes you were either an Argentina fan or just a US hater. When EJ hit that penalty the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I knew they would need 5 more goals to hold off the Argentine fright train, but I believed the US came to play and not just experiment with lineups.
Coach Bradley has got his finger on the pulse of this program. He will lead them to something special in the coming years. A 3 goal defeat was just what the program needed. In a losing effort - an inspired effort - a relentless fight until the US had nothing left in the tank we discovered a sleeping giant of a program.
The talent is there people. The US is growing up as a potential footballing force in the summer of 2007. Enjoy this Copa.
posted by Anonymous at 9:43 PM
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