Collapse at the Azteca

August 13, 2009

Ultimately, what prevented us from getting a result wasn’t the second goal Mexico scored. That was more a reflection of their desperation and frantic hard work (Which actually has just as much to do with cultural reasons as football ones), rather than any poor play on our part. It was the first goal Mexico scored. Seemingly, Michael Bradley, had gotten the ball from the defense and thought he could long dribble the ball out of trouble. He hadn’t gotten ten yards away from the US box before he turned it over. With the rest of the US team shifting from defense to offense, many were out of position when the ball was stolen by Mexico. Fate nearly denied Mexico that first goal. Had that shot failed to dip that final centimeter, it would have struck the bar almost square and bounced out.

Do the USA need work on their technical ball skills? Of course they do.

Was it inconceivable that Bob Bradley started Brian Ching over Josmer Altidore? Of course it was. (This has still left me slack jawed, that Altidore is a fit enough choice against Spain, but somehow not against Mexico.)

Should Robbie Rogers have started at left midfield? Of course he should have.

Will the team benefit and be steadied by the return of Maurice Edu? Of course it will.

I can’t understand why Bob Bradley made some of the choices he did as manager during the course of Mexico 2:1 United States. I don’t know if starting Ching over Altidore, is enough however for a vote of no confidence. And even if Bob Bradley were sacked...who could we possibly get to replace him?

Sabah’s 82nd minute winner broke my heart.

Now we have to endure:

“Beating Spain was a fluke”

“The US are crap at football”

etc. ad nauseam.

Despite all this talk, there is work to be done for the US team.

Contrary to popular belief, I am not surprised that it is more of a struggle these days to defeat El Salvador and Honduras. They are improving. That’s right, I said it. They are improving - The gap is closing. It’s not that the skill of the USA team has diminished so much, as everyone else in CONCACAF is starting to improve. As a result, the US team must set the bar higher. We can’t afford to field a ‘B’ team in the zonal championship.

It is difficult enough to see the US lose in important matches against quality opposition. It is harder to watch this when all of us know the best team wasn’t on the pitch. As much as I like Brian Ching as cover at striker, there is a reason Villareal were willing to purchase Altidore for millions of dollars.

Bob Bradley may not be the best manager in the world. But I strongly believe he is the best we can get now...and that we could do worse. Can you imagine, Jurgen Klinsmann coming to coach the USA now? Can you imagine US Soccer offering enough money and control to Guus Hiddink to lure him away from his job with Russia?

Our players are sometimes coveted by overseas clubs. It seems that our managers are never asked to work overseas. Perhaps the two exceptions to this are Ernie Stewart at NAC Breda in Netherlands, and Brent Goulet at SV Elversberg. I wonder why this is so. Don’t you?