USMNT 2, Sweden 0, Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif.
Hmmm...where to begin.
In nearly two decades of watching the US Soccer team with my father it's hard to recall a match where neither of us had as little to say. Even the notes I usually jot down during play were surprisingly bare.
Maybe my head was still spinning from the shaky-cam from "Cloverfield."
My initial postgame reaction was not to poo-poo a 2-0 result over a European team, particularly since it was the first competitive fixture of the 2008 calendar year. It would be easy to dismiss the result since Sweden was not fielding its full squad, though other than Ibrohimovic, Mellberg and Kallstrom not much was missing. In fact, you could make the case that the USMNT -- starting the likes of Ramiro Corrales, Eddie Robinson, etc.
Still, it was nice to get the year off on the right foot, especially with games against Mexico (Feb. 6, Houston), Poland (March 26, Krakow!) and Spain (June 4) not to mention CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers on the horizon.
Again, that was my initial reaction.
After sleeping on it, it changed to some degree. Yes, the patchwork defensive backline -- not to mention a couple good reaction saves from Brad Guzan -- kept the Swedes off the board. Yet, for the upteenth time the team produced next to no offense. Official match stats credit the US with seven overall shots -- five on target.
From my recollection, Rico Clark took a decent crack from distance in the seventh minute. Eddie Robinson's semi-fluke goal off a corner was another. Finally, Landon Donovan's seemingly-record setting 35th International goal from the penalty spot. The US dominated possession and looked the better side overall, still those are the other threats that stuck out over the 90.
Was this the result of opting for the defensive-minded midfield pairing of Maurice Edu and Clark? Was it the result that the service from the wide positions was subpar? (The team seemed far to over reliant attacking wide.) Was it a lack of finishing? Hard to say from the comforts of the couch.
Perhaps this could have been expected since, for reasons beyond my pay grade, Bob Bradley decided to start Taylor Twellman up top instead of Jozy Altidore.
Player notes:
Starters
Brad Guzan, GK -- The more you see, the more you like. If he makes the move to Europe and gets first-team football he could seriously push Tim Howard. Both are good shot stoppers. Command of the penalty box and service might set them apart.
Ramiro Corrales, LB -- Served in two awful crosses. Did decent enough on defense, but not enough to say he really deserves claim to the revolving door that is the USMNT left back position.
Eddie Robinson, CB -- The member of Bill Simmons' 'Reggie Cleveland All-Stars' scored in his national team debut, which is nice. Good for him, since 9 times out of 10 that shot he slapped in flies over the net. Hard to say what he did on defense, but he at least the 29-year-old deserves his name in the hat for the future.
Jimmy Conrad, CB -- The always affable Kansas City captains didn't have much to do. Still, he seems like the perfect over-23 guy to put on the summer's Olympic team to provide veteran cover in the back.
Drew Moor, RB -- Guess his defense was good since Sweden got nothing going down the flank. Seems like you can get by with him in this roll against the lesser teams in CONCACAF to save bringing in a Euro-based player.
Brad Davis, LM -- The night's best positive development. His freekicks weren't out-and-out amazing, but they were better than what Donovan usually brings to the table. His excellent corner did all the hard work on Robinson's 15th minute goal. It's safe to say if he keeps rockin' the beard he could become the left-sided version of Steve Rolston. Also, he did more with the No. 22 shirt than Oguchi Onyewu did since 2005.
Maurice Edu, CM -- Did enough to stifle the Sweden attack. Proving himself to be excellent cover in the center of the park in only three games. Clear potential to 'breakout' in 2008.
Rico Clark, CM -- Looked decent enough since missing all that time for booting Carlos Ruiz in the face. Even ended the night wearing the captain's armband.
Landon Donovan, RM -- For all the stick he takes, still clearly the most talented player the US has...for better or worse. Though not a right-outside midfielder did more in the roll than Clint Dempsey has in the past. The problem with him on the outside is that he can get by defenders, but when he does instead of being in front of the goal with a man to beat, he's out wide and has to serve it in, which isn't his strength.
Pat Noonan, F -- Umm. His flick back to the middle set up Altidore's drawn penalty.
Taylor Twellman, F -- Here's a fact, Twellman is 27. Here's another, he's scored six goals in 29 international matches. Obviously I wasn't there for training and such, but it's a wonder what he did to warrant a start over Altidore Saturday night. Part of me thinks the suits at the US Soccer Federation so desperately want Twellman to succeed. He's got everything they need in a poster boy -- an alliterative name, goofy smile, blond hair, etc. You know, the guy that can smile and sell cokes. He has the personality that Donovan does not...except he doesn't have the game. I hate to knock him, since he does work hard, but we've all seen enough.
Substitutes
Michael Parkhurst, CB -- (46th minute, Robinson) Maybe it was me, but the back look a little disorganized when he was playing. Admittedly, hard to notice what, if anything, he did.
Clarence Goodson, CB -- (46th, Conrad) Not to change the subject, but here goes. What does it say about MLS when Goodson is the top pick by San Jose in the expansion draft but opts instead to play in Norway for IK Start...which was relegated into the second division?
Jozy Altidore, F -- (46th, Twellman) Not to get into a tizzy over Alitdore's performance at all. He did draw a penalty and overall three yellow cards. You could infer the Sweden defenders sensed danger when he was on the ball, once being hacked down with no attempt at the ball, another get the high-low treatment from a pair of defenders. No goal, but a start.
Chris Rolfe, F -- (63rd, Noonan) Sadly, the one guy that looked poor out there. Gave the ball away after a nice buildup. Probably could have nicked a goal had he paid a little more attention in the area.
Sacha Kljestan, RM -- (72nd, Davis) Not a lot of time, but like have a nice arm-drag takedown on a Swede to stop a break.
Jeremiah White, Mid. (81st, Donovan) Put the uniform on correctly.
Bob Bradley, coach -- Still didn't even crack a smile, not even for a second. Though I may not agree with it, seems to have the strict 4-4-2 system in mind with all the attack coming up the wings with the center of the defense tight and compact. Honestly, wouldn't want to be him with all the players possible to choose.
Final thoughts: Seems to be a minor nitpick when the US managed to win a game with a slew of unknowns and second-stringers. Thankfully, long gone are the days when the first XI was set in stone for a decade.
Other than that, again, not much to say.
The play of Guzan, Donovan and Brad Davis stood out on the positive, Davis especially from set plays. Hard to say if any of the other fringe players did much to distinguish themselves.
I wish there was a nice conclusion to be made from this one, but aside from Donovan possibly passing Eric Wynalda (thank God) on the all-time goal-scoring rolls, from a fan's perspective there's not a lot to take away from this one. (Hard to believe Max Bretos made no mention of the Denmark friendly from 2007 not counting. Then again, maybe not that hard to believe.)
Bring on El Tri!
_____________________________
Rapid-fire Premier League weekend thoughts: Not much to say this week, as it was the status quo. ... Please, just relegate Fulham now. ... Everton is making a strong claim to a top-four spot. ... Kevin Keegan at Newcastle? Nice Burger King-inspired cardboard crowns. Other than that, yawn-united. ... Rooney, good goal, greater cartwheel. ... Chelsea, lucky, lucky, lucky. ... That's about it.
Gotta split, can't miss the ACN opening ceremonies.
Hmmm...where to begin.
In nearly two decades of watching the US Soccer team with my father it's hard to recall a match where neither of us had as little to say. Even the notes I usually jot down during play were surprisingly bare.
Maybe my head was still spinning from the shaky-cam from "Cloverfield."
My initial postgame reaction was not to poo-poo a 2-0 result over a European team, particularly since it was the first competitive fixture of the 2008 calendar year. It would be easy to dismiss the result since Sweden was not fielding its full squad, though other than Ibrohimovic, Mellberg and Kallstrom not much was missing. In fact, you could make the case that the USMNT -- starting the likes of Ramiro Corrales, Eddie Robinson, etc.
Still, it was nice to get the year off on the right foot, especially with games against Mexico (Feb. 6, Houston), Poland (March 26, Krakow!) and Spain (June 4) not to mention CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers on the horizon.
Again, that was my initial reaction.
After sleeping on it, it changed to some degree. Yes, the patchwork defensive backline -- not to mention a couple good reaction saves from Brad Guzan -- kept the Swedes off the board. Yet, for the upteenth time the team produced next to no offense. Official match stats credit the US with seven overall shots -- five on target.
From my recollection, Rico Clark took a decent crack from distance in the seventh minute. Eddie Robinson's semi-fluke goal off a corner was another. Finally, Landon Donovan's seemingly-record setting 35th International goal from the penalty spot. The US dominated possession and looked the better side overall, still those are the other threats that stuck out over the 90.
Was this the result of opting for the defensive-minded midfield pairing of Maurice Edu and Clark? Was it the result that the service from the wide positions was subpar? (The team seemed far to over reliant attacking wide.) Was it a lack of finishing? Hard to say from the comforts of the couch.
Perhaps this could have been expected since, for reasons beyond my pay grade, Bob Bradley decided to start Taylor Twellman up top instead of Jozy Altidore.
Player notes:
Starters
Brad Guzan, GK -- The more you see, the more you like. If he makes the move to Europe and gets first-team football he could seriously push Tim Howard. Both are good shot stoppers. Command of the penalty box and service might set them apart.
Ramiro Corrales, LB -- Served in two awful crosses. Did decent enough on defense, but not enough to say he really deserves claim to the revolving door that is the USMNT left back position.
Eddie Robinson, CB -- The member of Bill Simmons' 'Reggie Cleveland All-Stars' scored in his national team debut, which is nice. Good for him, since 9 times out of 10 that shot he slapped in flies over the net. Hard to say what he did on defense, but he at least the 29-year-old deserves his name in the hat for the future.
Jimmy Conrad, CB -- The always affable Kansas City captains didn't have much to do. Still, he seems like the perfect over-23 guy to put on the summer's Olympic team to provide veteran cover in the back.
Drew Moor, RB -- Guess his defense was good since Sweden got nothing going down the flank. Seems like you can get by with him in this roll against the lesser teams in CONCACAF to save bringing in a Euro-based player.
Brad Davis, LM -- The night's best positive development. His freekicks weren't out-and-out amazing, but they were better than what Donovan usually brings to the table. His excellent corner did all the hard work on Robinson's 15th minute goal. It's safe to say if he keeps rockin' the beard he could become the left-sided version of Steve Rolston. Also, he did more with the No. 22 shirt than Oguchi Onyewu did since 2005.
Maurice Edu, CM -- Did enough to stifle the Sweden attack. Proving himself to be excellent cover in the center of the park in only three games. Clear potential to 'breakout' in 2008.
Rico Clark, CM -- Looked decent enough since missing all that time for booting Carlos Ruiz in the face. Even ended the night wearing the captain's armband.
Landon Donovan, RM -- For all the stick he takes, still clearly the most talented player the US has...for better or worse. Though not a right-outside midfielder did more in the roll than Clint Dempsey has in the past. The problem with him on the outside is that he can get by defenders, but when he does instead of being in front of the goal with a man to beat, he's out wide and has to serve it in, which isn't his strength.
Pat Noonan, F -- Umm. His flick back to the middle set up Altidore's drawn penalty.
Taylor Twellman, F -- Here's a fact, Twellman is 27. Here's another, he's scored six goals in 29 international matches. Obviously I wasn't there for training and such, but it's a wonder what he did to warrant a start over Altidore Saturday night. Part of me thinks the suits at the US Soccer Federation so desperately want Twellman to succeed. He's got everything they need in a poster boy -- an alliterative name, goofy smile, blond hair, etc. You know, the guy that can smile and sell cokes. He has the personality that Donovan does not...except he doesn't have the game. I hate to knock him, since he does work hard, but we've all seen enough.
Substitutes
Michael Parkhurst, CB -- (46th minute, Robinson) Maybe it was me, but the back look a little disorganized when he was playing. Admittedly, hard to notice what, if anything, he did.
Clarence Goodson, CB -- (46th, Conrad) Not to change the subject, but here goes. What does it say about MLS when Goodson is the top pick by San Jose in the expansion draft but opts instead to play in Norway for IK Start...which was relegated into the second division?
Jozy Altidore, F -- (46th, Twellman) Not to get into a tizzy over Alitdore's performance at all. He did draw a penalty and overall three yellow cards. You could infer the Sweden defenders sensed danger when he was on the ball, once being hacked down with no attempt at the ball, another get the high-low treatment from a pair of defenders. No goal, but a start.
Chris Rolfe, F -- (63rd, Noonan) Sadly, the one guy that looked poor out there. Gave the ball away after a nice buildup. Probably could have nicked a goal had he paid a little more attention in the area.
Sacha Kljestan, RM -- (72nd, Davis) Not a lot of time, but like have a nice arm-drag takedown on a Swede to stop a break.
Jeremiah White, Mid. (81st, Donovan) Put the uniform on correctly.
Bob Bradley, coach -- Still didn't even crack a smile, not even for a second. Though I may not agree with it, seems to have the strict 4-4-2 system in mind with all the attack coming up the wings with the center of the defense tight and compact. Honestly, wouldn't want to be him with all the players possible to choose.
Final thoughts: Seems to be a minor nitpick when the US managed to win a game with a slew of unknowns and second-stringers. Thankfully, long gone are the days when the first XI was set in stone for a decade.
Other than that, again, not much to say.
The play of Guzan, Donovan and Brad Davis stood out on the positive, Davis especially from set plays. Hard to say if any of the other fringe players did much to distinguish themselves.
I wish there was a nice conclusion to be made from this one, but aside from Donovan possibly passing Eric Wynalda (thank God) on the all-time goal-scoring rolls, from a fan's perspective there's not a lot to take away from this one. (Hard to believe Max Bretos made no mention of the Denmark friendly from 2007 not counting. Then again, maybe not that hard to believe.)
Bring on El Tri!
Rapid-fire Premier League weekend thoughts: Not much to say this week, as it was the status quo. ... Please, just relegate Fulham now. ... Everton is making a strong claim to a top-four spot. ... Kevin Keegan at Newcastle? Nice Burger King-inspired cardboard crowns. Other than that, yawn-united. ... Rooney, good goal, greater cartwheel. ... Chelsea, lucky, lucky, lucky. ... That's about it.
Gotta split, can't miss the ACN opening ceremonies.
Do you think Dempsey moves to another Prem team when Fulham goes down?
Most likely someone would swoop in for him, perhaps a team moving up like West Brom or Watford. Dempsey's biggest advantage is that he'd likely come cheap to a team like West Ham, Newcastle, Bolton, etc. (a mid-tier team.)
Corrales spent some time with the Quakes, right? I counted six players who've had some time with the San Jose side or its Houston team (the Kinnear/Yallop) connection in this friendly.
Dempsey is definitely the one US guy that would get a move up out of the ones in danger (or already assured) of relegation. The one thing lower level prem teams need is goals, and they'll look anywhere cheap to get it. Unless Fulham is set on not selling him, he'd be worth around $5-7m
Ugh... could I have been more off in my Fulham 3-5 Arsenal comment?
I don't think I've seen much of the Cottagers since their opening week loss at the Emirates. That team is awful. But am I crazy for thinking that McBride will actually make enough difference to help them climb out of relegation? They've had a slew of injuries. They are getting bodies back. And there is plenty of time left in the campaign.
Or maybe they could just petition the FA to only count the first 80 minutes of their matches. That would probably put them into safety alone.
Clearly, I have an irrational soft spot for a club that's given pitch time to so many Americans.