Part of the fun of taking so much of my free time to write this here little ol' blog-a-rooni is reading the comments people attach to posts. Often times it makes me want to go back and re-write my entire post since the poster is coming from such a nice angle or tangent I've never even considered ... making me look like a bigger idiot than usual.
One guy who always comes off as the voice of reason goes by the tag, "Lokibeat." Always been curious to the genesis of such a name. Is the Nordic god in play? Is he a drummer? A mystery I like to keep continuous, like much of the storylines and mythology from "Lost."
In wake of the U.S. roster announcement on Wendesday Lokibeat make the most cromulent, accurate point in a while:
At this point we can talk, speculate and break it down all we want. It means nothing.
We're going to see for ourselves how the USMNT and the other 31 competing nations will fare this June and July in a matter of days.
In the case of Bob Bradley and the U.S., the die is cast. The 23 are the 23.
Maybe the perfect combination of players is in there? Maybe it isn't. We're about to find out. It's put up or shut up time. Round of 16 or bust!
Right or wrong, Bradley has something in mind for this team -- calling in NBA legend Bill Russell to speak with the team is a big hint toward cracking through Bradley's guarded thought process.*
* Part of me wonders, if a journo asked Bradley the Elder what he ate from breakfast what would the answer simply be saying eggs, whole wheat toast and black coffee? Or would be something like, "there's a whole process into the first meal of the day, you want protein, but we do so much running you also need carbs. Our training staff does a great job handling those things. You'd have to ask them."
This brings us to Saturday's friendly in Philadelphia vs. Turkey?
I'm going in tabla rasa. Let's see what we got. Win or lose, show something.
The result, well, that doesn't matter. The games that actually do count are near enough. Just don't waste our time and effort on those. Even in my newfound zen-like Jack Sheppard state, another 4-2 loss would be tough to stomach.**
** Remember in 2006 in the "Send-Off" series, the U.S. lost to Morocco 1-0 in Nashville, then unimpressively beat Latvia 1-0 in East Hartford. Should we have made a bigger deal of this? Do results this close to the Cup matter?
At this point in the game I'm open to anything. With the way the U.S. defensive line looks, it's time to get to the drawing board and hoping upon hope the right lineup sees the field vs. England, Slovenia and Algeria.
Yeah, a couple months ago we all thought the U.S. had three, if not four of its places locked in. We all assumed and wrote down the names Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit and Spector and figured that was that. The only worry was Bradley's irrational insistence on playing Jonathan Bornstein, who may not get the warmest reception in Philly if the tweets from my buddy "The Rev" are to believed.
Turns out with the injuries to Onyewu (and maybe secretly Bocanegra) and the completely unsettled situation at left back, anything is now in play. Is this a great scenario? Nope, but it's the reality facing the U.S. two weeks before the Cup.
And is this worth losing sleep over?
If you're Bradley, yes, everyone else? No.
Whatever combination the U.S. rolls out, chances are we'll be watching hoping the opponent has an off shooting night and or the American defense holds fast for 90 minutes of white knuckle soccer.
Then again, this is probably only realistic against England, since the Three Lions are the only team that figures to dominate the ball and take the game to the U.S. from the opening whistle. ... we think. At this point in the World Cup game, maybe we the only thing to assume is we don't know anything. Coaches are simply not showing their hands. (More on that in a sec.)
Back to Turkey.
If the U.S. light up the Turks 4-0 will it effect June 12 in Rustenberg? Or vice versa?
Or how about looking at where we currently stand with the USMNT this way.
It's like we've waited in line for a long roller coaster at an amusement park. The wait, that was the last four years. That's when we had the time to think about things, to speculate about the twists and turns awaiting us at the end of the line, or in this case South Africa.
Right now, we're getting into the car and the safety restraints are in the process of being lowered on top of us and locking in.
There is no turning back at this point.
The only thing left to ponder is if the ride ends on June 23 vs. Algeria, or will it make it to the next loop-de-loop or corkscrew turn?
Three thoughts on the game:
* Part of me thinks, that Bradley the Elder and Fabio Capello are staging a decent trans-Atlantic chess match, or at least Bradley is playing a one-way version vs. himself. (Computerbrain scenario?)
It's doubtful Bradley wants to show anything concrete to Capello and his staff ahead of the June 12 match. In this day-and-age of scouting, online streaming and everything else, it's nearly impossible to be deceptive on the International stage.
That's something I thought about a couple weeks ago toward Robbie Findley, who is still basically an unknown internationally. Perhaps that helped tilt the die in his favor on Wednesday.
So if Clint Dempsey lines up starting at right midfield, it doesn't necessarily mean he won't be a striker at the World Cup.
That said, if DaMarcus Beasley starts at left back, it probably means he may start there in the World Cup. There's cloaking your true actions and then there's seeing if a guy can play a position. Not sure we need Eddie Lewis redux, however.
If you could hold your cards closer to the vest, Bradley would find a way. The final 23 Bradley chose does have plenty of versatility, with Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Stuart Holden, Benny Feilhaber, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Spector and Beasley all capable of playing multiple positions on the field.
* One thing you can look at in this match is combination plays. How two or three guys click together. Namely, how the central midfield of Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark or Edu play. These guys haven't had too much time on the field together the last few months. Considering the way Bradley works, assuming these guys will pair up in the center of the midfield might be silly anyway.
The other combo to keep an eye on is Jozy Altidore and whomever he pairs with at striker. Is it Herculez Gomez or Edson Buddle? *** Is it possibly Robbie Findley? Is it neither? It's worth remembering that at the end of the season at Hull City when Altidore did find the field he usually played a little further away from goal, playing of Jan Venegoor of Hesselink, or another forward. Jozy seemed to be at his best operating in pockets at either edge of the penalty area.
*** Yikes, just typing that line makes me want to shout out like David Byrne, "HOW DID I GET HERE???!!!"
A positive the U.S. possesses is that throughout his career Donovan has made whoever is around him look a whole lot better. That works heavily in the favor of his Galaxy teammate Buddle.
* The defense. It's a patchwork jigsaw puzzle at this point, isn't it? Ideally you wouldn't want to be experimenting with your presumed back four two weeks ahead of the World Cup, but that's where the U.S. finds itself.
Can Oguchi Onyewu withstand a second game in four days, looking rusty and out-of-form Tuesday vs. the Czechs? Is it time to audition Clarence Goodson along Jay DeMerit or Carlos Bocanegra. Could Jonathan Spector move inside considering Steve Cherundolo seems like the only defender you can confidently pencil into a position (right back) and feel good about it?
Who knows? Probably not even the Elder, and it's not like he's about to tip his hand.
Turkey did bring it's A-team across the Atlantic, so players like Nihat, Semih Şentürk, Arda Turan, the Altintop bros. and the one, the only Kâzım Kâzım ought to push the U.S. defense. Considering what we saw at the last Euro, Turkey doesn't know how to take it easy, even if the game means nothing for them. They want to impress Guus before he takes over in August. (Turkey missed the World Cup, but the Turkish Super Lig is fairly well represented.)
Not to milk another "Lost" reference, but right now the U.S. seems like the end of season one with Jack and Locke staring down at the hatch -- or the unknown. During the following summer speculation was rampant about just what was down in the hole. Was it good? Or bad?
The U.S. defense? There's a lot down in that hole. The right way to configure it? Well, that might include a whole lot of duct tape.
Lineup guess:
Might be better of buying a lotto ticket.
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo -- Goodson -- Bocanegra -- Spector
MID -- Dempsey -- Clark -- Bradley -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Buddle (prepping Gomez as super-sub)
Subs: Safe bets, Edu, Holden, Gomez, Beasley and probably Benny Feilhaber see the field. Jay DeMerit may get a half one way or the other for Goodson.
Not sure where Gooch fits in, but does anyone?
Tim Howard has to start, too, needing game time to mesh with the patchwork defense.
House cleaning:
After today there's a good chance I'll be secluding myself in the west wing and working on my overly ambitious overall World Cup preview.
I might not even recap the game. I'll leave you guys to comment away and carry the discussion. Frankly, in the last four years I've written and said my peace.
Do you really need to read me hammering down the same point after point? And who wants to waste their Memorial Day weekend on the Internet complaining about the U.S. National Team, right?
So unless Servet Çetin bear hugs Jozy Altidore and breaks his rib, or something cataclysmic happens, it'll be radio silence except for a Tweet here or there.
Hopefully this self imposed break for the big preview will be worth it.
My brain can't take being tethered to the Internet at all hours much longer.
One guy who always comes off as the voice of reason goes by the tag, "Lokibeat." Always been curious to the genesis of such a name. Is the Nordic god in play? Is he a drummer? A mystery I like to keep continuous, like much of the storylines and mythology from "Lost."
In wake of the U.S. roster announcement on Wendesday Lokibeat make the most cromulent, accurate point in a while:
"Is it June 12 yet?"
At this point we can talk, speculate and break it down all we want. It means nothing.
We're going to see for ourselves how the USMNT and the other 31 competing nations will fare this June and July in a matter of days.
In the case of Bob Bradley and the U.S., the die is cast. The 23 are the 23.
Maybe the perfect combination of players is in there? Maybe it isn't. We're about to find out. It's put up or shut up time. Round of 16 or bust!
Right or wrong, Bradley has something in mind for this team -- calling in NBA legend Bill Russell to speak with the team is a big hint toward cracking through Bradley's guarded thought process.*
* Part of me wonders, if a journo asked Bradley the Elder what he ate from breakfast what would the answer simply be saying eggs, whole wheat toast and black coffee? Or would be something like, "there's a whole process into the first meal of the day, you want protein, but we do so much running you also need carbs. Our training staff does a great job handling those things. You'd have to ask them."
This brings us to Saturday's friendly in Philadelphia vs. Turkey?
I'm going in tabla rasa. Let's see what we got. Win or lose, show something.
The result, well, that doesn't matter. The games that actually do count are near enough. Just don't waste our time and effort on those. Even in my newfound zen-like Jack Sheppard state, another 4-2 loss would be tough to stomach.**
** Remember in 2006 in the "Send-Off" series, the U.S. lost to Morocco 1-0 in Nashville, then unimpressively beat Latvia 1-0 in East Hartford. Should we have made a bigger deal of this? Do results this close to the Cup matter?
At this point in the game I'm open to anything. With the way the U.S. defensive line looks, it's time to get to the drawing board and hoping upon hope the right lineup sees the field vs. England, Slovenia and Algeria.
Yeah, a couple months ago we all thought the U.S. had three, if not four of its places locked in. We all assumed and wrote down the names Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit and Spector and figured that was that. The only worry was Bradley's irrational insistence on playing Jonathan Bornstein, who may not get the warmest reception in Philly if the tweets from my buddy "The Rev" are to believed.
Turns out with the injuries to Onyewu (and maybe secretly Bocanegra) and the completely unsettled situation at left back, anything is now in play. Is this a great scenario? Nope, but it's the reality facing the U.S. two weeks before the Cup.
And is this worth losing sleep over?
If you're Bradley, yes, everyone else? No.
Whatever combination the U.S. rolls out, chances are we'll be watching hoping the opponent has an off shooting night and or the American defense holds fast for 90 minutes of white knuckle soccer.
Then again, this is probably only realistic against England, since the Three Lions are the only team that figures to dominate the ball and take the game to the U.S. from the opening whistle. ... we think. At this point in the World Cup game, maybe we the only thing to assume is we don't know anything. Coaches are simply not showing their hands. (More on that in a sec.)
Back to Turkey.
If the U.S. light up the Turks 4-0 will it effect June 12 in Rustenberg? Or vice versa?
Or how about looking at where we currently stand with the USMNT this way.
It's like we've waited in line for a long roller coaster at an amusement park. The wait, that was the last four years. That's when we had the time to think about things, to speculate about the twists and turns awaiting us at the end of the line, or in this case South Africa.
Right now, we're getting into the car and the safety restraints are in the process of being lowered on top of us and locking in.
There is no turning back at this point.
The only thing left to ponder is if the ride ends on June 23 vs. Algeria, or will it make it to the next loop-de-loop or corkscrew turn?
Three thoughts on the game:
* Part of me thinks, that Bradley the Elder and Fabio Capello are staging a decent trans-Atlantic chess match, or at least Bradley is playing a one-way version vs. himself. (Computerbrain scenario?)
It's doubtful Bradley wants to show anything concrete to Capello and his staff ahead of the June 12 match. In this day-and-age of scouting, online streaming and everything else, it's nearly impossible to be deceptive on the International stage.
That's something I thought about a couple weeks ago toward Robbie Findley, who is still basically an unknown internationally. Perhaps that helped tilt the die in his favor on Wednesday.
So if Clint Dempsey lines up starting at right midfield, it doesn't necessarily mean he won't be a striker at the World Cup.
That said, if DaMarcus Beasley starts at left back, it probably means he may start there in the World Cup. There's cloaking your true actions and then there's seeing if a guy can play a position. Not sure we need Eddie Lewis redux, however.
If you could hold your cards closer to the vest, Bradley would find a way. The final 23 Bradley chose does have plenty of versatility, with Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Stuart Holden, Benny Feilhaber, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Spector and Beasley all capable of playing multiple positions on the field.
* One thing you can look at in this match is combination plays. How two or three guys click together. Namely, how the central midfield of Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark or Edu play. These guys haven't had too much time on the field together the last few months. Considering the way Bradley works, assuming these guys will pair up in the center of the midfield might be silly anyway.
The other combo to keep an eye on is Jozy Altidore and whomever he pairs with at striker. Is it Herculez Gomez or Edson Buddle? *** Is it possibly Robbie Findley? Is it neither? It's worth remembering that at the end of the season at Hull City when Altidore did find the field he usually played a little further away from goal, playing of Jan Venegoor of Hesselink, or another forward. Jozy seemed to be at his best operating in pockets at either edge of the penalty area.
*** Yikes, just typing that line makes me want to shout out like David Byrne, "HOW DID I GET HERE???!!!"
A positive the U.S. possesses is that throughout his career Donovan has made whoever is around him look a whole lot better. That works heavily in the favor of his Galaxy teammate Buddle.
* The defense. It's a patchwork jigsaw puzzle at this point, isn't it? Ideally you wouldn't want to be experimenting with your presumed back four two weeks ahead of the World Cup, but that's where the U.S. finds itself.
Can Oguchi Onyewu withstand a second game in four days, looking rusty and out-of-form Tuesday vs. the Czechs? Is it time to audition Clarence Goodson along Jay DeMerit or Carlos Bocanegra. Could Jonathan Spector move inside considering Steve Cherundolo seems like the only defender you can confidently pencil into a position (right back) and feel good about it?
Who knows? Probably not even the Elder, and it's not like he's about to tip his hand.
Turkey did bring it's A-team across the Atlantic, so players like Nihat, Semih Şentürk, Arda Turan, the Altintop bros. and the one, the only Kâzım Kâzım ought to push the U.S. defense. Considering what we saw at the last Euro, Turkey doesn't know how to take it easy, even if the game means nothing for them. They want to impress Guus before he takes over in August. (Turkey missed the World Cup, but the Turkish Super Lig is fairly well represented.)
Not to milk another "Lost" reference, but right now the U.S. seems like the end of season one with Jack and Locke staring down at the hatch -- or the unknown. During the following summer speculation was rampant about just what was down in the hole. Was it good? Or bad?
The U.S. defense? There's a lot down in that hole. The right way to configure it? Well, that might include a whole lot of duct tape.
Lineup guess:
Might be better of buying a lotto ticket.
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo -- Goodson -- Bocanegra -- Spector
MID -- Dempsey -- Clark -- Bradley -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Buddle (prepping Gomez as super-sub)
Subs: Safe bets, Edu, Holden, Gomez, Beasley and probably Benny Feilhaber see the field. Jay DeMerit may get a half one way or the other for Goodson.
Not sure where Gooch fits in, but does anyone?
Tim Howard has to start, too, needing game time to mesh with the patchwork defense.
House cleaning:
After today there's a good chance I'll be secluding myself in the west wing and working on my overly ambitious overall World Cup preview.
I might not even recap the game. I'll leave you guys to comment away and carry the discussion. Frankly, in the last four years I've written and said my peace.
Do you really need to read me hammering down the same point after point? And who wants to waste their Memorial Day weekend on the Internet complaining about the U.S. National Team, right?
So unless Servet Çetin bear hugs Jozy Altidore and breaks his rib, or something cataclysmic happens, it'll be radio silence except for a Tweet here or there.
Hopefully this self imposed break for the big preview will be worth it.
My brain can't take being tethered to the Internet at all hours much longer.
Labels: 2010 world cup, cleaning house, Soccer, USMNT
"My brain can't take being tethered to the Internet at all hours much longer."
My friend, your brain is not going to do well in the brave new world we all face. Not long now until Bob Bradley releases an iPhone app revealing his inner-thoughts (or is that twitter):
'My son could probably play keeper. Better than that Howard guy. If only I had a bigger family.'