Apologies up front if the tenor of my post-U.S./Algeria writing sounded a little too Jack Edwards 2002 World Cup-y. It was such a confluence of events, capped off by an iconic finish by Landon Donovan that rhyme and reason tend to go out the window.
It's not like the U.S. gets moments like that everyday on the soccer field.
Lost in the jubilation of Wednesday's buzzer beater is that the U.S. have another game to play, like you know, three days later. Better be sure there aren't any lingering hangovers from sipping Buds in the Loftus Versfeld locker room with President Clinton.
No problem with the U.S. taking victory laps and bows. The gritty, gutty display the U.S. have displayed in South Africa has indeed been endearing and a nice contrast to the common stereotype of flopping, nancy-pancy soccer players.(*)
(*) Slovakia's Zdeno Štrba single-handily killed that perception, remaining in the match against Italy Thursday with a sickening deep cut on his thigh. He waved off the sub. R-U-G-G-E-D.
Right now the USMNT is sitting in a rather precarious position.
Newcomers on the bandwagon probably aren't aware that the U.S. doesn't exactly thrive with success or when expectations and heaped upon them. This team's recent trademark, after all, is playing the nobody believes in us card.
Except now in the wake of winning Group C and gaining a date with Ghana followed by (perhaps) either Uruguay/South Korea in the quarterfinals, some are projecting the U.S. to make a deep, deep run into the Cup(**). All these expectations for a team that gave up a fourth minute goal against England in the first group match and was three minutes away from elimination against Algeria.
(**) Not too outlandish. The U.S. is if were a club team would be a much better Cup team than over the course of the league season -- good enough to beat anyone on a given night, not consistent enough to lodge results over 10 months. Remember, too, this World Cup has unfurled like an upset-heavy March Madness.
But that is U.S. soccer in 2010.
In a way the U.S. is coming off the euphoria of something major -- think a club like Blackpool winning improbable promotion to the Premier League -- once the euphoria fades away you're left scratching your head Jimmy McNulty-style, "What the f--- do I just do?"
Better yet, think of the U.S. right now in the same situation as a band after a stellar debut or breakthrough album. Remember the used CD bin at the local record store(***) being littered with 99 cent copies of albums like "Purple" by Stone Temple Pilots. Or take the band Bloc Party, which looked destined for big things with catchy, jangly pop songs like the FIFA-riffic "Helicopter" on the album "Silent Alarm", then came "A Weekend In the City" and ... irrelevance.
(***) Kids, once upon a time, we had to get in our cars or walk to an actual store to acquire new music, or find a friend with a good mixtape hookup. ... Oof. Why not just say I rode a dinosaur to school while I'm at it?
The second act in the music business isn't easy. Just go ask the Killers. Better yet, go ask The Stone Roses, who's self-titled debut is lauded as one of Britain's best -- no hyperbole either, that album is insanely good. Their second effort? Stuck in legal/production hell, might as well never even happened.
Even Wu-Tang Clan followed up "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" with the bloated two-disc mess of "Wu-Tang Forever", although not as bloated as Guns 'N Roses "Uses Your Illusion I/II."
Casual U.S. sports fans, on the heels of Wednesday's major moment, want another hit. They might not have the attention span for a flat, off-key elimination. At least, barring a flat, listless defeat the U.S. are probably past the Dana Patrick-type curiosity/pre-fab hype machine barrier. Hardcore fans, on the other hand, realize that there are no givens in the World Cup knockout rounds.
So perhaps if the U.S. is going to emulate anyone ahead of the Ghana match, why not take their cues from Radiohead, which eschewed the follow-up slump, twice.
After lying dormant after the success of the single "Creep" in 1993, Thom Yorke and the boys released the anthem-o-riffic "The Bends" two years later. Then, after the mega-success and blinding critical masturbation over "OK Computer," the band came back with "Kid A," which established a different kind of tone for the band all together, moving them out them even out of the "rock" classification.
Now I'm not saying Donovan needs to develop a lazy eye or that Clint Dempsey needs to bring a Moog-type synthesizer to look downward and stare at on the grass of the Royal Bafokeng like Jonny Greenwood.
The bottom line is that while the late drama over Algeria gave American fans a touchstone World Cup moment, the tournament -- realistically -- is just getting started. Yet there is work left to be done. Don't forget, this was dubbed Group E.A.S.Y. and everyone pretty much assumed the U.S. would get to the place where they are right now.
The U.S. team can't get complacent, or rest of the laurels of what happened in Pretoria. It might be projecting, but much like in the 2002 run to the quarterfinals, the tournament is opening up. The U.S. won't see another "power" team until the semifinals, likely Brazil or the Netherlands.
However it plays out, a rare heroes welcome ... and subsequent talk show visit tour awaits the U.S. on their return.
Don't think any talent bookers, though, would mind if those late-night yuk-fest and early morning gab-fest(****) with Donovan, Jozy Altidore, etc. come a few weeks later in mid-July.
The U.S. would certainly a have a few more "hits" under their belt by then.
(****)Up next on 'The View' Landon Donovan talks break-up, to highlight or not to highlight and puppies!
Ghana-o-rama ... again:
Do the names Haminu Draman or Marcus Merk or Razak Pimpong mean anything to you?
Do you remember the international career of Claudio Reyna coming to an abrupt halt?
Then yeah, you're well aware with the utterly awful U.S. 2-1 loss to Ghana in the final Group E match at the 2006 World Cup, a loss that at least produced Clint Dempsey's first World Cup goal.
No need to re-open those wounds, right?
Without Michael Essien in the midfield the 2010 version of the Black Stars certainly look different. The grizzly bear burliness of Berlin-born madman Kevin-Prince Boateng makes sure of that.
For whatever the reason, the U.S. might have fared better against Germany than Ghana. Crazy, but hear me out.
Germany is Germany. The U.S. knows this. Germany knows this. The U.S. have the ability to frustrate and play to the level of better competition. The longer the U.S. (potentially) kept the Germans at bay, the better the match becomes. Self doubt begins to creep into the minds of Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil -- players who are pumped up by the media and sponsors and expected to become match-winners.
If the U.S. had played Germany, it's a lot easier to predict what the Germans would attempt and how to stop and counter it. Then again, the Germans do have winning in their DNA, which might cancel out anything else.
Yes the Germans are much better technically than Ghana. If the Germans play their game, yes, they could've beaten the U.S. 3-0. From what we've seen recently, the U.S. does better in these matches against traditional powers. It brings out the best in them.
Ghana? There's a lot more of the unknown.
Think of taking a long car trip and you need to pull over to eat. You could go the McDonald's route, you know what you're getting. Or you could take the local greasy spoon, which could serve the world's greatest hot dog, or you could end up with food poisoning.
You just don't know.
That's Ghana, where there's a lot more potential of some seemingly random Black Stars player to pop up from nowhere and knockout the U.S. (Remember, the bigger "name" players on the roster -- Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah -- barely play.)
During the World Cup Bob Bradley has been an excellent game-planner. A team like Ghana presents a challenge in the fact the Black Stars approach is fairly simply and straight forward, they're strong across the field until you get to loan striker Asamoah Gyan -- a hit or miss type who seems to need a lot of chances -- supported by pacey players like Kwadwo Asamoah, André Ayew and Prince Tagoe.
What it boils down to, Ghana doesn't have the club stars of say and England or Germany. What the Black Stars have is a very competent team managed Milovan Rajevac that knows how to play together, know it's strengths and limitations. The fact they made the 2010 African Cup of Nations final provides some tournament toughness. They know what it takes to win in tournament football. Going for 120 minutes with pressure on them shouldn't be an issue.
The U.S. aren't beating Ghana through a psychological approach -- the fact the Black Stars are playing for all of Africa shouldn't be an in-game issue. Nor do I think Bradley can use a Belichick-like tactical approach like he did to bottle up England, where he took away the Three Lions No. 1 gun -- Wayne Rooney -- and watched the rest of the squad fall. Ghana is a team, much less reliant on one player to perform in order to succeed.
No tricks, nothing fancy.
The U.S. has to play well, cut off mistakes and simply get a win by any means necessary.
Other stuff:
* Kevin-Prince Boateng vs. Michael Bradley figures to be heavyweight midfield battle of epic proportions. The undercard of Anthony Annan and (assumingly) Maurice Edu shouldn't be too shabby either.
* Not to jinx anything, but if this goes 120 deadlocked, you've got to favor Tim Howard over Richard Kingson. Then again, penalty kicks are fickle mistresses.
* Kingson might be the Black Stars weak link. U.S. should do whatever they can test him early and often.
* Ghana could possibly line up with a starting central defense of John Mensah and Jonathan Mensah.
* Ghana, and perhaps all of FIFA, seem to have pretty lax standards for what players can use for their names on jerseys. Jonathan Mensah is simply "Jonathan" where KP-Boateng, is now just "Prince." If I ever made it, I'd like "El Duderino" in script lettering, thank you very much.
* It's a topic of conversation, but will the fact Ghana is the only African team to advance going to make that big a difference in Rustenburg, which seems to have become the Americans home away from home between this World Cup and the Confederations Cup? Can't see the crowd being a factor at this stage, especially in a stadium with a running track.
* Both Ghana World Cup goals have come from penalty kicks, which either means they're a) lucky b) can't score or c) due for a goal in the run of play.
* Perhaps Ghana's Amsterdam-born winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie could call and give Freddy Adu a pep talk. Quincy was at Arsenal from 2003-06, only playing five times for the Gunners. He eventually left for Spartak Moscow, which proceeded to loan him out four times, including to Portsmouth last year. He's now signed up for Al-Sadd in Qatar. Oh right, he's still only 23.
* Your match official is Hungarian Viktor Kassai. If the U.S. has another good goal waved off, I might even be done with the World Cup.
* Big thing to watch is how Bradley the Elder handles substitutions over a possibly 120 minutes. Wonder how fit the U.S. is in the wake of the Algeria game. A three day turnaround does leave a lot of time to recharge the batteries. Hope the team isn't in line for an emotional letdown.
* Two thoughts from the seemingly endless slew of U.S. fan reactions to the Donovan goal 1) They weren't sausage parties. There were actually women in a lot of the videos, which is always nice to see. 2) Who exactly was filming these, especially the time lapse cameras? Nobody could have predicted that moment. Not complaining, just seems odd people would film themselves in this situation.
* Can't see either side sitting back in this one. Figures to be point, counter-point for 90 minutes. Ghana vs. Germany was very open. This game might boil down to finishing. Both teams haven't been all that sharp in the final third. Kwadwo Asamoah had a couple long-range rocket attempts vs. Australia. Another week with the Jabulani and maybe he gets the targeting down.
* Unrelated, but due to ESPN's non-stop pimping of the movie "Knight & Day" I've taken all the Muse off of my iPod as a sign of protest. My Lou Gehrig non-movie streak isn't ending there. "Predators"? Maybe.
* Always fun to go back int your archives. This is the first thing I wrote about the USMNT back in January. Take it with a grain of salt.
Lineup guess:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo -- Bocanegra -- DeMerit -- Bornstein (gulp)
MID -- Dempsey -- Bradley -- Edu -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Findley
Explanation: Guess Bradley could go back to Oguchi Onyewu, but why risk it. For whatever the reason, Bocanegra seems more at ease with the U.S. playing in the middle. Bradley made the tough decision to sit Onyewu, don't second guess it. ... Since neither Herculez Gomez or Edson Buddle produced vs. Algeria, figure Findley is back for the speed option at the top to pair with Altidore.
Final thought:
Ian Darke is behind the mic for Saturday. Would you believe it if I told you he was behind the mic when the U.S. stunned Portugal 3-2 in the 2002 World Cup? Here's the video evidence.
That's as good an omen as I can find.
Go Go U.S.A. 1, Ghana 0
It's not like the U.S. gets moments like that everyday on the soccer field.
Lost in the jubilation of Wednesday's buzzer beater is that the U.S. have another game to play, like you know, three days later. Better be sure there aren't any lingering hangovers from sipping Buds in the Loftus Versfeld locker room with President Clinton.
No problem with the U.S. taking victory laps and bows. The gritty, gutty display the U.S. have displayed in South Africa has indeed been endearing and a nice contrast to the common stereotype of flopping, nancy-pancy soccer players.(*)
(*) Slovakia's Zdeno Štrba single-handily killed that perception, remaining in the match against Italy Thursday with a sickening deep cut on his thigh. He waved off the sub. R-U-G-G-E-D.
Right now the USMNT is sitting in a rather precarious position.
Newcomers on the bandwagon probably aren't aware that the U.S. doesn't exactly thrive with success or when expectations and heaped upon them. This team's recent trademark, after all, is playing the nobody believes in us card.
Except now in the wake of winning Group C and gaining a date with Ghana followed by (perhaps) either Uruguay/South Korea in the quarterfinals, some are projecting the U.S. to make a deep, deep run into the Cup(**). All these expectations for a team that gave up a fourth minute goal against England in the first group match and was three minutes away from elimination against Algeria.
(**) Not too outlandish. The U.S. is if were a club team would be a much better Cup team than over the course of the league season -- good enough to beat anyone on a given night, not consistent enough to lodge results over 10 months. Remember, too, this World Cup has unfurled like an upset-heavy March Madness.
But that is U.S. soccer in 2010.
In a way the U.S. is coming off the euphoria of something major -- think a club like Blackpool winning improbable promotion to the Premier League -- once the euphoria fades away you're left scratching your head Jimmy McNulty-style, "What the f--- do I just do?"
Better yet, think of the U.S. right now in the same situation as a band after a stellar debut or breakthrough album. Remember the used CD bin at the local record store(***) being littered with 99 cent copies of albums like "Purple" by Stone Temple Pilots. Or take the band Bloc Party, which looked destined for big things with catchy, jangly pop songs like the FIFA-riffic "Helicopter" on the album "Silent Alarm", then came "A Weekend In the City" and ... irrelevance.
(***) Kids, once upon a time, we had to get in our cars or walk to an actual store to acquire new music, or find a friend with a good mixtape hookup. ... Oof. Why not just say I rode a dinosaur to school while I'm at it?
The second act in the music business isn't easy. Just go ask the Killers. Better yet, go ask The Stone Roses, who's self-titled debut is lauded as one of Britain's best -- no hyperbole either, that album is insanely good. Their second effort? Stuck in legal/production hell, might as well never even happened.
Even Wu-Tang Clan followed up "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" with the bloated two-disc mess of "Wu-Tang Forever", although not as bloated as Guns 'N Roses "Uses Your Illusion I/II."
Casual U.S. sports fans, on the heels of Wednesday's major moment, want another hit. They might not have the attention span for a flat, off-key elimination. At least, barring a flat, listless defeat the U.S. are probably past the Dana Patrick-type curiosity/pre-fab hype machine barrier. Hardcore fans, on the other hand, realize that there are no givens in the World Cup knockout rounds.
So perhaps if the U.S. is going to emulate anyone ahead of the Ghana match, why not take their cues from Radiohead, which eschewed the follow-up slump, twice.
After lying dormant after the success of the single "Creep" in 1993, Thom Yorke and the boys released the anthem-o-riffic "The Bends" two years later. Then, after the mega-success and blinding critical masturbation over "OK Computer," the band came back with "Kid A," which established a different kind of tone for the band all together, moving them out them even out of the "rock" classification.
Now I'm not saying Donovan needs to develop a lazy eye or that Clint Dempsey needs to bring a Moog-type synthesizer to look downward and stare at on the grass of the Royal Bafokeng like Jonny Greenwood.
The bottom line is that while the late drama over Algeria gave American fans a touchstone World Cup moment, the tournament -- realistically -- is just getting started. Yet there is work left to be done. Don't forget, this was dubbed Group E.A.S.Y. and everyone pretty much assumed the U.S. would get to the place where they are right now.
The U.S. team can't get complacent, or rest of the laurels of what happened in Pretoria. It might be projecting, but much like in the 2002 run to the quarterfinals, the tournament is opening up. The U.S. won't see another "power" team until the semifinals, likely Brazil or the Netherlands.
However it plays out, a rare heroes welcome ... and subsequent talk show visit tour awaits the U.S. on their return.
Don't think any talent bookers, though, would mind if those late-night yuk-fest and early morning gab-fest(****) with Donovan, Jozy Altidore, etc. come a few weeks later in mid-July.
The U.S. would certainly a have a few more "hits" under their belt by then.
(****)Up next on 'The View' Landon Donovan talks break-up, to highlight or not to highlight and puppies!
Ghana-o-rama ... again:
Do the names Haminu Draman or Marcus Merk or Razak Pimpong mean anything to you?
Do you remember the international career of Claudio Reyna coming to an abrupt halt?
Then yeah, you're well aware with the utterly awful U.S. 2-1 loss to Ghana in the final Group E match at the 2006 World Cup, a loss that at least produced Clint Dempsey's first World Cup goal.
No need to re-open those wounds, right?
Without Michael Essien in the midfield the 2010 version of the Black Stars certainly look different. The grizzly bear burliness of Berlin-born madman Kevin-Prince Boateng makes sure of that.
For whatever the reason, the U.S. might have fared better against Germany than Ghana. Crazy, but hear me out.
Germany is Germany. The U.S. knows this. Germany knows this. The U.S. have the ability to frustrate and play to the level of better competition. The longer the U.S. (potentially) kept the Germans at bay, the better the match becomes. Self doubt begins to creep into the minds of Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil -- players who are pumped up by the media and sponsors and expected to become match-winners.
If the U.S. had played Germany, it's a lot easier to predict what the Germans would attempt and how to stop and counter it. Then again, the Germans do have winning in their DNA, which might cancel out anything else.
Yes the Germans are much better technically than Ghana. If the Germans play their game, yes, they could've beaten the U.S. 3-0. From what we've seen recently, the U.S. does better in these matches against traditional powers. It brings out the best in them.
Ghana? There's a lot more of the unknown.
Think of taking a long car trip and you need to pull over to eat. You could go the McDonald's route, you know what you're getting. Or you could take the local greasy spoon, which could serve the world's greatest hot dog, or you could end up with food poisoning.
You just don't know.
That's Ghana, where there's a lot more potential of some seemingly random Black Stars player to pop up from nowhere and knockout the U.S. (Remember, the bigger "name" players on the roster -- Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah -- barely play.)
During the World Cup Bob Bradley has been an excellent game-planner. A team like Ghana presents a challenge in the fact the Black Stars approach is fairly simply and straight forward, they're strong across the field until you get to loan striker Asamoah Gyan -- a hit or miss type who seems to need a lot of chances -- supported by pacey players like Kwadwo Asamoah, André Ayew and Prince Tagoe.
What it boils down to, Ghana doesn't have the club stars of say and England or Germany. What the Black Stars have is a very competent team managed Milovan Rajevac that knows how to play together, know it's strengths and limitations. The fact they made the 2010 African Cup of Nations final provides some tournament toughness. They know what it takes to win in tournament football. Going for 120 minutes with pressure on them shouldn't be an issue.
The U.S. aren't beating Ghana through a psychological approach -- the fact the Black Stars are playing for all of Africa shouldn't be an in-game issue. Nor do I think Bradley can use a Belichick-like tactical approach like he did to bottle up England, where he took away the Three Lions No. 1 gun -- Wayne Rooney -- and watched the rest of the squad fall. Ghana is a team, much less reliant on one player to perform in order to succeed.
No tricks, nothing fancy.
The U.S. has to play well, cut off mistakes and simply get a win by any means necessary.
Other stuff:
* Kevin-Prince Boateng vs. Michael Bradley figures to be heavyweight midfield battle of epic proportions. The undercard of Anthony Annan and (assumingly) Maurice Edu shouldn't be too shabby either.
* Not to jinx anything, but if this goes 120 deadlocked, you've got to favor Tim Howard over Richard Kingson. Then again, penalty kicks are fickle mistresses.
* Kingson might be the Black Stars weak link. U.S. should do whatever they can test him early and often.
* Ghana could possibly line up with a starting central defense of John Mensah and Jonathan Mensah.
* Ghana, and perhaps all of FIFA, seem to have pretty lax standards for what players can use for their names on jerseys. Jonathan Mensah is simply "Jonathan" where KP-Boateng, is now just "Prince." If I ever made it, I'd like "El Duderino" in script lettering, thank you very much.
* It's a topic of conversation, but will the fact Ghana is the only African team to advance going to make that big a difference in Rustenburg, which seems to have become the Americans home away from home between this World Cup and the Confederations Cup? Can't see the crowd being a factor at this stage, especially in a stadium with a running track.
* Both Ghana World Cup goals have come from penalty kicks, which either means they're a) lucky b) can't score or c) due for a goal in the run of play.
* Perhaps Ghana's Amsterdam-born winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie could call and give Freddy Adu a pep talk. Quincy was at Arsenal from 2003-06, only playing five times for the Gunners. He eventually left for Spartak Moscow, which proceeded to loan him out four times, including to Portsmouth last year. He's now signed up for Al-Sadd in Qatar. Oh right, he's still only 23.
* Your match official is Hungarian Viktor Kassai. If the U.S. has another good goal waved off, I might even be done with the World Cup.
* Big thing to watch is how Bradley the Elder handles substitutions over a possibly 120 minutes. Wonder how fit the U.S. is in the wake of the Algeria game. A three day turnaround does leave a lot of time to recharge the batteries. Hope the team isn't in line for an emotional letdown.
* Two thoughts from the seemingly endless slew of U.S. fan reactions to the Donovan goal 1) They weren't sausage parties. There were actually women in a lot of the videos, which is always nice to see. 2) Who exactly was filming these, especially the time lapse cameras? Nobody could have predicted that moment. Not complaining, just seems odd people would film themselves in this situation.
* Can't see either side sitting back in this one. Figures to be point, counter-point for 90 minutes. Ghana vs. Germany was very open. This game might boil down to finishing. Both teams haven't been all that sharp in the final third. Kwadwo Asamoah had a couple long-range rocket attempts vs. Australia. Another week with the Jabulani and maybe he gets the targeting down.
* Unrelated, but due to ESPN's non-stop pimping of the movie "Knight & Day" I've taken all the Muse off of my iPod as a sign of protest. My Lou Gehrig non-movie streak isn't ending there. "Predators"? Maybe.
* Always fun to go back int your archives. This is the first thing I wrote about the USMNT back in January. Take it with a grain of salt.
Lineup guess:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo -- Bocanegra -- DeMerit -- Bornstein (gulp)
MID -- Dempsey -- Bradley -- Edu -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Findley
Explanation: Guess Bradley could go back to Oguchi Onyewu, but why risk it. For whatever the reason, Bocanegra seems more at ease with the U.S. playing in the middle. Bradley made the tough decision to sit Onyewu, don't second guess it. ... Since neither Herculez Gomez or Edson Buddle produced vs. Algeria, figure Findley is back for the speed option at the top to pair with Altidore.
Final thought:
Ian Darke is behind the mic for Saturday. Would you believe it if I told you he was behind the mic when the U.S. stunned Portugal 3-2 in the 2002 World Cup? Here's the video evidence.
That's as good an omen as I can find.
Go Go U.S.A. 1, Ghana 0
Labels: 2010 world cup, bob bradley, ghana, Landon Donovan, Soccer, USMNT
Bradley has some interesting decisions to make for this next one. At least after the Algeria game we know he is not afraid to make some big decisions, like sitting Gooch, playing Bornstein, and making changes to go for it.
I think though he comes back with Gooch here. Big body in the middle to man mark the one Ghana lone striker, beat him up and wear him down, and to clear balls sent in from crosses. Plus he is fully rested. Major plus.
Which brings me to the forwards and midfield. I think Bradley needs to think outside the box here. Sit Donovan for the first 45 to 60 if you can for a fresh winger to run at a tired Ghana defense, and then bring on a non tired Donovan for the rest of the game. Donovan was really a non-factor in that 2nd half, and I wonder how his legs are. A fresher Donovan for the latter half of the game is better then one running on fumes during potential extra time and for PKs. Maybe do the same with Dempsey. Holden and DMB are ready to go, wear them out for 45.Crazy, I know. But Ghana spent alot of time on defense against Germany, while we spent alot of time on the attack. Fresh vs. Tried, i go with fresh for as long as I can.
Gotta put Findlay back in, see if he can get behind the defense, or at least Gomez up front for some pace. Though Dempsey up top wouldn't surprise me, neither would sitting him for the same reason as Donovan.
Any guesses on the 4 PK guys after Donovan? I would say Dempsey, Bradley, Benny F, Boca.
@MichaelB
...not the craziest idea of all time, regarding sitting Donovan.
In theory, it makes sense. Unleashing a fresher player for the second half on a tire team would work ... except when said player is your best overall player.
In reality? Not sure Bradley has that much guts to do something that unconventional.
If the U.S. were a team like Argentina/Germany/etc. where you had more quality behind Donovan, yeah, risk it.
Suppose the U.S. is down 1-0 or 2-0 at the half? It might be too late.
As it stands does this team know how to function without Donovan on the field?
I'll admit, this is something that never crossed my mind, so I'll give you credit for that.
I know what your saying. But what happens if we are down 1-0 and Dempsey and Donovan are dead out their? Its a no win situation either way. Would you rather pull Dempsey for Benny or Benny for Dempsey?
But I would think for 45 minutes we could get away with the bench. Its not going to happen, I know this, but it would be out of the box, and would get me super pumped to see fresh legs out there to start the game, especially a kid like Holden who has only gotten a sniff so far. His energy level would be off the charts.
Nice thing is, if they can get through this game, 6 days off until the next.
No offense but leaving Donovan on the bench is not a good idea. Donovan wasn't out of gas against Algeria, he was targeted with several players around him. They took him out of the game.
I really hope that Bradley sticks with Gomez up front instead of Findley. Gomez did something that our forwards all too often fail to do, shoot when given the chance. I questioned his substitution at the time but Gomez has said that he was gassed at the half.
I don't mind using Bornstein in this game if he can just keep it simple. Ghana have some speed on the outside but lack the ability to really do anything with it. At least with Bornstein we should have someone who can keep up with them. I would prefer that he doesn't play but he's the guy that's here (still would prefer Castillo in this position or even that kid Lichaj at Villa).
Speaking of Adu, it must drive him crazy that in the past two world cups the countries that he could have played for have faced off. He sits at home and they play without him.
Great stuff, Mike. Loved loved loved the Stone Roses reference. I remember buying the Second Coming and racing home to listen to it. After three listens I started weeping because of how long I had to wait, and how much it sucked. That first Stone Roses album was all kinds of win.
@Michael B -- I actually could see that move being brilliant, especially if we go into extras. I could see LD running rampant in the ET 30 (is it golden goal/sudden deat, by the way? or is it "silver goal"/you get to play out the ET half?) However, it also smacks of Belicheckian-cheekiness. If Uncle Bob pulls that move, then I really don't know who that guy is.
I hate how everyone is saying "we've got the best draw" -- I'm sorry, but there are no easies in the Knockout 16, and USMNT is just way too unpredictable. All I know is that we can run the full 90 (120) and Timmay is tick-tock, but outside of that, I got no idea if we're gonna finish, or if our backline is gonna get Reyna'd, or if we can string 3 straight passes in a row.
I'm still holding out for the 4-5-1 and Disco Stu getting some run. I also think you go Gooch just because he's tough, and he's well rested. Plus, Edu can cover for him in the back just in case.
I don't know about tomorrow. I'm still buzzing in the afterglow of the Algeria win, so it's hard for me to be stuck in the past in my mental model of the US team.
interesting to note:
since 1970 (last 10 tournaments), the later stages of the world cup have been dominated by 3-to-6 teams. of the 40 possible semi-final spots, brazil/italy/germany had 19; argentina/france/netherlands had another 10. nearly 75% (29/40) of all the semi-finalists have come from these six traditional powers.
(10 other countries combined for the other 11 berths; poland ?! is the only one of those with 2 appearances.)
this year 2 of these powers have already gone home. with the other 4 set to match up in the QFs (arg/ger, bra/neth), we are assured of having (at least) two non-"traditional power" countries in the final four.
in other words, this is one of the more open world cups of the "modern" era.
I kinda wondered about the whole Gooch benching. Had to be one of two scenarios:
1) The Elder determined Gooch just wasn't all the way back and continuing to depend on him became a liability. Could argue that both Slovenia goals came about because of Gooch's lack of close down ability. Maybe counting on him for this go round was just a case of too much/too soon after the injury.
2) Gooch is just fine but he, given the recent injury and perhaps lack of fitness, just really needed the break. Perhaps this was just a calculated gamble by The Elder to spare Gooch the challenge of playing two games on two days' rest.
We'll find out soon enough which one. Although neither of these rule out the possibility of him as a defensive sub in game where were protecting a lead.
@macarthur31: "Having the best draw" doesn't mean favorite to get to the semifinals. It simply means the team has a realistic chance to get there. Frankly, I think Uruguay would be the favorite to get to the semis right now, but all of those teams (even South Korea) have to feel pretty good about where they stand. All four of those teams have two winnable games.
In the meantime, England will play Germany and (with all due respect to Mexico) probably Argentina. A team that was considered one of the three to five favorites two weeks ago has left itself a brutal draw. Mexico would arguably be the best team in the American's draw, but is pretty clearly the worst team in the draw they received.
I mentioned this earlier, but how much of Bornstein's quality play was him and how much of it was a very, very poor Algerian offense. The backline is going to be a problem regardless of what Bradley does, but playing Bornstein (and possibly Gooch) is just inviting trouble and the increased opportunity for crunching tackles and red cards. I'm not a believer in the "US gets intentionally screwed" commentary like most seem to be, but it's going to feel like a home game for Ghana. Why set the table for a borderline call that should be a yellow, but ends up being a red or the tough PK call that maybe could have been let go? I might take my chance with Spector back there.
I would love to see the US come out in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 with Holden or Torres in there alongside Bradley and Edu. I don't think Coach Sweats will change it up for that though. Too bad because I feel like our midfield depth is much greater than our striking depth.
Listening to Healy and Mustoe talk about the Uruguayan defense is hilarious. They keep comparing them to Inter Milan's defense and talking about how great they were to not concede a goal in a group that consisted of South Africa, a ridiculous French team and a Mexican side that started Blanco. You would think that the Uruguayan defense was made up of Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Paolo Maldini and Baresi after listening to them.
Come on, man. The first half of "A Weekend in the City" is pretty awesome. And "Ion Square" might be the best song they've done.
And "Purple" was STP's "Pinkerton" two years ahead of time.