USSoccer

HOW THE F IS THAT NOT A CARD

Come on, now, Clint. Score and be the hero

Score here, maybe get another before half

Come on, Captain PK

If the Mexican ref doesn't give a PK here I"m going to snap

I'm so pissed at Clint for that giveaway, because some guys are actually playing well and I can't be happy about it.

THATS A PK

Are these idiots going to start time wasting in the 35th minute??

Golden chance for a volley there, Conor.

I love the fact we traded money for a road game against a side that travels well.

So we're down a goal without any center mids worth mentioning on the field...

Just TERRIBLE service from Donovan. Again.

The game in Chicago is a perfect example of how broken the USSF is.

-Clint, stop dribbling in the center -Where the F are the twin destroyers?

Bradley is going to get fired if they lose tonight.

Clint needs to wake up or be benched.

AWFUL by Dempsey. AWFUL

Have I mentioned how happy I am that Beasley isn't starting??

Always awesome to be outnumbered 70-30 at home...and yes i'm aware that I'm not there.

Ugh. Lalas talking about the opinions of his team mates back in the day is lol-y. Our B team now would beat those guys 8-0. Work rate and effort isn't the problem.

Back to tonight's game.... I am at home, since I thought that a 2.9 year old in the rain wouldn't be a great idea. However...tonight's lineup is a really good example of why Bob Bradley isn't an international-caliber coach: -Starting a player like Conor Casey, who is in great MLS form, but who is a player who thrives on service into the box, however, we have: -Donovan and Dempsey on the wings. Not only are those two guys not actually wingers, neither one is particularly good at crossing the ball-Dempsey in particular. They are actually guys who need decent service from the center mids and the back four to be effective. So, you start: -Clark and Mastroeni in the middle. Twin destroyers. Mastro has 0 goals and 2 assists in 60-odd caps. Clark has like 1 goal. Nether one of them could be called creative, offensive minded mids in any sense of the word. So, on the bench, we DON'T have: -Torres and Adu. At least we're starting actual defenders tonight.

FIFA rankings are horribly flawed. The ELO rankings have us in the mid 20's, which is about correct. As far as a top 50 player, Tim Howard might make that list if you allow for GK's. No field player would make the top 100, sadly. It seems pretty disjointed that a team in the top 25 of the world wouldn't have one guy who you'd say was at least approaching a world class level. See my edit. I went a little more specific the second time around.

FIFA rankings are horribly flawed. The ELO rankings have us in the mid 20's, which is about correct. As far as a top 50 player, Tim Howard might make that list if you allow for GK's. No field player would make the top 100, sadly. Also, you have to somehow weigh that subjective list for club v country. For example, Dempsey plays much better for Fulham than the USMNT. Is it because of tactics? His team mates? Coaching? Donovan has top 100 talent, but is missing any sort of competitive fire (he's my least favorite player on the 'Nats of any consequence) and has been a failure in Europe all three times he's been there. Altidore and Bradley might well be a top 50/100 guys in a year or two. Adu has top 50 talent but can't see the field anywhere, and the reasons for that might be anything from attitude to the clubs he's been at. There's also a difference in performance from those who went through the USSF's developmental system in Bradenton and those who did not. As a general rule, those who didn't (Torres, Sacha, Benny, Jozy, and Dempsey) all are technically superior players when compared to their peers who went through Bradenton (Eddie Johnson, DMB, Donovan, Gooch, and a host of guys you will never, ever hear from). The USSF has a horrid developmental system that's skewed towards upper middle class kids, ignored technical ability in favor of measurables, and discourages individual flair in favor of effort and workrate. What's worse is that when the players reach the senior Nat level, the USSF seems to favor "their guys" when it comes to callups and such. A player from outside that development system has to work twice as hard to break through and is less likely to get a second chance should he fail to impress in a camp or match. Until that changes, we'll be stuck in the third tier of soccer nations.

Word on the street is that we're back to the empty bucket. Casey and Jozy LD and CD Clark and Mastro Specs Boca Gooch Bornstein And even better, Torres and Adu not in the 18...which means if we go down a goal we're so boned.

Sacha isn't suspended for the game after all. I think you'll see this: Altidore Davies Donovan Sacha Mastro Dempsey Spector Boca Gooch Bornstein Hejduk is still out, supposedly, so Spector almost has to start, and one would think Bradley would not start the rotting corpse of DMB again, although I suppose you could see him slide back up to LM and Donovan slot in up front in place of Davies. I also suppose you could see Torres supplant Clint on the wing, and Benny in place of Mastro. I'd love to see Adu in place of Davies in that withdrawn role, but I doubt it would happen. I'd REALLY love to move Boca out to the LB spot, where he was playing at Rennes all year, and then put Spector in the center, but that won't happen as long as Bradley is the coach. Given that this game is an absolute, must win game in every sense of the word, Bradley will probably not screw around and play the safest lineup possible. With how good Honduras are in the attack, we need actual defenders on the back line.