Dynamo v. Sounders - 23-Aug-2009

Appears the Dynamo are at full strength for this one, which begs the question... why is Wade Barrett starting over Andrew Hainault? As I type that, Barrett clears a ball off the line saving a goal. Of course, perhaps Barrett could have been in better position to begin with making the Onstad save and subsequent clearance off the line unnecessary? Some nice combination play but the Dynamo should be looking better. Perhaps we will get the chance to see the Dynamo's first designated player - Landin. There has been a clear drop off this year after Kamara and Ching.

Wow. Cochrane, under no pressure plays a ball directly to Seattle. Then he clears the ball in our end and gets wiped out. That's karma. Try to keep the bad passes to a minimum.

Not sure why Barrett bothered to slide at Ljunberg. Ouch. Ljunberg may be up in age but he's still "fast" for MLS.

I'll keep posting as the game goes on.

The Febacle

5-0 is not a pretty picture; it doesn't matter how you want to paint it. Vela and dos Santos came through and provided a level of speed and skill that has been missing and for which the US had no answer. Bradley showed one recurring trait that is beginning to look like his biggest downfall - an inability to make changes during the flow of the game to counter what is happening on the field in real time.  The US' poor showing is not too surprising given that extra time was needed to put away Panama in the QF and that a last second goal was needed to TIE HAITI. 

The first half was relatively tame, with the US and Mexico each looking comparable in their inability to take control or capitalize on any (few as they were) chances. The best chance for the US was a shot by Holden from about 25 out (somewhat similar to the Haiti game, but without the intended results).

Where to start? How about the line-up:

• GK: Perkins - Could have done better on a couple, but realistically he was asked to take a long walk off a short pier.
  
• LD: Pearce - Ah yes, this is the Heath Pearce we remember. He was like bizarro Superman as his crosses are not capable of leaping a tall building much less the first defender in its path. (Except for the crosses that go 25-75 yards past the target.)  Bocanegra may well solidify the left back position (I have been advocating this for sometime in the spirit of getting as many of your best players on the field at the same time) by simply not playing and let others play themselves out of contention.
  
• CD: Goodson - Not a complete bozo. If he's getting minutes in a meaningful game in the near future it's probably not a good sign.
  
• CD: Marshall - See Goodson.
  
• RD: Heaps - If there is one inalienable truth to playing in CONCACAF it is that marginal players can be made to look adequate playing against inferior competition. As I have said on this blog before, Heaps was getting his first cap with the US this tournament at the spry age of 32 (an age I am quite familiar with myself). What exactly is the point? Are we looking to bring an undersized nonathletic aging defender into the MNT camp for some reason? As long as the decision is not him or Wade "Peg" Barrett for one of the outside back spots.
  
• LM: Rogers - If someone can tell me what the big deal is I would love to hear it. Much of what has been said about Heaps applies to Rogers. Looks good against low level competition and like a small child playing his dad against a quality team. (I personally thought Sal Zisso looked better at outside midfield during the 2007 FIFA U-20 WC... where's that guy? Trying his hand and failing so far in Europe. Get it together Sal.) I have no doubt that Rogers could use his stutter move to go flying by cones in practice (although his crosses would still likely go out of bounds, behind the goal or probably get batted down by the top of the cone), but 1 move will not consistently work against a quality team. Please learn a counter move. Yes, that means you will likely have to learn to use your right foot. Amazingly international class defenders are able to defend a player who goes to one side all the time. Hope is not lost, he's young and for him I hope this experience has been beneficial and will be something he can build on.
  
• CM: Pause - He was on the field? Really? You mean the sidelines or as the 4th referee? Really, on the field and playing? Certainly don't remember. 
  
• CM: Bekerman - Well hello Pablo jr. Not capable of being the "guy" in the center of the park and providing the outlet player the US was desperately needing to rely on as Mexico was gaining momentum.
  
• RM: Holden - Just a disappointment. Finally starting to garner some respect, and he through it away. I'm more optimistic with Holden than Rogers as Holden does not rely on a single trait to be successful offensively. He seems to have better awareness on the field and moves the ball quickly. That said, he, like much of the US, needs to learn to be more careful with the ball. It's one thing to lose the ball while being aggressive on offense; it's a very different thing to seem to lose the ball due to carelessness.
  
• F: Ching - As always, a good effort. Not much in the way of results. I really believe that Ching will be just as successful at any level that he plays at. His game on the ground is a non-factor. His game in the air is very good. I truly believe he could play in HFA on my old team or in La Liga (ok maybe not) and achieve the same results as he does with the US MNT and Dynamo. He would be bound to score a few goals off set plays. The biggest difference would be the qualify of balls he might be the recipient of.
  
• F: Arnaud - Like Heaps, what's the point? He's not young (he doesn't look like he is anyway). I don't think Bradley can honestly try to convince anyone that he's looking at Arnaud to fill a meaningful role in the WC 2010 campaign.  Is Eddie Johnson alive? When both were at KC, Johnson was the clear winner. That should be a starting point right there. Johnson is not in the MNT plans right now.
  
• Sub1: Cooper - He's better than Conor Casey. I would like to see him become a better target player. They guy's a beast, but seems to only want to play a finesse game. If he had Ching's personality he would be a force.
  
• Sub2: Quaranta - A freaking pendulum. Terrible, fantastic, terrible, fantastic, ...
  
• Sub3: Cronin - Incomplete. 
  
• Onyewu - Didn't play with the US, but did play for Milan against Inter. I hope he does get some playing time over there. He has looked very shaky in his few games so far. Maybe he just had the stink of the US MNT on him. Either way, what the US cannot afford is another key player going to a team in Europe and not seeing regular playing time. That said, I think this will be a good experience for him and hopefully increase his on the ball defending against world class players.

That's it for now. It's late. I need to get back to working. Maybe a Part II later, a look back at the whole tournament (there were some positives and bright spots for everyone, although I'm having trouble recalling what they were right now), or a forward looking discussion to the rematch on Aug. 12th. Maybe a discussion about who wasn't there, the new candidates for the US team due to FIFA's rules (hi there Jermaine Jones, hi there), why Bob Bradley hates Torres (please explain then), etc.

Open Cup - Dynamo v. Sounders - 7/22/09

One word...terrible. Terrible that the only broadcast was a crappy feeder from SoundersFC.com. Terrible that the Dynamo squandered a late 1-0 lead. Terrible also best describes about half the guys who played tonight.

Seattle put out their full squad while the Dynamo continued with their "tourney" squad. An early Akinbiyi goal almost was enough, but the Sounders finally capitalized on their 4056th chance on the second half as Jaqua (remember him??) put away the 344th shot Seattle had inside the Dynamo 6 yard box.

Overtime was even less productive for the Dynamo as it only took minutes for the Sounders to go up 2-1 on another lapse of defense and yet another shot from inside the 6 yard box. Even when Seattle went down to 10 men with about 10 minutes left, the Dynamo could only muster a handful of even mildly promising chances.

Single bright spot - Tally Hall. Hall showed that the future between the pipes is pretty promising in the post-Onstad era.

Lets hope that coming home and playing a game back at Robinson Field on Saturday will help the Dynamo get back on track. Still no Ching or Holden, but the Dynamo are getting healthier for the 2nd half of the MLS season.

MLS All Star Game - Cameron and Holden to start

Geoff Cameron (bizarro brother to Kirk?) and Stuart Holden have been named starters for the upcoming MLS All Star game. Both are deserving. Cameron has found a home in the back of the D (ability to pass, dribble, win the ball in the air, be physical, be in position, etc.) and Holden is finally getting the opportunity to play consistent minutes, which if you saw him before this year you knew was all that was needed.  He stands out as one of the few (er, only) players to look to move the ball quickly and not require numerous touches to settle the ball before considering what to do with it. 

(Great shot btw in the Haiti game, I mean, if that game happened at all b/c I refuse to acknowledge it. Because a tie against Haiti at home would be a complete embarrassment. Why would Jay Heaps, at 32 years old, with no discernible skill, get his first cap? Is he a fine wine? Was the idea that he had become better with age? Was Bob Bradley trying to find a left back under 5' 5" to play when he plays Cherundolo? Or, was he trying to find one to play when he doesn't play Cherundolo so as to ensure the team is vulnerable to balls in the air at at least one place in the back? Bradley was on the staff for the WC 2006 game against the Czech Republic... but I digress, b/c that game did not ever happen.)

For the most part, I'm OK with the team. A few question marks, but some of that has to do with the MLS (e.g., why is Casey scoring goals in MLS? Is he capable of moving? If you saw Casey in the Confederations Cup this unfortunately this highlights the gap the MLS needs to cover to be a more competitive league with those in Europe). I'm a little concerned that Kinnear gets to pick 5 more players as he has some favorites on the Dynamo team. Not my favorites. I'm not sure they're anyone else's anythings. In any event, I think he would have a hard time not selecting them out of what I can only believe to be habit (based on performance results).

Dynamo v Sounders - 11-July-2009

First of all, special thanks to KHOU channel 11 for inventing a channel (11-2) that does not exist anywhere. Apparently Comcast is the only TV provider that is Comcastic enough to have space for 11-2. After going to three sports bars in the Rice Military area, all of which questioned whether the channel even existed), I was forced to head to Target to pick up a nice set of rabbit ears from Phillips. It included HD, so the $13 is really an investment for additional Dynamo games on old 11-2. The best surprise waited for me until I got home to find that 11-2 broadcasts in 480i (baby HDTV), yet the Dynamo game was in a grainy, Fox Sports-ish picture. Oh well, better than nothing.

So, back to the game. I caught the first 13 minutes on radio (AM 790) and it was clear the Dynamo were succeeding despite a very green lineup. Glenn Davis's favorite observation of the day was how the Dynamo were playing without 8 (or 7, or 5, or 4, it changed a lot) starters. Either way, the defense (Chabala, James, Mulrooney, Waibel) were up to the challenge and hold the Sounders back. Meanwhile a nice setup from Mullan gave Davis a point blank shot that he buried in the low right netting, 1-0 Dynamo.

It was then that I entered in Target and spent 7 minutes acquiring a video source for the game. A phone call took up my ride home, but I had full picture by the 38th minute. Unfortunately, I missed the most controversial play of the game, the first Sounders goal. The halftime highlights provided that whoever was broadcasting the game was clearly using HandyCams and picture phones. If this game were on ESPN, not only would it have been in HD (as well as shown at BW3s, The Tavern, and the new Sawyer Park on Washington), but they would have had definitive video that the ball never went over the line. Terrible call by an out of position linesman, but the halftime score was 1-1 nonetheless.

The second half started off disastrous. With mere seconds ticked off the clock, Onstad sloppily clears a through ball for a corner. Glenn Davis was a little hard on Onstad on the commentary as he HAD cleared a ball the defender should have played, but a corner was surrendered either way. A well fed ball by Ljungberg accompanied by a Mullan absolutely freezing in the box lead to Patric Ianni making an improbable flip of his head for the goal. Not the way to start the half.

The next 15 minutes showed that the Dynamo's current lineup was not going anywhere, so Kinnear looked toward the bench. First Cruz was put in for Mullan who looked nicked up and slow in the first 15 minutes of that half. Not sure if he was injured in the locker room or not, but he was a good person to replace. Cruz immediately showed his speed and aggressive dribbling blowing by and drawing a card on one of his first touches.

A few minutes later, Chabala found himself with a lower leg issue and Eric Ustruck found himself on the field. Being the first 30 minutes I have seen him play against top talent, Ustruck played very well especially when he is listed as a forward. Akinbiyi became the final sub in the 64th minute coming in for a quickly slowing Oduro.

Slowing would pretty much sum up the last 30 minutes of the game for the Dynamo. Brad Davis can only play center midfield for 60 minutes before he becomes very worthless. The easiest demonstration of this was visible when Davis continuously found himself behind offensive breaks in the latter stages of the game when the Dynamo had to score.

The Sounders on the other hand continued to take advantage of counter attacks, mainly though Montero and Ljungberg, but they too were unable to crack the net in the final stages of the match. In the end, a few chances by Kamara and one hopefully chance from Akinbiyi was all the Dynamo could muster. The two young subs, Cruz and Ustruck both showed they deserve to see more minutes, especially while Ching, Holden, and Hainault (please don't take Ricardo too Bob Bradley!!) are away at the Gold Cup.

Tough to give out grades for a game I only saw 50+ minutes of, but hey, its my blog.

Kamara = B- (could have done a better job holding the ball up in the front third, never capitalized 1-on-1 chances)
Oduro = B (showed he could run past Ianni or anyone else, show have been playing outside instead of forward)
Ashe = D (he was out there? looked short, slow, and very timid. Isn't he the young guy with the experience?)
Davis = A-/D (tale of two halves. First have deserves an A effort, but it tired him out for the second half and was non-existent)
Clark - B (kept the Sounders from extending the lead in the second half, but didnt factor in the offense. Was probably wondering why Davis was standing next to him the whole second half)
Mullan - B- (got tired quick, must have picked up an injury or something. Played a good first half and set up the goal. Should have cleared the ball off the line on the Sounders second goal)
Waibel B (didnt do anything great, but played the solid defense he is known for)
Mulrooney B (found it crowded around him in the midfield with Davis struggling to get forward. Probably was wishing to see Holden run out on the field at some point to give him someone to pass to)
James B- (very tentative at times, but looked a lot better than his early session performances. Has the skills and speed to handle the back...but I cant wait to have Boswell and Cameron back!)
Chabala C+ (didnt look nearly as terrible as in prior games, but still doesnt seem to pass the ball well over 5 yards and he better look behind him because Ustruck looked really good)
Onstad B (made a save or two, but made a mistake or two too)

Subs
Cruz B- (fast, really fast but made some terrible shot selections and seems to have the same problem as every other outside half where they can not get any air on a cross from the side)
Ustruck B (give this kid some more time)
Akinbiyi C+ (looks like he needs time to lean on a guy all game and then make a move or two. Made Ianni look bad once, but hey, its Ianni)

Kinnear A- (did the best he could missing Ching, Holden, Cameron, Boswell, Robinson, Hainault, and Weaver. Notice a left off Barrett, that was on purpose)

Good news is that the Dynamo will be right back in Seattle on 7/21 to avenge the loss and Toronto better be ready next week when at least a few of the guys will be back in action.

Gold Cup: 9-Jul-2009

I enjoyed the always pleasurable experience of attending a soccer game at little or no cost to myself. This time, courtesy of Alison. Thanks Alison. Also in attendance was Kejuan who drove and shelled out $20 for parking. (I hit him back at least in part with a moderately priced $8.50 Bud Light...) I'll be honest, this post would have been better if I was writing it at 12:15 am this morning when I finally got home. For all of my blogging fans, don't worry... perhaps a running diary of the US - Haiti game is to come. Oh wait, Haiti's supposed best player plays in the USL. I still promise to give you player ratings, point out things like how the US doesn't have a left back who can get a cross on target, question all the moves the coach makes, etc. 

Game 1: Guadeloupe vs. Nicaragua - not much to report. I spent most of my time on my BlackJack looking up Guadeloupe on Wikipedia. Here's the run down, technically it's part of France, it's north of St. Lucia, and it's population is smaller than Austin. Fairly impressive team all things considered.  I don't know much else about it. 

The game itself was not entertaining. Not exactly Battle of the Titans. Guadeloupe won 2-0 with the Guadeloupe cheering section conveniently located in the first 2 rows of our section. Their fans celebrated in what I can best describe as the equivalent of the Soulja Boy dance. Except instead of piping in music to dance to they were singing. Quite a treat.

Game 2: Mexico vs. Panama - much better teams and for the first 70 minutes what looked to be a very good game. Panama had a clear size advantage and appeared to be the more athletic team while Mexico was much more technical.  However, with the cards piling up (not sure what brought on the shove to the face of Mexico's coach, but my guess is that the guy for Panama has an anger management problem or the coach for Mexico had it coming) things spiraled out of control. Once this happened, the fans for Mexico (I know it's the idiot few that ruin it for the whole, but still the fact remains that they do ruin it for everyone else...) stepped up and showed a lot of class. This included stopping the game repeatedly as they threw popcorn, drinks and whatever else they could find onto the field and ideally / frequently directly at players for Panama (such as when they were being taken off, leaving the field, getting near the sideline). Very classy. Really, the part that is the most irritating is that it's the actions of these bozos that will probably result in Houston no longer being seriously considered as a site for future international soccer games; at the least diminishing the city's chances.  If the US is fortunate enough to host another WC in my lifetime, I don't see any reason the US federation or FIFA would select Houston. It used to be a large soccer supporting fan base comprised with lots of transplants from our neighbors to the south would work in Houston's favor - now that seems to me to be what will work against it. All told...

Thanks! Just so you know, buying a ticket to the game doesn't actually entitle you to throw stuff on the field. I hope you were recorded for posterity so that your family (children, grand parents, etc.) can celebrate you. I would expect that this will most likely be by refusing to be seen in public with you. Please move to Detroit where this sort of behavior is deemed more appropriate. Man, if only Ron Artest played for Panama...

Welcome to our new Blog

Expecting lots of followers...no.
Expecting to change the world of US Soccer...no.
Expecting to entertain ourselves greatly...bingo.

Welcome to the new US Men's Soccer 101 blog discussing the ins and outs of the US National Team, MLS, and all things that could possibly be related to soccer (or maybe not).

Stay tune for expert commentary for two (and possibly more to come) of the most knowledgeable amateur experts in the game of soccer, football, and futbol. I hope you enjoy your visit here. If so, link to the RSS feed to receive blog update notifications.

Technology is AWESOME!