Thanks For Playing

The US lost again and are essentially out of the Confed Cup. Brazil stomped on the US for a commanding 3-0 victory. It was a comprehensive beating that confirmed things beyond the score. The current American squad is inadequate in many ways and in need of a major overhaul. In the 4 games the US has played since the end of the European club season it has lost 3, compiled a goal differential of minus-6, and scored 1 (one) goal in open play. There is no end to the things that need to change to avoid embarrassment at next summer's World Cup, but here are three broad areas that need improvement:

1, Heart. I am generally not a fan of saying things like "they just don't want it" and extolling "grit" and "commitment" as things that matter more than skill, but it is undeniable the US team has lacked the required tenacity to compete on this level. Every time they go down early, and they have allowed the first goal in the opening 20 minutes 3 of their last 4 games, you see heads drop and shoulders slump and a general defeatedness infect the team. If you contrast the body English of the Americans with that of the Egyptians, who played today's later game and beat Italy, it is like night and day. You could tell the Egyptians would do anything to defend the shirt and poured their heart into every tackle, every ball, every run. The US have never been a powerhouse but earlier editions of this squad showed dedication for beyond what we have seen at the Confed Cup.

2, Details. This is going to sound obvious but the skill level of the current squad is not good enough. There were at least six times a Brazilian straight up took the ball off the foot of an American player. The most egregious was clearly Lucio's mugging of Altidore, one of the more embarrassing things I have seen at a tournament of this level, but there were others. American tackling is also shoddy as evidenced by two red cards in two games (I think today's was a bit harsh) and for a team that plays three forwards their paucity of goals says it all about touch in the box. There needs to be more focus on honing and maintaining basic skills.

3, The coach. I thought Bradley was the right guy for the job but I was wrong. The Costa Rica game raised some questions, but these two last games have exposed him. He is really not fit to lead a team at this level. Maybe he is a good motivator and administrator but his squad selection and formations are wrong and he is so tactically guileless the team's only chance to win is having everything break their way. His explanation that certain players didn't play because of a lack of regular playing time at their clubs was negated by his inexplicable inclusion of DeMarcus Beasley in the starting eleven. If the US want to turn it around, he has to go.

That said, a more likely scenario is something like this: The US lose to Egypt but show a little more than in the first two games. Then they return home and win the sham tournament that is the Gold Cup and everyone forgets about how bad they looked at the Confed Cup so Bradley stays on. They do enough to qualify for the World Cup and a year from now we see them same list of excuses (the refs hate us! our players are tired from long seasons!) when we grind out a draw and two losses in three group stage matches. Before people get carried away with the Gold Cup and inevitable "hard fought" victory over Mexico in the final keep in mind that the US shares a group with Honduras, Haiti, and Granada. Walloping these teams doesn't mean the problems exposed in South Africa have been fixed.

I don't know who should be the next coach but I know there are three things he must have to succeed. He needs to accept that certain players like Beasley and Mastroeni are beyond their prime or in bad form or simply not a good fit for this team and leave them out of the squad. He needs communicate to the European based players that they are not superstars and have to work and play as a team (specifically Dempsey who for some reason thinks he is Ronaldinho circa 2005 every time he pulls on the US National Team shirt with directionless flicks and useless back-heels). And he needs to have competitive tactical knowledge and the ability to adapt to changing realities on the field. Dick Advocaat would have been a good choice but he took the Belgium job. SGE is intriguing although I have a feeling he is waiting for a club in Europe. Bora Milutinovic is probably going to be looking for a job since Iraq are out of WC qualifying and seriously, do you want to coach Iraq?