Ok, so the title is a poor attempt at referencing a bad 90's song by Paula Abdul, with a cartoon cat. Yet, the overall idea is what I'm getting at in regards to the U.S. soccer team. After an uninspired group phase of the Gold Cup, the Americans seemed to get things rolling a little bit in the knockout round. Wins over Jamaica and Panama, though poorly played, seemed like the U.S. was getting things on track. Then the final against Mexico. Granted, these two are rivals on the same level as Kansas vs Missouri. They hate each other, the games are often chippy and sometimes downright overly physical, you can usually throw out the record books when they play each other and like Kansas/Missouri, despite the ferocity and passion of the rivalry, nobody outside of the rivalry thinks much of it.
In recent years, it seemed as though the U.S. had supplanted their southern neighbors as the top team in CONCACAF. The Americans were picking up wins against teams like Brazil and Spain in buildups to World Cups. The Americans were improving and making strides towards being an actual legitimate player on the world stage. The Mexicans were struggling to keep up amid aging players and a coaching carousel that reeked of low tier levels. Early on in the qualifying for the '10 World Cup, it was even a possibility that El Tri might miss the tournament. How quickly things can turn.
Despite an early setback of five top players being suspended from the team for testing positive for a banned substance (once again attributed to "tainted meat"), the Mexicans rallied themselves and pole-vaulted the Americans as the top team in the region. Not only the they recover from a 2-0 deficit in the Gold Cup final, they made it look as though the U.S. was the old man of the region. One too weak and feeble to match the speed and skill of a youth as it runs circles around its elder. Don't get me wrong, the U.S. had chances that it could not capitalize on. Clint Dempsey cracked a good shot off the crossbar. Goodson put a deflection just wide of the near post. Michael Bradley smashed a one timer that curled just wide of the upright. Yet despite all the good that came, there was double the bad.
The U.S. defense looked sluggish, slow, out of shape and unaware of their surroundings. Time and time again the Mexican attack found holes in behind the back line of the Americans. Injuries are a part of sports and though the loss of Steve Cherundolo was a serious blow, by this stage in the game, the U.S. has got to have more depth at every position to be able to absorb such a hit. Obviously this is not the case. Jonathan Bornstein is not a bad player, but you have to question his ability to be a national team player when he could not keep up with the speed of his marks. The U.S. defense was constantly sprinting towards their own goal. This cannot be the case as often as it was against Mexico.
Quite frankly, as poorly as the American defense played in the Gold Cup final, one wonders if the youth push came too quickly. Personally, I'd rather have an aged yet still speedy Frankie Hejduk guarding the flanks with his quickness and tenacity than the players I saw on the field today. What happened to the staple of the U.S. team? Defense and goaltending used to be the one thing the Americans didn't have to worry about. Marcelo Balboa and Alexi Lalas and Frankie Hejduk and Jeff Agoos and even defensive midfielders like Thomas Dooley didn't necessarily have the skill of today's players but they knew how to mark and knew how to defend their back third.
What's disappointing is that Mexico, as a team, is really not much better than the U.S. Individually, however, they have the skill that the Americans do and may always lack. While more and more U.S. born players are getting the opportunity to play overseas, they rarely see starting minutes on top clubs. Mexican players do. Chicharito plays significant minutes for Manchester United, one of if not the top club in Europe. Americans can't buy that kind of experience. The closest they get is Clint Dempsey, who is one of the EPL's leading scorers, but still often falters on the national stage. Mostly due to his fiery temper. The Americans lack the skill and creativity that foreign players seem to master.
Even the country's top players like Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey don't really have the ball skills to take on players one-on-one. On the positive side, Freddy Adu does have those skills and showcased them against Mexico. One can only hope that he continues to grow and mature and stay on the national side, but that's still a 50/50 proposition. The problem may be that America's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Despite having the financial ability and numbers of athletes to produce some of the top teams in the world, Americans struggle to get their best athletes to focus on sports like soccer and hockey. For years we've heard that America's time is coming and that the next generation is going to put us over the top and get to that next level. Yet we still languish behind, looking up at the top tier. We outnumber Canadians nearly 10-1, but their top athletes go all out for hockey from early ages. The U.S. only gets certain numbers of top athletes from mostly northern and eastern states. We outnumber many European countries combined. But again, soccer, though growing, is still somewhat of a niche sport.
The United States has made great strides, but national team sports just take a back seat anymore. Even in sports we invented, like baseball and basketball, the U.S. is no longer head and shoulders above the rest and in some cases is not even close to the best anymore. With regards to soccer, the States have made giant leaps. Yet with every few steps forward they seem to always take a step or two backward. Alexi Lalas said it quite nicely following the American's loss on this day. The team has got to come to a point where they stop saying they can take lessons from these sorts of performances and actually learn from the lessons and not do it again. The U.S. has got to shore up its defensive line. They need speed and physicality from their back four. The midfield is still set with Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Jones and hopefully a rejuvenated Adu. A forward must emerge that is a legitimate threat to score every time they touch the pitch. Jozy Altidore could be that player, but there have been several forwards to take that "could be" mantle and fallen back into the shadows. Only time will tell. The team must find consistency though. If it wants to be taken seriously on the world level, it can no longer play to its opponent. The U.S. must learn to crush teams like Panama and Jamaica and Honduras and El Salvador and run through CONCACAF as though they were flies buzzing around the face of a giant. Only when we force our opponents to match the way we play can the U.S. truly move forward.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- Again, Freddy Adu was a nice bright spot during his time played in the semi-final and final of the Gold Cup. Personally, I did not like the way he was brought up into the league and immediately deemed a superstar and thrust into the spotlight of stardom and fame with articles saying how he was America's Pele` and how the Brazilian star knew he would be great. (apologies for the run-on sentence there). Now that he's matured and grown and been humbled however, I root for his success. His footskills and vision are what we hoped for. If he can continue to grow as a player and stay humble AND stay in the good graces of whoever may be the national team coach, he could be a good offensive force for the American attack. The U.S. needs someone who can challenge defenders and break them down off the dribble.
- I dearly love my St. Louis Blues and I want to trust that the management is doing everything they can to improve the team and attempt to get back into the playoffs and push for their first Stanley Cup. They are making it difficult, however, with the constant talking out the side of the mouths. Before the trade deadline, we were told that the team would only be making player-for-player deals. No more player for draft picks. They were beyond that point. A week later there were two trades for draft picks. While the players given up weren't going to be the difference in a Cup run or not, it just seemed as though more could have been returned for their services. In the same manner, it was said by many that the Blues would almost certainly not use all their picks in the draft. They would be used to attain a veteran player. Again, I defer to the management team of John Davidson and Doug Armstrong. If no deals were available that would help our team, then so be it. But why the double speak? If it's a possibility that all your picks would be used on draftees or as was the case, one was traded for a prospect, then just use the old fallback line of "we're pursuing every avenue to improve the team." It's a long offseason and free agency still looms. One can only hope that the fortunes of the team turn around with perhaps a wise offseason acquisition and if we're very lucky, new ownership willing to keep the team on the upward trend.
- Why are NBA fans so defensive. I heard Dari Nowkhah, of ESPN, say on his radio show that this year's draft was boring. It was. By far the most uninteresting draft in recent memory. Yet the NBA fans were blasting him left and right. Why defend something when the person is not blasting the on-court product, but the talent level of this years crop of newcomers? Wackos, I say.
- Someone, and it pains me to say I forget who, made a fantastic point when it comes to the things wrong with pro sports. Major League Baseball and the NHL have far fewer legal battles and issues with draft prospects and the like because they have well established minor league systems. Basketball and football use the collegiate ranks as their minor league and are thus the most corruptible sports. While I'm sure there are not zero instances, I challenge someone to tell me of the last time a college hockey player or baseball player was in trouble for receiving improper benefits because they were so highly touted that every school in the country was drooling after them. It doesn't happen because, despite the fact that those recruits are still fought over amongst the coaches, there isn't the clamor by the "boosters" because there isn't the notoriety of possibly having the next big pro since even high draft picks in hockey or baseball will most likely spend at least a year in a minor league system. Despite this grand epiphany, it is highly unlikely that we will ever see any serious minor league implemented for either sport.
- Why is it so damned hard to get people to contact you back regarding broadcasting jobs? Sigh...I digress though.
- Gongrats to Markief Morris and his brother Marcus on being drafted into the NBA. A golf clap for Josh Selby on his second round selection *coughshould'vestayedinschoolcough* May your pro careers be long and productive. Rock Chalk.
That's about it for now. I think I've prattled on long enough for this post. Until next time, just remember: It's just an opinion...but I'm right.
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