U.S. lays golden dookie

It seems like just when the USMNT is getting attention from the mainstream press, we go and lay an egg. I mean, even that douche Colin Cowherd jumped aboard the bandwagon. But despite the embarrassing loss, we shouldn't let those in the MSM use it as a banner justifying their indifference and ignorance about American soccer.

This was not our national team, not really. They wore the uniform, but many of them lack the skill -- and after the 60th minute ALL of them lacked the pride -- that is a prerequisite for donning the red, white and blue. Sure, we could complain that the bogus penalty call turned the game, but it was the inexperience of the backline that allowed the deluge of goals, not Jay Heaps attempting to take a charge (he must have thought he was still playing for the Blue Devil basketball team).

We can talk about Kyle Beckerman who had an absolute crapper of a match, and the disappointing play of Robbie Rogers after such a promising start. Or you can point to the disappearance of Davy Arnaud and Brian Ching early in the second half. The truth is, Mexico, featuring many players who will play the U.S. in August qualifier, was a better team (at least in the second half). As I said in an earlier post:

With the exception of Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers and Brian Ching, none of the other players should have been given caps. Heaps was/is horrible. He should be thankful for his cap, resign and go home. Steve Cronin? Colin Clark? Brad Evans? These guys aren’t even the best on their crappy MLS squads.

I was happy that Bradley rested his A-team for the Gold Cup, but I still think his team selection is deeply flawed. When he could have been building real depth for the 2010 squad, he chose guys who couldn't find the ball in a phone booth. If national team coaches were honest with themselves, they would acknowledge that coaching at the national team level is 85-90 percent team selection. Tactics and strategy only go so far when you are talking about a group with limited training time together.

But to close on a positive note, we did learn some things from this tournament: 1) Stuart Holden is legit. 2) We are deep enough at center mid, not to have to bring in Beckerman. 3) Injuries at any position (except centerback) won't devastate the A-team. 4) Jay Heaps is terrible. 5) Heath Pearce < Jonathan Bornstein 6) Brian Ching vs. Kenny Cooper? Push. 7) We still lack a forward with a killer instinct. 8) CONCACAF referees are the worst. 9 ) Mexico is attempting to bring the man-perm back. 10) Bob Bradley is an android.

Gold Cup: USA vs. Mexico (again)

After their 2-0 win over Honduras, the young U.S. national team, led by Houston Dynamo's Stuart Holden, will face Mexico who needed penalties to defeat their semi-final opponent Costa Rica. U.S. and Mexico met in the last Gold Cup final in 2007 and the U.S. won 2-1. Prior to that, however, Mexico beat the U.S. in '93 and '98 (the only other times they met in the final).

Even God hates Beckham

From an article on ESPN Soccernet:

Riot Squad member Bob Ramsey, a theology professor and minister from Glendora, said he talked to fans who were closest to where the fan jumped the wall. "I haven't talked to everybody, but no one remembers hearing anything beyond 'scum,' 'traitor,' those kinds of things. Nothing about his family," Ramsey said.

Ramsey said he thought what triggered Beckham's reaction was a fan abusing a Beckham jersey, according to the report.

"We were giving him the business as soon as he came out for warmups," Ramsey said, according to the Times. "His first reaction was to give us a thumbs-up and I thought, 'OK, he's going to play along with it and just realize that we're going to kind of give him a hard time here and he's going to have to play through it.'

"I honestly think if he had done that everything would have been fine. At halftime, he seemed to see something when he was running off the field and he came over and was challenging the guys in the front of our section," he said, according to the report.

USA in Golden semis

So, the USA C team got by Panama 2-1 to advance in the Gold Cup in an uneven match that continued to demonstrate the lack of quality featured on this team. A few observations:

Davy Arnaud -- Don't get me wrong. He's still firmly on the bubble for 2010, but Arnaud showed real grit and determination and that should be worth at least another couple of looks. He would be a good training camp guy, pushing the starters and subs to really give 100 percent in practice. He's done a nice job against some admittedly inferior opponents, but it is the hustle I like. He reminds me of Ante Razov (although Ante was better at cleaning up the garbage in front of goal).

Kenny Cooper -- He might be playing himself back into the doghouse, again. He was pretty ineffective when he came in as a sub for Arnaud. Although it was strange that Bradley chose to sub Arnaud and leave the twin towers of Cooper and Brian Ching up top. They are essentially the same type of player -- back to goal, post-up forwards who need to hold the ball and lay it off or play it in the air. Still he didn't seem to combine well with anyone else either. The PK call was legit, but I wouldn't say he "won it" exactly. He scored from the spot. But what was with the jog up from the midfield before he took it?

Robbie Rogers -- He had his worst game in the tournament (which still wasn't terrible). Rogers seems at times to struggle against physical fullbacks, and needs to add some strength if he hopes to stay on his feet for 2010.

Stuart Holden -- Holden continues to be the Patriot of the Pitch© for Team USA in the Gold Cup. No goals against Panama but two near misses and a host of chances created for others. Holden could solidify a spot for 2010 with a solid performance against Honduras and, if we advance, in the final (against Mexico or Costa Rica).

Jimmy Conrad -- O.T.M.F. (one tough motherf@#%&!).

Unlike other sites who say that they "talk" about MLS and then use MLS as a whipping boy for all that's wrong with American soccer. I think this tournament is demonstrating how far MLS has taken us in the 13 years of its existence. While not all the MLS players on this team deserve to be capped for the U.S., most have shown the toughness and a degree of quality that supersedes the old days when the U.S. relied on amateurs and semi-pros for depth. MLS has provided a place where our national team stars, reserves and also-rans can get the PT they need to develop.

I would still rather have Danny Szetela playing in DC everyday than never getting a sniff of PT for Spanish club Santander. Despite what the Anglophiles and Euro-snobs would have you believe, practice in Europe isn't better than playing in MLS. Just ask guys like Bobby Convey and Eddie Johnson whose inactivity (and admittedly with Convey injuries) have seem them slip off the national team radar. Is MLS making us world beaters? Of course not. But no one (who is honest with themselves) can deny that it has made us more competitive, especially in CONCACAF.

As further evidence of MLS's impact on the national team depth, Jon Busch has been called in as a backup for Troy Perkins for the semifinal against Honduras and Luis Robles has been released back to his second division German club to reportedly "prepare for the season." But maybe it also had something to do with his dreadful performance against Haiti.

I love this country!

NY Times report on Beckham's unfriendly with AC Milan, his first home match with the Galaxy since returning begrudgingly from his loan.

U.S. garbage bench nearly beaten

Bob Bradley fielded his bench against Haiti last night in the final group match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and demonstrated once again his inability to select for depth, even when assembling a B-team for a meaningless tournament. So close on the heels of the Confederations Cup, it was a given that Bradley would go dipping into the shallow end of the national pool. But Jay Heaps (who coincidentally can't hold his head above water even in the shallow end) should never, ever be allowed to don the USMNT jersey.

And maybe it was nerves, but what was Luis Robles doing out there. Staying on his line when he should charge off and intercept and then charging out when he shouldn't. It's hard to believe that this guy starts in Europe, even if it is only a German second division club (who were almost relegated). What about Marcus Hahnemann or Jon Busch or even DJ Countess for chrissakes?

With the exception of Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers and Brian Ching, none of the other players should have been given caps. Heaps was/is horrible. He should be thankful for his cap, resign and go home. Steve Cronin? Colin Clark? Brad Evans? These guys aren’t even the best on their crappy MLS squads.

The only players that acquitted themselves well against Haiti were Stuart Holden, Davy Arnaud and Santino Quaranta (who was inexplicably subbed for Beckerman who couldn’t stay on his feet even when it was clear that the ref was calling it loose). And of those three only Holden should be a lock for the full MNT.

Bradley's B's look like A's

Despite the fact that Bradley has kept many of these players out of the national team pool, a few on the U.S. Gold Cup squad are showing that they still no how to swim. And it's no surprise to TYH readers that guys like Robbie Rogers, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden and Santino Quaranta are making a strong case for inclusion in the 2010 World Cup squad. Ok, so Grenada was a joke. But Honduras certainly tested this young team with its speed and aggressiveness. Result 2-0.

Here are the highlights:

Keeping the competition level in perspective, this is why I was calling for Bradley to get these guys more minutes. It's hard to tell how good these guys really are. I mean, Marvin Chavez is no Luis Fabiano. But hopefully a good showing will get some of these guys a ticket to South Africa (or at least to a few meaningless qualifiers or exhibitions).

And for those of you who think I'm just jumping late on the bandwagon, check out this post from a year ago. I said this about Robbie Rogers:

I have seen the future of American soccer and his name is alliterative. Rogers should be in camp. He should get minutes. He’s young, but look what the youngsters brought back in the 2002 World Cup. Sometimes you gotta go with the fearless youngster over the old timers (I’m looking at you Eddie Lewis).

...and pain