Blame Bradley for U.S.'s depth problem

The sun even shines on a dog’s ass occasionally. And that explains how the dreadful Conor Casey could score two goals in the win over Honduras. Against Costa RIca, his miss in the 10th minute was absolutely criminal and might explain why Landon Donovan “didn’t see him” wide open at the far post in the 37th.

With the news that “Gooch” (Oguchi Onyewu) will be out at least three months with a torn tendon in his knee, you have to second guess the decision to play the first team. Add to that the fact that Charlie Davies was badly injured on Tuesday in a car accident in northern Virginia and one can see the enormous lack of depth on the U.S. team. Of course, Davies could have been in that accident anywhere, but the argument that neither he nor Gooch should have been in D.C. in the first place has to be addressed. Winning CONCACAF means nothing in terms of seeding in the World Cup, so why do you risk injuries and red cards (which do carry over into the WC) in a meaningless match?

The loss of Davies’ pace was evident in the match, but once again I think Jozy Altidore performed well in the starting role despite going goal-less. His lack of production was more a result of being unlucky and of pressing too much. It was obvious that he desperately wanted to score to for his friend Charlie (the #9 on his T-shirt under his jersey, revealed after Jonathan Bornstein’s goal made that clear). But Bradley still needs to find a consistent partner for Jozy up front, which demonstrates the poor job he’s done in developing depth on this team.

The fact that we have finished qualifying and one injury can have such an enormous impact speaks volumes. Bradley has about eight months to find a suitable replacement for Davies. It’s not Casey. And Clint Dempsey isn’t a consistent enough scorer to move into that spot. Ching? Cooper? Arnaud? (Wow, that’s a pretty sad list) What about resurrecting Freddy Adu? It might have to be Donovan, but I hate to move him out of the role of orchestrator. Perhaps the U.S. can play a 4-5-1, but they need to make sure that the wings and attacking mid (LD) get involved in the attack.