Suffering Well
7/1/2014 – USA 1, Belgium 2 (ET) – out of World Cup
I never really forgave the guy. Admittedly, it's not like there was a huge amount to forgive. I just thought that after I'd indulged his desire to go to a couple of shows that I normally would not have he would reciprocate. Instead, he sulked through the entirety of a fun Robert Earl Keen show that I should have enjoyed about 15% more.
We were 20-ish, in Austin, Texas. We were engineers on summer internships, suddenly stripped of our friend networks and ill-equipped to forge new ones. In such circumstances, horizons broaden rather quickly, which is how I'd ended up at a Smashing Pumpkins show a few weeks earlier.
I know exactly what I wore: a terrible replica Michigan hockey jersey forged from whatever that fabric is that comes with large, regular holes and feels more like plastic than anything else that humans put on their bodies. I know this because after the show this material was absolutely soaked with sweat. Some of it was mine; the majority was from the writhing mass of humanity that had surged to and fro for the duration of the show.
I had no idea the thing could even get so sodden. I'd washed it several times and knew it was the kind of material that exited a washing machine as dry as it entered. After that show the thing was ten pounds heavier than it was two hours before.
I sat on a stoop in the bright Texas sun and tried to process the weird communal thing I'd just gone through. It was, above all, exhausting.
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On the day that hooked me for life, I force-marched myself down to the pub at halftime. I was in Ireland for a summer mostly because a girl had dumped me and I wanted to broaden the ol' horizons and the United States had just roared out to a 3-0 lead against impregnable invulnerable super-skilled Portugal. My place was about 20 minutes from the city center at reasonable pace; I got myself down there in 15, huffing and puffing as the second half kicked off.
To the Irish, the USA game that had just blown my mind was just an appetizer to Ireland-Germany. Group stuff meant that a draw would just about see the Irish through—they had Saudi Arabia last. Germany scored, because Germany. A loss was deadly. Everything was desperation and death until stoppage time, when Niall Quinn knocked a ball down to Robbie Keane and Kahn was finally breached.
Pandemonium. I ended up hugging a guy who was definitely not Irish. 12 years on I can only say he was Pakistani-ish. We hugged like we'd known each other since birth and jumped up and down and I was permanently in the power of the World Cup.
Ireland decided to take the afternoon off to drink by the river.
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Four years later I watched the USA get blasted off the field by the Czechs. Six-foot-one-hundred Jan Koller pounded in a cross in the first ten minutes and things got worse from there. I sat across the table from Anthony, who'd moved to Ann Arbor and read my blog and knew I liked the USMNT. He'd emailed me because he needed someone to watch them with.
A number of months later, a guy who'd just moved to Ann Arbor named Jerry joined us at Charley's for some match or another—Gold Cup?—because he needed someone to watch the USMNT with. I don't remember what it was. It doesn't matter. From there it the web expanded to encompass most of my friendships forged after college. When I got married three years ago, Jerry was our officiant and Anthony was the best man.
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Four years later I was in Chicago for the very exciting Blogs With Balls conference; the World Cup was in South Africa and the USA was playing a tune-up friendly against Australia on the premises, which meant the thing was at approximately 7 AM. I met a guy I'd known as Orson and kind of now know as Spencer (but who is still mostly Orson) at a bar somewhere proximate to Wrigley Field and watched Robbie Findley round the goalkeeper and shoot about 20 feet wide.
When I started this blog, there were two other college football blogs, period. Orson ran one. As college football blogs developed it gradually dawned on a large percentage of the early adopters that we had another, odder obsession: the US national soccer team. I think it's because the kind of person into college football enough to start a blog about it prefers his emotional gambling on sports to be as high-stakes as possible.
We gathered it ourselves in weird ways. I watched the 1994 World Cup in my basement on a 14 inch TV, just like FIFA wanted, and then helpfully forgot about it in 1998. I honestly have no idea what drew anyone else to the national team other than Orson, who's written about it. At the moment I was force-marching to the King's Head in Galway, Orson was running up a darkened street towards a lunatic screaming "WE'RE UP ON PORTUGAL" at five in the morning. I imagine all of us were, in some manner of speaking, running towards a lunatic at some point.
We were together then. I saw Landon score against Algeria in a bar with my best friends, both the half-dozen I knew already and the two hundred who just happened to be there.
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I love the US national team. I love it in the way you can only love your wife: I chose it. It was not given to me by my father, like Michigan was. As something approximating an adult I made a decision. It stuck in a way that the Red Wings did not stick, that the Oilers did not stick, that every single other attempted non-Michigan affiliation did not stick. I chose it, and somehow it chose me.
Now I am in so deep that in some weird way the anger cannot stick. If I saw Chris Wondolowski today I'd buy him a beer and say "it's okay, man." I wrote a column earlier this year about how I invented a slur for people who annoy me by being even slightly incompetent. And yet here I am after getting crushed and all I want is for September 23rd to roll around. That's the next time the USA takes the field.
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So I'm under this table. I'm under it because the US has just worked a brilliant drawn-up-in-the-dirt free kick that results in a goal a universe where being really clever is everything. I am aware I am not in this universe. If I was being a teenager would have gone a lot better. Therefore the US is still down a goal with five minutes left.
I am under this table an unusually long time. I am the kind of person who screams SHOW ME THE GAME when, say, a basketball broadcast cuts away from a point guard bringing the ball up the floor uncontested. I am still under the table, though. If I remain under the table I will not have to see the clock ticking inexorably upward. I know that I have to stop being under the table pretty soon, but I like it under the table where time has stopped.
Eventually I undo the emergency squat and stop being under the table, and time resumes. I'm not soaked in sweat but it's not for lack of trying. I have lurched to and fro only metaphorically this time, with a mass of humanity that extends to the table I had to abandon to get to the spot where I could stop time, to Atlanta and Alabama and Denver where Orson and Jerry and Jess are, to that setup in Kansas City or Chicago they keep showing on TV in an attempt to catch that Landon-vs-Algeria video live.
Above all, it is wonderful. Except for the score, of course, which is a crime and a lie. But I would not trade the horrible roiling feeling of doom for anything. As Michael Bradley said, the World Cup is about suffering well. We do, together.
Bullets
I ain't got nothing. I mean, I could, but I can't. Instead, some goodbyes to guys who probably aren't going to see 2018:
![damarcus-beasley[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/4db2724e69fd_708/damarcus-beasley1.jpg "damarcus-beasley[1]")
BEASLEY. I may have been excessively strident in my attempt to stab anyone who said anything bad about Beasley, and then Beasley goes and redeems all excessive strident-ness. Amazing career, terrific player, terrific story arc, still weighs about 65 pounds. Most underrated USMNT player ever.
![tim-howard-soccer-world-cup-qualifier-mexico-usa[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/4db2724e69fd_708/tim-howard-soccer-world-cup-qualifier-mexico-usa1.jpg "tim-howard-soccer-world-cup-qualifier-mexico-usa[1]")
HOWARD. YOU SHALL NOT PASS, he said. He had an incredible beard as he did so. "Distribution… brilliant."
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DEMPSEY. 1000% Anthemface. 1000% Deuceface. Scored goal after goal and stood as an eagle-riding, gun-waving avatar of America. Made it impossible to accuse USMNT of being euro floppers for duration of career. A hard man for hard times.
![Jermaine-Jones1[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/4db2724e69fd_708/Jermaine-Jones11.jpg "Jermaine-Jones1[1]")
JONES. Anyone who says this is not an American is going to get run into the ground and then lashed in the face by a shot. Jones may not have known it, we may not have known it, but the man was born in Kansas and never left. He has overalls, and has always worn them.
![kyle_beckerman_on_verge_of_us_world_cup_team_just_as_he_predicted_years_ago_m5[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/4db2724e69fd_708/kyle_beckerman_on_verge_of_us_world_cup_team_just_as_he_predicted_years_ago_m51.jpg "kyle_beckerman_on_verge_of_us_world_cup_team_just_as_he_predicted_years_ago_m5[1]")
BECKERMAN. Sanneh 2014. The guy who you're just like "remember when Beckerman played out of his mind?" Legacy is being that guy in the movie who gets on the Sports Or A Capella Team just at the end and kills it.
DONOVAN. Mexico feared Landon Donovan.
I forgot, we can't ever question coaches. They always know what is best.
Klinsmann's strategy was obviously to have Howard set the record for saves in a WC, create nothing for 90 minutes and then have Wondo break Belgium's heart. If only Wondo had followed the plan!
Do you watch/follow soccer? Sometimes you just have to keep your head above water and wait for your opportunity. Especially when you are down your top striker and then lose one of your best attacking players 30 mins into a game.
Oh my God...thanks for proving you don't watch it at all.
We were not keeping our head above water. We were being overrun AND beyond that we were creating nothing. This was partly down to playing sub-optimal defensive players at RB who could get forward and create offensive chances...chances that were not going to happen because we didn't have a center forward. Neither Russia nor Algeria were dominated like we were and their level of talent/experience isn't any greater than ours.
The only reason Klinsmann was totally embarassed as a coach is down to Tim Howard playing the game of his life.
Being thoroughly outplayed in the way we were and still being tied and having to go to extra-time is the definition of the idiom "Keeping your head above water."
VoltronBlue didn't say you couldn't question JK, he just asked what your soccer background was.
Relax man, your'e a magical pegasus.
http://screamer.deadspin.com/belgiums-shot-map-from-yesterdays-game-is-…
I mean, I'd say you could only see the tip of of Tim Howard's nose poking out of above the surface of the water, but that's just me.
Westward
I think are being particularly harsh on JK. And yes please question him that is fine - he is not perfect. I think not bringing Donovan was a bad error. He could have subbed for the slumping Bradley. Or been outside instead of Bedoya for 2 games.
First, I agree with you that aside from Portugal we were outplayed 3 games. I also think the U.S. just played
- Germany: A top 5 team in the world (and lost by a goal)
- Belgium: A team that is 8-10 in the world (and lost by a goal)
- Ghana: A top 10-15 team in the world (despite their mid 30th rank) and pulled a win we didnt really deserve - we outplayed them for maybe 7 minutes out of 90.
- Portgual: A top 10-15 team in the world (I think they are overrated but they do have some skill) and got a tie when a win was deserved.
So all in all we deserved 4 pts (win v Portugal, tie v Ghana). We had no games of like minded teams. We are probably around 20th in the world - we will always play hard and physical and never give up but we lack a lot of technical skills.
I also agree we were the worse of the final 16 teams aside from perhaps Greece and Costa Rica because that game was "weird" with the red card and 2 teams who are probably on par with U.S.
And it confusing when we play equal (better) with Mexico and then watch Mexico play equal with Brazil for long stretches while we get gutted by Belgium. Mexico was underachieving for long stretches the past 2 years but has more technical skill than us. They just do. It's become a good rivalry but like OSU-UM the worse team can win that individual game. Mexico is better technically than we are right now; it's just reality. That doesn't mean head to head we cannot and do not beat Mexico - we do. (when played in the U.S.)
Looking at Algeria for example, they looked like Ghana lite - tons of speed on the flanks and up front, with still more technical skill than us. So teams with pace and some skill will give a plodding German defense some issues. We don't have that. Who was the one player who gave Belgium trouble ? Yedlin. He is not even that skilled but his pace was killing the guy he was facing. So right now we have 2 players with that pace and the other plays left fullback.
As a coach for travel kids I can tell you why JK plays this way. He doesnt have talented outside midfielders. Guys who are offensively talented he doesn't trust to track back (Mix is #1) Bedoya is a workhorse (who was destroyed by Belgium and Nani) but he can be counted on to be in a place and be physical. Mix cannot - he is soft, and easily taken off the ball. I dont watch him like JK does every day but I bet all things being equal he does not track back like a Bedoya does. You saw how happy JK was after Nigeria because he finally had a team that was all coming back on D and being responsible and hard on the ball. That's what you do when you are not offensively talented. Which the U.S. is not. That is why Beckerman suddenly became invaluable.
So your proposal is throw in some more fancy soft midfielders who are not world class themselves and don't work as hard on defense so that we could maybe get 3-4 more chances on offense but we'd probably have given up 40-50 shots rather than 35 or whatever it was. It is a no win situation.
The U.S doesnt have the tools right now to play with these teams - outside of Jermaine Jones there was little offense from the midfield. Bradley usually plays a lot better but aside from maybe 40 minutes this tournament he was bad. You don't get offense from Cameron, Beckerman or Bedoya. Zusi is out of his level here as well. If you think just throwing Mix in there would have changed anything I'll have what you are drinking. If you cannot possess the ball you can't do squat. And yes the Altidore injury hurt not so much for Jozy's skills but it prevented the one guy who can actually go at guys with confidence on this team from playing attacking midfield and we could push Bradley further down the field where he belongs.
Look at Iran vs Argentina. They played defensively for 93 minutes, were dominated, and almost pulled out a tie - than a moment of brilliance by messi took them out. The U.S. technically is not at a level much higher than Iran - that's just reality right now. When you are not offensively gifted this is what you do and how you play and the type of players you play.
Look at who Portugal was bringing off the bench as subs - any of those guys would be the best field player in our country. Be realistic man.
Algeria and Russia played Belgium better than we did.
Algeria and Ghana played Germany better than we did.
Those three teams are not THAT much better (if they are at all) than we are.
Costa Rica beat Uruguay, Italy and tied Costa Rica.
Out of all the R16 games, no one looked more thoroughly outclassed that the U.S.
You can talk about games like Iran vs. Argentina, but they actually did park the bus and kept Argentina from creating high-quality chances. We didn't. We should have lost 4-5 to 0 in regulation. On top of that, we created nothing despite having "workhorses" playing in the midfield.
If you're playing your best actual defense (Cameron, Gonzalez, Besler, Beasley) and you sit Beckerman in front of them with Jones and Bradley slightly higher up on either side of him, you should be able to cover yourself defensively, as Jones and Bradley are your two fittest players.
Again, you're not troubling anyone with Yedlin's pace with no one in the box to get on the end of his crosses. He can cross it all day, it won't matter because Dempsey and Zusi aren't going to outmuscle Kompany for the ball.
You say that "if you cannot possess the ball, you cannot do squat". Exactly. If you aren't going to possess the ball and you don't have a way to create chances that actually have a shot of working, you need to park the bus. Klinsmann made the decision to forgo any kind of possession game in favor of "counter attacks" that were pointless. So we had a weaker defense, no center forward to finish our counter attacks and no possession.
Who are the players that can possess the ball? Guys like Diskerud and Johannsonn. Teams have guys who don't get back. They compensate by sacrificing offense from their outside backs for better defensive players. What you're basically saying is that we need Zusi and Bedoya in there to look like they are working hard while we still get torn up rather than actually trying to score and getting torn up (if you play that back four with Jones, Beckerman and Bradley in front of them, I doubt this happens anymore than it did).
And its ridiculous to just say that Mexico is just better than us when the results going into this tournament don't bear that out at all. But whatever.
Again I do not think the U.S. played well vs Belgium - but I disagree with you that Ghana is just the same as the U.S. They press high, team speed everywhere (which gave Germany all sorts of trouble) they have better technical skill and had one of the top 10 midfield groups in this tournament. I did not watch the Portugal v Ghana game because US Germany was at same time but I know 1 of the goals Ghana gave up to Portugal was one of the worst Ive seen in 10 years. So I don't know if Ghana outplayed Portugal and was unlucky or if it was an even game. Ghana right now is better than the U.S. and I dont think it is super close. 4 years ago I thought US and Ghana were closer in skill... Ghana gave Germany everything they could handle. The U.S. was in a shell v Germany.
As for Johannsonn - tell me what he did vs Ghana in 70 minutes again? He seemed lost. Doesn't mean I don't like him but when given a chance he did little to nothing. Maybe in 4 years he is our star.
Not having guys on the other end of the ball on Yedlin's crosses was due to lack of players upfield and U.S. playing in a shell.
U.S. went into Mexico and pulled its first non loss out in what - 40 years? Then Mexico came to the U.S. when Mexico was playing its worst in probably 10 years and got beat. Then they made a coaching change and actually played very well. Mexico played Brazil very well and outplayed Holland for large portions of the game. If you think the U.S. on its best day would dominate large portions of the game versus the Dutch then you have a different view of the sport than I do.
This is how I compare U.S. and Mexico. U.S. is a Dow Jones utility stock - it has relatively limited upside and downside. You know what you are going to get. On its best day or worst day it's going to be in a limited range. Mexico is one of those wild NASDAQ tech stocks - based on the mood at any point it could drop 30% in 6 weeks or jump 50% in 2 months. It has a much higher ceiling than the utility stock... but if you catch it at the wrong time it can act awful for you. Mexico of Jun 2014 is a different animal than Sep 2013. They have more skill at the individual level. They also have way more headcases, emotion, can play selfish, etc.
I think you may need to just cool off. We are all disappointed. But so far what I got was Jurgan Klinsmann doesn't have a clue and Portugal isn't very good.
You definitely have a different opinion from all the other pundits!
Did I say you can't? I'm one of those dudes that has to tell certain family members to cool down - that just because the US didn't win a game against a top 5 team in the world, it doesn't mean the players are all gutless and talentless and shouldn't be let outside. Did you miss the part where I said your points may well be valid and I was just curious?
But your aggression on the subject kind of tells me what I need to know. You're not actually interested in discussion and debate, you just want to vent. It's cool...I suppose one former player (who could well have a grudge for some personal reason) knows better than the German soccer federation and Bayern Munich, not to mention Sunil Gulati, who all hired the guy.
Nobody's perfect, and I'm personally not qualified to evaluate Klinsmann. I was hoping you could help, but I guess not. Which is not a knock...like I said, I'm not qualified either.
I know it's not time to think forward yet, but quite a few of the players helped their stock in the overseas soccer market. I think Yedlin made a serious statement in his limited action. Fabian Johnson looked like the real deal for all of his minutes. Jermaine Jones might even be in for a bump up after his play.
I'm still in that emotional vacuum stage, I can't seem to feel anything, except wishing it was still going. I'm not sad or angry or anything, just longing.
I don't mean passionate -- that's a given for pretty much every World Cup squad. I mean that they don't seem to really get angry about their team.
I mean, I don't follow Mexican soccer blogs, but when they lost (again) in the knockout round, where they like, "Man, this is disappointing and I'm sad, but it's still wonderful -- can't wait 'til next year!"? My sense is they would be pissed off, but maybe I'm wrong. Same with other countries.
For an example of this outside of mgoblog (and there are many), there's the NY Times game story. There are 400 comments, and while I didn't read every one, it's a mix of "Wow, what a team! I had a fun! Too bad, and I'm sad we lost, but we'll get 'em next time!" and fans from other teams around the world saying, "Nice match, US! Good job, good effort!" It's the most positive comment thread in the history of humanity.
I can't think of another sport, college or pro, where this happens. High school, maybe?
It's the kind of commentary that goes with most teams that are always underdogs and who slightly exceed expectations.
I think your analysis is right, but it seems like there is no time limit on this status, which I find interesting. The US has had (some) World Cup success pretty regularly since 1994, yet the US is always the team of the future, it seems. It's a nice status to have with your fans.
I mean, Costa Rica (our CONCACAF brethren) just won a group featuring England, Italy and Uruguay (i.e., as hard as our "Group of Death"), and then beat Greece in the knockout round. Yet I haven't heard one article saying, "How come they do that and we can't? When will it be our year to shine?"
I don't have a problem with it. It's kind of nice to have a fan base that treats their team like a favorite puppy or something (not sure if it's the right analogy, but it's what came to mind).
a sport that is maybe its 4th most popular, against a collection of countries where the sport is arguably more popular than any sport in the usa...it sets up the usa for being perpetual underdogs.
This is actually a great time to be a USA soccer fan. Expectations are low and every win over an opponent with even a modest pulse is treated like a priceless gem to be admired and enjoyed until the ride is over.
Enjoy it while we have it. Already the cynicism produced by rising expectations is creeping in as we get better.
I have followed USA soccer since the '80s. When they were college players. At first we were happy just to win matches against professional overseas competition. When we actually made the WC in '90 we were ecstatic just to be there. Our goal was just to lose close like we did against Italy. It was an unexpected joy to actually make it out of the group stage and into the knockout round in '94.
Now of course we are expected to make the WC every cycle. Not doing so would be a disaster. If we don't get out of the group stage, even in a "Group of Death", it is a disappointment. We are very near the end of losing in the round of sixteen and still talking about how courageously the team played with a smile on our faces.
Our future is inevitably England and Mexico where anything less than a quater-final or semi-final is considered a disappointment, and most WCs end in gloom.
hasn't made the quarter finals in 24 years. so fans are either setting themselves up for perpetual disappointment or they need to readjust expectations.
Disagree. Mexico has had some bad luck. If you get out of your group every time for 6 straight World Cups you do not need to adjust your expectations to win another game. Aside from 3? teams in the world I bet no one else has come out of the group stage 6 times in a row
For example Italy, Spain, England are 3 who did nto do it this year. Doing it 6x in a row without fail is very dificult. Off top of my head I would think Brazil and Germany are the only 2 who aside from Mexico have done it. Maybe Argentina. Maybe Holland. It is no small feat and their fans should expect to win another game from there and they were minutes away from beating the Dutch.
The Dutch flat out failed to qualify in 2002. This led to a documentary from a couple of Dutch filmmakers creating a documentary about the two worst teams in the world at that point (Bhutan and Montserrat) called The Other Final. It's worth watching if you have a chance just to see what it's like at the low end of the FIFA rankings.
Argentina also didn't get out of the group stage in 2002. Germany, Brazil, and Mexico are the only ones to have done it in the modern format. Argentina (and I bet a few others) did it when there was a second round of group games awhile back.
Thanks for those data points. Exactly my point - Mexico has done very well to be consistent - France imploded 4 years ago, and all these other world powers except 2 have failed from time to time. Mexico fans must dread "game 5".
Mexico is at that stage where they expect better than to make it out of the group stage but always lose in the round of sixteen. They have had roughly the same or slightly better level of success as the USA has over the last several World Cups . . . we made the Quarters but they've been more consistent. Yet where we find our level of success encouraging, they find the same level depressing.
It's a good time to be a USA fan. It won't be long before we have the same outlook as Mexico . . . anything less than the Quarters is a disappiontment.
Holland didn't even qualify for the WC in 2002. Only three times in a row for them.
I think part of the issue here is that before actually winning against Ghana, and drawing Portugal (with a real chance of winning it), nobody who was honest with themselves about this team though thatt they had a chance in hell of doing what they did.
I'm mad that we have to wait another four years to the US in a WC.
I think we will be in the conferations cup, there's the Olympics, and a lot of games against Antigua and Barbuda.
Olympic soccer is different - all but three of your players have to be 23 or younger.
Don't forget about Copa America in 2016.
but it will be a good chance to see who is coming up in the ranks.
It won't be? That's the first I had heard that.
I think they are like this now because the expectations aren't that high; like how international teams never cared much about losing to the US in basketball during that decade or so after the first Dream Team. Now, though, you see people ripping the Spanish team, for example, because it has gone from hoping to be competitive to expecting to win. A good example will be MSU this year in football - those fans are going to EXPECT them to win all their games, and it will be interesting to see if they are as "this is totally awesome!" if/when they falter. I think 2018 will be marked by an increase in quality play by the US but, sadly, an increase in #HOTSPORTSTAKES when they struggle.
I can't think of another sport, college or pro, where this happens.
Do you follow Michigan basketball? This is pretty much exactly how Michigan fans felt after the 2009 and 2011 tournaments, where we unexpectedly made the field, won our opening round and then took one of the best teams in the tournament (Oklahoma and Duke, respectively) down to the wire.
We don't feel this way anymore because expectations have been justifiably raised, but back when just making the tourney was considered awesome, we were pretty happy no matter what happened in it.
Remember this? Only 5 years ago.
Mexico has more skill than the U.S. and plays top flight teams a lot closer in terms of run of play. So they have more right to be disappointed. When Mexico has their head into it they can be a team that is probably 10th to 13th in the world (technically). But they are sometimes a head case. Their ceiling is higher than the U.S. so their fans get more upset.
Any reasonable U.S. fan knows our ceiling is limited. Heck our coach knows it and said it. We were outplayed 3 games this tournament and still advanced and got to the stage of 16. We had one game we looked truly the equal to opponent this entire tournament So there is not much to whine about other than some people who are unrealistic about the talent level of this team.
I think that's the nature of the World Cup. And what makes it so great. You can't hurt for four years until you get another shot, so you learn to look for the positives.
Now that the USMNT's 2014 is in the books, I'm curious whether people think Klinsmann should have kept Donovan on the squad. I am a fan of Donovan, but think that he and Klinsmann were so far off one another's page that it's probably for the best that Klinsmann left him off the squad.
I did not feel that way when US Soccer announced the final roster - I felt it was a mistake to leave Donovan off. But after watching the team, I'm not sure that they would have fared better if Donovan had seen the pitch, and I respect Klinsmann's decision (especially if it was driven in part by a Julian Green "golden handshake").
I'm curious what others think, as the dust is settling on this campaign.
I say yes, he should have. Klinsi is not without an ego, as most successful people in sports are. But oh well - I don't choose to dwell on what could've been.
I don't think Donovan would've solved any of the issues the US had during the World Cup. It might have been nice to have him as a spark plug towards the ends of some of those games, but honestly, he wasn't what they needed.
to have brought on LD instead of wondo at the end of yesterdays game? someone who had been there before, a finisher, composed, etc. not saying he would have made the difference (i think the injury to altidore hurt more than LD not being on the team) but we really missed his spark.
to brians main point, i am conflicted this morning. very proud of the team and ill continue to support them but i just cant come away thinking - what others have mentioned - that we're getting closer to the end goal. we're a good team - top 10 maybe - but there is a huge gap between elite and good, and we're not quite closing it. but thats a conversation for another day...
The U.S. is not top 10 nor close to top 10 really. They have a ceiling and until a plethora of players with technical skill come in, esp in the midfield the U.S. has hit its ceiling. Best case it is a team in the 15-20 area. It is a tough team to play because it has heart, and won't be outworked but is reliant on set pieces and hoping for a counter attack versus any elite team. But you are correct in there is a yawning chasm between the top teams and the rest.
The top teams will be there every year - not necessarily a top 5 team who can win a World Cup but a team that over 30 years you know they have the talent to be dominant in any 5 year time frame. Then you have other countries outside say the 7-8 who go on a 5-6 year run where they can be elite but then fall back to "just very good" in other periods.
A top 10 at any point would be - 6 countries that are always near the top
- Brazil
- Germany
- France
- Holland
- Argentina
- Italy
Then another 4 at any moment in time would be:
- Spain - who until this past 6-7 years was the country that did the least with the most.
- "The 3rd best team in South America" - currently Columbia, but it rotates - 4 years ago Uruguay
- "The 1st best team in Africa" - probably Ghana right now who if in another group would have qualified easily IMO
- "The current flavor of the year in Europe" - currently something like Belgium
Then your step down to teams that are 1 step behind like Mexico (which the U.S. beats on its home soil but lacks the technical skill of) - and then teams who are not powerhouses all the time but have a "golden generation" where they are good for 5-7 years and can beat teams from the top 10 on any given night and not just via 1 counter attack or a set piece. So you take the 2nd best team out of Africa (Ivory Coast? Algeria?), the 4th best team out of South America (currently Chile), the next 2 best out of Europe (England goes here...Switzerland right now goes here but in 4 years it could be someone else).
So that would be teams 11-15th.
Then the U.S. is in the next group ranked 16-20, along with the best team from Asia (some years Japan, some years South Korea), the 3rd best team out of Africa ...along with teams 8-9-10 out of Europe, currently like a Bosnia or Croatia and the 5th best team out of South America, say Ecuador or Uruquay right now.
I don't see the U.S. bursting anywhere into the top 15 until it has technically skilled players throughout their front 6. We need our own golden generation - of half a squad, not 2 players. That means 5-6 guys of Dempsey's skills - at the minimum. Dempsey wouldn't start for Belgium IMO or Germany. He might not even make Germany's squad as a sub.... and he'd probably be a bench player for Portugal who never gets into a match in the WC. Again the way we play with heart and American moxie, we could get away with 6 guys of Dempsey's skill and do VERY well. But on almost any "top 10" team in the world he'd not only not start, but not be on many of their squads - that tells you the gap between USA and top 10.
Good write-up. I think we can get into that 11-15 group over the next decade. We have already gotten results against some of the teams listed - Mexico, Algeria, England.
I disagree. His pace and technical skill is probably still 2nd-3rd best on the team. And the way Bradley was playing I'd put it 2nd.
He would have given you 30 solid minutes as a sub in every game and I could see him starting in the 4th game over Bedoya. The only thing that gave Belgium any trouble was the pace of Yedlin which is what only Beasley and Donovan own on this team.
You also had no backup for Bradley without Donovan. He can play the middle of the field or the wing. The way Bradley was playing I would have put Donovan in his spot and played Bradley further down the field as more of a defensive midfielder and maybe taken out Beckerman. Maybe not at beginning of games but certainy when we were pressing for goals in the 70th minute or later etc. Donovan is one of the few players who can be played in multiple positions.
And I don't think in the end it would have mattered - it probably wouldn't. But we'd have look more composed on the ball and had more possession with Donovan out there. That would have given our defense at least some more time to breathe in games vs Ghana, Germany, and Belgium.
Maybe not your uncle, but your niece of nephew might sound off. Otoh, the liklihood of the topic even coming up at Thanksgiving is almost nil to start with.
I know you're referencing the US when you write about "so few soccer fans", but there's even more that makes the game great to be a fan of. One is how wonderfully complex such a "simple game" actually is. But another one is that it is a near-universal language.
Here's an anecdote. I was at a vitamin store with my then 10 year-old soccer-addicted son prior to the South Africa World Cup. The guy working the register appeared to be in his mid-to-late 20s, and was pretty clearly African. I asked him where he was from, and he said Ghana. I asked if he was following the WC, and if he pulled for the Black Stars (not surprisingly, he was and did). I told him my son was a soccer fan, and watched them both talk for a full 20-25 minutes about their favorite players, the different national squads, how they thought the WC would shake out and so on. My son then tended to be shy around adults, but soccer provided the catalyst for him to connect with someone from halfway around the world. And they were arguing their prospective positions intelligently and passionately, but respectfully.
Put another way, it's a beautiful game, and provides a fantastic way for people from all over to connect. You don't get that with many other sports.
I love the US national team. I love it in the way you can only love your wife: I chose it. It was not given to me by my father, like Michigan was. As something approximating an adult I made a decision.
Never has something I've read on this blog struck so close to home. My mom is a State alum and raised me with the hope that I would eventually be a Spartan. I thought I would too, until the last few months of high school. I couldn't do it. I chose Michigan. Brian's right, things are different when you choose to love them.
Great write up, Brian.
I fell in love with the USMNT between 6:00 - 9AM at Leopold's, 2002. The guys opened up early for viewing parties and there weren't many of us, but we watched intently and saw US almost beat Germany. Any other MgoBloggers at Leopolds for those games? After the WC I joined an Ann Arbor co-ed adult soccer league and embarrassed myself repeatedly.
AASA?
Yes. I played on four teams over two years. I managed to get several dates from these games. Soccer chics are fun.
Nice work.
I've been playing in the league since 2006. I think I've averaged 2 sessions per year (I usually skip summer).
For anyone here that likes to talk soccer, and is athletic in the slightest....you should come join the AASA (Ann Arbor Soccer Association). It's a great league that is extremely diverse (nationalities and skill levels). If anyone is interested let me know.
Dunno if you'll actually see this or not, but I'd be interested in that.
I'm mostly rubbish at the game part of it, but I definitely fit the bill athletic wise
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