USA qualifier vs Trinidad

Ok, I have to admit, I was thoroughly disappointed with the US team's performance on Saturday night vs. El Salvador. We didn't control the midfield as we should have and the starters up top didn't provide the offensive spark that was necessary to win the game. The defensive was also very poor, especially on the flanks. Pearce and Hejduk were consistently outmatched on the edge, but at least Hejduk provided some offensive spark in the second half. With all this being said I would like to give some input on what I think the roster should look like on Wednesday night.


Howard

Hejduk Onyewu Bocanegra Spector

Donovan Bradley Torres Dempsey

Ching Altidore

Everyone knows that Howard will play this game. I don't think Guzan was as terrible as some people do, but his leadership isn't as strong as Howard's. On the back line I would keep Hejduk. He hasn't been all that impressive, but the other options aren't that tempting. The only thing that I can think of is to put Spector on the right and Beasley out left, but not sure if a position change is the right thing for a qualifier. That being said, Spector is the most talented fullback in the pool and he can play on either side, so he should start over the much-maligned Heath Pearce.

The midfield is where the biggest change should be. Kljestan did not do enough to cement himself as a starter and Francisco Torres looked vastly better than he did in the second half. With Bradley and Torres in the center the US should do much better in controlling possession. I would also drop Donovan from the second striker role and put him on the right. While I don't think this is his best spot, Bradley needs to pull him back into the midfield to get more touches. This would move Dempsey to the left, a role he plays for Fulham pretty frequently. Donovan and Dempsey could switch sides throughout the evening, I think this would provide more offensive creativity.

Ching should stay up front as his ability to hold the ball up helps maintain possession. I would add Altidore as a strike partner. His talent is undeniable, and with Ching doing the post-up work, he should be able to make runs all night to get behind the defense.

As for the substitutes. I would definitely have Beasley on the bench to come in as a fullback or a midfielder. The most intriguing option is Freddy Adu. I know he isn't seeing the field at Monaco, but he could provide some much needed wizardry on the ball as a sub. I would sub him on for Ching, if needed, and have him play in the hole in front of Jozy. He and Donovan could switch off to give the defense fits. Jay Demerit also needs to be on the bench over Califf, Califf was poor on Saturday.

My changes are probably more aggressive than what Bradley will do, but I think it would work. I understand the importance of three points here, and Bradley will take a conservative approach to lessen the risk of counter attacks. Our talent is vastly better than Trinidad's and with more aggressive, offensive-minded tactics we could dominate them, but our coaching staff is a little too afraid sometimes.

World's Most Overrated Team

First of all, I need to set the parameters. To be included in this team the player must either play regularly for a traditional club powerhouse, be a supposed key member of a national team, they have big price tags on them in the transfer window, or they are hyped prospects. Alright, I know people will completely disagree, but here we go.

GK Manuel Almunia- He is obviously the worst goalkeeper out of England's big four teams and I would argue that he is not even a top ten keeper in the Prem. He is one of the reasons Arsenal is not in the top four right now. Lehmann got a lot of grief, but he is a much better keeper, even at this stage in his career.

RB Alvaro Arbeloa- He is prone to lapses defensively and he isn't much of a threat going forward. Not good enough to be a starting right back for Liverpool.

CB Kolo Toure- He is loads of physical ability. More pace than most centre backs, he is very strong, and good in the air. But when watching him it seems like he doesn't want to mark anyone, he lets his man by too easily, especially when playing against someone who runs well off the ball.

CB Rafa Marquez- Not playing for Barca as much as he used to, but still captain of Mexico. He is a talented defender, but he is susceptible to big mistakes and he is very undisciplined.

LB Ashley Cole- The self-proclaimed "best left back in the world" is definitely not. He's very good going forward, but his marking is lax too frequently to have any claim at that title. He's also capable of big errors.

CM Momo Sissoko- The holding mid for Juventus. At his best he's a fierce tackler that controls the midfield. He tackles well most of the time, but in most matches he gives the ball away with atrocious passing, not consistent enough to play regularly for the Old Lady.

CAM Ronaldinho- Still shows glimpses of brilliance at Milan, but let's face it, his best days are behind him.

LM Florent Malouda- The wide player for Chelsea has great pace, but his crossing is usually poor and he's a bad finisher. The only reason he gets playing time is because they have few wide players, and no left footers.

RM Quaresma- This is based on his time at Inter (I think he will be very good with Chelsea). He dribbles into trouble too much and tries to be too flashy. He has the talent, but a bad mentality.

ST Adebayor- Sure the Arsenal man banged in like 30 goals last year, but that number hides what he really is. He is a poacher, nothing more. He might score a couple of nice ones, but he doesn't offer as much to the squad that his scoring record and price tag indicate. Eduardo and Van Persie should start over him every time they are available.

ST Santa Cruz- He is a good striker, but is he worth what Rovers were asking, absolutely not. He holds the ball up well and he's great in the air, but he doesn't have the pace or the trickery to beat defenders one on one. Not worth his reported 20 mil price tag. There are plenty of strikers just like him out there and they are much cheaper.

World XI

I commented on another blog last week that had shown their dream team for world soccer, it's over at twofootedtackle.com. I agreed with him with the exception of a couple of players. Well, I have now changed my mind and would like to show my dream lineup.

GK Casillas

RB Maicon CB Vidic CB Chiellini LB Lahm

CDM Cambiasso

CM Xavi CM Iniesta

RW Messi ST Ibrahimovic LW Ribery

I have quite a few differences now. First, I have Chiellini instead of Carvalho. I think Carvalho is a smarter player, but Chiellini is more physically imposing. Also, seeing Juventus without him last weekend against Sampdoria just shows how important he is to their back line.

I have Lahm instead of Evra. I personally believe that Evra is very good, but he benefits from having great centre backs. Lahm is smaller, but I think he is a better marker and he is a great finisher when going forward.

I excluded Steven Gerrard (my favorite player), who I think is the best attacking mid in the world, and Alexandre Pato. I put in Xavi and Iniesta in two central midfield spots and let me give my reasoning. I don't think they are the best at the position, but seeing how well the play together for Barcelona and Spain, they have a connection that can't be overstated. They also have great chemistry with Messi.

I opted for one striker to put both Xavi and Iniesta in, and I also took out Ronaldo for Ribery. I don't think Ronaldo is on the best of form right now, and in a squad like this you don't need sulking ball hogs like him. Ribery is as dangerous as anyone and he is on great form.

I sincerely believe that Ibrahimovic is more than capable of playing as a lone striker, especially with Messi making runs all over the pitch. He can hold the ball up and find Iniesta, Ribery, Xavi, or Messi darting around the field. I think this team would provide killer through balls to any of the attacking players more often than not.

Reserves:
GK Buffon
RB Sergio Ramos
LB Marcel Jansen
CB Carvalho
CDM De Rossi
CM Gerrard
CAM Hamsik
LW Robben
RW Ronaldo
ST Benzema

USA v. Mexico Recap

USA beat Mexico 2-0 on Wednesday night. Both goals came from the Coach's son Michael Bradley.

The game got started quickly with Gio Dos Santos missing out on a golden opportunity in the box. Bocanegra had a poor clearance after dispossessing Castillo in the box, it fell right to Dos Santos and he shot it right at Howard.

After that the U.S. settled down a bit and started to control possession a little more. Bradley narrowly missed the goal on a 20 yard screamer and Donovan shot just wide on a free kick right outside the box. The first goal came late in the half as Beasley hit a corner to the far post. Donovan headed back in the middle to Onyewu. He headed on goal only for the shot to be parried by Sanchez. It fell right to Bradley who nailed it in. The defenders were lazily ball watching. Mexico has no one to blame for the first goal but themselves.

The second half was fairly uneventful. The U.S. held possession well and was doing a great job tackling in the midfield. Mexico started to go forward around the 60th minute and they had a golden opportunity off of a corner only to have Dos Santos miss twice. Rafa Marquez received a red card for hitting Howard with a spikes up kick. Marquez clearly wasn't going for the ball and he had no chance at getting it. It was a good call.

Mexico was at a big disadvantage and they weren't working very hard on top of that. USA tackled well and they got the second goal in the 90th minute. Altidore took the ball and ran for about 15 yards. He laid it off to Donovan, who saw Bradley running up field. He passed Bradley the ball who then shot from about 20 yards out. He hit it solid, but it was right at Sanchez. Sanchez let it slide right under him to put the game away.

Player ratings

USA

Tim Howard- 7 Did well when Mexico came at him, didn't have to save much though. Loses points for picking up a yellow for delay of game. He'll miss the next game.

Frankie Hejduk- 6.5 Was the most consistent defender on the day. Got forward well and didn't really let his man have much room. He is still going to be hampered by his lack of physical ability, not enough pace or skill to be a real threat on the flanks.

Oguchi Onyewu- 6 Not a great game for the big guy. He defended his man fairly well, but had some shaky clearances and let an untalented Ochoa slip by him once, but handled him the rest of the game. He stepped up to intercept a lot of balls late in the game though.

Carlos Bocanegra- 5 Very bad performance for the vet. Didn't communicate well with Gooch and looked very nervy when clearing the ball under pressure.

Heath Pearce- 5.5 Did nothing to separate himself from the left back field. Did ok covering Dos Santos, but he always looked as though he was going to get beat, even when he didn't. Got forward some, but as usual his crossing was atrocious.

Sacha Kljestan- 5 His worst performance in the shirt. He played as the second center mid. His defense was poor throughout and Bradley had to give extra effort to make up for it. His passing was surprisingly poor. He was never a threat offensively, he looked anxious throughout and was taken off late in the game.

Michael Bradley- 9 Immense! Early on he was a little untidy with his passing, but that proved to be just nerves. He is at his best when games a scrappy in the midfield. The game got scrappy and he became a bull in midfield. Tracked back very well to cover for the invisible man, Kljestan. Tackled very well, only giving up one foul. And obviously he scored twice.

Clint Dempsey- 6.5 You can tell his time playing for Roy Hodgson has improved his game. He is a much better defensive player because of it, he covered well on the flanks. He didn't try to do a whole lot offensively, I would lie to see him demand the ball more. Had a half chance in the first half. He seemed uninterested at times.

Demarcus Beasley- 6.5 Isn't quite in form yet as shown by some bad touches and shots, but played better than expected. Defended very well as usual and that's big considering the problems at left back. Hit the corner that scored the goal, even though it wasn't a very good one.

Landon Donovan- 7.5 Floated in and out of the game. Wasn't a threat enough of the time, but he had a hand in both goals and he was the biggest threat for the U.S. He required more attention than any other player.

Brian Ching- 6 Held the ball up well, but really didn't do anything else. He is simply doing a job out there, but I don't think it is enough. He did do his job though, so you can't really take much away from him.

Reserves

Jozy Altidore- 6 Didn't have too many touches. He caused more trouble than Ching because of his pace and his willingness to make runs. Gave the ball up to easily early on. He created the second goal though and if he didn't lay the ball off to Donovan he would have won a free kick and it was a tackle worthy of a yellow card. His physical attributes are too good to keep him off the field.

Ricardo Clark- 3 Not on the field long enough to give him a true rating, but he was bad in his time. He tackled ok as usual, but as usual his passing was off the mark and the game was always one step ahead of him. He shouldn't win many more caps in my opinion.


I am not going to do ratings for Mexico, but I will say that Marquez gets a 2 for being very stupid. He cost his team a chance at points in this game, and he hurts them for the next game. Also, why is Eriksson playing Oswaldo Sanchez and Carlos Ochoa. Sanchez is obviously not good any more and there are better keepers behind him. And Carlos Ochoa was never a threat, he looked awful, they need Carlos Vela and fast. I'm starting to think that Eriksson is not a good manager.