USMNT --- World Cup 2010 South Africa - USA Eliminated

[Yachtzee]

Well, on the bright side, the US continues to show progress and at least some of these guys are young enough to be around for the next World Cup. I hope the experience they've gotten this time around will lead to the US being even stronger the next time around.

[GIDP]

Like was said by Alexis we lost this game on possession. When they got that 2nd "lucky bounce" the well was empty. They didnt burn but maybe a couple minutes with the injuries. Ghana held the ball well in the 2nd 15, not allowing the US to have the time to build an attack.

they certainly burned more than the 3 given at the end of the game. They burned at least 4 with the guy laying on the ground, then walking across the field. Then every throw in they burned at least 10-15. Then on that one corner they burned probably 25-30 seconds.

Maybe my judgement of time is awful but I certainly they burned more than a couple minutes. They took their sweet time doing everything. Within reason is fine but when its blatant its an issue.

[MWM]

Goals for the next 4 years:
1 Tighten up the leaks in the back
2 Develop some strikers that can score.
3 Work on strength to start stronger, we went to the well one too many times.

Yep. They also need to learn how to play a more physical game. They get pushed around too often, like they did today.

And as silly as this may sound, they have got to figure out how to play with their heads better. Bradley is the only guy who ever wins long, high balls with his head. I kind of chuckle a little watching most of the US players trying to o up and challenge head balls. They lose almost every time. I think this is an important part of the game.

[Tony Cloninger]

When they tied it...I thought they were going to win it. I could not tell if it was more difficult to try and score the equalizer or trying to defend it.

I was hoping they would the themselves out for the next game...but Ghana looks like it could play another 30 minutes without a sweat.

[Yachtzee]

Ah well, lots of positives to come out of this WC. I know we've been saying it for years, but the US is getting better every year relative to the rest of the world. They have a ways to go, but it's a process.

Altidore and Bradley form a very solid core for the next 8-10 years, and I think the difference with those two is they will give the team some personality on the field. I think Feilhaber can also be a real player and he's 25, so has some good years left. Clint Dempsey might have one more cup in him, but he's 27, so he could start to break down soon as physical as he plays.

And I haven't entirely given up on Freddy Adu yet, although I'm pretty close. But with the talent that guy has, if he can get over himself and learn how to play the game of soccer instead of trying to make the highlight reel, he could still be the best player the US has seen.

The future is looking brighter every day for US soccer. And I know this isn't very popular, but i'm looking forward to Donovan not being the premier player (and I have never thought of him as the best ever US player. That designation goes to Claudio Reyna, IMO). He's very talented, but he lacks any kind of real competitive drive. No killer instinct at all and the US needs their best players to be leaders and play with some spirit. Donovan is not that guy through no fault of his own.

Now if we can just get a manager who doesn't do silly things like starting Ricardo Clark in the biggest game in US soccer history. That's a Bob Boone type of move by overthinking things.

I think Donovan might have one more Cup in him. I'm hoping his play with the USMNT and Everton gets him a transfer to the EPL where he can get the experience he needs to be the Field General type #10 he can be. But then again, maybe Bradley takes over for him by that time and he takes the supporting role next time around.

I think if Dempsey makes it to another World Cup, he might be playing the role of the dangerous sub off the bench.

I had a bad feeling about this game when I saw Findley and Clark in the starting lineup. The US always seems to play better and with more determination when Findley and Clark are on the bench.

[GIDP]

They certainly have a nice base of young talent.

[GIDP]

I come away from the Cup being very high on Bradley and Edu. I think they both play harder than anyone else on the field. Well other than maybe Dempsey.

[Yachtzee]

Yep. They also need to learn how to play a more physical game. They get pushed around too often, like they did today.

And as silly as this may sound, they have got to figure out how to play with their heads better. Bradley is the only guy who ever wins long, high balls with his head. I kind of chuckle a little watching most of the US players trying to o up and challenge head balls. They lose almost every time. I think this is an important part of the game.

I think the US has always played a physical game. Their problem is that they they don't "sell" it when they get fouled. You look at guys like Dempsey and even Brian McBride in years past and they would get laid out with elbows to the head and pop right back up with blood running down their face. Some other teams would have their guys rolling on the ground for five minutes. In the US we just have the mentality of "rub some dirt on it, walk it off, and get back in there."

Bradley is good and still young, so we've got that going for us. We could use some players good in the air, like we had when Brian McBride still played internationally.

[reds1869]

I'm very disappointed in the way we went out. We can hold out heads high, but it still stings.

[GIDP]

If FIFA wants to fix flopping they will take replay and give cards out for it. They should already dosomething like that for bad yellows given.

[Slyder]

Yep. They also need to learn how to play a more physical game. They get pushed around too often, like they did today.

And as silly as this may sound, they have got to figure out how to play with their heads better. Bradley is the only guy who ever wins long, high balls with his head. I kind of chuckle a little watching most of the US players trying to o up and challenge head balls. They lose almost every time. I think this is an important part of the game.

I concur, I dont know about the whole playing on headballs I do not think the US will ever get the caliber of athletes that many places get to match head to head. Soccer is 3rd, 4thish in the US where as its #1,2,3, and 4 in many places in the world.

I still think that Richard Kingson is one of the more underrated keepers left, but Uruguay is more disciplined than the US is on defense.

[MWM]

I think Donovan might have one more Cup in him. I'm hoping his play with the USMNT and Everton gets him a transfer to the EPL where he can get the experience he needs to be the Field General type #10 he can be. But then again, maybe Bradley takes over for him by that time and he takes the supporting role next time around.

I used to be a huge Landon Donovan fan clear back in 2001-2002. I used to tell people I named my son after him (even though we got the name somewhere else). I thought he was going to give the US that playmaker they've never had before.

I was always disappointed when he chose not to play in Europe. From a strictly soccer perspective, he'd be SOOOO much better off now had he went there as a 20 year old. But having said that, there's more to life than sports. I can't fault him for choosing life over career, and my understanding is that's why he chose not to go across the pond.

But I don't think he has much confidence that he can play with the big boys because he plays so tentative, almost scared, in big games. He has no aggressiveness at all. He reminds me a lot of Adam Dunn in a sense. When Dunner was demolishing way through the minors and came up and easily put up such great numbers right from the start, I thought he was going to be an absolute beast, more like Pujols has become. But he never seemed to get better over the years, and his defense got worse. He's a very good and productive player, but he never became what a lot of us imagined he would. As much as I liked the guy, he was always a bit of a disappointment. That's how I feel about Landon.

[reds1869]

I used to be a huge Landon Donovan fan clear back in 2001-2002. I used to tell people I named my son after him (even though we got the name somewhere else). I thought he was going to give the US that playmaker they've never had before.

I was always disappointed when he chose not to play in Europe. From a strictly soccer perspective, he'd be SOOOO much better off now had he went there as a 20 year old. But having said that, there's more to life than sports. I can't fault him for choosing life over career, and my understanding is that's why he chose not to go across the pond.

But I don't think he has much confidence that he can play with the big boys because he plays so tentative, almost scared, in big games. He has no aggressiveness at all. He reminds me a lot of Adam Dunn in a sense. When Dunner was demolishing way through the minors and came up and easily put up such great numbers right from the start, I thought he was going to be an absolute beast, more like Pujols has become. But he never seemed to get better over the years, and his defense got worse. He's a very good and productive player, but he never became what a lot of us imagined he would. As much as I liked the guy, he was always a bit of a disappointment. That's how I feel about Landon.

Very well put. Landon is one of my favorite players but you have to accept him for what he is: good, not great. That said, he is in line to make a boatload of cash this transfer window.

[Hoosier Red]

I concur, I dont know about the whole playing on headballs I do not think the US will ever get the caliber of athletes that many places get to match head to head. Soccer is 3rd, 4thish in the US where as its #1,2,3, and 4 in many places in the world.

And even saying that, the US athletes are almost always stronger, faster, and better conditioned than their opponents. It's soccer specific technical details which the US needs to continue to improve on.

Guys who made the team and will still be in their 20's in the next WC.
Jonathan Spector-3/1/86
Michael Bradley-7/31/87
Stuart Holden-8/1/85
Jose Torres-10/29/87
Jozy Altidore-11/6/89(WOW he's only 20!)
Maurice Edu-4/18/86
Robbie Findlay-8/4/85
Benny Feilhaber-1/19/85
Jonathan Bornstein-11/7/84

Add in a list of guys who have seen some national team time and are getting some work on international teams;
Freddy Adu-6/2/89(He's only 21)
Alejandro Bedoya-4/29/87
Edgar Castillo-10/8/86
Charlie Davies-6/25/86
Sacha Kjllestan-9/9/85

and others, and you have a pretty good base of players. Now think back to the 2006 WC and think of how many guys on this team you hadn't even heard of.

The US roster continues to improve.

[reds1869]

I like the look of that roster. I think that some of the older players from this team may yet have a run in them, though hopefully as key reserves and not feature men.