Establishing the Established

So, he says trying to seamlessly transition into posting after being absent since the World Cup, burdening his bro with all scouting, linking and writing duties…

Came across a decent article on bbc.co.uk concerning He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named “saving” soccer in the US.

linky

In short – what I have been lecturing on folks for a while now, soccer is already established in this country and has done so under the radar of every lazy journalist who even dares to pen “America will never care.”

Outside of some of the arguments presented in the above link, people seem to forget the significance of the fact that the USMNT has been in every World Cup since 1990.  England, Holland, France, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, and my beloved Scotland among others can not make that claim.  Granted, the qualifying competition is nowhere near as fierce in CONCACAF (though underestimate St. Kitts and Nevis at your own peril), but that consistency of appearance, even with an inconsistency in performance, carries a lot more weight than people admit.

Flash back with me, if you will, to 1990.  The first time I get to watch a World Cup on Domestic TV and have it broadcast in English not Spanish.  There was no league and little hope of one developing.  TNT was broadcasting the WC and they took commercial breaks.

In 17 years since, I have seen the US in 5 World Cups, seen the establishment, development, and (eventual) solidification of a domestic league. 

In 9 years since the 98 World Cup, I have seen the introduction of soccer specific channels spoiling me to the point where I bitch if I am stuck watching mid-table teams, or lament that an English game is being broadcast concurrently with a Spanish one.

I encourage anyone who cares to sit back and think about that.  Let it sink in.  Think back to the dark days of the mid-nineties when your only outlet was the EPL review show on ESPN2 or knowing someone with a giant satellite dish. 

All calls for patience aside (we had to outlast the MLS shoot out rule, and a number of other sillies that were supposed to help the game translate), in a relatively short period of time, the difference in American soccer is actually pretty intense.

My 2 cents.

US – Poland U-20 Highlights…

…including Adu’s hat trick:

Not to put too fine a point on it: HOLY SHIT!

I didn’t bother watching the U-20 WC game between the US and Brazil tonight because I assumed that the result was a foregone conclusion. Mistake.

ESPNsoccernet – Global – Brazil v United States Report

Jozy Altidore scored a goal in each half and gave the United States a 2-1 victory over Brazil on Friday, sending the Americans to the second round of the Under-20 World Cup and possibly eliminating the four-time champions.

Continuing on from his hat trick of the other day against Poland, Freddy Adu set up both US goals…

Adu Takes Center Stage – washingtonpost.com

Three days after recording the tournament’s only hat trick, Adu set up both of Jozy Altidore’s goals, including the game-winner in the 81st minute on a spectacular sequence, as the Americans executed a 2-1 upset of Brazil on Friday night before a capacity crowd of 26,500 at Frank Clair Stadium. It was the first time a U.S. men’s team had beaten Brazil in a FIFA tournament since the 1989 under-17 world championship. By virtue, the Americans (2-0-1) will play a third-place team to be determined in the round of 16 on Wednesday in Toronto.

I think Adu’s a likeable enough chap, and the club game has not been working out for him, for a variety of reasons. Certainly it would be to the benefit of US football if this is an emergence into being a senior player, as opposed to an echo of teenage promise.

In the meantime, though, holy shit: US beats Brasil. You certainly don’t see that every day.

Oh Landon

I’m not the biggest Landon Donovan fan. Correspondingly, a friend sent me a YouTube link of his mighty miss in front of an open goal when the US played Canada last week. I looked at the clip and thought, well it could happen to anyone… after all, I frequently trip over nothing in particular while moseying to get a cup of coffee.

Then my friend found another clip, but this time with a bit more context…

Oh for God’s sake. It couldn’t have been more gift-wrapped had the Canadian defenders and DaMarcus Beasley swung by Neiman Marcus on the way to the 18 yard box. Now I understand why my friend was still rolling his eyes several days later. Landon Donovan, for shame.

If not Klinsi, then who?

If the measure of someone’s intelligence is how much they agree with you then Jen Chang from Soccernet is a freaking genius. His piece about what the USSF should be looking for in a coach if Klinsmann doesn’t take the job is exactly what I’ve been thinking about, but much better put. To wit:

For the U.S. to progress on the world level, it requires a coach that has a stronger grasp of the tactical nuances of the elite international teams and international style of play. For all Arena’s impressive track record as coach and the admittedly excellent job he did in salvaging the U.S. national team after the ’98 World Cup debacle, he had two shortcomings that were exposed somewhat in the recent World Cup.

First, although a great player manager, Arena was never a strong X’s and O’s coach capable of making the necessary in-game tactical adjustments on the international level. Second, in terms of style, it’s time the U.S. started gravitating away from the direct ball philosophy of relying on set pieces and crosses from the flanks to score. This direct style, although effective against lower-tier teams, is a one-trick pony that often comes unstuck against teams of superior technical quality. For evidence, one need look no further than the way both England and the U.S. struggled to create quality scoring chances from open play during the World Cup.

Although the U.S. still lacks the abundance of technical players to play a short passing creative possession game along the lines of that of Spain or Portugal, the fact is the younger generation of U.S. talent — such as Clint Dempsey, Freddy Adu, Justin Mapp and Lee Nguyen, et al. — all show far more precocious on-the-ball ability than U.S. players (Tab Ramos excluded) typically have shown before. It’s time to embrace a more rhythmic style and move away from the drilled-down structured approach the U.S. has adopted in recent years. A domestic coach simply is not going to bring this outlook.

Couldn’t agree more, although I maintain that the USSF needs to bring in an American coach to get the hang of it.

Incidentally, the recommendations of Bruno Metsu and Eric Gerets are genuinely interesting. Well worth a read.