US burnout

It was as I feared. The US team allowed an early goal and had to play catch-up again. They were able to equalize, but made the same mistake in over-time play and could not muster another come back. Although it makes for great drama and great TV, I knew that would eventually fail. The problem this cycle was with our defense and our inability to finish the ball well.

Many are saying that Coach Bob Bradley is to blame for the loss, but I don’t think that is the case. I have a great respect for the man – he recognized the mistakes in lineup against Ghana and corrected it early instead of letting it continue to hinder the US team’s ability to play well. His adjustments immediately impacted the game and you could easily argue that his decision to make that adjustment caused the US to take more control of the game. Believe me Ghana was worried that the US would come back on them, and for good reason. The problem for the US is that coming from behind gets harder with each game (especially the further you go in the tournament). The failures were going to cause a loss at some point.

I was impressed by Michael Bradley the most during the games. He played consistently well and made good decisions throughout. His passes were sharp, his movement good and his goal to bring the US level with Slovenia was superb. I’ve often said that scoring is more about being in the right place at the right time than any other factor. A good goal-scorer puts themselves in advantageous places not by chance. Bradley was impressive, even without the goal. Donovan also impressed, but I expected him to do so, and he needed to in order for the US to have a chance. Donovan was the unspoken leader of the team whether he was wearing the captain’s armband or not. Dempsey, Edu, DeMerit and Feilhaber all played good soccer as well.

So if not the coach, who is to blame for the US loss? Is it Clark, who coughed up the ball that led to the first goal? Is it Howard, who was out of position on the shot? Was it Bocanegra, who failed to shut down the dribble by the opposing player? Was it Findley, who failed to convert an easy goal? Was it Altidore, who was suspiciously quiet most of the game? It was a collective effort that ultimately was no one player’s fault. The US team just wasn’t at a high enough level yet. I think we sent our best squad – unlike Argentina, who are missing several world class players – we sent our best. Ultimately, I’d say it was all of America’s fault for not supporting our team as we do in other sports/events. I hope the support gets better as the team improves.