Tag: u.s. national team

soccer

Does the USA need a “No. 10”?

Posted on by Beau Dure

David Hirshey critiques the U.S. MNT with a lament for the bygone days, which never really existed in the USA’s case, of a “No. 10” playmaker directing the team.

From Ives Galarcep, we get a very different reading — the USA fared well in the 4-2-3-1 set-up that seems so common worldwide these days.

The 4-2-3-1 doesn’t rule out a “No. 10” — the midfielder at the center of the “3” line could be that guy. But all three of those midfielders are likely to see a fair amount of the ball, and the best playmaker need not be in the center. Landon Donovan, the MLS assist leader, is listed as a forward on Galaxy previews and is, as Hirshey notes, more commonly found on the flanks.

Bob Bradley was long criticized for playing an “empty bucket” midfield, with two central midfielders who leaned more toward the defensive end. Yet that system simply demanded that everyone share the load. It’s not inherently inferior to a diamond midfield with an attacking No. 10 and a defensive midfielder behind him. Some of the better midfields in MLS — Ronnie Ekelund and Richard Mulrooney spring to mind — were more fluid than the traditional attacking/defending split.

We’d all like to see skillful players, of course, and the buzzword in youth development these days is to encourage players to experiment and play a game more freely than the regimented days of the past. Freddy Adu in particular may have suffered from an insistence that he play more defense than a typical No. 10 or withdrawn forward would play.

But it’s tough to blame senior-level coaches for not having a Messi on hand. Hirshey curiously lumps Bruce Arena in the “hustle first, skill second” mindset of college coaches, even though Arena built fluid teams at Virginia and based D.C. United’s attack on a traditional No. 10 in Marco Etcheverry.

To show off a No. 10 in that mold, you need a player who’s head and shoulders above the rest. (Well, in the literal sense, he’s usually a head shorter — El Pibe excepted, most No. 10s are on the diminutive side.) Then you need to have a team so dominant and confident that someone else can carry the load if the defense focuses too heavily on one predictable mode of attack. Switch Messi to North Korea’s team, and he might not look like the swaggering No. 10 that Hirshey pictures him to be with Barcelona and Argentina.

So to see a true No. 10, the USA would need more than a change of tactics or one excellent player. We’d need to see a Golden Generation come up through the ranks. A No. 10 may be a symptom of a great team, but not the root of one.

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soccer

1994-2010 World Cup rosters: USA getting better?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Another quadrennium. Another World Cup roster selection. Each time, we have more hype. But is this U.S. team any better than the last four?

Here’s a position-by-position look. Each year, the players are listed in order of minutes played. Slashes represent a big drop in number of starts.

GOALKEEPERS

1994: Tony Meola /// Brad Friedel, Juergen Sommer

1998: Kasey Keller /  Brad Friedel // Juergen Sommer

2002: Brad Friedel /// Kasey Keller, Tony Meola

2006: Kasey Keller /// Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann

2010: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan

Never a trouble spot for the USA. Hahnemann, who has been playing regularly and playing well, may be the No. 2 guy ahead of Aston Villa backup Guzan, but chances are we’ll never need to know.

DEFENDERS

1994: Marcelo Balboa, Paul Caligiuri, Alexi Lalas, Fernando Clavijo // Cle Kooiman // Mike Burns, Mike Lapper

1998: David Regis, Eddie Pope, Mike Burns // Marcelo Balboa // Alexi Lalas, Jeff Agoos

2002: Tony Sanneh, Eddie Pope, Frankie Hejduk, Jeff Agoos // Gregg Berhalter //  Carlos Llamosa // Steve Cherundolo, David Regis

2006: Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Lewis, Eddie Pope // Jimmy Conrad // Gregg Berhalter, Chris Albright

2010: Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein

The talent level has improved, but we might not see the evidence in South Africa. On paper, the top five players on the 2010 roster are the strongest group of five defenders the USA have taken. Bruce Arena was fortunate in 2002 to catch Tony Sanneh in a career year and Eddie Pope in the prime of a great career. Left back is always a problem position, with Eddie Lewis shoved back there on occasion. If everyone were healthy, Bocanegra could move left while the Confederations Cup pairing of Onyewu and DeMerit could clog the center. Bob Bradley might not have that option, and we could end up seeing any of these defenders at any time.

MIDFIELDERS

1994: Thomas Dooley, Mike Sorber, Tab Ramos, John Harkes // Cobi Jones,  Hugo Perez // Claudio Reyna

1998: Claudio Reyna, Cobi Jones, Thomas Dooley, Frankie Hejduk, Brian Maisonneuve // Tab Ramos, Chad Deering // Preki

2002: John O’Brien, Landon Donovan, Claudio Reyna, Pablo Mastroeni // DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Lewis // Cobi Jones

2006: Landon Donovan, Claudio Reyna, DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Pablo Mastroeni // Ben Olsen, John O’Brien

2010: Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Jose Francisco Torres, Benny Feilhaber, Maurice Edu, DaMarcus Beasley

Another great example of 2002 catching players at their peak. O’Brien had injury problems throughout his career but made a strong run in South Korea. Reyna also was in top form. Beasley had just emerged as a force on the wings, and Donovan was coming into his own. The 2010 midfield should be stronger than the 2006 group thanks to the development of Dempsey, Bradley, Holden and Edu, along with the addition of Torres. Yet the 1994 group had two unique players in Ramos and Harkes with future stars Jones and Reyna in the wings with one-time great Perez.

FORWARDS

1994: Earnie Stewart, Eric Wynalda // Roy Wegerle // Joe-Max Moore, Frank Klopas

1998: Earnie Stewart, Brian McBride, Joe-Max Moore // Eric Wynalda, Roy Wegerle

2002: Brian McBride // Clint Mathis, Earnie Stewart, Josh Wolff //  Joe-Max Moore

2006: Brian McBride // Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff // Brian Ching

2010: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Herculez Gomez, Robbie Findley

In 2006, Johnson was the phenom on the hot streak with relatively little experience in big games. In 2010, Buddle and Gomez share that role. Findley also fits that description if you take away the “hot streak” part of it. The consistent professional McBride has been replaced by the young Altidore, who has gone from the highs of the Confederations Cup to the lows of being kicked out of town by Hull. All four 2010 forwards have the potential to exceed the previous generations’ accomplishments, but they haven’t done so yet.

CONCLUSION

The 2002 team was terrific — in 2002. If the same players had taken the field in 2001 or 2003, the result could’ve been far different. Still, that squad was better than the 1994 team, which had a couple of players pulling the general level upward. The 1998 squad suffered from some selection questions and was between generations — some players were showing signs of better things to come, some were on their way out.

On the whole, the talent seems slightly better, but this team has the dual question marks of youth and health. It’s not a step backwards, but the squad hasn’t taken the leap forward it would need to overcome adversity. The 2002 team, good as it was, needed some luck to make its run to the quarterfinals. This one is in the same boat.

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soccer

Alejandro Bedoya, stealth marketing and the U.S. World Cup roster

Posted on by Beau Dure

Let’s do a blind test. Which player would you think was most likely to be named tomorrow (2 p.m. ET, ESPNews) to the 30-man preliminary U.S. roster for the World Cup?

– Player A: Excelled for U-17s, U-20s and Olympic team. Had productive MLS career, twice named to All-Star team. Sold to European team but struggled for a couple of years to find place with club team. Has rare attacking skill and vision on the field. Has come on strong in recent games by most reports. 15 U.S. caps.

– Player B: Didn’t make U.S. youth teams, though he was considered. After good college career, opted to try his luck in Scandinavia. Currently leads his club team with four yellow cards. 2 U.S. caps, both in friendlies.

You’ve probably guessed it. Player A is Freddy Adu. Player B is Alejandro Bedoya. Those in the know think Bedoya will be on the roster and Adu won’t. If you bet on that four years ago, call someone for help setting up a charitable foundation you can surely afford to start now.

So has Bedoya benefited from being under the radar?

He shouldn’t, of course. It’s one thing to become the hip pick among the cognoscenti, even though no one has a chance to see him play outside of a couple of late appearances in friendlies. It’s another to impress Bob Bradley and the U.S. staff. U.S. Soccer is past the days in which a rumor of a left-footed player with an American citizenship claim somewhere in the Oberliga would start a stampede.

But what helps Bedoya is that no one has been paying attention long enough to see him fail. That sets him apart from Adu, Bobby Convey, Eddie Gaven, Edson Buddle, etc. Bedoya brings no baggage and no reason for a hue and cry among the fans and media. As far as the coaching staff is concerned, he’s an intriguing prospect. They may feel at this point that they know what Adu brings to the table. Bedoya is likely worth a closer look.

Still, there’s a downside to bringing in someone at this stage who didn’t go through the Central America grind. Late additions to the team usually help a bit more when they have some elite-level experience. DaMarcus Beasley and Tony Sanneh emerged late in the 2002 World Cup cycle, but Sanneh was a Bundesliga veteran and Beasley had been a U-17 / U-20 star.

And Bradley’s team-building philosophy is to build a wall around the squad. There’s an “inside” and “outside.” (See Filip Bondy’s new book, Chasing the Game.) It’s not so much a mean-spirited exclusionary tactic as it is a means of keeping distractions to a minimum.

Bedoya’s not a complete stranger, having been in the national team camp a couple of times already. So if he is indeed picked for this camp, Bradley must not view him as a risk.

Who else gets the call? Here are the locks and the bubble picks …

Continue reading →

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