The 23 – November Edition

The World Cup field is set (though Ireland may yet have something to say about that), and the U.S. acquired another pair of losses in Europe over this latest international break.  After dominating Slovakia everywhere except the final third, it was 1-0 Slovaks.  And then, with an 80% second-tier squad, Team America proceeded to get spanked by Denmark 3-1.

I’ve often called for Coach Bob Bradley to trust his depth and play other guys beyond his chosen core group of 7-8 surefire starters, but performances like these illustrate that without guys like Donovan, Gooch, Dempsey, and yes Jermaine Jones, Team America looks very average.  The midfield was completely overrun versus the Danes, with Michael Bradley (who starts every game he’s eligible) attempting to run the show.  Not a good sign.  A couple of upward trends from these games included Jeff Cunningham’s workrate and finishing ability, Jonathan Bornstein’s continued play and Jon Spector showcasing his versatility.

So without further adieu, here’s The 23 – the players Beemsville would bring to South Africa if we were in charge:

New Ideas Needed for U.S. Soccer

As expected, the U.S. has advanced past the first round of World Cup Qualifiers with a 9-0 aggregated victory over Barbados, a team chiefly made up of amateur and semi-pro players. Nothing wrong with 9 goals, but that was 8 in the first leg and a single goal this last weekend on the away leg. You could just point to the scoreboard and say, “mission accomplished,” but then you’d risk appearing as clueless as the last guy to utter that phrase.

It wasn’t about the result in this round, it’s about how the U.S. played and continues to play under Coach Bob Bradley. Look back to the three previous friendlies against England, Spain, and Argentina; look back further to other games and last summer’s Gold Cup and you see a team that doesn’t seem to know how they should play. And so they play listless, boring, defensive soccer. The kind of soccer that earned Bradley his ‘Bunker Bob’ moniker back when he coached the Metrostars.

Road to World Cup Goes Through Illinois

U.S. Soccer has announced the home venues for the second round of World Cup qualifying this fall. This, of course, provided our boys can take care of Barbados next month as expected. It all adds up to a busy stretch of sports, sports, sports later this year.

• Sept. 10 (7pm)- vs. Trinidad & Tobago/Bermuda, Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois.
• Oct. 11 (3pm)- vs. Cuba/Antigua & Barbuda, RFK Stadium, Washington D.C.
• Nov. 19- (7pm)- vs. Guatemala/St. Lucia, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado

We obviously plan to be there at Toyota Park in September. The only question: will I be able to talk little bro into coming along as well? Likely opponents for that round should be T&T (who qualified for Germany 06), Cuba, and Guatemala if the ratings hold out.

A busy sports month for us, with Illini Football, the Olympics on TV, and WC qualies. Sure am glad it’s so cost-effective to drive around these days.