England 2, USA 0: A look back

                                                                         Photo by ISIPhotos.com

It was ugly.

There is really no other way to describe the U.S. team's 2-0 loss to England. The Americans were thoroughly dominated and had few players really step up to the challenge presented by the star-studded English lineup.

Wednesday's loss wasn't about what Americans were missing, not about Jozy Altidore being left home or Freddy Adu being left out of the starting lineup. It was about a U.S. team exposed for what it is, a young group still in transition after the retirements of several key figures.

The U.S. team had two glaring weaknesses, the lack of a central midfield presence capable of keeping possession under pressure (ala Claudio Reyna) and no target forward capable of presenting problems to the defense (ala Brian McBride). These are issues that have been concealed for the most part in the past two years, but issues that couldn't be ignored against a skillful and experienced England squad.

So who do I think played well? Other than Oguchi Onyewu and Heath Pearce, I think the rest of the U.S. performances were pretty forgettable. Eddie Johnson had some decent touches but after hearing some good reviews of his performance I can't help but wonder if he has set the bar so low in his recent national team showings that any sort of decent play could be seen as better than it actually was. As for Freddy Adu, yes, he showed something, but the game was already decided by then and there was definitely a foot-off-the-pedal feel to the game at that point.

I'll re-watch this morning to see if anyone else stands out (I know, unlikely).

Who didn't play well? Yes, it's a long list but I'll point to Josh Wolff and Ricardo Clark as two who stood out. Wolff looked completely lost while Clark had a hand in both of England goal's. The first via a clumsy foul in an area of the field that is David Beckham free kick territory, the second when he completely lost himself in midfield and left Gareth Barry all alone to deliver a pin-point pass to Steven Gerrard (to be fair, Barry had just come into the match and neither Clark or Bradley picks up Barry). I like Clark as a player but he has not done himself any favors with his recent national team performances.

I'll get more into the carnage later today. For now I want to hear from you, the SBI readers, and find out what your biggest complaints are about the England match and what you think were the high points and low points.

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[Gooch]

I thought I did a pretty okay job yesterday.

[A Diddy]

A few quick conclusions from the game:
1. Heath Pearce isn't ready for the big time yet.
2. Eddie Johnson should be finished with the national squad.
3. Goddamn, this team needs Landon to compete.

[eric-dynamo]

it was emberassing watching the US play last night!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pete]

i've seen alot of mixed feelings on Pearce.
i think he played well.

[PKTaker]

adu needs to be playing. he's our most creative player and knows how to possess.

[sidenetting]

Adu must start for an LDless offense. And, believe it or not, EJ wasn't bad. Neither was DaMarcus. After that, it was downhill fast. Bradley held his own but the team needed more weapons. Maybe in 10 years well have the depth we need.

[Mario in SJ]

The US seemed to be awed by the occasion. They were playing like a youth team, kicking the ball out of trouble and not able to string together a few passes. If Bradley was supposed to be the attacking midfielder forget it. He seemed to be non-existent.There was a bright spot, when Adu was inserted. They were finally capable of stringing some passes together to create an offense that died at the feet of the strikers.

On the other side, Hargreaves was phenomenal. He was all over the place and really killed our midfield. Apparently Capello is using the Sacchi midfield defense concept that won Milan a few crowns back in the 90s. England has the horses. Interesting few years ahead for them.

[DMee]

I thought eddie johnson had a decent game. He didn't do too
much but he seemed to attack a little bit more, which was nice.
Although he did have some terrible touches so I'm not sticking up for
him too much. I've got many comments about last nights game.
Starting with coach bradly....

Why is wolff even out there? That dude is done. Hopefully bradly just put him out there just to make sure he doesn't
need to be included in the qualifying, he doesn't. And on that tip,
why not get him out sooner to give freddy more than 20 mintues
out there, piss poor.

Good to see beasly back. He definitly didn't have that quickness
though, looked a step slower than his old self but that should come
back with time. I again question why he was kept in for so long in a
friendly.

I thought young bradley did well in the middle. Nothing too much to
speak of, but he did his job. Rico on the other hand looked like a
small child. He got thrown around like a rag doll and contributed
nothing besides his running mouth. He committed the foul that led to
the first goal as well.

Defense looked allright. I still think gooch is a bad bad defender. On the
second goal not only did he keep gerrard on side but he didn't track
him before he got the ball. Just pathetic and (sorry ives I know you love him, but) he is by far the weakest link of this squad.

BB got outcoached and our players got outclassed. Next couple of
weeks will be very interesting.

[redbull fan]

Can't agree with Ives any more than I already do. The US the past two years just does not do well in the final 3rd of the field. Harkes pointed out that the midfield lacks that flare and creativity, I expected more out of Bradley (player), especially if you consider his performance like an audition for the EPL. Our forwards lack that instinct to go to goal and the midfielders never (besides Landon and younger Beasley) make the runs off the ball ala Gerrard.

[nate]

If you need one player just to compete, you don't belong at the World Cup. What happens when LD goes down with an injury or red card in Souht Africa? Do we just get on the plane and fly home?

I think the biggest problem is the delusion of most fans that the USA is something that we are not.

[Andrew Karl]

What the hell was Bradley thinking starting josh wolff up top. Why is this guy getting looks? he's 31 years old and playing in the Bundesliga 2. He even plays on the wing for his club side. When, in his entire carear, has Wolff shown the quality to warrant a start up top against England, a team with 2 of the best central defenders in the world?

Also, it's official, Eddie Johnson doesn't deserve to wear the shirt. There just no work ethic from him at all. It's infuriating to watch him refuse to chase the ball or put pressure on the defenders/keeper.

I hope this was a wakeup call for Bob Bradley.

[Jeff]

The game was hard to watch...one of the more frustrating USMNT games I have ever tuned into. People should lay off EJ. He didn't play terrible this game. It has got to be hard when Josh Wolf i your other starting forward. Good lord. Josh FREAKING Wolf???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[Day]

All that needs to be said, it that we have no real chance at competing on the same level as the European or South American sides until we develop players that can hold possession. Even when we beat a decent team like Mexico it is usually off of goals against the run of play, with no real buildup. Are there absolutely no decent holding mid prospects in the US?

[Matt]

Gooch played well? I must have been watching a different match. He fell asleep on Gerrard's goal.

[Rob C]

I think for all his success in Europe, Michael Bradley has been very disappointing for the Nats. The U.S. seemed to have a few decent build-ups going that were interrupted by a mistake or bad touch by Bradley. His tackling is okay, but he has contributed little else from his center midfield spot.

Other than that, without Landon, this game went as expected in all honesty. I truly believe that with Donovan in the game, the energy his 100th Cap would have brought, his speed and attacking prowess, the U.S. might have nicked a goal and made this one interesting.

I also think credit needs to go to a very focused and well-coached English squad as well. They forced the U.S. into mistakes with a lot of pressure on the ball. They seemed very determined and let's not discount the fact that they were at home, so the task of even scoring a goal in this one was always going to be difficult.

I had expected a 2-1 loss, so this isn't that disappointing. I think it's great experience for the guys going forward, and it's great for Bob Bradley to learn more about his team as 2010 Qualifying approaches.

[Dan]

I definetly noticed that alot of the USA team was not playing as much as watching, as England is obviously better physically and technically than us (just watch the 2nd goal with the pass from barry...everyone just watched it instead of doing something) Also is it just me or did USA look really small compared to England...idk if all their players are 6'2 180 pounds but it sure seemed like it.

[Erik]

My thoughts on the game.

Bradley the player needs to be further up the field and not playing so defensively. Our defense didn't look too bad to be quite honest. The second goal was a clinic in one touch passing. Gerrards run was in perfect and there was nothing Gooch could do.

We are severly lacking at forward. Wolff is done, Johnson isn't up for it and we have nobody else. Jaqua for a few minutes was worthless and Adu showed very quickly that he could hang with the big boys. Some of his stops and turns made the england players slip.

Either way, I didn't expect a win out of this game.

[Domino95]

Lots of comments each way on Eddie - hard to bury the guy at such a young age but a concrete wall would have had a better first touch than he did yesterday.

Unskillfull and plodding - no shape, no transition, no idea what to do with the ball once(if) we received it. Harkes commented about a "good" pass Bradley made to Wolff. Wolff had three guys within 5 yards, a fourth just behind these three, before you could see another US player. How's that a good pass? U9 kids are taught not to play the ball into pressure like that.

Since Convey's comment (2006 WC) about not knowing what to do on the field (Arena's sarcastic rebuttal) it does seem our team is still lost out there. I know their technical skill is better than what they demonstrated yesterday - I still wonder what our "national" style is supposed to be. You can spread 11 Brazilians around the globe, but when they get together for a national game they know what to do. We're not there yet.

[Jeremy]

"It was about a U.S. team exposed for what it is, a young group still in transition after the retirements of several key figures."

I see this a little bit differently. I saw a group of players who are largely supposed to be in their prime! 24-28 years old with European "experience." Just enough experience to freeze up on a large stage. In this group I see very few players with the hunger, swagger, and moxey to play attacking soccer. Eddie Johnson has never produced when he was needed. Josh Wolff is a complimentary roster player. Heath Pearce is the new Greg Vanney- an international third-stringer at best. I don't mind counter-attack soccer, but can we please possess the ball once in a while? Please!?

I would prefer we blood the U-23 attacking players now. I would have loved to see a Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers, Freddy Adu, and Jozy in the lineup than watching another snoozer by Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff, and two defensive midfielders. Let's find out if any of the young guys have the same "nothing to fear" attitude that Landon, Cleetus, and DMB brought to the 2002 WC.

Please! I feel like I'm watching one of Bruce Arena's teams all over again.

[Barry U]

Nothing to take in pride really. OK performances by Adu, Gooch, Pearce. Also you need to take into account the home field advantage and Fabio Capello as the manager. He has those guys attention and I think they are playing for national team lives at this point. Also, he had his team together for like an 11 day camp which british media said was the longest in recent memory. I know the CL guys came in later but hey they played in the CL. U.S. did not play well but we are moving to be better by 2010 and I think that will be the case. If they play better against Spain and Argentina this will have been a good run of games. Becuase then Barbados and the like will not seem so hard.

[Dave Martinez]

Hey Ives, I have to disagree with you and the EJ "bar"

EJ did some things he never does - face off against defenders, TRY to run through opponents, NOT fall as much as he has done in EPL, and he was able to hit a couple of crosses and put himself in a good position to find the ball in the few occasions that the US had in the attack.

Adu plays the game the way it should be played - not ticky tack, but creative. His presence in the lineup would be beneficial against creative squads like Spain and Argentina (fingers crossed that Jozy and Adu play at Giants Stadium)

They are the only players, in my mind, that stood out. In positive ways. And though expectations may have been set lower, EJ did better than his counterparts.

[George]

The love I have for this USMNT is similar to the love a father has for a son. I want this team to be great, but we have to be honest, we are decades away from seriously challenging the world powers.

The world powers best athletes play soccer, ours do not. Its as simple as that. The genius of having a large player pool is that the competition will ensure that only the best survive.

Honestly, some of the players who start for the US team wouldn't even make the pool of consideration for some countries.

Bradley and Clark are essentially two holding mids and that was evident as we had no linkage from the midfield to the strikers all game!!

Furthermore, We need more players and athletes. We are not there yet.

[Brett Kozinn]

Glad to see Adu has been working on his right foot.

[Ives]

Dave, you do realize that England was applying a fraction of the pressure they were providing before the second goal after the second goal right? Adu came into the match when things had slowed down and he had far more time to operate than American players had in the first half. Might he have made an impact if he started? Possibly, but his performance against England has to be put in a little perspective.

And I do agree about Johnson, I was somewhat impressed, but again, I think expectations are pretty low for him.

[HoustonUSA]

I was very disappointed with the speed of the team. There was no attack down the wings at all. (I am not counting Lewis's work in the last 20 - the game was already over.) I'm willing to give Beasley a pass, since he has been out for so long, but Dempsey didn't do anything. Johnson didn't work at all to get the ball, so the England back 4 weren't forced to extend their efforts.

Ont the other side, England looked great, especially early. With the amount of talent on that team, how could they miss Euro 2008? We'll see how Capello does in WC qualifying, but I'm starting to wonder if the Three Lions can play when it counts.

[Frank the Frowner]

The reality is we're not as good as we think we are. When your starting forwards are Josh Wolff and Eddie Johnson do you really expect to win against teams other then Barbados?

I still don't see what all the hoopla is about Michael Bradley. He's a turnover machine and a red card waiting to happen.

We have no creativity in the midfield, why doesn't Adu start at CAM?

Bob Bradley stinks.

[rocky]

I would have to disagree with you ives, even if we had reyna and mcbride i really dont think it would of made much of a difference, the bottom line is americans just dont know how to play soccer the right way and it is expossed against world class talent. Enough of the killing of this team lets think about what needs to happen for this team to take the next step and start to play better:

Lets take a look at the player pool of this squad. How many of these players come from urban or inner cities in america. Prob. none. US soccer needs to pump money into this area, to neglect inner and urban areas in america is only killing themselves. Now i know soccer is not that popular like basketball or football, but you pop in a tape of christiano ronaldo or ronaldinho and you will get some interested people into soccer. Their is no reason why america shouldnt dominate the world like our basketball team, we have too many people period and way to many good athletes that could excell at soccer. This is a big problem for our country and one that US soccer should look into, because im sure their is so much untaped talent in cities across our great nation.

[Michael F.]

1. Josh Wolf is an absolute waste of a player (this says even more about Bradley as a coach - very sad.) Give a new young player a chance. Wolf had one nice goal against Mexico at Giants Stadium in 2002 on a great pass from Mathis, other than that - he's done NOTHING. Move on.

2. Agree with Ives - Pearce held his own.

3. Johnson is still living off a good national team season 2-3 years ago. But he has done NOTHING since. Nothing at KC, nothing for the NATS and nothing for Fulham. Move on.

4. Dempsey is getting better. That's great to see.

5. Beasley had flashes of goodness. Great to see him healthy and working his way back. We need him to succeed.

6. If we are ever going to compete against the big teams, we need Donovan. Yes, he is that good and he is that important.

7. Bradley and Clark were over-matched and out-classed.

8. Dolo was solid. Very reliable.

9. Adu should be starting. From the short time he was on the field, you can see he has something NO ONE ELSE HAS - it's called IDEAS.

10. Char Barrett should get a look.

[Michael F.]

I meant Chad.

[Rocco]

After watching the game on DVR, I didn't think it was as bad as I was expecting.

Did England dominate possession at times, yes. Did we have trouble keeping the ball, especially our FWDs, yes. But, at this point England has superior players, plain and simply. Also, I don't understand why we don't try and attack the baseline. In the final third we settle for crosses from 30-40 yards which usually get picked by the goalie or blocked by there D. Some things I saw from different guys.

Cons
Wolf- Sorry, he was terrible. He can't hold the ball, let alone make a formidable attacking run at someone. Against CONCACAF he might be ok, but against Europe or South America forget it. I think his days are numbered.

Clark- Kept losing the ball and made a lot of dumb fouls. I think he is better than he played, but if he keeps this up bring back Pablo or insert Edu in the middle. Overmatched by the two center mids all day.

Dempsey - Yes. Maybe its just the long EPL season, but he looked sluggish, tired, and not interested at times. He seems to always be looking for calls from the ref now, too. He needs to bring back the energy to his game.

Pros

Pearce - I though he played really well and I think will be our left back for years to come without any serious injuries. He covered for others and came forward to create some chances.

EJ- He played OK in my book. I think its still mental with this guy. He held the ball well even though they double teamed him all day, b/c Wolf was non existent. He needs to just play, go at people, take more shots, be greedy. If he PLAYS in the EPL next season I think we'll see great strides.

Bradley- the kid is a workhouse and is only 20. He gave the ball away a few times, but mostly in the 2nd half when fatigue set in. He needs a good attacking counterpart in the middle.

Adu- seemed to be the only one who had any creativity in the attacking third. And he isn't afraid to take the ball at people. Needs to play now.

Onywu- Still looks a bit slow, but if he slims down and works on his touch I think he can play in the EPL.

Lewis- He's old but he had the best service on the team. Maybe the best guy in the last 10 years we've had on services. Good off the bench or an occasional start. Maybe too old by 2010 though.

Others

Beasely- needs more work, not sharp
Boca - needs more work, not sharp
Dolo - solid
Howard - one of the tope goalies in EPL, nuff said
Hedjuk- not bad getting old

we needed Donovan, you could tell there were no runs coming through the mid field.

[Tony in Quakeland]

I'm with Ives - I think were are in transition. Which is okay as long as we peak two summers from now. Guys like Bradley and Edu in midfield and Adu and Altidore in attack are good bets to be substantially stronger by WC 2010.

As for right now, without Donovan we are already giving away the attacking , increasing pressure on the rest of the team. Even an occasional dangerous run in attack would help. We got none of that yesterday.

It was discouraging, but the result really didn't point out any weakness we didn't already know were there. Maybe the next couple games will offer more encouragement.

[josh]

after watching the replay, don't know if i really understand Ives' comment on rico being to blame for the second goal...

anyways, something we all know is that our central midfield is young, inexperienced and not particularly skilled at holding the ball (and with bradley in there not particularly quick to chase pressure the ball). i think that bob bradley made a big mistake by playing with 2 forwards. wolff did nothing in this game. i think that we would have been a lot better off with another man behind the ball, clogging up the midfield. (our young central midfielders need all the help they can get.) is it common for teams to go to wimbley and play with 2 forwards?

[Elliott]

This always comes up, so I don't know why I waste my time. But... when Bradley deploys an "empty-bucket" midfield (like he does 99% of the time), there is no CAM; no #10.

I'm not saying we SHOULD be playing with a CAM, but - c'mon guys - quit asking why he didn't play Adu at CAM. The role doesn't exist.

[Ives]

Josh, if you have the game recorded, go back to before the second goal and watch Ricardo Clark and watch Gareth Barry. Clark should have been with Barry but was in no-man's land. By the time he realizes Barry is all alone it is too late. You can't give a player like Barry the freedom to deliver a pass in that position with no pressure.

[TBryantMU]

I keep asking myself this question again and again and have yet to come up with a logical answer: Why did EJ deserve a start and not Adu? EJ has had the same amount of playing time over the last few months (none) as Adu, but Adu presents the MNT with creativity and a legit posession-keeper.

I have to disagree with everyone who is trying to give EJ any sort of credit for yesterday's abortion. You can't give a guy credit just for TRYING when you're on this sort of stage. The only difference between yesterday and his season with Fulham is that he didn't seem to be afraid of the ball as much (but he still didn't know what to do with it when he had it.)

Wolff was a ghost and had no reason to be on the pitch with the likes of Gerrard, Rooney, or even my 14-year-old sister. This goes for Ricardo Clark as well. I don't see what Bob sees in him. You think Micheal Bradley is reckless? Ask yourself who had a hand in each of England's goals and the majority of their close range set pieces...Clark.

Positives:
- Adu can and will be a playmaker for the Nats down the road.
- a USMNT with Lando, Freddy, Jozy, and a fully fit DMB would have shown us a different game yesterday and (if they play together at all over the next two games) will be able to compete with the big names.
- Eddie Lewis looked like the youngest player out there and showed that he can still bring it to the table for the US when called upon.

[josh]

i'm looking at it. and it looks like bradley is the one not doing anything on that play...he pushes up to "double" on a man and leaves barry wide open...

[Joe_in_ND]

I knew we were going to lose when Bradley trotted out a Wolff-Johnson striker pairing.

Dempsey was poor, and should have been better, since he is one of our better creative and attacking players. Adu should have started.

Clark and Bradley got absolutely bossed by the English midfield. Gooch and Pearce played well. Cherundolo could have played better.

Neither Bocanegra nor Beasley were match fit. But they are still good players.

I love how people are acting like the sky is falling. We weren't expected to win this game. It was England at Wembley, and we were without Donovan. People need to stop hating on both the players and on Bob Bradley. Take a deep breath, realize this is a friendly, and get on with it cause we got two more of these coming up next week.

This is why I stay away from the USA Men's NT forum on BigSoccer. So much negativity and ridiculous expectations.

[josh]

bradley runs in a complete circle on that play. credit to england though because it is a pretty dynamic move. rooney dropped deep into to midfield, clark correctly steps up to pressure him. the mistake (if you can call it that) happens when bradely pushes up on hargreaves who's already being closed down by ej, leaving barry wide open.

why isn't one of our central defenders on gerrard? (my guess is that they are outnumbered 3 to 2, with barry being wide open though it's difficult to tell on the view that i have). a simple 1 for 1 switch between rooney and gerrard shouldn't cause a bunch of pros to lose their shape that easily in my opinion...

[HomeyBoehme]

We looked slow out there. We can thank Capello that Defoe started at forward because that guy cannot shoot the ball. The scoreline would have been embarrassing if anyone else would have been up top. Our first touch was terrible across the whole side. There was no attempt at holding possession. I think Josh Wolff touched the ball twice and both times John Terry quite easily dispossesed him. EJ (after the first 20-25 min) actually got some decent touches and passes back to the midfield (what? a pass back?). I think we have more options up top than those two. Time to give Cooper a shot IMO. I understand why Bradley has to give them a shot though, because we really lack some depth in that position. I can remember maybe 3 or 4 good sequences of passing from the US. Every shot we had was blocked and from somwhere outside the box. Too many fouls committed in dangerous positions (though this connects back to our lack of pace across the field). If this is how we play in Spain, we are going to get absolutely crushed. Finally, and I think that is the point of these friendlies, this is going to make playing in our region seem like a cake walk. I applaud the USSF for setting up friendlies that challenge our national team to step up their game.

[JAT]

What a desultory performance. The sad reality is that save for Tim Howard, there isn't a single US player that could compete for a spot on England's subs bench, let alone their starting XI. And this isn't even one of the world's best teams. We have quite a way to go.

[Joel Sanderson]

I find it fascinating to read people talk bad about Gooch when the people who actually have to put their money where their (keyboards) are want to give him money to play. Once again I'm more likely to rely on the Harry Redknapps of the world as to whether a player is talented and worthwhile than someone such as myself.

[Johnny]

I am a teacher. Many of my American students said they would be rooting for England. I had a hard time understanding why they wouldn't root for the country that they're from. Acter watching that total debacle I understand why. Everytime I get hopeful about the team (Poland 0-3) I get knocked down (England 2-0). Two steps foward one step back sums up the state of this team for me.

[josh]

looking at it again, boca steps to defoe and gooch steps up to try to put gerrard into an offside position. it's really close, but no call - so gerrard waltzes in. and without a doubt bradley is the one who's lost in midfield. he follows barry all the way across the field and then leaves him to double team hargreaves in england's half of the field. but why??

[Paul]

back line + Howard and Beasley were the only bright spots. Pearce has made good progress. Beasley proved how critical he is to our form.

Bradley was okay, but it's just too much to ask of such a young guy to be the holding midfielder for us at this point. He's a great player with potential to be one of our all-timers, but he's not yet world-class. We have a generation talent gap between Reyna & Bradley.

Clark was the worst player on the field. Second to him was our forwards tandem. Give Wolf credit for a good nat'l team career, but he's done. EJ will forever disappoint - we need to move one. Without Donovan on the field, since it forces Dempsey back, we're pathetic up top. As we haved known for the last 2 years, since McBride retired (from int'l) we have no one.

Let's hope for a bounce-back vs. Spain next week. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact Donovan will have -- assuming he plays. Also, Bob has to give someone else a look at D-mid.

[tedhill]

A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, FOR ANYONE TO ANSWER

1. Is Michael Orozco strictly a CB or can he play on the left or right side?
2. Are there any other options for defensive midfielders besides Clark and Maurice Edu? Don't get me wrong, I like Edu, but I don't think he is ready. As for Rico, he is too aggressive at times, too many silly fouls.

[jahuff]

The US did not have a good game last night, and can certainly pley better. However, I think the loss had to do with excellent strategy not just England having more talented players.

Capello put together a fantastic smothering defense with a fast and versatile counterattack. They had the quality to win balls in the midfield and foul appropriately to stop our counterattacks.

Capello decided to give some respect to the US by using a defensive formation. This is the smart way to play against the US especially when you have the player personnel to create some spectacular goals without committing too many forward.

Bob Bradley generally seems to use a similar strategy and tries to get goals through speed on the counter or set pieces. Last night there

Many other teams have come out against the US trying to show their superior skills and not relying on solid defense, which is a mistake. I think more teams will realize this after what Capello did. I feel like Ghana used a similar strategy against us at the 2006 WC and got some luck to win.

I think the game was ugly because both coaches came out with a similar defensive mind set. The English just seemed to have the edge in talent to win the balls more often and more quickly in the defensive half. They also closed down space better and pressured the ball better as a team. That led us to dump long balls and bypass the midfield.

[gimmi]

There is no way we can blame EJ this time, if hes not getting good services what can he do. so this game was lost in the central midfield (which I thought It would happend), because England has two of the best in the world. So I really cant blame anyone here, we just dont have the talent right now. But trust me by the time World Cup comes around I think our lineup would be nothing but studs.
P.S.
Mr. Bradley,
Adu needs to start. Theres no other way around it.

[Marc]

I think Pearce played well, but he allowed Gerrard to run free on the second goal with a half-baked attempt to pull an offsides trap. One thing that I think has not been discussed in much detail is Clint Dempsey. I am sorry, but for all of his fancy touches, I don't think he creates many dangerous opportunities. Now, perhaps that is because he doesn't have another midfielder within 20 yards of him and only one of his two forwards showed for the ball all game. Let's at least acknowledge that EJ looked better yesterday than he did before he went to England. Why is Bradley sold on the two defensive midfielder alignment? It creates huge gaps between the midfielders and forwards and there is little support (at least in the US version of it).

[gimmi]

Also, one last note our formation I think might need to be with Adu starting should be
2
1
2
1
4
Gk

[irishapple21]

Michael Bradley, Heath Pearce, Tim Howard and Demarcus Beasley were all very good. Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson and Ricardo Clark were awful. Put a fork in the three of them. We should be giving more field time to the younger guys like Altidore, Adu and Edu. We were sorely missing Landon Donovan. It wasn't a complete disaster, though. 2-0 is still a respectable scoreline against a very established team.

[tedhill]

The issue with CLINT DEMPSEY, to me is that he should be playing up front instead of the midfield. He is not one of our better creators, so why not let Freddy Adu do that from the midfield and Deuce can finish goals for us.

[DL]

The biggest issue, in my mind, is not the play of the US team. The biggest issue is that Bob Bradley conceded this match at the very beginning with the player pool/lineup that he put into this game. However, with our VERY mediocre starting XI(even for US standards) we put up a decent fight.
Remember, we were playing on the road, in Wembley, against England's best XI. Eddie Johnson came very close to tying it up in the beginning of the 2nd half. What happens if he scores? We pack it in and defend for the 1-1 tie, or at worst a 2-1 loss - a very respectable score against England in Wembley.
Granted, not everyone on the US side played to their potential. But in this match, we shouldn't be too worked up about our players or our talent. Rather, we should be questioning rather Bob Bradley is the right man for the job. We don't need a coach who gives our squad no chance to win from the very outset - even in friendlies.

[Q]

I enjoyed the game. Thought that Howard did well with what he was handed. That's not saying much! Josh Wolff should never have started. I think that this is Nowak's influence on Bradley since we know that Nowak doesn't like Adu. I also thought, as soon as I saw the starting lineup, that I didn't like Clark starting. He has not played well at all for the Nats.

[Tim Crawford]

I'm wondering what people think of this, so please comment back: I think Jeff Larentowicz should get a look at DM. I know it's a position the US are supposedly loaded with, but Rico Clark has put in a series of uninspiring performances, Feilhaber has lost it a bit, and I really haven't thought Bradley has done much in his last few (though he's young and still learning). I think Ginger may be in the top 2 or 3 for DMs in MLS, but is relatively unnoticed due to Shalrie. He's also got one heck of a free kick which would've been useful yesterday.

[AC]

I agree with you about Ricardo Clark. He's a good player, but I think only for MLS. He seems to disappear or make stupid decisions on the national team. Hopefully Feilhaber can play his way back into the lineup after his injury recovery, or Edu is given more of a legitimate shot soon.

And besides a true target foward, this team needs to find a true attacking midfielder as well. Also, Bocanegra and Gooch form a viable centerback tandem, but not against quick teams. In the future against fast teams, I say keep Gooch and use more of a quicker centerback alongside him such as Orozco. Hopefully down the line, the 4-4-2 formation can be tweaked more into a 4-5-1. With this formation, Donovan can be used on the right wing, Beasley on the left, Dempsey can use his ability on the ball in attacking midfield/foward, and Altidore can be the main foward. With the 4-5-1, they can also still keep their two holding midfielders and be able to attack on offense more without having to rely on set pieces as their main means of offense.

[Brian]

I think what's really showing is Bob Bradley isn't getting the job done. His lineups are awful. The team is timid and uncreative. Spain is going to beat us, Argentina is going to embarrass us.

[Rocco]

Does anyone think that the US team might be getting stale? I mean, we've had Arena for 8 years, now Bradley who is in the Arena mold and was one of his top prodigies. Its almost like having the same US President since 1998. I'm not saying Bradley is doing a bad job, but sometimes fresh ideas or perspective needs to be brought in.

I wonder if we had brought in a foreigner to give us a different perspective what would be different? Maybe we bring in a foreigner as a technical director.... Did we already do that? Any comments? Any thoughts?

[tedhill]

I agree with DL that we conceded the game with the lineup we put out and the thoughts of Bob Bradley on this one. That was a peculiar starting eleven and I know Landon was not available but why not replace him with Freddy Adu? Why not bring in Adu at the start of the second half instead of the 68th minute? Like I said before the game, the way to beat England is to be aggressive and not play their style of a dull game. We let them lull us to sleep in a bore game and they caught us a couple times. If we do the same against Spain then we may lose 4-0 or 5-0. I'd like to see a 4-5-1, more specifically a 4-2-3-1 with Adu as a winger and either Dempsey or Donovan as the CAM.

[Brant]

Here's my take - the US seems to have a lot of role players. There are a lot of very productive guys out there than can play good consistent soccer for good teams all over the world.

Now, start naming the Brits, and stop when you get to the first one that you'd replace with an American if you were building a team around a player. They've got Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Terry, and Ferdinand that you could put as the centerpiece of virtually any team in any league. They've also got Beckham, Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, DeFoe, and Owen (tho not all in this game) who aren't quite the same level, but would go before any American except (maybe) Donovan, and the keepers.

They're just better than we are, plain and simple. A great bunch of role-players wins titles in MLS with a salary cap, but they won't win in the wide-open world of big-time soccer. Not now, not ever.

[Ives]

Josh, I'll split the blame between Clark and Michael Bradley on the second goal, but to be fair to both, and I hadn't realized this until the re-watching, Barry had just come in so I think they got a bit crossed up on who was supposed to have him. I pinned it on Clark at first because he was a little slow to react to the ball moving forward, but by then it was too late for him or Bradley to get to Barry.

[Chg]

Johnny, I'd guess most of those students are Lakers, Red Sox, and Patriot Giants fans too. Some people have such a poor self image they'll cling to any "winner" in the desperate hope that it will somehow rub off on them and make them cool by association.

[Sandro]

I like EJ but as far as US National he just hasn't proven much outside of the streak of goals he scored for the US National back during the last qualifiers. I think Jozy should have played if not for anything but at least to get the experience in playing big games. Adu should have come into the game after half time. Josh Wolff time has passed.

I was pretty dissapointed that the team play the way it did. I mean I don't expect the US to win every game but I do expect the US to come out to win every game. The US team's demeanor was just not there. They gave too much respect to England and played lousy. They offer to many open spaces and just seem to be playing subpar and not to their full potential. We need to keep demanding more from this team so that we can continue to grow. We have to be able to prove on the big stages and play the same every where with the same hunger.

Let's see how the US does agaisnt spain. Otherwise these next three games will seem like a disaster against top teams.

[mary]

I had the interesting experience of watching the game on such a bad screen and from such a distance that I had no idea the identities of the individual players... for example, I couldn't tell who left who open to pass to gerrard. And I only knew it was gerrard when they took a close up after the fact.

That being said, here is what I noticed:
1. When the game started, I thought we looked like we were playing with some intent, that our players were trying to make something happen. Not that it was necessarily well executed, but that there was a plan. I can't remember the last time I saw this. The same for the defense - they felt like a unit, rather than four guys strung together. I'm not saying that I think we played well, I'm just saying this because I can't critique individual performances.

2. We actually did a pretty good job at certain points breaking up their play, and we even did a decent job of getting it to an open player, but we didn't have a good second and third pass. We couldn't spring anyone to really get moving down the field. This comes from both not having play makers in the middle of the field and not having people make those runs.

3. Guzan looked scared to death when they gave a close up of his face at the start of the second.

4. I think we badly got outplayed. I don't think we were outclassed.

[gsh]

While England may not be one the best teams in Europe, those are some pretty talented players they marched out there, didn't 7 of them just play in the Champion's league final last week?

I wasn't expecting much... but i was hoping for more energy and fight out of the US. Way too many uncontested passes to the wrong team, and England seemed to disposses the Americans at will.

[Chris]

I say this only for Michael Bradley's sake, so that people stop having undue expectations for him....He is not an A-mid. I watched the Herenveen games/goals throughout the season and they resulted from him utilizing good build up play (novel concept Bob/US defenders and midfielders) and well timed runs into the box. Nary was there a time when he took the ball, controlled possession, beat defenders 1v1 and ripped one (please if I'm wrong show me a clip so we can all see). He can be good offensively but he's still primarily a defensively minded midfielder, those are his strengths and he's good in that role (by the way, a Defensive midfielder can still function in the offense, it just means the onus isn't necessarily on him to dictate tempo and play). What shouldn't happen is to pair him up with someone who essentially performs the same role (albeit with more fouls) and has even less possession capability and expect our midfield to do anything more than win balls and consequently lose them. Rongen of all people knew this and paired him with Szetela and Adu in a midfield triangle at the U-20's with Adu functioning as the offensive/possession influence (Szetela kind of mirrored Bradley's role, perfectly normally in a 4-3-3 midfield triangle). So a pairing with Feilhaber when healthy or Adu or anyone else we can cook up between now and 2010 that can play well off of him is going to be sooooo much more enjoyable to watch, you may think our team is actually playing soccer.

[Adam (Joliet, IL)]

The game was lost before it started. When I saw the lineup the only question I had was "Can we even keep it close?" The answer was 'No', and it is not often that a 2-0 score doesn't show accurately how dominating a performance England displayed.

I really appreciate your (Ives) comment about how, "Wednesday's loss wasn't about what Americans were missing... It was about a U.S. team exposed for what it is..." Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson, Ricardo Clark just won't cut it on the international level. Despite their performances I find two things much more disappointing, and both are related to Coach Bradley:

1) The team did not display the passion and comradery he preaches so often
2) Wolff, Johnson, and Clark have all been tested in the past and not shined on the international level. If I know that sitting on my couch in Joliet, IL Bob Bradley should know that as the coach of the team. For my money, I would have used a game against England to give Adu, Edu and others a 'baptism by fire,' and let them prove themselves on a big stage.

[Kevin]

You see the difference in that after every pass the England players made in the offensive half - the passer made an aggressive run. This was creating opportunity and causing the US to make stupid fouls (ie Rico on the first goal). The U.S. couldn't hold the ball, kept losing possesion and running around with no plan and no linkage between Defense and Offense.

[Aguinaga]

People generally seem to be forgetting about Bradley Sr. As a unit, the team looked completely uninspired and unprepared to play on that stage. As a result, that was as boring and as time wasting a friendly as I've ever seen the US play. The tactics were horrendous, the gulf in talent sad, and the performance as such was a complete embarrasment. Just a friendly you say? Wait until we play a team that isn't against running up the score, like Spain. We play like that vs Spain, we lose by 5 goals minimum, easily. I mean damn, if you're going to lose, at least go down swinging and make it an aggressive, entertaining, and educational game! Isn't that what friendlies are for? But what did the team learn from that experience? That we SUCK ASS against England? That we don't have the talent and depth to compete against them? Not a single player stood out imo save Gooch. Why schedule these games then? To relearn those facts?? Bradley and perhaps Gulati as well need to be called out for scheduling 3 games within days of each other against world class opponents without considering whether or not they had the depth to be competetive let alone show up in each of those games. Bradley Sr. deserves blame for not inspiring in his team the one talent the US has equal to or more so over England: heart. It would seem that instead, he believes that much complacency and respect towards an opponent will be returned.

[Nutmegger]

Two things: Our team did not match the intensity with which England attacked the ball when they didn't have it, and attacked with the ball when they did have it. Second - and the halftime look back at the 1993 game in which Ramos delivered two pinpoint passes to the heads of his teammates to beat England brought this even more to clarity - there is just no quality service on the field. And the only one who really can provide it at a high level of consistency at this point is Adu. NM

[Rocco]

Chris - I agree completely on Bradley. He needs a good counterpart. They should have put Adu in there. At least for one half.

Maybe Donovan or Felheiber in the future. Dempsey could but not right now. He seems sluggish.

[usnavysrchief]

Watched the entire horrible mess!!! Coach Bradley was awful in his team selction from start to finish. From calling up derelicts Like Wolff and Jaqua instead of Charlie Davies, Kenny Cooper, Jermiah White etc..... to actually thinking Donovan would play in such a big moment as last night to not starting Adu after that wuss Donovan quit on the team. He had no clue!!!!!! Performance wise:"

Cherundolo - was non-existant hopefully Spector, Simek or somebody else steps up soon.

Wolff - Well we all know he should never have been called into the team to begin
with.

Clark/Bradley combo does not work. Two holding mids does not generate enough offense/posession to help them stop opposing players. They don't seem to know when to shift from defense to offense fast enough. We definitely need to find a CAM. Bradley an do it but I still belive that Dempsey can do that job.

Pearce - did a good job last night. Challenged Becks completely during the first half. Becks only effect happened because Clark was fouling people left and Right. Pearce held his own against Beck/Bentley and also contributed several good play covering the CM's during the Game. He needs to stay and hopefully impressed enough people last night to get some offers from bigger teams.

Gooch/Boca - Did fine Got caught out on the Second goal by the Midfielders trying to play both ways when they are DM'S, and I believe that Terry was Boca's man during that set piece he scored on. But again England are coached by one of the worlds best coaches (Capello) and they David Beckham delivering the crosses!!!! Not many teams are going to stop that combo 100% of the time

Forwards - NADA from them non factors and they made the England back four's job very easy!!!!

Adu - Should have started!!! Hopefully he gets more PT at Benfica to justify more NAT Team PT.

Beasley looked Tired. Could not even make Becks chase after him. Bad night all around for him.

Sub's - Why is Coach Bradley so poor at this area of coaching??? Should have done his subs a lot sooner and with more effect. Of course not having quality players available for the match is his fault anyway so I guess he fails there also.

England were ready for us. They looked at film and thought we were a worthy opponent. Which last night we were NOT!!! Unfortunate!!!!

I believe htat Spain will spank us and Argentina will Kill us if BB does not change his strategy of 2 holding mids, and no true strikers on the field.

[gimmi]

irishapple21, u r smoking something, i think the wrost performance was put out by M. Bradley not Clark, but Clark is right below Bradley.
If you take EJ out and put Jozy in thats fine with me, but Jozy needs a partner thats good other wise he'll be just like EJ.
Maybe K.Cooper should get a look at some PT
He's def. good on this feet.

[ManicMessiah]

If Bradley wanted experience, I don't know why he didn't start Lewis on the left, move Beasley to the right, and play Dempsey up top (I still would've rather seen Adu start, though I was worried that he would've had trouble with the physical nature of england. If he doesn't start against Spain, I will be more than a bit perplexed).

My biggest problem with Bradley's lineup is I don't see where you could've expected a result at anything other than a miracle 0-0 finish. We weren't going to possess the ball well in the midfield without having numerical superiority, and you couldn't expect the forwards to come up with some moment of brilliance. Moreover, you didn't even have a player who you could say has a definite chance to play a great ball on a set piece.

I don't really blame the players for putting in a bad performance for the most part, because I don't know how you could look at that starting XI and expect a great game from it.

[A.S.]

The more I watch Michael Bradley at the US National Team level, the more my opinion of the Eredivisie drops. If this guy is a top player in the Eredivisie, then the Eredivisie must really not be a good league. I have no idea why an average to good team in the EPL would want Bradley.

[John]

What a terrible night for the US. England didn't play particularly well and still completely outclassed us. Eddie Johnson was poor, poor, poor. What has happened to him? Slow, clumsy and seemingly disinterested, I can't believe anyone would praise that performance. Eddie Lewis looked good, Heath Pearce wasn't as bad as most people seemed to think, that's about all I have to say that's positive.

[groovester]

I'm dreading what kind of starting XI bradley comes up with for the Spain match. Anyone want to venture a guess? I wouldn't be shocked by anything anymore. He can't be thinking, 'hmmm, lets give that Wolff-Johnson tandem another shot.' Can he? Like someone else said earlier, why even schedule these spotlight friendlies if you are going to send out weak lineups.

[Juke Box Hero]

predictably, some major over-reactions in these comments. What I said on this board prior to the game is what transpired: inability of Bradley's chosen d-mid tandem to hold possession will eventually wear us down and we'll concede possession and goals.

On the bright side, there's time and talent available to fix this. Between Donovan, Adu, Altidore, Klejstan & Cooper we have the possibility to seriously upgrade the skill, possession, and unpredictability of our squad, even as soon as next week but definitely before WC 2010.

My hope is that Bradley realizes soon that twin d-mids does more harm than good.

[josh]

okay, Ives, that's fair. and it really highlights the problem with our team: that we don't have any great central midfielders. clark has upside because of his wheels, but he's not super confident on the ball and gets pushed off it too easily. bradley just doesn't move very well. edu is still really green. feilhaber has so many people following his development because these guys are our best options at the moment. i really wish that dempsey had continued on the path that he was on with the revs towards being a center of the park player. he's alright at forward, but i think that he could have been pretty good for us in the middle (and an upgrade over the current crop). with these kids pulling the strings, WCQ is going to be really interesting this time around...

[A.S.]

BTW, I think that Ives' diagnosis of the US team's two main problems - no midfielder able to possess the ball and no decent target forward - is exactly spot on.

However, the problem in the central midfield is even deeper than that. I'd put the "keep-possession-and-direct-the-play" type midfielder in a slightly different category than a creative attacking midfielder. Of course, the best midfielders do both - guys like a Riquelme, for instance. Reyna was good in the early 00s in possessing the ball and directing play, but he wasn't as much of a threat taking it going forward and being creative in attack. We've not had a real creative attacking midfielder - a true #10 type player - in a long, long time. Even in Reyna's heyday, he wasn't really that type of player. I would go all the way back to Tab Ramos in the mid 90s as the last time the US had that type of player.

[Chris]

one thing I would like people to address when they tell me how good he is/was is his penchant for playing a defensive header either straight up or back (but not to the keeper). I've seen him do it in the past and it perplexed me, but for those who want a specific example here is one. Gooch jumps up over Gerrard to head a long ball away, the ball flies straight up in the air instead of out of the defensive half. The ball drops to Rooney who plays it to Gerrard who sneaks in a great pass to Defoe that could/should have been a goal if not for decent marking by Heath Pearce (why is everyone so down on him, the one full back who actually looked like might contribute to the offense).

Gooch, there are two guys playing your position on the opposite side of the field that don't make that defensive mistake, please take notes to improve your game.

[kpugs]

It was truly pathetic. As a fan I find it disgusting that Bradley shows up at Copa America with a C-team, plays nobodies vs. England, etc. Call these games meaningless if you will, but they are not meaningless to me, or THE REST OF THE WORLD.

Europe is still laughing at us after yesterday. South America is too. When the hell are we going to step up and play to win one of these big games we get every once in a while, even if it's a friendly?

Everyone is laughing at us but us, and as long as this habit of fielding shitty teams against world powers that is not going to change. We are forever the butt of the world's footballing inside joke, and it pisses me the hell off because it's our own fault.

[kc]

I cant believe all of these comments about EJ. Did we watch the same game? He had 1 good shot thats it. I think that 1 shot is affecting some of your memory's. He has been given more than his fair share of time to shine, its time for Bob to give others their chance, take your pick on who that is.

Adjustments should have been made at halftime. OK the "EMpty Bucket" formation worked for about 35 minutes of the game while ENG got used to it. Halftime Clark should have been taken out for Freddy at a CAM position.

We had no linkage of our midfield and strikers. The ONE good cross into the box was from an overlapping defender (peirce).

We just need work all around and it starts with the manager. This formation and personnel is not conducive to our strengths. Wake up BOB...

[wally]

Watched the game on tivo night and we weren't as bad as I expected based on all the comments. This team looked miles better than the one we trotted out for the Gold Cup -- England did not have an inordinate number of scoring opportunities and we did manage to keep some possession and create a few scoring chances.

I think the blame people are directing at coach bradley is flat wrong.. the fact is, from what I saw, every single starting english player is significantly more athletic and technically proficient than our starting XI.. no coaching tactics or minimal roster changes are going to negate england's overwhelming talent advantage.. And re the roster: the only thing he could have done differently is start Adu instead of Wolff-- Donovan and Altidore weren't even available. I agree with those who vastly prefer Adu to Wolff, but if you think the result last night changes with Adu (who had a few nice touches, albeit against very little pressure late in the game) instead of Wolff, you are deluding yourself.

In any event, I thought Eddie Lewis was way more effective than Adu, or any other offensive player for us last night. If any player could have used more pt, it was him.

Re the midfield: I think Bradley did ok for himself, Clark a little less so. Gerrard and Hargraves outclassed everyone in our midfield. Here's the tough reality: Gerrard is way better than any soccer player the US has ever produced. If he doesn't outclass our midfield, he's having a bad day. I like an in form Benny (or Reyna of 6 years ago) instead of Clark, but, again, I'm not sure, the result changes much.

I do hope that Altidore, Adu and Bradley (and maybe Rogers) develop into players that could make England's starting XI, but we have a long way to go.

[Chris]

That last comment was about Gooch, by the way, I accidently left his name out of the first sentence (Proofreading is for wimps).

[kpugs]

Chris, not sure if you know this, but when you are a defender clearing with your head, the ball is not meant to be headed by you. It is meant to either go in the goal, or to a guy on the other team. Does that make sense to you? Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to execute a perfect brilliant header in your own end while trying to keep tabs on the other players in the area.

Let me guess, this is the first time you have seen anyone on England play, that can be your only excuse for literally saying their central defenders are perfect. Watch a game sometime--Terry and Ferdinand et all make their share of mistakes, stop trying to make them out to be gods.

[wally]

I meant copa america, not Gold cup.

[Michael F.]

There is nothing "respectable" about a loss. That is a loser's mentality. I bet the players would agree. We are at point where there is no such thing as moral victories. The only way we gain respect is to win.

[Evan]

I was really looking forward to this game and came away bitterly disappointed. While only a friendly, I thought it would be a great measuring stick to see how far the U.S. had come. We have a developing domestic league, an increasing number of players playing overseas, and have dominated teams ranging from Barbados to Mexico. The England, Spain, and Argentina games will determine whether we're ready to be big time. The answer, after game 1, is a resounding NO.

Too many of our starting players would be third tier -- at best -- at many of the other top teams in the world. Here's my quick player summary:

LD - We needed him bad. He is our best player, and makes everyone else on the pitch better. I don't think his presence would have changed the outcome, but perhaps it would not have been as painful to watch.

Wolf - Please, no more of him. . . ever.
Bradley - Showed glimpses for a 20 year old. If he continues to improve, he could be a solid midfielder for us.
Clark - overmatched
Dempsey - surprisingly slow and overmatched.
Guzan - Made some good saves. Seemed frozen on the Gerrard goal, but not much he could have done.
Beasley - glad to have him back, but he couldn't beat anyone off the dribble and lost the ball a lot.
Adu - we need him to start. Yes, he's small and still developing, but he's our most creative player.
Pearce - Was active, but I thought his crosses were miserable.
EJ - Had a few nice plays, particularly the volley at the start of the 2nd, but he losses possession too easily.

Final thoughts: I am not upset that we lost. Without LD I knew it would be toughgoing. What upset me is how thoroughly dominated we were. Hopefully, we can rebound and do something against Spain or Argentina, but i'm not counting on it.

[josh]

everyone talks about how far we've come over the last 15 years, and i think it's fair to say that we're much deeper than we've ever been (with a pool of viable players at least 30 deep). but watching that video that US soccer showed of our game against england from '93 (a 2-0 US victory), i couldn't help but think that the first 11 from that team could probably take the team that we put out there last night. what an amazing group: wynalda, a bunch of foreigners (dooley, wegerle and stewart), a crazy beach bum-looking dude who played in mexico (doyle), f'ing lalas and some dudes from jersey. our defenders today are much better overall, but the midfield and forwards on that old team were really strong.

[Dale Murphy]

I think our biggest problem as a national team going forward is our lack of central midfielders. I think Bradley will be very good in time, but I don't see Clark or Edu ever being better than average. Feilhaber is a big question mark right now as we all know. This is going to hurt us even worse than our striker situation, because if we can't possess we can't play. If I were Bob Bradley I'd make it my first priority to bring central mid talent through the ranks to link up with Adu as an AM/second striker.

[DL]

kpugs, Take a deep breath. You act like someone was attacking your mom or something. Chris's point was good - and it goes to a bigger point: the US is not fundamentally sound, whether it's ball-striking, trapping the ball, or making sound defensive headers. While Terry and Ferdinand are not gods, they are certainly more tactically and fundamentally sound than any defender we have.

[eric]

"There is nothing "respectable" about a loss. That is a loser's mentality."

Dude, I'm with you (and Jose)!

Ives - good analysis, you stopped me in my tracks with the realization Adu was operating without pressure. Hmmmm. Guess that's why you get paid the big bucks. But he's still the only guy with ideas, right, and if BB really doesn't mean to give him meaningful minutes in these friendlies, then he should have turned the Toloun team over to Adu, right???

[Mike From Baltimore]

My thoughts:

1) Johnson is just not up to snuff for the USMNT rght now. He doesn't take people on, he doesn't challenge in the air, and he has little to no creativity which prevents him from linking with the rest of the team.

2) Beasley looked fair to poor. I'm giving him a pass since this is his third match since his ACL, but his service was terrible and he lacked his trademard burst to go past people. Without that- he's not good enough to compete. When he gets his speed back though I fully expect him to tear it up again.

3) Will we ever have a #10 again? Since Tab and Claudio (and Claudio isn't REALLY a #10) we just don't have a CM who has the creativity and composure to run the show in the middle of the park. We will never compete on England's level until this kind of player is developed. Landon has some of these skills, but not all of them, same with Freddy.

4) Liked what I saw of Guzan and it's nice to see BB give him some experience at this level in case Howard gets injured. Guzan looked a lot better then he has in MLS (for the most part) this season.

5) England were on a completely different level from a mental and tactical approach then us. Some of the runs they made were just unbelievable (especially Steveie G). I hope our players used this as a learning experience. England really put on a show yesterday.

[Larry Y]

Simply put, the US was out classed in the center midfield.

Having someone like Lampard, Gerrard or Hargreaves would have made a huge difference on this US squad. It would have allowed Michael Bradley to move forward, for one thing.

[Pat the Red Bulls Fan]

All is not lost. Alot is lost, but not everything. Moving foward toward the World Cup, I like our back 5. We need to work long and hard on the front 6.
You figure that DMB, Deuce, Donovan and Bradley are going to be there, so two more. Edu is 22, Altidore and Adu are 18, Cooper is 23, and Rogers is 21. Some combination of that, is our best chance moving foward, I hope.

[Neo]

This is a team I would like to see, as bad as it sounds lets hope the US gets throttled by Spain and Argentina so we can fire Bradley before we WASTE ANOTHER WORLD CUP:
Howard
Spector Conrad Parkhurst Blackmouth
Edu Clark
Donovan Dempsey
Rolfe Altidore

The Bench:Adu, Cooper, Holden, Orozco, Reis, Johnson, Bradley, Beasley?

THIS IS A ROUGH LINEUP- BUT THE PLAYERS THAT SHOULD BE PENED IN TO START- Parkhurst, Edu, Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, Howard

[leonardo rabelo]

As a fan of soccer I completely understand why the blog readers are focusing their criticism on the players. However, improvement must begin at the top. Why not hire a world class manager like Gus Hiddink or someone else like him? THAT could definitely make a difference, long-term.

[Mattman]

This was a tough game to watch. The first 10-15 weren't too bad before the Brits figured out that they could pressure us into making bad passes, long clearances to no one, and midfield turn overs. I think that they believed our hype after the 3-0 Poland game. That respect soon was gone.

I saw an earlier comment about EJ saying that we should lay off of him. I'm sorry but EJ has been given chance after chance and has nothing to show for it. His form is still poor and I believe that even Fulham are regretting signing him (though that's just an assumption wathcing his equally dismal performances in the EPL). In my opinion he should be finished with the men's team until we see a return to goal scoring form for him. These games aren't where we should be giving him his practice to "get good" again.

This may be Bob Bradley's first failure as a coach. Bad players selcetd for the first team, poor use of subs. I'm sure that Nate Jaqua got a whole lot out of his 4 minutes of playing time. Arena used to wait until it was too late to sub as well. I'm beginning to wonder what their thought processes are and why this seems to be an American trait. Do they think that they're giving up on a player if they sub? Clark and EJ should have been gone at half time. Two fresh faces may have made some difference over the next 45 minutes.

We'll have to see how we do with Spain. I'm going to chalk this loss on Bradley's shoulders for a change. The buck should finally stop with the coach for a change.

[Kevin]

With Harksey in the booth, I started to miss the grit from the Nats of yesteryear.

[Skeptic]

Does anyone seriously think that Landon Donovan could have made the England XI? Maybe the bench, but LD is not as talented as many people (US fans) make him out to be.