2008 Re-Cap

What a year it was for USA soccer. Both the national team and the national league had it's ups and downs, but steps were made in the right direction for both. The Columbus Crew dominated the MLS league season and deservedly won the MLS Cup. The national team played more meaningful games than ever, and swiftly went through the Semi-final round of the Concacaf qualification process. Here's a breakdown for each:

MLS:

• The Los Angeles Galaxy once again failed to make the playoffs, and could be in for more trouble next year with a first year coach, and the possibility of losing some key players. Landon Donovan and David Beckham will both be spending their break not on the beach, but on European soccer fields, a much better way to spend your break.
• America's best striker of all-time came home as Brian McBride joined the Chicago Fire halfway through the year as the Fire made a valiant effort to win the title, but fell short

• The New York Red Bulls showed how mediocrity in MLS gets rewarded by an MLS Cup appearance....the league seriously needs to discuss refiguring its playoff strucuture

US SOCCER:

• Once again proving their dominance in the region, easily qualification through the semi-finals looked easy. It may not be so easy in the final round, with Mexico to start, Honduras looking dangerous, and Costa Rica always being a tough draw

• The backline looks incredible. Onyewu and Bocanegra look to be the best centerback pairing this side of the Atlantic, and Heath Pearce solved the left-back problem quite well
• A new youthful midfield looks to be in good shape, with Michael Bradley looking strong in midfield and Maurice Edu still growing into his own. Jose Francisco Torres looks a good fit in the squad, too bad he plays in MEXICO!
• The Forward position looks to have the most question marks. Clint Dempsey, the man without a position, fits well at one of the forward spots, Landon seems to be playing more right midfielder than striker, which leaves one spot up top. Josmer Altidore, Kenny Cooper, and Brian Ching seem to be the men to fight for the spot, we'll see what happens when Mexico comes calling...

So with 2009 fast-approaching, what will the new year hold for US Soccer?

Concacaf qualification is #1 on the priority list, with the Confederations Cup also in the calendar year. So here's to you, US Soccer, continued success, and Happy New Year.

Until next year,
Come On You Yanks

Big Win in Guatemala

A hard fought, tough first test for the Americans. Tough tackles, bloody heads, kicked heads, anything you want in an American football match. Not for Soccer though, but that's what you get when you go to a 3rd world country like Guatemala (man that place is dirty) And can we get some lights in the place....my god.

I thought the back line played extremely well. The Bocanegra-Onyewu partnership in the middle is becoming more and more consistent. Still not much up front for the Americans which is a concern. This team needs a forward that can score, not just work hard. I'm so tired of hearing how good Brian Ching plays, or Clint Dempsey does, when they're not even on the score sheet. Sure I know they "hold the ball up" and "bug defenders playing it through the back" You don't think forwards are capable of doing both? I'm ready for more Kenny Cooper, and Josmer Alitore, and ready to get rid of the Brian Ching's and Eddie Johnson's of the world.

I thought Timmy Howard had an excellent game, he was all over the place, and is turning into the leader this team desperately needs. I thought the moment of the match (apart from the goal of coarse) was when Tim got in Carlos Ruiz's face after Carlos deliberately kicked Tim in the head. You saw the fire in Tim's eyes, and it's becoming more and more evident that he is the true leader on the pitch.

MLS Re-Cap

Some really exciting games in Major League Soccer this weekend. It's becoming gradually more and more important for the mid-table teams to start picking up points and securing play-off births.
The weekend was kicked off in Carson with the Superclassico. Cobi Jones' L.A. Galaxy (man that sounded good) got a very important point, considering they were 1 minute away from getting nothing from the match. L.A. needs to start picking up the pace if they want to make the playoffs. And no one talks about Chivas USA, but they are slowly but surely dropping out of the playoff race as well.

As far as the rest of this weekend's matches:

New England Revolution 0 - 4 San Jose Earthquakes
Surprise of the weekend by a large margin. If San Jose would have started to play like this at the beginning of the year, they would be up near the top of the Western Conference, easily. New acquisitions plus a little self belief have gone a long way for this club. As for the Revs, its just a small yield sign in the middle of their long and successful year.

Kansas City Wizards 1 - 2 Colorado Rapids
A whole 35 people saw the Rapids pick up a hard earned 3 points as Conor Casey delivered for the crazy waves. Kansas City is the under-performing team in the league this year. Claudio Lopez is wondering more and more what he got himself into...

Real Salt Lake 3 - 4 Houston Dynamo
Game of the Week, and what a game it was. 6, yes, 6 goals in the first half and a lone Dr. Goal tally in the second half. A big game for Houston that sees them leap-frog Salt Lake to the top of the West. Dare I say this is another late season push by the Dynamo?

D.C. United 1 - 0 Chicago Fire
The Brian McBride return was a sour one for the Fire faithful that had been waiting for a good 2 weeks to see the American Messiah return home. A lone Carreiro goal was the difference as D.C. looked dangerous throughout. Chicago had a good couple of scoring chances, but were unable to put them away. For the start that D.C. had, I'd say it's been a hell of a year for the Volkswagens.

F.C. Dallas 1 - 2 Columbus Crew
Not a whole lot in this match as the Crew got 2 late goals to put the Crew atop the Eastern Conference, and the entire MLS for that matter. Dallas was unable to put away chances, and were beat on set-pieces. Dallas is in a good position however, with journeyman goalscorer Jeff Cunningham pairing with Kenny Cooper, this offense will wake up, and in a weaker Western Conference, this bodes well for the Hoops of Dallas.

Toronto F.C. 0 - 2 New York Red Bulls
Team Canada was unable to repeat its gritty performance from last week, I think, I don't really know because the field was covered in grid-iron lines....New York is gaining momentum, but it might be too little too late.

Knocked Out

A day after the United States' Olympic run ended and I still don't know what to think. Sure the competition means very little, but the entire competition I was rooting for the guys just like it was a World Cup. Dumb, yes. Unexpected? No. I love this team and I love this sport.

What could have been will be asked over and over of the players involved. What if Stuart Holden had not hacked at the Dutch players leg outside the box like it was a piece of wood? What if Charlie Davies header had been 3 inches lower and cracked the back of the net? It's these questions that make this game so frustrating at times. But when you do put everything together, and it all works, it can be so amazing.

Overall it was a good experience for the younger guys, with some bright spots and some not so bright ones.

I found it fitting though that the US needed a result, in the last game of the group, against a strong African side slightly Ironic. Sound familiar?

Quite Impressive, But Not Done Yet

It felt like a loss for the US Men in their second game of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After starting poorly, and going down early to the European Champion Netherland side, the Americans showed will, determination, and grit to come back and grab the lead from the Flying Oranje with goals from Sacha Kljestan, and Jozy Altidore. But a late foul near the edge of the penalty area gave the Dutch the opportunity they needed, and showed class by capitalizing on the mistake.

Freddy Adu quoted it well, saying the Americans came out scared,"Me personally, I got mad. I was like, 'We can play with these guys.' I had seen our guys day in and day out. ... These guys [from Holland] aren't gods."

This is the kind of attitude we're looking for out of these new age American players, and we're increasingly seeing more of this "We're just as good, if not better than the rest of the world" attitude. It's this kind of mentality from the younger players that will propel this country to bigger and better things in the Soccer world.

So well done to the guys, but the job is certainly not done. It will still take some work to do, a loss from the Netherlands, and/or any result from the Nigeria match will see the Americans through.

Olympics Underway

The US got their Olympic campaign underway bright and early this morning (4AM where I'm from, and yes, I was up watching) and the start was exactly what the Americans were looking for and expected.

A tough first test against a quality Japenese side. Japan created a number of chances but simply couldn't put that round thing in the square thing. A goal from Scottish born Stuart Holden was the difference between the two sides as the Americans got a hard earned 3 points, and because of the other match in the group, the USA now leads the group going into the 2nd game.

MATCH GRADES:

Brad Guzan (6) - Didn't have much to do, but when he needed to get off his line and pounce, he did. A descent first game for the Aston Villa man, he'll be tested more in the second match.

Marvell Wynne (8) - I never thought Marvell would have been one of the better players on the field, but he was. Marvell has a tendancy to look slightly akward on the field but typically makes up with shear speed. Today his passing was spot on, the runs he made were excellent and if he got beat, he got back quickly.

Maurice Edu (6) - If this was separated between the first 75 minutes and last 15 the grade would be different. Was excellent the entire game, but got caught out of position towards the end of the game and could possibly have been called for a penalty on two different occasions.

Michael Parkhurst (6) - Did his job, wasn't beaten the entire game, and cleared danger when he was needed. Didn't see as much action as Maurice did, but did everything he needed to.

Michael Orozco (5) - Wasn't impressive to me, never made any dangerous runs down the flanks (see Marvell Wynne) and made some poor decisions. The first game tough, he's a quality young talent so I would expect him to have a good game against the Dutch.

Stuart Holden (7) - The goalscorer and Man of the Match according to those in higher ranked posisitons than I. Was the most dangerous midfielder by far with accurate tight passing and some dangerous runs. Was in the right position on the rebound and finished well.

Michael Bradley (7) - Cleaned up the midfield, which is exactly what he's in the team to do. Distributed the ball well to Rogers and co. and was in the right place defensively when he needed to be. Organization was excellent.

Sacha Kljestan (4) - Simply didn't bring it for this game. We've come to expect more from this young talent since he's been playing so well with Chivas USA (rebrand please) Don't expect him to be benched, he's a leader on this young team.

Robbie Rogers (7) - Made dangerous runs and some well-timed crosses, played well, not much else to say.

Freddy Adu (5) - Will the real Freddy Adu please stand up. Got knocked around the field by the Japanese, couldn't stay on his feet because he played around with the ball like it was a knock-around game in the backyard. Dear Freddy, quit crying, start playing better and go by people instead of whining about not getting 100 fouls called on you.

Brian McBride (6) - Not exactly the best fit for this particular team, but does what we as American Soccer Fans have seen from Brian since he began his international career. Cause trouble, draw fouls, knock down balls for everyone else. I expect Jozy to start against Holland

Slow Days for American Soccer....

Sadly enough, there's not a whole lot to report in the eyes of American Soccer fans. But for what it's worth, here's a couple views on some things:

• The New England Revolution completed the sweep of the Mexicans in the Semi-finals of Superliga. The final, a non-story game between New England and Houston. These two teams are slowly turning into the big brother-little brother combination of MLS. Obviously we know which one is which....
• After making the previous post, we learned that Kenny Cooper is staying with his hometown club, F.C. Dallas, at least until the end of the season. We'll see what happens after MLS Cup, if Kenny has a good second half, we can only assume a European club having scoring troubles would look at Mr. Cooper to fill the void.

MLS Action this weekend and we have some great match ups to say the least, be back Saturday for re-caps.

Until then