State of the Union

In light of today’s embarrassing loss to Brazil, and the fact that I feel the need to do something academic, else my brain may rot, I feel obligated to write something about the US men’s national team (USMNT).

Granted, I had only watched the first 25 or so minutes before going back to sleep, but I also had the misfortune to witness the US team fall to New Jersey native Giuseppe Rossi’s two strikes a few days earlier.

Around the 20^th minute, when ESPN’s feed failed, the network turned back to the studio, where we had the pleasure of listening to American “legend” Alexi Lalas’ opinion on the game thus far. Keep in mind, by this time the American team was down by two goals. Whatever your opinion is on Lalas—I kind of like him, personally—I think he said something rather astute, though arguably a bit obvious. Comparing the current USMNT team to that of 1998, when Lalas himself played and the only time the US has beaten Brazil, Lalas claimed the current team lacked the same heart and motivation. I don’t think it would be unreasonable to say that the current team is more skillful than that of 1998’s team, but I agree with Lalas—to a degree. This team lacks experience and leadership (and sometimes motivation), two disabilities I believe my two other favorite teams, Arsenal and South Korea’s national team, also posses. But, like Arsenal, they still have time.

Aside from the recent Gold Cup victory, which I don’t really count, the US’ only real international success came during the 2002 World Cup. In it, we saw a young Landon Donovan shine in their charge to the quarterfinals, where they were robbed of a semi-final berth by eventual finalists Germany. The 2002 squad had leadership, a tenant of football that is often overlooked. The team had Brad Friedel, Cobi Jones, Eddie Lewis, Eddie Pope, Claudio Reyna (before he his career took a nose dive) and Brian McBride—all experienced leaders on the team, most of whom were just peaking. On top of that, the team was injected with the youth of twenty-year olds DaMarcus Beasley and, of course, Landon Donovan—the latter, who played with purpose, something he lacks at the moment.

Fast-forward four years to the 2006 World Cup finals. Both teams were actually very similar, down to the coach, Bruce Arena. Pope, Reyna, McBride, Donovan, and Beasley all featured regularly, while former 2002 veterans in Mastroeni, Lewis, and Wolff made the squad. In fact, with the maturation of Donovan and Beasley, and the additions of Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu, many (Americans) expected the US team to perform well. Of course, the team capitulated, leaving the tournament with a solitary point and two goals (one an own-goal). To be fair, the US was in a very difficult group, but I think Arena was the cause of their flaccid performance. He had, what I’d like to call, Sven syndrome—that is, he almost exclusively depended on the “biggest” names, regardless of form, and remained inflexible. This is most apparent in the selection of: Claudio Reyna, who was embarrassingly poor, and was injury plagued the season before; and Kasey Keller ahead of Tim Howard. While a lot of those players still offered the experience, most (Brian McBride excepted) were over the hump, especially Reyna, whom, with an underperforming Donovan, Arena revolved his team around. And Arena didn’t realize what a difference four years can make, when a player goes from 28 to 32—sometimes players will get jaded. Sometimes they’ll just lose that drive (especially when most play in the MLS…).

Fast-forward another three years. I suppose the key word would be “Change,” something that was overlooked during Arena’s reign. Looking at this Confederations Cup roster (ignoring exclusions from injuries), there are two survivors from the 2002 squad, and six survivors from 2006. I think new coach Bob Bradley made a lot of very positive steps and to be honest, I prefer national coaches to be of that nation. Bradley, though, has shown hints of Arena-syndrome (only slightly different from Sven-syndrome). He, for example, continues to play DaMarcus Beasley, and despite telling Adu to get more game time, he plays Altidore and Feilhaber (though, to be fair, they deserve it). What I do like, is that he, in true Arsenal style, is giving younger players a chance, and seems to be raising a promising, young squad. Of course, the drawbacks, as Lalas mentioned, is a lack of experience on the international stage, and an inability to solidly grasp the situation and keep composure—evidenced by the plethora of red cards the US tend to get during big games (credit to Grant Wahl of si.com). Lalas, though, mentions a lack of heart and motivation, which is odd, because only days before, most American fans (Lalas too, I bet) were consoling themselves with the fact that the 10-men USMNT played against Italy with passion. I do think, something I’ve noticed with the Korean national team too, that this team often needs a catalyst to actually get going, whether it be a red card, or an early goal scored against (during qualifying the USMNT always seems to concede an early goal). But I do think the future is bright, especially with Bradley, who knows the ins and outs of the MLS, and is willing to take a chance with younger players.

Things that might help though:

1. Landon Donovan should swallow his pride and leave for a mediocre-to-bad Premiership or La Liga team. Teams like Hull or Stoke City, where he can play competitive matches weekly. He’s stagnated in the MLS, and he seems satisfied with himself. A move would not only help his development, but give him some perspective and perhaps drive him to excel (his recent stint at Bayern Munich seemed to have given him a brief breath of life).
2. The US MUST partake in better friendly matches, in Europe. They’ve gotten better about this, but still—when you play every game in Columbus, Ohio, against sub-par CONCACAF teams, your team might get a bit complacent. This is really important.
3. Altidore, Adu, Spector and Feilhaber have to get game time somehow.
4. The US actually produces great players who decide to run off to their home country (I can't blame them). We've already seen Subotic, Hangeland, Ibisevic, and of course, Rossi leave us. This is arguably down to the US soccer's infrastructure. I realize the MLS has been trying to increase the prestige of soccer in the US by bringing in old superstars, but I really think they should start working from the bottom up. Soccer is, I believe, the most popular organized sport for youth in America, yet there is almost no incentive in America to play. 

If all of these mission statements are achieved, maybe the US will have a chance of repeating their glorious 2002 World Cup run during a World Cup in the near future.