Live The Pitch

As the U.S. national team looked for answers to fill out its squad for next summers World Cup in South Africa they performed extremely poorly with a make shift team. The U.S. went 0-2 in their two international friendlies against Slovakia and Denmark. For U.S. coach Bob Bradley this was a great test for players on the bubble for next summer.

In their first match the U.S. lost to Slovakia 1-0 on a questionable call that gave Slovakia a penalty kick in the 20th minute.  Throughout the match the U.S. looked lost in every aspect of the game.  There was no combination through the midfield and the U.S. strikers could not get into the flow of the match.

In the second match Denmark defeated the U.S. 3-1.  After a strong first half the U.S. went into halftime with a 1-0 lead after Jeff Cunningham scored his first goal for the national team.  The second half was a completely different story.  Denmark would find the back of the net three times in the first ten minutes of the second half.  The U.S. was punished for horrible defending in their own 18.

Yes, Bradley was able to stick players in places they would normally not play, but he can not be happy about how is team performed in these matches.  Oguchi Onyewu’s presence in the middle of the defense was dearly missed.  The back four is a huge question mark going into the World Cup next summer.

Also, without Charlie Davies up top this leaves a big hole up top.  Look for Landon Donovan to push up top alongside Jozy Altidore next summer.  Bradley is going to have to find a true goal scorer to find the back of the net consistently.

Player reviews for the past two matches-

Brad Guzan- Played just alright in the two matches.  Should have saved two of the goals by Denmark. 5/10

Frankie Hedjuk- Not able to perform at this level anymore.  Constantly gave the ball away and terrible marking. 2/10

Johnathan Bornstein-At times looked great on the left flank. Still lacks the vision to distribute well and crossing skills are suspect.4/10

Johnathan Spector- Definitely not the answer at center back.  Still might find a spot for outside back. 3/10

Carlos Bocanegra- Solid play like always.  We see him starting on the outside next summer. 6/10

Stuart Holden-  Not ready for this level. Extremely technical player but unable to make any kind of impact on the game.  3/10

Ricardo Clark- Great at times…..horrible at times.  Needs to play more consistently.  5/10

Michael Bradley-  Seems to get lost at times.  Still not a game changing player. 4/10

Benny Feilhaber-  Another technical player that just doesn’t get involved enough.  3/10

Jozy Altidore-  Showed flashes of greatness but with no help was ineffective.  4/10

Jeff Cunningham-  Great finish in the Denmark game but still didn’t perform very well.  6/10

Robbie Rogers-  Not a bad showing by Rogers.  Look for him to fight for playing time next summer. 5/10

Dax McCarty-  Hopefully he doesn’t see the pitch again.  I dont know what Bradley is thinking with this guy.  3/10

Eddie Johnson- When is Bradley going to realize that he has nothing left?  A non factor  on the pitch these days. 1/10

Edgar Castillo- Wish Bradley would have given him a better chance.  Not enough time to get involved in the match. 2/10

Clarence Goodson- Is a presence in the back being 6’4but lacks the leadership for this team. 4/10

This Saturday Bob Bradley’s squad will face Slovakia in an International friendly in Bratislava.  With this being the first match for the U.S. since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup there are numerous questions to be answered due to recent injuries.  Bradley is in a tough spot now with Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu out of the lineup.

Let’s start in the back where Onyewu’s presence will be missed dearly.  Onyewu tore his patella tendon in his left knee late in the last match against Costa Rica.  Barring any major setbacks in his rehabilitation he should be fit for next summer, But Bradley can’t count on it.  The next few matches for the U.S. will be mini tryouts for a few players.

The player we are looking at stepping in immediately would have to be Columbus Crew star Chad Marshall.  Marshall has been a stable presence at center back in the MLS and has recently had some success with the national team.  Along side Marshall look for Bradley to start with Jimmy Conrad.  Conrad himself has been banged up recently but Bradley needs to see how he can play at this level.

The other area of concern is the left back spot.  We see Bradley going with Heath Pearce, but we just don’t see him playing at this level.  He has proven to U.S. soccer fans that he is awful with the ball at his feet and makes terrible decisions in the back.  Bradley has yet to find a proven left back, and if this team wants to succeed they have a lot of work to do.

The midfield is just OK at the moment.  Michael Bradley has his ups and downs, so if he can just become more consistent he will do well in South Africa.  However, the other center midfield position is up in the air.  Look for Benny Feilhaber to get the nod on Saturday.  Feilhaber has done fairly well when he has been given his opportunities.

The real concern for the U.S. is replacing Charlie Davies, who was recently released from the hospital following his horrific accident a month ago.  Davies timetable for a return is anywhere from 6-12 months with the numerous injuries he had.  If  by any chance he gets fit to play for the World Cup it is hard to believe he will be the same player he was before the accident.  Davies is the type of player that relies on his great pace and with his injuries it will be difficult for him to get that back.

Look for Jozy Altidore and Connor Casey to get the start up top on Saturday.  Both have been in great form recently and hopefully this continues with the national team.

Here are a few players we hope can get some playing time in the future with the national team:

Chad Marshall- CB

Jose Fransisco Torres-CM

Robbie Rogers- LM

Jeff Cunningham- ST

Good Luck USA!

Bob Bradley has announced his roster that will face Slovakia this Saturday, November 14.  The roster Bradley has assembled has plenty of different faces than what he has been using the past few months.  There are big names not on the roster due to club team commitments including the players still competing in the MLS playoffs.

Here is the team-

Goalkeepers- Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Troy Perkins (Valerenga, Norway)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Conor Casey (Colorado), Jeff Cunningham (Dallas, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

Here is the lineup we would field here at Livethepitch.com.  This is a quality squad with the only exception being on the left flanks.  Bradley still has not found a proven left back and left midfielder.  This has to be fixed before next summer!