I also saw the US national team’s three recent matches away to England and Spain and home (sort of) to Argentina. The boys got better over the week, allowing one less goal each time, though the offense never clicked enough to, as ESPN’s Tommy Smith repeats endlessly, bulge the old onion bag.
We clearly missed Landon Donovan’s creativity on attack the first two outings, obvious to a blind man once he showed up against the South Americans, though against Spain Freddie Adu showed why Benfica paid good money for him last summer. Which made me wonder, seriously, why he wasn’t starting on Sunday as I’d have loved to see him combine with Donovan.
The biggest disappointment was Eddie Johnson. The striker started all three outings and produced about zilch. Bob Bradley should have left him on the bench the last game, started Adu in midfield and put Clint Dempsey up top. Dempsey was rarely able to get involved on the day stuck out on the right and with too much defensive responsibility.
Second biggest disappointment was Jozy Altidore’s absence from injury. With his big money transfer to Villareal announced last Wednesday plus a sizzling performance during the Olympic qualifiers–where Adu also shined–he’s clearly preferable to Johnson in a 4-4-2 formation.
Next up for the Americans are the first 2010 qualifiers, home and away with Barbados this weekend and next. Not likely to be the same kind of competition as the friendlies but you have to play and win these games. My over/under for Barbados’ goal tally from both is one, but given Tim Howard’s outstanding performance against Lionel Messi and Julio Cruz that may be generous.
BillSaysThis 