US vs. England

I think this match came down to two key differences:

1. The difference between having a goalie who can catch and one who can’t.
2. The difference between a US squad who collapses after an early goal and a team who is mature, calms down, rebounds, and goes on to dominate an entire half.

Thoughts on our Mother Land

I’ll just say it, England did not look like a team who would win this World Cup.

A journo argued that Capello got outcoached by starting players who weren’t ready physically (Milner and King) and having to use up subs for them. I feel like he got outcoached on the subs he made as well. How on earth does a player like Carragher play over Dawson? Dawson is my favorite Spurs player (when he’s not playing vs. Arsenal). He’s their captain, a tough and quick defender and more often then not scores by drilling headers in the back of the net off corners. He had a terrific season too. Ok, he doesn’t have much international experience but how do you change that if you don’t give him a shot? (Jozy, Holden, Findley). I heart Jozy, but there’s no way he works Dawson over like he worked over Carragher.

I’m shocked by their lack of depth and their unwillingness or inability to find new talent. How is their entire team pretty much the same as 4 years ago? There’s still nothing exciting about them and the one player who has improved and matured over these last 4 years (Rooney), didn’t really show up in a massive match. The fears about Rooney were unfounded. I don’t doubt that we did a terrific job containing him but there didn’t even seem to be a plan to utilize him by England.

US- Stand out performances galore

The Heart of our team- Donovan, Demps, Timmy, Boc. These were the only four players who didn’t look terrified/overwhelmed during the national anthem. Their leadership and performances kept the team together following the goal

• Donovan- his service on corner kicks and set plays was world class. As Pete mentioned after the game- our best attacks begin through him.
• Demps- brought real life to the team by stepping up and taking over the attacking midfield duties in the first half. Oh and he scored.
• Timmy- As one of my FB friends said, “Tim Howard, you are my hero.”
• Boc- Ok, he got worked by Lennon on occasion, but who wouldn’t have? He won a ridiculous amount of air balls in the box and I’m sure had a significant impact on organizing the defense.

Cherundolo- showed steel and was excellent attacking out of the back.
Gooch- An absolute monster. Any fears I had about our defense are gone.

The future will be built around Demerit, Bradley and Jozy

• In their first World Cup game they all showed confidence and were solid throughout. The likes of Rooney, Gerrard, or Terry didn’t scare any of them nor did the pressure surrounding their debut on the world stage.

Moving forward…who I would start against Slovenia:

Timmy
Cherundolo Demerit Gooch Boc
Donovan Bradley Holden Demps
Buddle Jozy