Bleacher Report - United States (National Football)

Mr. Hiddink, A Job Offer, If You're Interested

gus sanchez — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:26:44 -0500

According to Soccernet, Guus Hiddink remains tight-lipped about his future. Now that Russia has been surprisingly eliminated from World Cup contention, chances are he'll be released from his contract by the Russian football federation to pursue coaching opportunities elsewhere.

Having enjoyed success at Chelsea last year under some very difficult circumstance, Hiddink may be inclined to return to club management, especially in the Premier League. Even a return to Real Madrid, should Manuel Pellegrini fail to mesh a cohesive and winning side, is a strong possibility for Hiddink.

Guus Hiddink is a man who loves a challenge. I mean, why else would he risk his reputation nine years ago by assuming the management role of the South Korea national team, a squad known for precious little?

Or, years later, agree to coach the Australian national team, knowing he'd have to not just put together a competitive team, but fight against the popularity of Australian Rules rugby, in a nation that had a low soccer profile?

In both cases, Hiddink rose to the occasion and turned in stellar performances; both South Korea, in 2002, and Australia in 2006 played far better than expected, further solidifying Hiddink's reputation as something of a miracle worker. A stretch of a superlative, yes, but he's earned that rep.

For a man who loves a challenge, moving back into club management may be a bit of a step back. For a manager of his profile, Hiddink's club options may be minimal. As for the EPL, he may have two offers: Liverpool and Manchester City—if Rafa Bentez does get sacked at Liverpool, should the Reds' below-par play continue, Hiddink may be Candidate No. 1 for Liverpool's ownership.

Mark Hughes at City is under similar scrutiny; the Citizens are playing well, but with expectations coming after a massive cash influx of talent being ridiculously high (and some injury issues that may come back to haunt City), Hughes is expected to win and win now. Same goes for Real Madrid, if Los Galacticos continue to merely win, and not obliterate their opponents.

Italy's Serie A may be a better option, but unless Jose Mourinho suddenly goes into a tailspin at Inter—and with AC Milan's recent better play removing the red-hot spotlight from Leonardo—chances are his options at Serie A will be limited; Hiddink is clearly too high-profile a coach and personality for the likes of mid-tier squads like Genoa.

But, again, Hiddink loves a challenge, so one never knows where his mindset is at this point.

So, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, Mr. Hiddink, and although this may seem a long shot, may I offer you the opportunity to coach the United States national team?

Are you reading this, Sunil Gulati? Here's you chance to make some real change for the USMNT.

Yes, Bob Bradley is current the head coach of the USMNT, and, despite a lot of the flack he's taking, Bradley's done a good job with this team.Bradley's in possession of the best talent the US Soccer Federation has ever developed, but, clearly, the USMNT needs to make a giant leap forward.

Sure, their surprising run during the Confederations Cup, but there's this inclination that qualifying for the World Cup is good enough, even if Sunil Gulati and Charlie Davies thinks this current side is good enough to win the whole thing. Ah, one can dream, can't they?

The truth is, the USMNT is only as good as their coach, and Bradley's shown a distressing trend towards being grossly outcoached. Case in point: the Gold Cup final against Mexico; Bradley failed to recognize Mexico's second-half dominance of the match, and his substitutions, once the US was down 4-0, were too little too late.

Of course, replacing a head coach once he's guided his team past the WC qualifiers is pretty uncommon, but the opportunity to bring Hiddink on board, were he available, is, in my opinion, too great to pass up.

With Hiddink as the side's manager, he'll bring that soccer know-how, that European style of fast and physical soccer that the USMNT is sorely lacking. It's not enough just to qualify for the World Cup; the USMNT must be consistent mainstays in the knockout stages.

If they're going to enjoy their relatively high FIFA-ranking, then they better earn it. They're not going to earn it with Bob Bradley as their manager. But they will with Guus Hiddink. Sunil Gulati talks about the USMNT achieving global recognition; he, like every US soccer fan (myself included) wants more than just condescending praise from the likes of Spain and Brazil's coaches; we want them to be very afraid of taking the USMNT lightly.

So here's your chance, Mr. Gulati. Seize upon it, for the sake of the US Soccer Federation, for your reputation, and for Sam's Army.

(Besides, I'm not the only one who thinks Hiddink will someday end up coaching the USMNT; Simon Kuper, author of Soccer Against the Enemy and the more recent Soccernomics —a terrific book I will be writing about here soon—believes Hiddink taking over the coaching reins in the US is all but inevitable)

Again, I know this is a long shot, but if Hiddink is and will be available, Sunil Gulati owes it to the US Soccer Federation to at least make Hiddink a job proposal. He'll probably turn it down, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

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Bob Bradley Announces USA Roster for Nov. 18 Denmark Friendly

Big Chil — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:18:16 -0500

The 24th and final USMNT game and roster of 2009, a national record, consists of

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga)

DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Edgar Castillo (Tigres), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

The key tryouts here, of course, continue to be left back, a central defender, and a striking partner for Jozy Altidore.

With Steve Cherundolo's knee injury, Johnathan Spector starts at right back, with FC Dallas' Heath Pearce being called up for substitution. Pearce started at left back during qualifying 16 months ago, and will get a second look at being a potential backup for both the left and right back positions.

At left back we finally have a call-up of the long-awaited Edgar Castillo. No, he will not start. These are his first few minutes on the national team, and the Bob Bradley regime is nothing if not conservative based on previous playing time. Jonathan Bornstein, despite his performance versus Slovakia, starts, with Castillo getting 30, depending on practice.

At center back, Carlos Bocanegra pairs with Clarence Goodson, who got minutes in Slovakia, and Johnathan Spector plays right back. Chad Marshall is gone, and Cherundolo is injured.

Castillo, Conrad, and Pearce should get some back line time at some point.

Brad Guzan will start and play the full game.

In the midfield, we will start the same four we did against Slovakia--Dempsey, Bradley, Feilhaber, and Rogers. Not a bad midfield and very effective against Slovakia, but I'd prefer Feilhaber learning to back up Donovan at left wide, where he plays at Danish Aarhus (and the friendly will be played at his home stadium), followed by Bradley, Clark, and Dempsey at his Fulham right wide position. This lineup may occur after substitutions.

The Bradley coaching staff prefers to work on the core, so to speak, and build incrementally.

Up front, however, we have zero chemistry with Altidore. I'm shocked that Brian Ching wasn't called up. Therefore, it's going to be Eddie Johnson getting a full shift with the 'Nats, and if he doesn't perform, I'll have an article about that soon.

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Little Gained in U.S. National Team's Friendly vs. Slovakia

Ben Triana — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:47:31 -0500

I have soft spot in my heart for morning soccer matches. They paid for my room and board when I was attending school. They also made it possible for me to have my nights free for studying or, more often than not, for attempting to scrounge up some semblance of a social life.

My employment could have been accurately described as "whatever food establishment was willing to hire," and I was lucky enough to land a position as the lone server for a lunch crowd at a neighborhood bar. About once a week I could count on a contingent of middle-aged Greek soccer fans that would come in to watch the early qualifying rounds of the champions league.

It wasn't a difficult gig. All I had to do was put up with a little overly aggressive male posturing, keep the ouzo flowing, and pretend to support Panathinaikos or Olympiakos depending on which team was playing that day.

With a 10 a.m. kickoff, the USMNT game against Slovakia reminded me of that time in my life, so I trudged down to the neighborhood bar. While I didn't order any Oysters Rockefeller (a favorite with the Greek fans), I did order a Bloody Mary, and found a good seat to watch the game.

When the final whistle blew, I wondered why the match was even played, and why I had bothered to get out of bed and head to the bar. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Most Slovakian fans had decided it was better to frequent the local nightlife in Bratislava than witness what transpired on the field.

Not much could be taken from the game, and unfortunately, the United States plays too many teams like Slovakia. A friendly like this has little surrounding it that can be applied to future MNT fixtures.

For example, the environment was one that isn't going to be replicated in qualifying or the World Cup. Even against sub-par teams, the away-environment in CONCACAF qualifying and the World Cup is much more hostile than what could be replicated in Slovakia.

Also, outside of a few individuals, the talent and skill level of the Slovakian team is far below what the U.S. will face in South Africa. Shouldn't the team be facing quality opponents in order to prepare for the World Cup?

Especially for some of the fringe players vying for a final roster spot, don't they need to be evaluated against a relative opponent?

What does it matter if an American player distributes the ball well against a Slovakian team that does not pressure and does not play inspired soccer? The tenacity, speed, strength, and skill of most of the teams the U.S. will face this summer will be well beyond what they faced against Slovakia.

Of course, there were a few points to gleaned from this game:

As much as one might hope, Jonathan Bornstein's struggles will not disappear with a good run of matches or an improvement in form

After Bornstein's goal against Costa Rica, Bob Bradley was pretty much forced to play Bornstein—not that he was going to replace the left back as he is one of the coach's favorites.

While other analysts will lament Bornstein's inability to defend Slovakia's 19 year old starlet Vladimir Weiss, that's not the crux of Bornstein's faults.

Defenders get beat. That's the nature of the position. Eventually, even the best defender gets bested by an attacking player. It comes down to odds; a defender will make a mistake.

It's Bornstein's decision making, lack of awareness, and inability to recover that ruin his game.

On this occasion, it wasn't that Weiss beat both Bornstein and Dempsey (as expected), it's was Bornstein's initial reaction to hug a forward inside the penalty area .

Bornstein's ineptitude was exacerbated by the position of the infraction. Weiss had a horrible angle at goal. Plus, Bocanegra was sliding over to cover. There was no need to foul. All Bornstein needed to do was put pressure on Weiss, or head towards the middle and fill the space Bocanegra left. Instead, he gave up a poor penalty.

Unfortunately for Bornstein, he embodies all that needs to be bred out of the men's team: Poor decision making, inaccurate passing, inopportune giveaways, inconsistency (beyond a bad run of form), and untimely fouls. There's a good chance he becomes the whipping boy for more than one analyst.

What's worse, he will more than likely start in South Africa.

Still, there is hope. At this point there's no possible way Bradley isn't aware of Bornstein's strengths and weaknesses. Essentially, Bornstein's played himself into contention with any alternative at left back. There's a good chance Edgar Castillo will play against Denmark, and Jonathan Spector has shown he is comfortable anywhere along the back line. Bradley has to be considering all his options by now.

One of the ongoing storylines this summer will be the U.S.'s inability to score during the run of play

This is hardly a revelation. However, it's a quiet crisis killing this team. Not all goals can be scored from set plays (as viewers saw in this game). As I've said before, the blow to Charlie Davies will haunt this team for a long time, and no other striker has stepped up to fill the role.

This is the one area where Slovakia may be a realistic example of what might happen this summer. Almost all of the European qualifying teams will have defenses as well organized as Slovakia. The U.S. is going to have to figure out how to score against strong defensive units.

All of the minor successes on the night must be taken with a grain of salt

Yes, Jonathan Spector adapted to a central defensive role easily. Yes, Benny Feilhaber and Michael Bradley complimented each other well in the midfield. Both Dax McCarty and Robbie Rogers did what was asked of them. Brad Guzan made some timely saves, and it was great to watch the United States maintain possession for once.

But what can be taken from the match other than, "At least the players can complete these tasks?"

Spector was rarely pressured. Same could be said about the U.S. midfield. Feihaber and Bradley had plenty of time to bring a ball down, or make the smart pass.

Likewise, the player selection for the game was pretty much decided in advance. Club demands prohibited most difficult decisions for Bob Bradley. It's possible Feilhaber started alongside Michael Bradley as he was the most experienced central midfielder available. The same could be said for Spector playing in the middle of the defense.

It's not a stretch to suggest that dumb luck may have been as likely as any forethought from the managerial crew in selecting the most possession savvy players to be on the field.

However, a level of versatility was offered up by the style of play, performance and positions of players. No matter what the situation, there will be a competent goalkeeper in net. Spector's ability to play anywhere across the back gives the defense options. There are some fringe players (Robbie Rogers and a few others) that allow Bradley the freedom to try different players up top (read, Dempsey) since his other attacking choices have not produced dividends. Finally, if needed, the U.S. have players that can possess the ball.

The only question is if any of these positives will be utilized in more realistic scenarios.

As I walked home, I found myself to be as disconsolate as many of the Greek clientele I use to serve. There was a high level of enthusiasm and exuberance that permeated every Greek game—be it club or country—since the Greek national team had just won the European Championship that summer.

The similarity between the situations was not lost on me. Like the Greek national team accomplishing a major feat that summer, the U.S. had just come off its own major accomplishment.

Now, Greece is in the second place play-off hoping to qualify for the tournament. In the same fashion, the U.S. is struggling to answer some looming questions in order to perform in South Africa this summer.

At least the U.S. has already qualified for the World Cup.

Still, the U.S. has one last friendly to gauge its progress. This Wednesday, the match against Denmark—a talented, strong opponent that has played well against top teams in hostile environments—should be a pretty accurate barometer of where the American team stands.

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USA vs. Slovakia: Postgame Reactions

Big Chil — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:02:33 -0500

In a pre-World Cup friendly, Slovakia beat the United States Men's National Soccer Team 1-0 on a first half penalty kick.

The Good:

Starting Lineup

Bob Bradley maximized the National Team experience available to him by starting Johnathan Spector at center back alongside Carlos Bocanegra, with Jonathan Bornstein at left back and Steve Cherundolo at right back.

The midfield of Dempsey on the left, Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber in the middle, and Robbie Rogers on the right easily dominated possession over the Slovaks to the tune of at least 60 percent in our favor, and though scoreless, got some good looks at the goal.

With Jozy Altidore starting up top, Bradley was able to fill eight slots with players who've seen significant National Team qualifying time, and up to six of those players may end up starting in South Africa.

Substitutions

Rather than treating this as an experimental opportunity, Bradley let the core National Team unit play together as long as possible, for 70 minutes, and the cohesiveness of the unit showed, especially in time of possession dominance.

Even with the impact of the injuries to Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu, it's clear that going forward the coaching staff intends to keep building the team chemistry among the core group from qualifying and the Confederations Cup, rather than panicking and experimenting with complete overhauls.

Eddie Johnson switched with Conor Casey at the start of the second half. After that, Sacha Klejstan, Dax McCarty, Clarence Goodson, and Jeff Cunningham got between 10 and 20 minutes each.

Goalkeeping:

Brad Guzan had an excellent game, stopping two shots point blank in the second half when the back line failed him. His performances with the national team continue to show why he's the heir apparent to Tim Howard, and could compete for the number one spot now if given the chance. Only the penalty kick kept him from a clean sheet.

The Bad:

The Strikers

The strikers were rarely involved in the game, despite our midfield dominance. All of our shots on goal came from midfielders. Neither Casey, nor Johnson, nor Cunningham made any kind of impact.

Jonathan Bornstein

It's games like this that demonstrate why we need to keep searching for another left back option. Bornstein allowed himself to get tangled up with an attacking Vladimir Weiss in the penalty area which led to a penalty kick and the lone goal of the game.

In addition to the penalty kick, Bornstein was repeatedly beaten to balls and seemed to constantly be beseeching the referee for calls to help cover his defensive lapses.

Edgar Castillo needs to be brought in for a look as soon as possible, preferably for Wednesday's Denmark friendly. Denmark is a much stronger attacking team than Slovakia and defensive lapses will be quickly exploited.

Carlos Bocanegra may need to fill the left back role, as he does for his club Rennes, and we may have to find another central defender instead.

The Back Line

In the first half, Guzan wasn't challenged at all, save for the penalty kick. In the second half, Guzan was forced to make two point blank saves when the back line let unmarked attackers get behind them with the ball.

Steve Cherundolo went down clutching his knee in pain in the waning seconds of the game. From the way he crawled off the pitched, it doesn't look like he'll be available for the Denmark friendly. We can only hope it's not a serious injury.

This means that Johnathan Spector will have to play at right back and, if Bornstein's going to continue to start, Clarence Goodson or Chad Marshall will have to pair with Carlos Bocanegra in the middle. It's time for one of them to step up and make a strong bid for a roster spot in the absence of Jay DeMerit and Oguchi Onyewu.

The Skinny

The Slovakia match revealed what we already knew. Without Charlie Davies, we lack explosiveness up top and a link between midfield playmakers and the strikers.

Our strength is that we have a deep midfield. Among players with qualifying playing time, consider who was not there—Landon Donovan, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, and Jose Torres. Other future call-up options are the currently injured Jermaine Jones, and players such as Maurice Edu, Freddy Adu, and DaMarcus Beasley, if they can regain their form through club playing time.

We'll know more after the Denmark friendly, but with the depth we have at midfield and the lack of productivity at striker, it may be time to move Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey up top alongside Jozy Altidore. Robbie Rogers and Stuart Holden give us two wide options with good pace and crossing ability that could hold down the opposite side of the field from either Donovan or Dempsey.

Benny Feilhaber also plays left wide at Aarhus, and both he and Jose Torres give us potential playmakers to replace a Donovan or Dempsey move to the top. Ricardo Clark most likely will be rejoining the squad at central midfield now that his season is done, allowing us to slide people around.

Jermaine Jones is also one of the most highly touted central midfielders in the German Bundesliga. He'll get a call up provided that he recovers from his nagging stress fracture injury quickly enough to make the January camp or March friendly.

All in all, a good performance by the midfield core, but we haven't come any closer to addressing the weaknesses up top or the injuries to the back line.

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Slovakia 1-0 USA: Hamsik Spot Kick Dispatches States

Alec — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:06:53 -0500

The first of two European exhibitions didn’t go as planned for the US Men’s National Team.

A bland outing for both sides was decided by a Marek Hamsik penalty kick, just 26 minutes in. Despite controlling possession for most of the game, the United States was unable to battle back from the early goal.

The visiting US team started the game with a group of familiar faces from the recent qualifiers. Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss played many of the same players from their first place qualifying run as well, including team captain and goal scoring threat Hamsik.

The US squad's familiarity with each other showed from the onset through possession, and two corner kick opportunities within the first 2 minutes.

Despite the positive start, the US was unable to successfully crack the Slovakian defense, but Clint Dempsey came close with a long range effort in the 22nd minute.

Just minutes after that US effort, Slovakia was awarded a penalty kick, albeit against the run of play.

Vladimir Weiss, who caused problems for the US defenders all day, bolted through from the right flank and was hauled down inside the box by Jonathon Bornstein.

The referee showed no hesitation in awarding the Slovakian coach’s son a penalty.

Replay confirmed the referees’ decisions, as Bornstein clearly wrapped up the winger. The Napoli midfielder Hamsik stepped up to take the spot kick, and coolly sent Brad Guzan the wrong way.

However, the United States continued to maintain their poise and possession, and Dempsey again looked the goal-scoring threat with a long range blaster just before half.

The free kick was well saved by Slovakian goal keeper Jan Mucha. Mucha extended to his left to parry the ball outside the post, and replays show the ball might have very well been goal bound.

The second period started with a few more half chances for the United States, an attempted short free kick, and a misfire from newly introduced Fulham reserve Eddie Johnson. Much like the first half however, ball control and positive movement were not rewarded.

Slovakia was able to counter most every American move, and they almost slotted home a second goal 10 minutes after the break.

Erik Jendrisek found himself all alone in the box on the end of a solid build up. The American goalkeeper Brad Guzan was able to make a special play though, charging off his line and forcing Jendrisek to fire straight into him.

The United States failed to provide much of a scoring threat throughout the second, despite the introduction of Jeff Cunningham and Dax Mccarty. A deflected Dempsey free kick proved the best chance, spinning just wide of Mucha’s right post.

The slow pace of the game allowed Slovakia another chance to put the game away 15 minutes from its completion.

An errant free kick from Hamsik, followed by a poor defensive clearance left striker Stanislav Sestak just on-sides, and one-on-one with Guzan. Luckily, Guzan was yet again the victor of a one-on-one battle, beautifully nicking away the close range shot with his left foot.

Time wound down on the United States, and despite some solid midfield passing, a tying goal was never very close. The Slovakian defense was as solid as they have been throughout their European campaign, and were rewarded with another shutout.

Perhaps adding insult to injury, American right back Steve Cherundolo went down with what appears to be a knee injury deep into stoppage time.

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