Losing Is For Losers.

By:  Matt Carlson

“Losing is for losers.”  I believe it was George Washington, the Father of our Country and an excellent goalkeeper in his own right, who said that very thing when rallying the troops at Valley Forge.  I believe that if George Washington had the opportunity to speak with the US U-23 National Team right now, he would say those exact same words to them.  Abraham Lincoln, another icon of instant success, also had a similar view of failure.  If he had been in the locker room last night after the gut-wrenching defeat to El Salvador which knocked the U.S. from Olympic qualification, he would look the team in the eyes and utter those now famous words, “Four score and seven years ago, we resolved as a nation that losing is for losers.”  It’s called the Gettysburg Address.  Look it up.  You can learn a lot about the future by studying the past.  CONTINUE READING AFTER THE JUMP.

I know this is a harsh reality and not something any U.S. soccer fan wants to hear this morning while the wounds are still fresh, but it is the truth.  As it sinks in for U.S. soccer fans that the U.S. is not going to be in the Olympics, we have to accept the cold hard reality that no one, and I mean no one, has ever learned a thing from failure.  Not Thomas Edison, not Henry Ford, not Michael Jordan.  No one.  I’m sorry to have to break that to you, but it is a scientific fact that once a team or a person has failed at some task, they can never ever improve or accomplish that task.  A quick search of the U.S. soccer-centric messageboards today will confirm that many fans believe this and we all know that if a lot of people believe something, then it is fact.

Hyperbole, you say?  Let me drop some knowledge on you, then.  Did you know that no country has ever won a World Cup after having lost in a different tournament?  It’s a similar correlation to the winner of the Golden Globes being an indicator of who’ll win the Oscars, really.  Another fact for your consideration:  no soccer player or coach has ever won anything after losing in a tournament of this magnitude.  It’s like a race horse that breaks its leg.  The only thing left to do is to take it around back and shoot it.  Sure, it is sad, and you don’t want to do it, but it really is for the best.  It will come as no surprise to many of the posters on message boards today to know that the last three nations to have won the World Cup have been undefeated.  The same goes for the last three managers who guided those nations to glory.  Undefeated for their careers.

Based on these facts, U.S. Soccer has to take action right away.  Caleb Porter made coaching errors in this tournament and we all know this means he cannot be a successful coach in the future, so he needs to be dumped pronto.  Next, none of the players on the U-23 roster will ever develop into anything in the future because they have been a part of a failure.  Well, except for Joe Gyau who should have played every minute of every match, of course, but aside from him, no other U-23 player on this team will ever improve enough to contribute for the USMNT at the senior level.  This tournament result proves that.  I expect that the club teams these players are with will terminate their contracts very shortly because they now have conclusive proof that these players have topped out.

So, what do we do now?  Where do we go from here? I have no idea because honestly, what viable options do we have?  Identify the mistakes and work to correct them?  Determine what we did right and keep doing it?  Work with these players on their weaknesses to develop them into better players?  Use this defeat as a learning tool and a motivator for all involved?  If only there was some historical example that this type of response to a failure had worked in the past, then I would have some hope for the future.  Until someone can find that, though, I want everyone fired!

USA v. Italy Player Ratings

By:  Matt Carlson

The first win against Italy ever.  That is big.  It was a friendly, so I don't know that I would go as far as Ian Darke who I am pretty sure said this was like "winning the World Cup."  Rather, I would tend to agree with Clint Dempsey's more measured analysis that this was a step in the right direction.  Still, though, it is big.  The USMNT won in Italy.  In Genoa.  Okay, forget it, everyone gets a "10"!

As usual, it is a 1-10 rating scale, with 1 being the worst rating and 10 being the best. Do you agree with the ratings or not? Do you just want to post a celebratory comment?  Do you just want an opportunity to bash Giuseppe Rossi again?  Put it in the comment section below.  CONTINUE READING AFTER THE JUMP.


HOWARD

7:  In the 5th minute, he came up with one of those big saves that we have come to expect from him.  I believe the game would have been vastly different if that ball goes in.  His long ball distribution could have been better, though.

CHERUNDOLO

5:  I feel like a broken record, but it was a solid game from 'Dolo.

GOODSON


5:  Goodson was shaky early, but he put that behind him.

JOHNSON (subbed off 76')

6:  Johnson was a breath of fresh air at the left back spot.  He gave the ball away a couple times, but he won more than he lost.  His speed is an asset the USMNT is lacking.  He made a pass during the sequence leading to the goal.  He was not perfect, but he looks useful in the offense.

BOCANEGRA

8:  I think Bocanegra is in contention for Man of the Match.  He won every ball that came his way and cut out several others.  He also saved a potential goal by blocking a shot.  He looked sharp and was in charge of a backline that drew ten offside calls.  I think Italy would've scored if Boca was not in the game.

EDU

6:  One of his best performances for the USMNT in recent memory.  He won a lot of balls and did not give it away as cheaply as he has been prone to do.

SHEA (subbed off 73')

4:  Shea was not too bad on defense, but he was just about useless on offense. Lots of aimless passes and dribbling from him.  Just as with Bedoya, I have yet to see what all the hype is about.

DEMPSEY (subbed off 90')

7:  Scored the game winner.  Looked confident on the ball.  One of the most energetic USMNT performances from Clint in a long time.  I think Dempsey is wasted on the wing.  He is most productive when playing the role he did tonight and I hope he stays there.


BRADLEY

8:  Clearly, the only reason Bradley plays is because his father used to be the coach.


WILLIAMS

5:  I would have liked to have seen more from Williams in the offensive end of the field.  He was a bit careless with the ball.

ALTIDORE (subbed off 79')

6:  I don't know what they put in the orange slices at half time, but Jozy was much better in the second half.  He was stronger on the ball, provided good hold-up play, and laid off the assist to Dempsey just like Klinsmann drew it up.

KLJESTAN (sub in 73')

4:  Sacha was put out on the wing and was not very involved.  He got caught on a couple long balls and failed to effectively clear one ball leading to a bit of danger for the U.S.

SPECTOR (sub in 76')

6:  Spector made a positive impact in a short amount of time.  He won two balls and blocked three dangerous shots as Italy pressed forward for the equalizer.

BOYD (sub in 79')

5:  Showed some energy in his first cap.

BUDDLE (sub in 90')

--:  Not enough time for a rating.

GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!

By:  Matt Carlson

You guys love goals.  The top five most viewed videos of all-time on this site are goals.  Interviews, news items, Alex Morgan in body paint – nothing else even comes close.  You love you some goals.  By contrast, goalkeeping videos don’t get as much love.  Unless it is a penalty shot save, goalkeeping highlights typically are much lower on the views.  Even assists get more looks than impressive shot stopping.   It’s not a surprise, I suppose.  I’m guilty of the same mentality.  Maybe American goalkeepers have been so good in the last fifteen years, USMNT fans have gotten used to it.  Maybe USMNT fans have been so desperate for a world class scorer that we are conditioned to view all goals scored by an American over and over and over to see if we have finally found our talisman.  Maybe it is just the simple fact that good goalkeeping is generally boring.

Because of goals and assists, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have been getting most of the attention from USMNT soccer fans right now.  Their play has even spawned debates over who is the better player, with fans taking sides akin to ‘tweens joining Team Edward or Team Jacob.   In all the excitement, however, many USMNT fans seem to have forgotten about another player who has also been playing at a high level in England and for a much longer time.  CONTINUE READING AFTER THE JUMP.

Two weekends ago, while Donovan was getting his sixth assist in his final Premier League game of his loan with Everton and Dempsey was rattling the crossbar with a thirty yard swerving missile leading to an own goal against Stoke, the longest tenured American in the Premier League was between the pipes for Tottenham’s shutout of Newcastle.  Brad Friedel, who will be forty-one on May 18, made a full stretch fingertip save of a free kick and an impressive reaction save belying his age to preserve the shut out.   The shutout put Spurs ten points clear of Arsenal for third place, which is a Champions League spot, and they still have an outside chance at the Premier League title.  No other American is having this level of individual or team success this season, yet Friedel is getting very little attention by comparison.

I think we forget about Friedel a bit because he retired from international football in 2005.  We know he is not on the radar for a call up, so he has gotten less of our interest in the last seven years.  Although nearing the end of his career, Friedel is not just hanging in there biding his time until they give him his gold watch. He’s having a great season.   As an example, he stopped thirteen shots against Fulham earlier this year earning Man of the Match honors.   Friedel has made the fifth most saves in the Premier League this season, but Spurs have the third lowest goals against and are on pace to give up fewer goals than last season.  Friedel has ten Premier League clean sheets, one behind league leader Joe Hart of Manchester City. For his career, Friedel has 126 shutouts in the Premier League which is eighth all-time and third among active keepers. Spurs’ goalkeeping coach, Tony Parks, toldtottenhamspurs.com that “for a 40-year old man to play at the level he plays at is phenomenal.” To give some context to what Friedel is doing this season, it is important to remember that Friedel was out of contract at end of 2010-2011 season and Aston Villa reportedly only offered him an incentive based one-year contract. Friedel took a pass and moved to Spurs on a free transfer in a move seen by many as him going to Spurs to be a backup. So, unwanted and aging at the end of last season, this season Friedel is again among the best in the league.

In addition to his success this season, Friedel is also on the verge of achieving an amazing personal milestone.  Friedel has made 299 consecutive Premier League starts at keeper and is on pace to make it 300 against Arsenal this coming Sunday.  To put this in perspective, the next longest streak is held by former England International, David James, at a measly 166 matches.  James is not in the Premier League this season and is not likely to close the gap on Friedel anytime soon.  Tottenham goalkeeping legend, Pat Jennings, who played until he was 41, recently told the Spurs website, “Brad has been unbelievable.  At this age, to be on a run of approaching 300 matches without missing a game is fantastic.  I don’t think anyone will ever get near that record.”  In case you were wondering, the oldest goalkeeper to play in the Premier League was John Burridge at 43 years, 163 days. Friedel is on a two-year contract with Tottenham, so who knows?


There have been many successful Americans abroad over the years.  Currently, Dempsey is making it happen, Donovan has twice left Everton sad at his departure, and Howard is an outstanding keeper who is making his own mark, but I think that Friedel has had the best club career of any American abroad, to date.  I know Friedel has not played for top sides and he does not have many trophies, but the fact that he has maintained his position as a starting keeper in the Premier League for so long, particularly when the league is short of patience for goalkeeping mistakes, is strong evidence.  Friedel is getting up there, so we may not have much longer to appreciate him.  Yes, goals are more fun, but, perhaps, one of the reasons that they are is because there are people like Brad Friedel out there preventing goals from being scored.  Friedel is somewhat a victim of his own success when it comes to attention as it can be argued that the better keeper you are the less exciting your performances are.  So, spare a moment to look in on the Spurs’ match this Sunday and wherever you are watching give a clap for Friedel.  Hopefully, you will be bored to death.

Update on Qatar 2022

Qatar Unveils Official Mascot for World Cup 2022

By:  Matt Carlson

As I was looking out the window at a dropping thermometer and the start of a light drizzle, my thoughts wandered to being somewhere warmer.  While most people would start to imagine soft, sandy beaches and umbrella drinks, I began to wonder about Qatar.  Sad, I know, that this is how my mind works, but if you frequent this site, you probably have soccer on the brain, too, so you may understand.  Okay, maybe not.  On to Qatar.  It’s been over a year since FIFA surprised the soccer world by selecting Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, so how is Qatar doing?  Since the vote, most of the action has been in the area of The Three C’s – Corruption, Climate and Consumption.  Let’s start with Corruption.  Continue Reading After The Jump.

CORRUPTION

After the vote, FIFA created three task forces to investigate whether there was corruption, but, so far, they have not found anything untoward.  It is really no surprise that an organization investigating itself fails to find anything wrong with itself.  Heck, I am guilty of this every time I wear my swimming trunks, so why should I expect FIFA to be any different when it comes to self-assessment?
FIFA can get away with this attitude right now, too, because, while rumours have abounded, direct evidence of Qatar paying any money to FIFA Executive Committee members to vote for Qatar 2022 has yet to be found.  Yes, two Executive Committee members were suspended for seeking bribes, but they were excluded from the vote.  Yes, Mohammed bin Hammam was banned for life, but that was related to votes in his campaign to be FIFA President.  In May 2011, there looked to be a break in the case when a former employee of the Qatar 2022 bid said three FIFA Executive Committee members had been paid for their votes.  However, the whistle blower has recanted, saying she was just trying to get back at the Qatar committee for terminating her employment.

At this point, it looks like any influence Qatar may have exerted on the voting process was accomplished by far more sophisticated means than handing suitcases full of cash to Ex Comm members.  If you had been paying attention – and really, there has been zero soccer reason to do so – you would have seen that Qatar has been making efforts in the last several years to become a player in the world community.  Qatar's efforts financially and politically may well have garnered it all the goodwill it needed to get the votes.  For example, in the months prior to the vote, Qatar made or was in talks to make investments of $400M in Cyprus, $100M in Argentina, $100M in Brazil, and $2.8B in China – all countries with representation on the Ex Comm.  Qatar has long-standing military and economic cooperation treaties with Turkey, another Ex Comm member.  Qatar's  purchase of the controlling interest in Paris Saint-Germain and the broadcast rights to Ligue 1, when both the club and the league were in need of funds, had to have been looked upon favorably by the French.  Qatar’s Aspire Football Dreams Academies have operated around the world, including in six countries on the Ex Comm.  (Some have speculated that the real purpose of Aspire is to find players for Qatar’s national team.  This makes sense as over 90% of Qatar’s workforce is comprised of foreign migrant labor, so why not import a soccer team, too?  Can you imagine Preston Zimmerman’s Tweets if he were Qatari?!)  Finally, Qatar’s promise to dismantle the World Cup stadiums and donate them to “developing countries” after 2022 didn’t hurt its cause, either.  Any country on the Ex Comm that could possible qualify as a developing country had some self-interest in voting for Qatar.  In light of all of this, maybe Qatar obtaining the World Cup is not so surprising.

We will have to stay tuned, I guess.  One issue to watch in the coming months is the FBI’s involvement.  I think the U.S. may find itself in the same position as England if the FBI pushes too hard and I’d like to see another World Cup in the U.S. before I die.  Speaking of dying, let’s talk about Qatar’s climate.

CLIMATE

As I am sure you remember, Qatar’s winning bid was based, in part, on the promise that it would build high-tech air-conditioned stadiums to keep temperatures comfortable for fans and players.  Qatar even built a twenty five million dollar prototype of the cooling system to show Ex Comm members during the bidding process.  Well, I hope Qatar kept the receipt because the architects have already scrapped the idea calling it “notoriously unsustainable.”  Paying twenty five million dollars for the prototype is looking look like the biggest waste of soccer-related money since Chelsea bought Andriy  Shevchenko.  Undeterred, the General Secretary of the Qatar Committee said that it is working on other air cooling plans and that it “can deliver... and fulfill the promises we made to the world.”  In fact, he went on to say, Qatar has already been in contact with Mother Nature to request that she help get Heat Miser and Snow Miser to cooperate.

I know I have bashed Qatar’s climate a lot in this space and that I should be more objective.  Actually, do you know what is good about Qatar in the summer?  Nothing.  Hahaha.  See what I did there?  Did you know that in addition to reaching temperatures of 120F in the summer, Qatar also can have 90% humidity?  I know the phrase "hot as Hell" is one of the most frequently misused sayings on the planet, but I think we're on solid ground here.  On the bright side, there won’t be any old people around saying, “At least it’s a dry heat."

Despite Qatar’s public optimism about its ability to hold a tolerable World Cup in the summer, there are indicators to suggest that World Cup 2022 is going to be held in the winter.  Shortly after the vote, Sepp Blatter, UEFA President Michael Platini and FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke came out supporting a winter World Cup.  Platini (who many think is the heir apparent to Blatter) reiterated being open to moving the Champions League and other competitions.  It seems clear what the FIFA bigwigs want and they usually get what they want.  Another telling development comes from Qatar’s bid on the 2020 Olympics.  After having lost out on a prior Olympic bid, Qatar has reportedly asked the IOC if it can bid to hold the 2020 Olympics in September and October instead of July and August.  This evidences that even Qatar knows holding the World Cup in the summer is a bad idea.  If things continue as is, it may lead to a battle between FIFA, UEFA and the big Euro leagues over a winter World Cup.  Could some countries boycott the World Cup?  Sounds crazy, but nobody thought a country would boycott the Olympics either until it happened in 1980.  Staying with the theme of bad ideas, let’s move on to the lack of alcohol.

CONSUMPTION

We all know that Qatar has promised that alcohol will be permitted during the World Cup.  However, there are signs that this issue is not completely resolved.  In December, Qatar stopped the sale of alcohol on The Pearl, a man-made island containing shops and restaurants catering to foreigners.  Similarly, Qatar Airways has recently been the target of a grassroots campaign by Qataris trying to pressure it to stop selling alcohol on its flights.  These events suggest that many Qataris do not support the sale of alcohol to anyone.  Nevertheless, a Qatari official stated, "We have always said alcohol would be available [at the World Cup]” for any fan who wishes to have a drink.  Of course, that fan will receive forty lashes in the market afterwards, but alcohol will be available for anyone who chooses to imbibe.  Okay, I am exaggerating, but can we really believe Qatar on this?  If this alcohol promise has the same weight as the promise Qatar gave us on the air conditioning, I suggest anyone who wants a drink at World Cup 2022 better start perfecting their recipe for making hooch in their hotel room bathtub.

So, without alcohol, what will fans do between matches?  The Qatar Tourism Authority’s website actually lists the following “leisure“ activities:  going into the desert to see the Dhal Al Misfir cave, digging for “Desert Rose” gypsum crystals, and listening to the musical sound of the wind moving the sand dunes.   So, to summarize, when not watching the games, you can look at sand, dig in sand or listen to sand?  I’m sorry, but the only way any of that has a remote chance of being fun is if hallucinogenics are involved and those are outlawed, as well.   The Qatar Committee recognizes the problem and says it plans on making a significant investment in tourism.  By 2022, Qatar expects to have other tourist attractions in place besides piles of sand, including “Hospital With Largest Heat Stroke Unit on Earth” and “World’s Hottest Vinyl Car Seat.”  Whose in!?

Conclusion

You are now up-to-date with what has gone on since the vote fourteen months ago.  FIFA is committed to making it work to avoid admitting it made a mistake, but is it really worth all the problems?  It’s too bad there is not another country out there that could host a fan-friendly, no-hassle, profitable World Cup on short notice.  Oh, well.  I guess we’re stuck with Qatar.

US v. Canada Player Ratings

By: Evan Ream and Matt Carlson

Well, one thing we learned tonight is that Canada is defintely not Spain. The U.S. played a solid, although unspectacular, game against our Northern Neighbors in Detroit. The U.S. dominated possession and were patient in the attack, but Spain (and for that matter, Mexico) would have punished the USMNT's mistakes a bit more than Canada did. Nevertheless, it is a good start to the Gold Cup.

CONTINUE READING AFTER THE JUMP



Below are our ratings for each U.S. player on the night. The rubric being used is from SkySports (http://www.skysports.com/football/whatisthis/0,20945,,00.html?width=600px&height=450px).

Howard: 9 -- Howard always seems to need to come up with one or two saves to keep USA in the game, this time he made three. (Evan); 8 -- Showed why he is one of the best with his one-handed save on Gerba and the double save in the 85th keeping the game out of Canada's reach. (mwc).

Cherundolo: 6.5 -- First half was much better than the second, he was guilty of giving the ball away, but his runs gave Canada fits (Evan); 6 -- Had trouble with Simpson and Jackson's speed at times, but got into the attack and provided some needed width (mwc).

Goodson: 7 -- Formed a solid partnership with Ream and didn't really make any mistakes, was a threat on set-pieces as always. (Evan); 7 -- Won just about every ball that came his way and showed a bit more ability on his passing than I remembered. (mwc).

Ream: 6.5 -- Distribution was solid, but got beaten badly once and was fortunate with some offside decisions, a good impression for his first competitive start. (Evan); 6 -- His mistakes did not hurt us, but overall a solid effort (mwc).

Bocanegra: 6 -- Missed an easy chance to score, solid but unspectacular (Evan); 6 -- Got beaten a couple of times and mis-hit his chance in the first half, but overall solid (mwc).

Donovan: 9 -- Either Donovan or Bradley was the man of the match for me, probably Donovan. He played numerous nice through balls including the balls that sprang both goals. Donovan was very active defensively as well and later in the game dropped back to control the pace of the match. (Evan); 8 -- Assisted the first goal and helped Cherundolo on defense when needed. A very good two-way game tonight (mwc).

Jones: 5 -- Jones continues to be guilty of giving the ball away too easily and committing dumb fouls, he was probably the worst field player for USA. (Evan); 6 -- Solid in defense, good vision, and his long passes almost always find their target (mwc).

Bradley: 9 -- Bradley showed why he is first choice in the midfield, Bradley probably touched the ball more than anyone else on the field and gave it away just 3 times by my count. He played an excellent ball into Jozy that Jozy should have done better with (Evan); 7 -- Played well, but I could have done without that yellow card (mwc).

Dempsey: 7 -- Scored a great goal and nearly scored another on an amazing scorpion kick, but he wasn't involved in the game as much as he should have been. (Evan); 6 -- Not his best game, but I'm giving him a bump for scoring the goal (mwc).

Altidore: 7 -- His hold up play could have been better and he drifted for large amounts of the game, but he scored a very opportunistic goal and set up the second goal. It's good that Jozy opened his Gold Cup account early; USA needs a confident Jozy to win this tournament. (Evan); 8 -- A goal, an assist, good distribution, some good runs AND pressuring the ball on defense?? Don't tease me like this Jozy (mwc).

Agudelo: 6 -- Had a good first half, but tired after that. He was very ambitious with his shots, but didn't shy away from the moment, still he could have done better. (Evan); 7 -- Worked hard and had two good efforts on goal. He does a lot of good things off the ball. (mwc).

Wondolowski (sub 64th): Not enough time to merit a rating (Evan); 5 -- Never got into the game (mwc).

Klejstan (sub 74th): Not enough time or touches to merit a rating (Evan & mwc).

Edu (sub 79th): Not enough time or touches to merit a rating (Evan & mwc).

So, what did you think? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comment section below.