Three Points, And That's About All

A Ricardo Clark howler set up by (Who Else?) Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan gave the U.S. its first three road points of the Hexagon and vaulted the Americans to the top of the group and ever closer to South Africa 2010 last night in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. That's about all you can say about the game that doesn't involve guarded optimism or outright criticism.

The good news now is that it would take a monumental collapse in the final two games, especially given Costa Rica's defeat against El Salvador last night, for the Yanks not to qualify. That couldn't be stated with anything but optimism before the result last evening. The Yanks essentially need one point in their final two matches to assure themselves of a spot in South Africa (loss to Honduras is okay if they tie Costa Rica @ RFK on October 10).

The bad news is that the campaign itself seems to be limping along. The heroic night against Spain and the first 70 against Brazil seem to be fading into the Caribbean night, and the Americans are playing a brand of soccer that at best is serviceable and utilitarian and at worst is downright mediocre. San Jose Earthquake Cornell Glen just missed sending tremors throughout the region when his chipped shot beat Tim Howard in the 30th minute after Carlos Bocanegra and Gooch had taken a nap on a throw in, only to have his effort denied by the woodwork. Tim Howard made a brilliant save on a T and T free kick a few minutes later that kept the Yanks, who played most the first half without a pulse, alive.

Ricardo Clark's goal in the 62nd minute was just what the doctor ordered, and it was orchestrated by the Yanks only real midfield attacking presence of the second half, Landon Donovan, who cut back to the middle of the field off a nice Clint Dempsey feed and fed Clark the ball he was touch once and let loose. Making the goal even more fortuitous was the fact that Stuart Holden was about to come on for Clark, who had been more or less an enigma wrapped in invisibility for the first sixty minutes of the match. Which leads me too...

Bradley's lineup choices. I don't get it. I don't understand his damned determination to play a double destroyer formation that features two holding midfielders. While Benny Feilhaber wasn't spectacular off the bench, at least he offers an attacking pulse in the center of the field. Last night, no such pulse was present outside of Donovan drifting to the center. While MB 90 played his best game since the summer, he was much more unsettled in the second half and committed a few turnovers that were the result of unnecessary forced movements of the ball. As for building possession from the back to the middle-- the best illustration of the American inability to do this occurred after the goal, when Spector and Oneywu worked nicely off one another and Bradley continued the distribution train they had set up near the center of the field. As the Yanks found good attacking spaces as a result of this calm passing, Oneywu, rather than working the ball to the middle, where Clint Dempsey was headed to help, made the puzzling decision to play a long ball to Charlie Davies, which was well over his head and retrieved easily by T and T goaltender Clayton Ince. It is these sort of choices that make the backline last night, and the lack of Frankie Hejduk on this roster (until Edgar Castillo arrives), even more puzzling. There is no serious threat from the American back who offers good possession. So what do about this dilemma ? The answer is complicated.




As CNN SI writer Ridge Mahoney notes,Jon Spector can be such a threat, as he is very comfortable on the ball, but he had his hands full with T and T side back Carlos Edwards last night, and smartly decided that he needed to be cautious going forward. Spector was burnt by Edwards pace early, but never allowed the Ipswich winger to get in front of him, and that is all you can ask.

Jon Bornstein was much better last night (quite good in fact), but his man to mark, Hayden Tinto, is an MLS caliber player who the World Cup won't serve to Bornstein on a platter. At the end of the day, the Yanks will need Castillo or a rejuvenated Cherundolo to step up and solve the possession in the back problem, especially if The Dude is not on the plane.

The Americans must be better in attack and in possession and take the initiative against lesser opponents, or else they will be punished, perhaps as early as next month in Honduras, where they face a squad who was quite frankly unlucky against Mexico last night, losing on a phantom penalty in the box converted by Blanco in the 74th minute. Possession and composure in the back is essential on the road, and despite sluggish performances last night by Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies, the active and confident performance by Jozy Altidore at least hints that the Americans will be rewarded if they are better at being patient with the ball.




As for Bradley, one wonders why he went back to the well with Bornstein instead of Cherundolo last night, though he was rewarded by Bornstein's performance. One wonders about the Clark/Bradley pairing, which offers little in attack, though he was rewarded by Clark's splendid strike. Better to be lucky than good ? Maybe. Or maybe he is limited by the absence of likely starter Maurice Edu, whose two-way game makes the American midfield immediately better. Jermaine Jones is in the discussion as well, and as you know, neither were available last night. We'll see if they are in the mix in the final two games, but given Bradley's penchant to remain conservative, it seems likely that they'll both only see the field when qualification is assured, which means not until after the trip to Honduras. For the sake of the American attack, let's hope that is not the case, and hope Edu's knee is fully healed.



For now, we and Yankette Audrina Patridge will have to settle for a Ricardo Clark howler, and hope that Audrina's howler film Sorority Row is as satisfying as the three points the Yanks earned last night.

SOCA WARRIORS- PART DEUX TONIGHT- PREVIEW

Look, it is well known and established below that the United States has had a few issues in being as impressive as we know after this summer they are capable of being in the last two qualifying matches. Tonight's match in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago is one more chance for the U.S. to play the complete game it is capable of. Let's put the cookies on the lowest shelf too: The United States has to play a huge game tonight because these three points are the ticket to South Africa.

If the United States doesn't want to play two games against two of the top three teams in the Hexagonal that matter next month to close qualifying, a win against the struggling Soca Warriors is essential. The logjam at the top of the Hexagon sees the Yanks in second on goal difference, but with Mexico at home tonight, a tie or loss will see them AT LEAST TO THIRD. And with Argentina's struggles well-documented-- yeah Diego, we're ALL LOOKING AT YOU HOMEBOY-- the fourth place CONCACAF ticket has about a 50/50 chance of being a Sarah Palin death-panel ticket to a two game playoff tie with the Argentinians, which essentially means what a death-panel suggests-- eleven Argentinian men more or less get to decide whether or not the fourth place CONCACAF side travels to South Africa or they do. My bet in that matchup is on Leo Messi.



While T and T is struggling, there are three things that make the qualifier immensely tricky.

One, the Soca Warriors want a repeat trip to a World Cup and three points is the only way that dying dream remains an ember and not black ash.

Two, the game is on the road where the U.S. has lost twice in qualifying and managed a desperation point thanks mostly to Frankie Hejduk, who for whatever reason, is not on the roster at this point.

Third, the Soca Warriors have upgraded coaches, players, and attacking savvy since we traveled to Nashville to see Jozy's coming out party. While you wouldn't know from the beating they took Saturday, a 4-1 clubbing at the hands of Hexagon leader Honduras, they've upgraded in the back with Bolton Wanderers starter Jlloyd Samuel, and they've added Deuce's pal from Europa group stage team Fulham, West Ham youth product Bobby Zamora.



Couple that with the ever dangerous Kenwyne Jones, who you'll recall nearly put the Soca Warriors ahead 1-0 five minutes into the game in Nashville, and you see the challenge facing the Yanks tonight in the Port-of-Spain.

These challenges all melt into the overarching problem with the Yanks of late-- which is building possession from the back and taking the initiative in attack, especially on the road. While as Raf noted there were glimpses of this Saturday, the U.S. has yet to demonstrate it can sustain midfield possession in a game on the road, much less build attacks and possession from the back. Much of this is the fault of Jon Bornstein, who seems absolutely uncomfortable when he goes forward (sad, because this is supposed to be a strength), but it is an immense problem nonetheless. To make matters more complicated, the U.S. was excellent in this regard against the Soca Warriors in Nashville in this facet of the game, but much of that had to do with the success of Frankie Hejduk terrorizing the Trinidad flank for the majority of the evening. Since the Dude isn't walking through the door tonight,



the U.S. will likely try to build that possession with Jon Spector again or with Carlos Bocanegra, neither of whom are greatly comfortable in this role. Spector has played adequately, but not as well as he did in South Africa this summer, of late, and quite frankly, as Steve Davis notes, it would do a great deal of good if someone at West Ham would decide exactly what position it is that Spector plays. Until that happens, he will continue to exist in a sort of Mike Mordecai meets Ryan Church's talent level type state of being where he is adequate everywhere but not particularly great anywhere.



The problem with Bocanegra playing on the left in this game and helping build possession is further compounded because this is a tactical area of the game where you would feel a tinge of concern. Certainly the Soca Warriors have a player in Carlos Edwards whose pace can exploit Bocanegra. Boca will have to be careful about going forward (that is, more or less, he'll need to mostly avoid doing it at all), and pay constant mind to his positioning, because he won't be able to recover from mistakes easily because of Edwards' pace.

These negatives aside, in all other aspects of the game, and with Gooch back from suspension to contain Jones, the US defense matches up well with T&T's attackers, and should allow the 4-4-2 to open up scoring fairly easily for the US, particularly with Davies' pace and work-rate being something that the T&T backline is ill-equipped to deal with (and, one should note, has never faced before -- Davies didn't play in the last match against T&T, and I suspect he will be a nasty surprise for the Soca Warriors).

The bottom line is that someone needs to understand that on the road it is important to maintain a semblance of order and possession, and that more build-up is required in attack. Clint Dempsey disappears in road games at times because only MB 90 and Landon Donovan seem to have the situational sense to realize that you can't always blitzkrieg while on the road-- sometimes you need to be patient and hold the ball. Couple more intelligence on this front with more solid hold up play from Altidore and Davies, and the U.S. may find a great deal of success tonight, especially given Trinidad's precarious position in the Hexagon. Many teams are content to settle for 1 point against the Americans in the region, and if they capture three- well, terrific. Tonight, the Soca Warriors need three points and certainly T and T coach Russell Latapy and assistant Dwight Yorke may be tempted to push forward more in attack, a style that would benefit the lethal American counterattack. We shall see.

Either way, an American loss means only one thing-- next month's qualifiers will have a death panel feel, and the Yanks will find themselves certainly not assured of a trip for the first time since 1990. That would be a national tragedy, because this is the best talent pool in American history. Given these circumstances, it's safe to say it has been a while since an American road fixture took on this meaning, but these things happen when you tie at El Salvador in a game you should absolutely win.

September Yankette of the Month- Audrina Patridge

Sure, we're in the middle of two of the most important qualifying matches the U.S. has played in ages, and there's a nerve-wracking logjam at the top of CONCACAF that would make Congressional gridlock over health care reform blush. But let's not forget to celebrate Southern California's Audrina Patridge, the September 2009 Yankette of the Month.

If you are as excited as I am about this Friday, and I imagine you are, you'll know that Audrina has a huge role to play in the sure to be blockbuster film Sorority Row, a horror story about-- get this-- sorority girls getting murdered by a serial killer after a "sisterhood prank" goes awry. I'm glad Audrina's getting the work, as it appears she was doing Carl's Jr. commercials while waiting for MTV to launch her Hills spin off reality show.

Most of us Audrina as one of the early star's of MTV reality show "The Hills", where she was more or less second on the "I'm not nice and it's really hot" totem pole, next to Lauren Conrad.



Of course, The Hills is not at all a reality show, a fact of life that troubled my bourgeoise mind nearly to tears when I found out the bitter truth. For an idea of how bad I felt, imagine the seven year old who just found out about Santa Claus multiplied by a Saturday morning cold fraternity house shower, and multiply that by 200. Needless to say, I need Sorority Row, with all its well-advertised, this idea is in no way original and people won't care grandeur more than I've neded a B list horror film in a long, long time. If you don't believe me-- check out the Theta Pie or Die!! trailer yourself and call me a liar when I say this could be the must-see film of 2K9.

I might even hold off on my Friday evening pile of empties to go check it out-- but I doubt it-- after the spoiler alert that our Yankette of the Month is killed off quickly, the movie already is fighting an uphill battle. The good news is that Carrie Fisher-- yep, the same bazooka toting I'm going to kill Jake Elwood and really it's only because I'm projecting my Mark Hamill bitterness Carrie Fisher-- is actually in the film.


Like I said, can't miss.

And after all, a horror movie actress from a not-reality, reality, immensely successful, opium of real-life sorority girl masses show is the perfect Yankette for a month that tonight features what ultimately may be the most critical game in the South Africa qualifying campaign. More on the T and T match in a moment-- but first enjoy Audrina and be sure to read Raf's wrap on the El Salvador game at the Rio Tinto that follows this particular blog. There really wasn't much I could add to his analysis after I wrote my own entry, other than to mention that I think Brian Ching's service to the national team starting 11 is more or less finished with the continued development of Davies and Altidore, and to note that while he tries very hard, Jon Bornstein's contributions to the U.S. National Team should no longer be needed as he is terminally a liability on the international level.

Much like the sorority girls in Audrina's new film, the stakes couldn't be much higher for the national team at this stage. It's a kill or be killed world out there. And we are the hunted. I will now shower for having typed anything that ridiculous.