I still say that Bradley is the best player on the team. He's always a 2-way contributor.
If Altidore actually completes that single pass to Bradley moving into the box on the sequence I mentioned, Bradley just might have scored the game winner last night.
Putting11 world class players on the pitch, is not a problem for the U.S.A. We've got players. What we haven't built, is the system to develop the players and depth behind them to constantly feed new, younger players into the roster. It's happening slowly now, as Klinsmann is doing everythign he can to install the same kind of system he rebuilt in Germany, into the U.S.
What's unique, and is actually a significant obstacle, for the international senior USA team, is actually the NCAA. NCAA intercollegiate soccer competition, does not fit nicely into the development of players for international soccer competition. The NCAA is a huge draw for soccer talent, and makes it hard to have a consistent development plan for the national team. The national team needs to be built out of MLS, and MLS is getting better.
What the Klinsmann does have going for him, though, to combat that draw of young (18-20 year old) talent away from the MLS development program, is a public interest and media interest in USA soccer, in MLS soccer, that has never before existed. USA international soccer competition on ESPN? It was primetime on the west coast. Unheard of. MLS soccer on television, adn growing in attendance and things like that will certainly help.
That kind of public interest will certainly help drive the changes in flow of money around soccer that needs to happen.
In June, the U.S. team will play a friendly against the team taht Klinsmann coached before taking the U.S.A. job. It's doubtful that Germany will travel the majority of their most experienced senior team to play us in June. I hope they do, but I doubt it. What we will see, most likely, is most of their next generation of senior team - the 20-22 year old players.
Either way, whether or not Germany brings the majority of their senior team, or a younger squad, it will be a good measuring stick to see where our national team program is at. We will see if things have chagned at all since we matched up with Spain in a friendly last year and got destroyed. Spain went through our national team last year like they were practicing against cones.
Business lawyer asked a question yesterday as to why we should expect different things from the U.S. in Azteca last night, and I gave a facetious response. The truth is, that expectations for the U.S. team have changed, the entire program has changed, so yes - we should expect different things from this team now, and I found it very pleasing that every one of the players and the coach, were clear that they were happy with the result, but that they really expected to win. One failed Altidore pass to Bradley entering the box, resulting from a well executed run starting in the central defense late in teh first half, and they just might have come out with the 1-0 win.
And the truth is that Mexico, while a very good side, FIFA world ranking #15, is a team that we should regularly be competing well against, and should be striving to exceed.
A good game last night, with a patchwork roster, the 25th different roster that Klinsmann has played in 25 international matches. I think it's safe to say, that Klinsmann is developing as many players as he can.
Personally, a guy like Klinsmann, with the simple population resources that the U.S.A provides, in building an international soccer program? He's a kid in a candy store, and the rest of the world - in soccer - like Klinsmann, and the Germans, have always known, that the only thing preventing the U.S.A. from being an international power in soccer, was being organized enough nationally to find and develop players that can feed the program with new and young players in the long term cycles that is international competition.
