Outclassed

A flat uninspiring effort left the US supporters here in London frustrated and in some ways shocked not only at the lack of quality the US demonstrated but also at the indifference many on the team seemed to play with. I have previously made the case strongly that I believe without Landon Donovan the top of the US player pool is at a pre 1994 state and that no replacement players have yet been developed for Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride and John O’Brien two years into the World Cup cycle.

Tonight’s match which I was fortunate or unfortunate to attend depending on your perspective clearly demonstrated how much trouble a team with a decent skill level will create for the United States in their home stadium. In addition,  Bob Bradley’s continued calling into the national team of some players whose lack of first team action with their club sides is really showing itself these days. Eddie Johnson, Carlos Bocanegra and Josh Wolff all looked shaky at best in the first half and downright awful in the second half. In fact the US was completely embarrassed regardless of the artificially low score line until 34 year old Eddie Lewis entered the match and brought an intensity and skill level seemingly absent in the other US attacking players. So if Eddie Lewis, of dubious record shattering Derby County is your best player at Wembley, you have a problem.

I’ll have much more on this match as well as some player ratings and hopefully some of my photos (if I can get them to upload properly. If not they will have to wait until I return to the US) tomorrow morning.