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It’s a familiar problem for Bob Bradley and USMNT fans. The perennial problem position for the United States continues to rear its ugly head. I am of course speaking of the left back position, where every American manager since Bora Milutinovic has had to experiment repeatedly to achieve any stability.
Natural left footer Jeff Agoos was always too unreliable and mistake prone to be counted on in big matches. Bora cut him from the 1994 World Cup team, and Steve Sampson almost did the same for 1998 after a costly mistake by Agoos cost the US two valuable home qualifying points versus Jamaica.
Sampson’s solution was to naturalize David Regis, a French national who had played at a high level in the German Bundesliga. Regis’ inclusion in the 1998 World Cup squad was a disaster, although Regis actually helped stabilize the situation for Bruce Arena in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup when he played very well.
But by the time Korea/Japan 2002 rolled around, Regis had become as unreliable as Agoos forcing Arena to play Frankie Hejduk out of position at left back at the World Cup. Following 2002, Cory Gibbs and Carlos Bocanegra were both tried on the left side but both were too slow and better suited to playing inside.
Eddie Lewis an outstanding left sided midfielder was converted to left back by Bruce Arena in 2005. This move like the naturalization of Regis was a desperate measure that yielded bad results. But in the midst of this disaster a bright light showed itself in the US pool: Heath Pearce.
Pearce played a few times in 2005 and 2006 and showed an incredible amount of skill and poise for youngster. I had first noticed Pearce while he played in the PDL for the Bradenton Academics in 2004. Instantly I thought he was more than simply a good youth prospect for the USA. I believed he would be the first really good left back we have produced.
But I have been very frustrated with Pearce since 2006. Pearce looked outstanding in front of my own eyes in Chicago against Brazil back in September 2007. But his troubles at Hansa Rostock not only on the pitch but in the dressing room caused a decline in his national team form.
Last August he got away with a hand ball in the first qualifier of the semifinal round down at the Mateo Flores. Had that handball been called qualification would have been much tougher for us. Since then he’s continued to be shaky, losing his mark often, and resorting hacking when he’s beat on a play.
The problem for Bradley is that the other natural left backs in the player pool all are based in MLS. We’ve learned throwing MLS players without any previous European or extensive international experience into matches on the road in CONCACAF is a recipe for disaster. We saw this in qualifying for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and again with Sacha Kljestan down in El Salvador just a few short months ago.
This leaves Pearce as the only realistic long term option for the US at left back unless DaMarcus Beasley’s conversion works out better than that of Eddie Lewis, or Michael Orozco or Jonathan Spector both natural center backs fare better than Bocanegra and Gibbs did in the same role. To say the least Bradley is in an unenviable position.

US National Team: Left Back Quandary Continues - World Soccer Talk

US National Team: Left Back Quandary Continues

Starting this week, every week I’ll be giving Yanks Abroad updates over at the <a href="http:\/\/blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_soccerblog/">Orlando Sentinel’s Soccer Blog</a>. Check it out. Every week we’ll feature the best performances of the weekend.
Here is this week’s installment
Germany
<ul>
<li>Steve Cherundolo played 90 minutes for Hannover 96 in a 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund.</li>
<li>Heath Pearce played the final 30 minutes in Hansa Rostock’s 2-1 loss to Werder Bremen.</li>
<li>Josh Wolff played 90 minutes for 1860 Munich in a 2-1 win over Wehan. Wolff needs to start scoring some goals if he is going to figure in the US Qualifying campaign for the World Cup.</li>
</ul>
England
<ul>
<li>Brad Friedel played 90 minutes and made 12 saves for Blackburn in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United.</li>
<li>Eddie Lewis played 90 minutes for Derby County in a 2-0 loss to West Ham.</li>
<li>Kasey Keller played 90 minutes and made two saves for Fulham in a 2-0 loss to Liverpool.</li>
<li>Bobby Convey played 90 minutes and looked lively in Reading’s latest loss, a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.</li>
</ul>
Denmark
<ul>
<li>Jeremiah White played 90 minutes and scored a goal for AGF Aarhus in a 3-1 win vs. Lyngby.</li>
<li>Lee Nguyen played 90 minutes and set up a goal in Randers FC’s 2-1 win over FC Copenhagen.</li>
</ul>
Mexico
<ul>
<li>Michael Orozco played 90 minutes in San Luis 2-1 win over Moriela which sent Orozco’s side to joint top of the Group 3 table. Orozco continues to make a strong case for a starting position on this summer’s US Olympic team.</li>
<li>Daniel Hernandez played 90 minutes and picked up a Yellow Card in Jaguares 2-1 loss to Veracruz.</li>
</ul>
I will try and track all of the Americans in Europe and Mexico on a weekly basis, and list the best performances here. The only second divisions being tracked are England and Germany. Also American born players such as Giuseppe Rossi or Edgar Castillo that have been capped for other nations will not be tracked.

Yanks Abroad Update - World Soccer Talk

Yanks Abroad Update

With a night’s worth of perspective on yesterday’s 1-0 US victory over Switzerland, here are my thoughts.
<ul>
<li>Maurice Edu was my man of the match and Bob Bradley deserves lots of credit to notice Edu’s value in training and to give him the start.</li>
<li>Heath Pearce had a shaky summer and poor start to his career at Hansa Rostock, but he has been outstanding in the last two US friendlies against Brazil and Switzerland. </li>
<li>Michael Bradley’s poise and maturity continues to be amazing for someone of his youth.</li>
<li>Taylor Twellman needs to focus on his club football and prove he can set himself so far apart from every other American striker in MLS before he gets another call up. </li>
<li>Eddie Lewis isn’t going to be around for World Cup 2010 but he like Frankie Hedjuk has proven he still has a role in qualifying for this team even at 33. </li>
<li>Freddy Adu can be a game changer for the US as a late game substitute who adds pace and flair to the attack. Switzerland became much more tentative going forward after Adu entered the match. </li>
<li>Danny Szetela was solid and gave a great cross to set up the goal, but I still want his position long term to be sorted out. </li>
<li>Clint Dempsey is a much better option in the withdrawn striker role than Landon Donovan</li>
<li>Brad Guzan still scares me, but he seems like he is playing with confidence which is important for a keeper.</li>
<li>I’m not sure I like Benny Feilhaber on the right side, but Bradley seems to want him to play out there often which leads me to wonder what Landon Donovan’s future position with the National Team is. </li>
<li>Danny Califf was a rock in the central defense. Perhaps Bruce Arena should not have stopped calling him into the team when he had the audacity to leave MLS to play in Europe. </li>
<li>A great victory that should boost the confidence of all American fans!</li>
</ul>

The Day After: Some Random Thoughts About the Switzerland Match - World Soccer Talk

The Day After: Some Random Thoughts About the Switzerland Match

Derby County’s fascination with American footballers continues. Just hours after receiving official clearance to play Benny Feilhaber and weeks after trying to sign Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis is reportedly headed to Pride Park. Derby sits near the bottom of the Premiership table with 1 point but has shown flashes of real class in its first two matches and recently rejected an offer to sell Giles Barnes, to West Ham indicating that unlike Watford last season, the newly promoted Rams will be trying to stay up in the Premier League.

US National Team: Left Back Quandary Continues

Demarcus Beasley

US National Team: Left Back Quandary Continues

Brad Friedel

Yanks Abroad Update

Eddie Lewis

The Day After: Some Random Thoughts About the Switzerland Match

Eddie Lewis

Eddie Lewis Sold to Derby