Robbie Findley struggled yesterday in Holland. (Getty Images)

Do we chalk this loss yesterday to Holland as a bad thing. Uh, yes and no. Yes because its a loss and one that showed us exactly where we stand. No because it did help US manager Bob Bradley out in figuring out who exactly he needs to take with him to South Africa.

I felt like going into the classic good, bad and ugly theme for this recap. I gave it a day to mull things over and see where I think things stand. We did see some good, things we can take from the game and move forward with a positive attitude about. But on the flip side there were some negatives in this one and then some down right ugly items I hate even bringing up today. Continue Reading…

Bob Bradley has some tough choices to make for tomorrow's friendly against Holland (Getty Images)

Honestly I need to amp up my USMNT cover on here. I’ll admit I don’t get to see every game like I would like and I honestly nearly forgot the El Salvador game last week. In fact I didn’t even get to watch all of it but what I did see what the final 20 minutes or so which were fun to view since it was a nice comeback for the US.

What we know is this Holland game tomorrow is a biggie. Its in Holland and the Dutch are easily one of the best squads in the World right now. But this is more than a high profile friendly for Bob Bradley it is a chance to really finish filling out his roster for June at the World Cup in South Africa.

A good chunk of the roster is probably set but for those bubble players this is a big test. The two friendlies so far this year were definitely for the MLS talent to show their stuff and while they did a decent job only a couple of that B or C bunch will make an sort of dent in this roster come June.

Bradley has a couple areas to hammer out before June. The nearly all his defense needs to be figured out, his defensive midfield spot, and a striker. Continue Reading…

Not much to celebrate on Saturday for Clarence Goodson and Brad Davis. (Getty Images)

I spent the weekend away from the computer for a reason. I wanted to basically have some free time to do things non-soccer related for a change but I did make some time for the USMNT’s match against Honduras. Let me just first say that I went into this match with little to no expectations for our boys. Sure I thought a win would happen but it was merely a meaningless match that turned out to be just about that.

Some will fall into the deep end about this game and there are some that are probably working their way out by now after this 3-1 loss to our CONCACAF mates. While it wasn’t the best way to start a World Cup year but honestly it wasn’t the worst. Why? A good chunk of the players who played on Saturday won’t even be in the true discussion come June for Bob Bradley.

In other words there is no reason to get truly upset over our team which fielded a bunch of third and forth level national team players losing to Honduras. Had it been our main squad with Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and company then there would most certainly be a reason to get upset today.

Bradley used a large MLS base of players on Saturday and while that is all good and fine here it showed that the depth isn’t there like it should be. Maybe three or four of those guys on Saturday will be in the discussion for South Africa but the rest really shouldn’t be at this point.

Not that there is anything wrong with trying out a few fresh faces either. Bradley has been known to do that a lot in the past and quite honestly it has worked well for him in my opinion. This past weekend was a trail for the majority involved. A couple shined and showed they proved to be in the mix while a majority showed they aren’t on the same level as those in the mix.

To me Saturday’s loss showed the third and maybe forth level of talent just isn’t up to par with other countries. I think we can safely say that here after seeing that game. No this wasn’t a B team or even really a C team for me on the field. And on that note I really hate labeling teams A, B and C.

So to those who fell over board this past weekend, get your head up and get back into the boat. South Africa is only a few months away and our first team boys will certainly put on a better show than what we saw this past weekend.

Bob Bradley has released his 30-man roster for an upcoming camp next month. The roster is a heavy-MLS and Scandinavian based roster with loads of surprises for some folks out there. The roster will probably be trimmed down a bit for the Honduras friendly later next month on the 23rd.

Of the 30 players, 25 are from Major League Soccer with 13 of the 16 clubs represented. Good to see a few names on there like Kevin Alston from New England and Geoff Cameron from Houston.

Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS (8): Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (6): Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)

Bob Bradley has announced his 22-man roster for the last two CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers against Honduras on on October 10th, and the qualifying match against Costa Rica at RFK Stadium on October 14th.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (1860 Munich), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux)

Off the top of my head, the only shockers to me were Conrad and Rogers. I’m also starting to wonder if Casey is the new Eddie Johnson for Bob Bradley. You know a decent forward that is a bit over hyped and never really does that great with the National team? I dunno, just a thought.

Saw this poster on Match Fit USA and thought it was just awesome.

Tim Howard did his best but it wasn't enough. (Getty Images)

To say I am not disappointed would be lying. I am a bit disappointed in not pulling out the draw today but one thing I do know is soccer is never a kind sport when you want it to be. Excuses aside though we should be very thankful that the US showed up and play well today down in Mexico, it may have not been solid for 90 minutes but still better than in the past.

This one does hurt though just as all losses to your big rival are. Getting the lead for the first time in Azteca and then to only quickly blow it away really stunk. Not to mention playing for the draw for a good portion of the game always comes back to bite you in the ass. It just comes down to lack of chances and lack of chances taken by the US.

Possession was an issue today as well. I’m sure the altitude had something to do with that over 90 minutes because believe me, that far above sea level and you are gasping for air no matter how good of shape you are in. Along with the posssession was the lack of quality touches on the ball in the midfield.

It turns out yet again that we just aren’t here all the way. We are getting close but results like today and failing to hold on to leads shows this club is still a step away from really becoming what we all want them to be as a team. I know Landon Donovan and others spoke a lot about holding leads after the loss to Brazil in the Confederation’s Cup. We just aren’t there yet.

Lastly we cannot make excuses on the refs. Sure they were terrible today but would you really expect anything better being on the road in CONCACAF qualifying? I sure wouldn’t, in fact if we got too many calls going our way on the road I would be worried that there would be a fix going on somewhere.

In the end we did learn a few things like seeing how Stuart Holden is ready to make the jump to the main A-squad of the USMNT. Charlie Davies is the real deal as a striker for us going forward too. Defensively we aren’t too shabby but we still give up too much space. Bob Bradley was better with his subs today and going forward that’s positive to see.

Let’s just remember we just really need two more wins here and we should be good to qualify for South Africa. With two games at home and a road game against Trinidad and Tobago I think six points should be simple enough to get.

Again it is disappointing but not the end of the world. We know where we want to go and we are getting there.