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…

Not a bad showing by the US against Holland. (Getty Images)

I won’t go too into the match just yet, I have a plan on re-watching some of it later on today but I did want to give my initial player ratings from this afternoon’s 2-1 loss to the Dutch in Amsterdam.

WVH USMNT Player Ratings:

Tim Howard – 7
Jonathan Spector – 5
Carlos Bocanegra – 7
Jay DeMerit – 5
Jonathan Bornstein – 2
Stuart Holden – 5
Michael Bradley – 5
Jose Francisco Torres – 5
Landon Donovan – 4
Jozy Altidore – 6
Robbie Findley – 4

Subs:
Maurice Edu – 4
DeMarcus Beasley – 7
Alejandro Bedoya – 6
Heath Pearce – 4
Eddie Johnson – 4
Clarence Goodson – 5

Top Three Players for US:

1. DeMarcus Beasley – Off the bench he was very good today, probably much better than he’s been in recent games that I’ve seen him in. I like the idea of him still coming off the bench though instead of starting for the US.
2. Tim Howard – He made his usual few big saves but got unlucky with the PK and the other goal. Still can’t blame this loss at all on Timmy, he worked his ass off as usual.
3. Carlos Bocanegra – Got the lone goal on a great free kick by Beasley. He was so freakin’ open on that play it was ridiculous. He also did well in the back today for the US.

Overall it wasn’t a terrible game by the US. I thought Donovan was a ghost most of the game but that could be due to poor service from out of the back for him. Early on the US was too predictable in the midfield and in the final third. Robbie Findley was okay but really showed he has no shot at a roster spot in South Africa after getting over powered in this game by the Dutch defense. He has the speed to beat them but never really took people on like we would have liked.

Bad day for Bornstein though. First the penalty late in the first half and then the deflection for the second Dutch goal in the second half. I thought Bob Bradley should have subbed him at half for someone like Pearce but he’s got too much of a love fest for Bornstein.

Again, I hope to have more later on this game.

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…

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.

2009 MLS All-Stars (Getty Images)

A lot of folks this morning are calling for the end of the MLS All-Star game, or at least the current format of it. While I am more in the ladder part of the calling I do not see this current game going away at any point in the near future after what we saw last night. In a way I honestly believe last night’s loss on PKs to EPL side Everton may have actually saved the All-Star game more than gave fuel to the fire to get rid of it.

Why do I think that? Honestly this game unlike a few of the past was the most watchable of any of the All-Star games in recent years. I know the Chelsea game was a good one and that one is definitely a close second to this one in my mind in terms of level of play and excitement from end to end. For once it actually looked like a meaningful game, rather than just a friendly.

While a loss is never a good thing to talk about, the league did showcase their talent on a national scale and losing in PKs is not the worst thing that could have happened here. Plus let’s face it, getting by Tim Howard is never easy and since he is in mid-season form rather than pre-season form it made it even tougher.

I still may not like the format of playing a club from another league for the All-Stars but last night did give me a reason to get behind the whole show a bit more than usual.

I will say that if the league continues to do a showcase game like this for their All-Stars, they need to move it up in the calendar a bit. Putting the game on at the same time as three of it’s clubs participate in CONCACAF Champions League matches is unacceptable. I guess going against some of the summer friendlies this past month was too tough to have this game a little earlier in the summer. Not to mention it would have been stupid to place it during the Gold Cup tournament too.

I still think going forward the league does need to do a better job at placing this game in the schedule. Next year will be a real challenge with the World Cup going on. My bet it will be late July once again, after the World Cup.

Thing is will it make a difference moving it to a different time of the summer? Or would we be better off without it? Some have made their claim to get rid of it due to busy summer months, while others continue to enjoy it.

Could this be the biggest win ever for the US? (Getty Images)

Boy what a thriller huh? If you called a 2-0 win over Spain for the US you should probably be well on your way to an island somewhere celebrating your winnings. No one honestly called that kind of a win for the US today. Sure some had hopes of that kind of result but truth be told you’d be kidding yourself if you thought it would actually happen.

But looking back on the game I can honestly say this was the best performance from the entire team as a whole in a long time. It’s been a very long while since I’ve seen the US national team play so well for 90 minutes and not give up anything too stupid or costly.

Consider this, the Spanish put their best squad out there today and gunned for the win. Its not like some past wins in this tournament where the world power didn’t care. Today they cared and the US were able to take it to them. While I don’t think this makes us a world power or anything just yet I do believe it will help get us to that next level that we as a country have been reaching for a while here.

A big thing today was the level of passion and intensity on the field from the US. I have to give credit all around the field because the defense stepped up like never before and the offense did just enough to annoy the Spanish defense to get the two goals. Maybe it had something to do with Carlos Bocaengra wearing the captians armband once again, or maybe it had something to do with the level of respect that US were not getting from the start.

I kind of believe the US just delievered the world a blueprint to beating Spain. Hold them tigh defensively and press the crap out of them when the chances are there.

Also the possession was there more so for the US than expected. They weathered the storm of corner kicks and Tim Howard came up huge with needed. Oquchi Onyewu and Jay DeMeirt had one of their best games each in defense, they were constantly clearing everything that came in their way.

Just how good were the two US goals too? Jozy Altidore and his strong possesional play to score his first goal and Dempsey’s hammering home of the second game late in the second half. Landon Donovan really set up the second goal were as good play from Charlie Davis and Michael Bradley helped fuel the first.

I know a lot of folks hammered Bob Bradley last week but this lineup worked well for the US today. Some would have liked subs brought on earlier in the second half but he picked his moments right today when he did bring on fresh legs. Also speaking of those fresh legs I thought he did an excellent job of picking the right guys off the bench to come on for the game. Benny Feihaber came on first for US and I thought he was the best sub of the game. Conor Casey late for Altidore was a smart move as Casey is big, strong and able to hold possession well.

In all this will definitely go down as one of the biggest wins in US soccer history. Bigger than the Brazil win in the Gold Cup a decade ago, and bigger than the Portugal win in 2002.

Now on to the final on Sunday. Do you all think the US has any magic left for the final?

Editor’s note: Geoff Reid appears each week on WVHooligan.com. This week he is tackling the great debate about who is the best US National team player? Feel free to leave Geoff your thoughts below.

This is a question I’ve thought about the last few days. There can be cases made for a number of players depending on accomplishments achieved, trophies won, goals to matches ratio and list can go on and on. The big question here is who is the current best national team player? Four players come to mind in no particular order: Michael Bradley, Timmy Howard, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan. Continue Reading…