Sure, the theory of continual gains in developing talent being relative to the gains made by other nations and teams lends a little more luster to the overall dominant performances we had against Los Chapines and the Soca Warriors. However, despite controlling these matches in nearly every statistical category we still fell short of putting away the chances handed to us. Guatemala showed signs of an overall improvement with Hernan Dario Gomez at the helm but reverted to the kind of futbol not seen in these parts since Bora Milutinovic was in charge of our team. T & T played the very best selection at their disposal... from their domestic league. If not for some luck and solid, if not spectacular, saves from Tim Howard and Kasey Keller then the US would be looking at a must win against El Salvador tomorrow.
So if the glass is half full we say, "Exactly! These are games that, in the past, we would have given up an equalizer to Guatemala and allowed Trinidad back into that match with silly or "unlucky" goals. Plus, these are guys who haven't played together much, if at all, AND we started an essentially completely new lineup against T & T. Survive and advance, survive and advance."
Half empty and we say, "This just shows how much more work we need to do. We're disjointed in the final third, a bit shaky in the defensive third and some of our midfield challenges are a little too iffy which exposes our defenders and breaks our link to the forwards. Our talent alone should predicate better results than this."
Where do my thoughts lie at the moment? Somewhere in between and I imagine Nowak and Bradley are thinking along similar lines. This is an important learning and bonding process for the new guys and the World Cup veterans. They all understand that we feel we NEED to win this tournament with any other result being a letdown. At the same time, this is preparation, preparation that will prove to be invaluable down the line when guys like Ricardo Clark, Justin Mapp, Jay Demerit or Michael Parkhurst have to face these same teams in Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula, Port au Prince, or in those most desperate of environs, Saprissa and Azteca.
On paper, there's no reason we shouldn't walk this thing. Let's be honest. There's one major difference, though, and that is that on game day you can't account for nerves, being off your game, strange officiating or just plain missing chances that have been presented to you on a silver platter. It happens. Still, it sounds like a load of crap and poor excuses when you look at your overall performance and know you could have, should have been better on the day. Still, I'm sure Mexico and their fans thought the same thing going into yesterday.
Which brings me to another point. Are the US fans who have been around long enough to become jaded at the point of becoming little more than the same fans of other countries whom we used to mock? The English fan that wants to sack the manager for a poor 3-0 result against tiny Andorra? The Mexican fan that wants to get rid of LaVolpe because he brought in players fans didn't like and then crashed out against Argentina in the World Cup? The German fan stoic in the thought that they should be doing better than they are? Really, isn't that the worldwide feeling of soccer/futbol/voetbal fans? "Our team is better than this, why do they play so badly against clearly inferior opposition?!" Are we forgetting the fact that time and again, as the world has proved, as one thing may evolve, change and improve, so do those things that would seek to become better than that one? Is it a matter of who can improve the fastest and at the most exponential rate?
Well, the US has some improving to do and, luckily, they'll have a few more games yet in the Gold Cup in which to do it.
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