Just not good enough

And it's over. This might have been the best US team from front to back that we've ever seen at a World Cup. But they weren't good enough. For the second straight cup, the US was eliminated thanks to a 2-1 defeat at the feet of Ghana. The US team showed a lot of heart, skill, and talent at this World Cup, but at the end of the day, they just weren't good enough to compete for a prize. Rather than grade individual players (sorry for the lack of grades after the Algeria game... I've been pretty busy at work), I'm going to discuss the state of the team overall.

The loss to Ghana means that the US exits the tournament with a record of 1 win, 1 loss, and 2 ties. In other words, they were a .500 team. They scored 5 goals and allowed 5 goals. Again... a .500 team. That's much better than they did 4 years ago, obviously, but no better than they did in 2002.

Speaking of 2002, let's take a look at that "glorious run" to the quarterfinals, the furthest advance by a US team in the modern era (post-WWII). In that tournament, the US had a record of 2 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie. They scored 7 goals and allowed 7 goals. Sound familiar? It should. Really, that 2002 squad was also a .500 team that managed to get to the quarterfinals only because they got a fortunate break during group play (the late Korea goal that eliminated Portugal) and had the equally good fortune of playing Mexico in the second round.

What it means is that the US soccer team is treading water. They're capable of beating anyone on a given day, but equally capable of losing to almost anyone on any other day. That's been the case for a decade now, and quite frankly for 15 years (anyone else remember the US beating Argentina 3-0 en route to a semi-final berth in Copa America '95?). The US team is good, but not great. Only great teams win titles.

What's holding us back? Is it the coaching? No. While Bob Bradley choosing to start Ricardo Clark against Ghana won't go down as his finest moment, he actually has done a pretty good job with this group of players. They were giving 100% and Bradley's in-game moves nearly always were for the better. Sure, you can argue that a better coach gets more out of the players, but it's unlikely to be much. And besides, coaching at the international level is overrated. There isn't much time to work with the team, the opponents are often unknown until a few days before the game, and you can't just buy players to fit a certain system. Coaching at the international level is about motivation and attitude. There was (and has been) nothing wrong with the American's motivation and attitude.

That leaves the players. Our players are not good enough. Check that, our players are good enough, but we still don't have that ONE player that can make something special happen. Take Landon Donovan as the ultimate example of this. Donovan is almost certainly the best US player ever. He's the team's all-time leading scorer and has consistently found success within MLS. But he's not an "elite" player. Yes, he (finally, according to many critics) came through with the big goal against Algeria (shown right), but that was just a hustle goal. There was nothing special about it except for the timing. Think about the past four games. At what point did Donovan do something that just made you go, "Wow!"? It didn't happen. Donovan is a fine player, and could be a big part of a World-Cup contending team. You can say the same for Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and a handful of other US team players.

But where's the superstar? Where's the player that can raise his game to that elite level and make something special happen? He doesn't exist (at least not yet). World Cup champions feature players that seem to do something amazing through the entire tournament. In 2006, Fabio Cannavaro seemed omnipresent in defense, and Italy marched to a title. In 2002, Brazil's Ronaldo was virtually unstoppable. In 1998, Zinedine Zidane was awesome. That's what makes the difference at a World Cup. The traditional powers bring talented teams of good players to every tournament. The US is getting to that level, but we won't be a real contender until we can produce that superstar that makes a difference.

Think about it. The US has had a host of "good" players in recent years. These guys have been productive (at least for short periods) in foreign leagues and international games. Eric Wynalda...Claudio Reyna.... Brian McBride.... but never a superstar. American superstars still end up playing football, baseball, and basketball. I'm afraid that until we get that superstar, the US will never be able to reach the highest levels of soccer. But the appearance of those players are seemingly acts of God. You can't predict who it will be or where he will come from. In the meantime, what are some practical improvements that need to be made on the US team?

First, we need more speed on defense. The US team has some good soccer players, but not the greatest athletes. That's a side result of the American sports scene, where the best athletes end up chasing the money in other sports. Ghana was able to burn us largely because Jay DeMerit is a scrappy defender, not a natural athlete. Oguchi Onyewu is a better athlete, but he was gimpy coming back from knee surgery and may be too old next time around. We need fresh blood in defense, and it needs to have good genes.

Second, we have to find a real goal-scorer. The incredible dearth of American forwards was never more clear than in this tournament. None of the 5 US goals were tallied by a forward, and none of them were even created by one (although Altidore played a big part in the second goal against Slovenia). It wasn't for a lack of chances. If only we could've transported the 2002 Brian McBride through time to play in this cup.... Maybe Jozy Altidore can become a great forward, but he's not there right now. And the really scary part is that anyone who watches MLS can tell you that talented young American forwards are almost non-existent. The US need is so crying that we called in Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez, a couple of journeymen forwards who happened to be in good form. The US need is so crying that lots of fans were seriously hoping we'd call in Charlie Davies, who hasn't played a single game since a horrific car wreck a few months ago. Yikes... do we ever need a forward.....

At least the midfield looks good. Both Donovan and Dempsey will be on the wrong side of 30 by the time the World Cup kicks off again, but both could still contribute. Also, the US has a large number of good young options right now that should be even better in 2014. Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu are still very young. Stuart Holden shows a lot of promise. Jose Torres can get a lot better. Benny Feilhaber isn't too old. That's not even counting guys like Robbie Rogers and Alejandro Bedoya. Also, while Tim Howard wasn't at his best in this tournament, he is still solid and the US never seems to lack for good goalkeepers.

I'll have some more opinion on the rest of the World Cup, including the crazy officiating that hurt England and Mexico, at a later time. All I'll say for now is that as bad as the calls were, they didn't decide the games. Germany were better than England for 80 of 90 minutes, and it wasn't the officials that gifted Gonzalo Higuain the ball right in front of goal.

Until next time....

SAH