Interesting article about the future

While I sit here and watch Switzerland and Ukraine fight each other out

Two kicks to the keeper

I'm also surfing the ESPN Soccer sites and found this article.

Cheeky Ukraine goal!

It talks about the future of US soccer which is going to be a "hot" topic for awhile

Switzerland hits the post!

Also, for all of us that are rooting for Juergan Klinsmann, there is this dash of reality.

Rebrov buries it for Ukraine! Switzerland is in real trouble now

I'm also curious to hear what Wynalda says about Arena (I'm not an ESPN Insider)... He has been incredibly critical on his broadcasts.

Switzerland gets saved again and Ukraine finishes it out... Ukraine to advance to the quarters against Italy. Quite a turnaround from the 4-0 drubbing against Spain.

The future of US soccer is up in the air... I'm not going to say it's bright but I'm not the doomsayer that many are right now... We can learn something from other teams that have come back from the brink but we need to do it by focusing on the future...

Holy Italian soccer trouble, Batman!

Let's not get so lost in the World Cup noise that we fail to acknowledge this story.

Juventus and AC Milan out of Seria A?

Lazio... Hrmm... weren't they coached by Sven-Goran Erickson until recently?

This story is going to get juicy as names, dates and places start coming out.

The end of "In Bruce we Trust"

It's too bad that it had to end this way. This was a young, talented US team that didn't have to implode quite so spectacularly. Everything about Arena's approach to this game and this tournament has been different. The phrase, "Dance with the one that brung you" comes to mind. Let's look at the questions that are going to be asked:

1) Why would Arena think that McBride could operate as a lone striker? He's never done it before with this team (though he does with Fulham on occassion).
2) Even if McBride could function effectively as a lone striker, why would you want him to need to? You've got EJ and a very hot Brian Ching on the bench... EJ played roughly 60 minutes of the US's 270+... That's shocking for a guy that has all of the physical tools to succeed at this level (and who was our ONLY dangerous player against the Czechs).
3) What's the deal with O'Brien? Did he pick up a knock in training? He seemed fine for the 45 minutes against the Czechs... so why not play him against Italy or Ghana?
4) Why stick with Beasley? Beasley had 11 good minutes in this cup. Ten against Italy and 1 great play against Ghana. Other than that, he looked pretty horrendous. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
5) Why are our set pieces so horrendous? Donovan played a couple directly out of bounds and what's the deal with Landon and Beasley both standing over the ball on corner kicks? That's not even good for a short corner...
6) Why weren't we attempting more long range shots? Particularly in light of the new ball and an inexperienced, partially injured goal keeper, I would have thought we'd try more shots from 30 yards out.
7) Did we really need to play Bocanegra, Beasley AND Lewis all at the same time? How much left sided firepower do we need?

I think all of those are questions that will get asked of Arena in the post match press conference... and frankly, I think he'd better answer all of them. I'm not a big arm-chair QB kinda guy but that performance was almost as bad as against the Czechs.

As for the player's performances.

Keller: Again, had a game in which he couldn't have been expected to do better. Made one good save and took a great angle against the Ghanan player on their goal (which forced that Ghanan player to make a great, curling shot for the score). Guessed wrong on the PK but that's how those go. B

Onyewu: Looked good for most of the game. His long balls out of the back seemed to always have a bit too much "Oomph" on them. The PK was ridiculous and Onyewu should feel fairly agrieved. B-

Conrad: For a guy that hasn't played with the team much he sure came through big in this game. Broke up some key plays and shots and generally looked solid in defense. A-

Cherundulo: I like Cherundulo and he did well. Over the course of 3 games, I would have expected him to have better crossing, but that's really my only complaint. Looked solid against Ghana but probably could have done more to help the offense. B

Bocanegra: Looked good for large stretches of the game. Was one of our only offensive threats (which is sad) with a couple of good crosses, passes and a shot and a header. People are going to villify him for the 2nd goal but that's a difficult ball to play and I'm not going to fault a guy for a "skill" mistake. B

Beasley: Had two decent plays in this game but generally, continued to perform poorly. There was a good USA counter attack that he slowed down tremendously and turned a 5 on 6 into a 5 on 8. For a guy who's talent is speed, he sure hides it well. The steal and cross to Dempsey was fantastic, however. B-

Reyna: Invisible for parts of the game (although his last 15 minutes in he was injured). Stayed on the ball an inexcusably long time when it was stolen from him. Captain America will likely retire from the national team after this tournament and I'm glad, because it's time for him to move on. I like Reyna but he's just not what the team needs. C

Donovan: Another dissappointing night for Donovan. He shows absolutely NO instinct for goal. There was a play late in the second half where he beat his man down the side and had a HUGE window to cut inside and goto goal with but he decided to bring the ball more central. C-

Dempsey: The only dangerous player on the field for long stretches of the game. His goal was fan-frickin-tastic (if you're not a soccer player, you probably can't appreciate how difficult that shot was but take my word for it... that was a VERY difficult shot). I would really have liked to see what he could have done playing "in the hole" behind McBride and EJ... A

Lewis: Had good moments and bad moments but a generally solid game. His cross for McBride almost created a 2nd goal in the 2nd half and he looked good on that side. B+

McBride: I will never, ever fault McBride's work ethic. The guy is a beast and he works harder than any 3 US players. I watched for long stretches of the game and didn't see good service to him AT ALL. The long passes were generally too long for him to get to. The crosses were generally to other players or other spaces. His header off the post was tragically unlucky as he had the goal keeper completely beat. B+

Olsen: Olsen was CLEARLY out of his depth, skill wise, in this game. However, he hussled and was tenacious and inventive. He was one of only a couple players (Bocanegra being the other one) that took a shot from 18 yards or further. He did get "Lucy'd" by the Ghanans in almost comical fashion but he actually brought something new to the field. Maybe the beard confused the Africans? B- (for technique) A- (for effort and desire).

Johnson: Came on late in the 2nd half when his strike partner was already tired. His insertion also caused the USA to shift to a 3-5-2 that threatened to unbalance the team until Bocanegra, Onyewu and Conrad worked things out. He looked "solid" but never really great. Didn't get into the flow of the game and only had a couple opportunities to beat Ghana with speed. B-

Convey: Came on late for Eddie Lewis. He showed some immediate impact down the left wing but his crosses aren't quite up to snuff yet. I wish that he'd tried to cut inside more but that wasn't his role. B-

I'm just at a loss for words right now and a bit sick to my stomach. I'm curious what Arena says afterward... stay tuned.

Still no EJ apparently

Anyone who thought that Eddie Johnson would start (that includes me) should check again. Arena's comments make it pretty clear that EJ will not be a starter against Ghana. This is unfortunate, particularly in light of yesterday's revelation that Arena is not approaching this game in terms of scoring lots of goals. Don't get me wrong, I think the last thing Arena should do is tell the team, "Look, you've gotta score 5 goals and keep Ghana out of the net". That's not what I'm advocating...

What I am saying is that the US approach to this game should be, "Score goals". A 1-0 win just isn't going to cut it... We haven't scored a goal yet in this Cup and we should be focusing all of our energy on "putting the bulge in the back of the old onion bag" and we should be thinking in terms of offense...

While our advancement isn't likely if Czech Republic and Italy tie... it increases dramatically with each goal we score... even a 3-0 scoreline gives us a decent chance of advancing (a 2-0 Czech Republic win would do it while a 3-1 win would result in drawing lots with Italy). I hope that Arena is just engaging in his traditional gamesmanship with the question of offense and EJ. If, however, we come out with McBride alone up top, I would fully expect the Czechs and Italians to just play a game for show in midfield and take their 0-0 tie all the way to the bank.

Finally, keep in mind what is scary to the other teams. A Ghana win or a Ghana self-destruction... The way I see it, us scoring lots of goals is great if we keep a clean sheet and its great even if we give up a few (imagine the nervous Italians and Czechs if we're up 3-2 at half time).

Surprisingly competitive

Traditionally, European and South American teams have dominated the World Cup (and let's be clear, by South American we mean Brazil and Argentina). As FIFA has pushed for more balance amongst the confederations we have seen some strong performances by Asian and North/Central American teams (Korea, USA, Mexico, etc.) but this year has been very different. We've had a return to traditional power dominance of the group stages but with a HUGE increase in competitiveness across the board. Let's look at the groups

Group A: One of the least competitive groups, the surprise here is that Ecuador (the 3rd place team from CONMEBOL) leads the pack. Two teams guaranteed, two teams eliminated.

Group B: A surprisingly strong showing from T&T has left Sweden needing a result against England. One team guaranteed, one team eliminated.

Group C: Supposed to be the group of death. This group has produced the most lopsided result in the tournament thus far (6-0 Argentina over S&M) and has it's two teams already decided... Additionally, since their next round opponent is still up in the air (and the two likely teams are roughly even), I would expect Wednesday's game to be pretty dull. Two teams guaranteed, two teams eliminated.

Group D: Widely regarded as a fairly weak group. Angola pulled up a bit of a surprise by holding Mexico to a 0-0 draw. Mexico still has its foot in the door, however. One team guaranteed, one team eliminated.

Group E: The real group of death. This group is completely up in the air and will (hopefully) come down to the wire in exciting fashion on Thursday. No teams guaranteed, no teams eliminated.

Group F: This team always got a little bit too much flak. Despite not playing in many World Cups, Australia is a quality team. As are Croatia and Japan. This team essentially has 1 clear winner and 3 2nd place teams and that's exactly how it's panned out. One team guaranteed, no teams eliminated.

Group G: A group that was supposed to be easy for France has turned into a nightmare. They finally scored (after 4 Cup games without goals) but they're still on the outside looking in a win by France and a tie in the other game opens up all kinds of wacky tiebreaker opportunities. No teams guaranteed, one team eliminated.

Group H: Spain is firing on all cylinders and Ukraine appears to be back on track. One team guaranteed, no teams eliminated.

Let's look at our guaranteed teams real quick.
Ecuador, Germany, England, Argentina, Holland, Portugual, Brazil, Spain... The only surprising name on that list is Ecuador.

And what about the eliminated teams?
Poland, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Iran, Togo... No many surprises there (Poland being the closest thing to a surprise).

My predictions for the final 16 (brackets included)

left side
Germany vs. Sweden
Argentina vs. Mexico
Italy vs. Australia
South Korea vs. Ukraine

right side
England vs. Ecuador
Portugal vs. Holland
Brazil vs. USA
Spain vs. France

Thursday's games

The two biggest games in US soccer will be occuring simultaneously on Thursday. USA vs. Ghana and Italy vs. Czech Republic. Here's a quick run down of the scenarios involved.

GS vs. XX means that total goals scored vs. X opponent's total goals scored will be in play
CR = Czech Republic

USA loses or ties: We go home
USA wins by 1: We need Italy to win OR CR win by 4 (GS vs. Italy) OR CR win by 5+
USA wins by 2: Italy to win OR CR win by 3 (GS vs. Italy) OR CR win by 4+
USA wins by 3: Italy to win OR CR win by 2 (GS vs. Italy) OR CR win by 3+
USA wins by 4: Italy to win OR CR win by 1 (GS vs. Italy) OR CR win by 2+ OR CR/Italy Tie (GS vs. CR)
USA wins by 5: Any scenario and we advance

Want to hear the crazy scenario?
We win 3-0 and the Czechs win 3-1. In that case the group table looks like this
CR 6 points, 6 goals scored, +3 goal differential
Italy 4 points, 4 scored, 0 differential
USA 4 points, 4 scored, 0 differential
Ghana 3 points, 2 scored, -3 differential

At that point it comes down to (essentially) head to head with Italy which we tie on and we would have to draw lots (I'm not kidding... goto FIFA.com and read the tournament rules)...

That would make it the most important straw pull in American soccer history

Now that we've looked at the absurd, let's talk about something more concrete... Who's Arena going to start? I see a number of possibilities.

1) Stick with the formation: This is, essentially, praying for an Italian win.
Cherundulo, Onyewu, Conrad, Bocanegra
O'Brien
Dempsey, Reyna, Donovan, Convey
McBride

2) Rest the weary and carded: Again, praying for an Italian win.
Cherundulo, Conrad, Berhalter, Bocanegra
Olsen
Dempsey, O'Brien, Donovan, Convey
Ching

3) Tweak the formation: Knowing that Ghana will be without it's best forwards might make us be more enterprising
Conrad, Onyewu, Bocanegra
Cherundulo, O'Brien, Reyna, Dempsey, Lewis
Donovan, McBride

4) Go for the Gusto: Goals is what's going to increase our chance of advancing so goals is what we go for
Cherundulo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, O'Brien
Dempsey, Olsen, Donovan Convey
Johnson, McBride

If it were me, I'd go with the last option... However, there's probably a pretty decent chance that he goes with option 3 (or some variant thereof)...

Wow, what a game!

I want to say that first and foremost, the referee's calls weren't all that bad. The De Rossi ejection was clearly correct. I thought the Mastroeni change was a bit thuggish and it wasn't a call that ALL referees would make but I think that at least some refs would have made that call. The final red card is a play that many, many refs would have yellow carded a player for. Lots of refs are more reluctant to issue a 2nd yellow but, by the rules, they shouldn't be (of course you could easily argue that Pope's first yellow card was fairly ticky tack). And for those of you that were wondering, the offsides call was absolutely correct. McBride CLEARLY was involved with the play as the ball went skipping past his feet.

Having said that, the cards definitely changed the game. Here's how the player's played. I also wonder how much differently the game would have gone if the Italians understood how offsides work. There were five or six times in which one or multiple Italian players were 3+ yards offsides.

Keller: Not much he could have done on the goal and came up with a couple great saves late as well as some crucial plays in which he came out to rob the Italians of breakaways. A-

Pope: Played solid for the 45 minutes he was in the game. As I said above, the tackles was probably yellow card worthy and was a bit foolish. Won't be playing against Ghana, however. B-

Onyewu: Looked fantastic after the first 5 minutes. Once he settled down he looked very good in the back and continues to look dangerous when he pushes forward. A

Cherundulo: Quietly put in a fantastic performance. He was the only starter on the field that looked like they still had gas in the tank. Which is lucky because he was covering Zambrotta who looked to have plenty of energy as well. A

Bocanegra: Like Cherundulo, Bocanegra had a great game in defense. He continues to show that he can contribute to the offense and I expect that he'll play against Ghana in Eddie Lewis's place. A-

Reyna: Looked better then he did against the Czechs but he was showing his lack of fitness towards the end. I have no understanding of why he wasn't substituted because he was clearly sucking wind for the last 20 minutes. This game was a good gut check for Reyna though and he finally showed a little bit of fire. B+

Convey: Put in a solid performance but was out of his depth against the Italian defense. Needs to learn when to dribble, when to use pace and when to just pass it. B-

Dempsey: Looking better and better on the right. His feistiness provides some defensive cover and his unpredictability really helps to keep a defense on its toes. I certainly hope he starts against Ghana.

Mastroeni: Ugh... he was actually starting to play better and then he pulls this crap. His shot was fantastic and really showed that the Italians couldn't afford to just leave him sitting 25 yards up top. But then he makes that tackle and suddenly we lose a great advantage in momentum and players. D/B (the D is for the game, the B is for the 42 minutes before the ejection).

Donovan: Played better but still has a ways to go. Let's hope he's saving his best game for last because we'll need it against a Ghana team that just gained alot of momentum. B-

McBride: Had three plays in which I would normally expect him to do better (an early header, a late left footed shot on a breakaway and the offsides that ruined Beasley's goal) the last two can be forgiven somewhat just because of what he had to do for 90 minutes (hint: run, run, run with very little support). B

Subs:

Beasley: Looked fantastic for about ten minutes but faded after that. His sub in sparked a resurgence in the game in which the USA started to take over despite our reduced numbers. Still shows a reluctance to run at defenders and when he does he tries to beat them with the dribble not his speed. The non-goal was unfortunate. B+

Conrad: Did well considering the forced nature of his substitution. B

Coaching:

I dont' normally rank the coaching but this game is an exception. Arena came in with a good game plan and the USA executed well. My only fault (and it's a big one) is that he never subbed in Eddie Johnson, even when it was apparent that the Italians were out of subs and dog tired. The extra space in this game, created by the red cards would have been perfect for him... Eddie Johnson on for McBride or Reyna (with McBride moving back to midfield) would have been great. O'Brien could have been useful as well. I haven't seen anything about why he didn't make the final sub, but I'd love to know. B-

I wonder why no one is talking about this

Through 16 games of the World Cup we've seen some spectacular play. The truly surprising thing is the number of long range bombs we've seen from players. Shots that have occurred from way, way out.

There have been some truly spectacular goals and almost goals... Fring's goal as well as Rosicky's goal stand out... but let's not forget Rosicky's second shot that hit the post or Totti's blast from 40 yards out (which I think is still arcing upward). Kaka's goal against Croatia was from fairly deep as well. It looks like FIFA's desire to get a ball that changes the game might, finally, have worked. It hasn't impacted the scoring yet, which is unfortunate. Through 16 games the average goals scored was 2.4375... That's actually up a bit from the last World Cup. I expect that, as teams start scouting more, they'll realize how many of these goals are being scored and they'll tell their players to start shooting from further out. That should provide us with more midfield scoring as well as opening up space for the forwards as defenders are forced to worry about attackers in a wider area.

Let's hope that the trend continues and we see more of these spectacular shots as they provide great highlights and don't require the intricate build up play that sometimes gets bogged down.

Edit: After a careful culling of the memory, I've found the following goals
Lahm: First goal by Germany, just outside the corner of the 18 yard box
Frings: Dead center, roughly 30 yards out
Beckham: Technically an own goal but probably shouldn't be... from way outside the corner of the 18 yard box
Rosicky: Second goal of the game... Roughly 25 yards out
Pirlo: First goal of the game... Outside the corner of the 18 yard box
Cahill: Second goal... Roughly 20 yards out
Kaka: Roughly 25 yards out
Ahn: Game winner against Togo... Roughly 25 yards out
Lee: First goal against Togo... Free kick
Villa: Free kick against Ukraine

That's 10 goals out of 39 or roughly 25%... pretty remarkable and, except for the Lee and Beckham goals, they were all in the run of play which is even more remarkable.

Ugly, Ugly, Ugly

Not only was the game a poor performance and a horrible disappointment, but the team appears to be losing its cohesiveness as well . From start to finish the game was played poorly. Contrary to what the commentators thought, I felt that we didn't look awed. Truthfully, the only players that might have been a little overwhelmed were Onyewu and Cherundulo (and it showed in their performance). There were few positives to take away from the game. We did have alot of possession but it was primarily deep build up play and its effectiveness was greatly diminished by the early goal. I thought, going into this game, that the plan would be to try to hold possession for long stretches and make the Czechs run, but that plan needed to be altered after the second goal, and it wasn't.

The other "coaching" criticism is Arena's reliance on flank attacks. We've always been a team that uses its wide midfielders and defenders to get the ball forward. That's Arena's style. In this case, the Czech's new that and exposed us on the flanks when we attacked while simultaneously defending the midfielders quite well. Many media outlets are taking Arena's comment that this, "Wasn't the '90 team" as a complement... I'm not so sure. The '90 team showed fire and heart that were decidedly absent from this team. Maybe that's what he meant?

Let's be fair, also. The 2nd goal was a sensational goal. Maybe the best of the tournament. It was struck well and hit the corner nearly perfectly. We could have closed Rosicky down but (prior to the introduction of this new World Cup ball) that kind of shot is a rarity and it's not wholly unreasonable to let him have the shot if Keller has a clean view of the play.

The individual grades are going to be harsh, so let's get into it.

Keller: Keller can't be faulted for much. Arena issued a mild reproach for his clearance on the first goal, but to actually lay blame with him for that is not very rational. Keller was dead to rights on the 3rd goal but I've seen him stop those and he was in good position to make a play on the ball. Still can't fault him for that much either. C

Cherundulo: Looked surprisingly lack luster. He didn't look BAD per say. But he didn't look good either. I think he was asked to stay back more then usual to try to counter Nedved and the flank attacks generally came from Donovan on that side. C-

Onyewu: Looked overawed and unprepared. He didn't take good angles and picked up an early yellow card that limited his ability to be physical. Clearly should have covered Koller better on the goal and took a bad angle on the 3rd goal to let Rosicky through. His clearance wasn't great on the 2nd goal but it wasn't the CAUSE of the goal... I'm not sure why people are giving him a pass on this game. He had a good game except for the 3 mental lapses that contributed to 3 goals. D

Pope: I'm pretty sure that Pope was not responsible for Koller on the Koller goal. The fact that he was trying to close him down shows just how much heart and hustle Pope has. I thought Pope had a decent game but never really stood out (a good thing for a defender usually, however). Pope didn't cover Koller well but I'm betting that he wasn't his primary responsibility. C

Lewis: Lewis's limitations at left back were readily exposed yesterday. Lack of speed, Lack of tactical awareness, Lack of ability to play out of trouble safely (critical for a defender). This is a game that screamed for Cory Gibbs out on the left. I'm also left wondering how Bocanegra would have fared against Grygera. D

Reyna: Now we get to it. I've been a silent critic of Captain America for some time. I think he's coasted on skill and talent for quite awhile and his mercenary attitude towards soccer has been apparent for 5-6 years now. He plays passionless soccer and it was apparent tonight. There was no hustle to close down Rosicky on the 2nd goal. There were times, early in the game, when he was jogging or walking while the ball was near him. His shot in the first half was unlucky and probably left him somewhat deflated but there's no excuse for not picking yourself up after that and playing harder. Reyna's vaunted ability to "control the pace of the game" and "make incisive passes" was nowhere to be found either. D-

Convey: Convey caught ALOT of stick from the commentators. In fact, right after the cross that almost got an Eddie Johnson goal, Balboa once again called for his substitution. He didn't look like the world beater that he has been lately. But I think that's because he's been able to beat people with dribbling skills lately. He needed to just hit and run more frequently and beat people with speed and force fouls. That's a lesson that he (hopefully) learned yesterday. Other than that, I thought he looked pretty good. At least he was aggressive and hungry, which is more than you can say for most of the rest of the team. B-

Mastroeni: I don't like Mastroeni. Anyone who knows me or talks to me on a regular basis (or reads this blog) knows that. But Mastroeni was not even CLOSE to the worst player on the field last night. I'm not sure where he was on the 2nd goal (couldn't tell from the replay) and he didn't win very many balls but at least his passing looked average (which is better than normal for him). C-

Beasley: The other blotch on last night's game. Beasley's play in the first half was blah but it would have been good enough for a C-. Beasley's performance in the second half was pathetic and warranted something lower than an F and his comments after the game are going to earn him a spot on the bench for the rest of the cup and probably get him booted from the team if Arena continues to coach the squad after the cup. He wasn't responsible for Nedved in the first half (Cherundulo was) and he should have been attacking up the flank. The excuse that he's left footed and not comfortable on that side is ridiculous. Discomfort in that situation comes with your final touch, not your initial run. In fact, your initial run is generally easier and MORE comfortable on the opposite side. In the second half, his responsibility for Nedved shouldn't be used as a crutch. Presumably he wasn't asked to mark Nedved constantly and never leave his side. Soccer is a team sport, there are people to cover for you. There was a play in the 60th minute or so in which he was passed the ball with enormous amounts of real estate to run into on the right, and yet he JOGGED into the middle?? I was appalled. F-

Donovan: Once again, we see Donovan going in and out of games. He's absolutely NOT the guy that should be asked to impose his will on a game at this level. Arena should know that by now. He had some good moments in the first half but was largely invisible once he dropped back into midfield with Reyna and O'Brien in the second half. That's a problem that I saw coming and that I pointed out on this blog a few weeks ago. O'Brien, Reyna and Donovan don't function together well. It's like the Lampard/Gerrard problem that England has. Donovan needs to play beside McBride as an out and out striker if Reyna and O'Brien are going to be on the field. D+

McBride: McBride was given NO service. NONE, NADA, ZIP. I can count on one hand the number of crosses or quality long balls that he was given. He was isolated up top because (as Julie Foudy pointed out) the USA was playing a 4-4-1 not a 4-4-2. There were no runners on the flanks for him to get the ball to and the Czech Republic was completely prepared for him. Maybe he could have done more... Maybe he could have moved around more... There are alot of maybes that only someone who was there, watching him the whole time could tell you. From what we saw on TV though, he was the forgotten man on the field. B-

Subs:
Johnson: The only real bright spot on the night. He injected some energy and was the only sign of lethality that we showed throughout the game. I thought he could have done better on the Convey cross but it's very difficult to tell. He beat Cech on his left footed shot and generally looked up to the task of playing at this level. That's a good thing because we need some threats to prevent teams from just choking McBride to death the way the Czechs did. B+

O'Brien: Played better than most people on the field but never really got going. I think he tried to get a little too cute on some of his passes but they occasionally worked and he was at least showing some creativity and flair. B

Wolff: Wolff came on late for McBride and didn't really get a chance to show anything. Had one shot that was blocked. No Rating

I was pretty bothered by the comments after the game from the commentators and Reyna in which they indicated that the best thing to do is to forget about this game and move on. Normally I agree with those kinds of statements. But in this case we weren't beat by the better team or by the referee or by lady luck or by poor tactics. We were beat by ourselves by playing like crap and having no energy or fire. This is the case where I want the players to dwell on this game for the next 5 days. I want them to think about every ball that they half-assed their way to or every pass that was played lazily or without inspiration. The only way we're going to beat Italy is if we come out and play the scrappy, desperate, dangerous style of soccer that used to be our hallmark.

One final note. Arena's comments after the game were somewhat troubling to me in that he saw something positive out of Reyna and Onyewu's performances. The Onyewu praise is at least understandable in that he played well except for some colossal mental errors. But the praise for Reyna (whom he says was "certainly" our best player) seems completely undeserved.

Projected Starting lineup:

Keller
Cherundulo, Onyewu, Pope, Lewis
Donovan, Reyna, O'Brien, Convey
Mcbride, Johnson

I think there's a very real chance that Arena is so pissed off that Cherundulo, Lewis, Donovan and Reyna sit in favor of Albright, Bocanegra, Dempsey and Olsen respectively. I don't think that such a wholesale change would be wise but I think that it's possible.
Olsen and Dempsey in particular could bring back some of the scrappiness that has been missing.

For the record, My starting lineup would be:
Keller
Cherundulo, Onyewu, Pope, O'Brien
Dempsey, Olsen, Donovan, Convey
McBride, Johnson

but I think the odds of that happening are slim to none.