I watched the US team's friendly against Latvia last night. If I was looking for a reason to believe this team would get out of the group stage, I am still looking this morning. The US dominated posession, but it wasn't like they were playing Brazil. I didn't even know Latvia was still a nation. They certainly aren't in the WC next month.
What I'm suggesting is that 1-0 result against Latvia (combine that with a 1-0 loss to Morocco) doesn't inspire confidence in the US side.
The US didn't look to have much speed at all up front. That'll be a killer in the group stage. If they're not able to put pressure on opponents' defenses, they are going to spend a lot of time watching shots sail at their goal. Our frontline is beginning to look to me as impotent as England's (excepting the explosive but fragile Michael Owen, of course).
Landon Donovan looked good and had a number of good runs through the middle, both vertically and laterally. Steve Cherundolo had some great runs, bringing the ball up from his right back position. Latvia invited this, though, as their defense seemed to be on some court-ordered detention near their own 18. I kept looking for the electronic ankle monitors!
The Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana are unlikely to give the US midfield the lazy room to roam the Latvians were providing. We're going to need to come up with more craft and creativity and physical ability than I saw against Latvia, if we are to advance past the group stage.
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