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I just could not understand why the US brought the team it did to the Gold Cup and sought to understand it based upon my biased opinion on US ball, but after seeing yesterday's match versus Panama, I understand a few things a lot clearer and it is not good for us or anybody else in the region.
But first let's acknowledge that US is already the dominant country in Concacaf ball that is a given and has been so for about 4-5 years, even the Mexicans can't figure out how to beat them. That is clear for everyone.
Here are the new facts or new realization for me!
1. US has gone through some 85 plus players since Bob Bradley started coaching the team in May 2007 that is just a touch over two years. He is looking at everyone with potential and trying to obtain the perfect mix of players for the real 1st team, that is still to be decided.
2. Bob Bradley has the backing of the establishment to the point where what seems like a substandard team can be named with none or little dissent from anybody in US ball or fan base, thus it is clear a wider agenda is on the table and he has full support.
3. The response of the team after the Panama goal and especially the second half was truly a revelation of what they are trying to build. The US team came out on a mission, the Panama team looked like a different team facing that US aggregation. Bradley owns the psyche and imagination of the players of the team and anyone called to this team, he lit one hell of a fire under them and the scary part was that it was not just an emotianal type fire which can fizzle quickly, like sugar high, but it was a calculated, methodical controlled ramp up to another level of play, the Panamanian had no idea what had changed and what hit them.
4. The lack of overt retaliation on the part of the US team on clearly obvious "dutty" play by Panama is clearly another message that is being sent internally as well, we will not tolerate any hooligan behaviour or you will be out, something we in Ja still cannot communicate. I saw kicks thumps by Panama that would definitely incite my ire if it happened to me.
5. The play of Holden, Beckerman and the ringleaders of the effort show that they understand what it takes to make it on the first team and what is being communicated internally of how they should perform.
6. The commentator kept talking about the superior fitness of the US and as the match went on it favoured the US, so true, Panama looked in the OT as if they couldn't beat their way out of a paperbag. Here again the region is really out of it's element if a top team like Panama cannot get its players ready to play 120 minutes of ball in the premier regional competition, the same is true for all the other teams Jamaica, mex, CR none are ready to step to that level of fitness with the whole team, we JA were playing guys who were not even match ready, that is first half match ready!
Conclusion - The US has clearly established domination of Concacaf and are now on a mission to create a juggernaut of a team to impact any competition they play in by selecting and developing players with an assasin type mentality, fitness, technical correctness, doing the right things all the time, total subjugation to the team concept, no overt focus on individual talent and skill as all their players are bringing a very decent level of this and there is no place for an over reliance on these facets (Adu is out and others like him who believe they bring something unique and indispensable to the team because they are talented and special, kind of like how most of our team feels, thus the poor chemistry and weak motivation)
To select the team they did for the Gcup and commit to it without reservation means they are looking to "blood" new leaders in tough situations and build a more cohesive and dynamic first unit you can see that Beckerman and Holden will bring some steel, imagination and leadership to the mids where it is lacking right now, the vision of US ball is definitely wide and far reaching and the goal is clearly on making a wider impact, thus the Gold Cup is just now an exercise in blooding/defining quality players, can you imagine having the kind of vision, support to do that in this type of tournament.
This team and US ball is clearly looking at taking the next step and it woiuld not surprise me to see a very strong showing in South Africa, they are already seeing that what they have is weak and are taking steps now to look at the total crop and seeing them play through tough situations.
Talk about structure and continuity, they are on the path, my eyes have just been opened.
But first let's acknowledge that US is already the dominant country in Concacaf ball that is a given and has been so for about 4-5 years, even the Mexicans can't figure out how to beat them. That is clear for everyone.
Here are the new facts or new realization for me!
1. US has gone through some 85 plus players since Bob Bradley started coaching the team in May 2007 that is just a touch over two years. He is looking at everyone with potential and trying to obtain the perfect mix of players for the real 1st team, that is still to be decided.
2. Bob Bradley has the backing of the establishment to the point where what seems like a substandard team can be named with none or little dissent from anybody in US ball or fan base, thus it is clear a wider agenda is on the table and he has full support.
3. The response of the team after the Panama goal and especially the second half was truly a revelation of what they are trying to build. The US team came out on a mission, the Panama team looked like a different team facing that US aggregation. Bradley owns the psyche and imagination of the players of the team and anyone called to this team, he lit one hell of a fire under them and the scary part was that it was not just an emotianal type fire which can fizzle quickly, like sugar high, but it was a calculated, methodical controlled ramp up to another level of play, the Panamanian had no idea what had changed and what hit them.
4. The lack of overt retaliation on the part of the US team on clearly obvious "dutty" play by Panama is clearly another message that is being sent internally as well, we will not tolerate any hooligan behaviour or you will be out, something we in Ja still cannot communicate. I saw kicks thumps by Panama that would definitely incite my ire if it happened to me.
5. The play of Holden, Beckerman and the ringleaders of the effort show that they understand what it takes to make it on the first team and what is being communicated internally of how they should perform.
6. The commentator kept talking about the superior fitness of the US and as the match went on it favoured the US, so true, Panama looked in the OT as if they couldn't beat their way out of a paperbag. Here again the region is really out of it's element if a top team like Panama cannot get its players ready to play 120 minutes of ball in the premier regional competition, the same is true for all the other teams Jamaica, mex, CR none are ready to step to that level of fitness with the whole team, we JA were playing guys who were not even match ready, that is first half match ready!
Conclusion - The US has clearly established domination of Concacaf and are now on a mission to create a juggernaut of a team to impact any competition they play in by selecting and developing players with an assasin type mentality, fitness, technical correctness, doing the right things all the time, total subjugation to the team concept, no overt focus on individual talent and skill as all their players are bringing a very decent level of this and there is no place for an over reliance on these facets (Adu is out and others like him who believe they bring something unique and indispensable to the team because they are talented and special, kind of like how most of our team feels, thus the poor chemistry and weak motivation)
To select the team they did for the Gcup and commit to it without reservation means they are looking to "blood" new leaders in tough situations and build a more cohesive and dynamic first unit you can see that Beckerman and Holden will bring some steel, imagination and leadership to the mids where it is lacking right now, the vision of US ball is definitely wide and far reaching and the goal is clearly on making a wider impact, thus the Gold Cup is just now an exercise in blooding/defining quality players, can you imagine having the kind of vision, support to do that in this type of tournament.
This team and US ball is clearly looking at taking the next step and it woiuld not surprise me to see a very strong showing in South Africa, they are already seeing that what they have is weak and are taking steps now to look at the total crop and seeing them play through tough situations.
Talk about structure and continuity, they are on the path, my eyes have just been opened.
It is incredible that we can excel in home grown programmes for track, but we are so far behind in football. Clearly there is a talent within us, tapping in to it requires a special set of skills that are so far frustratingly elusive. Keep posting.
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