With the U.S. team finally back in action -- Saturday's 3-2 win over Sweden will be followed by a grudge match with Mexico -- here's what I'm thinking about this Monday morning:
1. U.S. vs. Sweden. First of all, I'll reiterate what I've been saying about Sweden for several years now: In my opinion, the Swedes are in steady decline, masked only by the exploits of superstar
Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With the production line of young talent having stagnated the last few years, I really wasn't expecting much out of the Swedish "B" team that showed up to face its counterpart U.S. "B" squad in Carson, Calif. If anything, I expected the Americans to win easily, which they did for the most part (minus some lax marking on both Swedish goals).
However, the big disappointment of the night was the failure of the young U.S. players to establish any kind of threat to the current pecking order on the senior squad. Both forwards,
Charlie Davies and
Kenny Cooper, played poorly -- especially galling for Davies, who's coming off a fine season in Sweden and who couldn't capitalize on his familiarity with much of Saturday's opposition. Even more disappointing was
Robbie Rogers' output on the left flank. Given incumbent
DaMarcus Beasley's current form, Rogers was in prime position to put pressure on Beasley for the left wing/mid spot. But after appearing out of his depth against what can only be described as middling competition, it's hard to imagine Rogers making the step up at this point in time.
On the bright side,
Sacha Kljestan's hat trick and man-of-the-match performance practically sealed a move to Celtic for him. It's worth noting, though, that Kljestan benefited from the lack of ball pressure applied by the Swedes, who gave him plenty of time and space on the ball all night -- something he isn't likely to see often, especially given his problems against pressure in the past. Right back
Marvell Wynne continued to show glimpses of the tantalizing potential that surely will lead to a move to Europe in the near future. At the same time, Wynne showed he still needs top coaching to further refine his technique and positioning before he can realize that potential.
Ricardo Clark was solid, if not spectacular, in midfield. He continues to throw his hat into the ring, along with
Michael Bradley,
Maurice Edu and
Pablo Mastroeni, to be the U.S. holding/defensive midfielder of choice. Finally,
Brian Ching continues to show that, although not the long-term answer at forward for the U.S. (and his limitations have been oft-discussed), he probably still is the best option
Bob Bradley currently has at his disposal when the coach wants to deploy a target forward who can hold the ball up for his teammates.
2. U.S. vs. Mexico. After last year's 2-2 draw in Houston, it seemed the Mexican team had finally started to turn the corner when playing the U.S. on American soil. That feel-good moment has dissipated as Mexico continues what can only be termed a disastrous build-up for the next clash with its most bitter rival (Feb. 11, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
After Mexico backed into the Hexagonal with a series of poor results in the previous round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, the pressure on coach
Sven-Goran Eriksson continued to build. Increasingly, it is coming from his own players, who have criticized Eriksson's decision to use naturalized Mexican citizens on the national team (his current squad contains four such players:
Antonio Naelson,
Leandro Augusto,
Matias Vuoso and
Lucas Ayala). With discord affecting team chemistry and several key players out for the U.S. game (
Carlos Vela is suspended; explosive winger
Andres Guardado and
Rafael Marquez are out because of injuries), the Mexican team couldn't be in much worse shape heading into the matchup.
Perhaps Eriksson can play the underdog card to rally his team, and perhaps
Nery Castillo and
Gio Dos Santos will rebound from their recent lack of playing time. But the reality is that Eriksson isn't the type of motivational leader who inspires his players to overcome such setbacks. It's hard to envision anything but a comfortable U.S. victory here, and anything less would have to be considered a massive letdown for the U.S.
3. Galaxy expats. As
Landon Donovan and
David Beckham continue to impress in Europe, it must be asked once more (and, no, not the question of how on earth the 2008 Galaxy managed to mess up so badly and surround its two stars with so little talent?): Has MLS seen the last of both Donovan and Becks? We all know Donovan wants to go to Europe; the question was whether or not Bayern would want to make the move permanent. If Donovan can carry over his exhibition form (he has scored
four goals in five friendlies for Bayern) to the Bundesliga, then there's no question that Bayern will seek to make the move permanent. Donovan fans need to temper their excitement, though. Granted, he's playing well and with confidence, but it's still effectively only preseason play against lower-level competition.
As for Beckham, I think there's no doubt that when he and his management team originally hatched his offseason training/loan move to Serie A, it was only with the objective of keeping his place on the England team and remaining in the plans for the English 2010 World Cup squad. I believe Beckham himself had planned all along to return to MLS in March. However, after watching him play Sunday and seeing his body language
after he scored, it's clear that he's really enjoying playing soccer again, and it's clear that he can still play at the highest level.
Look, Beckham has been overrated for so long that he's actually become underrated in a sense, and people have forgotten that underneath all the gloss he's actually a pretty good player with a style of game that should allow him to play well into his mid- to late 30s. That being the case, I'm starting to think (and not just based on his
postgame comments) Beckham is realizing he came to MLS too soon. Let's face it: Passing the ball to players like
Andrea Pirlo and
Kaka is a lot more rewarding than feeding, say,
Ely Allen.
I wouldn't be surprised if his management team tries to come up with a solution that would allow Beckham to remain with Milan until the 2010 World Cup and return to MLS thereafter. If that's the case, perhaps MLS should offer a cheeky deal in which it offers to swap Beckham for
Ronaldinho on loan. These days, Ronaldinho is looking far more past his prime than Beckham.
4. Wilson Palacios to Tottenham for $21 million. Like most of the rest of the world, I was a little stunned when Spurs paid such a vast sum to land Honduran midfielder Palacios from Wigan. Palacios is a solid player, but undoubtedly overpriced. If anything, the move reinforces just how undervalued U.S. players continue to be, surely a product of the negative bias some Europeans have about U.S. players. After all, Palacios is comparable to both Maurice Edu and Ricardo Clark in ability and style, and I doubt you'd find a club willing to pay anything near that sum for either American. Furthermore, what exactly were MLS types doing when Palacios was available for just $1 million a couple of seasons ago (when English clubs barely knew him)? If anyone should have had a leg up on CONCACAF region scouting, you'd think it would be MLS.
Jen Chang
