On Friday, October 2, 2009, the US Men’s National U-20 team lost by a 0-3 margin to South Korea in the final group match of the U-20 World Championship, which is being contested in Egypt. The US team now rests in third place and awaits the results of three other group matches. Finishing as one of the best third place teams will ensure the US advance to the second round of play. If not, they’ll have a long return flight to the United States and plenty of time to reflect upon their dismal performance in Egypt.

In watching the three matches played by the United States, it became increasingly evident that the team lacked organization, composure and on the field leadership. Overall, their play was extremely naive, uncreative and purposeless. This was most noticeable when linking short and medium length passes through midfield and especially apparent against the Germans and South Koreans. Against Germany for instance, the inexperienced Americans were totally outclassed by their more professionally seasoned opponent. The high-pressure defense and intense speed of play left the US team totally unsettled throughout the match.

On Friday against South Korea, the result was even more embarrassing. Down 0-2 at halftime, head coach Thomas Rongen chose to make a single substitution. The team resumed play in the second half, as they had concluded the first: without conviction, determination or purpose. With numerous inaccurate long balls played to the opposing defenders and short passes to midfield teammates who were swimming in a veritable sea of red jerseys, possession was freely given away.

Seldom was there ever a change in the point of attack or in the rhythm of play, for that matter. Instead, we witnessed a boring, lifeless example of how to play the game poorly and without invention. Not exactly inspiring a great deal of confidence in the future of the US men’s national team program.

In the upcoming issue of SkillfulCOACH, we will offer articles, features and practice activities that will increase your value as a soccer coach. Our first feature article, "The Mobility Mindset," will help you understand and convey to your players the importance of running with and without the ball. Our “Sport Science” article will examine the myth behind, “Match Fitness” and explore the long term fitness of soccer players. In “Practice Plans,” you will find complete age specific practices that will promote attacking mobility and help your players control the game and dominate their worthy opponent. The “Coaching Symposium” will present organizational concepts that will make your practice sessions more efficient and help you project a professional appearance.

Choosing Sides

On Tuesday, May 11, 2010, provisional World Cup rosters must be submitted to FIFA. The initial list will consist of as many as thirty players from whom twenty-three will earn a spot on the final tournament roster. The USA, like most other participants, must address numerous concerns prior to the announcement of the final selections. Team chemistry, injuries to key players and identification of who is and is not in form, will weigh heavily upon the decision making process.

In the case of the United States, Head Coach, Bob Bradley and his national team staff have spent hundreds of hours sorting through volumes of information to determine which players are worthy of consideration. As with any selection process, there is already a solid core of players around whom the team will be built. The strongest of this group is reigning MLS Most Valuable Player, Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), who is enjoying the most prosperous time of his career. The others are goalkeeper, Tim Howard (Everton), Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover) and Carlos Bocanegra (Stade Rennais, France). With their experience and leadership, the Americans are expected to advance to the second round of the tournament.

Several players, who were once looked upon as key ingredients to the success of the USA, are recovering from serious injury. It is hoped that forwards Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux), midfielder Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers) and central defender Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), will be able to compete for a spot on the final roster. The latter three have all begun training again with their respective club teams, but only Holden has played since his return.

The ranks are a little thin up front with Jozy Altidore (Villarreal) the only forward assured a spot in the final team. At this stage of his career, however, he is not the type of player who can play effectively as a solo target man. Consequently, the US will likely move Donovan or Dempsey from a deeper position to play alongside Altidore. An alternative pairing may prove to be a wiser decision. In this case, deserving of consideration is Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy) who is currently the hottest goal scorer in MLS or Herculez Gomez (Puebla) who just finished as the top goal scorer in Mexico. These players are shining brightly at the moment, but both are unproven at the international level.

Firm candidates for the final roster are Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway) and Jonathan Spector (West Ham). These three have performed exceptionally well for their respective club teams throughout the 2009-2010 season. The last three to four weeks Torres performed remarkably well in Mexico. Goodson has played consistently well for club and country throughout the campaign. The majority of the season, Spector has been a mainstay in defense for West Ham. Recently, however, he has experienced a slight performance downturn.

Further considerations to the provisional roster are Bobby Convey (San Jose) and Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden). Convey has been absent from the national team for the past few years, but his recent form with the Earthquakes has been inspirational. He is arguably the best left sided crosser of the ball and is deserving of an invitation to camp.

USA, Mexico and Honduras
Qualify for World Cup 2010

Wednesday, October 14, 2009, the United States and Costa Rica draw 2-2 in Washington DC, on a late Jonathan Borntsein header. With the point the USA finishes first in the group ahead of Mexico and Honduras, who both qualify outright for the 2010 World Cup. Gaining only a point against the US, Costa Rica was forced into a home-and-home playoff series against Uruguay to determine the last qualifier from our hemisphere. Sadly for Costa Rica, who had played some remarkably solid soccer during the early stages of qualification, the downward trend continued and they were eliminated by the superior South Americans.

The first article in our upcoming magazine will deal with mobility in attack. In this informative piece, we will explore how to improve player movement with and without the ball. We will also examine a variety of ways to make these movements more efficient and successful.