No surgery for Dempsey...Bradley breaths a sigh of relief

After what appeared to be a season ending knee injury, Clint Dempsey escapes the surgeon's knife and will not need his knee operated on. Clearly good news for the US National team, and if he can get back on the pitch sooner rather than later good news for the cottagers. Dempsey is one of the key elements for the US National team next summer. The other key will be the play of Tim Howard in goal. But Deuce is the most influential outfield player for the US. This injury, in a strange way, might be blessing for the US team assuming he can recover fully by South Africa. It gives him some time off, allows him to rest. If he can come back the last month of the Premiership he will get back into game playing shape for the World Cup. Again that may sound strange, but in the long run for the US it is better news than what was feared.

Injuries such as these make all of us cringe as we get closer to the World Cup. Look at what happened to Les Bleus in 2002...okay they still had more talent than a team who crashes out of the group stages with 1 point and zero goals scored....but Zidane gets injured and more importantly Pires tears a knee for Arsenal - a season where he was absolutely on top of his game. Without Zizou and Pires, France were without their 2 true playmakers. Granted Micoud should have been the one given the baton, but we will never know why Lemerre did not go down that path.

Not to dive into revisionism...but I will...you could have lined up a side like this (based on the players Lemerre took to Asia with him...not necessarily those I would have selected) -

Barthez
Liza, Desailly, Leboeuf, Thuram
Makelele, Petit, Vieira
Micoud
Trezeguet, Henry

Vieira was a beast that season so he could easily push higher up the pitch to support the attack. Makelele would be the engine. Petit still had something left in the tank, but with 2 other holding midfielders would have had less asked of him so would have not have been exposed as much.

Micoud could just sit infront of these 3 and feed deadly passes to Henry and Trezeguet. I guarantee you that team would have fared better than what was sent out versus Senegal, Uruguay and Denmark!

Dempsey injured...major blow to Fulham and US?

Arguably the most important outfield player for the US National team and a key member at Fulham, Clint Dempsey, went out on Sunday with what appears as a knee injury. Not good. With Dempsey playing one of his best seasons in England, Fulham was having a very solid season, sitting 9th in the table. The American has proven to be a spark for the London side and has scored some impressive goals during the campaign.



I do not believe that Fulham believed they could challenge for a Champions League spot, however no reason for them not to believe they could not creep closer to a top 6 spot, however without Dempsey this will be very difficult. He and Duff are really the creative midfielder/wingers that Fulham can count on for a spark of genius. With Zamora out most likely until March, Fulham will be hard pressed to find the offense to sustain themselves. Maybe Al Fayed will open the purse strings to bring in some talent during the transfer period.

What is more concerning is how this will impact the US National team. With out Charlie Davies for the World Cup, and potentially without Dempsey...where will the offense come for the US. Landycakes??? Maybe, and potentially his willingness to play in Europe prior to the World Cup will finally allow him to carry that load. However I think without Deuce, the US could struggle in South Africa. At least Bradley has almost 6 months to figure it out.

Let us hope it is a PCL and not ACL for Dempsey, Fulham and Bradley's sake.

What could have been....Confederation Cup finals

Ahhh, what might have, could have, maybe should have been....for 45 minutes it appears as if the US might pull off another huge upset and knock off the Samba Boys to capture their first "major" international tourney. However in the end the class of Brazil showed itself too mighty for the unbridled enthusiasm of the Americans. A couple of thoughts:

The Good:

• Clint Dempsey was solid through out the entire tourney, but showed how dangerous he can be when given the smallest of chances. The first goal of the game was really a simple redirect of a long distance shot from Spector, but Deuce demonstrated what makes him dangerous, he fought to get himself in a dangerous position and capitalized. The same thing he did scoring the US' second goal against Spain when he was opportunistic when Ramos botched a clearance and was able to guide in the ball for the sealing goal. While I am not ready to proclaim Dempsey as some one that might become one of the world's best, he is and will continue to develop in a solid international player.
• Fabiano....speaking of being in the right place at the right time as well as being lucky...the Sevilla striker showed his class the entire tournament but more specifically the second half of the finals. The first goal he scored he showed his ability but getting position on DeMerit and execting a deadly turn and volley, easier said than done, but he should have never been allowed to establish that position. The second goal was the true sign of a "fox in the box" type striker, after a missed shot by Kaka, the Brazilian #9 was prowling the box to latch onto the rebound to head home his second. His stock in Europe just went up...wonder if SAF will sniff around since he is flush with cash!
• Another American player that should leave head high is Tim Howard. As I stated in a previous post, only way the US had a chance was for their keeper to have an A+ game. While giving up 3 goals might not warrant such a grade I will at least give him an A-. He can hardly be blamed for any of the three goals, the last one especially when Lucio was inexplicably allowed to attack the corner kick, watching the replay there was not a single US defender there to attempt to defend him! Were the Americans being coached by the Domenech method of defending set pieces??? Ugh.

The Bad:

• Ok I know I like to picking on this player....but LandyCakes I am going to call bad...why? Yes I realize he scored. But what happened to him in the second half???? If he is suppose to be a world class player, if he is suppose to be the face of US soccer, if he suppose to be the American star.....then he needs to step it up when it most counts! His goal was very nice, granted, a great example of how to play counter attacking footie. But what happened when the team came back from the locker rooms? He all but disappeared. Granted the US was a bit back on their heels after the quick strike, but that is exactly when your stars are suppose to step up. I do not recall seeing Donovan back tracking to collect the ball, calling for long clearances or pressuring Brazil in their half. I never felt he was dangerous after scoring the second goal.
• Bradley taking off Altidore. I realize that the youngster had been taken off around the 60 minute mark in prior matches, but this is the finals. At the time the Brazilians had just drawn level, so you need to keep your offensive threat out there! Altidore is the only American striker with the size, pace and skill to truly threaten a defense on the break. Maybe Landycakes should have been the one substituted for!

The Ugly:

• US defending set pieces....ugh, for a while I thought I was watching Arsenal or a Domenech led team. How can you allow an opposing player get a free run at a corner kick, especially in the last 5 minutes of the game???? Inexcusable.
• Brazil's start. It was clear that the Samba Boys thought the very sight of their yellow kit would give them the victory. Unlike Spain, they were able to overcome this poor approach.
  
• Bradley, okay this might be harsh, but I think the substitutions were poor....see Altidore... I think the intensity coming out of the locker room was terrible. The US started the game strong showing no fear, but seemed to come out for the second half...with a 2-0 lead and did not look ready, did not look prepared for what they knew would be a Brazilian attack. The most important times are the first and last 5 minutes of a half, Bradley needed to ensure his team came out with the same level of intensity as it had left the field! The one thing that the US could not afford to allow happen...they did, an early goal in the second half. Yes the players shoulder some responsibility but that is up to the coach to remind each player upon leaving the warmth of the changing room.
• The commentating on ESPN...ugh no surprise, but listening to the pundits talk about how US soccer is no longer the laughing stock of the world and how great this was made me sick...not sure what these talking heads have been watching but clearly international soccer is very different than it once was. While the big nations still dominate the collecting of silverware, clearly the smaller or less footie savvy nations are no longer the push overs they once were. Ask Argentina that lost to Ecuador, or I recall the defending WC champs, France barely beating Andorra in 1999 qualifiers for the Euros, or Greece winning the Euros 5 years ago, and the list goes on. The International footie scene is one where minnows can sometimes eat a shark. So let us not try to make a story out of an old complaint about American soccer not getting any respect. Players like Dempsey and Howard play in the Premiership, and outside of Landycakes, most of the team has aspirations to play overseas. Least we forget, this is the same hype machine that proclaimed Freddie Adu was going to be greater than Pele...btw did he get any minutes?

Overall this was a very entertaining tourney (the 3rd place game was great as well!), but let us not put too much stock in the results. Brazil, Spain, US, South Africa, and Italy will all most likely be there next year, but if any of these teams face one another then, the stakes will be much higher.