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World Cup 2010: Bradley's Boys, Consistent To The Death
Consistency killed the Red ,White and Blue.
Jun 26, 2010 7:16:00 PM
By Allen Ramsey
It's hard for a team to change its ways. In the end, it was consistency that killed Bob Bradley's USA team at the World Cup, but not the kind of consistency most teams would've like to have.
As US captain Carlos Bocanegra said: "I thought we played pretty consistent - unfortunately that meant going a goal down and having to push almost every single game. But like I said, I’m really proud of the guys."
It's the basic comment you'll hear over and over from players, but the answer is nowhere to be found.
After the match, head coach Bob Bradley explained: "We try to manage games early. We tried to manage in the early part of this game; we felt like we were doing a solid job, but we paid the price for a turnover. So we recognize it, but talking about it doesn't always change it. Hopefully, it's something we'll be able to improve upon."
Maybe it was the pressure of the World Cup. Maybe it was lack of focus early in games. We may never know.
What we do know is that for the third time in four matches the USA went behind early and had to fight back into a match. In the fourth match a draw was not enough and the USA was behind from the jump. For the better part of the 390 minutes they played, Bob Bradley's side were chasing.
There will be plenty of time to discuss the future and figure out where to put the blame, but for now the simple answer is that this was always coming. It's too much to ask of any group of players.
And there is nothing else to blame this time. After the blown calls in the group stage and the incredible drama of a the win over Algeria, the blame still falls where it would've had the USA not gotten a goal against England, or had they not bombed forward and scored twice on Slovenia.
The refs didn't blow it. FIFA weren't against the USA, and no, Bob Bradley's decision to start Ricardo Clark is not the only thing that did the USA in. It was simply a matter of a team that just didn't know how to start a game, and never figured it out.
The heart, determination and skill to climb back into the matches was wonderful to watch, but it was never going to be enough to correct so many early mistakes.
But there are positives to take away as well. Few times in the history of soccer in this country has there been a team that could the things this team proved they could do. Coming off the dismal showing of 2006, 2010 was a revelation. The USA attacked in waves. They forced the issue rather than having it forced upon them, and in the end they had their chances, and they came up short.
They just weren't good enough this time around, and on the day Ghana were better. They handled everything the USA threw at them, and handled it well, never surrendering and inch even when it seemed the USA had grabbed control of the game after the equalizer.
So cheers to Ghana for a well played match, and here's to the USA for giving the people back home something to cheer for even in defeat.
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
As US captain Carlos Bocanegra said: "I thought we played pretty consistent - unfortunately that meant going a goal down and having to push almost every single game. But like I said, I’m really proud of the guys."
It's the basic comment you'll hear over and over from players, but the answer is nowhere to be found.
After the match, head coach Bob Bradley explained: "We try to manage games early. We tried to manage in the early part of this game; we felt like we were doing a solid job, but we paid the price for a turnover. So we recognize it, but talking about it doesn't always change it. Hopefully, it's something we'll be able to improve upon."
Maybe it was the pressure of the World Cup. Maybe it was lack of focus early in games. We may never know.
What we do know is that for the third time in four matches the USA went behind early and had to fight back into a match. In the fourth match a draw was not enough and the USA was behind from the jump. For the better part of the 390 minutes they played, Bob Bradley's side were chasing.
There will be plenty of time to discuss the future and figure out where to put the blame, but for now the simple answer is that this was always coming. It's too much to ask of any group of players.
And there is nothing else to blame this time. After the blown calls in the group stage and the incredible drama of a the win over Algeria, the blame still falls where it would've had the USA not gotten a goal against England, or had they not bombed forward and scored twice on Slovenia.
The refs didn't blow it. FIFA weren't against the USA, and no, Bob Bradley's decision to start Ricardo Clark is not the only thing that did the USA in. It was simply a matter of a team that just didn't know how to start a game, and never figured it out.
The heart, determination and skill to climb back into the matches was wonderful to watch, but it was never going to be enough to correct so many early mistakes.
But there are positives to take away as well. Few times in the history of soccer in this country has there been a team that could the things this team proved they could do. Coming off the dismal showing of 2006, 2010 was a revelation. The USA attacked in waves. They forced the issue rather than having it forced upon them, and in the end they had their chances, and they came up short.
They just weren't good enough this time around, and on the day Ghana were better. They handled everything the USA threw at them, and handled it well, never surrendering and inch even when it seemed the USA had grabbed control of the game after the equalizer.
So cheers to Ghana for a well played match, and here's to the USA for giving the people back home something to cheer for even in defeat.
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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