U.S. team has major problems

Phew, I just finished watching the U.S. lose to Brazil 3-0 and I feel like I am at a loss. I can only imagine how the team feels. It seems like they are about as lost as a tourist in New York city too because this team has no clue about what they are doing or where they are going. It just seems to be more of the same mediocre soccer that we have been seeing for too many years. That game today could have been 5-0, 8-0, or worse. Brazil looked like they were in a training session with the ease that they were dominating the game and cutting through the U.S. defense. Tim Howard looked like he was in a shooting gallery. And the sad thing is that Brazil didn't even look like the world beaters from the past despite the presence of players like Kaka and Robinho. I still think they have better players then Luis Fabiano at forward and also throughout their midfield and defense.

The problems for the U.S. were demonstrated in the first game at the last World Cup and despite all of the changes since then, they still seem to be there. There are moments and even entire games when the team is able to pull themselves together and play really well. Unfortunately, these rarely occur in circumstances when they are playing a really good opponent or even a key opponent in a crucial situation. More often then not the U.S. team resembles the team that lost to Costa Rica 3-0 and again by the same score today. Shellshocked, unprepared, and overwhelmed by the situation.

Things should have changed by now and the team despite changes in personnel should have moved forward by now. They should be at the point of taking the game to Brazil and Italy and making it a really tough game for them, just like Egypt have been doing. Hopefully and probably, the U.S. will qualify for the World Cup, but the question still remains - what are they going to do when they get there?

I like Bob Bradley and think he is a good coach, but I just don't think he is the right coach for this team right now. If they were more experienced and had more talent perhaps he could do the job. The team needs a foreign coach with more experience. Jurgen Klinsmann was the right choice and this was the right job for him, but we are probably past that stage. Giovanni Trappatoni has done a terrific job with the Republic of Ireland team and perhaps would have done the same with the U.S. Right now, there are other names out there that could be considered, but something should be done and soon if the U.S. are to definitely qualify and accomplish something at the World Cup.

The loss of Giuseppe Rossi and Neven Subotić to Italy and Serbia has hurt the national team, and the addition of Jermaine Jones (which I view as a positive one) won't make up for it, but everyone has to get over this and move on. There is talent there for a good coach to work with. Ultimately, the U.S. won't be able to really be a world power until they have players like Rossi and Subotić to call on. Jozy Altidore is a player with immense potential, Freddy Adu still has a lot of ability, Landon Donovan can play at a high level. There is talent there and if the U.S. is truly bold and makes a coaching change they can accomplish something over the next 12 months, but I fear that they will be too reluctant to do something that is risky and daring. Time will only tell if the conservative option was the right one, but when you continue to see games like today's match is doesn't appear to be the case.