[mmbt0ne]

Some thoughts on the game

-Sweden was a very tough match for the US. We like to play an aerial game (not quite English long ball) because there really aren't the playmakers to do much else. Unfortunately that game plan doesn't work well against a team of giants.

-It's a shame we didn't get a result, but US played well enough to tie, and could've won with some luck.

-The young mids made a lot more mistakes than I thought they would. Bradley and Feilhaber both made some plays that I never saw them make in the Gold Cup or Copa America. I don't know if it was nerves, but both of them clearly need more practice at this level.

-The old guys, on the other hand, did pretty well. Beasley and Howard were top 2 easily, Dempsey had some great touches, Donovan played well in the flow but still is subpar on set pieces. Onyewu played very well also, especially considering his assignment.

-The young forwards looked pretty good in short time. They have a little of the ability to run at defenders and dribble around them, which is nice.

-I think Bobby Convey had his right foot amputated because he never used it once, no matter how awkward that made his pass.

-The big 3 things the US was missing on this team were: playmakers, long shot ability, and strong tall forwards who can finish. Considering the best 2 targets on set pieces are Boca and Gooch and they're the 2 central mids, that leaves the US wide open to counters. In the first half it was so bad since Mastroeni can play withdrawn mid and basically hang back, but when Benny was trying to play that role it was obvious trouble.

-Thankfully, those 3 gaps can all start to get filled with Adu, Altidore and Clark. By the way, why the hell wasn't Clark called up for this game? Was it really better to bring 5 forwards?