US vs Panama

I don’t know about you, but Adu’s performance last night was inspiring. He was the only one with the speed and creativity to give Panama trouble. At 22 years of age Adu he is still very young, it looks like he finally is starting to make an impact in his career and hopefully will be a part of the USMNT more often. I cannot wait till Adu and the young players become our regulars, I am so sick of players like Donovan and Bocanegra. Don’t get me wrong, these players have done a lot for US Soccer and are very good at what they do. But Donovan hardly ever runs at players with success anymore and is more likely to look to pass the ball off then to run it down the flank and try to get by a defender. You see players like Agudelo, Adu, Bunbury, Mix, Cruz (I like this player and think he will make an appearance for the Men’s team soon), and a lot of the younger players coming up through the US system with more confidence on the ball and willing to take on defenders and combine creatively to break down the defense. The US right now are to one dimensional and do not possess the creativity to break down the center of an organized defense with some 1-2 passing and moving. Watching the game last night was frustrating, you do not see the ball moving fast enough and you never see a 1-2 pass that penetrates the center of the defense. Everyone was standing around waiting for the cross, Agudelo was the only one willing to run and he had no help. Again, cannot wait for the old guard to fade away and the new to come into the mix.

here is a line-up I want to see in the future – and when they all come of age and have the necessary experience it just might happen

                                                              Guzan / Johnson / Hamid

Chandler/Lichaj/Alston    Reem/Gonzalez/Agbossoumonde   Opara/Kitchen    Wallace/Loyd/Sarkodie/Ashe

                        Cruz / Gyau / Gatt                       Holden / Edu                    Bradley / Mix / Lletget                  Okugo / Adu                           Shea / Molano / Gil

              Jerome / Bruin / Bunbury / Agudelo / Altidore / Salgado / Ruelas / Wood / McInerney / Rowe

I know there is a lot of guys here, but when all these players have the experience it is going to be a fun team to watch! And there are some that I have left off this list like; Zahavi, Doyle, Huerzeler etc. some of these guys have not made a decision on whether or not they are going to play for the US or another country so we will just have to wait and see.
Below is an article I pulled from mlssoccer.com about Adu’s performance last night…  enjoy.
HOUSTON — After a near two-year absence from the US national team, Freddy Adu made a shocking second-half substitute appearance Wednesday night against Panama at Reliant Stadium.
And arguably the most talked-about American player ever delivered in the most improbable way.
With his team needing energy, head coach Bob Bradley chose to insert Adu into a game that was starting to slip out of the US’ control.
“Bob said, ‘Go in the game, bring a lot of energy and make a difference,’” Adu said after the 1-0 win that saw the US advance to Saturday’s Gold Cup final. “That was my instructions and I tried to apply that.”
Adu’s impact was felt immediately with his creativity, passing and ability to find space behind a tiring Panama back line. His crowning moment came on a sublime outlet pass from the middle of the field that set fellow second-half sub Landon Donovan up to deliver the game-winning assist.
The playmaker finished the game with a few more positive sequences, holding the ball well to help kill off a semifinal victory. From the postgame comments, his performance caught the eye of his teammates and coach, but for Adu, it was a signal of a change in mentality.
“He didn’t start this camp well,” Bradley said of his young attacker. “There were days early on where he gained in confidence but there were days where it didn’t go so well. But over time, he started to get better and better. He came in with a good mentality and he’s matured along the way and he earned a good opportunity.”
That hard work and maturity paid off with Adu’s standout performance Wednesday. His play and composure show signs that the ballyhooed youngster is starting to turn the corner.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen, but mentally you always have to be prepared,” Adu said. “It’s been a long road back to playing with the national team again, and you really have to be prepared when you get that chance to be out on the field. This is where you want to be, representing your country at this level, which is where you want to play at.”