ONE GROWN MAN'S OPINION: Isolate The Individual

09/14/2007 12:56 PM

By Andrew Dixon MAIMI, FL (Sep 14, 2007) USSoccerPlayers -- Count me as one of those who was satisfied with the effort the US put forth in Sunday’s 4-2 friendly loss to Brazil.  For a team such as ours still trying to establish its credential among the world’s top sides, the US came out and made the reigning South American champions (and in the view of many, still the best team in world) come out and earn the win.  But win Brazil did, and that is something I'm not satisfied with. I know it’s Brazil, but I’ve never been happy with moral victories.  I wasn't on July 4, 1994, and I'm still not into them some 13 years later. Nice effort, but still an L. But, Brazil is Brazil, I keep hearing. They're so skilled.  They're magical on the ball.  They're special. I know.  That's why we lost. It's long been my contention that the ‘hard work and determination’ we're so happy to embrace, thinking it's going to get us through, does not, in fact, suffice against the world’s elite.  Everybody plays hard at this level.  Unfortunately, we simply don’t consistently create enough dangerous chances in the final third of the field to put teams like Brazil, Argentina and any team we seem to play in Europe not named Poland under sustained pressure to win.  It’s this Grown Man’s Opinion that our lack of individual skill and creativity in comparison to the top teams in the world is what’s keeping us from being a legitimate top five team. In the US we have a love/hate relationship with brilliant individual skills. We recognize it when we see it and admire those who have it. Then the moment they try one spin move too many, try to take on one too many defenders, or just miss on that behind-the-back pass, we start yelling at them. PASS THE FREAKIN’ BALL! MAKE THE SIMPLE PLAY! DON’T BE SUCH A HOT DOG! THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM! Eric Wynalda alluded to this in the first half of the game on Sunday, saying that in Brazil expression and creativity is encouraged.  Resultant are the kind of skills that kept the US defense off balance, and ultimately created the first Brazilian goal.  It started with a deft move deep in the Brazilian end by Mineiro to elude DaMarcus Beasley.  His pass upfield to Robinho was returned by a back heel that met Mineiro in stride.  Mineiro's pass to Alfonso along the right touchline was redirected by another back heel to Robinho that momentarily froze three American players and allowed the Real Madrid man to break into the middle of the field.  He took off towards goal and left a pass for Ronaldinho, who one-touched a perfectly weighted pass into space for an onrushing Kaka. Brazil ended up scoring on Oguchi Onyewu’s own goal, but the key to this is how off-balance the US defense was throughout the sequence.  The unpredictability caused by the individual on-the-ball skills not only allowed the Brazilians to escape from deep in their own end and along the sideline, but led to an equalizing goal.  In so doing, they had the Americans static, then scrambling.  It almost created a second when Robinho abused Steve Cherendulo while escaping a double team, and culminated in the play where only he and Onyewu could truly say if it was a penalty or not. Now, I don't want players who can break down a defense with the dribble just for the sake of getting on ESPN’s SportsCenter.  Rather, I want players who have the ability to keep defenses unbalanced and guessing at crucial times, as Brazil did to the US on Sunday.  When you combine that with the much-loved hard work and determination, the same way the rest of the world does, I believe the US will start to see results. Don't say Germany, the standard definition for winning minus flair.  Only the Germans can do what they do, and under Juergen Klinsmann they moved away from their conservative play.  The US doesn't have their size, speed or experience. We need more players with the skill set and self-confidence to run at international class defenders, keep them off balance with quick thinking and vision and, in short, make them believe that we can do something other than cross into the area.  That’ the answer to the $64,000 question Bob Bradley was asked on Sunday.  Admit it, deep down, you want someone with that skill.  It’s why we have such high hopes for Freddy Adu and expect so much of Landon Donovan.  That unpredictability is why we loved Clint Mathis in 2001, and it’s what made Wynalda and Tab Ramos so ggod. Is over-coaching on the youth level holding us back, as Wynalda suggested?  Is it something in us Americans that wants to rein in what we see as potential hot dogs?  Do we need to encourage more pick-up games where those type of individual skills are developed?  Or do we simply not have that type of individual creativity in soccer yet, in the same way you see it in basketball? The answer to this question has to be found. Hard work and determination only get you so far in international soccer, and until we develop players who can break down an organized defense, our attacks will continue to be limited, leaving us counting losses as breakthroughs, and hailing moral victories. Then again, this is just One Grown Man's Opinion. Andrew Dixon is a soccer writer based in Miami.  Contact him at: golnoir@golnoir.net