Six Weeks Later, Questions About Slow US Starts Remain Unanswered

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- There's one area where the U.S. national team did show improvement during Tuesday evening's 2-0 loss to Brazil -- it held the opponent off the scoreboard for 28 minutes. Normally, that's nothing to brag about, but for an American side that played during the World Cup almost as if it preferred to fall behind really early, 28 minutes of scoreless soccer was a noteworthy accomplishment.

In fact, the first few minutes against Brazil were the best of the night. Landon Donovan nearly scored in the third, and the U.S. held its own in midfield and enjoyed some solid possession. That wouldn't last long, of course, as a fresher, more enthusiastic and far more skillful opponent eventually ripped the Americans apart. Nevertheless, it represented an interesting contrast to the four matches in South Africa, where the national team's insistence on sleeping through those critical moments after kickoff proved to be its greatest flaw.

"Obviously we hurt ourselves just at times going down goals and having to fight so hard to come from behind," midfielder Michael Bradley told FanHouse at the New Meadowlands Stadium. "You look over the course of four games, we put so much into games trying to get ourselves back into it, that takes a lot out of you. We're certainly very proud of the way we played and the way we fought. You get to the big moments in big games, it's a little play here or there that can decide it."

Three times, the U.S. found a way to recover from an early goal. It conceded to England in the fourth minute of the opener and to Slovenia in the 13th the following game. The Americans shut out Algeria in the first round finale but played as if behind because they needed a goal to advance (Donovan snatched it in stoppage time). In the second round, Ghana scored in the fifth. The U.S. equalized, but then the Black Stars won the game with a goal just three minutes into overtime.

As the early deficits kept coming, coach Bob Bradley and the players struggled to find an explanation. Was it a coincidence? Were tactics to blame? Were the players unprepared or simply not good enough? Did they have a subconscious need to play with their backs against the wall in order to perform at their best?


Six weeks after they were sent home from South Africa, the majority of the World Cup team gathered in Northern New Jersey to face Brazil, and FanHouse wondered whether any answers came to light during that period.

"I've gone back through all the games," Bob Bradley said in response to our question. "You look at how things developed and how we played. There will never be one answer when you look at the beginning parts of games. There are times when you start well and you get the first goal and there are times when you start well and somehow the other team gets the first goal.

"Little things in terms of how you manage a game, the experience early in a game, decision making, those are things we do talk about and we'll continue. Those are factors in terms of how you win important games. We need to continue to grow from these experiences."

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Unlike their coach, the players have not reviewed the games. "You see all the highlights," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. Jozy Altidore said he didn't watch, and neither had Michael Bradley, the coach's son and renowned video junkie.

"A lot of times for me the analysis after a game is fairly accurate," Michael said. "It's not like it changes a month or two down the road. I think in this case, that's true."

Howard's insight, however, was interesting: "I think overall we know it's been a problem. We just need to have a stronger foundation, a stronger backbone. Certainly starting with me and going all the way up. Early on in games you need to create that foundation. It doesn't happen by talking about it. I suppose you can look at video and say 'This went wrong. That went wrong.' More than anything it's a mindset. You can talk about positioning, so on and so forth, but digging in and not giving up chances early on is vitally important."

Lacking the right "mindset" sounds like a coaching issue, unless it's a pervasive problem in American players that can be traced back to development. Either way, the team is moving on. Whatever the problem was in South Africa likely won't be repeated four years from now, as the players (and perhaps the coach) will have changed. Four years is a very long time, and as Bob Bradley said here, the problems of today aren't necessarily the problems of tomorrow.

"There are moments along the way in the last four years, when you might go through a stretch and feel defensively it's solid, but at the same time we can still improve creating chances. Then you go through some games and create a lot of chances but you give up some goals you feel you could have done better with," he said.

"More than anything it's a mindset. You can talk about positioning, so on and so forth, but digging in and not giving up chances early on is vitally important."
-- Tim Howard "I think when you talk about international soccer, it speaks to the fact that everything gets put to the test when you play the top teams. At that point, the growing process of a group to understand, again, what it's all about, to have a sense tactically when it steps on the field how it needs to do things ... those are the ongoing challenges for all teams."

Those who were on the field in South Africa already are looking forward. Howard talked about the uncertainty of a new cycle, and about how every player, no matter how notable or accomplished, is far from guaranteed a place on any future national side. Not to mention the challenges just around the corner.

"One of the great things about soccer, it never stops," Michael Bradley said. "Whether you win or whether you lose, there's no time to celebrate and there's no time to feel sorry for yourself. There's always another game."

For the players, those games will come with their clubs. The national team likely will reconvene in October for a couple of friendlies -- Colombia and Poland have been mentioned as potential opponents.

Bob Bradley said following the loss to Brazil that his contract expires at year's end and that he will continue to devote himself to the day-to-day tasks of managing the national team program. He is aware, however, that this may be the end, and he clearly did not want those early goals to be the thing his national team is remembered for. After addressing FanHouse's question about whether hindsight had helped him form any conclusions, Bradley offered his own potential epitaph for his tenure with U.S. Soccer. And it's just as valid as memories of all the post-kickoff flailing.

"It's been interesting since we're back. You get so much, certainly the outpouring from our fans in the United States in terms of, just the fact that they appreciated the way the team played, the effort, the energy, the commitment. I think all of us were made to feel very good when we got back to the U.S. just by the support that we received and the fact that people were proud of our team," he said.

"It's also been really, for me, the second year in a row it's been nice through different kinds of messages and seeing people when they're here with teams, players, coaches -- the amount of respect that I think we've gotten the last two years around the world. When you go see Barcelona or Real Madrid train and players like Xavi (Hernández) and (Iker) Casillas and last year, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic when he was around for a while, when these guys come up and talk about your team, talk about the way we played. I saw Cristiano Ronaldo the other day. He made a point of coming up and saying he thought we had a very good team. I think that is also, from the standpoint of the players it's not said that often, but it's a sign of respect and something that continues to motivate us as we continue to make our team better."

That's something to be proud of. At some point, when the U.S. national team can perform consistently over 90 minutes at the highest level, it may have some more tangible awards to add to all those moral victories.