US vs Mexico lineups and my love for ESPN360

A few random thoughts on the upcoming US vs Mexico super match while I watch Newcastle versus West Brom on the greatest invention in the history of the internet, ESPN 360. This past week when I was randomly gazing at the Comcast homepage and noticed that they had finally picked up ESPN360 I was like a kid a Christmas. It's incredible how ESPN has completely redeemed themselves in my mind over the past three months with there sudden and intense commitment to the beautiful game.

On to the US vs Mexico. Bob Bradley released his lineups and there aren't really any surprises. Some people are surprised to see Conor Casey getting the nod while others would have liked to see Kyle Beckerman get a chance. I was happy to see Stuart Holden get a deserving call up due to his recent strong play for the Dynamo and the US in the Gold Cup. As far as the lineups are concerned I think you'll see Bradley employ the same lineup he did for the Confederations Cup semi against Spain, something Grant Wahl also notes. This will include Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies up front. I'm hoping he avoids the temptation to play Brian Ching.

Just when my excitement reached a palpaple point I was surprised to find out the match will be played at the absurd time of 3:00 PM. Nice move Mexico. I realize it's an advantage due to the crazy heat and smog from rush hour at that point, but it's also yet another nice jab at fans in the US. I'll be one of many now forced to miss the match due to an important business meeting. I'll surely run out after the meeting is done, check the Blackberry and probably see a 2-0 Mexico score line--- if history repeats itself. Of course Mexico can point to the February match in Columbus as an example of the US using climate to their advantage. At least that match was played at a time that everyone could see it. The other speculation on the match is the fact that the US is flying in just 24 hours before the match with no time to acclimate to the 7000 foot altitude. I'm not sure this could have been avoided with all the comittments the players have. Some experts feel it takes up to two weeks to actually get acclimated.

Prediction on the match? Clearly I'd like to see a US win. I don't think we'll get that but I am envisioning a draw. 1-1 I say. And no, I'm not willing to bet anything on that.

One more thing... for anyone so inclined there is a great two part podcast that BBC 5 live did on the plight of Newcastle this past Thursday. You can find it on the iTunes podcast listings.

Mexican B Team?

I think we can put to bed the notion that the team Mexico fielded in the Gold Cup final was a "B" team as we were endlessly told by pundit after pundit. As you can see here, 12 of the 20 players from the Gold Cup final will take part in the match at Azteca Stadium on August 12th. With Heath Pearce and potentially Brian Ching (unlikely) and Stewart Holden (maybe) on the bench the US will have 1 or 2 players on the roster for their "A" team. It's clear that Mexico took the match a lot more seriously than the United States, as I noted in a post yesterday. It makes me feel a bit better about the upcoming match but also still a bit concerned at the same time. Mexico will likely field the same attacking group of veterans and youngsters like Vela and Dos Santos--- and will be full of confidence as well as likely not be rusty at all since they just played several matches together. In the context of yesterday's El Tri squad release it's clear that the Gold Cup final was a Mexican A- team versus a US C+ team at best. It will be interesting to see how the young and talented Mexican attack holds up against the top US defensive pairing--- hopefully Guch doesn't display is slow and lacking AC Milan form.

Gold Cup Second Guesser

I typically take the side of Bob Bradley in just about any decision. Contrary to those who constantly want his head I feel he's done a fantastic job heading Uncle Sam and deserves the right to continue to helm the team into next year's world cup. That being said I just can't understand the decisions behind the Gold Cup roster in lieu of the Mexico throttling. Yes, it may be 20/20 hindsight and I do realize the same roster made it all the way to the final, but the 5-0 scoreline makes you wonder, what was the point?

One thing I'll never understand is the inclusion of players who will never play in a World Cup qualifier not to mention never get close to playing in the World Club. Players such as Jay Heaps, Davy Arnaud and Jommy Conrad. I can understand getting quality time for young players like Stuart Holden who have the ability to not only occupy a roster spot but get real quality playing time for the US in the future. It was pretty clear that even prior to the Gold Cup there was no way a player such as Heaps or Pause we're ever going to play a legitimate role in any US world cup run. This is coupled with the decision to send Charlie Davies, Jozy Altidore, Jonathon Bornstein, Freddy Adu, etc back to their clubs. The Gold Cup was the perfect opportunity to give the above mentioned players significant playing time in front of large crowds. The Gold Cup was a fantastic opportunity to play a B team...not a C- team.

Beyond the roster decisions the loss also gives El Tri some confident prior to the massive August 12 qualifier at Azteca Stadium. The US has a real opportunity to finally win in Mexico City. The confidence that Mexico gained with the Gold Cup drubbing doesn't help.

Oh, and one more thing. What is the point of Brian Ching? It's pretty obvious that with the development of Davies and Altidore that Ching is no longer a reality for the US first team. Why even give him a Gold Cup match? It was yet another opportunity to give Kenny Cooper some real playing time and assess him as a realistic option for the US first team. Instead Bradley chooses to continue with Ching and his horrible first touch. There were multiple opportunities on Sunday where Cooper may have had an opportunity to take a long ball and make something of it-- in situations where Ching clearly couldn't. By the time Cooper did come on it was clearly too late.