This was an insulting team selection by the "coach." We might as well call him Bruce Arena Jr. The best player is placed out wide in the midfield and we wonder why the team has no spark, imagination, possession. Landon Donavan is the best player on this team and he is put in a position relying on others to get him the ball. If he was not such a team guy, he would be calling out the coach. The worst thing that happened to this team was the run in Confederations Cup where the got some lucky breaks against Egypt and then caught Spain sleeping. That gave this "coach" some idea that he knew where to place his players. I am SO worried about what is going to happen at this World Cup.

Beasley got the assist on the goal by Bocanegra, but overall I thought Beasley primarily stumbled into traffic and lost possession. Amazing it was only 2-1. Donovan was fairly non-existent, that may be my biggest concern because we need him to lift this team, there's no one else with the leadership ability except Clint Dempsey, who's healthy return is obviously going to be vital. Donovan is not going to be able to do much on this team out on the wing, either. Bornstein with the stupid foul and his attempted cover up, and in the box no less when the attacker wasn't even a scoring threat, Bornstein had a good angle on an almost 50/50 ball, and had speed to contain and force him to the end line even if he didn't win possession. He donated the first Holland goal. Howard looked out of sorts too, which was disconcerting, he's been such a rock, I'm sure he'll bounce back but what the heck, man, this is the big stage. I'm not a fan of either Michael Bradley (partly b/c he's the coach's son) or Jay DeMerit, although I should be careful b/c they look like they might be members of some skinhead gang that doesn't like criticism. This isn't rugby, its World Cup soccer. I think those guys are serious yellow and even red card dangers when the heat turns up in South Africa. Definitely need Charlie Davies back, Altidore is OK, but I just don't see much creativity with him. if he is paired with someone and gets fed in the right spot, he can close the deal, but that's about it.

I thought Jozy played very well considering that they asked him to be a holding forward. Obviously time at Hull working on these skills has done him wonders. Findley was awful...he is better than that, but not ready yet. So, BB must play Ching alongside Jozy and let Jozy be the runner or we must play Landon alongside Jozy and let Jozy be the holding forward. I'm in favor of LD playing just off Jozy at the cup. I don't understand putting our best player out on the wing in games where our Center Mid's are only looking to attack centrally. LD might as well ate a pizza during the game cuz he sure wasn't gonna get the ball. I thought the play began to turn around when LD went up front for a spell before leaving.

Good comments Brian. I continue to wonder why Donovan isn't placed into the middle of the park as well. He is the best player on the team at the moment and he needs to be given the chance to run the midfield. Or at least play an advanced attacking mid where he is involved in the possession game a lot more. I do think it would take Donovan a little bit to adapt to being the focal point of the midfield, and I know they have tried him there before, but he has matured and is now certainly capable of doing it, and certainly a much better option than anyone else at the moment. The U.S. team struggles match in and match out to find their identity. It seems like they try and play a different style to counter each opponent they play rather than playing "their game." I think the U.S. always plays their best when the entire team pressures hard up the field and attacks constantly. Simply go balls out with no fear, play like a linebacker per say. They are not a counter attacking team, they just are not good enough defensively and they are definately not good enough to play any kind of slow methodical possession game. When they fly out of the gates from the start, they seem to overwhelm teams and this is why they had so much success in the 2002 cup. Especially against Portugal and Germany. This team has no central midfielder at all that can possess in tight quarters and control the pace of the game, except maybe Donovan. Michael Bradley isn't good. He runs around like a chicken with his head cut off and is always out of position. Why he continues to start is beyond me. Claudio Reyna we miss you dearly. The biggest ? is why we didn't hire a high profile coach to lead our team after Bruce Arean. Bob Bradley doesn't play to the teams strengths and hasn't figured out any kind of identity for this team and doesn't stick with a style of play that matches our players to allow them succeed. He along with no real central midfielders will likely be our downfall and an early exit out of the cup. This team is scary right now.

The commenters are better than Mahoney. He gives no blame at all to the coach for his decisions as though individual failings are everything.

Books... I competely agree with you. Why they have our best goal-scorer on the left side of midfield is beyond me. Have been saying this for some time now. But this staff continues with the stupidity. He should be playing as a withdrawn striker behind a solid front-runner. Although I think Altidore has the potential to play up top and get on the end of balls, he's still not quite there. So if you don't have a McBride or Davies, then you even have to consider playing Donovan up top like he did in '02. For Christ's sake... he's your best goal-scorer. Giving him ANY defensive responsibilities is a crime... especially against a side that uses the flanks like the Dutch do. Pure insanity. Secondly, I do not understand why #4 continues to see the field. He is a complete and total liability in defense. He can't tackle... can't shephard into help... is slow and is a ball-watcher. Watch him on the Dutch second goal. I realize they think he brings some offense to this team from midfield, but at this level we don't need it, cant' really use it. Getting 2 players in the box is hard enough at this level... trying to get 4 is ridiculous. And yes, he does play an occasional penetrating ball... but for the most part, his defensive deficiencies FAR outway any offense he can bring to this team... especially at the World Cup level. Give me 2 solid CBs in tandem with 2 solid Def Mids, a couple of outside backs who wont' get beat on the flank, that can work in tandem with the flank players in front of them and let the strikers to their job. I like Beckerman a lot. He's a true link player with a very high work rate... and that's what we need there, IMHO.

I think all the comments are good. I can only say, that to say Michael Bradley and Wesley Sneijder are midfielders is to say Miley Cyrus and Meryl Streep are actors.

Nice comment lighthiser. I don't dislike Bradley and his doppelganger Demerit, I am just not sure how they fit into this current US squad. If we're an aggressive team that attacks the ball, then let's do so and play Donovan in the middle and make a go at it. If we're going to counter attack and play longballs to Jozy, let's do that. Let's come up with a strategy that suits our personnel and then try to enforce our will on the other team. Jozy Altidore can't play a possession game to save his life. He's a scorer with a couple of moves and a big foot. Playing the ball to him is a lost cause - he's slow and without any touch. Landon Donovan disappears for long stretches when he isn't surrounded by teammates who can pass to him. If we want to build around his skill, lets put some midfielders around him who can play that kind of game (I liked Bedoya and Goodsen in limited action yesterday). We have limited world-class personnel and we need a smart coach to highlight our strengths and minimize our weaknesses because smart sides like the Dutch can easily keep the ball away from our best players and attack our worst (ie, Bornstein).

WOW! CONGRATULATIONS!!! All of the comments here arevery spot on! For the first timed there seems to be concensus on Bradley's inability to put together a solid WC class team! And yet there no other game scheduled before he names his squad of 23! Utterly amazing! No wonder iether why Paul Gardner calls BB "Banality Bob Bradley" In answer to SA's question whtehrw we agree or disagree with their rating, here's my take on several of them: Spector 2; DeMerit 2; Bornstein 1; Torres 6; Donovan 3; Altidore 2; Findley 1; Johnson 2; Bedoya 6. The others I'd collectively rate them at a 5.75 each, except for Bocanegra and Howard, I'd rate a 6.75. Coach Bradley and staff: a dismal 1.99 (I think I'm being genereous here...) and I hope he wakes up, smells the coffee and roses, and takes a good look at the forest of players out there and select several good individual trees (aka players)... Buena suerte y hasta luego, USA MNT

Too much thinking, not enough reacting, too few ideas and too few executions of good chances...not enough patience and poor decisions...everything else appeared OK; where was Donovan? If hurt/ill, why was he on the pitch. If neither of the two, shame on him.

I am no fan of Michael Bradley, but I have to admit that, until Beasley got fully engaged, he was the spark that kept the team alive in this match. Altidore has speed, strength and some sense of the game, but needs to acquire a first touch before he is ready to start in an international match. Ching is the logical successor to Brian McBride, with Donovan (if he will get his head back in the game), Dempsey (when he recovers from injury), Davies (if he recovers from injury) and Beasley as the supporting cast. Mahoney underrated Spector and overrated Donovan. Whether Donovan was pouting because of his assigned role or didn't care because his place on the team is assured, he was listless; he didn't seem interested in contributing and, measured by his restarts, didn't contribute. In the days of Beasley and Cobi Jones, both of whom can play either side, they would switch effectively from time to time over the course of a match. Beasley and Donovan could have done the same if he had wanted to. Bornstein may not be the answer at left back, but Bocanegra wouldn't be either. Where, oh where are we going to find a left back?

At forward, Robbie Findley lacked creativity and played with little confidence. In situations where he had the opportunity to take on a defender 1 v 1 and go to goal he seemed confused/uncomfortable on the ball. He never seemed to use his speed to his advantage and lost the ball on a number of occassions. Donovan's play was uninspired. He seemed like he didn't want to risk injury before returning to Everton.