Bob Bradley is learning to lose

Dear Kasey Keller - please retire, please.

Last night I sped home from work so I could catch Estados Unidos vs a team we have never lost to!

And what I got in return was a MLS team against a national team...and the result was as bad as I could have never imagined.

Again, we played decent in the first and I remember saying to myself..."Self, surely Bradley will use the Argentina game as an example and encourage his team not to let up." Wow. We're going to get knocked out of this tournament because we can't pass a ball from midfield to our keeper without our defense getting all confused and wacky.

Needless to say, I blame Bill Clinton.

And if Eddie Johnson decides to pass the ball off after he has run himself deep into the opposing defense ONE MORE TIME I'm gonna freaking SCREAM! This guy makes a run with the ball and gets to the 18 and decides "meh, I'm not that interested in attemting a shot...here, you take it..." UGGGHHH!!!!

Has anyone noticed that our best chances lately have come from shots at the top of the box? (save one weak-ass header that we decided to play last night instead of playing the ball from our feet like a real soccer player).

Anyhow, the MLS may develop talent for us, and certainly gives players more game-time on a field beyond college, but when the MLS is in season we can't send our very best players to a tournament against countries who DO send their very best players...and so we look like bad footballers to the rest of the world.

And last night did little to prove otherwise.

I always wondered if Alexi Lalas got high...

And now I know he does. ESPN Soccernet with a story out this morning has Alexi Lalas claiming that MLS players could "hold their own" in the EPL, and that fans wouldn't notice a "drop in quality (of play)."

Link

Favorite quote from the article:

"The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business,'' Lalas said in an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday.

Wow.

Just...wow.

I don't really know where to start, so I'll ramble on a bit I'm sure.

Yes, the MLS has come a long way. Yes, the MLS has done a good job of player development thus far. And yes, now that US Soccer has finally hired Mr. Bradley and removed the "interim" from his title, now I think we can win more than 3 World Cup matches...

BUT.

Put Arsenal or Bolton or Aston Villa on the same field with the Rapids, or DC or the Galaxy...and 5 times out of 5 the MLS team gets spanked...and 5 times out of 5 Alexi Lalas will have to eat his boot...