On United States: What we learned today.

I thought I'd wrote a post that just summed up what I thought the U.S. team should take away from their opening tie against England. I would like to preface this post by saying I am extremely happy with the result, and am very proud of the American side. That said, let's look at what we now know from watching this game:

1. Robbie Findley shouldn't start. Ever. Robbie Findley is a youngster who has just broken unto the scene because of his "speed." Quite frankly, I'm growing more and more unimpressed with forward known for their speed, especially, in Findley's case at least, when that is their only attribute. Even more frankly, Altidore used his speed much more impressively with that one great chance he had late in the first half, getting around Jamie Carragher and just missing a shot that bounced off the post. Findley is just fast. He can't carry the ball at all. Kind of like...Theo Walcott. That's not a good comparison, in my book.

Findley messed up almost every touch he had on the ball, particularly his first one, and his passing throughout was pretty dismal. It seemed like every time the U.S. lost the ball, it was all his fault. He needs to be replaced with Buddle, or perhaps even Herculez Gomez. Both have proven how potent they can be, especially in the goal scoring department.

In short, Findley's speed can come in handy as a substitute late in the game when defenders are tired, but having him start is a recipe for bad chemistry and ball movement.

2. Tim Howard is a champ. If you missed the game today, I hope you at least got a chance to look at all of the amazing saves that Howard made. There were about three saves that I legitamately still can't figure out how he made, and his ability to hold on to a shot without allowing a rebound has proven to be invaluable. He also took a cleet to the hand from Emile Heskey and stayed tough, finishing the game off.

United States know that they can always rely on the last line of defense, and that's important to establish in the opener of a tournament as massive as the WC.

3. Jose Torres deserves a chance. My other least favorite U.S. starter right now is Ricardo Clark. He was the man responsible for marking Gerrard when they scored their goal in the sixth minute, missed numerous markings throughout his performance, passed like his cleets were made out of bricks, and could barely keep the ball. Clark seems tired, and frankly doesn't seem to be playing with any spark at all. Every time he touched the ball it was like all the air went out of whatever the U.S. was trying. But then, there's Torres.

I only got the chance to see this kid play once, but it was incredible. He's got great skills, passes accurately and with just the right amount of touch, and is absolutely voracious. When he's in the game, a whole new burst of energy is given to the team. In fact, it was his substitution for Clark in the friendly against Turkey that allowed the U.S. to open up and score their two second half goals, giving them the victory.

When he loses the ball, you can see his fury as he chases down the offender and rips it back, and whatever cost. I think that Bradley should experiment in the next game and go with the hot player at the moment and let Clark think about how much he really wants this for his country.

4. Oneywu is back. The media was making a huge point of doubting Oneywu's form in the WC. But, if they had paid attention at all during the Turkey game, they would have seen that he was in fact, back. And this game was no different. Oneywu got his head to two corner kicks, and eventually he's going to get one, it's just a matter of when. He also absolutely devoured English attacks. Most of the time when they lost the ball it was because Gooch had poked, slid, or punched it away from them with his great feet. There should be no reason to doubt Oneywu anymore, especially not after this performance.

5. Dempsey, Donovan, and Altidore are in form. These are the three key players for the United States and all three played extremely well today. Donovan was the most innovative player on the pitch, and he made some great passes that would have been goals if Ashley Cole hadn't been in the way.

Altidore made some great runs, showed a lot of confidence on the ball, and also had the best chance in the match to score. I blame him not scoring it on Green's rapid determination to ammend for his earlier fumble, but we'll see.

Dempsey also could not have played better. And I don't want to hear anything about his goal being "lucky." Sure, the goalie fumbled it, but Dempsey still made a great strike from a long way out with a lot of power on it, and that's something to be said when you're staring down John Terry. Also, he proved in this match just how much of a warrior he is. Getting cleated in the thigh, punched in the gut, and falling on his face several times, Dempsey always got back up, as he has always and will always do during this tournament.

6. Bradley is a great coach. Though he made some subs a little later than I would have liked, Bradley had the right idea as soon as he saw Capello's decision to push his men into a more attacking playing style. He quickly told his players to switch to a counter attacking style, which they performed quite well, capitalized by Altidore's oh-so-close chance.

Bradley has led this country where it has never gone before in it's football playing history, now let's see if he can take it even further.

These are my thoughts on what I learned from today's match. Did you see anything, or think my findings are dumb? Comment!