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As the US took the field to play Honduras Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, nobody was any under illusions about the nature of the game.&nbsp; It was a friendly in the friendliest sense.&nbsp; The pregame party in the parking lot was full of good cheer.&nbsp; The Honduras fans, which outnumbered the US fans by 4 to 1, heartily applauded when Jonathan Bornstein, whose late strike against Costa Rica in October sent Honduras into the World Cup finals, was introduced.&nbsp; The Ole’s and the wave rebounded around the stadium.
For the US players, though the outcome was unimportant, the performances were critical.&nbsp; This was not so much a game as an audition.&nbsp; With Charlie Davis all but ruled out this summer, Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu out of action until Easter, questions about who the right partner for Michael Bradley is in the middle, and a left back position that still seems up for grabs, this was a chance for a number of players to make a case for themselves.
Unfortunately, if this was an audition, after the 17thminute the lines they had memorized had to be trashed and it was improv theater for the rest of the evening.&nbsp; Jimmy Conrad was caught out of position twice, hacked his opponent down twice, gave up a PK, was given two yellow cards and shown the shower before the game had even developed a rhythm.&nbsp; Were the yellow cards harsh?&nbsp; Perhaps a tad.&nbsp; But the US picked up yellows and reds at an alarming rate in both the Confederations Cup and at the last World Cup in Germany,&nbsp; If the US is going to succeed in South Africa, they are going to have to avoid giving international referees a reason to reach into their pockets.
With Conrad gone, Jonathan Bornstein was shifted to a more central position, Robbie Rodgers played a little more in the back, and any experimenting with width was pretty much over.&nbsp; For the rest of the half, Robbie Findley and Jeff Cunningham were isolated up front, and when they did get a toe on the ball, it was in the midst of three defenders without a sight at goal.
At the other end of the field, Chad Marshall had a night to forget.&nbsp; Beaten badly for the second goal and unable to get the challenge in time for the third, he was subbed out in the 60th minute.&nbsp; He slumped onto the bench with his arms folded, banged the back of his head against the bench shield, and spent the next couple of minutes staring straight at the ground.&nbsp; There are a lot of questions about the US central defense at the moment, and Marshall did not provide any evidence he has the answers.
On the other hand, when Clarence Goodson came on in the 60th minute, he looked very useful.&nbsp; Beyond the goal he scored off a corner, he tracked back superbly and seemed to win every ball in the air.&nbsp; Don’t be surprised to see Goodson get a good look when the US plays the Netherlands in March.
On the flip side, aside from Conrad, the most disappointing player this evening had to be Benny Feilhaber.&nbsp; If he had a good touch all night, it escaped me.&nbsp; He lost the ball, had his passes intercepted, and generally looked out of sorts all game.&nbsp; In his post game news conference, Bradley highlighted how poor the team passing was in general, noting that even when passes were not intercepted, they were often received chest high and unplayable for quick advantage.
In the end, Bradley called is an “educational” evening.&nbsp; Having Conrad sent off gave Bradley to opportunity to see some players perform under stress, out of position, and in uncomfortable situations.&nbsp; It may have not been the screen test that Bradley was designing, but it still yielded some valuable insights.&nbsp; On the positives, Bornstein looked comfortable switching from a wide position to a more central role, Goodson looked worthy of further investigation, Robbie Rogers looked industrious, and Alejandro Bedoya got his first Senior Cap.&nbsp;
On the downside, there was just about everything else.

US 1 Honduras 3 as Bob Bradley Looks to Fill Some Holes - World Soccer Talk

US 1 Honduras 3 as Bob Bradley Looks to Fill Some Holes

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Here at MLStalk.com and EPLtalk.com, we are working on a soccer-centric way to help the youth of Haiti that we will be announcing next week.&nbsp; In the meantime, if you want to make a major contribution to the Red Cross relief effort and grab a super-cool piece of US Soccer history, <a href="http:\/\/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;item=180459988757&amp;ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1123">Jonathan Bornstein is auctioning a pair of his cleats on EBAY</a>.&nbsp; These are not just any cleats – they are the pair he was wearing when he scored the last second goal to grab a draw for the US against Costa Rica last October in their last WCQ game.&nbsp; That goal let Honduras qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa and to get a sense of how special that goal was to the people of Honduras, check out this clip:
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The EBAY auction will end on Wednesday, and the bidding is already over $1000, so please open your hearts and your wallets to the people of Haiti, and grab a very cool piece of memorabilia in the process!

Buy Bornstein's Boots and Help Haiti - World Soccer Talk

Buy Bornstein's Boots and Help Haiti

<ul>
<li>Amado Guevara’s signing has turned Toronto FC from a laughing stockinto one of the top teams in the league right now. That’s what a Latin flavored #10 can do when surrounded by legitimate European talent that has survived in tougher leagues than MLS. Moreover, the success of TFC shows that despite boasts of MLS’ improvement, players who are marginal squad members in the English Championship can come to MLS and have early success. While MLS from a quality and skill standpoint is better than the English Championship, players who come from the British Isles are tougher and more understanding of a football culture than most Americans who come from the college ranks, from USL or even from within MLS. No wonder MLS has so much trouble in Continental competitions and proving itself to the more snobbish fans in its own nation.</li>
<li>I don’t want to get into comparisons of leagues on different continents so do not interpret the above statement to mean that I am claiming the League Championship is better than MLS. Major League Soccer has far more accomplished internationals in it than does the English second division, however I am merely stating that the competitive aspects of the game in England that are missing in the US have allowed the British based players that have signed with TFC to compliment a superstar like Amado Guevara more quickly than would a set of American players who come from a less competitive atmosphere. But the key for TFC is Guevara, an MLS veteran, not any of the recent British based signings.</li>
<li>Watching games at Toronto is becoming more and more difficult for me as the field turf at BMO field has a bigger and bigger impact on each passing match. For MLS to be taken seriously, TFC must at a minimum be forced to replace that carpet each year. The same goes for any club that owns or operates a stadium with turf in it.</li>
<li>Steve Nicol continues to prove the doubters wrong with his ability to identify talent and then integrate the discovered players within his system. Shalrie Joseph playing in an advanced role Thursday night was a brilliant tactical move that put FC Dallas on its heels.</li>
<li>Khano Smith has an under appreciated left foot and works hard to find space out wide. I was happy to see him score the winning goal.</li>
<li>Dario Sala had another good game for the Hoops, and Ray Burse Jr. may wonder if his future lies elsewhere.</li>
<li>DC United’s attack looked outstanding against RSL, and while Salt Lake looked dangerous at times, their backline continues to be worrying to say the least.</li>
<li>I was impressed by the flair Santino Quaranta continues to show in his comeback. It is not unreasonable to think Quaranta may be able to work his way back into the US National Team setup after being a teenage flame out under Bruce Arena.</li>
<li>Real Salt Lake has too many attacking weapons to be struggling so mightily. Every time I watch them play they look solid but simply cannot finish and have trouble at the back.</li>
<li>I’m wondering if RSL has chemistry problems with so many above average players but yet no real standout types.</li>
<li>Jason Kreis playing Carey Talley at holding midfielder was an interesting move. It seemed to work at first even when RSL conceded two penalty kicks. But in the end the new formation could not slow down United.</li>
<li>Marcello Gallardo wearing #10 and having longish hair made me do some double takes: I believed Marco Ethcheverry was playing at times!</li>
<li>Columbus has serious problems finishing. We saw it against Red Bull in a defeat and now have seen it in the last three victories. Missing so many easy opportunities gave Houston an opportunity to equalize late, and Wade Barrett was oh so unlucky that Will Hesmer read his shot perfectly.</li>
<li>I did not see Chicago-Colorado, but was happy for John Thorrington, the Manchester United academy and reserve player whose US national team career was a non starter and whose club career was complicated. Thorrington scored a brace against the Rapids.</li>
<li>Sacha Kljestan’s influence on the Chivas USA attack cannot be understated. His free kick goal was a thing of beauty and his ability to create counter attacking opportunities in the first half was important to keeping the Super Classico competitive for a while.</li>
<li>Ante Razov almost never misses from point blank range. That’s something Steve Cronin needs to remember for the next Super Classico.</li>
<li>Landon Donovan is not only the best American player in a generation, he quite possibly is the only difference between a US team today which is moving forward, and the US team of the early 1990s with some skilled players but zero opportunity to consistently play at a high level. Donovan’s performance last night was simply world class. That is an overused term, but that is what Landon Donovan on his day is.</li>
<li>Alan Gordon had a great impact for the Galaxy coming off the bench.</li>
<li>Brad Guzan’s regression over the first month of the MLS season culminated with a totally unforgivable mistake on the go ahead goal for the Galaxy. Guzan looks completely unsure of himself between the pipes. Perhaps it is the shambolic back line and the stalled development of Jonathan Bornstein? Perhaps it is lingering unhappiness about his work permit not being awarded for a move to Aston Villa? Perhaps it is simply a rough patch, but right now Guzan cannot be counted on as a backup to Tim Howard or Kasey Keller in any US World Cup qualifier this summer or fall.</li>
<li>If people aren’t willing to give MLS a chance and feel the intensity and quality of play is inferior to European or Latin American football, they need to watch either a match from RFK Stadium or a Superclassico to understand we do have passion here and we understand the game as well. Oh yeah, and some pretty good football is being played also.</li>
</ul>

US 1 Honduras 3 as Bob Bradley Looks to Fill Some Holes

Carlos Pavon

US 1 Honduras 3 as Bob Bradley Looks to Fill Some Holes

Johnathan Bornstien

Buy Bornstein's Boots and Help Haiti

Alan Gordon

Sunday Morning MLS Review; April 27, 2008