This is Olympic soccer?

Ok, there are about eight more compelling topics this week like the monks' uprising in Tibet and Michael Pollan's (The Omnivore's Dilemma) here on Thursday and the 15.5 miles I ran today on my step-by-step quest to raise money and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, but I just want to say...

Is this the best the USA can do for a U-23 Olympics team? Tonight's game against Honduras was so bad that the star-spangled streaker absolutely captivated Christian Miles for a full 60 seconds, leaving poor Brian Dunseth absolutely speechless. I didn't see all 270 minutes of this round of qualifying, but of what I saw, here are some of my reactions:

* Freddy Adu: Like he would do in practice every day I saw him last year, Adu will make at least one move, pass, feint that reminds all onlookers of his incredible talents. He hasn't figured out how to be a presence fo 90 minutes, but he's worth the money to watch (although only about 3,000 people agree on Tuesday and Thursday).
* Jozy Altidore: Sometimes I worry that the only way the USA can score is a quick forward getting behind the last defender, or off a header. We need a forward who can take defenders 1v1 - and I don't think Jozy is that guy. I like him, but he's not enough when you play the Englands, Italys and Argentinas of the world.
* Stuart Holden: I've always liked this kid. But I think he showed tonight he belongs on the flank, not inside. Probably has a Steve Ralston-like career ahead of him (good in many ways, but not a breakthrough international player).
* I liked Michael Orozco, Maurice Edu and Dax McCarty in the middle of the park... Every instinct tells me Dax is too small to be impactful in MLS, but he plays smart and quick. I thought he was a lot like Jamie Watson when I first saw him, but he's surpassed Jamie by leaps and bounds. You know who Dax reminds me of a little? Peter Nowak - although he's not in that class yet obviously.
* I want to see more of Sal Zizzo. Liked him at UCLA. I like him at this level.
* Is there a player more frustrating to watch than Chad Barrett?
* Poor Charlie Davies. But I doubt his "confidence is absolutely shattered" as Mr. Miles said.

* Eddie Gaven kicks off his 6th MLS season in two weeks - and he's still only 21?!??!
* What's wrong with Sacha Kljestan?

Comments

[Brian]

Good stuff, Steve. However, when someone passes to Gaven, they should have a teammate run eight yards ahead of Eddie because that's where his first touch is going.

Frustrating to watch him put every ball so far out there. This is a tactically smart, but technically immature team, I think. They have so much potential, but aren't consistent enough to unlock it. I thought the 20s had more precision offensively.

[F4denz]

Once again I love review of the olympic team, I think you are right on with the evaluations, a home run on Dax and how he has upped his game.

I did a trackback to your blog on this one.