There’s a poignant moment in the vastly underrated Disney film “Miracle”, which of course documents the triumph of a group of U.S. collegiate hockey players over the seasoned and world’s more talented Soviets in Lake Placid in 1980, when Kurt Russell, who plays Herb Brooks, is talking to Craig Patrick, excellently portrayed by Noah Emmerich, and a couple of other U.S. hockey advisors. Brooks and Patrick are hopeful and bold, but at base realize that the matchups are very poor. We’ve got guys like Mike Ramsey, and Mark Pavelich, they lament, and the Soviets have some of the best players in the world. I got to thinking about this scene after watching the film again the other day, and it made me remember the “Miracle on Grass” this summer and a similar discussion Raf and I had about the American matchups against Spain.

“We’ve got JON BORNSTEIN”, I remember Raf saying, and I quickly replied, “Yep– and they’ve got Cesc Fabregas.” Now El Salvador didn’t have Cesc, but the point remains, Bornstein just simply isn’t good enough at this level. In order for him to be good enough, he has to buy completely into the U.S. system and play at nearly a heroic level, as Ramsey, Pavelich, and others were able to do for sixty minutes in Lake Placid. And even if he does do that once, he has to do it consistently, which quite frankly, would be a miracle. His clearance the other day was so bad that one couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to cause the U.S. to be in an enormous and nearly unrecoverable position heading into the Port of Spain tonight against Trinidad and Tobago, well-previewed here by Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet.

At the end of the day, the real answer at left back may have to be either Carlos Bocanegra, who played absolutely brilliantly Saturday in Utah, or newcomer Edgar Castillo, whose offensive pace is similar to Bornstein but who actually has the technical skill and soccer savvy to be successful in the other facets of the game Bornstein, to be quite frank, simply lacks on the international level. Castillo very well may be on the plane (If there is a plane) to South Africa, and I tend to believe, given his work at Club America, and as Paul Kennedy suggests rather cautiously, that he is a long-term answer at the left back spot. Unfortunately, none of that helps the Yanks tonight in the Port of Spain, as they once again go to battle without at least two likely World Cup roster members, Maurice Edu of Rangers and Schalke’s Jermaine Jones, as well as Castillo. Expect all three to get a look next month, especially if the Americans backs are against the wall.

Again, I don’t think you can really do a better job wrapping a game than Raf did, and I didn’t have a bunch to add. I will briefly comment on the Jon Bornstein “situation”, as it were.

On to Raf’s comments, which are numbered below.

My thoughts on the El Salvador game:

1.) Best game Clint Dempsey has ever played for the US internationally, and I totally mean that. He was REMARKABLE, and if not for his heroics, we don’t win this game. Although he is not a “traditional” winger in terms of his skill set or where he plays at Fulham, he is growing into the role of winger on the US squad superbly. His defense (which is what all the Deuce-haters always bring up), was fine and offensively he was the spark we needed to get the 2 goals necessary to shake off an earlier Bobbo debacle. This segways perfectly to the next couple of points…..

2.) What the fuck is Bobbo doing with his lineup choices and his mid-game choices? Seriously, what does this guy do as a coach that’s so remarkable? Other than figuring out that Deuce and Lando need to be wingers (which I probably could have figured out myself a year ago), he really doen’t do shit. Let me start with the most obscene and work my way down. Why does he think that JONATHAN FREAKIN’ BORNSTEIN needs to EVER be in an international US game? We are STACKED defensively in terms of talent on the back 4. We have (in no particular order) Spector, Cherundalo, Boca, Demerit, Hejduk, Marshall (who I’ve really liked since he got some PT this summer), and Gooch. That’s by my count 7 defenders who are LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than Bornstein. Why is he ever in the game? He’s freakin Heath Pearce only worse. The decision to ever give him minutes is as bad as starting Keller over Howard in the last World Cup. I understand that Gooch was suspended and that Demerit was hurt, but why can’t you start Hejduk (and why wasn’t he on the roster) or Cherundolo? I say “homeless man version of Sergio Ramos” with the utmost respect for Hejduk; I really like it when he’s in the game, and I’ve NEVER seen him gaff as bad as Bornstein did THE ENTIRE GAME last night. Bornstein is 100% responsible for the goal that we gave up – after blown coverage, he made up for it by biffing on a clearance, and low and behold, they score. Really Bobbo, forget Chivas and move on. I love Kljestan, but at a certain point, maybe you need to put Bornstein in the Kljestan category for now – give him some time to develop and maybe eventually he can contribute. Stop it with the Nepotism and stop deferring to your favorites from your Chivas days!

3.) Really, someone explain to me what MB90 does other than exist as Bobbo’s son that warrants him getting 90 minutes every game? I know I’ve already beaten this point to death, but I’m not going to stop now. He was simply average during the game last night – he really didn’t do jack. His defense was OK (not great), he didn’t do anything creatively (big surprise), and for long stretches of the game, he just disappeared. It also needs to be noted that he is now getting benched by his club team for “not recognizing his mistakes.” Hmm….coach’s son can do no wrong EVER, as evidenced by the fact that Daddy won’t ever take him out of a game. He gets to a club, and he doesn’t understand how to self-evaluate because he’s never had to! And now he develops an attitude problem! Bobbo, for the sake of your kid’s career and for the sake of US Soccer stop using a double standard when dealing with this kid. I know he’s your kid, and you’re in a tricky position, but what you’re doing isn’t working.

Bobbo, when are you going to try something else? Or will you get fired first? That’s probably most likely, but the thing about that is, I really believe that this group has the talent to do some damage in S. Africa next summer, and I don’t want to waste another World Cup cycle and chalk it up to another “Coach’s Learning Experience.” C’mon man! J.F. Torres (who can play where your boy has been “locked in”) was spectacular in the 10 minutes that you let him see the field (I’ll get to that in point #5). Just try something else! Humor me!

4.) The pairing of Jozy and Chuck D really gets me excited! Last night, it was ON, and I haven’t felt this way about a couple of young US players since last summer with Kljestan and Edu. These kids need to be on the field as much as possible together because last night they showed everyone what this could blossom into. That really was impressive on their parts – they dominated the game in a way that no US striker pairing has ever done as long as I’ve been watching US Soccer.

5.) Does Bobbo watch the games that he’s coaching? I understand that his starting lineup choices may be wrong but for one reason or another – loyalty to Bornstein from Chivas, loyalty to his son – and people can make excuses for him. But, is it just me, or does he look freakin clueless when the whistle to start the game begins? Let’s start with the first sub – Holden for Davies. What the fuck?!?!?! Are you serious? I know that Holden did OK at the Gold Cup, and that Davies was hurtin’, but uhh….you have Chinger on the bench and you HAVE TO win this game. And you go with Holden? Really? Why? I like Holden, but I like Holden for like a replacement for Deuce in 4 years. Why do this when you have the Ching option?

2nd sub – Beckerman for Feilhaber in the 80th minute. Did anyone else just go “huh?” when this happened. Beckerman was adequate at best this summer during the Gold Cup and now you’re going to reward him with PT? Furthermore, you’re going to take out Feilhaber – who by the way was superb – for what reason? We got the lead by running our offense out of the back 4 (totally bypassing MB90 by the way), through Feilhaber (the lone creative presence in our midfield right now), to the wings, and to the dominant striker pair. Now, you want to cut-off the creative presence, or the engine that makes this whole thing go (here at the AFH, we call Feilhaber “The Maestro” because he orchestrates goals through his creativity), and put in Beckerman? EHH? That’s really not explicable, ESPECIALLY if you knew you wanted to work JF Torres into the game. If you were unhappy with Feilhaber – which there was no reason to be – but if you were, put Torres in for him. He played GREAT when he finally got some PT. Or, better yet, get Junior the fuck out of there and put in Torres. Junior was freakin’ worthless.

3rd sub – Torres for Jozy. OK, Jozy clearly needed to come out (actually in like the 65th minute he needed to come out). He just gets gassed because he plays so hard and so fast all the time. But you don’t make this sub earlier? Or, you don’t use this last sub for a defender who’s been playing badly (Bornstein anyone!?!?!). You did have Cherundolo on the bench. I don’t know – it seems like you’ve let Jozy go this far, you ride it out with him through the 90, especially after wasting your 2nd sub on Beckerman. Again, was Bobbo even watching the game?

What I would have done is put in Chinger for Chuck D as soon as he got hurt. In the 75th minute, I would have put Torres in for MB90 and renamed MB90 MB75. Then, I would have used the last sub to get rid of the inadequate Bornstein in favor of a defensive substitution – Cherundolo anybody!??!!?!?!

Really, Bobbo needs to get his shit together…..

6.) Timmy is a top-5 goalie in the world, this point is beyond debate, and to argue it further would be hopelessly naïve. Every time we play, he makes at least 2 great saves that only like 3 or 4 goalies in the world can make. Casillas, Reina, Buffon, and maybe Schwarzer are in this category. Timmy freakin’ rocks – thank god we got that guy.

7.) Boca stepped the fuck up and showed why he’s captain of this team. We badly missed our best field player (Gooch) and not having Demerit didn’t help. He cleaned up mess after mess from Bornstein and a few gaffs by Spector (also not his best game, but really not disastrous) and was able to channel the ball through the Feilhaber effectively. Before the game, I was kind of the opinion that if Boca wasn’t captain, he might not even play. Now, I get it, and I’m back on the Boca train.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for NWB’s analysis, a T&T preview from one of the 3 of us, and postgame analysis.