Friday Not Really

Normally I'd be happy for Friday. Not this week, because it's not a normal Friday. I've got so much work to do that I'll be late again today, then have to come back in to the office on Saturday. But not Sunday - that's a non-workday no matter what.

Sad to see the US out of the World Cup. Since I got home after 10 last night, I just replayed the first half. Apparently that's all I really needed to see, as no other goals were scored.

Sure, the penalty kick was a terrible call. So was at least one, if not both of the red cards in the Italy game. It does seem rather suspicious to see the US singled out for so many bad calls. But they can't totally blame the referees for being out of the running.

They wouldn't have beaten Ghana even without the penalty kick. A 1-1 tie would have knocked them out of the competition just as effectively as the loss. The referees didn't really need their terrible calls, if indeed their objective was to drum the US out of the competition, because this US team just couldn't score. One goal in 3 games actually scored by the US team tells the whole story.

The US team plays a ball-control style that kept them in possession most of all 3 games. That's great if you want to play keep-away at midfield all day, but it doesn't get the ball in the net. In every game, whenever the US moved toward the opponent's goal, the other team just stacked up in a human wall. The US guys couldn't get quality shots, let alone score.

Were they not good enough for the World Cup? Results say yes. Was it Bruce Arena's fault? In the sense that he's the head coach, who sets the strategy and chooses the players, sure. This was probably the best team the US could put on the field, but would better coaching have brought out the best of the talent?

Who knows.