Compelling Soccer

Now that qualification is in the books, it seems like as good a time as any to look at the state of the US soccer team. And of course whenever you look at the state of a squad, it always starts with the head. In this case it is the much debated Bob Bradley, a man whom many didn't want to get the job, many still want fired but who also has picked up plenty of supporters along the way.

Your view on Bradley probably comes down to where you perception of the US Soccer team in the world spectrum. You can see it in the arguments on both sides. Critics decry his conservative style and boring defensive tactics. (Two defensive mids, hooray for bunker ball!) Supporters will tell you the US simply doesn't have the talent to get by consistently any other way. Meanwhile supporters will tell you Bradley's had more success than any other US coach, with the highest win percentage and qualifying for the World Cup at the top of CONCACAF. Critics will retort qualifying for the Cup is the bare minimum these days; anyone should do be able to do that with this group of players. The true test comes in South Africa, where Bradley's tactics will inevitably lead to a knock out in the group stage.

The story of Saturday night's road victory over Honduras, outside of the US locking up it's sixth straight World Cup appearance, was the surprise star of the match Conor Casey. How big of a surprise was Casey's heroics? For starters, if you polled media people or US fans, he probably would have been deemed least likely player to start the game outside of Brad Guzan and maybe Robbie Rogers. Then when you combine that with the situation, supposed difficulty of the game, the stakes and his perceived skill level and you have one of the most unlikely performances in US soccer history.

Did anyone else feel more relieved than overjoyed at the US qualifying for the World Cup? Is it a sign my expectations are getting too far out of whack? Naahh, I live in 2009, not 1989.

-Ives Garlarcep has one of my favorite soccer blogs out there, but his logic about the US qualification somehow vindicates Bob Bradley is a fallacy. The logic only holds if the World Cup was an open competition in qualifying where the 32 best teams make it. But we know that's not the case.