US National Team vs the 3 Lions

The result was predictable. The USNT faired well but Coach Bradley's player selection were curious. Josh Wolff played way to much and showed very little. He clearly is not the answer up front. He should have been pulled at half time.

Bradley's choice of dual holding/defensive midfielders was curious, the strategy was playing not to lose instead of trying to attack and move forward. The purpose of these games is to improve and gain experience, yet the team needs to be experimenting with who is going to fill the roll of attacking midfield to control the middle of the park. Ricardo Clark and Micheal Bradley have very similar playing styles and don't offer creative attcking styles.

It will be interesting to see what adjustments Coach Bradley makes for next weeks game against Spain.

Beckham from Way Downtown ... Bang

I am not a fan of pushing the GK up to try and get the equalizer in stoppage time. I am not really a fan of the GKs. More on that later. It makes more sense to push all 10 field players into the attack and leave the GK back as the lone defender. Following my coaching strategy this 60 yard goal would not have happened and Beckham would have been kept off the highlight reel on Sportscenter.

August of 1996 Beckham struck one of the most impressive goals when he scored from beyond the halfway line. The strike caught Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan off his line.



Fast forward to late May 2008, Beckham wins a clearance, dribbles the ball out of his defensive third and he sees that the goalie is no where to be found. The strike is clean and true. It is hit so well and with so much confidence there is no doubt that it won't go right in the middle of the goal. What a gem.

Long Range Classic

This is a very nice touch and shot from long range.

Hope in the Nets

The Soccer Network is a huge fan of Hope Solo for her skills in the nets and her hot looks. She warm my heart with her words last summer. Lets face it she was right and was ultimately proved correct. We can debate the timing of her words after the crushing loss in the World Cup.

Enjoy her Nike training session.

Nike Blockbuster

I'm from the old school soccer world ... they never made soccer commercials when I was a kid never mind a thriller like this one. With the summer movie season upon us here is a really cool Nike commercial.