Shut Up, Harkes (et al.)

The only thing more annoying than the US national team's play of late has been is the way their performances are being treated in the media (Jamie Trecker being the lone exception).

In the past year or so, the US has played exactly 3 halves of decent soccer - versus Spain in the Confederations Cup and the first half against Brazil in the same tournament. All of those halves showcased the typical American grittiness that has become the team's trademark, but they also featured new skill players that haven't been present (mainly because they haven't been given a chance) in previous teams. But rather than focus on those new skill players the gritty, hardworking spirit BS gets beaten into the ground.

This wouldn't be a problem if media and public perception didn't play such a role in sports today. Everyone is afraid to make drastic changes because they may backfire. So rather than trying to patch the hole in a sinking ship, they'll just keep hoping they reach land before they take on too much water. The role that pundits (and former US players) like John Harkes and Alexi Lalas play in this cycle is doing the team a disservice and miseducating the American soccer public. Rather than praise those who are doing well (except Landon, who's been on a tear of late), they heap rewards on those players working the hardest - those showing that American grit. The Michael Bradley's, Jonathan Bornstein's, and Brian Ching's of the world. Meanwhile, they continually criticize the better players - Dempsey, Spector, Demerit...

Well guess what? The reason Bradley and the like are working so hard is they keep screwing up! "Bradley does a great job chasing back there and tackling! He's all over the place!" That's because he just gave the ball away without any pressure in midfield and he needs to make up for his mistake. Next time you watch a US game, count the number of times one of these bums makes a blatant mistake and see how often they're called on it (on a related note, Bornstein's inclusion in last night's game after his performance over the weekend - or ever, really - is one of the most mind-boggling coaching decisions of all-time. With Cherundolo on the bench, it's the equivalent of starting Jim Sorgi over Peyton Manning. Except worse). Then count the number of times Dempsey or Spector gets called out for "not hustling" or "just not having it tonight". It's quixotic. The good players make it look effortless. They see the flow, take the right angles and positioning and, thus, don't need to run all over the place like a mad man to catch up to it. The game comes to them.

You don't see this often with commentators in other sports - if Collinsworth sees Peyton Manning make a terrible play, you can bet he'll call him out. Just once I would love to see ESPN use one of their European crews, the ones that handle Champions League games, call a US game. The feedback and information you'd hear would be a polar opposite to the regular crew. And you know what, contrary to what they may think, that's a good thing!

UPDATE 1: Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!! Stop it already!
UPDATE 2: The sane words of a man who knows what he's watching.