It just sucks, man

- Landon Donovan

My sincere apologies for the late post. I was out of town, without interweb access, for the weekend. I did, thankfully, manage to catch the US/Ghana game whilst at the Mother-in-laws pad. It put me in a sour mood.

Despite the knowledge that Ghana is a strong team, I just felt the US would ultimately pull it out. Even when they went down a goal, I figured they'd recover. Then, perhaps just like the US players themselves, when Ghana scored - yet again - at the onset of overtime, I knew it was the final nail in the coffin. The players just didn't have the energy to rebound one last time.

I've seen that mindset before. As a Northwestern football, I'm used to bad defenses. As most of you Big Ten fans know, the NU offense is usually one of the highest scoring in the league. And it's mostly due to the porous defense. NU would put up highlight reel plays just to keep pace. I saw it with Zak Kustok and later with Brett Basanez. Just how many times would they have to cover for the defense's miscues?

Well, the US team is no offensive juggernaut, but they did, like NU, have a crappy defense. When the dust settles, and folks can objectively judge this team, I think those two injuries at the end of 2009 did play a massive role in the team's demise. First, Oguchi Onyewu. Where was the defense weakest? Shockingly, it wasn't on the wing where young, inexperienced Jonathan Bornstein was thrown to the fire. He played surprisingly well. And poised. It was right down the gut. Team captain Carlos Bocanegra and his partner Jay Demerit simply could not keep up with Ghana. Or most other team's strikers. They looked slow and out of sync. If Onyewu had not shattered his kneecap, I have no doubt the US would've fared better. He's the US's best option on defense. There's a reason he was signed by AC Milan. The dude would've helped. As he showed against England and Slovenia, he was not healthy. A step slow. Not in game shape. Poor touch. Just not ready.

Then there's Charlie Davies. The other weak link on the US starting lineup was the second striker. Bradley tried Robbie Findley, Edson Buddle, and Herculez Gomez. Findley logged the most minutes, yet showed the least. He had an excellent opportunity in the 1st half - at an angle reminiscent of both of Ghana's goals. While Ghana scored on their chances, Findley sent his shot at the keeper. There's no other way to say it - weak. The US could not finish. They desperately needed Charlie Davies, who shattered most of his body in that car crash last September. The energetic young man miraculously worked himself back to health this year, but Bradley felt he was not quite fit for the team. Quite a shame because Davies scores. He's scored at the youth level, at the club level, and, in a short amount of time, at the senior international level. It's no coincidence that the US started winning games last year at the Confed Cup when Davies entered the lineup. They beat Egypt and then Spain. And then put two in against Brazil (but conceded 3).

Davies also put himself in rarified air by scoring against Mexico in Mexico city during last year's WC qualifyer. He's exactly the type of player the team cannot afford to lose. But lose him they did.

The team did valiantly win their group with the players at hand. They deserve credit for that. Yet, when the stakes were raised in the knockout round, their shortcomings were exposed.

Now, as for Ricardo Clark... he was the definite scapegoat for the game. Yet, I wouldn't list his position as a weak spot (like 2nd striker and central D). The US has plenty of capable defensive midfielders. Unfortunately, Clark is not one of them. He's a fine player but just not quite a top International. Not yet at least. It was clear to all of us that Edu was the superior option. The fact that Bradley chose Clark is something he'll no doubt regret for the rest of his days. Just a glaring, critical error.

Much, much more to come.