Time sure flies by this time of year, with school starting and all the rest. Here’s some quick commentary on World Cup Qualifiers played on Saturday and Wednesday.

* Maradona has no idea what he’s doing. 1-3 loss at home to Brazil and a 1-0 loss to Paraguay puts Argentina in serious jeopardy of not making the World Cup. I keep thinking “He’s going to turn it around, Argentina can’t miss the World Cup.” Such thinking also led me to believe that Newcastle would somehow not get relegated. Argentina surely has good enough players to qualify, although probably not the ones Maradona is picking. So the problem lies where, then?

* Ditto to Scotland. George Burley has had no clue for some time now, and it cost the Scots a place at the World Cup. If your qualification hopes rest on winning at Holland on the final day of your group’s matches, it’s not good.

* Carlos Quieroz? The Portuguese FA are the only ones on the planet not aware that the man DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING and now they too are paying the price. Portugal are far too good to miss out on the World Cup, but they too need to go from uninspired to world-beaters overnight, and even then it might not be enough.

* One man who quite definitely knows what he’s doing? Fabio Capello. He’s using the same core of players as Steve McClaren, yet England look frighteningly good right now. They’re scoring goals for fun, haven’t lost in qualifying, and are brimming with confidence. I still think the team lacks the technical abilities to hoist the ol’ Jules Rimet come July, but they’ll go deep into the tournament playing like this.

* Don’t underestimate the job that Vincente del Bosque and Dunga have done with Spain and Brazil, respectively. Morons believe that anyone could manage teams with that much talent, but they’re wrong; a brilliant mind makes it look easy (see McClaren/Capello above). A Spain vs Brazil World Cup Final would be lovely but I can’t see it happening, as when do the #1 and #2 ever meet in the final of a big tournament? Both are playing deadly stuff right now, but methinks Brazil looks nigh invincible at present, although I watched Spain dismantle Belgium on Saturday and the goals were ridiculously good. Why the planet hasn’t jumped on the Spanish bandwagon yet, I have no idea. Unlike Brazil, Spain scores goals with slick, slick build-up through the midfield that’s a joy to behold.

So the US struggled to beat El Salvador 2-1 at home and made tough work of beating Trinidad & Tobago away 1-0. Six points and one foot in South Africa. Forgive me if I’m not too impressed.

The magic of the Confederations Cup has well and truly worn off. This team can’t pass the ball through the midfield. Michael Bradley is well off-form and I think that hurts a lot. A couple injuries and the defense is a total mess. The only bright real spot is that Altidore and Davies seem like a no-brainer up top, and Landon Donovan looks a class apart.

Dempsey is almost a liability in these games. Because it’s CONCACAF and these teams are crap, and because he plays in the Premier League, he tries all sorts of cute flicks and tricks, none of which come off. He loses the ball constantly. In the games against Egypt, Spain, and Brazil, he contributed to the team effort by putting his nose down and running his tank empty (to mix metaphors). This is classic too-big-for-britches syndrome and its up to the manager to smack the player down. Bradley, who has his favorites and sticks with them, hasn’t done a thing about it.

I can’t tell whether Bradley doesn’t know what he’s doing or whether he simply doesn’t have any better options, or a dose of both. I don’t care that there are no easy games in qualifying; the US haven’t won a game comfortably since the 3-0 over Egypt. In this region I don’t expect them to win 5-0 every time out but at the very least they should be able to dictate play for the majority of the match. Instead, they look like headless chickens and it’s disturbing. We’re better than this, aren’t we?

The US virtually qualified last night. Costa Rica would need to win both of their remaining games, Honduras would need at least two points from two games, Mexico would need at least one point, and the US would have to lose away to Honduras and lose at home to Costa Rica. Then they’d finish fourth and go to the playoff spot. In short, if the US draws either of these games it would effectively kill off the challenge from Honduras or Costa Rica. If they can’t manage that, they don’t deserve to go to the World Cup, but anything’s possible.

Current Mood: Yes |