I think the moral of the story (so far) is that if the ref swallows the red because they don't want to affect the outcome of the game (the ref who should have shown the straight Red to de Jong in the WC Final), then they are just kicking the can down the line and the player doesn't change his ways. If de Jong got shown a straight Red at the WC final, how much flak would he have gotten from his teammates and his country for his reckless play? Would that have made him more circumspect about his tackles and not led to him breaking the leg of HBA?

Boss? Seriously? He's still what, 19? Plus he doesn't even have a club at the moment. Why not ask about O. Gonzalez, I.Opara or T. Ream? Mix is an omission though I'm not sure he'd make the 17 that will play (11 starting + 6 subs).

my vote is a 4-3-2-1 (the xmas tree formation) Jozy Dempsey - Holden Jone - Edu - Bradley Pearce - Boca - Goodson - Dolo Howard Subs: EJ, Bedoya, Feilhaber, Lichaj, Spector, Guzan I think Gooch, Shea & Parkhurst are invited for BB to check-up on.

Did you do some research on what Germans expected? Here's a link and some interesting quotes: http://hwtheworldgame.sbs.com.au/germany/news/523865/Klinsmann-eager-to-return "As Germany coach, when he commuted between California and Europe, he went from being a novice who made the German federation nervous at times with new and unorthodox methods to a national hero and a highly-regarded coach, leading his unfancied team to a surprising third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup. " "Klinsmann's attacking style of play, his use of fitness trainers and a team psychologist, his inclusion of young players relatively untested at the international level, his modern management approach and his commitment to his players' personal development off the pitch all faced scepticism at the time. Those methods have since been adopted by many Bundesliga clubs and even Klinsmann's erstwhile enemies have acknowledged that Germany's 12-1-1 record under successor Joachim Loew is at least partly due to what Klinsmann started. " Sounds like the Germans were pretty happy with JK and attribute some of JL's success to JK.

How do these guys compare with the academy players from the MLS clubs, namely the homegrown players? Hard to compare due to age difference and lack of visible games for the homegrown (at least until the reserve system comes back)? I'd love a post similar to this about the homegrown players and the other up 'n comers in the academy system.

Clark made the turnover that resulted in Ghana going up 1-0 in the first 10 mins and had to be replaced at 30 mins because he was ineffective and more than likely going to get a red card. And if BB has a lot more information on the subject than me, than why does he make head scratching decisions? Clark over Edu and Findley over Gomez/Buddle still have me puzzled. Bringing in Findley for this match is again such a head scratcher.

Than that's a damning assessment of BB. I would think any reasonable person would look at the lineup vs Ghana and say Findley over Buddle/Gomez & R.Clark over Edu were mistakes. If BB really believed that Findley and R.Clark were "players that he thinks give the team the best change to win", then I seriously question his soccer intelligence. Believe it or not, I'm actually a BB supporter (less so after his screwed up the lineup against Ghana), but I've been very impressed with what BB has done with the team. For me, it was easier to take that he had a man crush on R.Clark & Findley instead of believing that he actually looked at the choices analytically and came up with Findley & R.Clark as "players that he thinks give the team the best change to win".

BB's man crush on Findley and Klestjan continue. Findley is a complete head scratcher. What is Eddie not available to not put the ball in goal? Would have preferred Buddle, who actually puts the ball in goal and actually plays for his club team. As for Sacha, it seems like BB was looking for any reason from Sacha to call him back in. Would have much preferred Holden or Torres. As for Bornstein, I think BB will give him as much rope as necessary to hang himself. I know BB had Sacha and Bornstein at Chivas USA, but it's lineups like this that make me pine for Klinsmann who (hopefully) doesn't have favorites.

Franco, Great to know the leagues. Now a bit of information on the teams would be very helpful. For example, RSC Anderlecht is currently in X place out of Y teams. Usually, I have to go to espn soccernet and look up each league to get a sense of how the teams are doing.

so, all those guys that really impressed everyone on the U20 team at the Milk Cup? We will be agonizing why these guys haven't been successful in 2-5 years? Uggh!!

It started with Klinsmann, but it took a lot of work from the various clubs in Germany and control over the youth teams. I just don't think Gulati wants to put that much power in the hands of one person (Klinsmann) and I don't think the MLS clubs want to invest them much in player development. The thing that the MLS clubs may not see is how much "regular joe" interest is in the World Cup. Guys who never watch soccer are following the world cup. It's amazing how many people are talking about the US vs Algeria, ending of Uruguay vs Ghana, etc. MLS you have a chance to capture much more of the general public's attention!

Dude, when the non-soccer-following sports reporter is questioning BB's lineup choices, then you he screwed it up. Look at his response to #20 http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100701 He knows he's hooked on soccer when he's wondering why Rico Clark is starting instead of M. Edu. There's not much a manager can do to affect the game. Excluding preparation for the game, really all they can do is control the lineup: 11 starting and 3 subs. BB screwed up 2 of his starting lineup and had to waste 2 subs to fix them. Remember, this isn't the first nor the second nor the third game of the world cup. This is the FOURTH game. Has he not seen enough of his team to figure out who his best 11 are given the formation he wants to use? Gomez/Buddle/Feilhaber (with Dempsey up top) instead of Findley & M.Edu instead of R.Clark is a screw-up of major proportions! Who else could have been brought in to give the US some energy / legs when they went down again in extra time? Buddle for long balls? Stuart Holden for some energy in the midfield? The other question is whether the US would have started so poorly in the 2nd and 3rd games if he had picked the right guys to start. For some reason, he has a man-crush on Findley and Clark and that cost the US a chance at the quarterfinals. No Ifs or Buts!

Bradley did a good to great job. That said, I would only replace Bob if we had a good coach in mind to replace him. To me, the only real choice is Klinsmann. If you look at Germany over the last 8 years, what a change he and his assistant/successor (J. Low) have wrought in the German style of play. Seriously, the difference in their play from 2002 to now is amazing! In 2006, not many Germans believed they could be successful with this style of play and now look at them. One of his tenants is that the a country must have a style of play that is consistent from the Youth levels to the National team. He's based this on the success of Barcelona where the youth teams play the same style as the big club. They can pluck any youngster from the youth team and put them on the big club and the player know how to play (whether they have the athleticism, skill, mental toughness, etc are a different story). Look at the German U21 team where Muller and Ozil led Germany to the UEFA U21 championship (over England 4-0) and now are on the German national team. Same style of play is one of the big reasons they could graduate to be important cogs for the national team. He also seems to indicate that his preference is pace and creativity. A difficult combo but one that will be successful. Look at how fast Germany and Brazil play. I think the US needs to develop a style of play and I bet Klinsmann will ask for full control over the US from the National team to the Youth teams. I was suspicious of giving it to him initially, but now I'm all for it.

I can't believe the ref gave a second yellow without seeing Torres' got nicked. It was a foul but completely incidental. After that, there was no way Spain was going to lose the lead. Down 2-0, I could see Chile coming back to score a goal. With 11v11, I think Chile could have tied Spain. That said, Chile had a number of rash challenges. I kept hoping they wouldn't get a second yellow.