Freddy Adu did not develop well in MLS

We're constantly hammered with one side of the coin including Sunday at the conclusion of the US-Netherlands match on NBC by Marcelo Balboa: we hear constantly that Major League Soccer is responsible for the US being more competitive in major international tournaments.

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Peter Nowak's decision to adjust his tactics (ironically enough in line with what most American Soccer Spot readers suggested the other day) shows a tactical savvy and willingness to take chances that many American coaches have quite frankly lacked in big competitions. Since the debacle of Steve Sampson 3-6-1 in the 1998 World Cup, American managers have implemented a very basic tactical structure one which is based on counter attacking and generally does not consider the strengths or weaknesses of the upcoming opposition.

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Across the internet I see the panic button being pushed after this match. Sure both the performance and result were not encouraging, but the back line thought to be the weakness of this side when the squad was named over two weeks ago now looks like a rock at the back entering the Olympic Games.

In the opening forty five minutes, Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden were both poor out wide as was Michael Bradley in the middle and Jozy Altidore up top.

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Let me first apologize for the delinquency of this post. I slept through this morning's match and then caught the match later on the internet. The match today showed some weakness for the US at the back early in the match playing a 4-4-2, but the team believe it or not caught lightning in a bottle of sorts when Benny Feilhaber entered the match at halftime and helped control the next 15 or 20 minutes of the match. Click to continue reading...

Feilhaber's Goal sunk Mexico in the Gold Cup Final/SI.com

In the recent history of American Soccer no selection of a player to a major tournament squad has elicited as much controversy and quite frankly anger as last week's selection by Peter Nowak of Benny Feilhaber to the US Men's Olympic Team.

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Dax McCarty from USSoccer.com

Peter Nowak swapped one Floridian for another as Dax McCarty replaces the injured Nathan Sturgis on the US squad. This leaves Nowak with only four natural defenders on the squad which leaves for Hong Kong and pre Olympic training tomorrow.

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Work commitments precluded me making the short drive to Tampa last night for the first Olympic qualifier. My intent was to provide a press box report of a triumphant US win. However, in this case sitting in front of the TV set gave me all the perspective I needed to make a determination on the state of this team and its coaching staff.

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Best Performance: The US' 2-1 victory over the Pato led Brazil squad at the U-20 World Cup in Canada

Biggest Revelation: Sal Zizzo. The UCLA product playing out wide in the US midfield for the U-20s got himself a contract in the Bundesliga with his outstanding World Cup.

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