The USA only led for three minutes at the World Cup! Its strikers have gone scoreless in the last two World Cups! “Those other nations also have the advantage of placing their best athletes on the soccer field. That is not the case in the United States, and a circumstance that doesn’t look likely to change any time soon.” Come on, Bob, you’re better than this. Instead of navel gazing, how about doing some homework with an eye to the future?

If you don’t like Bob Bradley’s “team-building philosophy and the same indeterminate style of play” then suggest a new coach with a different style.

Don’t like the current farm system, which “turns out very sound athletes who are strong on fundamentals and discipline, but can’t seem to muster the brilliance in the box of players from those nations whose stars rise from barefoot matches in the street or endless games of pickup in the park” then suggest a new one.

Would it have hurt you to look to younger players who could contribute in 2014? Guys like Agbossoumonde, Gil, Lleget, and McInerney, a promising striker in your back yard? Are those names even on your radar? (They weren’t on ours … until we did the necessary homework.)

U.S. soccer has a long way to go [Inquirer]