I don't think I'll be treading any toes by suggesting that the past 12 months hasn't been the kindest to American soccer, on pretty much all its fronts. Our emissaries abroad in the big leagues have all regressed to varying degrees (minus probably and only Baby Bradley), even if it were ever the paltriest of declines. Bocanegra (or Black Female Mouth, as is never appropriate to call him) deemed the Premier League too hectic and shuttled off to the quiet life in France, Landon never really got his opportunity in Munich, and the Ædus, Jozy, and Benny were lost at sea or something, who knows. (Sasha couldn't even manage locating his boat out.) Deuce, who I think by now has shown he ought to be deployed closer to goal for maximum production, is instead played behind the world-beating likes of Bobby Zamora and Diomansy Kamara on either midfield flank, and even then his owl of a manager (or his manager of an owl?) casts his spot in a stopgap light rather than a stout one. And Tim Howard is a keeper, which in terms of soccer is, for lack of better phrasing, America's shit.
The national team, while not particularly underwhelming, still found ways to lose to Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica and stalemate El Salvador. I don't care where the games were staged, Brazil and Italy they certainly are not, and if the US wants to jump up to the weight class they so seem to crave they are games that must be not just won, but handled under any circumstances. Right up until they mummified the Pharoahs, there were questions aplenty; now and after they shook up the world, there might be even more.
And this gets its own paragraph of but one sentence (and addendum), to acknowledge its preponderancy and avoid actually discussing it: Beckham. (Or, if you prefer [and you should], in your best Posh impression: Beckham!)
And this is where we get to The Nu Great American Hope, he who will be so privileged as to don the absolute class new 09/10 Milan shirt. (Probably won't look as right in it as Maldini did briefly, but nonetheless.) Seems like early returns are leaning heavily towards the poles as though them shits were melting. (...) We either ought to be bringing wooden spoons and pots out into the streets or holding dear to the days when Gooch was partnering good ol' Titus Shambles on the Tyne and trying to persuade the rapturous back into their homes. What's appropriate is most likely somewhere in between, but even the few inhabiting the gray area aren't particularly asking the right questions.
Is Gooch gonna get any playing time? Barring any superfluous purchases in central defense, of course he's going to play - wouldn't surprise me if was topping out his position's minutes by Christmas, if not the whole year. If he doesn't, it won't be on account of Milan and their bone dry resources, it'll be up to Gooch and whether or not he wants it badly enough, plain and simple. I say superfluous instead of further purchases because Galliani still has work to do in the back; I won't be the first to say it, but Gooch was as mighty as he was during the C. Cup because Jay Demerit was able to caulk the cracks in his game common to many defenders standing six foot four or taller. He's either a supple sequoia or a bruising palm tree, blocking light to the floor beneath and damning the skies above him impregnable, but subject to lateral quickness and mighty mice, of which there are plenty scurrying around Italy. Still, this is not the Onyewu of Newcastle, nowhere near, not even close, and with the aforementioned right buy, it could prove a marriage for the ages - the DC-born, Nigerian descended 6'4 rugged central defender succeeding entrenched in the (openly racist, mind you; Balotelli just won an award for it) Italian aim for defensive harmony and tactical beauty. Shouldn't be too hard; there's just Kaladze, Thiago Silva, and the corpse of Alessandro Nesta. Gooch eats them and more for god damn breakfast, please.
Remember also that Gooch, and pardon the obvious, plays center back; not a forward, not Landon Donovan, he is the offensive line, the catcher, the minesweeper, the underappreciated, Dwight Howard in his role within the Magic's system (and not as a Professional Basketball Star) - the facsimiles are torturedly endless. He doesn't provide (many) goals, nor does he set them up in a noticeable fashion, and I presume a substantial reason this is getting accentuated coverage is because the American public knows thanks to Becks that AC Milan is in fact a team, a Big Club at that. Gooch isn't going to save or popularize or dramatically redefine American soccer; he's another promising block, albeit a huge one, upon which to build the foundation. Like the win against Spain was, like the first half against Brazil was, like the tattooed German panzer hitting our shores next month could very well be.
A better question to ask: How will Oguchi take to Ronaldinho, and likewise how will Ron take to playing in his first team with an American?
The best question: Is anyone going to supply the Italians the American pejorative homonym of Onyewu's nickname?
