As Marco Fabian smashed home his second goal against Barcelona this past Wednesday with a spectacular volley, another nail in the coffin of the US CONCACAF dominance was added. He is yet another rising star coming through the Mexican youth soccer ranks. Fabian is a dynamic, creative attacking player that the U.S. lacks having right now. The U.S. essentially starts three defense-minded center midfielders, but none of them have half of the attacking ability that Fabian possesses and he does not even start for the Mexicans. The Mexican National team has had a great summer. First they won the Gold Cup by dismantling a full strength U.S. side in the second half. Then the U-17′s won the Under 17 World Cup and finally a mixture of youth and veteran players showed very well in the Copa America against strong South American competition. The scariest part right now is that they have all of the qualities that the USA lacks–a true goal scorer (Chicharito) and another one at the U-17 level named Carlos Fierro. Fierro is only 17 and is being pursued by Real Madrid and Barca for their youth squads. The U.S. is also missing out on creative attacking midfielders (Gio Dos Santos, Carlos Vela, Fabian, and many more coming through the ranks), as well as young potential super stars like all of the aforementioned people and the rest of the u17 squad. Their youth players are getting offers to play all over Europe for big clubs and join youth set-ups, while our Americans are going to college and jumping into the MLS.
The future did not look very bright for the U.S., which is why a management change had to be made. Bradley’s defensive posture and counter attacking style was completely flawed because we lacked the personelle to make it work, namely a true #9 who just scores goals. Hence, a change was made and in comes Jurgen Klinsmen. This is a great hire for the U.S., since hopefully he will bring about a new style of American soccer and unearth fresh American talent. It is obvious that we need it desperately.
