I'm kind of the opposite in regards to the European leagues. I follow the US players more than I am interested in quality footy games. I live and die for international games, even if the best players aren't playing. The US has really at least tried to increase interest in the states, and the younger up-and-comers are looking promising (they always do though, don't they?) If a lot of them can get PT over in Europe early in their careers, I think it will be a major step for US Soccer.

In regards to tonight's game (I only caught the second half), I felt as though the US looked flat except for a few flashes when they moved the ball well (maybe it was more ineptitude of SLV's transition D), and I again felt insulted by the fielding of an inferior lineup. We can only hope a midfield of Torres-Edu-Bradley-Feilhaber/Clark/Adu/whomever is firing on all cylinders come 2010. Bob Bradley always seems to do stupid things in regards to lineups and substitutions...I just hope he goes into "playoff Tito" mode sometime soon; like, before we finish all our qualifiers. [/pipedream]

I don't know what sort of shape Mo Edu is in, but does anyone know if he'll have an outside shot of making the squad for the final 2 WCQs in October? I mean even if he's not at 100%, I'd sure like to get a look at him, even as a sub. This team has huge upset potential as we saw in the CC this summer, but having a solid roster (with guys that have actually played together) is going to be key to getting out of even the group stage at the WC. We've got some real offensive potential in our array of young midfielders; I just wish Bradley would let these guys loose rather than having to play more D as a group than they should. It's rough on the MFs when you start Dempsey, Altidore, and Davies. I'd like to see a 4-4-2 or even 3-4-1-2, with Bradley, Edu, Torres (maybe even Adu) cycling on runs with Donovan/Altidore/Davies.

EDIT: I heard Bornstein sucked it up again (1st half recap from my buddy).