Worst of '11: Mexico's dominance, U.S. women's collapse

Every roller coaster has its peaks and plunges, and during an up-and-down year in American soccer, those valleys ranged from the regrettable to the ridiculous. Some even occurred outside Red Bull Arena.

On Thursday, Sporting News honored the best of American soccer in 2011. Now, we present the stuff we?d rather see left behind as the calendar turns:

Harshest truth: Mexico is way better

Bob Bradley was blamed. Jonathan Bornstein was a scapegoat. If only the game hadn?t been played at the Rose Bowl. If only Steve Cherundolo had avoided injury. If only the U.S. hadn?t pushed for that third goal.

Nonsense.

The Americans had their run. Now, it?s Mexico?s turn. The team that recovered from a two-goal deficit to blast the U.S. national team, 4-2, in June?s CONCACAF Gold Cup final was too talented to be denied, regardless of the deficit. There simply wasn?t an American player available who could match the skill of Giovani dos Santos, Andr?s Guardado, Pablo Barrera or Javier ?Ch?charito? Hern?ndez.

The rout was almost inevitable.

That wasn?t Bradley?s fault. It?s a function of a mature soccer culture that developed an outstanding generation of young players going up against a nation that has taken the sport seriously for only about 25 years. The Gold Cup offered this harsh dose of reality: The U.S. has a long way to go.

?Right now they?re a good team. We have to go catch them now. They?ve shown they?re the team to beat right now,? U.S. forward Landon Donovan said afterward. ?They?ve just got a few guys who can change the game in a heartbeat.?

Most demoralizing goal: Giovani dos Santos

The aforementioned reality was hammered home in the 76th minute of the Gold Cup final as Mexico led, 3-2. Dos Santos scored a fourth that did more than double El Tri?s lead ? it emphatically demonstrated the attacking skill and composure that Mexico now boasts and the U.S. lacks.

The 22-year-old midfielder taunted four U.S. defenders with a game of slow motion keep-away before chipping the ball delicately over two more. The only place an American will score a goal like that any time soon is on an Xbox.

VIDEO: Dos Santos? goal

Worst performance under pressure: U.S. women

In the aftermath of the U.S. women's national team's heartbreaking penalty kick shootout loss to Japan in the Women?s World Cup final, usage of the word ?choke? was frowned upon. OK. Then what was it? The U.S., as seasoned and professional a team as there is in the women?s game, blew two late leads to a side that had escaped the competition?s group stage for the first time in 16 years.

Japan?s first goal came with the U.S. nine minutes from the trophy, when defenders Rachel Buehler and Ali Krieger combined to set the table for an easy shot by Japanese winger Aya Miyama. Abby Wambach ? who certainly rose to the occasion ? gave the U.S. the lead in overtime only to see it squandered again with just three minutes to go. This time, the Americans somehow forgot to mark Homare Sawa ? Japan?s best player ? on a corner kick.

U.S. coach Pia Sundhage inexplicably left one substitute unused in an exhausting 120-minute match that was her team?s sixth in 20 days. The players on the field wasted multiple golden scoring chances, hit the post twice and missed the first three penalty kicks in the shootout.

If it wasn?t a choke, it certainly was a game in which the U.S. folded like, well, origami.

Most embarrassing moment: Supporting Sepp Blatter

Neither the CONCACAF Gold Cup nor the Women?s World Cup WAS anything to be ashamed of, however. They were just defeats. The fact the U.S. Soccer Federation cast its vote in June?s FIFA presidential election for incumbent/Machiavellian overlord Sepp Blatter, however, still looks terrible.

Seventeen courageous nations chose to abstain from the one-man ?election,? indicating their disapproval of FIFA's culture of corruption and greed. When asked about the vote, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati told ESPN: ?An abstention in this case doesn?t do anything. It doesn?t send a message. To take the moral high ground is fine, unless you?re standing on quicksand.?

We disagree. What did U.S. Soccer have to lose, other than the right to host a World Cup that already had been awarded to Qatar?

American values should trump soccer politics, and a public affirmation of transparency, equal opportunity and the rule of law would have sent an inspiring message indeed.

Biggest letdown: Real Salt Lake?s loss

A scoreless draw would have been enough in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League finals. Real Salt Lake hadn?t lost at Rio Tinto Stadium in 34 games, and it was only 90 minutes away from an historic continental championship and a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup.

RSL played well, created a slew of scoring chances yet somehow managed to lose as Monterrey?s only shot on goal slipped through. That 1-0 defeat in late April is as painful, likely more, as any by an MLS club.

No MLS team had reached the finals of the CONCACAF Champions League since 2000, back when it was an abbreviated, eight-team single-elimination tournament. RSL had the support of all American soccer fans outside Colorado, the momentum from the stirring 2-2 draw in the first leg in Monterrey and history in its grasp.

And it fell agonizingly short.

?That was as bitter a disappointment as you?re ever going to have,? Real Salt Lake G.M. Garth Lagerwey said this week.

VIDEO: RSL-Monterrey highlights

Biggest tease: New York Cosmos

Eric Cantona! A Times Square billboard! An exhibition against Manchester United at Old Trafford! Hipster parties in SoHo! Merchandise flying off the shelves! Anyone who can pull that off certainly has the clout to secure an MLS expansion franchise, right?

Um ...

The new New York Cosmos revived the most iconic brand in American soccer, enlisted the legendary Pel? to aid the cause, launched a youth development initiative led by Hall of Famer Cobi Jones and then went about wasting everybody?s time.

The marketing was brilliant. The substance was lacking.

Buffoonish chairman Paul Kemsley overspent and underdelivered and was ousted by the club?s Saudi investors in October. The organization now lacks a public face and profile, and there?s no stadium plan in sight. Meanwhile, other markets around the country have joined the race to secure the expansion team MLS officials so desperately wanted to place in New York City.

But at least we have stickers. Lots of stickers.

Biggest boondoggle: U.S.-Spain exhibition

It cost $40 just to park at Gillette Stadium on June 4, the day the U.S. played host to world champion Spain in a marquee exhibition match that attracted 64,121 fans, each of whom paid a lot more than $40 for a ticket. Those fans were treated to a 4-0 cakewalk by a Spanish side that met next to no resistance from a U.S. team that actually had no incentive whatsoever to try ? coach Bob Bradley & Co. were preparing for their CONCACAF Gold Cup opener just three days later. It was as if Spain was on a 90-minute power play.

It wasn?t the U.S. team?s fault. The players didn?t schedule the game.

?Buyer Beware? shouldn?t apply to American soccer, which is still experiencing its share of growing fans. A lot of people were turned off that day outside Boston.

Worst owner: Dan Borislow

Borislow's reign in charge of the South Florida franchise in the Women's Professional Soccer league began with petty and self-defeating disobedience like refusing to launch a team website or install proper field signage.

Borislow then tried to install himself as coach. Then the emails came to light ? all the profane, insulting, incoherent and borderline insane emails to players, media members and WPS executives, who he called ?infidels? and ?blithering idiots.?

Borislow was such a nightmare that WPS folded his magicJack franchise, thereby dropping to five clubs and putting its sanctioning in peril. It also risked litigation. But nothing was as bad as putting up with Borislow?s nonsense, which would have been women?s soccer?s story of the year if not for the U.S. run to the Women?s World Cup final.

Worst MLS owners: Robert & Jonathan Kraft

Back in the pre-designated player days, when scouting savvy made most of the difference, the New England Revolution were a perennial contender thanks to coach Steve Nicol?s uncanny knack for unearthing and developing talent.

Nicol was fired in October following New England?s second consecutive season out of the playoffs. The Revolution finished tied with the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps for the worst record in MLS, fielded a roster with the third-lowest payroll and drew the fourth-lowest average attendance.

It?s that last statistic that represents the most significant indictment against the Krafts, who have proven to be model NFL owners but who have poisoned the soccer waters in one of America?s great sports towns.

It?s OK to lose now and then, but fans must believe there?s at least a commitment to improve. Nicol was replaced by Jay Heaps, a former player with no coaching experience who was working as an investment banker and TV commentator. It might turn out to be a good hire, but it certainly doesn?t scream of ambition.

New England supporters have lost their optimism and with no big-name players or an appropriate stadium on the horizon, it continues to look like the Krafts use the Revolution simply to keep the field warm between Patriots games.

Most confusing club: Chivas USA

Re-invented and overhauled in just about every year since it was founded in 2005, this ramshackle organization still lacks direction and identity. Is it Mexican? Mexican- American? Southern Californian? Focused on big-name Latino signings? Reliant on youth development? It certainly knows it?s not the L.A. Galaxy, whose fans it called ?artificial? in a bizarre spring ad campaign.

But while the Galaxy are drawing crowds and winning trophies, Chivas USA has missed the postseason two consecutive years and continues to decline in relevance.

It hired highly-regarded Real Salt Lake assistant Robin Fraser as its sixth coach in seven years and then mysteriously squandered a golden opportunity to improve the team by not using or trading its spot atop the MLS allocation order for returning American players.

Personnel moves since the end of the season have lacked an obvious strategy, too.

Maybe there?s a plan in place and something big in the works. Or maybe Chivas USA, which has endured several front-office overhauls, still has no idea what it?s doing.

Worst luck: Stuart Holden

A creative midfielder with range, bite and a whole lot of skill, Holden has been on the verge of U.S. national team stardom. But he remains on the verge thanks to a brutal array of injuries that knocks him down every time he stands back up.

The former Houston Dynamo man, who almost missed the 2010 World Cup with a broken leg, was named Bolton Wanderers? player of the 2010-11 English Premier League season despite sustaining a serious knee injury last March. He came back in September, played one game then was ruled out for another six months with cartilage damage.

The wait will continue, combined with the fear that the 26-year-old might never realize his potential.

Second-worst luck: Brad Davis

The Dynamo playmaker, genuine American-born, American-bred MLS lifer who had the season of a lifetime in ?11, missed out on the MLS Cup final after sustaining a torn quadriceps in the Eastern Conference championship game. Unfairly ignored by national team organizers, Davis deserved his turn in the spotlight.

Worst teammate: Rafa M?rquez

If the Mexican national team captain had set out to have the most absurd, embarrassing MLS season possible on purpose, he probably wouldn?t have topped his ?11 performance.

From his listless and mediocre play, to his public defamation of Tim Ream and the rest of his New York Red Bulls teammates who failed to match his ?level,? to the absurd red card coup de gr?ce in the playoffs against L.A., M?rquez -- at $4.6 million per season -- proved to be the worst designated player in MLS history.

VIDEO: M?rquez? playoff meltdown

Worst halftime entertainment: Jan Gunnar Solli

The Red Bulls defender, who DJs in his spare time, was driven out at halftime of the New York-L.A. playoff game at Red Bull Arena to make some noise alongside a woman playing an electric violin.

Solli wasn?t playing while he served a suspension.

Former New York and L.A. forward Juan Pablo ?ngel, now with Chivas, spoke for many when he tweeted, ?Player that was suspended for the most important game of the season gets to DJ while teammates are breaking their butts off #shocking.?

That pretty much summed up the season for a tone-deaf club that got so many of the important things wrong in '11.

Worst management: Hans Backe and Erik Sol?r

The Red Bulls deserve this. Backe, the head coach, admitted that he planned for the season without knowing when the CONCACAF Gold Cup was scheduled. He failed to motivate M?rquez, let promising U.S. national team forward Juan Agudelo rot on the bench, saw Ream regress dramatically in his sophomore season, drew the ire of Red Bulls fans desperate for a trophy by sandbagging a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal and traded away eventual MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario to open up salary cap room for a 38-year-old goalkeeper.

Sol?r, the G.M., supported Backe through every misstep and drew a $10,000 fine from MLS in June for issuing a press release that attacked game referees.

On top of all that, a team that spent just $1.3 million less than L.A., and more than three times as much as 15 of MLS? 18 teams, finished in 10th place.

Biggest fall from grace: Charlie Davies

When Davies joined D.C. United in March, he was a hero, supported unreservedly by fans throughout MLS for his return from the devastating injuries suffered in a ?09 car crash.

His two-goal debut at RFK Stadium was the stuff of legend.

Now, he?s on his way back to France and the club that holds his rights, FC Sochaux, unwanted and somewhat disgraced. Despite scoring 11 goals, his confused and often casual play won few supporters in the nation?s capital. His diving exploits earned him the first fine for simulation in MLS history and drew the ire of fans around the country.

The final straw was a $20 million lawsuit filed against the club and party promoter who were involved in the event Davies attended the night he broke U.S. national team curfew and was injured. While it might have been his legal right, it infuriated former supporters who now regard Davies as immature, spoiled or clueless.

It might be untrue, but perception is reality. The hero is long gone.

Dumbest fan trend: YSA

In soccer, fans are supposed to provide the atmosphere. The race to outdo each other with more color, more sound and more creativity is as much a part of the sport?s culture as what takes place on the field.

Yet in stadiums throughout MLS, fans are parroting the same, sophomoric cheer each time the opposing goalkeeper takes a goal kick: ?You Suck ---hole!? they scream. Over and over, in stadium after stadium, the dumbest cheer in sports spreads like plague.

Profanity should stop being funny for its own sake when one reaches adolescence, but it can be excused within the raucous stadium environment if it?s funny or original. ?YSA,? as it?s now known, is the furthest thing from that.

The fact any sports fan would announce his/her own lack of intellect or creativity by yelling something that?s both pointless and without relevance to his/her team or the opponent is befuddling. The fact any MLS fan would feel good copying a cheer heard in so many other stadiums is depressing.

Worst look: Montreal Impact

The new logo, a busy, overdone shield (it?s soccer, so it has to be a shield, right?) featuring a mish-mash of stripes, stars and fleur-de-lis clip art, didn?t inspire a lot of confidence.

But it only got worse. The uniforms unveiled by the expansion Impact in early December were stunning in their banality.

The vast majority of iconic soccer uniforms around the world feature more than one color -- perhaps Real Madrid?s all-white and Liverpool?s all-red are the only exceptions -- yet MLS teams continue to remain obsessed with monochrome kits that are almost indistinguishable from each other.

Montreal could start from scratch. Montreal could have opted for the blue-and-black stripes featured in its logo, which are worn by only a small handful of clubs around the world. Or it could become the first MLS team to wear a sash, halves or a tricolor ensemble. Or hey, maybe just a pair of shorts that?s a different color than the shirt.

But instead, Montreal officials introduced a primary uniform that will be league?s seventh featuring a blue jersey, blue shorts and blue socks. Nothing distinctive and nothing original: just a lack of impact.

Source: http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2011-12-30/worst-of-11-mexicos-dominance-us-womens-collapse

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