US 0 - 0 Colombia: This is why people hate soccer

The US tied Colombia 0-0 last night. If there was any action worth talking about from the game I'd tell you, but there really wasn't. The match was pretty terrible to watch, even from a soccer fan's perspective. Anyone who was tuning in for the first time probably won't be doing so for a second any time soon. The only things worth mentioning are that Brek Shea and Eric Lichaj both got their first cap with the national team.

So what have we learned from these past two friendlies?

1. We play the 4-4-2 for a reason
Saturday it was the 4-2-3-1, Tuesday is was the "4-3-3" that looked like a 4-1-4-1. Both games saw the offense look stagnant at best. Maybe that's more a result of playing guys with less experience and not having Landon, but it wasn't fun to watch.

2. Our players need to play
Gooch looked a little better against Colombia than against Poland, but there's still a ton of rust there. Jozy keep squandering chances and it looks like the ball plays him instead of vice-versa. These guys are very good and need to be cornerstones of our team, but they won't be if they sit on the bench at their clubs.

3. Jobs are up for grabs
With all the new players coming up, and few performing extremely well, there could some serious turnover in the next 18 months. Landon, Deuce, Timmy, Boca and Dolo are safe. The rest will have to fight. I'm especially excited for the Edu/Bradley/Jones battle since they all look like actual soccer players.

Rating the Players
This is my attempt to rank who did well and who didn't over these past few games. Players are measured against the standards I held for them before the friendlies, and more time on the field will mean higher placement, just because I got to see you more.

Jermaine Jones (great introduction to the team)
Steve Cherundolo (old man's still got it)
Stuart Holden (will start and probably let Deuce play forward)
Clint Dempsey (looks like a meth head, but balls outta control)
Eric Lichaj (looks like the new Dolo in a few years)
Clarence Goodson (should be moving on from Norway to a better league)
Tim Howard (not gonna fault him for 2 awful clearances)
Michael Bradley (all over the place, but not his usual self)
Carlos Bocanegra (still our best option a LB)
Heath Pearce (did better than haters want to give him credit for)
Maurice Edu (not his fault he had to play a new position)
Michael Parkhurst (solid in the middle, not really tested)
Brad Guzan (didn't do much, didn't have to)
Eddie Johnson (played better than Jozy in his few minutes)
Jozy Altidore (at least he scored once)
Brek Shea (a disappointing debut for the young player)
Benny Feilhaber (I gave him too much credit after Poland)
Jonathan Spector (invisible)
Alejandro Bedoya (still not an international)
Oguchi Onyewu (way too rusty)