Robbie Rogers just isn’t there yet

Just a quick one today, because I have two ESPNSoccernet pieces to produce over the next few hours, including an All-Star game preview and 600 words of tight and true from Chelsea-Club America. But I do have something snarky to say:

I took a some heat for not including Robbie Rogers in a list of U.S. Gold Cuppers who gained a toehold on a U.S. roster spot for South Africa 2010. In pieces for ESPN.comand MLSnet (and for my little blog here) I mentioned Stuart Holden, Chad Marshall, Stuart Holden and juuust maybe Kyle Beckerman as taking little strides toward the prize. I didn’t hate on Rogers … I just didn’t mention him.

Some people took umbrage. Some even demonstrated their displeasure with some very nasty comments. You know, the kind from people who call names and insist that you’re not worthy of a place on Earth if you don’t agree with them … even if they can’t manage to spell most of the words correctly.

Well, I feel vindicated.

Rogers had one nice match, then a bunch of very ordinary run-abouts.

He has been playing on the wing opposite to Holden, so the comparison is convenient. And simply put, Holden has continued to look confident, energetic, speedy and skillful. Some of his Gold Cup evenings have been better than others, but he has never looked like a man fighting beyond his weight class. More than that, he’s productive, providing important goals and assists to the U.S. cause.

Rogers? Not so much.

Look, Rogers is speedy and he’s got some upside, for sure. I like the kid a lot. I just don’t fall into the trap of reading too much into one good performance against a Grenadian side stacked with dudes who are barely professionals.

I just think he’s still got a ways to go. To use a geographical analogy, if he were starting in L.A. and destined for New York, he’d be somewhere near Chicago right now -- probably handling up on a slice of Lou Malnati’s deep-dish style pie. Mmmm.

Some people want to tell you he’s in just outside Philly, about to jump I-95 up into the Big Apple. But I just don’t see it. I watch the guy every week in MLS, and I can tell you that for every good service, he’ll hit one lousy one and one that’s just OK. His decision making still needs polish. He has to work on the mental aspects, specifically on the ability to assess the match and the opponent, to know what’s going to work on given day against whom. He has to find the spaces and, generally, find the game.

Look at how Holden, who was far more effective against Mexico, keeps doing just that. (Not that anyone looked great in that Mexican smash-and-grab Sunday. Then again, some of us saw that coming -- although not by such a lopsided margin.)

I see Holden doing so much good work on both ends, consistently providing things that Rogers doesn’t, like offering early pressure, collecting loose balls in the back, more diligently tracking runners and such. Plus, Holden can supply good set piece balls. And there is value in having another guy on the 23-man roster who can do so.

Rogers might get there. He’s just not there yet.

You haters may send your comments now. I’ll get past it, and we’ll just have to agree to disagree.