I wanted to interject a bit of fun amid all the doom and gloom. So, the rules are simple. You pick one currently active player not named Messi or Ronaldo that you would have on the US National team and explain why. I'll go first. Jack Wilshere is my pick. I pick Jack because we need a creative spark up front. He is young with great upside yet has already shown his ability to play against the worlds best. It is a bit ironic I would pick a player in a position where we seemingly have the most depth but creative players are a rare breed. This doesn't help our back line but we have some potential there and I think this will work itself out in time. I can't wait to see your picks!
Iniesta. Beautiful ability. An absolute poet with the ball at his feet. Closest thing to a true artist that's playing the game today.
Salvatore Sirigu People may not be familiar with him, but he is the keeper for PSG who is Italy's future number one, and is being lauded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world (he just turned 26 in January). I thought long and hard about putting Iniesta, Kun Aguero, Falcao, or Higuain on this list (specifically the last 3 because we need a striker badly), but then I considered how often Tim has bailed us out and kept us in games and how truly important having a great keeper can be. It can be everything, and can turn a 3-0 loss into a 0-0 draw. Tim has done well for us but not only is he getting older, we don't have any clear-cut world class keepers coming through the pipe line as we have had in years past, and to be honest, Tim's positioning, decision making, temperament and long range shop stopping abilities leave a lot to be desired. Anyway, that's my choice.
just kidding^. Probably Falcao or Iniesta. Both are top 5 players in the world and we need more creativity and goal-scoring.
Some interesting stuff here keep em coming. I agree Ibra is too old but we could bring Gooch back for some interesting times!
Super Tomas Rosicky aka The little Mozart. Such a shame that injuries have really impacted Rosicky's career. He honestly looked like he was going to be at least one of the top 10 midfielders in the world. He was such a great talent. He is still very good but his legs like to give out frequently.
You guys are lost.. We need defenders.. How about Kompany? Vidic? John Terry? or maybe even Neven Subotic
Van Persie can still score goals even on rare and misfired service...so he'd be the ideal striker for our current offense. If it's under the premise that we're playing Klinsiball, it would be great to have an Iniesta who can just carry the ball out of midfield by himself or a Cazorla/Scholes type who actually knows how and when to turn possession play into an attack.
Yeah, I was wondering when RVP would pop up. Love to have him, obviously. For the reasons you specified. Would like a dominant CB, but hard to pass on RVP.
Since apparently being current doesn't matter based on the answers. Zidane. If playing currently mattered, Bale. A little width goes a long long way.
What? What makes you think being current doesn't matter? Clearly being a current player is the whole point of this thread, or we'd all be saying Maradona. Also, RVP should be a consideration, but people shouldn't forget he's 29 already, as hard as that is to believe. He'll probably only be an elite player for the rest of this cycle and he'll start to tail off. Bale is a good choice however.
Another consideration would be Mario Gotze. Its incredible he's only 20 years old and is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. He'll be useful for probably 3 more cycles.
Gotze or Ozil. Maybe Moutinho. We need a #10/guy who can distribute in the central midfield more than anything else. Jones/Bradley playing behind/around a player like that might actually make this abominable Klinsmann approach work.