This thread title is interesting. Is Charlie Davies done with the USMNT? No. However, the USMNT is done with Charlie Davies.
So sad about Charlie Davies. Sometimes I feel like the whole history of US soccer is littered with "could have beens." If Donovan had the ambition and drive of a Dempsey or Bradley, what could he have been? (I think he has the talent that he could've been a contributor on a Champions League club in one of the big four European leagues) If JOB had a body built for the rigors of professional soccer, what could he have been? (Barca was apparently interested in him after the '02 WC). If Charlie Davies hadn't gotten into that accident, what could he have been? Sadly, we'll never know...
Six months ago I thought this guy was finished. Then a funny thing happened. He started playing well. He seems to have recovered some of his explosiveness. And more importantly, his confidence. Now hopefully the goals will start raining in. Normally, I'm not a big advocate of reclamation projects. But it's not like we're loaded with talent on the forward line. Just thought I'd throw this out there.
I think much of the what could have beens that you refer to are a function of our thin talent level. A huge percentage of players in any sport fail to meet their potential for reasons unrelated and related to their sport (injuries, drug use, mental drive/ambition/competitiveness, luck etc). If you throw in that our players have, until lately, had to go over seas to play in a competitive league you reduce the odds further. In a country that produces more prospects, many of the "failures" would not be noticed or would be forgotten quickly. the NFL has plenty of Todd Marinovich's but people forget and remember Joe Montana or Peyton Manning instead. In the NBA, players often mention guys they knew growing up that impressed them as great players that never made it past the playgrounds. I'm sure the same happens in Brazil but they still have Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Pele, Kaka, Rivelino.... Germany has....
point taken but charlie davies is different...he´s not a bust. he proved he could play and excel at the very top level of the game against spain and brazil etc in official FIFA competitions. there are hyped up busts...cd is not, and never was, one. it just so happens that some of the USMNT´s biggest talents have also had bad luck with injuries. davies, onyewu, holden, davies, JOB, ramos, gibbs, altidore all those guys would have made a huge difference at the world cups they missed and that does reflect on thin talent level but not so much as it does on bad luck.
let's give it a little more time. Yesterday was the very first time I have been impressed since he returned to MLS. Let's see if it was one off.
He is 28 and already relatively old. I hope some are not expecting to see the 23 year old who played without fear and punished teams like Egypt among others. His national team prospects are low, he is in a league Klinsmann does not respect and time is not on his side. The best thing for him would be to focus on his club career.
Never said he was a bust. I just happened to choose Todd Marinovich because he came to mind. Perhaps a better example might have been Bo Jackson. I agree that we have quite a few players careers halted, shortened or seriously damaged due to injury. another player is Ben Olsen. It still gets back to the question, I think, how many players of similar or better skill do you think the Germany's, France's etc have lost to extraneous problems? It's kind of like that team with little or no depth. To have a successful season, they need to be lucky with injuries. Injuries are a part of sports, so having a number of injuries (even to important players) should be expected. This is especially true over an extended period of time. to avoid those injuries is being lucky while having those injuries is not really bad luck unless they are excessive. I really think that much of our "bad luck" will go away when we get more good players coming up through the ranks.
Maybe. Keep in mind that last cycle we actually used Alan Gordon in a World Cup Qualifier that mattered. Such is our lack of depth at forward................ Charlie isn't the striker he was circa 2009, but he does have attributes that Klinsmann might want to take a look at. In fact, due to his high-end speed not being what it used to be...........................he's had to work on aspects of his game that Klinsmann actually really likes from his forwards. For instance his hold up play has vastly improved. I need to see more consistency from his play now in order for him to get back into the picture for the USMNT. He played well this weekend against Columbus, but he's had a lot of games this season when he was practically invisible out there. I mean, Charlie only scored 3 goals this season in 18 appearances. He scored fewer goals for the Revs than Patrick Mullins.........................
Including playoffs, Davies is on 5 goals and 4 assists for 14 games worth of minutes this season. Good stuff.
I think we have to remember that Charlie's injuries were pretty unique in terms of trying to determine the likelihood and timetable to complete recovery. I think yesterday we saw a guy who at least feels as if he has his mojo back. Whether he has his mojo back is yet to be seen, but he is feeling it right now. It may be that his body is learning to compensate for his limitations and his natural athletic ability is catching up with those accomodations at last. Who knows. You can't close the book on his NT career though as as many have said, we don't have the luxury of having a stable full of options. A Charlie Davies at 50% of his Azteca goal days may be as dangerous in the right set up as Jozy if JA continues to struggle at S'land all season.
I firmly agree. Donovan would have been on a CL team fighting for the title. Now whether that was Germany or Italy or even Turkey, not sure. I doubt he'd have achieved so much with the NT as he'd been busy with his club achievements (as many foreign players in Europe). Had Davies not gotten injured, he'd have been a success in France. In his 2nd Ligue 1 appearance he scored a brace in the 2nd half (coming off the bench) against 1 of the biggest teams in the league. He'd probably have gotten his shot to play in the PL by now. And our performance in SA would have been more illustrious.
WTF? Charlie is a bright guy, good skills, and has fought back from a horrendous injury. How is he EJ?
Now that we know what happened with Donovan, we shouldn't talk about lack of drive, he's struggling with depression and has been half his career. Its an illness, not a lack of motivation. We should think of Donovan as someone who's drive was frequently able to overcome a debilitating illness. He's played some of the best soccer the U.S. has seen despite this illness.
One of my biggest regrets about Davies's career is that he (reportedly) wasn't able to perform The Carlton at the Azteca corner flag before his teammates tackled him after his goal...
I just wanted to add that I'm really happy there's a legitimate reason for this thread to be active again. It's been a long road back to where he is now, but I'm delighted for Charlie that he's made it this far.
I suspect that his struggles go back a lot further than 2012 and have shaped his career in ways that have not been made public.
I was talking about Donovan, not Davies. Regardless, I don't consider 32 to be categorically too old for a striker in the World Cup. It is an uphill battle though, and I definitely don't expect to see him there. In the meantime, it is great to see him having some success with the Revolution. Kudos to Heaps for giving him that opportunity. Let's hope he builds on it during the playoffs and next season at whichever club he is playing for.
I actually did. It was always going to be difficult to tell Landon he wasn't going to make the team. Whether at the WC this year, GC next year, Copa America in 2016. Plus his comments before the WC really didn't signal someone who was going into it with fire in his belly so to speak. Donovan no doubt one of the best American players ever. Just not now.