man...Benny's passing at the 2005 U-20 was pretty good if memory serves. Things looked bright for a bit. Wish he would've stayed in Germany, if not at Hamburg, then latched onto another club. And if he never does another thing of note for the USMNT, he will always have those 3 games where he came in as a sub and helped to effectively improve the US attack. The thing about Benny is that the only thing stopping him from becoming a more complete player ala MB is him. Bradley probably didn't have Benny's passing abilities or technique but has constantly seemed to improve every aspect of his game with each passing year. Watching that Venezuela friendly, it seemed like Benny could have simply chosen to not whine to the ref repeatedly or flop his arms repeatedly in disgust at teammates and just keep grinding and we'd instead be talking about a midfield of Benny and MB and arguing about who should be the 6. ....
You know, the longer I spend watching this sport and other professional sports in general, the more I think that the mental aspects of both the game and of being a professional are the biggest determinants in terms of how far a player will go and is probably the main attribute to place your bets on, and that while ability and talent are prerequisites, an overabundance of them rarely results in a better player than another one who simply has enough of those gifts. (That said, your extremely rare Messi or Ronaldo or Iniesta-type guys are those over-talented guys who are also extremely mentally strong and driven AND generally had some very good fortune along the way.) I still believe that Benny is more naturally-gifted than Michael, and I've long been an admirer of his game from an aesthetic point of view, and I still pull for him. But it's been crystal clear for a while now that Michael is not only the better player, he's one of our best, and might well end up the very best of them before he's done. Several years ago I learned that you simply do not bet against Michael. He might have the odd rough spell (ie the coaching change at BMG and Aston Villa) but in the end he's going to find a way to win.
Until Michael Bradley is marketed he won't move up the list - no matter his performances. Why? The non-core fans will not hear about him. Nike, MLS and US Soccer matter here. Based on their trajectory I expect MB to become more relevant with Clint. But it's still too difficult to watch MB play in Italy, so he won't be the focal point. Though with Landon announcing his return, don't think US soccer will be letting him go any time soon either, nor Nike/MLS (unless he says no). He is still incredibly popular with the non core fan (who odds are kinda sorta heard about maybe retirement but think he'll be playing come 2014). I expect the same thing we've been seeing through 2014 - a focus on LD, Clint, MB and Howard (with Clint and MB getting the focus UNLESS LD comes back strong). There are a few people I could see becoming more relevant from a marketing angle going forward: 1) Omar Gonzalez - MLS will begin to market him more should he perform and make the senior team. Hard to fully market a defender though, so he'll remain a team player. 2) Jozy Altidore - he needs to start scoring with the Nats and be sold (which some are expecting him to be) - hard to follow a player in the Netherlands. 3) Fabian Johnson - I'm not sure how good his English is, but with his attacking prowess and the fact that we already love him on the USMNT, he could be an interesting choice. Don't know yet: 1) Brek Shea - depends on his performances this year 2) Graham Zusi - depends on his year and when LD is back 3) Eddie Johnson - really depends on how he performs 4) Juan Agudelo/Terrance Boyd/Josh Gatt - not ready yet Just my two cents for now.
There's also a 'delayed reaction effect'. Donovan will probably still be on this list two years after he's retired (assuming he hasn't already retired). If you polled all players men and women, I'd bet Mia Hamm would still come up somewhere down the list (maybe not top 10, but somewhere in the list), and she's been retired for close to a decade now.
Also will depend on where LD goes when he retires - will he still be in the public eye? Julie Foudy being on ESPN helps her recognition, same with Alexi Lalas. I believe Mia Hamm is the most well known soccer player among men and women. I thought I read that somewhere? Don't quote me, but she's really popular. Folks have started talking about Alex Morgan has the heir to that.