Looking at the list of teams we're playing this time around in prep for the World Cup gives me pause. On the one hand, in the two games right before the World Cup, we're facing tougher teams than we ever have before. On the other hand, we're not facing nearly as many teams. '98: Gold Cup: Cuba, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico Friendlies: Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Paraguay, Austria, Final Trio: Macedonia, Kuwait, Scotland TOTAL GAMES: 12 '02: Gold Cup: South Korea, Cuba, El Salvador, Canada, Costa Rica Friendlies: Italy, Honduras, Ecuador, Germany, Mexico, Ireland Final Trio: Uruguay, Jamaica, Netherlands TOTAL GAMES: 14 '06: Friendlies: Canada, Norway, Japan, Guatemala, Poland, Germany, Jamaica Final Trio: Morocco, Venezuela, Latvia TOTAL GAMES: 10 This time: Friendlies: Honduras, El Salvador, Netherlands Final Duo/Trio: Turkey, Czech Republic (maybe Ireland) TOTAL GAMES: 5 or 6 I'm not suggesting that there's any correlation between the number of friendlies and how well we do. And if you remove the Gold Cup games from '98 and '02 you get 8 and 9 games respectively. I'm also not entirely sure this is a problem, but I do think that this is at least partly a result of us having more of our top players in Europe. However, it could also be a result of Bradley having seen enough of all the players over the past three years. In the past, we've seen some (needed) talent 'discovered' in the last few games leading up to the Cup. At this point for this cycle, though, it seems like that's not going to happen, and may not need to, despite all the injuries. I haven't looked to see how this compares to other national teams. And I'm not sure how much it matters. But I thought it was an interesting point, and might merit further discussion/analysis.
Our strongest talent is largely not based in MLS anymore, unlike in 98, 02 or 06. So we don't need as many friendlies with our B squads like we did in those years.
'98 and '02 were Gold Cup years. Thankfully, CONCACAF has seen the light and we don't play the Gold Cup in WC years anymore. And Ives says (not a good source) that we may play 3 more Euro tune ups between March and May. If true, that bumps the total # of games to 8. Not much difference.
I'd rather play fewer games against stronger teams like we're doing. Also, let's wait to see how the rest of the schedule fills out.
Reading comprehension. Per Ives: "Between the March 3 friendly with the Netherlands and the matches with the Czech Republic and Turkey, the United States will have three European tune-ups before the World Cup." That's all it says. Not three additional matches.
Poor writing, as between can be used either way. Yes, that is 6 matches overall. Between the two things, there are three other things. Thing A: March 3 Friendly with the Dutch. Thing B: Matches with Turkey and Czech Republic. Thing between them: 3 more matches. That is reading comprehension. Now, it may be true that Ives just doesn't know how to write (kind of a given), but that is what he wrote means. Is it likely Ives was using the word to mean that "between" those 3 matches, that makes 3 European tune ups (between, as in common). It is poor writing for 2 reasons: 1) Between can be used either way (in common or relational in terms of time and space). 2) The Turkey match and Dutch matches aren't in Europe.
Hmm ... I can see having a few friendlies in June, right before the WC itself. Most Euro seasons end in mid-May, so there will be about 10 days in between ... but 3 whole matches? BTW, I think strong teams (and the Czechs and the Turks are) will show some of the weak spots the US has a lot more than desired.
Personally, I think the USA was on track on 2006, we just lost the plot by squandering April (A silly friendly against Jamaica) and by hosting a weak send off series. We also squandered a Euro game against Poland, it doesn't make sense to play in Europe in front of a friendly crowd. Also, we had the strange arrangement with the Korean team. We had lined up South Korea as a match, but later both sides agreed to have it as a closed-door scrimmage, robbing the US of a high-octane fixture. So far, the US has 4 more friendlies confirmed. We had Honduras, and we are going to play El Salvador, the Netherlands, The Czech Republic and Turkey (The last two in the send-off series). So, we have five matches for tuneups so far. I think the US, for this cycle plays nine or ten matches. Remember, the US lost their friendly against Mexico due to some rights issue. Had the Mexico friendly went through, the US would have played El Salvador on the 25th and Mexico on the 28th. This wouldn't have been bad at all! Furthermore, both the Northern Irish FA and the Tunisian FA have confirmed the US had talked to them. Considering the articles, it seemed that both were to be away fixtures. Personally, I hope that we play Tunisia as part of the send off series. In either case, if we get both, that brings us up to seven friendlies. Best case scenario is that we play Tunisia away in May, and line up another African team (I would hope Morocco) We can also count on another CONCACAF friendly, giving us eight. Basically, we need to have two fixtures to round out to ten. For that, we should look at other friendly dates, and Mexico. For one, Mexico have put together quite a World Cup schedule. But a lot of Mexico's friendlies take place in the United States. Namely, they play Iceland on the 24th of March in Charlotte NC, and then Senegal on the 10th of May. Very often, teams that tour the US also play the United States as well, it wouldn't be a stretch for the US to play either team around the same time, especially Senegal. The US could easily play Senegal before their 3-match send off series. Furthermore, before the Mexican schedule was finalized, the March 24th match was to be with Japan in Charlotte before negotiations fell through. We've played Japan in March before, I can see the US arranging that, and there was rumors of Australia (Although not confirmed by the Australian FA). I can also see Northern Ireland play us on the 24th of March as well. It seems a lot of countries are playing friendlies on the 24th, so it can be a feasable fixture for us. Lastly, we have friendlies on the 25th and 29th of May. If we can get a match out of Senegal in early May, or another African nation, that would be superb. That leaves us with early June--Pretty much every World Cup country is playing friendlies in early June. Mexico is playing against Italy in Belgium, so I would wager that the US will play away in Europe, on it's way to South Africa. I would hope the US plays Australia in England, or maybe play Tunisia away before flying southward to Pretoria. Anyways, as far as what you said about Bob Bradley not needing to unearth any talent, you are right that he has cast an extraordinary wide net. The challenge is that now many players are returning from injuries and long spells on the bench, and are now playing into form. As such, Bradley will probably rear-load his friendlies, so that the US plays four or five matches in May, with one or two matches probably before the FIFA roster deadline. The good news out of all of this is that all of the rumors I have been hearing so far have been bearing fruit. Czechia happened. Turkey happened. Mexico would have happened, but Telemundo farked it up. Northern Ireland, Australia, and Tunisia can happen. My dream run to the World Cup. I based the dates on dates other countries were playing friendlies: Feb 24-El Salvador in Oakland Mar 3- Netherlands in Amsterdam Mar 24- Northern Ireland in Belfast Apr 10- Canada in Toronto (My CONCACAF game, the last look at the domestic squad) May 7- Senegal in Nashville (Yeah, we get them to play the US of A) May 13- Euro country at ??? (German league is over, Germany is playing a friendly, so I think we can schedule a game here) May 19- Tunisia in Washington, DC May 25- Czech Republic in Foxboro May 29- Turkey in Philadelphia June 3- Australia in Birmingham (England) Ten fixtures. Completely doable.
There are less than two weeks between the Turkey game on May 29 and the opening match of the World Cup on June 11. It's not going to happen. The USSF has said that Turkey is the send-off game.
It's the US send-off series. I would bet at least a dollar - maybe even a rouble - that there'll be a bunch of scrimmages or friendlies lined up either in Europe or in South Africa in those two weeks.
yes, scrimmages in south africa would be the way i'd approach it... fly direct to south africa, why make a stop in europe?? there'll be enough squads in south africa looking for someone to scrimmage against
I agree. Most teams are making stops before going to South Africa. Even Italy is going to play in Belgium against Mexico before going to South Africa. That's out of the way for both squads. A bunch of teams are having matches the week of 1-6 June. I disagree with Adam, I believe the US will squander an opportunity if we don't play a match in that timeframe. I don't want the US to leave on the 29th and not have a match until June 12. That's two whole weeks without a match. Not good. The US should line up a match on June 3-6, and hopefully line up a closed door scrimmage with an opponent June 7-9, kinda like we did with Angola in 2006. In related news, Tunisia has decided to play France in Rades, so I believe Tunisia is now out.
A bunch of squads are going to be training in Europe in the conditions roughly resembling South Africa (altitude, temperature, etc.) First of all, they don't want to get to South Africa too early and keep their players in the camp for two weeks there. Coaches want players to be relaxed and ready, not burning out due to pressure. Second of all, with a bunch of teams (including those who didn't make it to the WC) and even some club teams, finding a willing sparring partner will be a lot easier there. Time-zone wise, Europe and South Africa also align rather close. I expect clubs will get down to their camp sites within 5-7 days of their openers and not much sooner than that.
I've been studying the confirmed friendlies, and I really agree with your analysis. For example, I'm looking at France's send off series. France will play Costa Rica on the 26th of may at Lens, and then flies to Tunisia to play the host nation on the 29th of May, and then China on the 4th of June. Kick off is in Cape Town June 11, so France will show up just 5 days before the big show. Most other nations follow this pattern, allowing just 5-7 days of camp before their respective openers. The big question remains- What will the US do for the two weeks after Turkey and before kickoff? The given is that the USSF has already stated that this is the US send off. We can expect the US to hold a camp somewhere before going to camp, probably June 7 or so. So far, we had rumors of the Rades game, which France is playing. It is entirely possible the US will still train in the Atlas mountains- It makes sense that the US plays Tunisia while France plays China. I think the best scenario would be a friendly in the Atlas mountains against host Morocco. The US has played three friendlies with Morocco since 1998, both stateside and away in Rabat. Another possibility would be an Andes based friendly, playing Chile or Bolivia before hopping the southern atlantic on the way to South Africa.
italy is making ONE long trip to south africa... usa stopping off on the way, is making 2... usa has the czechs and turkey, in the usa, that's fairly decent sides... go to south africa direct, set up a couple days, and have 2-3 scrimmages... i don't see the grand benefit of another match, outside the usa, after may 29 and before june 11... just another chance to get some one hurt....
From your lips to the USSF's brain. After sometimes a long season, to push these players too hard before the Cup will cause accidents just because of the exposure risk. Having someone like Donovan go down would be catastrophic. Personally, I don't want to see too many "warm-ups".
While I like the idea, I can't see the US team having a prolonged stay in a Muslim country. Perhaps a one day stay and a match, but that is about it.
If we play fewer friendlies in 2010, it is probably because of the ridiculous number of matches we played in 2009. We've seen the first team against top-notch opposition in the Confederations Cup, and the fringe players got a lot of minutes in the Gold Cup. With our present injury situation, our friendlies are probably less about building a team and more about working players back in as they recover. Also, at some point last weekend I looked at our friendlies over the entire World Cup cycle, and compared them to the friendlies being played by other national teams. Based on average Elo rating at time of match, of all the national teams in the world, only England has played a tougher friendly schedule than us in the 2010 cycle. Remember the "Murderer's Row" games we played just before we started qualifying? Few national federations ever manage to arrange a series of games like that.
Well, I've seen comments now from Steven Goff and someone else (I think it was last night from one of the two guys calling the game) that this is it for pre-WC friendlies. While I'm sure there will be scrimmages in S. Africa, that happens at every Cup, so it doesn't change my basic premise - this will be the fewest games we've played in the calendar year leading up to the World Cup. Still haven't had a chance to see how this compares to other teams, so I'm still not sure it matters. When I think about it, though, I think it probably doesn't. Better to have all our guys playing regularly in Europe. I wonder, though, if the players strike, if the USSF can throw together a couple friendlies for the non-Euro players to keep them fresh? (C'mon, players & owners. Get your act together.)
how many of the mls players will be on the final 23... or should we say, be a starter... if there's a strike, it only hurts a players chance to make the squad
