DeMerit article & Euros vs. MLS

[luftmensch]

Here's an article by the guy who does "The Soccer Daily" over at ussoccerplayers.com:

http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/blog/2006/05/demerit-example.html

He talks about the possibility of DeMerit being a surprise choice for the World Cup squad, and how he wishes Bruce would have thrown in a European-based "Walcott-like" figure, and then goes on to compare players with exclusively MLS experience to those with Euro experience. I'm curious to see what people think of that part of the article in particular. Just thought I'd open a big ol' can of worms while we wait for the game tomorrow.

[BigKris]

J-hutch is a good guy, and I like his stuff, but I disagree with him here. First of all, he can't seriously be questioning Arena's decision to not take DeMerit to the WC when there was absolutely no talk of Jay on the team and no buzz about him until after he scores his storybook goal this weekend, after the rosters were due. Second, he's missing the point about how Arena builds his squad: it's not about investing in next cycle and it's certainly not about giving the media a good story, it's about building the best squad to take on three particular opponents.

Most importantly, though, Hutch despite his protests that he's not doing so, makes the Eurosnob's argument: he doesn't claim that one particular player is better than another, or engage in any sort of comparison or case study - he simply makes a blanket claim that if you're playing in Europe you must be better prepared than someone playing in MLS. Really, it's a lazy statement. Why stop at Jay DeMerit then? Why not advocate that Jemal Johnson, Lee Nguyen, and Zak Whitbread ought to be on the World Cup team?

[Matrim55]

Here's an article by the guy who does "The Soccer Daily" over at ussoccerplayers.com:

http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/blog/2006/05/demerit-example.html

He talks about the possibility of DeMerit being a surprise choice for the World Cup squad, and how he wishes Bruce would have thrown in a European-based "Walcott-like" figure, and then goes on to compare players with exclusively MLS experience to those with Euro experience. I'm curious to see what people think of that part of the article in particular. Just thought I'd open a big ol' can of worms while we wait for the game tomorrow.
While Demerit had a fine season and certainly made a name for himself, the comparison the writer makes to Walcott is foolish on two levels.

1) Arena has said that cohesiveness and comaraderie are paramount to his team's success whereas Eriksson has said no such thing. Bringing in a new guy, sight-unseen, is way more likely to do more harm than good in that regard.

2) Walcott is considered a supreme individual talent who plays a position of tremendous need for England. Demerit is a good individual talent who plays a position of tremendous depth for the US.

Jay will get his looks after the World Cup, and he's certainly earned them. For now, Greg Berhalter has way more of a legit beef than Demerit (and not much of one, at that).

[ty webb]

DeMerit

J, should not have been taken in this cycle. The other options he has taken have more experience and have proven their worth. J, will get his chance next cycle (Pope and Beerholder will be gone).

Euro vs. MLS

I agree with most of his points here. Euro leagues (EPL, Bundesliga, CC, Holland):

more games
more practice time
longer season
more competition for places
more organization and better structure
better teamates
better coaching
more meaningful games

and I am sure I am missing other advantages. The top leagues offer a better environment for our best players.

[luftmensch]

While Demerit had a fine season and certainly made a name for himself, the comparison the writer makes to Walcott is foolish on two levels.

1) Arena has said that cohesiveness and comaraderie are paramount to his team's success whereas Eriksson has said no such thing. Bringing in a new guy, sight-unseen, is way more likely to do more harm than good in that regard.

2) Walcott is considered a supreme individual talent who plays a position of tremendous need for England. Demerit is a good individual talent who plays a position of tremendous depth for the US.

Jay will get his looks after the World Cup, and he's certainly earned them. For now, Greg Berhalter has way more of a legit beef than Demerit (and not much of one, at that).
Agreed on all counts.

And I have a feeling the Berhalter issue relates to point #1 above. In the quotes I saw Berhalter didn't take any responsibility for the Germany fiasco, and just talked about how inexperienced the other players were. I'm sure that didn't go over well with either his teammates or Bruce. Plus I doubt a guy who's used to being team captain is going to be happy sitting on the bench the whole time, which, ideally, he would be.

[superdave]

"The last couple of places could have been given to young European based players that have a better than good chance of factoring next time around.

That relatively out of nowhere pick would've at least added a very obvious story-line for a media core that has resorted to shock headlines like moving Reyna to a defense role - not that he hasn't been playing a defensive role for about five years"

I think this guy posts here, so I'll be nice.

1. The point of roster selection is to win in 2006. And goddamnit, if anyone brings up Brazil and Ronaldo in 1994, I'll bring up France and Ronaldo and 1998.

2. Let me translate the 2nd paragraph. "If Bruce had made at least one off-the-wall pick I wouldn't have had to work so hard to come up with a column idea." Look we all wish Bruce did our jobs for us, but that ain't the way the world works.

[luftmensch]

J-hutch is a good guy, and I like his stuff, but I disagree with him here. First of all, he can't seriously be questioning Arena's decision to not take DeMerit to the WC when there was absolutely no talk of Jay on the team and no buzz about him until after he scores his storybook goal this weekend, after the rosters were due. Second, he's missing the point about how Arena builds his squad: it's not about investing in next cycle and it's certainly not about giving the media a good story, it's about building the best squad to take on three particular opponents.

Most importantly, though, Hutch despite his protests that he's not doing so, makes the Eurosnob's argument: he doesn't claim that one particular player is better than another, or engage in any sort of comparison or case study - he simply makes a blanket claim that if you're playing in Europe you must be better prepared than someone playing in MLS. Really, it's a lazy statement. Why stop at Jay DeMerit then? Why not advocate that Jemal Johnson, Lee Nguyen, and Zak Whitbread ought to be on the World Cup team?
I dig his stuff too, and read it nearly every day, but yeah, this is a little much. It's very easy to make such a blanket statement, but difficult to make the actual comparison. At the very least Pablo & Pope are two players who prove an exception to this (supposed) rule.

[Matrim55]

Also - what is this guy smoking with his "Reyna has been playing defensively for the past four or five years" line? The US has started a game with Reyna as d-mid exactly twice since Korapan 02: the brutal 1-1 draw at Panama, and the 1-0 win over T&T last summer. The whole reason Ben Olsen is on the roster is so that we don't have to play either Reyna or (even worse) O'Brien as a defensive midfielder when Pablo misses games due to yellow card accumulation.

For those who find the above shocking, the US all-time record with Reyna or O'Brien as the starting d-mid: 2-5-4.

[Dr. Wankler]

As someone who saw Jay DeMerit play in college (I worked at UIC in the late '90s) I am probably the person on these boards who has been cheering for him the longest.

I don't think he should've been called into the world cup squad.

He should get a cap or two in our first post World-Cup friendlies, and then we can go from there. If he does well, he can get a few more call-ups next summer for various competitions and friendlies, and if that works out, then he can be considered for the next qualifying campaign. But there's no reason for Arena to have even considered him this time around.

[BigKris]

For those who find the above shocking, the US all-time record with Reyna or O'Brien as the starting d-mid: 2-5-4.

That's very insightful.

[MikeLastort2]

While Demerit had a fine season and certainly made a name for himself, the comparison the writer makes to Walcott is foolish on two levels.

1) Arena has said that cohesiveness and comaraderie are paramount to his team's success whereas Eriksson has said no such thing. Bringing in a new guy, sight-unseen, is way more likely to do more harm than good in that regard.

2) Walcott is considered a supreme individual talent who plays a position of tremendous need for England. Demerit is a good individual talent who plays a position of tremendous depth for the US.

Jay will get his looks after the World Cup, and he's certainly earned them. For now, Greg Berhalter has way more of a legit beef than Demerit (and not much of one, at that).

David Regis.

[Dr. Wankler]

David Regis.

DeMerit has the advantage of already knowing how to speak English before he gets his first cap.

[Martin Fischer]

1. DeMerit isn't young.

2. While many European leagues are better than MLS, some significantly better, a player like Whitbred playing at the bottom of the CocaCola league is not automatically better than a good MLS player.

3. Conor Casey got the same chance Brian Ching did -- and Ching was the one who performed better for the USMNT. With his injury, Casey, who is certainly not Theo Walcott young, had no chance to make up that gap.

No one argues that MLS is as good as the better European leagues, well except that Rohl guy, if he really exists. What people do argue is that a good MLS player is better than a mediocre European League player or that a good MLS player is as good as a good player from a mediocre European league.

[MikeLastort2]

DeMerit has the advantage of already knowing how to speak English before he gets his first cap.
I brought up Regis because his inclusion in the squad for France '98 wasn't exactly a great way to build team camaraderie.

I have no objections to giving Jay DeMerit a look for the USMNT - as long as that look is given to him sometime after July 9th, 2006.

There also seems to be a lot of threads dedicated to the guy. Is he the new Freddy Adu? ;)

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356384

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356295

[mcontento]

Four years is a long time. Jay DeMerit may never be on the radar for a WC roster even if he turns out to have a nice career and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[MrSparkle]

As someone who saw Jay DeMerit play in college (I worked at UIC in the late '90s) I am probably the person on these boards who has been cheering for him the longest.

I don't think he should've been called into the world cup squad.

He should get a cap or two in our first post World-Cup friendlies, and then we can go from there. If he does well, he can get a few more call-ups next summer for various competitions and friendlies, and if that works out, then he can be considered for the next qualifying campaign. But there's no reason for Arena to have even considered him this time around.

Agreed with you wholeheartedly (I actually went to UIC the same years Jay played there)

The one time I was actually hoping Jay would get a call-up was during last summer's US-England game that was at Chicago. I thought that would have been a nice gesture as well as an opportunity for BA to get a decent look at Jay.