Is the Sky Really Falling?

[SamsArmySam]

Reviewing the current crop of threads, it appears that...

Our strikers can't finish and lack the fire in the belly. And most of them are tweeners, anyway.

Our central middies are either too young or too injured.

Our wide middies are showing well at the moment -- or are they? -- but there we have only two left feet.

The defense is in shambles, with no outside backs showing their class, no reliable and healthy veterans in the center, and no one orchestrating the unit.

Our keepers, while quite talented, are going to implode when the infighting breaks out over who starts during qualifying. And it's only going to get worse when we have a Man Utd starter added to the mix.

------------

OK, call me an optimist, but I don't think things are all that bad. Bruce will have the kinks worked out by the time the serious qualifying rounds begin. And we'll have a very good squad in Germany '06, perhaps even better than '02.

Any other optimists out there willing to submit their analysis?

[stinky]

i'm optimistic...we have 3 sets of players as follows:

18-22, beasley, donovan, clark, magee, boca, etc.

22-28, pablo, mathis, twellman, lewis

28 and over... pope, mcbride, hejduk, etc.

its something the US has never even come close to seeing as far as talent and depth....

our goalkeepers are the arguably the best in the world and the above are only our mls based players....

bruce has time to tinker for now....once he settles on 22, and plays 11 of them consistently, our game will be smoother and continue to get faster....

i'm very optimistic.....not so much for 2006 as i am for 2010. when we would have cycled through our players from 98.

all this and not even a mention of adu... ;)

[nobody]

I probably wouldn't exactly be considered an optomist, but I don't think the Confed Cup was a disaster that some think. It went about as to be expected, really. Pretty well the entire world expected Brazil and Turkey to beat us, no big deal. Brazil and Turkey finished 1 & 3 in the World Cup. At least we got a point off the African Champs. The Confed Cup, or at least our side of the draw, was much more difficult for the US to expect anything out of than the World Cup.

I'll take Poland, Portugal and South Korea over Brazil, Turkey, and Cameroon anyday.

I am optomistic in the sense that we are in much better shape a year after WC 2002 than we were after WC 1998.

I envision no major problems qualifying fro the 2006 cup and we have time for our guys to develop.

Our forwards aren't playing their best, but we've never been known to have a ton of great forwards. At least we do have a vey talented guy like Donovan and a selection of decent if unspectacular support, including guys like Mathis that could possibly turn it around and turn out playing great.

Our central mids are expected back from injury soon and as more guys get time, we should be OK there. Once youngsters like Convey and others get more experience, we may start to have a bit of depth here for the first time I remember.

Our outside mids will be fine, right side is tricky, but the left side should be excellent. If out of four misfield spots we end up having to go with an athletic grinder for one of the spots, we're a lot better off than we have been for decades.

In the back, we've still got Pope once he gets back from injury and I can't imagine that at least one of Boca, Gibbs or someone else won't be ready in a few more years. Sure, we're weaker outside, but we'll be as strong there as in 2002 anyway by 2006.

In goal, we're just fine.

So, yeah, I'm an optomist in the sense that I didn't see the Confed Cup as a big disaster and think we're in as good if not better shape than ever at this point in things. I just try to be realistc about what we can expect from our guys.

[SNUSA]

SamsArmySam forgot this bit of conventional wisdom:

We have no hope of ever, under any circumstances, winning a match played in Europe.

[SNUSA]

Not saying I believe it, just saying there are those who love to point out the stats about us in Europe over the last X years.

[sch2383]

Originally posted by SNUSA
SamsArmySam forgot this bit of conventional wisdom:

We have no hope of ever, under any circumstances, winning a match played in Europe.

And that our coach can't coach.

[Bluecat82]

Originally posted by SNUSA
SamsArmySam forgot this bit of conventional wisdom:

We have no hope of ever, under any circumstances, winning a match played in Europe.

Also, never get involved in a land war in Asia...

I agree, the ConFedEx Cup wasn't a complete disaster (Panic, thy name is Big Soccer), and am looking forward to the start of qualification (a Gold Cup win would be nice, of course!)

[sch2383]

Originally posted by Bluecat82
Also, never get involved in a land war in Asia...

Or go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

[Riotom9]

Originally posted by nobody
I am optomistic in the sense that we are in much better shape a year after WC 2002 than we were after WC 1998.


Why do people not see the great value in that? Of course it may not mean we will do better than our results in 2002 - but there's only a handful of countries that ever get to say that from 1 WC to the next - and it isn't always directly relational to the team getting that much better. It's all about the draw...

[drnlm]

hopefully adu will at least be on the roster in 2006...if he is, it kinda proves that he is pretty good to a certain degree, even now he regularly beats MLS defenders who are twice his age..that has to mean something

[braun]

Originally posted by nobody
I probably wouldn't exactly be considered an optomist, but I don't think the Confed Cup was a disaster that some think. It went about as to be expected, really. Pretty well the entire world expected Brazil and Turkey to beat us, no big deal. Brazil and Turkey finished 1 & 3 in the World Cup. At least we got a point off the African Champs. The Confed Cup, or at least our side of the draw, was much more difficult for the US to expect anything out of than the World Cup.

I'll take Poland, Portugal and South Korea over Brazil, Turkey, and Cameroon anyday.

I am optomistic in the sense that we are in much better shape a year after WC 2002 than we were after WC 1998.

I envision no major problems qualifying fro the 2006 cup and we have time for our guys to develop.

Our forwards aren't playing their best, but we've never been known to have a ton of great forwards. At least we do have a vey talented guy like Donovan and a selection of decent if unspectacular support, including guys like Mathis that could possibly turn it around and turn out playing great.

Our central mids are expected back from injury soon and as more guys get time, we should be OK there. Once youngsters like Convey and others get more experience, we may start to have a bit of depth here for the first time I remember.

Our outside mids will be fine, right side is tricky, but the left side should be excellent. If out of four misfield spots we end up having to go with an athletic grinder for one of the spots, we're a lot better off than we have been for decades.

In the back, we've still got Pope once he gets back from injury and I can't imagine that at least one of Boca, Gibbs or someone else won't be ready in a few more years. Sure, we're weaker outside, but we'll be as strong there as in 2002 anyway by 2006.

In goal, we're just fine.

So, yeah, I'm an optomist in the sense that I didn't see the Confed Cup as a big disaster and think we're in as good if not better shape than ever at this point in things. I just try to be realistc about what we can expect from our guys.
I am pessimist but think you've thought this out. You did not mention:
Sanneh would be a big plus for the qualifiers. Dolo and Hejduk probably suffice without Sanneh. It's all in the height and what he does right when he goes forward. Maybe luck also.
Pope has been up and down through the years and he is one of the often hurt ones. He is far better than other options for the qualifiers, although Sanneh could play the position if his back heals.
Don't laugh but Agoos may come back if Boca gets hurt. Yes, Gibbs could play the position in a pinch.
If Vanney were at all accurate he would be a good option at LB. He is not as quick as Gibbs.
The midfield is pretty well summed up. Ralston if he does well in the Gold Cup will be an option at RM. Again he is not that fast.
I thought our performance at the Confed Cup was poor and if we play the same way against Paraguay and vs the better countries at the Gold Cup, the qualifiers might be very difficult.

[whip]

Originally posted by SNUSA
SamsArmySam forgot this bit of conventional wisdom:

We have no hope of ever, under any circumstances, winning a match played in Europe.

It seems that you are still traumatize about France 98, and looking on my SOCCER TRAUMA HANDBOOK ....lets see....it prescribe watch USA/GERMANY JAKO 2002 for a week before you go bed and picture the real final on JAKO 2002 USA/BRASIL.....

[rauld10]

I'm confident our National Team will finish 1st in CONCACAF Qualifying. Look how poorly Mexico is playing, 1 win in 6 games. If Lavolpe doesn't win the Gold Cup, he surely will be fired. Right now I'm more worried about Costa Rica than Mexico.