Should the 23s have a Euro-based camp or two?

[Sandon Mibut]

I was looking over the list of Yanks playing abroad and it seems the US now has enough U23 players playing in Europe that Piotr Nowak doesn't need to wait till the MLS season ends to start evaluating players and having games.


Freddy Adu M Benfica (Portugal)
Michael Bradley M Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Charlie Davies F Hammarby (Sweden)
Kyle Davies D Southampton (England)
Benny Feilhaber M Hamburg (Germany)
Gabriel Ferrari F Sampdoria (Italy)
Tally Hall GK Esbjerg (Denmark)
Kamani Hill F/M Wolfsburg (Germany)
Eric Lichaj D Aston Villa (England)
Lee Nguyen M PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Steve Purdy D 1860 Munich (Germany)
Johann Smith F Bolton (England)
Jonathan Spector D West Ham (England)
Neven Subotic D Mainz (Germany)
Quentin Westberg GK Troyes (France)
Preston Zimmerman F Hamburg (Germany)
Sal Zizzo M Hannover 96 (Germany)

Admitedly, this group isn't perfect, particularly in the back, but otherwise there is more than enough depth to have a good squad for a friendly or two.

Now, the catch is that most of the FIFA match dates are already being used by the senior team and several of the U23 players are already senior team regulars.

The next FIFA-match dates after the one on the 22nd are Sept. 8-12 and the US is already playing Brazil on the 9th. I can't see Bradley going into the Brazil game sans Feilhaber (who you know really wants to play that game given where he was born) and his son and perhaps a couple of other players.

Perhaps the US could still have a U23 camp in Europe sans those guys, but it would really weaken the 23s.

The next dates are Oct. 13-17, when the senior team is playing Catalonia and Switzerland. It would seem that a potential friendly could be arranged for the 23s alongside those games and allow the players to all train concurrently with the ones who don't play major minutes for the senior team still available for the 23s.

The next FIFA dates are Nov. 17-21 and while that would still be a good time to have a Euro-based camp, that's the same weekend as MLS Cup (11/18) so there wouldn't be any MLS conflicts save for the teams playing in the final. (Stuart Holden, Pat Ianni and Adam Cristman, if I were a betting man.)

I know the crossover with the senior team makes having all the Euro-based players tricky but I think it would be a shame if Nowak didn't take advantage of all the players over there and not have a camp or two during the MLS season.

[Kevin8833]

I was looking over the list of Yanks playing abroad and it seems the US now has enough U23 players playing in Europe that Piotr Nowak doesn't need to wait till the MLS season ends to start evaluating players and having games.


Freddy Adu M Benfica (Portugal)
Michael Bradley M Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Charlie Davies F Hammarby (Sweden)
Kyle Davies D Southampton (England)
Benny Feilhaber M Hamburg (Germany)
Gabriel Ferrari F Sampdoria (Italy)
Tally Hall GK Esbjerg (Denmark)
Kamani Hill F/M Wolfsburg (Germany)
Eric Lichaj D Aston Villa (England)
Lee Nguyen M PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Steve Purdy D 1860 Munich (Germany)
Johann Smith F Bolton (England)
Jonathan Spector D West Ham (England)
Neven Subotic D Mainz (Germany)
Quentin Westberg GK Troyes (France)
Preston Zimmerman F Hamburg (Germany)
Sal Zizzo M Hannover 96 (Germany)Admitedly, this group isn't perfect, particularly in the back, but otherwise there is more than enough depth to have a good squad for a friendly or two.

Now, the catch is that most of the FIFA match dates are already being used by the senior team and several of the U23 players are already senior team regulars.

The next FIFA-match dates after the one on the 22nd are Sept. 8-12 and the US is already playing Brazil on the 9th. I can't see Bradley going into the Brazil game sans Feilhaber (who you know really wants to play that game given where he was born) and his son and perhaps a couple of other players.

Perhaps the US could still have a U23 camp in Europe sans those guys, but it would really weaken the 23s.

The next dates are Oct. 13-17, when the senior team is playing Catalonia and Switzerland. It would seem that a potential friendly could be arranged for the 23s alongside those games and allow the players to all train concurrently with the ones who don't play major minutes for the senior team still available for the 23s.

The next FIFA dates are Nov. 17-21 and while that would still be a good time to have a Euro-based camp, that's the same weekend as MLS Cup (11/18) so there wouldn't be any MLS conflicts save for the teams playing in the final. (Stuart Holden, Pat Ianni and Adam Cristman, if I were a betting man.)

I know the crossover with the senior team makes having all the Euro-based players tricky but I think it would be a shame if Nowak didn't take advantage of all the players over there and not have a camp or two during the MLS season.
I like this idea.

[FirstStar]

A lot of the guys on your list are too young and probably not in consideration for the 2008 Olympics. I suppose that they could play just to fill out the squad so Nowak could take a look at the other players, but I'm not so sure about this idea.

[Adam Zebrowski]

i see 7 clear u-23s on that list....

ideally, getting the full group together would be my preferred option, i guess it'd be half mls and half euro...

still, it's a nice idea to bring those guys, the euros who project as u-23 to the senior camps and letting them bond there....

[ugaaccountant]

That's certainly enough quality for a friendly. 7 USMNT capped players, and Zizzo now has a callup. Those 2 GK's are in u-23 contention as well, and several of the others are legit roster candidates.

[TimB4Last]

May I ask who is going to pay for all this? It's not as if US Soccer has $30 or $40 million just sitting around collecting interest.

[ugaaccountant]

May I ask who is going to pay for all this? It's not as if US Soccer has $30 or $40 million just sitting around collecting interest.

It's alot cheaper idea than the Japan trip they did earlier this year. Some of that roster has very little chance of making the final roster.

And by extension what's the financial logic behind the recent trips of the U-16 & U-18 team? They don't even have an age appropriate championship they are preparing for? Obviously we have to invest in player development in order to get better and this proposed euro game(s) and camp would not be that much.

[TimB4Last]

It's alot cheaper idea than the Japan trip they did earlier this year. Some of that roster has very little chance of making the final roster.

And by extension what's the financial logic behind the recent trips of the U-16 & U-18 team? They don't even have an age appropriate championship they are preparing for? Obviously we have to invest in player development in order to get better and this proposed euro game(s) and camp would not be that much.

Found it!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/grant_wahl/09/22/coach.search/1.html

....

Speaking of contractual terms, the U.S. can afford to compete on the world market in a way that it couldn't the last time it hired a coach in 1998. "I think you pay whatever it takes to get the right person," says Contiguglia, who's now a non-voting board member. "We weren't in the position eight years ago, but we are today." Indeed, the USSF now has an estimated $40 million kitty, much of which will go toward as-yet-unannounced development initiatives.

....

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I stand corrected - per Grant Wahl, we do have $40 million socked away - and with the money we saved hiring BB instead of JK, we can afford to have the Euro-based camps we've all been dreaming of.

{stamped}

APPROVED!

[GersMan]

I think the idea is a good one from the perspective of the Olympic Team. The only problem I'd see is that you may be talking about 15 or 16 guys after the senior callups are out and that's not really enough for a camp. The way the MLS schedule has been, I'm pretty sure those teams aren't going to want any significant role players to leave for an Olympic team training camp and friendly, so it may be hard to get enough players together. There's a FIFA date in November so maybe that would be a better time to have such a camp, with MLS guys included.

Or they could play Bermuda in December at Lockhart..........

[giffenbone]

youth forum?

[mtizzle]

I think the idea is a good one from the perspective of the Olympic Team. The only problem I'd see is that you may be talking about 15 or 16 guys after the senior callups are out and that's not really enough for a camp. The way the MLS schedule has been, I'm pretty sure those teams aren't going to want any significant role players to leave for an Olympic team training camp and friendly, so it may be hard to get enough players together. There's a FIFA date in November so maybe that would be a better time to have such a camp, with MLS guys included.

Or they could play Bermuda in December at Lockhart..........

I don't think Anthony Wallace would qualify as a big-time player, he could definitely be pulled in for defence. Igwe also.

[Marko72]

I'm gonna take a stab and guess that Catalonia will be largely a U23 affair, primarily with our Euro-based contingent at that. Switzerland (away) and Brazil (home) will mostly be A-team affairs with a few little experiments/tweaks.

[TimB4Last]

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1966089.html

....

ussoccer.com: You mentioned some of the challenges of getting the different players together in order to prepare for qualifying. What will the strategy be in the coming months?

Peter Nowak: “Between now and March, I would like to have a couple of dates where we get together for a couple days. I will start the conversations with MLS and college coaches now. While the full team is in Europe in October, I will go to meet with players and their managers. It’s very important to establish relationships. I want them to understand our needs, and we will certainly respect their needs. Ultimately, we want to try and get a chance to look at everyone and create the best possible scenario to help our team qualify for the Olympics.”

....

[TimB4Last]

How about two? We obviously couldn't do this for the Poland match (as we did last fall for the Switzerland match). How about (even if informally) for the England & Spain matches? Or will we just wait for everyone to come home for the summer?

May I ask who is going to pay for all this? It's not as if US Soccer has $30 or $40 million just sitting around collecting interest.

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/58576

Sunil Gulati, the president of Kraft Soccer and U.S. Soccer, said he knows three soccer teams intimately: the Revolution, the U.S. national team and his son’s New York City youth team. ... The Columbia University economics professor said the 5-million-member U.S. Soccer Federation has a surplus of $50 million. “It’s too high,” he said. “We need to spend some of it — to grow soccer, naturally.”

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What's the rush? Plenty of time, plenty of time ...