Are Kenny Cooper, Freddy Adu, and Jozy Altidore part of our WC 2010 plans or not?

[DempC]

Seems to me, many excuses being batted around for their absence don't pan out.

It begs the question.

There are other absences I can think of too.

Thoughts?

[Marko72]

Freddy and Jozy I'd say are absolutely in Bradley's plans for the future. But I honestly doubt Kenny is. For whatever reason, it seems like Bradley just doesn't care for Kenny.

[Bigrose30]

Seems to me, many excuses being batted around for their absence don't pan out.

It begs the question.

There are other absences I can think of too.

Thoughts?

No. Yes. Yes.

Here's a thought: what would help Freddy and Jozy more right now...playing against Trinidad and Tobago or training with Monaco and Villareal?

[ChrisSSBB]

Freddy and Jozy I'd say are absolutely in Bradley's plans for the future. But I honestly doubt Kenny is. For whatever reason, it seems like Bradley just doesn't care for Kenny.

More agreement. For Kenny, probably the best thing he can do is demonstrate that he "gets it" in regards to playing within BB's and USMNT system (check box!), shows he is at least as physical as LD, scores some goals when he gets the opportunity, and keeps his shirt on and acknowledges his team mates after scoring same goals. Just my opinion...

[appoo]

How does anyone have a real answer to this? Unless that person is Bob Bradley?

[Rainer24]

No. Yes. Yes.

Here's a thought: what would help Freddy and Jozy more right now...playing against Trinidad and Tobago or training with Monaco and Villareal?


Jozy could theoretically see the field against Man Utd soon. We didn't need him or Freddy to thump T&T, so I don't feel at all pissed about them not making the trip.

[Marko72]

How does anyone have a real answer to this? Unless that person is Bob Bradley?

We're playing armchair psychologist.

Now, do you doubt our conclusions? I'd say they seem pretty obvious, even if it's just conjecture.

[fire428]

if i had to bet both freddy and jozy are not all a part of 010 but are starters. if i had to bet our lineup for the wc it would be

altidore
adu donovan
beas demps
bradley
pearce boc gooch stevec
howard

[Clint Eastwood]

I tend to agree with the opinions on here so far regarding Freddy and Jozy. In the long run it's more important for those two to solidy a place in their club squad right now. We've gotten 9 out of 9 without them, and I think everybody knew we'd have between 6-9 points now without them. I'd anticipate they're going to be introduced into the squad in the coming games. Remember Beasley and Donovan didn't play huge roles with the USMNT at the start of 02 qualifying. As the qualifying progressed, they became important players.

As far as Kenny goes, I just don't know...... If Bob really plans on playing a 4-2-3-1 in the style he currently is, Kenny might fit that well. Ching isn't getting any younger, And EJ isn't taking advantage of his opportunities. We've also got guys like Charlie Davies who could develop over the next 1.5 years. We'll see. I'd love to see Jozy in a 4-2-3-1. People bash that formation, but a lot of national teams (including Holland) use it.

This group ain't bad:

-----------Altidore-------
Beasley----Donovan----Dempsey

With Rogers and Adu coming off the bench? Lot's of pace there, which really can do wonders to this formation (see Holland versus Italy)

[fire428]

you cant have adu on the bench he is to good. he is the most creative players in our national team pool. him with donovan dempsey and beasley will be very good adu has great vision and will be able to slip in beasley and donovan using their speed. with dempsey they would make a very good one two combo and we have seen who well he works with jozy.

[mcnaulty21]

No. Yes. Yes.

Here's a thought: what would help Freddy and Jozy more right now...playing against Trinidad and Tobago or training with Monaco and Villareal?I'm going to say exactly what you did, but say "maybe" for Cooper.

Of course Freddy and Jozy are in the 2010 plans. Thinking otherwise is crazy

[Manolo]

I agree, the excuses don't pan out.

All the best players in the world were playing for their national teams this week. Even those playing against so-called "minnows". No national coaches said "I won't call up so-and-so because we need them to gel with their club as it will aid their long-term development"...that's just silly!

My hunch? Bradley is not much of a fan of the finesse game, he likes hard workers who play their role. He was probably training Michael to be a defensive mid since he was born.

[Dignan]

This is a stupid question...

At this point really no one is fully in the world cup plans.

It will all depend on who performs well and who is in form come spring 2010.

With that said, of course all of these guys are on Bradley's radar and I would be shocked if all three of these guys are not on the squad.

People need to realize that in the semi round of the qualifiers that Bradley is going with what has worked and what is safe. He will call other guys into the squad and into other situations as opportunities open up. Go back and look at past World Cup semi round qualifying rosters and you will see guys on there who never made the final squad.

Adu, Altidore, and Cooper are still unproven in the qualifying phase and it would be somewhat unfair to expect them to perform well in this setting, yet. Bradley is bringing them along slowly so as to guarantee maximum success. Aside from benching Ching (who is the only guy in my estimation that probably needs to be shipped off in these attacking positions) how else are you going to get Cooper, Altidore, and Adu on the field? You gonna bench Dempsey, Donovan or Beasley? These guys all deserve and have shown they deserve to be on the pitch.

Don't worry Coop, Adu, and Jozy will get their shots again and they will most likely be on the final roster.

[Dignan]

Seriously, I think some of you have been watching US soccer for about 8 months.

This is the same pattern that the US national team has always taken since 96.

[DempC]

No. Yes. Yes.

Here's a thought: what would help Freddy and Jozy more right now...playing against Trinidad and Tobago or training with Monaco and Villareal?

Well, the World Cup is a bit more complex.

It's a disjointed process, which means its very important to have a team that will eventually gell in the works pretty much from the start of qualifying.

Furthermore, the rest of the world TAKES OFF per FIFA rules. Jozy has played a friendly while I'm not even sure what Adu has been up to. So no, from a USMNT perspective, they both would have been better off playing.

[Asprilla9]

keep in mind, Landon Donovan didn't get his first cap with the SR NT until Oct of 2000. and he was pretty integral in the 2002 WC team. DaMarcus Beasley didn't get his first cap until January of 2001. And both took quite a while until they were considered first XI players. a while being, like, 2002 ... the YEAR of that WC (LD more like late 01, but DMB did not come on until the 02 preWC friendlies in my recollection).

so in that respect, both Adu and Altidore have a jump on LD and DMB at this point in the WC cycle. freddy and jozy both have multiple caps with the senior team .... at this point in the 02 cycle neither LD nor DMB were capped.

[DempC]

Adu, Altidore, and Cooper are still unproven in the qualifying phase and it would be somewhat unfair to expect them to perform well in this setting, yet. Bradley is bringing them along slowly so as to guarantee maximum success.

Freddy Adu in particular is far from unproven from a USMNT perspective. He was consistently the best player on the pitch for the US during the friendly run this summer. Adu's absence I believe is a leftover from the idiocy of the public's unrealistic expectations heaped on him when he was 14. There's unfair skepticism shown his way b/c he wasn't Pele at 14 and we're going to "wait for him to slowly grow" so long that he'll be 25 when we finally make him a regular.

Beyond that, there are plenty of vets that shouldn't be on the pitch...brian ching and EJ in particular are awful.

[luftmensch]

How does anyone have a real answer to this? Unless that person is Bob Bradley?

C'mon man, this is BigSoccer, who needs a "real" answer?

[DempC]

Ever notice how cautious US soccer along with their fans are?

Theo Walcott (19) scored a hatrick for England in their qualifier yesterday.

Wayne Rooney broke all kinds of youth records.

The rest of the world, which is far more succesful than we are in football, might be a good place to look for a change in our system which is at best, mediocre. If we want to move fwd, these same tired tactics won't do the trick. They seem to embrace their youth while we stubbornly want to teach them lessons in patience or respect for veterans, or whatever.

[DempC]

C'mon man, this is BigSoccer, who needs a "real" answer?

It's a moot point b/c the same argument could be made about almost all issues regarding a sports team over which you personally have no control or personal insight over.