There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that our player pool is improving in terms of its overall quality and depth. What I worry the most about in the next cycle or two is whether we will be able to replace or improve upon the top-end talent that will be retiring from international play soon. That would include Dempsey, Howard (although I'm pretty comfortable with Guzan), Jones and Donovan. I'm not going to get into all of the candidates but we need to hope that a sufficient number of our better prospects develop into special talents.
I thought it was supposed to be bad for veterans dedicated to their career and country to take a break?
??? Did Bedoya get any chances to score? I think he scored more league goals than any midfielders that we have, I'm too lazy to check on Zusi.
For the love of all that is holy! Are you serious ? Or just new to international level soccer? Bradley is one of the key reasons we made it out of the group. Did he play up to what we thought he would? No. All the same, the guy will be a main stay USA player for years.
Not in this World Cup. Did you even see any of the games? If so, what were on when you did? Bradley played terribly and should have been pulled from the starting lineup, but alas, we had no one on the bench to replace him with. Those guys were all left at home. I'm glad to see new blood come in, and I'd like to see some of the experienced guys stick around long enough to effectively pass the torch. That said, if this is the new Bradley, I want him as far from the field as possible.
The only that we don't have a like for like replacement is Jones. DW should be Beckerman's replacement.
That is one of the craziest posts I've seen on Big Soccer in a while. And that's saying something. Bradley will not only be on the USMNT going forward, its likely that he'll be the captain of the USMNT this cycle. A few subpar games (by his lofty standards) against some of the best teams in the world isn't going to knock him out of the picture. If there's one player we can write in permanent pen on the 2015 Gold Cup, 2016 Copa America, 2017 Gold Cup, and 2018WCQ rosters its Michael Bradley (barring injury). He is arguably the LEAST LIKELY member of the squad to be replaced.
LOL? Is this for real? Even when Bradley plays badly, he plays better than almost anyone on the field. Absolutely unwarranted to drop Bradley.
I dunno about Bradley. Yes he was playing out of position and that was no fault of his but he made more passes to nowhere than I have seen from him in a while including his time at Roma. I think either he was playing hurt or he shrinks in big moments and was feeling the pressure of being "the guy". One cause is fine but if the other is true, he needs to fix it...fast.
Nagbe should be getting his citizenship and thus eligibility at some point in 2015. Many of us project him as a relatively important player for us in this coming cycle. IIRC, Manneh is nowhere near to getting his citizenship, and neither is Dwyer. Fagundez is still years away from citizenship, although he seems to be willing to wait to represent us, quite possibly. I doubt Torres is even leaning in that direction as he will probably end up back in Liga MX at some point relatively soon, and I'm not sure he even has permanent resident status. Jack Mack, Shipp, Hurtado, and Powers are all Americans and USMNT-eligible right now.
USAprospects@USAprospects Hearing that US Staff is looking to bring in players to US pool ranging from '91s to '99s. Looking to beef up entire program in 2014. USAprospects@USAprospects Sources tell me that Klinsmann & staff have continued to reach out to a number of dual internationals for upcoming #USMNT matches
If all of them are, I'd be shocked. I wouldn't be surprised if one or maybe two of them are still very much in the picture.
He played better than precisely no one on the field during the group stage. He was dreadful. If he continued to play that way (not saying that he will) then I wouldn't want him starting. Hopefully he gets back to his old self again and we don't have to worry about it.
Today's Soccermorning was pretty good on the subject of future prospects. Guests Travis Clark and Will Parchman. Analysis begins around 10:30
I don!t know why I even bother answering idiotic statements. He completed 88% of his passes had 25% in the final third and had over 100 touches. He put pressure on the ball, played defense and also was supposed to be creative with only Dempsey in front of him.. Enough said
May I remind you Chandler didn't play a single minute in Brazil. Green has roughly 20min of game time. While Yedlin has closed to 100 minutes.
I am 100 percent with you! I am assuming you are referencing the post I was responding to. Bradley, barring injury, will be a constant on the team for the next 4 years. He is easily one of the best players. You have to wonder if these posters calling for our best players to be dropped only watch the World Cup!
If there's one thing we've learned from Klinsman. He's not afraid to drop an old star, especially when such star doesn't perform to Klinsi's desires. 2006 - He dropped Germany legendary keeper 2014 - He dropped the American all time leading goalscorer (and occasional captain) Again, from Klinsi: "It's not about what you have done, but what you can do in the future" I won't be shocked if Bradley is not on the 2018 roster. Especially if his form continues to drop in the MLS.
He gave the ball away in bad positions more than once and did little to aid the attack. Great, he completed his passes and had plenty of touches. But in terms of keeping possession and creating chances he was one of the worst players on the field. That isn't going to show up in his stat line.
I'm not saying drop Bradley. I'm saying that if his form doesn't improve then it will be a hard argument to win that he needs to be in the starting line up. It's kind of hard to argue about passing stats when just about every observer, expert and otherwise, recognized that he was uncharacteristically poor during that stretch of three games.