After seeing Bobby warshaw's list of five best at each MLS position and he had Bedoya #1 at box to box mid I'm thinking he would be preferable over Bradley as the veteran presence. He was one of the few who gave their all and as far as I know didn't poison the well (he could have had better tweet management). Besler would have been my next choice as he would seem to be a good fit still as one of the few agile centerbacks.
Bedoya had a good season. Much better than Bradley. He can still tackle in the open field. Bradley is the big name, though. We dunno if Bedoya declined to relax like a fat cat, though. Bradley trains year round, so he has that going for him. Still, the whole thing about Bradley providing experience is nonsense at this point. A lot of the mids have already been in camps with him and what is he going to tell the defenders and attackers?
Yeah...…………...one thing we don't know is the veterans that declined callups. In the past that's been quite a number. Particularly the guys with families that make good salaries (These guys get paid to play at January camp. Needed income for the younger guys in MLS.) I don't know why people are making such a big deal about Bradley being called up again. Berhalter has said that the holdover veterans from the last cycle will get a chance to prove they still belong. Bradley was always going to be here in this January camp. Put up or shut up time. If he legitimately outplays guys like Canouse, Roldan, etc. at the camp then he'll probably play some role moving forward. All we can ask is that a new coach starts with a fresh, clean slate in the evaluation of players at every position. Michael Bradley is only 31 years old (people act like he's 37). It just seems like an old 31. It certainly was an old 31 with TFC last season. He played a TON of games with TFC over 2016-2018 (late CCL runs, long playoff runs in 2016/2017, etc.). Add all of those USMNT games. He just looked like he had run out of gas. Maybe he comes back refreshed for the 2019 MLS season and again looks like a top domestic central midfielder. Don't get me wrong. I'm talking about "winning a role." Not having him start over the next generation like McKennie and Adams. But EVERY world cup qualifying cycle we need veterans to fill in when injuries and suspensions take their toll. Maybe not even the Gold Cup. But what about say, the League of Nations? Maybe that'll be a really inexperienced squad in need of an assistant coach on the field. We all get the idea. We just need to see better performance than he had in 2018. Bradley has made enough sacrifices for the USMNT and has indeed made enough positive contributions to the program...……...to earn the chance.
The reason people “make a big deal” (though I do not agree griping on BigSoccer is a big deal) of Bradley being called up is: - He captained the team to its worst qualifying disaster ever, and did not impress with his personal play in the process - He stunk in Toronto this past season, and in doing so clearly showed he lost the physical abilities to compete internationally - He stunk the last time he put on the US shirt, and all the issues the US had when Bradley was the “6” immediately resurfaced It is not some deep mystery. This is a guy who has proven this level is beyond him now.
I can't speak as to his effect on Glad (some players just don't mesh with some coaches and vice versa), but in general in his time with the Red Bulls it was clear that his STRENGTH as a manager was man-management (and Red Bulls won a SS under his guidance). In particular, he was able to somehow keep Thierry Henry happy or at least willing and motivated while shifting his role around for the betterment of the team as a whole, and the players and coaching staff were all entirely behind him. However, Petke was a middling tactician, and with the introduction of Marsch their play was almost immediately more cohesive for his entire tenure.
Trying to think of all the players Petke has had an issue with, just at RSL... ranked in order of severity and how public it was: Yura Movsisyan Danilo Acosta Joao Plata ... Justen Glad (distant fourth) There have probably been others, but those were the main ones.
Is that more or about par for most coaches. I'm thinking of the last two FCD coaches and they had had their players they had problems with. I defended Shea at the time and still believe injuries are a part of his problems but meshing free spirit Shea with martial artist Hyndman was never a good fit.
Shortly after the roster for the January camp was released on Thursday, Berhalter explained during a conference call with reporters why he left the two Five Stripes at home: they need to relax. Both players put a lot of miles on themselves in 2018, and Berhalter can manage two friendlies just fine without them. .... “The same thing goes for Darlington,” Berhalter said. “He’s a guy that was injured for a large portion of the season and we feel it’ll be more beneficial for him to get a good solid preseason in with his club and build up his strength. First, get the rest, and then build up the strength and have another good MLS season.” https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/atlanta-united-fc/berhalter-atlanta-guzan-nagbe-usmnt-camp/ Guzan is the other player.
Ernst Tanner is on a conference call with reporters now. He lays his view out bluntly:"The level of MLS has increased a lot, and I think that the level of university [soccer] has been more or less the same. There is quite a big gap."— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) January 10, 2019
I know the media needs to hype the draft to get clicks and to continue to get their editors to send them on trips to the draft site, but can we stop pretending it is anything like the NFL draft? Philly got actual money for just about nothing. The players they would have selected maybe would have played for the Steel (I think they are moving, are they changing names?) but Philly can find players for the Steel pretty easy and probably have players in their Academy they have to make room for. Cincy stockpiling picks is also not like an NFL team. Having 20 non-MLS level players does nothing for you. Do they have a USL team? Even if Garber doesn't want to get rid of the draft yet, and the Combine is probably history, it should probably go to one round. Let teams sign any undrafted players they want for their USL team and enough with the nonsense. Many of the decent players in the draft have already signed USL deals that have opt out clauses if they are picked in the draft. The draft is a media show with no purpose.
I would put it differently: because many MLS teams have USL teams, they have some use for the draft. But teams that really emphasize the USL to MLS pipeline like Philly and NYRB, are exactly the teams de-emphasizing the draft. It is the rich teams with no real USL to MLS pipeline like NYCFC and Atlanta that need the draft to fill out the dead end of their roster. Without the draft, teams would just sign who they wanted to their USL teams. The draft accomplishes nothing but eliminate competition for those players. Of course, it also suppresses wages and limits player freedom of movement, but the MLSPA is too busy worrying about TC&S to think about that.
You make it sound like younger MLS guys are starving. The minimum salary in MLS is higher than the average US household income and as of last season, only 2 players on first team rosters earned minimum salary. Jonathan Lewis, for instance, with just 25 MLS appearances under his belt, made $90k base salary with $125k in guaranteed compensation.
I think its quite obvious. There is little domestic talent coming out of the draft. Teams are looking for "diamonds in the rough" like Chris Mueller was for Orlando last season. If clubs aren't developing their own domestic talent, then they're going to be at a competitive disadvantage. Tyler Adams, Reggie Cannon, etc. aren't available in the draft. There's a group of clubs that got a head start on the academy and youth development game (RSL, Philly, FCD, NYRB, etc.). Those were all playoff teams last season. There's another group that's investing a lot to catch up. SKC is a big one. San Jose is talking the talk. Seattle is talking the talk. Colorado is talking the talk. You can have the right foreign signings and still do well in MLS without a robust internal devleopment program. See Timbers, Portland. One wonders how sustainable that is, though. Houston has really been struggling to develop their own talent, and I do think they've paid the price for that (compared to their rival FCD up the street).
I didn't say starving. Reggie Cannon makes $65k per year. How you livin' in Dallas on $65k per year? You're not living in poverty, but you're also not exactly rolling in dough. A little added income from january camp is a good thing for many of these players. That's all.............. You're right in that its not as bad as it used to be. Stuart Holden at one time was making like $40k a year while a USMNTer.
He probably actually still lives with his parents......................... I probably picked a bad example, though. Keep in mind that Reggie comes from an accomplished family. His grandfather is a Nobel Prize winner (Warren Washington) , his mother is a renowned surgeon in DFW. His biological father graduated from Brown and his stepfather graduated from Dartmouth. To say he comes from an accomplished family is a massive understatement I guess. Reggie is a prodigious worker. And humble. Not for a single second does he behave like he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Reggie's grandfather:
16 Minutes on Google Maps from the most northern part of Dallas. Believe it or else but Far North Dallas goes all the way up to Plano which borders Frisco.
The draft is a charade. American fans love drafts, so thats why the MLS Draft is still treated like a big event by MLS. Its not. They don't even care to air it. They want to tell us its important, but when it comes time to spending money on it, they don't care to do that. The quality of players in the draft has decreased. The two best American prospects in the draft were the two worst players on the US U-20 team in WCQ. This was a B or C team. They wouldn't get anywhere close to a full-strength US U-20 team. The best prospects in the MLS Draft aren't anywhere close to the best prospects in our player pool. One or two players from the draft will beat the expectations, but so will one or two players who come from a league that no one follows to the NT. I completely agree with the Union's strategy. They have better prospects in the same years as the best draft prospects that will never discuss because they aren't part of MLS's pre-orchestrated hype campaign for the draft. They can sign those players to HGP contracts, and they'll have better talent than the hyped MLS Draft prospects who deserve no hype because they aren't real prospects.
On ET radio they said Almeyda liked the draft and when he heard they were thinking of eliminating it he objected because he thought we shouldn't do things just like they do everywhere else.