The best iterations of the USMNT, those who have accomplished the most, have had some combination of leaders who propel the team to do things they did not previously do. These are the guys who make things happen, who make the pressure plays, who show commitment. They score the important goals, make the important tackles, find the killer balls, etc. It takes a person with a winning mindset and some serious internal motivation to step up and say "I'm going to be that guy" consistently. We have seen Keller, Friedel, Jermaine Jones, Dooley, Reyna, McBride, Bocanegra, Wynalda, Lalas, Pope, Dempsey, Cobi Jones, Donovan, Beasley, Hejduk, Sanneh, Bradely, Howard, Onyewu, Cherundolo, etc. do that over the years. Even guys like Demerit, Eddie Lewis, Mastroeni, Berrhalter, and Wolff stepped up. I believe that the US failed to qualify for the last world cup because of the leadership void. The old guys didn't have the ability to dictate what happened on the field anymore and the young guys were too timid to make things happen. So, who is the new band of leadership who will take responsibility for the teams success? Will they succeed? I think that Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie are those guys. It's time for them to step up and take responsibility for the teams success....to leave everything out there. Pulisic is among them too, but he hasn't shown that leadership tendency. I think that Adams/McKennie/Pulisic is the new core of leadership. Those guys need to take the reigns sooner rather than later. Who do you believe will lead the team into 2022?
You triggered me and had me at Bradley. Bradley was the captain at the worst time in our soccer history. directly responsible for jogging his way to 100 articles by SUM 2 years later to save his legacy. And then lets attack Pulisic. Just joined...…...hmmmmmmm.
I know he gets a lot of shtick here, but I still think Weah is going to be a huge presence moving forward. He has a big personality and knows how to get the fanbase all goo-goo eyed, like showing up to a pick up game invite and going full Celtic fanatic. Pulisic leads through sheer drive and effort. He might not be the locker room ra-ra but people respond to grit and output. Adams and McKinney in midfield (once the last person on earth that thinks Adams is a RB figures out he is a CM) will be the leadership base IMO. And yes, Bradley at one time long ago was a true leader on the USMNT. Ducks....
Why is this a BS thing? It's almost like a tick. Somebody says something that you don't agree with and people immediately note the join date and call you a troll, etc. I'm genuinely interested in this. If Bradley is a failure for not qualifying then why isn't Pulisic? He was on that team too. I'm just wondering what standard is being used to disqualify players and immunize others.
The best leader is Mr. Chemistry. You get the right chemistry then you pick the player who represents that chemistry while also being experienced enough to know how it goes in concacaf. Dempsey was a great captain because you just had to think of that game face and it was game on. With Bradley, the team was supposed to stand around and admire the king of the jungle. So that's what they did. Stand around. Making Pulisic the captain means the guy who gets fouled the most will be arguing his case to refs "pro se" which is never a good idea. Trapp has been a logical choice so far in the interim period. I think the captaincy is definitely still to be determined by circumstances yet to come. I don't see a "captain" tbph. Pomykal was a splendid choice for u20's.
Maybe because Pulisic (who scored our lone game-tying goal) ran himself into the ground trying to win, and Bradley (the Captain) couldn't bother himself to sprint, or even jog, to take corner kicks when we were behind.
Adams is still in "that was no foul, ref, you're hurting my pride" mode. I'm fine with that as long as he isn't captain. He'll be a candidate eventually. He is studying psychology, I hear. McKennie seems insecure. I think Adams could be Captain in 2022 but we need somebody else in the intervening period.
It is an over reaction, but not unwarranted. Some posters have created new accounts and posted nonsense many times in the past. btw, I think your take on Pulisic is a joke. He had what was probably the best Hex performance an american has had and basically carried the team as a 19 yo.
I believe this is a good point, and one of the points for why I stress so hard that old players need to be phased out as soon as possible from the player pool. It’s okay for an emergency call up here or there, but whenever it’s a wash between a young player or an old player.... always favor towards the younger player. For instance, Carter-Vickers versus Omar Gonzalez. In no universe, should CCV be held out in favor of Gonzalez. As a result, we aren’t bringing our prime aged players into the fold until past the time they should be leaders in the program. That said, I’m about ready to anoint Tyler Adams the captain, although he’s still not even 21. He has demonstrated he has that winner mindset and seems like a natural born leader. However, that requires Berhalter to not play him out of position either.
Michael Bradley has actually won something and has played in World Cups. If you play long enough you will fail at some point. In fact, if we're being 100% consistent, Pulisic has "failed" already.
[1] So am I, Office Space. So am I. [2] Watch the match against TnT. Then watch it again, and again, and again, until it is burnt into your eyes the difference between what you saw Bradley "do" and what Pulisic did.
And this, OP, is why you earned the name "troll". Far more so than Bradley has "earned" a spot on the USMNT for this Gold Cup.
It's not my take. You just drive right through that red light. Pulisic was great. I asked a question that was totally in line with the logic used against Bradley, Gonzalez, etc. "They were a part of the greatest failure in a generation. They should never be called up again." But then why isn't that extended to everybody who was on that team?
Again, I ask a simple question that is clearly related to the logic used to disqualify Bradley. Somehow that makes me a troll. And every word I said was factual. Bradley has won something at international level. Pulisic has not. Yet Bradley should never be allowed on the team against because of the failure in which Pulisic participated in. Of course I don't believe that either player should be excluded.
If you're asking if I think Pulisic should be excluded from the team then of course not. But the logic is the same. Why is it seen as OK to exclude Bradley because of the qualification failure but not other players on that team.
Let's make it really simple for you, OP. A slow pitch right in the sweet spot. You're bat, kiddo, ya ready? Okey dokey, here goes: "At Couva there were two camps within the USMNT lineup, a minority who tried their very best to push the US to qualifying and a majority who did not so try, a majority that slow-walked in a dream like fugue through the vaguest motions of an effort. Pulisic led the first camp. Bradley led the second. Those who tried deserve to continue to be looked at for the national side. Those who didn't, don't. Pulisic is deserving of this squad, Bradley is not." Capisce?
So you're judging Bradley based on one game and on one of his worst days. I shouldn't even have to mention sample size. But this is the exact kind of maniacal and emotional arguments that people make on this topic. Just to let you know, anybody can make this argument about any player. I could go find a terrible performance by anybody and use the same tactic to disqualify them. Do you think we would've gotten a point in Mexico City without Bradley's chip?
You have really bad comprehension skills, then. I asked a question in order to suss out the logic that excludes one guy for a team failure but absolves another. I think excluding Pulisic would extremely stupid, as would excluding anybody based on one night in Couva or even two games in qualifying.
You have a right to that opinion but it's clearly not stupid based on what has been said here on BS. That's legitimately what people say. Bradley should never see the team again for being a failure. But other players are absolved because people like them or they've young or other reasons.
[1] No I am not. It is an unhelpful fact for Bradley that he had one of his worst days when it counted absolutely the most, but if it was one bad rogue wave in an otherwise tranquil sea of quality then an outlier it would be. A problem for you, OP, is that the last two years have seen many many many such "rogue waves" from Bradley, both at a club and national level. You are claiming his game is the Pacific out of Palau, when for years it has been the North Sea off of the Orkneys. [2] But you should, you really should. That sample size is large. [3] You are so right. And here I was afraid you were one of those folk incapable of heeding the call to "Know Thyself".