That’s an interesting take! Fits the dataset, although it’s a very small sample size. What’s ironic is that Germany appears to be the best league for Americans to play at an elite level. It’s beyond disappointing that it appears that the USMNT is willing to shoot themselves in the foot by creating some discriminatory criteria that elevates some Americans over others. Wambach, Arena and Donovan were simply voicing what others are now doing.
I'm OK with this current system if he also has a different one for really good teams. For breaking down bunkering CONCACAF minnows I'm willing to see more. If he tries this against Germany, France or Brazil I'll jump on the stupid system bandwagon.
Race baiting has a definition and what @DHC1 did was mention race not race bait. George Wallace was a race baiter. Mentioning race isn't inherently wrong or offensive and it surely isn't "race baiting." https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race-baiting Race-baiting | Definition of Race-baiting by Merriam-Webster Definition of race-baiting : the making of verbal attacks against members of a racial group
I don't follow why Berhalter who played in Germany would be against players who speak German. I imagine they speak decent English also and Pulisic, McKennie, Adams and Sargent should all be fluent in German now.
Thank you, 50/50. In hindsight, it wasn't worth mentioning as it pulls away from the point that I'm trying to make (and one which you may disagree!) that there's a discriminatory structural bias at play here. I'm still salty that posters would say that it's race-baiting and then go deep into the well to defend that poor take.
Bruce Arena on having Jermaine Jones and Terence Boyd on a roster: “Players on the national team should be–and this is my own feeling–they should be Americans. If they’re all born in other countries, I don’t think we can say we are making progress.” Abby Wambach on German-Americans: “The way that [Klinsmann] has changed and brought in these foreign guys, it’s just not something that I believe in.” Landon Donovan on Jermaine Jones and Fabian Johnson: “I wouldn’t feel as good about it if we had a team full of players that didn’t really grow up...American. It’s nothing against them. I mean, Fabian Johnson is as good of a player as there is, maybe in the Bundesliga right now, and I love him and he’s a nice kid. I love Jermaine [Jones]…and they’re good teammates, I like having them on the team. But if we had a team full of players like that, it just wouldn’t feel the same as if we developed a team that then went on and won a World Cup. There’s just something more special about all of us being a part of it and growing it and building it. And if it’s win at all costs, that’s fine. But, in my opinion, it’s not win at all costs, it's win in a way that makes us feel proud." I'm seriously getting pissed off at how wrong these comments are. After these comments, you would think that there would be heightened sensitivity and a deliberate showing that the USMNT doesn't hold this perspective but even under that context, we get 100% exclusion.
Sure, we all know about those comments but why rope Berhalter in to that? He hasn't made any of those comments has he?
Sorry, you use race as a rod to bait your argument that someone is discriminating based on that criteria...that's called "race-baiting". Can't even trust dictionaries these days.
Pegasus - It's the context in which his decisions are made. These statements were out there from former coaches and well-connected insiders. Arena backed up his words with actions in his call-ups and we paid the price. Usually, when a new leader comes in after a disastrous old leader, they take pains to show that things are different. Instead, we get the same old actions of excluding B1 German-American players from even making the 40-man roster.....
Novakovich speaks perfectly fine English, if you don't mind South Canada accents (he's from Wisconsin). Yet he can't get a sniff, meanwhile Gyau and Perez (aka, nobodies) get called up. I just don't get it with some of these selections. People on Reddit are jumping for joy that he's calling in a bunch of players, but that's just about the dumbest reasoning ever. You don't get credit for calling up lots of players, you get credit for calling up the right players.
Sadly, I don't think it would change anything. It's why I used 'maybe, maybe' more or less as a reach for a ray of sunshine in a shitstorm.
Why are we going through this whole MLS veterans drill? We all know that the young players will be ahead of them in 3 years and our midfield should be Adams, McKennie, Pulisic and some combo of Pomykal, Mendez, Weah or an even younger guy. Are Trapp, Bradley, Roldan and whoever else going to hold these guys off?
Following the Gold Cup and U-20 WC, i’d Like to see the next line up look like: GK Horvath, Steffen, Johnson RB Yedlin, Cannon CB Brooks, Miazga, Carter-Vickers, M. Robinson LB A. Robinson, Gloster DM Adams, Morales MF McKennie, Pulisic, Mendez, Pomykal RW Arriola, Boyd FW Sargent, Soto LW Weah, Amon
I think you're mostly right, though Trapp is a strong possibility to continue. Pomykal, Mendez and Weah will likely make their way into the senior team shortly, as well as a few other guys from the U-teams. For now they are with the junior teams, but that will change soon. The MLS veterans are currently placeholders while the young guys mature some more, and get quality PT wherever they are.
I'm hopeful that several of the youth players contribute at the senior level but counting on them is dubious at best. I also agree that Trapp is likely to continue - and have no problem with him on the roster but not as an auto-starter in our spine.
Absolutely--counting on ANY youth teamer to contribute on the senior team is a fools errand. Fortunately, there are enough high-quality youngsters right now that it seems as safe as it has ever been to assume that some of them will actually come good.
100% agreed. In the back of my mind, I was thinking of the poster who theorized that Berhalter may be thinking of one of these players as spine player for 2022 and believe that there's a huge difference in saying: "there's talent at level and hope to find a couple spots where they can make an impact (a la Donovan/Beasley in 2002 or Green in 2014*)" vs. "the senior squad is relying on one/two deficient player(s) in the position that touches the ball the most and we're betting that one of these guys is going to move from the U-levels straight to the QB role in the senior side" Personally, I think Berhalter's system requires fast shifty wingers who can threaten defenses and think that there's some promise here. * note: this is not comparing whose impact was greater - just that they were very young players who were able to make a contribution despite their age. These were the first names that popped into my head.
This is one of my issues. The upcoming GC is the perfect competitive environment to transition these "placeholders" either off the roster or to the bench as sub/role players only. I believe, after not qualifying for the WC, that this is the time for all of these "young guys" to be introduced to the world of CONCACAF, (ie. Sarachan) starting with the GC which has no real value except to: Learn early on how to: * Play vs. bunkered CONCACAF opponents who will foul endlessly * Play vs. the Mexican style of trying to unnerve US players out of their games (dead ball b.s.; diving; pushing/shoving; dirty play during corners, never given yellow cards, etc.) * Deal with extremely hostile CONCACAF road environments * Deal with CONCACAF referees who will never give you a fair call * Play with each other as a team during the good and the bad times * Who are the real young players to build upon and which need to return to their clubs for more seasoning * Find a system that works best for the young players identified as our future 2022 team ..just to name a few I would rather lose the GC with a young and exciting team than watch more boring, uninspiring, tired, old MLS players (Omar, Ream a;so) who we already know what they offer (or don't)
There are only 7 players over the age of 28 on the 40-man provisional roster. Even if all 7 make the final cut, that's only 30% of the full team. Most of the guys we're referring to as MLS veterans are under 26. This is not old. They might have lower ceilings than some of the young guys, but they also might be the best players we have right now. It's always a crapshoot as to how youth national team players will develop--there have been countless "future stars" that folks on here clamored for that never became anything more than mop-up minutes guys on crappy MLS teams or faded out of professional soccer altogether.
I think that having a placeholder in the USMNT's spine players is a huge mistake, if that's what Berhalter is actually doing. Having a placeholder at LB or RW? that makes sense but not at the position that is a, if not the, key to Berhalter's possession system. I personally think that Berhalter is building around Trapp (with backup minutes going to Bradley until he gets the record) and it will take either an injury or several dreadful performances to try other options. I will gladly eat crow if we see Adams and McKennie manning the central midfield while Trapp is on the bench in 2019.