A youth competition should never be a priority over something like Copa America. The new Copa America format will be something unbelievably lucky for us and the rest of CONCACAF.
I'm not sure I agree. The Olympics are different than a normal UWhatever tournament. Neymar played in the Olympics in 2016 instead of the Copa America, and their Copa America performance faltered as a result. I don't think they have any regrets. We're gonna be able to call in almost all of our full national team anyways. The 97s, 98s, 99s, 00s, plus Steffen, Miazga, and Yedlin is almost the same roster as we'd call for the Copa America. I'd rather see them go for the win in a worldwide competition than aim for a quarterfinal finish in one that's only in one hemisphere.
It's not just any youth competition though. The Olympics are huge in the US. If you want young kids to dream about being a soccer star then watching an American MNT win Olympic gold is how you achieve that. Because their parents and the kids themselves are watching the Olympics.
Would you rather be Mexico and win the 2012 Olympics or win Copa America? Most of the world doesn’t give two shits about the Olympics. Copa is gonna get close to the same platform as the Euros now.
Nothing has been confirmed yet about CA 2020 and who will be in it. The priority right now should be making it to the Olympics and aim for the gold with what we have, which will basically be the full USMNT based on everyones age. If CA does come around then that should be a priority. It will essentially be the same team either way for either competition they choose. For the qualifying process to the Olympics none of the Euro based players will be loaned out anyways. So if they do qualify for the Olympics then take that team to it and the better team to CA if we are invited or hosting it.
Yeah, the world cares more about the Copa America than the Olympics, but here’s the thing: I don’t really give a damn about what the rest of the world thinks. Everything our country does in regards to soccer should be what they perceive to be the most progressive towards winning a World Cup. Considering the Olympics would stir up way more interest in soccer than the Copa America, I’m gonna say that Id rather the US win the olympics. Also, we have like 3 or 4 times better of a chance of winning the Olympics than the CA. I’m not gonna bring a B team to an event we can win with actual skill and win an A team where we have little to no shot.
I personally think a Copa america run with the full team would be a better advertisement than a run in the Olympics. American soccer fans aren’t total morons. They know the Olympics are a second rate event. Sure some random casual fans will tune in to the Olympics and watch soccer but they aren’t going to become Manchester United fans overnight from that. Most likely they’ll go back to college football and the NFL. And anyway it’s not like we have a participation problem in soccer. This isn’t hockey. Literally just about every kid in America plays soccer now.
I'm not sure about that. The casual sports fan in the US thinks the Olympics are a big deal, and have never heard of Copa America. If US soccer wants to attract new fans, then that's the way to go. Plus, we have to be invited the Copa..........which hasn't happened yet. This is all a little bit "putting the cart before the horse." Let's actually qualify for the Olympics first The problem for the US isn't the Olympics. The problem has been the CONCACAF U23 Championships, at which we've failed for three of the past four tournaments. In a perfect world you'd have Pulisic, McKennie, Palmer-Brown, Carter-Vickers, Parks, etc. all at that event. Our "best" U23 team is quite intruiging right now. Start stripping off the elite guys and it becomes highly susceptible to CONCACAF competition.
If a copa happens in 2020 it’ll be a joint one in the US. If it doesn’t happen then the discussion is irrelevant.
I’m not worried about keeper, any part of the defense, or even wing play. I’m worried that we’re not gonna have a good enough midfield to control games, and they’ll get out of hand. Let’s remember that we won the U20 championship with roughly the same pool, but were likely going to be missing, among others, EPB and Adams. Those guys were crucial to have in midfield to keep the pressure on crappy teams. Without them, I don’t know who we play next to Durkin, and even his presence isn’t a given. None of Yueill, Lindley, Williamson, Kuzain, Jones, Mihailovic, or Goslin have cemented themselves in a starting lineup in MLS. And none of those guys strike me as guys I want playing in a CONCACAF tournament. Perhaps Williamson after doing it for the U20s. One things for sure: it’ll be ugly soccer. If it was easy enough to implement in short time, I’d be playing 3 at the back with Glad, McKenzie, and Trusty. Probably Carleton and Lewis on the wings with Saucedo as a bench option. There’s no clear front runner at striker either out of Ebobisse, Vazquez, Toye, and Akinola. There’s still plenty of time, of course, but I worry about the midfield getting overrun more than anything.
Olympic matches will be on in the middle of the night just like the ‘02 WC. Those ratings will be minuscule and 2016 Copa America ratings did very well. The new Copa America format will be the same as 2016. All of CONMEBOL plus U.S, Mexico, and 4 other CONCACAF nations. Whether it starts 2020 or 2024 is what remains to be seen. CONMEBOL and CONCACAF both love money more than anything. So my guess is it will be in 2020. Plus, we’d be the host again. We’re definitely not prioritizing the Olympics over being the CA hosts.
We don't have a permanent USMNT or a U23 coach So I don't know what we're prioritizing!!! What I do know is that if we don't get a move on and at least name some sort of interim U23 coach soon, then our preparations for that qualifying event start being compromised. It really isn't that far away, and our competition is preparing. We never seem to learn our lesson with Olympic qualifying. I don't know if its complacency or not really a priority for the USSF. Its a huge priority for the women. Klinsmann tried to make it a priority by naming a U23 coach early, but it still wasn't enough.
It really isn't. Qualifying tournament begins on October 3, 2019, just a little over 14 months from now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics#Men's_qualification
One problem last cycle was that Herzog mailed it in. I still remember a @bshredder interview in which Herzog was asked about Tim Parker (in the midst of a strong rookie season in Vancouver) and Herzog obviously had no idea who he was. Meanwhile, he just called up the same YNT legacy players to rosters.
Yup. And the timing of the event is terrible for US soccer. So what we should have been working on for all of 2018 was expanding the pool past the Euro guys who aren't going to be available in October. And more of them can be over there at that time. Tyler Adams stands out. And even MLS guys on good teams are questionable. This is one we can all see being a disaster from a mile away, and the federation is doing nothing (as far as anyone can tell).
Sending all Olympic eligible kids to the Olympics should be the #1 priority in 2020. Let them continue to play together for the Olympics, then the 2022 World Cup, and then peak for the 2026 World Cup. Send the top overage players to the 2020 Copa America (if it happens) to determine which ones you're going to keep around for World Cup 2022 qualifying. This has been pointed out for about 8 to 10 months on this website and several others, but it doesn't seem to be sinking in.
The problem, as we've noted isn't the Olympics. We shouldn't even be thinking that far ahead. The problem is the CONCACAF U23 Championships, aka the Olympic Qualifying tournament. We've failed at this event in 3 of the past 4 editions. At this point we can't even say we're being complacent. Everybody in the USMNT/USYNT community knows we can't "mail it in" for this qualifying event. Its just a total lack of focus. I don't want to say incompetence, because we have new people in new roles. Its possible that the interim staff sees the USMNT right now as essentially the U23 team. Which based on recent callups is kinda true. However, many of those players aren't going to be available for qualifying. So they really need to be have "casting a wide net" camps. They need to be scheduling some matches against other U23 teams. I'm sure we can schedule some matches against CONCACAF brethren also wanting to prepare, like Canada and Mexico.
There should be a qualifying team and tournament team. The qualifying team should be made of of players who would be able to hold their own against CONCACAF tactics, referees and physicality. Other teams have pushing the US around for a while. A big punishing and physical lineup that mat be a bit ugly could be ideal and then combine some of those players with the more technical ones for the Olympics where CONCACAF stuff will result in red cards.
I’ve decided we’re going to win the Olympics. Sargent Pulisic Weah McKennie Adams Durkin Robinson EPB Miazga* Yedlin* Steffen* The level of experience that team will have in 2 years is wild. I’m expecting a win over England in the final to make it even sweeter.
That's close to our best 23 at any age. Remarkable and a lot of other really good players even younger on the way.
Its certainly an intriguing team. I'm much more worried about the qualification campaign than I am about the olympics themselves. And by really worried, I mean REALLY worried. We have no coach, no direction, no games scheduled. Nothing.