I'd like to see the best players with solid age timelines and solid form get the minutes. International football isn't club football: the NT isn't developing and selling players. There is no pressure to rush along inexperienced players. The timeline is WCQing and Nation's League-based. That's what we're working with. Give high level young performers, like Parks and Pomykal, serious run. Give courtesy caps to duals who aren't ready. Give some minutes to inexperienced attackers. Otherwise, go with accomplished players. See if they can excel. The team can't be based on prospects. If 3G is playing his 343ish formation that the team played in the GC final then the CMs to start with should be Adams, McKennie, Morales, and Nagbe. Others can be worked in over time.
Yep. And in Berhalter's system, that means Morales should be starting. He will be 32 by the time of the next World Cup. Since that should be a very young USMNT, they will need some experienced players. If he keeps up his present form, why not Morales?
That is the play that Michael Bradley could not make, in his prime, against Ghana to send the USMNT to the 2010 WC 1/4 final.
Yeah, not just with Morales, but generally, I don't think we should be so hung up on potential call-ups being in their early 30s by 2022. Of course you don't want, say, half your roster to be over-30, but pretty much every team at the WC has at least a handful of over-30 guys on the roster and usually at least a couple starting.
it starts with a reasonable statement like this and then it ends up with us playing Bradley in the must-win final game of the Hex to get to qatar.....
So bizarre, a thread about a starting #6 in the Bundesliga ignored for 3 years being linked to the autostarter, at the same position, for the last 3 years that few think is qualified for that gig...how does that happen?!?!
We should ask Morales, who managed to fail in his opportunities with the Nats. Win your own spot. The American fans’ entitlement mentality is laughably naive.
Let’s be real here...getting away with a trip, dribbling in open space, and then making a couple of nice touches in the box to convert from in close is not exactly Maradona running through England.
Morales did not play LM anymore than Kitchen played RM. In the v PR Copa100 fringe friendly we played a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond. Morales played the same LCM in a 3CM midfield position that he played for Ing. DWill played the #6. Arriola Wood Bedoya Morales Kitchen Williams Ream Brooks Orozco Yedlin Guzan Wood, Bedoya, Kitchen, Brooks, Orozco, Yedlin, and Guzan made the Copa100 final roster. JK went with Jones, Bradley, Beckerman, Bedoya, and surprisingly Kitchen as his CM crew.
Bradley hasn't "won" his spot in years. He's just auto-started, and Trapp has been awful. Bradley fans' mentality of "please take a starting spot without an opportunity to do so" is why we weren't in Russia, and why we got punked by Mexico's B team.
I'm not a Bradley fan. This is not a binary choice, as some anti-Bradley types have reduced it down to. Honestly, Morales hasn't done enough with the USMNT to warrant being placed in competition with even Bradley, much less Tyler Adams or Weston McKennie. The anti-Bradley people have axes to grind. I'm not pro or anti anyone. Earn it on the field and you won't get taken off of it. Period.
What you say makes no sense. If bad play means you don’t get called in, then Bradley, Trapp and Roldan shouldn’t have been called in recently but they been called into every camp and played extensively. If however, we believe that our players are entitled to a bad game or two as an international player, we should take players who compete at the highest levels and it certainly makes no sense not to even call in a B1 starter so that we can play average MLS players who also “haven’t done enough with the USMNT to warrant being placed in competition with Bradley”. Morales never played as badly for the USMNT as either Bradley or Trapp in the competitive games in / around the Gold Cup. You’re holding Morales to a completely different standard than others and simply refuse to acknowledge it.
These guys have tape on Morales. He has caps as recent as 2016. He's not an unknown. I'm not against giving him call ups. I like the player. I do find the anti-Bradley-fueled clamor for his inclusion to be naive, however.
You are entitled to your opinion but Alfredo is currently playing at the level Bradley was at Mike’s peak and I think it’s insane to think that Bradley is as good as he used to be or would be capable of looking mediocre/good vs, Levenkusen. Your whole point appears to be that 1) he wasn’t better than Bradley, Jones et al before 2016 so it’s copacetic if he doesn’t get called in now and maybe 2) Bradley is still better. I’m not sure why you won’t admit the second if it’s true.
Followed by Holden and Edu tuting Bradley's horn with wonderous praise for pre-game, then Fox having Bradley in a nice timed moment before kick-off giving advice like a "leader", then Followed by not making It to Qatar because of more Bradley smoked like bacon moments to guaranteed the loss ( because he is too slow), then Media giving Bradley 7/10 or higher scores, then Followed by Bob Bradley saying we are idiots and Bruce Arena saying nothing needs to change. then Garber naming Bradley to CONCACAF best 11 for WCQ, then Jay Berhalter stays CEO, Bruce Arena becomes USMNT coach again, Michael Bradley becomes USMNT Assistant, and Gregg Berhalter becomes USMNT advisor to the CEO. Rinse and Repeat.
I would imagine that its likely he starts at least one of these games. Alfredo, there are minutes to be had...go take them.