It would be really nice if GB would allow some people from various medias to attend practices so the the rest of us that rely on this could hear what the hell is going on. I for one am sick of the Klinsmann, Arena, and even Bradley approach of closed doors all the time. There is NOTHING and other team is going to learn watching us practice. I doubt any of them even care. Open the doors GB, dont hide. You have a long way to go to win the fans support and hiding won't help
An individual rating tends to be subjective. An accumulation of such ratings by many people tends to get more to the truth of the matter. People who favor technique and smarts cancel out with those who favor athletes and physicality. As well as other such differing perspectives. That is, if you get the pool right. Kind of like polling, if they anticipate the turnout in terms of cross sections and size it can be eerily accurate. If not, a mess. If you have too many finesse lovers the athletes get short shrift, vice versa. I also think qualitative as opposed to quantitative can be useful too. Quantitative one person's 5 can be another's 8. So sometimes you want the narrative of why. But also sometimes you want someone for a specific purpose, with specific skills or attributes. They might even be a fairly objective 6, but for that position, best you can do, or great for that role. Also I tend to find value in hearing people describe a player (or equipment in my other sport). What excels. What works. What doesn't. What sucks. What breaks. You may hear perspectives you missed. You may also hear patterns emerge from others, at which point, it may or may not be groupthink, but others are seeing what you are. Or seeing something you're not. There is inherent fallibility in the process but the more eyes see someone the closer I think you get to a consensus. Kind of what Rotten Tomatoes is built on. It would be interesting if someone, say, did a compilation/average of the player ratings from an identified, balanced set of sources, for each game, over time, etc.
Green has been fairly productive to get the "maybe he transforms or not" treatment. Nguyen ran into some classic Yanks Abroad catch 22s. He was a prized U20 prospect but once signed in Europe he didn't actually play much. Some of whether you look sharp and ready for the Nats is getting appearances. A worse player who plays regularly has something on tape to sell him. He also looks sharper if he does get called. Nguyen then goes to VN which saves his career but also takes him off our radar. He then comes back age 26 into MLS that we can scout. By that point your window is shrinking like, say, Dwyer. Beyond that, it's the Twellman/Wondo/Kljestan thing, club numbers are nice, but when you show up, there are too many good players, you have to be productive. You're dissing Green but Green has scored some goals. Objectively he can handle the level and do something in big games. Nguyen didn't. Maybe he should get more games but at a point it's put up or shut up and they don't have to give you as many games as you think you deserve. There were a small handful of people managing goals last season. Green was one of them. Wood and Sargent were a couple others. You may prefer others, and it may even be where if X got their crap together they in theory could be a more interesting player. But in reality one guy produces and the other doesn't and a wise coach isn't fighting reality much. I also think on Nguyen, Adu, Kljestan, etc., you have to factor in that we overrate offensive abilities and neglect the overall package. As we have seen abundantly the last year, merely looking decent on paper doesn't suffice. It matters whether you are a sniper or merely decent shot or a donkey. It matters whether that ball is right where it needs to be every time, sometimes, or in row Z. Foot speed and defensive knack can kill a solid but not amazing technical player, if he's expected to do his part marking as well. Some of the finesse players are pretty good, not that great, not as sharp as finesse should be. And then they are defensive liabilities or unathletic or Coca Cola players who don't combine on down into the net. At that level, unless you are Valderrama, they may expect at least x quality defense, speed, and hustle. if you are good for occasional but not constant assists and then don't play defense.....
Just called and confirmed that they will NOT be open to the public. Apparently I wasn't the only one who called today and over the weekend as well.
You'd think USS would want to do just about anything for the p.r. boost and supplementary scratch right now, but I guess they're more concerned with shielding themselves from possibly warranted criticism. We can't be allowed to see that Bradley, Acosta, and Trapp aren't actually best of the lot in practice before they resume their pre-determined starting spots.
They care f all for the US Soccer fan. I think I've said that exact quote in a previous thread. They aren't here to make nice to the US Soccer fan. We are a minor nuisance to them. We aren't an important enough source of revenue for them to care. The problem is, we could all stop going to games, and they would still make their nut.
Disappointing to hear, but where there's a will there's a way. I'd send you my wire cutters but time is short and there's a good chance you'll need bolt cutters. Mum's the word from here on out - it's probably best to keep your plans private. Good luck!
Lets give Berhalter at least one camp to clean up the rough edges before having practice open to the public. Klinsmann had his first open practice during his 2nd camp and did have them periodically through his first cycle including the one at NYRB during the WC2014 sendoff series. Here is a live stream of the camp before Jamaica and Panama at the end of HEX2014
Cross-posting ... Focused on Berhalter but also on what he's trying to accomplish at this camp. "The first practice was a brisk 90-minute session that was heavy on both conditioning and competition. Berhalter favors a short-passing, possession-oriented playing style so many of the early drills emphasized quick touches and ball control under pressure. Berhalter is also an enthusiastic proponent of analytics, which have been slow to catch on in soccer when compared with sports like baseball and basketball. During Monday’s practice a drone hovered noisily overhead, recording the entire session for dissection later."
I like Berhalter, but the whole tone here is the old guard practically screaming that we need to go back to the same spirit that the 2002 team had. A good message but one which can be overdone. Hopefully it is managed right.
I fail to see how a "short-passing, possession-oriented playing style" plays to our pool's strengths vs. the better teams in the world, not the least to include Mexico and CR. Really looks like aspirational form over substance. Bummer.
Yeah, I've had that sense through this whole time since Arena and Gulati stepped down. From what we know, the players council was pivotal in swinging the election to Cordeiro. Bocanegra was pivotal in hiring Stewart, and Stewart was pivotal in hiring Berhalter. It seems like the players from the late 90s/early 00s just kinda grabbed the wheel and decided we're going to do things their way. I think that's certainly better than Gulati and Flynn running the show, but it's still somewhat insular and a disappointment to those us who wanted a fresher, more outside-of-the-box approach. But I'm still willing to be optimistic at this point.
I have watched Lee play for years and think that not only is he a great player, he never got much of a chance to show what he can do on the NAT level. The few times he actually made the field for the NATs, he had to deal with Bradley freezing him out and basically playing Lee's position. This prevented him from showing his value at the time. That being said.... he's still a great passer and mobile and is doing well in MLS. I wish GB would give him a look and see how he fits with the current group. He certainly could help generate offense... as he does in MLS. I would love to see him feeding any of the forwards like Sargent, or Wood and he's the player we do not have right now that could drive the offense.
He doesnt just look slow... he is slow! Would GB ever have the guts to lose his phone number? I wonder? Will he start the friendlies? What if he doesnt show well or sets his sights on sinking the competition as he has in the past? I just dont GB is strong enough to tell him it's over (it is)