Well I find that bit VERY agreeable. It just wasn't the message I was receiving when Karl wrote this: To play at the national team level, you must create (yes, Ty's phrase IS applicable) HAVOC out there. You must go 100 miles an hour, you must be extremely strong, incredibly fit, busting your gut every second. Whether you call it work rate, hustle, or whatever, you must play completely out of your mind ALL the time, on both sides of the ball. This doesn't seem to leave room for the possibility that some lack of hustle could be made up for by excellence in other areas. Again, I think Karl's opinion as quoted at the top is pretty much on the money. But in this thread he was shaping his criteria to preclude Steve Ralston in favor of - surprise - someone we already know has the full seal of Bruce Arena approval.
Speaking of which, I think Ben Olsen wears the full seal of Arena approval, and I thought his play was devolving to far below national team quality by the time he got hurt. He showed talent and promise, then his scurrying, hacking and juking without forethought began to get less cute. He should mouth less and pick his head up more. I don't doubt his fire, competitiveness, coachability (when he's got a good one) or even his skill. And I hope he comes back to be amazing. But he was overrated and far from being our answer on the wing. Ka-ching: there's my 1.5 cent digression.
I have no problem with Ralston getting a more closer look than the few caps we have to go on(7 total), but the guy is 28 now and is not going to burn anyone. He is incredibly durable and always gives you his best effort. Unfortunatly he is in the mold of so many former USMNT players who were only marginal on the international level. Give him a call up for El Salvador and again early next year for friendlies before the summer, but he has to impress imediatly due to the number of younger players that can play flank.Congrats to Cobi for a great career in MLS and USMNT. However it is time to let some younger players have a crack at being a second half jump start.
The levels of stupidity being reached on this thread are amazing People criticizing Claudio Reyna's World Cup performance absolutely need to be thrown in a dumpster and beaten with baseball bats. Are you people serious? The guy comes straight from a long Premier League season into the World Cup, deals with an injury, plays with said injury, and winds up helping us get to the quarterfinals. Was Korea a great game for Claudio? Not his best, but his presence on the field and his contributions cannot be measured by fans with minor league skills for analyzing soccer. He served as a strong presence, providing more than his share of hard tackles and slick interceptions to slow down the relentless Korean attack. The Poland match? Let's not talk about that match, EVER. No one had a good game, well, Clint did, but no one remembers that anyway. Mexico? Reyna practically threw on a cape and took Mexico's heart in the first 20 minutes of the match. His splendid run down the right flank that helped create the first goal was probably the best piece of individual skill shown by an American field player during the tournament (Clint's goal vs. S. Korea was pretty sweet too.) Germany. Reyna did everything but go to the sideline and punch Rudi Voller in the mouth. He won every challenge, followed through on every tackle and imposed his will on the German midfield. And someone wants to rip him for not getting back after a superhuman run forward? His tank may have been on E at that point but it was after pushing it to that point trying to get the equalizer? Exactly what player's tank would not have been on E after the performance Reyna gave? It's fans like those, the ingrateful ones who will always dwell on negatives and make more out of minor crap than on the positive things. Reyna was not named to the World Cup All-Star team by accident, or because his friends voted. He made it because the selection committee recognized his heroic efforts against Mexico and Germany instead of dwelling on things that he couldn't even be blamed for. Why don't you guys go watch pro wrestling or something. Your analytical skills seem better suited for that.
Re: The levels of stupidity being reached on this thread are amazing On top of those performances, the way he went toe to toe with Edgar Davids absolutely blew me away. I know it was a friendly, but there was nothing half-speed about the way those two played the first half of that game. I easily rank Davids as one of the very best midfielders of the last decade, and Reyna totally surprised me with his defensive and holding skills that I could say finally proved to me he is world class. I'm not going to get into the effort argument at all, though I think he gives plenty, but just wanted to remind people of this performance as well.
Re: The levels of stupidity being reached on this thread are amazing Would you like some fries with your hyperbole, Jersey boy?
Reyna & the Cup "Reyna was not named to the World Cup All-Star team by accident, or because his friends voted." No, he was named to the team because he is the most familiar U.S. player to European voters, and the Euros figured that the U.S. deserved to get a guy on the team since it made the quarterfinals. So they went for the guy they knew (and for the most recent performances, the ones in the second round.) It's not that Reyna was unworthy -- two great games against Mexico and Germany, two OK games in the first round, one game on the bench -- but over the 5-game stretch Donovan, O'Brien, Sanneh, and maybe even Pope were clearly worthier. That's how all-star teams tend to work -- a combination of previous reputation and actual accomplishment. I remember seeing a bigsoccer.com poll after the Cup, and Reyna scored about 4th or 5th in the poll. By the people who knew best -- hardcore U.S. fans. That was the right place. Not for the Germany game, no. But for the whole tournament, yes.
Two things about Cobi will make me always appreciate what he did for the National team: 1) his sub in the second half of the US-Guatemala game. His appearance, to me, seemed absolutely electrifying and in my mind is what resulted in our victory for that game. 2) his getting under the skin under the Mexicans in the round of 16 at this year's World Cup. They went after him, he kept his cool, we won.