At best Davies will be 50% of his former self, and that is assuming he can get in a couple of appearances with his club team. He could be useful for a short sub role and for inspiration. Ching is injured, and will probably get re-injured if he comes back too soon. Very risky to pick him for the team. So we go with Jozy and Clint up top, with multiple options to replace Clint at midfield. Our pool of possible forward substitutes include Casey, Cunningham, Findley, and Johnson. Each of them have very little chance of being effective at the WC. Now there are two new possible subs: Gomez and Buddle. If given the chance to strut their stuff at the international level, they each most likely flop. But since they haven't been given the chance, they look promising. The grass is greener on the other side. Attention, Mr. McBride, will you please pick up a white courtesy phone. He's not the ideal solution, but we desperately need depth at forward.
Actually, if you need a forward to crash the box in the dying minutes, I'd rather have him than Ching.
to be honest, at this point in McHead's performance curve, i'd rather see bradley take an up and coming teenager. he sweat and bled for us, but his time wearing the US crest as a player is over.
I find myself growing annoyed with these kind of knee jerk ripostes. Disagree with the OP (im not sure whether I agree or disagree at this point), fine, but the guy has taken the time to frame an argument. At least say why it is you disagree. Given health concerns w/r/t CHing and Davies and the inability of Cunningham and Findley to make cases for themselves in recent runs out, I cannot believe that having a willing*, in form* Brian McBride on the SA roster would be a bad thing. Id prefer him to Casey. He may be able to play the JVH role next to Jozy decently if needed. I'd still rather have a healthy holden at RM with Clint up top next to Jozy or a healthy and fit Davies. But having McBride's workrate, class, attitude and experience on the roster wouldn't imho reflect desperation. *assumptions
For a deep reserve slot, as odd as it might sound, McBride wouldn't be a bad choice given his experience, type of game, and work ethic. What's clear is that Brian is not a player who should be going a full-90 at the international level anymore, and any lengthy time spent on the pitch is likely to expose his age, declining speed, and ability to play at this pace. But in terms of target forwards who play a complete game, if Ching is not available, I'd rather have McBride on the bench than Casey. And if we're holding a lead in the 75th minute and need that big striker to bang around the box, hold the ball, play a 2-way game, etc., Brian is ideal. But if Bradley brings Davies at whatever percentage he is back to playing, I'm not sure Bob could justify using 2 roster slots for players who offer such limitations in terms of their ability to give extended minutes. A lot of Bob's decision-making at striker still depends on how useful Davies may be.......
I don't think we need McHead. He's class and probably won't do worse than Ching or Casey, but really the US has to continue to grow players for the future. We just can't keep relying on older players. Besides, McHead didn't really do much for us during the Olympics, so I don't see him really adding that much that we need someone of his age on this WC team.
No it's not. McBride wasn't good at this level in 2006, yet he's going to suddenly be golden when he's 4 years older? I'd rather have Buddle at this stage of their careers. McBride would be a panic move on the level of taking JOB to the WC in 2006.
He wasn't good at the junior equivalent of this level in 2008, either. It kinda pains me to say that (I love the guy as I'm sure almost all of us do), but even as poor as our forward depth is, we've got a half dozen options that are better at this point. No shame in that; nobody's body lasts forever, especially not for a guy who made it a point of pride to so fearlessly sacrifice his throughout his career.
Have you watched him with the Fire at all? Hell no. We already know that if nothing else, Donovan and Dempsey will play up top and two other people willl slot into the midfield.
If Kristin Lilly can do it Brian McBride can do it. But on a more serious note. One of two things SHOULD happen in my opinion. They just get the best person available to replace Dempsey on the wing and move dempsey up top if we must run a 4-4-2. or We just leave Altidore up top by himself and drop another person back to the midfield. Unless Davies comes back we can take our chances with bald head boy and bad touch man. So those are our options
Well hes not that bad with the Fire and maybe him and John can bring some excitement in Toyota Park but hes over for the national team id rather take a promising u-17 or u-20 than him
True, but I would hope that a lesson from WC06 is that we will struggle to generate the needed offense playing with a sole striker up-top. Our strength, as many rightly point out, is in the midfield, and both Donovan and Dempsey can play forward, even if that is not an ideal solution if we've all our players available. So, in many ways, it comes down to us being better with Donovan at forward with Beasley/Torres/Rogers at LM, or Dempsey at forward with Holden/Feilhaber at RM, compared to Donovan and Dempsey in the midfield and us rolling with the likes of McBride, Casey, Cunningham, etc. at striker. If this thread was started to question whether McBride is still perhaps a viable option if we're to the point where a Conor Casey may see significant minutes this summer, it's an entirely valid argument. But if Davies can offer anything of reasonable quality, and Ching is out, I tend toward the belief that we'd be better off with athleticism from that reserve slot, along the lines of a Findley or Gomez. But if there is no Davies and no Ching, looking at McBride for a 23rd-man slot isn't at all unreasonable given our options. I don't think it will be needed or will happen, but I can't come up with a valid reason to take Casey over McBride, and that says far more about Casey than it does Brian.......
For reasons others have cited on this thread (especially his performance at the Olympics), I just don't think McBride has it at the international level anymore. The guy's still a useful MLS professional because he's smart, hardworking, and fit, but he's not as good as he was two, four, or eight years ago. I think we need three guys on the roster who are there to play striker first and foremost, and given our player pool, that means that we're going to have to consider some guys with some real holes in their games. Sad to say, I think McBride's weaknesses at the international level are too serious at this point. So, with significant frustration, I'd rather see Gomez, Buddle, or even Johnson. (A healthy Ching is probably a better option, but that may well not happen.) We can always cross our fingers that some unknown or unexpected player will score a dozen goals in the next eight weeks, but it doesn't seem too likely.
Brian's intelligence, experience and toughness can cover for his aging legs against MLS-level competition. Sadly, they would not be able to make up the difference at any significantly higher level. I like the idea but it won't work. The concern I have isn't the return of Davies so much as the return of Holden.
As much of a fan I am of Bake and am thankful for the brilliant service he has put in for the USMNT, the 2008 Olympics really started to show his age. One cannot expect better on the World Cup stage.
He was better than Ching! He was also misused horribly. Square pegs, round holes and all that stuff. MLS is at least as athletic as Algeria and Slovenia. In any case, I said that he's not a starter ... but, as a situational sub, I certainly would take him over Eddie Johnson. Gomez and Buddle are sadly "not integrated" with the squad.
McBride's Olympic performance was not too impressive. And he is now two years older and would be going against tougher, more experienced defenders.
I'm not sure how he's looked recently so I can't respond to the original post, but I find it troubling that people are citing his performances from the '06 World Cup and '08 Olympics to prove that he can't perform at this level anymore. And that's not simply because he was stranded alone up top in almost all of those matches - a role at which he's never excelled at that level. McBride was still a very serviceable starting Premier League striker (and eventually club captain) in the seasons following the 2006 World Cup, including the one leading up the 2008 Olympics. His goal scoring rate during that period remained what it had been in prior seasons (roughly a goal every 4 games), his target play was still top notch, and his recovery from injury was widely cited as one of the key factors for Fulham turning around its season and avoiding relegation in 2008. Again, I have no idea how he's looked recently. But two years ago, he was a Premier League starting caliber striker, and that's something of which we're in very short supply.