but Suyuntuy, it's totally different to tie poor performance to being dual-national. It's not like the "native" team that BA choose "looked ace" but no one jumps to the conclusion is because "natives" don't care. It's, rightly, down to each player.
I don't think it's out of the question for some personality types to give less than 100% when playing for the national team of a country they feel little connection to. Not saying any of these guys feel little connection to the US, but it's not out of the question--they have varying degrees of ties to the country, all are citizens obviously but some spent little if any time here prior to getting called into the national team, have little or no relationship with their American father, etc. I also think it's small sample size--outside of some fringe guys like Williams and Boyd, we really have by my count 4 German-American dual nationals who have been regulars at some point in the last decade or so: Chandler - The poster boy for dual nationals not giving a shxt Johnson - Not as bad as Chandler, but begged out of the CONCACAF Cup, etc Brooks - Sometimes makes gaffes for the US but I've always put this down more to mental lapses and haven't ever seen any reason to question his effort Jones - The most interesting case of the 4 because he was one of the most tenacious players to ever wear the US shirt, higher level of skill aside he would have fit in extremely well on our early 2000s teams...which would seem to disprove the theory...but then he's also always had a close relationship with his American father and also spent a good chunk of his childhood in the US (which I'm pretty sure none of these other 3 did) At the end of the day I think the small sample size mostly explains it. Thomas Dooley and Earnie Stewart had similar backgrounds to these guys and always gave their all for the US, but don't really included in the conversation being from an earlier era. In the last decade or so we've had 4 German-American regulars, 2 if whom have frequently seemed disinterested.
I know that it does not fit with your constructed scenario but Fab grew up with his parents who are still married and Jermaine was separated from his dad for over 20 years. Chandler put in beast work-rate performances for the US. In fact in the 2013 match at Honduras that most critics like to reference he was left alone to defend the right flank in a shifted 4-3-2-1. He ran up and down in that sauna for 90 minutes. None of the goals came from his side. Chandler is disliked by many US fans because he caved in to pressure from his club to not play international soccer.
While I agree with your initial premise (and also the fact that it is a very small sample size), I think one thing people are ignoring is that it is often very difficult to accurately gauge how much a player "cares". How many times in the past was Dempsey criticized for not caring or being lazy? The fact that he covered a lot more ground than people gave him credit for was often overlooked. Of course no one questioned his "Americanness" but that didn't stop people from looking for explanations. Of course if the player is a dual nat, one of the potential reasons that comes up is that they don't feel American and thus do not care. I personally want the players for the USMNT to care about the shirt but I also don't feel I have a legitimate way to tell so I try not to worry about it. The thing that has bothered me in the past is the apparent assumption (by some...not all) that the dual nat is automatically better than the US born player. Some obviously are but some are not. Players like Chandler are obviously talented but for one reason or another have not played up to their pedigree. I have no problem with a coach deciding that he is not good enough in the NT setting. That is part of the coach's job. (by the way, to my eye, Chandler has sometimes been sub-par, sometimes mixed and sometimes pretty good but I don't remember thinking he seemed lazy or uncaring in his performance.)
That would explain why we did not make the World Cup. If our best forward is sullen and prone to not give a F**k, I would rather have a lesser player. If you really think he is our best in the air, then you need to check your meds because they have clouded your ability to see reality. Hold up play id hit and miss, just like his passing. He has never played in a major tourney for us either. He is dead to me I don't know if we have somebody better or not, but I do know for a fact it was this same stinking thinking that led to Bradley being undroppable. Those two guys are losers and were key players in the biggest failure in our history. They are not good enough. We haven't the slightest ********ing clue whether anybody else would do better as we really didn't give anybody else a real shot.
He was also clutch. That combined with the fact he was usually healthy for important games allowed for his perceived lack of work rate to be tolerable. Big difference than dozy antiscore who can say none of that.
you have a point, scoring important goals makes perceived faults much easier to excuse but the point is that he was criticized for something that I don't believe was true and that effort and caring are very difficult to accurately gauge (especially on tv).
Fair enough, but it is worth noting that something being difficult and something being impossible are not the same. Very little of our communication is verbal, and Jozy often physically communicates he can't be arsed. Call it what you will, but I do not want to see him the shirt ever again. I do not despise him as much as Bradley, and unlike Bradley I would still watch if he gets a start at some point in the future, but if I was coach he only gets called up if the top five guys in the pool are all injured.
One of my favorite players on this roster is Mckennie, he still a work in progress. His ONLY mistake was inside his own 18 and try to shield a high bounce ball and waited to come down, the opponent poked the ball away and passed to his teammate that shank the shot inside the 10.
He struggles against physicality, can't press, and in a lot of games fades totally out. He is solid in build up, but his hold up play is average. He mainly just parks in front of defenders and tries to draw a foul, and if that doesn't come it's a turnover. He is a liability in the air and if he has to come back and defend. He can be frustrated into making mistakes. He is also a very talented player. While he may be the best player, I don't know if he is the answer for the USMNT because of the above. Id like to see others get a solid run with the A team.
Based on pace and work rate alone I'd take Wood over Altidore. Altidore wouldn't have a goal in 2 seasons at Hamburger. And conversely Wood would be scoring a bunch in the MLS. Plus Wood isn't a cancer.
Clearly the best in what? in stats? sure. Also in minutes played. Jozy's first 7 goals scored have been mostly minnows, he has been nurtured to be the next great USA forward from day one when he was 17. His first hat-trick was against T&T no less, he was actually given the pass to score when someone else could have easily taken the shot, that is how weak T&T used to be and now they were the team to knock us out of the WC, poetic justice? Jozy's most memorable goal was the upset against Spain in the 2009 Confederations cup, yep, that is how far back you have to go to find his more notable goal. In the 2010 WC he was served a perfect cross for a header against England but he missed the ball completely, Jozy is well known to have a weak aerial game.Then he went on a mostly 2 year drought which he was able to break it in a friendly against Germany, ironically on a cross header. People talk about his stats like is a vindication of how great he is until you dig deeper and you find out his stats (just recently) were better than Robert Lewandosky, now there is a reality check for you.
Well that is how we keep score, what else should we use? Jozy puts the ball in the back of the net at a rate better then anyone in USMNT history not named Dempsey.
I see it differently. He has more goals because he plays more, it doesn't always mean he is the best. His limitation is well known. Is like a catch-22, if you don't get a chance, then you are not going to beat the guy above you. Sometimes, is not how well the player plays during a game that gets him consistently in the starting 11, is how well, they do during training, maybe he is an excellent training player. He just doesn't pass my eye-test.
Youngsters were impressive (McKennie! CCV! Miazga!)...but I also really liked what CJ Sapong had to offer. Really great game for him, and hope we see him in January. He was a pest to the Portuguese side.
Better than Pulisic or Green? There's also some old timers who had a better rate but I'm sure Donelli isn't in your discussion.
I stand corrected. You absolutely correct. I should have been more precise and said anyone with more than 10 career goals.
Well, Pulisic has yet to score in a meaningful game against a rival in the Top 50. The closest was the goal vs. Panama in the 4-0, they were #60 at the time.
I saw the game this evening for the second time. We only played with 2 established starters from the last cycle most of the game, impressive. At times, we did looked disorganized, which is expected since this game was the first game that we played full size field, we only practiced/trained in a small field because we didn't have enough players. Youth bailed them out when they made mistakes. Villafana just doesn't do it for me. I think we need to cut our loses with him and go with someone else. If I was the coach I would make Adams my LB. I wonder if Seaif could be another option, I know he has played LW but not sure if he played LB before. With the rise of Mckennie, JoGo, Parks we may have something special going forward. We may lose games at the beginning but we will looks exciting. There is a few holes to fill, someone will come out out of nowhere and claim it...RF or RW is vacant.
Of course he hasn't. Every team that plays against the USA will just triple and quadruple team him and he won't be able to do anything. And then in Concacaf, he'll just be punched and kicked to death.
Sure. Just reminding folks after 15 caps Jozy had already scored against Spain in the Confeds Cup '09. CP is awesome, and a winger not a striker, but after 20 caps he has yet to score on CRC or MEX in a non-friendly, the two teams worth a dang in the region.