Doesn't really feel like a B team. All tournament long it's reminded me a bit of the jambalaya that was the '07 Copa team. A starter here, a third stringer there, a back up here, a fourth stringer there, an invite look in there, a starter here. For me a B team is basically a squad made up of guys you'd roll out as starters and first subs off the bench if you had access to everybody save the bulk of your first XI. That's not this to me. One of the reasons this hasn't bothered me quite as much is that I've felt that very few of these guys really ever had any sort of chance of making a World Cup team as a starter or depth, basically its felt like Arena is rolling out MLS depth vet/youngster options just to get a feel for what's available and who can handle potentially getting a run out, essentially to get a lay of the land for MLS guys that aren't first choice option from the MLS but might be options for some role down the line. Some vets, and starts sprinkled in to provide spine, leadership and direction so it's not just a mess, but not so much that it's difficult to evaluate the players. I could be really depressed at how bad things have looked but I'm not. They've grinder out results with what looks like a side that's an amalgamation of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string options or even less w/a couple of top 23 options mixed in almost as an accent. To my mind there's a handful of guys here that are obviously World Cup options if we make it, but most aren't, and to me, a huge chunk of the guys that will play a huge role in WC '18 and the Gold Cup in '19 are in Europe or getting ready to move on to there. We've got a gigantic pile of interesting options out there, we've seen some of them with the U-20's, and some of them we pick up kernels of info on. But as far as I'm concerned, guys like Weston McKennie are really the next line getting ready to come through, most of the guys we are seeing in the gold cup are guys who will be thrown into the next camp cupcake for another look if that.
Wouldn't it make sense to bring the KC CB pair intact? You would waste no time getting then comfortable.
It doesn't seem like we agree on much, so I'd counter and say that I think most people would agree with me that CB is our deepest position. Palmer-Brown is better than Opara, IMO. I don't care about how many professional games he's played. Thats because of his coach, not his fault. Watch him play. To compare him to Julian Green is absolutely embarrassing on your part. Not a slight on Opara either, he's better than all our regular CB's. I think a fundamental issue a lot of our fans don't understand is that the level of player's we are producing is higher than that of previous generations. These Besler's, Opara's, Cameron's, Hedges, Gonzalez's, etc. are all quality players, very high quality players and among our current best players in some cases, but the best players of the new generation is of a higher level. There's nothing the older generation can do, we've improved our player production. If you watch Palmer-Brown play, I don't think you'd be claiming a 28 year old with 0 caps is better. People seem to think Pulisic is some anomaly. No, he's not, he's the first player of this generation to reach the top level of the sport, others just haven't had the same opportunities so far that he has.
For that matter, we could use the entire SKC back line and goalie, but would it work? I'd probably say no, more than yes. I think its best to pick the best players, instead of players that have played together with their club team's. We still lack talent when we play top teams, I don't want to sacrifice anything in that department.
i agree that cb is among the deepest positions i the us pool....gk is pretty stacked too...and i think there are a bunch of center mids as well.....the forward position is also as deep as it has ever been. but depth and "being fine" are two different things. if you have a bunch of 3.5 out of 5 star players...is that really depth? having a lot of potentially servicable and okay players isnt really my idea of being fine. i think when you have a lot of depth at a position but no one is standng out beyond the others....trying out EVERYONE is waht is in order....and i think opara, ccv, and even epb are all worthy of looks with the full usmnt at this point considering the performance of the other fringe players. the question isnt opara vs epb, imo. to your point about opara being a fottnote in epb's career well...like i said we are on a 1year cycle here....everything is about russia...not who to induct into the us soccer hall of fame...we arent trading rookie cards here...thats not how you pick lineups....if it was ...wouldnt josh perez, weah sargent etc all be starting for the full team??? i think RIGHT NOW opara is CLEARLY more likely to be ready for an international match against grown men and not just u20s...given his experience and age ...no matter how good EPB will one day be....CB is not a "young man's" position anyway. like i said, im not making a judgement on what EPB's ultimate career will be...im talking about who can help the team RIGHT NOW and in RUSSIA...to me its clear that Opara has good chance of being an upgrade over a bunch of "regulars"...for many factors that have been mentioned. do i know he will be? NO. but do i think all of the CB's that are in the mix will be good enough options in Russia that no one else deserves a shot? no way. and even if they were All good enough to be lockdown defenders and perfect options n russia...then i would STILL want to test out a player like Opara...it's called due diligence. and its also fair to aplyer like him who has battled through so much in his career. RE: comparing EPB to Julian green...its not about who will be is better...which at this point truly is speculation...there's a chance (small) that green lights up the BL this season...his story isnt over. but the reason i mentioned him is that they both ahve similar levels of pro experience and that is what is relevant i.e. should a plyer with their profiles be called into national team. i agree the new generation seems to be better but it is a fine line about who to call into the full nat team. each case is different. bruce loves vets and won't be calling in much youth, imo.....(which is a yet another reason why i wasnt a fan of his hire).... i think his undefeated run is more indicative of how bad JK was and how deep the us player pool really is than anything about areno, tbh.....once the us gets its first truly world class coach...watch out! people will realize how much this team is capable of and the bar will be forever raised.
I recently saw both players together in a US Open Cup match against FC Dallas. Opara was better in the first half but EPB took over the game in the second half. I'll backup US97531 here that EPB is an exceptional talent. I'm not sure who would be better "today" as Opara is a year and a half back from injuries and hasn't played international games in years while EPB has barely played MLS games but has starred for the US although at a lower (U20) level. FC Dallas has two internationlal level centerbacks but SKC has three. The only crime at KC is not that Opara and Besler have player over EPB but that Ellis has.
So then let me ask you, how many times have you really watched Palmer-Brown play in the last year or so?
In case you weren't aware, the guys on Portugal and Belgium have a pretty solid track record of making really good CBs look foolish at times. If your standard by which you judge CBs is based on their ability to dominate the best attacking players in the world for 90 minutes, then your standards are completely unreasonable.
he's played 90 minutes in 2016 & 2017 combined in MLS...so...ZERO. if you read my post you would see that i said he deserves a shot along with opara, ccv, etc......given how inadequate i find many of the "regular" cb's. honestly, if he was so beast in the u20, why hasnt a euro team bought him? i mean jk jr got a contract with hertha off his u20, right??? i mean theyve been sniffing around EPB for years now but no euro team will pull the trigger.,..what's the deal??????? i still dont understand why it is epb vs. opara in your mind. both players can be part of the pool. matter fact, why not start melia-opara and besler all together with epb on the bench for usmnt too....? and for all the dissing of benny for his "lack of defense" can we acknowledge that he is a deep lying starting midfielder on a first-placce MLS team that has given up 14 goals in 20 games this season. he's actually become good at defense and pleople are just slow on the uptake. starting benny as one of 2 us cm's will not cause new defensive problems for USMNT. i'll say it now like ive said it before playing benny in bradley's spot, would NOT be a downgrade defensively. personally, i would play benny and nagbe as my 2 cm's and have bradley on the bench.
i mean i still have besler in my top 5 us cb's....but when a player is culpable on 2 goals in the game that knocked a us team from the world cup....then i want to see others given a chance. i wouldve benched bradley for his gaffe vs portugal and moved on by now....but that's just me, i guess. rico clark, reyna, agoos etc.....they werent so lucky.
With all due respect, you were the one who made this a comparison. I have no need to make this a comparison as thats not my mindset here. I explained the way I am evaluating this situation, its not a one for one who's better, but if we were to talk about that, I also gave my opinion about that. And I'll take your non-answer to my question as what I expected.
Okay, so tell me another game in 43 caps that Besler was culpable for 2 goals? Probably won't even find many where he was culpable for one goal. There are games that all the CB's you have ahead of him were culpable for two goals, many games for some of them. And also, one thing you didn't mention (or maybe you don't remember) was that our CB's in that game were incredible. They kept us in the match. A lot think Howard did because of the number of saves he had, but the reason so many of those shots didn't go in were because the defenders (mostly the CB's) limited the quality of shots. If those were higher quality shots, it would've been 4 or 5. I completely realize its easy to forget about something like that, but lets not put it on a CB that after defending every second of a match because the midfield and striker could keep no possession that he got tired against fresh players.
no you were the one who chimed in and said epb should get a chance before opara. i told you ive watched him zero times! he's played 90 minutes in 2016 &17 combined in MLS....there's nothing to watch!
I first said that I think he should get a chance before Opara, not that he's better, but I think he is better than all our CB's. Was Pulisic not better than all our other players when he only had 10 pro games? You were the one who first brought up a comparison of who's better. There are games to watch, you've chosen not to watch them. He's played about 10 games with the U-20's that you could've watched and two with SKC in the last month. Take a look at the assessments of those who've watched those games.
i just said i like besler and perhaps he should start with opara and melia for the USMNT! i think it neck and neck between brooks, cameron, miazga, opara (if he shows well), and besler.....you can only choose 2...and i would pick brooks and cameron, atm....(or i might try to play cameron elsewhere so either besler or mizga or opara can get on the field too) but when i look at players it isnt how they do vs martinique or el salvador etc... i look at how they do (or might do) vs belgums germays argentina in a world cup.... its why i dont like bedoya, mccarty, bradley, hedges, omar, beckerman wondo brad davis etc etc they generally play well in low pressure friendlies and versus low-ranked teams but disappear when the lights are on. I personally prefer players who might fare better versus the very best...cuz that is all that really matters, imo. its why i wouldve taken benny, agudelo, nguyen, donovan etc to brazil 2014....over wondo, bedoya, zusi, brad davis etc etc......
I feel like most tall soccer players aren't very athletic with a few exceptions, Ibrahimovic is the only one I can think of, some goalkeepers yeah but for the most part, a lot them look goofy. Think of Crouch or Mertesaker. I don't know, I feel once you are taller than 6 3" you are going to have a hard time with 5 8" quick players when they turned and cut you with speed. My German teammate who was about 6 3" in college always had a nightmare with me in practices.
It's like the taller they are the stiffer they are at the hips. If they have the technical part down though they can make it work, those long legs come in handy in those last second slide tackles.
Anyone know how many matches the CONCACAF disciplinary committee has banned those bedwetters for? I'm guessing it should be at least 6 or more.