I am still rooting for the players that I think should be there. I really dont care about results except ones related to the WC. I am not yet ready to boycott, but I moved a step closer the other night and then another when the roster came out. Garber, MLS media and fans have become unbearable since May of 2014. I am afraid this is going to get much uglier before it has a chance of getting better. The excuses made for the personnel decisions have been a joke since Arena. It is bad enough that they use a performance to justify excluding a player (Johnson, Cameron, Robinson, etc) when one that is still there was just as poor or worse (Villafana, Gonzo, Lima, etc), but the attacks on the foreign based players are over the top. They make sweeping claims and then wont justify it with examples. That long winded dude who calls people snobs blasts Euro players for a mistake or two. Has stated repeatedly stated Robinson was poor defensively vs Brazil but still waiting for the other mistakes besides the one goal when he was targeted. CCV sucked or more vividly was "dogshit" the other night. No response. Yet these same people get upset when someone states that Trapp isnt up to this level. CCV get 20 minutes and is done, but Trapp gets 14 games, is the guy that is forcing Adams out wide and still defends like this against a guy getting his first goal. WHAT A HIT! 🇯🇲🇯🇲Shamar Nicholson's 1st career international goal is a SCREAMER to put Jamaica up 1-0 on the USMNT. #USAvJAM pic.twitter.com/A321agevh9— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 6, 2019
yes and he played for a club that is associated with mls and a dev academy associated with us soccer/mls mckennie is another example of an mls player as is tyler adams as is pulisic morales would be in if he had been with fc dallas's academy like mckennie but instead mckennie because of his connection to mls got the call. do people see how easy these dumb things are too make up.
This wasn't directed at me but I'll take a shot. If Brooks and Yedlin weren't injured, that would be two more Euros likely taking sports from MLS players. Bobby Wood isn't in form. He could be another. Just taking the first two would make the split 14-9 in favor of MLS which is perfectly reasonable and proves nothing regarding your theory.
You're correct. It proves nothing. There are so many variables that go into these rosters. The pool has hundreds of players. Injuries. Current form. Ambition (Timmy Chandler). The people pushing this theory have a bias and are pushing an agenda.
And I think the greatest assumption is that the federation and the men's national team coach care about picking MLS players over actually winning games. It's the most absurd theory out of a number of absurd theories that have been pushed by the social media/BS crowd.
Wouldn't a mature and reasonable response to the world cup failure be to reevaluate everything and if most of the same players are the best options then they should still be called in? The worst thing we could've done is burn everything down for no other reason than to burn everything down. In fact, I think the only way that we likely miss Qatar 2022 is to have done what you and others suggested. Some of the worst USMNT performances I've seen have come in the last year, and with rosters full of "new blood" that either couldn't play or wasn't ready.
At one point last year, the USMNT had lost like 2 matches in a year and a half. But one of them was Trinidad and so they were all labeled as "losers" by some fans. Christian Pulisic was on that team. Should he not be called in again? And if you think he should be called in again then what's your standard for deciding who failed miserably and who didn't?
Welcome to BS, you’ve jumped in with both feet - are you new or just a new name? First, a question: do you think that Arena had an MLS bias or is that “the most absurd theory out of a number of absurd theories that have been pushed by the social media/BS crowd”? I think there’s a lot of evidence that Berhalter is following in Arena’s footsteps both with respect to roster selection and lineup choices and we’ve had two historically bad losses to show for it. Why does this matter? If the large majority of our team plays for minor leagues teams (MLS/B2/Championship), we’re not a very good team as the one thing that obviously clear is that successful WC teams have a large number of talented players playing for Big 4 UCL/Europa teams. If we’re a team filled with majority minor league talent (and we may be), WTF are we doing switching to a possession system that is predicated on having superior talent?
Do you really think that after a total Re-evaluation, it was decided that this squad is the best talent available to the USMNT? Yikes. Do you think that Bradley is one of best options right now and that he (or Trapp) should be the QB of the USMNT? If we’re going to go with older players who are declining, shouldn’t we start with the ones who can still play at a high level vs those ply their trade in lesser leagues?
Is there something wrong with knowing about a topic and commenting on it? I find your arguments to be lacking and will point them out as such.
No, no, no...……..you're exactly right. Burning everything down wasn't the right move either. I think what most want when a new coach is brought in (and our coaching search was a mess) is that he'll re-evaluate everybody in the pool with fresh eyes. It is disturbing when that coach with fresh eyes picks the group of players that just failed. And the spine in particular. It implies a lack of progress in the pool. I don't think there's some great USSF/SUM conspiracy to pick these MLS players. I am willing to sacrifice some results now in order to "blood" the new crop. I do believe that we are going to need to count on Josh Sargent in WCQing. And he already has 7 USMNT caps, so its not like he isn't already a senior USMNTer. Jozy is oft-injured. Wood has totally fallen off the wagon. That decision in particular bothers me because it does signal a WIN NOW mentality as opposed to a BUILD FOR WCQING mentality. That's not to say we don't have more opportunities this year. There's the League of Nations, the U23 CONCACAF Championships, etc. etc. These kids that are doing remarkably well at the U20 Championships are coming thru the ranks, and they're coming fast. [Adams and Sargent were eligible for that team.] What I want to see over the next year is even more vertical integration. More of giving these youngsters chances. We need to start, and the time to start is NOW. Not right before WCQing begins. NOW. I also think that the US fanbase, which is in a spiral of negativity, needed to turn the page. If I was running the USSF, my attempt to influence squad selection would be to tell the USMNT coach to go with youth. Ticket sales are down. TV ratings are down. Interest is down. There's a malaise amongst the fanbase. They don't want to see Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley yet again. [And I do think those two have been made scapegoats by the fanbase for a program wide failure.] They want to see the new, young, and exciting talent. They want...………..hope. They want to know who the next Pulisic or McKennie is. That's the space we're in. I'd rather lose 4-0 to Honduras with those players than win 1-0 with the old guard. I know that's odd, but its my reality. [Not in a WCQer. In a WCQer I don't care. Just win baby.]
No, I think he wanted to win regardless of who made up the roster. Given what people have said about his legacy, I think it's safe to say this: winning is all that matters.
What does wanting to win have to do with a bias? He could have a bias and think it would lead to wins.
You’re going to fit in well here. I’d note that what you said had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked (and you failed to answer).
I would have to read more of your stuff to confirm but you can't claim that friendlies don't matter (as many have said) and then call it an historically bad loss when a 'C' team loses a friendly. Arena went 10-2-6. He came up 1 point short of qualifying in only 8 games. It's an exaggeration to call it anything other than a qualification failure.
So you think we just missed Russia by a couple of inches and that bringing everyone back is a viable strategy? What do you think Arena’s legacy will be? Are you familiar with his quotes wrt dual-Americans?
No, because not everybody in the best 23 are healthy or available (physically or mentally). And I do believe that Bradley and Altidore are two of the best players in the history of the national team and should be on any 'A' roster that we put out. I'm also not arrogant enough to think that I know more than any person who has ever coached the national team, as many people are. Not one roster has ever been received well by BS or USMNT Twitter.
But it seems like when that evaluation is done with fresh eyes and the, now, the 4th different coach has called in Altidore and Bradley, fans just immediately jump to cronyism and incompetence instead of the most logical explanation: they're some of the best that we have.
I would agree with you if the sentiment was "lack of progress" in the pool but it's not. It's the "coach is incompetent" or "cronyism!" charges. We all know about the development hole that we experienced in the early 1990s birth dates. We missed several Olympics and U-17/U-20 qualifications. But those short-comings have already passed but the players to fix that are only 20 years old and so their results haven't been seen at the senior level yet. And that's why the detractors are still the loudest at this point.
But see people should be against any federation influence on roster selection. If we go with the youth track writ large then the only result we will get is this: losing.
But the only consideration is winning. Therefore, he's not going to hamstring himself to favor MLS players, which is what you're charging.
I'm always skeptical of people who go there immediately when they experience the slightest bit of push-back against their arguments.