I agree with all of those names except Dempsey. I would keep him around to pass down his knowledge and his mentality. Deuce has been a big game player from the time he scored against Ghana in the 2006 WC. In his club play in Europe, he's been the most the most successful field player in US soccer history. Even now, he's an inspiration. Get's tossed from a playoff game, misses the next, then comes back and scores the only two goals to put Seattle through to the Semis. The guy has more grit and heart than any American that's played soccer. Besides, I want to see him combine with Pulisic and Mckennie to break Donovan's record. I might add, it's gonna be very difficult for me to watch Altidore in a US jersey again. His performance (or lack of) against T & T, was not just a one-off. That's the way he is. He is immature and age will not change him. His meltdown against the Red Bulls during the playoffs is evidence of his lack mental and emotional discipline. He's not like this new generation of players who are playing a style that is simply not suited to him. These guys play the modern game, whereas Altidore lumbers around the field until he gets frustrated, then he just walks. On a side note, do you play soccer in Los Angeles by any chance? I'm 61 and looking for a very relaxed kickaround. I can still run with the young bucks because I'm fit and played competitively until 50, and the last time I went to the park and jumped into a serious game, I had no problem making an impact. Still got pace, skills, probably only lost 20% of what I once had. The only problem is that I couldn't walk for about 2 weeks afterward. My body simply told me...no mas.
Carter-Vickers(RCB in 352)[6 clearances, 2 blocks, 1 assist, WS_7.7]_Sheffield 3-1 Burton A. Robinson(LB in 4231)[6 clearances, 2 tackes, 2 dribbles, WS_7.1]_Bolton 0-0 Preston
Williams ( 23 caps including WCQ Group and WCQ Hex starts) Kljestan ( 18 caps including WCQ Hex start ) MVLee ( 6 caps )
Kljestan was a dnp v Mexico and played 14 v CR. Klejstan was on JK's last 6 matches with 3 starts and 5 total appearances. Williams had sub appearances in the 2 friendlies before the start of the Hex but did not make the final Hex roster. Then Arena came in ...
For the March and June qualifiers, Williams had not yet played a single minute in the Premiership and was just another Championship guy. For the September and October qualifiers, he had a hairline fracture in his foot and couldn't play. By the time we got eliminated by Trinidad, Danny Williams had a grand total of 154 minutes played in the Premiership.
Not sure that's fair. He was a key part all season in Reading falling within a few mins of gaining promotion. And it's not like he suddenly got a whole lot better between May and today. He just moved up to the club level he belongs.
And you know what, he hasn't been impressive thus far in the PL. He's a good Championship level guy that Huddersfield picked up on the cheap (and they're doing everything cheaply) to fill out their squad. As an aside, David Wagner is doing an amazing job with Huddersfield as they have, to be frank, one of the worst rosters in recent PL history...
Can we also mention that he's a talent rarity? You can count on one hand, (you might not even need a hand to count) the young players we have with his talent. Some players are too talented and driven to fail, unless its like injuries or something like that, which they can't control.
That's not my recollection at all. He was mediocre at best with the NT. And when he was with Hoffenheim, in 11/12 he played sub minutes the first half of the season, and started playing more only in the second half. By 12/13, he was a starter for the first half of the season (when they kept losing) and by the end of it, he had lost the position and the new coach sat him for good. They barely survived the relegation playoff. It's with Reading that Danny emerged from being a very average (if that) DM to a rather good B2B. He had a good friendly but let's not change history. He had not done enough to be considered a game-changer up to the Trinidad game. Even now, I'd be cautious about placing him too high: he's having a good run, but it's been only in the last month, basically.
Sounds like we are in the same boat, I'm also 61 but I hang up my cleats long ago. Now is either tennis or mountain biking.
True, his game is just a bit above average, he defends well and gives it all, THAT you can count from him every game which is more than some of the players that played against T&T.
Williams was good in WCQing for the US during the '14 cycle. Going to Reading didn't magically change the player.
Some of those 6 were about 10 minutes in length or at outside mid... not exactly his position. Other times he was on at same time as Bradley and looked lost as Bradley basically played the position he was supposed to be playing. All and all, he never got a fair shot and had he been given the breaks Nagbe got, could have shown his real skill. Wasting Lee N was a terrible mistake that falls on JK and BA. Check his stats compared to Nagbe and see for yourself who is more productive. Dont tell me hes not good enough..he is. Hes been miss managed with the Nats from day 1. One of the reasons I hope for an unbiased, new NAT coach is that players blackballed by JK and Arena might finally get a chance. Its a long shot for Lee now but I know he could beat out Nagbe if either is given any future consideration
DWILL has had probably the most up and down performances with the USMNT of any player over recent years.....(Brooks is another that has been up and down too - come to think of it, Chandler is another player who has had great games and stinkers as well.....hmm interesting that the play of the germaricans seems to fluctuate most wildly but thats another topic). DWILL has had some stinkers for USMNT...but he's also had some great performances...(that game winning rocket from distance vs Netherlands was not too shabby, as one example)..... part of that is he's not a winger.....he played a lot of wide mid for some dumb reason. also he's played on the team when he's not been in-form etc..... all i know is, as it relates to the Portugal match: It was REFRESHING to not watch USMNT opponents WALTZ past the DMID like he wasn't there.....as pretty much every opponent did/does when Bradley is in front of the back line. Portugal created almost nothing all game...their attack was anemic with DWILL as dmid. I guarantee you if MB had been in DWILL's spit versus Portugal....Portugal would've created more chances. I hate watching Bradley and I hope he never plays for USMNT again.
That's revisionist history. He was poor for the nt in his first stint (albeit at fb usually) and absolutely bombed (as d-mid) in that friendly vs. Costa Rica after the Confed Cup playoff. Probably one of the reasons why he probably wasn't given a significant opportunity since. But he deserved another shot as a d-mid a while ago due to his play in England where he was an asset in the 2nd tier and playing a role in the 1st.
....and after a honeymoon effect returned to a similar standard of suckitude Klinsmann had established over the previous year and a half.
I didn't see today's game but reports are that he was pulled at the half. Is Williams a crap shoot on a given game? Who knows. I'm not too concern since we all know he is just band-aid until we get Jonathan Gonzales or some other young one. Chances are whoever comes along is going to have to knock off Bradley and that is going to be hard because he is the old establishment and for that to happen a player would need to walk on water first, unfortunately :-(
bradley is not in consideration for the team any longer, as far as i know. he's been retired from the USMNT.
Most reporters/commentators still have him in the starting 11 at least for the next 2 years. Unless Bradley announced his retirement.
well then they are as much a part of the problem as sunil, SUM etc..... the low level of analytical skills of the public and coaches in the US is a huge part of the problem and why things are not really changing.... but making people smarter isnt so easy.
Agree with this, but idividualeleven disagrees because, well Europe. And there's no way he got better in England.