It's perfectly reasonable and most people can't articulate a good reason other than that they like Pulisic and he's young and therefore they don't want to criticize him.
True, but in order to lead on the field, they have to be given the opportunity to do so. Now, I am sure that once MikeB has obtain the most games played record, he will not be played any more. So, in the meantime, players that are mentioned above and a few others including Sargent, will unfortunately, have to wait for their turn. This is patently unfair, especially since Bradley was called in at a young age and made a starter without any competition. Well...there were other players who could have replaced him but, as we all know, none got a chance. For years now it has been Mikey and (you fill in the name). So tired of this...his time is so OVER.
This is not hard to understand. The people that want youth are told that we need “leadership” or “nobody is better than Bradley at X position” so they cite similar veterans who they perceive to be better. Hope that helps.
Bradley should still have a part to play on the substitute's bench (IMO), but it's clear that Tyler Adams is his heir and has earned the same treatment that Bradley earned with his play in 2007 and 2008.
Just for reference, here are the players from each U-20 World Cup (or qualifying tournament) that ended up being selected to a USMNT World Cup squad. (Plus how each team performed.) In bold are any players who went on to start more than one game in a World Cup. In brackets, I've included any names that most likely would have been selected if we had qualified for the 2018 World Cup. 1991 (DNQ): can't find info 1993 (QF): Berhalter, Zavagnin 1995 (DNQ): none, I believe 1997 (R of 16): JOB, Olsen, Wolff 1999 (R of 16): Howard, Rimando, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Gibbs, Albright, 2001 (R of 16): Onyewu, Donovan, Convey, Beasley, Davis, Buddle 2003 (QF): Clark, Dempsey, Convey, Johnson 2005 (R of 16): Spector, Feilhaber 2007 (QF): Bradley, Altidore 2009 (GS): Diskerud, [Villafana?] 2011 (DNQ): [Wood?] 2013 (GS): Yedlin, [Acosta?] On average, it looks like the U-20 squads usually produce around 2 USMNT WC players per youth cycle, and around 1 starter. However the late 90's/early 2000's was a notable exception, producing at least 6 USMNT World Cup players for multiple cycles in a row, and at least 3 starters for 3 cycles in a row. There obviously hasn't been another World Cup for us since 2014. However, here are players from 2015-on who have received a decent look on the USMNT so far (i.e., at least 10 caps for the 2015 set, or at least 5 caps for the 2017 and 2019 groups): 2015 (QF): Steffen, Miazga, Acosta, Arriola 2017 (QF): Adams, CCV, Sargent -- plus Pulisic and McKennie (who were on the preliminary roster) 2019 (QF): Weah So far, that strikes me as an above average showing, and makes me optimistic that we might be seeing something like that late 90's/early 2000's surge, instead, of the relative drought we had between 2009 and 2013, or in the early to mid 90's.
Two players from the U20 making it to the main team is pretty much the standard expected worldwide. We had a Golden Generation coming of age at the turn of the millennium. At this point, the best we can say is that maybe we got a Silver Generation coming of age in 2018-2020 in our hands. We'll see. But I'd curb my enthusiasm for a while yet.
Beasley epitomized that arguably more than anyone else...Onyewu, Dempsey, Mastroeni, Moore, guys like that too.
There was a meme during the 2006 WC, before memes were a thing, that was a picture of McBride with blood all over his face after being elbowed by De Rossi holding his head high with the caption "If I was Italian I'd be rolling around on the ground like a little bitch"
That reminded me of something I found interesting a bunch of years ago. It is not really soccer related or even directly related to this thread but I will share it anyway: There was a commercial poster for Rugby that showed a player walking off the field after a match. He was bloody from a couple of cuts to the head. His shorts had one leg practically ripped away. His siirt was half ripped from his body and hew was carrying a deflated and torn up ball in one hand. The caption was: "At the start of the match this was a live pig." Again sorry for the unrelated content but my packrat mind sometimes has thing surface that if I do not share I cannot stop thinking of them, sort of like that tune you cannot get rid of unless you sing it out loud.
The arm band is somewhat ceremonial. The more important question is this: who is going to produce wins in this tournament? Who is going to step up and make critical plays?
Respectfully, this is ignorant nonsense. Even the ancient Greeks whined about how soft their kids were. The "last hard class", good old days stuff is literally as old as history.
Donovan had his share of game-changing plays that led the team to wins. Pulisic has obviously accomplished more in club soccer at this stage in their careers, but he has a looong way to go to get to the level that Donovan performed at for the national team. I think he's the best club player to come through the program and well on his way to being the best national team player, but he is not producing winning plays like Donovan or Dempsey did. The combination of Donovan and Dempsey, with support, almost won a FIFA tournament against Brazil. They beat Spain 2-0 in that tournament. It's time for these young guys to step up to the level that Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, and Jones left for them.
Take a look at Pulisic’s Hex results and see how they stack up to other elite USMNT players in prior Hexs. I would do it but I’m away from my desk. He is in rare territory IIRC - the question isn’t impact but can he do over an extended period of time.
Notice they whined this way shortly before the Macedonians clobbered the heck out of them, and brought Athens to the end of its Golden Age..... Not that we have anything to worry about, of course........
When it comes to Bradley and the MNT, seeing will be believing. I have now changed my opinion, I believe MB90 will never be excluded from future rosters until he fully retires
He'll want to put it on Bradley but with all of the criticism on his teams he will have no choice but to save face and award it to Pulisic
Gold Cup Leadership Update vs. Guyana: 1 - Boyd with a brace and a consistent flow of attacking moves including runs into space, direct balls, and crosses. The new kid wants minutes...give them to him. 2 - McKennie was a true box to box player and consistently flashed a level of skill, toughness and awareness that other players simply lacked. 3 - Zimmerman played a clean game and can step up his passing and ball control as needed. He is passionate and wants to make plays. 4 - Arriola never quits. He may scuff a shot, but he'll make one too.
Headed into the final, its good to note the leadership development in the squad. McKennie and Pulisic are taking the leadership mantle. They are making the pivotal plays to earn the respect of the team. Both scored in the semifinal. Both have made killer plays in several of the games. Arriola would be the leader of the team if he was more consistent in making the pivotal plays. He gets too many opportunities that he misses. I love his personality and his commitment to the team is unparalleled while he is on the field. He busts his butt. There is a lot to love about Paul, and he can make himself a permanent fixture in the starting unit if he becomes more consistent. He is always such a big part of the game, its just that when his moment comes to put a tangible stamp on the game he misses a shot or flubs a centering ball. He is involved in so much positive play, however, that he keeps developing chances and some of them get converted. He's one of my favorite players on the team. I fully expect him to grow and to take his chances more often...he has hit a place where that is his next step in development. What's cool about that is that with that next step of growth, he would become a REALLY, really good player. Many people are critical about Ream, but he's a real calming influence on the field. He bails the team out a lot in possession and keeps the other defensive players from feeling the stress. I look forward to seeing this team's leadership dynamic when Tyler Adams returns...I expect him to raise the level of performance by his intensity and commitment.
Berhalter is sticking to his word prior to the tournament that he wouldn't have a set captain. I speculate that it's at least partly to preempt questions about whether Bradley is past it or not. That said, it's quite clear Bradley is the captain. Against Jamaica, Ream had the armband, but Bradley delivered the pre-game speech in the huddle. And that makes sense. While we've got some young guys who are developing, none of them are especially gunning for a leadership role to seize the locker room, and Bradley retains the de facto role as the incumbent and through his seniority. I think that'll probably remain the case until someone else decides consciously, "I want to be THE leader on this team" and actively seeks to take that role - and at the moment, I don't know if any of the guys are particularly desirous of that position.
Every generation does it. Which fits in nicely, because you can come along and point to the generation prior to some negative calamity and go "See? They were right!"...
As others have mentioned, it's been nice that Egg has just rotated the captain. I've said it for years, but nat'l teams don't need a captain, and it's just an antiquated discussion point, as everyone thinks we need one, without having any evidence that it, ya know, works. It should pretty much be rotated at this point between CP, McKennie, and Adams. One of those guys will probably always be a part of the starting 11, and if one slips in form, we won't feel required to have him inked into the starting 11 as we had with MB the last 3 years (though he's still inked in, which is another inexplicable topic for a different thread).