I don't think Bradley uses friendlies for learning new things. I'd be shocked if it were very different. Bradley has chosen the horses he's going to ride.
Moneyball outlined very critically people in baseball who routinely selected players not because they necessarily thought it was the right thing to do, but because it was the safe thing to do. Reminds me of someone.
I am not fundamentally going to disagree that BB tends to play it safe. I think he basically does. However, who are the riskier, more interesting players he is leaving out of the Poland match? Adu? Sure he's everyone's favorite right now. But he just starred for the U23's carrying them to the Olympics on his back. He's due for a return to Benfica. I have zero problem with Adu not being here for this match. Altidore? He had an up and down U23 series; somethimes dangerous, sometimes uninvolved. His club team is close to starting its MLS season and he has been away from them for weeks. He belongs with the Red Bulls right now, not at the Poland match. The same can be said for youngsters Holden, Gavin, Klejstan, Orozco, etc. The U23's need to return to their club teams. Beasley is still hurt. Convey has done nothing lately. Twellman maybe??? I have zero problem with the guys he called into camp. It's a Ero-based team and that makes 100% sense this week. What other Euro-based hidden-gem players are missing from this roster? I do wish he would take a couple of more creative chances with say Spector at center back instead of Boca, or pushing M. Bradley forward more. But that's mostly tinkering.
Arena circa 2000 used guys like Marcelo Balboa (32-33 yrs old), John Harkes (33 yrs old), Tab Ramos (34), and Tony Meola (31, 33 in 2002). All guys who at the time are approximaely as old as Eddie Lewis is now (almost 34). Don't believe me? Look it up...they were all used in 2000 or beyond. All of them had their best years about 1996 or before. That's pretty much what Bradley is doing with Eddie Lewis. No big deal. He will be phased out soon enough. I actually like his calling in Lewis with Beasley hurt and Convey still on very poor form. Who else do we have at left mid that plays in Europe? Adu? He is a center mid, and Benfica want him back after having him gone for almost 3 weeks.
Fair enough. I was trying my hardest to say something nice about Arena. In all honesty, I'd rather Bradley not emulate Arena in any way at all. As for others to call up? I'd call up the U23s. I don't care about the "they need to go back to their MLS teams" argument. You fill up your roster for friendlies with young players. I think Nutmeg nailed it when he said Bradley doesn't use these games to learn new things. As he runs them, they are a waste of time.
I agree. As for Freddy I suspect we had to do some horse trading with Benfica to get him for the Olympic qualifiers and many promised not to call him up for the friendly.
Yea he was, but if you ignore those 20mins, he was pretty non-existent in the games prior. I didn't even know he was in the Brazil game. He's pretty inconsistent at the moment and really needs to show in this game if he's playing.
To be fair, Bradley has done a good job in bringing in a variety of different players. Granted, part of this is helped by the MLS / Euro divide in the NT where we have a MLS+Scandinavia camp in January, and friendlies like this which are essentially Euro-only. The tactics have not seen much variation. The people moaning about Lewis are not thinking and just launching into another knee-jerk reaction. With Beasley out and Convey injured and/or sucking, there's no one else to bring in who is available. When we have a full pool available for WCQ, Lewis will be well down the depth chart. He is not viewed by anybody as more than a stop-gap. But sometimes you need those.
I think you have nailed it here. I question why Feilhaber, cut from the not very impressive u23 team, can't get a game or see the bench for the worst team in the history of the EPL, a former regular with Hamburg reserves, continues to get called up for the national team of the United States of America.
As much as I like Benny, I would like to think that we should be picking in-form players more than projects. Lets face it, he has gotten more time with the USA Mens team than club minutes this last 12 months. He needs to play on a club that wants to use him and or values his skills.
Calling in guys like Eddie Lewis and Wolff is OK given the MLS situation and U-23 tourney that just finished up and the injuries to Convey/Beasley. Plenty of other stuff to criticize BB over.
Just got back from watching the first half of practice in Krakow (albeit, I had to watch from outside the stadium fence). The guys looked pretty good...and it was nice to see Gibbs running around, even if he looked a bit off it. If I had to guess (and this is by no means 100% definite)...it looked as though the lineup we're going to be going with for Wednesday night is as follows: ------------Timmy------------ 'Dolo----DeMerit---Boca----Pearce (can't figure that one out?) ------------Bradley----------- Dempsey------Benny---------Donovan (Don & Demp can play either wing) -------Chingy---------EJ----- Again, it's by no means definite...but this is what I would guess after watching today.
So, your opinion is basically screw the club teams that own the contracts and actually pay the salaries of the players, screw the players' relationship with their club coaches, and screw the relationships that BB must carefully develop with these clubs. The needs of the US Nat's outweight the needs of the players and the clubs in all situations. Great.
If I was BB.... The massive trying out of new players was last year - new players will still come in but the bar is now higher for a new player to get a run out. With the summer Olympics, BB will get another chance to see some of these younger players as well as with the MLS season starting. This game in Poland can help in multiple ways. These type of games (Europe home soil with WC caliber opponent) use to be rare, now we have these types of games to keep the USMNT honest. This means I want to know if (a) my current first choices for a particular position can really cut it (b) what areas of team play need a lot more work (c) do I have depth at each position Given these considerations and the implicit consideration that it may not be a good time to call in some players (debated above). I would stack up my first team with depth and get all those guys in there. For example : I'll put out who may be the top players at the different positions and demonstrate that this perspective seems to match the roster that BB called in. Ofcourse the choice of top players is debatable but I think they should be pretty reasonble. Players that I think are missing given the above assumption I have in parentheses with an explanation where possible. center backs: Boca Gooch Demerit.....who else? right backs: Cherundulo, Spector left back: Pearce, (Bornstein), Gibbs* *Gibbs gets a runout at least in camp to see where he is since he could easily become first choice at left back or center mid if he returns to form *Anyone know any good reason for the missing Mr. Bornstein? center mids: Bradley, Clark, Feilhaber*, (Edu**) *Feilhaber needs to keep getting caps if coach has faith in this player if for no other reason than is to help him get some games- may also affect work permit... *Edu should be here but he is being given a break after U23 and chance to see his team before their first game right mid/forward: Donovan, .......Wolf* *Feel free to switch Donovan, Wolf and Dempsey - doesn't change much *Like Lewis, wolf is a veteran who can still contribute at a position where we are thin at the moment left mid: (Beaseley-injured), Lewis, (Convey), ......(Gaven-see Altidore) One could reasonbly argue for Convey as with the Feilhaber argument or even Gibbs argument - perhaps the faith is weak! forwards: Ching, EJ, Dempsey....... there are no other clear forwards, (Altidore*) *Altidore is working on taking one of four forward spots but after a debatably uneven performance with the U23s, like Edu and others is being given a break to hook up with his club. I think both Edu and Altidore are players that Bob probably would have really wanted to see in this game but their exclusion is fair given the circumstances). My point is that this roster could represent an attempt to get as close to our starting team with depth right now in order to test them away to a strong opponent.
Please don't scare me with stuff like this. As someone who is going to the England game, I would expect that the US goes over there with a much better squad. If not, I will be absolutely enraged, especially since the Euros will have just finished their season and should be available. I know it's not a FIFA matchday, but ........ oh boy, I don't even want to think about it. You ruined my day. But for this game, what is the fascination with Eddie Lewis? Is there something in the contract of the national team coaches that either Lewis or Convey MUST be called up for a game?
If true, BB is emphatically stating that club form means nothing for USMNT selection. Dolo, Boca, Pearce and Feilhaber have no business being anywhere near our starting line-up, based upon what they'be been doing -- or not doing -- at their respective clubs.
The left sided guy that I'd have brought in is Nguyen. If it was me, I'd like to get a look at the guy. I'd have brought in both Lewis (see what's left in the tank) & Nguyen, and left off Gibbs. Bringing in Gibbs is the same mistake as bringing Convey back too early. (what was that friendly, before the Mex friendly, where Convey was hobbling around?) Q: w/ Beaz out & Convey diminished - if everyone else is available, who's the 1st choice LM? As far as playing Donovan & Demps, that's fine. But, I'd play Demps on the left, instead of LD. He looked ok at the position when Fulham had him there a couple of times. Not his best spot, but I think, on balance, we lose less w/ Demps playing on the left than LD. Also, I think it's crazy to be flying LD all the way over there & back for this friendly. The guy is going to get burned out. The Galaxy spent a month globe trotting. LD will prolly be flying back over to E. for England & Spain friendlies. Give the guy a break. I know howls of derision are coming, but if we're that desperate for another outside mid, play Noonan there. Or, apparently Wolff has been playing RM for his club team. As far as BB starting to pick the same guys over & over. At this point, if you've got a core, it may not be a bad idea. When France won the WC, their coach (forgot his name) went with the same roster (barring injury) for every WCQ (and friendly?). He excluded Ginola from the team, because he wouldn't make the commitment to be available for that. (Don't know why Cantona was excluded). There is something to be said for "working the plan" at this point in preparation. We have some young guys banging on the door, so it's too early for that. But, clearly BB is going to play American Catenaccio (aka BunkerBall - "Bunker Bob"?), for the rest of his tenure. So, there may be something to be said for drilling it to death. I don't like it, but it ain't my team to run.
thanks for the post. not a bad line-up. Benny will try and force some balls and lead to turn overs, but at least 3 or 4 passes by him generally set up good shot attempts. Lets see if Donovan can use his left foot. I think BB plays friendlies for one reason: to teach the US how to win matches. That seems to be the exercise in my opinion. Get the team used to winning. Not a bad philosophy. No fancy line-ups, no out of position players.
He was ok in the Brazil game, didn't ball-win enough, which is not really his strength. The other games in Europe post-GC and Copa he was being experimented with on the right wing, an experiment which I think we can all agree was a failure.
I was a little unsure of some of the players that were out there in what appeared to be the "starting 11" simply due to the fact that some of them aren't starting regularly. The only reason I guessed that those people I named are in the starting 11 is because the other 6 field players were wearing vests. I guess I could be way off...but it seemed logical to me. In terms of Landypoo and Clint, I think there was some experimentation in terms of sides of play. In the end, we've got 6 subs to use (unless I'm mistaken), so it's quite possible that almost everyone will see some time. I do agree with you that Bob's philosophy hasn't been cultivated in the prettiest of soccer styles...but we're winning quite a bit. So that's cool with me...
Is this a typo? I have been given the impression by the most erudite of bs posters that Dolo is one of our strongest options back there, certainly a starter.
Thanks for the first-hand update. Dear outside backs, Be prepared to run your asses off, as any width in the attack is contingent upon you guys getting forward. Sincerely, BigSoccer