he isnt bad per se. but he isnt up to snuff on that squad right now. its frustrating to watch sometimes because I love clint but the difference between him and van der vaart when he was here and a player like dembele or anyone who can move the ball quickly is so apparent when he is with spurs. it puts things in perspective when we talk about our best players. I look forward to having players on barca, real madrid, man u, chelsea, etc....thats when we know.
By the time a player is 29 in the EPL he tends to have specialized into doing certain things well and stays away from doing those things he does not do well. Analyzing the stuff Dempsey doesn't do that VDV did doesn't make any sense anymore. Dempsey was hired to score goals from the top of the arc, free kicks, headers in the box and on the end of crosses from Lennon and Bale. He doesn't do anything else. VDV does but VDV doesn't have the scoring arsenal of Dempsey. It is really what you want out of a player at any particular time that matters.
Dempsey was HIGHLY regarded by Fulham, and Donovan was also HIGHLY regarded by Everton. Since those are mid-table PL teams, one could say the best US players are good mid-table players in the EPL. Now, how strong are Fulham and Everton when compared to teams elsewhere? When compared to the best CONCACAF teams? AS Roma may be slightly above them. So far, Bradley is still in the process of earning a starting place with them, but just some degree of success there in the next couple of years, he'll be set to become the most successful guy on Europe in the new millennium. BTW, Everton is the #118 team in the world, and Fulham the #162, as per the latest IFFHS ranking. The top ranked MLS team, The Sounders, sits at #148. The top ranked CONCACAF team, Monterrey, sits at an impressive #33. That is in the area of the Marseille and Schalke.
The IFFHS is a giant joke. No one considers it a qualified organization and it isn't even allowed as a source by the DPA(largest news agency in Germany, where the IFFHS was founded).
They are recognized by the FIFA. And, while I also consider them even more of a joke than the FIFA rankings, well, they are the only place that provides club rankings across leagues.
It's a well known fact in the science of algorithms that rankings are only truly meaningful if each and every node has a valued comparison against every other node - that basically means we need a round robin for a ranking to make sense. The country ranking is bad enough what with most countries never facing each other for years on end. The club rankings are beyond ludicrous because for the most part, only one team from each of the continents meet each other in a meaningful competition. Even if we find out that the best club in Europe is better than the best club in North America it does not mean that 20th best club in Europe is better than the 12th best club in N.A. So let me sum it up: MEANINGFUL WORLD-WIDE CLUB RANKINGS ARE AN IMPOSSIBILITY
i hope our next generation is more hungry and more strong minded...we have had some great prospects flop because we prop them up waaaay too high waay too early.
2002-2007 was a dead zone of developement. we are just now seeing a few results from 2009 but other than those few it is a wasteland.
Keeping Arena because of the good 2002 showing seems to have been a bit of a mistake, if it's true the NT manager has a lot of influence on player development. The 24-28 year olds seem to be the gap. Those guys were at a key developmental stage (14-20) at the time.
Off topic, but he's very well regarded here. Give him time, he's breaking into a new team. Also, did you actually watch him play with Fulham at all? He's a complete player, works hard on d, had good vision, doesn't dwell on the ball anymore. Puts in more coverage than most, works hard at practice. What you just said about him couldn't be more wrong. What the do spurs fans know anyway!
The problem is that unlike everywhere else on the planet, all of our kids are inherently bad and it's all their fault that their development so consistently stalls at ages where elsewhere players improve. I don't know how to fix that, but I'm certain that it can't possibly be the world class player training and coaching we provide at all levels from youth on up. The players who work real hard and otherwise lack talent seem to do okay for us, so that should work the same for the kids who can actually play a little. Right?
Corona, Shea, Altidore, Torres, Bradley are getting time with the team. Players like Pontius are on the cusp. Exactly what is the problem? One of the more ignorant comments on a US player.
Bradley is 25, and the rest are all a very meh group. (and hell Bradley is just a touch above 'meh' himself). Chris Pontius will be 26 in May and is about 80% as good as Taylor Twellman was at the same age. The 2nd level of England is lousy with guys of his caliber. The problem is that these players aren't any kind of improvement, and in some ways are a regression from before. Our youth teams have been doing considerably worse for a few years now, our senior team is likely playing worse now than it was eight years ago, we seem to have developed an institutional blind spot when it comes to creativity in attack. Clint Mathis is extinct in this country. All of this when, theoretically anyway, we're supposed to be on the upswing. I'm not looking for the next Donovan, I'm looking for the guy who will be better. And if that guy is out there at any level above U-15, he's doing a great job of disguising himself. At the very least if we're going to be also rans, we could try and do so with some flair and entertainment. I am very, very depressed and discouraged at the current state of U.S. soccer. I am not happy.
Junior Flores. And I HATE over hyping youth players. But with him it isn't him being physically dominate over his age group, he's not that big himself, rather small. With Flores I see a player who thinks far in advance while on the field. That, and his mentality is far ahead the normal American player at 16 yrs old. Translation: he doesn't seem to shit his pants when under pressure. He will be interesting to watch.
and this is the 2010 plus contribution although I guess Junior FLores has spent a year in Jurgens system. Now he is going to Germany to play? Interesting.
Was LD10 really highly regarded by Everton. It's a no brainer that Dempsey was the face of Fulham. Everyone knows that. But LD10, I felt if I asked 50 Everton fans that in England, they would say they like him but in a manner like Atlanta Hawks fans like Jamal Crawford, not like Miami fans like Dwayne Wade.
One of the more vacuous comments on a post. What are Cint's added attributes? Assists? Defending? Forward passes? Penalty kicks? Corner kicks? Free kicks (apart from scoring on them)? Team leadership? Wide play? Dribbling? Crosses into the box? Try to put a meaningful sentence together.
Considering the level of development we're working with we're doing well; Bradenton is the academy that's supposed to find the best players in a country with half the population of Europe spread out over the same area (estimates). MLS academies are still a new thing and I don't think too many coaches know how to use the system, I sense that teams give up on players if they're not Agudelo or Shea right off the bat. Teams are just beginning to send 18-19 year olds on loan (LAG sent Bowen to Belgium, DCU sent Shanosky to NASL), that's a good thing. But MLS still depends on college kids, and foreign talents, to make up the backbone of their teams. Right now we depend on players that go from college to Europe, who go from MLS to Europe well into their 20s, the Germans, and mediocre MLS players. Imagine if we were to develop players like other countries do: almost every country in the Western Hemisphere fields a team made up almost entirely of home grown or local players. The best ones go to 2nd tier Euro teams or CL/EL level teams in 2nd tier leagues in their late teens or early 20s, NT level ones eventually end up in CL teams in one of the top 5 leagues. Our players re-sign with MLS in their early 20s, then wait for their contracts to expire or get transfered in their mid-20s and then stay with that team for way too long. Players like Zusi, Pontius, etc. who excel at MLS don't become professional until their 20s and don't play their 100th game until their mid-20s. By the time they reach their prime they lack technique, skill on the ball, tactical IQ and mental speed, which you can only get by playing at the highest level, so needless to say, they're not NT material. Fortunately we're starting to see players like Perry, Gil, Okugo, etc. along with already discovered players Shea and Agudelo, who unlike the Zusis and Pontiuses got started young and have demonstrated potential from the begining. But we need MLS teams to have at least 5 players like them (under 23) so that out of 100+ we can count on 5-7 to move on to Europe and make an impact with the full USMNT in every cycle. So imagine a USMNT that can count on an MLS academy system that can attract 70-85% of youth players like in other countries, plus Latin players playing in their parent's home country, plus players that come through youth academies in Europe, plus future Subotic, Chandlers and Rossis. Then add already established players like Bradley, Dempsey, Jones, etc. that the team inherits after every WC, PLUS coaches that have experience in Europe or MLS, and that's a whole new USMNT. That's thinking far ahead, but my point is that that's the road we're on and we're half way there.
What? I'm an Evertonian - they loved him, still do. First time he set the team on fire with his play, giving them some badly needed attacking flair and pace. Second time he literally rescued them from oblivion, essentially providing almost the entirety of their playmaking for two months. He won the player of the month award from fans twice. Let me put it this way - the #9 hasn't gone to a player since, and there are still rumors of him going back.
They liked him a lot, at least from the post on their boards. All in all, the future looks ok. Not brilliant, though. Just ok. Top teams only feel ok when many of their youngsters are already academy for solid Euro sides. I mean the Top 20 UEFA and the CONMEBOL teams. Those teams, were they in USA's position, would consider it a rather meager harvest. The next step is to put more and more kids through the grinder. Even so, all things considered, the USA team has always been stronger than the individual players would have suggested.