Fabian Johnson asked to be subbed out of the Concacaf Cup final against Mexico, not because he was injured ("tightness"), but presumably because he didn't want to risk injury and jeopardize his UCL club games. Cristiano Ronaldo tried to play on, twice after treatment, with an MCL sprain in the Euro 2016 final, before getting forced out on a stretcher. Even if Klinsmann's game management for that final deserves to be scrutinized, the difference in commitment and/or mentality here is clear.
I think it's not easy to say who's half-assing it. Is Nagbe a loafer who rejected a call-up? Is Chandler? could they both be put in situations where they work well as part of the scheme? BTW - i firmly believe in high intensity guys on the field and that we don't give enough credit to Zuzi, Ale, etc. who put in the hard-work - i guess that I don't like excluding anyone from the pool other than if they pull a Bennie and get into a fight.
Cristiano had about a month until Real played another competitive match. Plus you have to factor in when it happened. For Cristiano since it was so early in the match making a sub that early is horrible regardless. Johnson left in the 111 minute where getting someone on with fresh legs could help a ton.
The problem is not the talent, Howard is blaming dual citizen Americans and that is wrong, lazy players shouldn't be on the national team resgardless of the place they were born.
I don't think anyone has a problem with saying if players aren't committed enough to work hard, they shouldn't be on the team. People have a problem with singling out a specific group of players as needing extra scrutiny or assuming players depending on where they were born have more or less motivation. And, when the most visible of these guys (Jones) is a workhorse who plays with more heart than just about anyone else in the squad it starts to seem like a ridiculous argument. Had Howard said.... Bruce Arena is a welcome change because he will make sure all the guys are working as hard as possible and from here on out I am sure if you're not committed, you'll find yourself off the team.... no one would have taken issue. It was when he specifically mentioned Americans raised abroad for scrutiny that he either screwed up or revealed a bit of a prejudicial perspective on his part. None of us will likely know which this was, but I think it's pretty obvious this was a stupid thing to say regardless. Not that pro athletes are generally known for their intellects, which is why teams give them talking points.
Howard should be suspended from the National Team. What he is saying could have repercussions on dual-nats like Carter-Vickers, Tillman(s), Shashoua(s), Austin, etc. wanting to play for the NT in the future who's NT futures might be up for grabs and didn't grow up in the USA. Show these players that comments like that won't be allowed, and will be punished.
Instead of focusing on the players themselves, I look at it from the perspective of what it says about the U.S. Youth Soccer Association, MLS youth Academies, and MLS in general. I believe a youth system is successful when it is a net exporter of national team players. When a country with the population of the U.S. still needs to import players raised in other youth systems 20 years after MLS began, the system is failing. Personally, I don't see the benefit of bringing in players raised in other youth systems other than undermining the system and league in the U.S. The caveat is if those players are among the best 100 players in the world, but that isn't the case. The problem is that the top 100 players probably wouldn't play for the U.S. even if they could because they know that the U.S. has an artificial soccer culture. The results have always been the same, but the morale and cohesion within the team has definitely decreased.
Actually, yes to all those. I think it's naive to think otherwise. The reality is that it's not only possible, but likely and common that employees take a different approach to a job they've always dreamed of having versus one they took as a second choice or because the opportunity appeared. Is the idea that because this job involves playing for one's country of citizenship, patriotism should kick in or something and make everyone perform the same because they all "believe" in the shirt? That's childish fantasy and we observe it isn't true. Commitment, desire and passion come from experiences that bond you to the team. Is it actually possible that athletes that never really thought about playing for the US before they got the offer might not take the commitment as seriously as a player that dreamed of playing for the NT since their youth? Of course! Furthermore, I think it's highly likely and a consideration a smart manager would make when trying to integrate players that have experienced totally different cultures. Can you really expect, like, Aron Johansson to explicitly understand the US-Mexico rivalry? It doesn't mean duals shouldn't be part of the team, but clearly managing the integration of players that experienced different playing cultures was a job too tall for Jurgen and ultimately culminated in him losing the locker room and getting fired. In fact, can you provide examples of any NTs successfully integrating a large core of foreign-born national team players with completely different backgrounds/cultures? It's rare to find examples of that in football. Even with a case like Diego Costa, he's lived in Spain and intimately experienced their football culture (and of course, he's still unfairly criticized by the Spanish). Nagbe is a naturalized citizen, who has also spent significant time in the US and intimately involved in our soccer culture; this is much more common.
If they're committed to play for their country, then I doubt Howard's comments will matter to them. Ah, catch 22!
Again, if we leave feelings out of this, the German-American players we have play in better leagues at a higher level, they are literally doing us a favor. As coach and as a player I truly believe that where you are from doesn't matter, what matters is your work ethic, your willingness to work. Howard needs to give names, so we can stop speculating, you know how many times I have seen Bradley walking on the field? Dempsey Altidore? Somehow because of the territory they were born it's ok for them to do that? Everybody on the national team should work hard, everybody, yeah is that simple, if no, move to the side, millions of Hispanics semipro players will die to get a legit shot and I'm being serious about this.
For some of them, "their" country isn't the USA, and we are their second country. I don't mind if thats the case. As long as they give their full effort, why does it matter? What we don't need is a player who will make those types of players uncomfortable in the NT program.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a lot of things, and many of them are bad, but that guy cares about playing for his country. Even if its just because HE wanted to be the hero and not Nani, he didn't want to come off. I'd take the drive and fight of the narcissist over the general indifference and housecat mentality that is Fabian Johnson.
Isn't Howard out until like June anyway? Why did anyone put a microphone in front of him in the first place?
Here's a hypothetical question: What if Ibra was in our pool and got into a fight during camp. Would he be out also? (no right or wrong answer or course)
When I hear about playing for the shirt in the context of a national team, it's different than in the context of a club team. It's service based - a privilege. Of all the logistical problems inherent with a national team, this is really the one advantage you can use as a coach - this glue, which can make a whole greater than the sum of its parts. When Jurgen came in, he blew things up - cast about for a lot of new talent, as much as a national team coach can do, which was excellent and much needed. But when piecing the thing back together he didn't use, well... any glue, really. What holds a national team together in that circumstance? Motivational Speakers? What happens after that is what happens in every high school in the US. When you're one or two in a sea of "others" you integrate, when you're four or more, you form a clique. Even in the most aware and open environment, we're all human, and we search out people we're comfortable with - people we can talk with easily, who we think understand us. Language and culture are barriers - that's true and unfair - and breaking them down takes proactive measures from all sides. National team camps are short and intermittent - callups particularly haphazard under Klinsmann. The universal language of football is something, but otherwise, the task is monumental. This fosters misunderstandings, and poor reactions to each other and the team. Howard's response is a symptom, but he's probably accurately describing the symptoms of others, as well. It's a corrosive situation. If Bruce's solution to this is to make it clear that this is a service-oriented enterprise, he only wants players dedicated to the privilege of representing the United States on the field of battle, and he's able to get the team to rally around each other (to see each other as committed), that will be one small but critical step in the Band of Brothers direction this team needs to take if they're going to once again start punching at and above their weight.
Zlatan would go back in time and eliminate the competitor in his flower-bedecked cradle. There was no fight, there was only Zlatan scoring again. I am not understanding your question.
Nationalism is fiction, I have lived in the South for about 12 years, still don't feel welcome here, still don't feel like I am part of the southern charm, not matter how hard I work, no matter how nice I am... does that make me less American than the European immigrants that have been living here for 200 years? The best thing we can do is to get the best players available, the ones that work like Jermaine Jones (ironally he was born in Germany) and to put all these behind, bring fresh blood into the team, bring talented players like Agudelo and Luis Silva... If we keep putting excuses and blaming the "foreigners," we will never become a dominant team.
My serious answer is that he should be out if he was out of line and hit another player. Leaders have a responsibility to lead. What harkes did is even worse....
He was referring to it having happened before too. But to be a hipster and go against the grain, he's playing dumb about the frequency and magnitude of debacles the last year and a half comparatively to other eras. 0-4 l at Costa Rica 0-2 l at Guatemala l at vs. Panama getting out-shot 25-5 out-shot 21-6 vs. Haiti l 0-4 vs. Argentina not recording a shot l 1-2 vs. Jamaica The Mexico losses at home could be thrown in there also. At no time in our modern history have we been anywhere near that lifeless that much for that extended of a period. He's resorting to nihilism and false equivalencies. So someone has to come up with causation, why it's disproportionately evident in more foreign-raised players, and why some dual nationals or foreign guys themselves have even pointed this out. There are other factors, like Klinsmann's tactical ineptitude and player selection (but this included favoring foreign-raised/developed players admittedly, which self-proclaimed enlightened individuals supported), however this is seemingly another one.