MLS, Europe, etc. (pulled from Camp Cupcake 2016)

No, I'm not. Sure, there's always a chance that a lesser player has a better day but it's highly unlikely that a mediocre 27 year old with 8 years experience will be a better option than a 21 year old Pulisic with 5 years experience. But you've woven a beautiful man of straw. I also don't know what sort of trap you're trying to set here, but as usual I'll bite anyway in the interest of providing honest answers to your questions.

I've been clear that I'm speaking of Reyna here, not Pulisic. Couldn't be more clear, actually. And, Reyna has extremely little experience, which is indisputable.

 

I think without your efforts, this message board would be pretty quiet these days, so I appreciate that...

But if US fans got through last Hex and still think "EXPERIENCE COUNTS", then I don't think you're ever going to get through to them.

 

I'd take the minimal experience of running onto a critical CL knockout match in front of 60k fans as more useful than whatever age experience Lleget has over his additional years of being a professional.

But again, if people can watch the last 3-4 years of US soccer and still believe experience is a key component of success with the NT, any rational argument to the contrary ain't sinking in.

 

I caught a soccer ball that flew into a stand once, does that qualify me as a USNT goalkeeper?

 

If the next best option was Howard circa Hex '17? Yes.

 

Was it kicked by a USMNT player or a different countries player?

 

It was a Port Vale striker I think.

 

Experience is a component. Experience has a value, just the same as dribbling, ball control, passing, shooting, intercepting, tackling, etc. have a value. It's the sum of those things that determine a player's overall quality. Further, experience factors into all of those skills--when to take a player on, when to wait, when to cycle the ball, when to run, when to step into space, etc. Experience amplifies skills traits. Relying solely on experience is silly, just as relying only on skills traits is silly. The game has more nuance. BTW, I'm not defending putting out Michael Bradley, or going the Bruce Arena route (where experience seems to be number one).

 

Again, you're comparing Pulisic, a player with 5 seasons of first team experience and high skills level with a mediocre player with a few more years of experience. At this point, that difference in experience doesn't factor much. Reyna does not have remotely close to the experience that Pulisic does, even if his skill level may be similar.

 

"Last 3 years" what?? You just invent parameters out of thin air when it serves your argument. Experience isn't just about "Have you played CL football?" or "When was the last time you played in a WC qualifier or playoff game". Experience is a culmination of all of your, ahem, EXPERIENCE playing the game as a professional.

I'm sure you recall, but don't wish to acknowledge, that I'm not advocating for some blanket ban on Reyna playing or starting games (nor is anyone else). All I've been saying, this whole frickin' time, is that the kid is a kid and needs to get eased into a role on the USMNT, for whom he has NEVER PLAYED and who has all of 180 minutes as a senior team professional. Who knows, he may have a thousand first team minutes by the time the next USMNT camp is, in which case the discussion might be quite different.

 

Not much comment after this post.

 

We haven't seen Reyna with the national team. Full stop. We've only seen 180 first team minutes from the kid. Full stop. We've seen lots of Sebastian Lletget--enough for us to know all of his limitations and his strong points. We have no such comparison for Reyna. The kid looks spectacular. There is no depth yet to the initial observation we've been able to have. Also, several people have pointed out that he looked ho-hum with the U-17s, so that goes against him since it's part of "all we've got to look at" or, as you call it, his "CV". I didn't watch any of the U-17 games, so have no personal opinion, but there were enough well-regarded posters who said this that I made a mental note.

We don't know much about Reyna yet is the point, simply because no one has seen enough of him. As I've said multiple times now, I'm excited about him from what little I've seen. I think (or, at least, hope) that he might be a world top 10 player some day. Bring him in. See him in training. Get him some minutes. That's how you can begin to assess where he fits, not discussing theoretical nonsense on Bigsoccer.com.

 

Yeah, I think people are over-correcting for the failure to introduce new blood last cycle. Arena prioritized experience and familiarity with the team, and it cost us, but that doesn't mean that we should totally disregard experience or familiarity with the team and throw in any young player who flashes high-end potential. If the US had a WCQ tomorrow, I'd start Lletget over Reyna. It seems nuts to me to throw in a guy who hasn't started a game at the pro level and hasn't played with any of his USMNT teammates into a starting role in a high stakes game.

That said, I suspect this whole debate will be moot anyhow, since the US doesn't have a game until September at the earliest, and by the looks of it, Reyna will get some chances to start for Dortmund prior to that. If he looks good in a handful of starts for them, I'd be fine with him starting for the USMNT.

 

I'd say "over-correcting" would be someone wanting the team to be built around Llanez or Ledeza.

Asking a team to start the most talented player, playing at what is probably the highest level/best team of any American player, isn't much of a reach.

Do you have in mind a minimum number of starts or minutes Reyna would need to have by the next US match to think he has enough experience over Lleget?

Did you see he was named a starter last week only to get hurt in warmups? Does that mean something? Or does it mean diddly since you're not concerned about his talent level, but only that he receives a certain # of minutes to prove he is in good enough shape?

 

I think context matters tho. Outside of Mexico or Costa Rica on the road there isn’t a team/game we shouldn’t be able to handle. If it’s the former I could understand the thought of having a more experienced player start and bring him off the bench for a taste. If it’s the latter, we’re just wasting an opportunity for him to gain experience.

 

I agree with this. It is time to start bum rolling. There is no reason we should't be pushing around most hex opponents on their own fields.

Bad coaching was the biggest problem in the last cycle. Those two managed to spin the second best talent in the hex into missing the cup.

 

I actually do think experience is often valuable and I think the best teams generally have a mix of youth and experience. Both are valuable. That said, having a core of experienced guys tends to happen organically in those teams. You don't just decide... well, good teams have at least 3 highly experienced players, so we should sit better players to get that experience. If we qualify for Qatar, we will be very lacking in experience just because none of our good players have much. Heck, playing the kids now may be the best and perhaps only way to really have guys out there who aren't being thrown into the deep end at the last moment.

Guys like Lleget or Roldan and similar have no valuable experience to speak of internationally. Guys who have mostly been role players in low stakes friendlies and occasionally get on the field in a supporting role for big games aren't the types of experienced guys you want. The experienced guys you want are guys who have played a lot of high stakes games and had some success. The closest we come is Brooks, Pulisic (young but more experience than most we have and a lot of it in high stakes games), Yedlin (who may not even start since he plays in the one position we have with real depth), Bradley (who I sure hope does not start), and Altodire. The MLS lifers who got into a friendly now and then don't bring much to the table as far as successful expedience in high stakes games go.