Probably not directly, but just a thought I've had. I noticed several of the teams starting older central midfielders, who aren't necessarily playing for "elite" clubs, during this major tournament. 3 examples from teams that have advanced (Possible R here): Niko Kovac, Croatia, 36 yo. Club - Red Bull Salzburg Torsten Frings, Germany, 31 yo. Club - Werder Bremen Sergei Semak, Russia, 32 yo. Club - FC Rubin Kazan Of course, I'm using this to ask if Bradley starting Mastroeni the last 2 matches (with some success) is a result of him realizing that a National Team (or, at least one without absurd amounts of talent, like the Netherlands or Portugal), can thrive with 2 central midfielders under the age of 23? I also noticed Henrik Larsson starting for Sweden...isn't he older than McBride? I know - Bake retired from the Nats...but a guy can dream!
Bob is learning as much from these Euros as from the last 5 Premiership seasons combined. Which is to say none.
The last world cup Big Bobber learned from Zlatko Kranjcar, specifically how to sub out your kid. But saw what what happened to Zlatty and has since decided against it.
I think you take it on a case-by-case basis. Regarding CMs, Spain starts Fabregas (21), Holland starts Sneijder (23), Kovac's partner is Modric (22), and Turan (21) may be Turkey's best player when he's on the field. Italy played much better ball when De Rossi (24) was put in for an aging Ambrosini. I have noticed that some teams are relying heavily on "golden generations" whose time has already gone by, particularly the Czechs. If Bradley were to choose his team on skill and not age, his team would happen to be quite young; there seems to be a talent gap between players above the age of 25, and players below the age of about 30. Under 25, we're well stocked.
I don't now what Bradley is or isn't learning, but I think the way the team looked with Pablo on the field and off the field makes a decent argument for his continued inclusion. And, I think around here there is such an emphasis on bringing in youth that we tend to overlook experienced players and want to discard guys a bit before we need to. You don't want a team full of old guys, but a couple experienced heads out there can often help.
Spain starts Xavi and Iniesta. Fabregas started against Greece because they had already clinched the group and gave most of the regulars rest. And no, I doubt he is learning anything from Euro08 as he hasn't shown himself to have learned very much from the past year, let alone the three friendlies we just had.
True. Older, but not too old, guys like Mastro and Lewis absolutely showed that they still belong. It is hard to project them through 2010, but in 2008 they still add value to the team. Everyone hyperventilates about Wolff's start against England, but then forgets that Bradley quickly dropped him after that and also forgets about the successes with veterans Mastro and Lewis. You win some and you lose some, but Bradley does seem to be taking this info and adjusting for it. I have no idea if Euro 2008 is influencing any of this, but I doubt it. It's probably much more specific to the needs and events of the US squad.
I think the 20 minutes + injury time that Bradley gave Wolff in the Spain game could have gone to another forward. Can't remember if Jaqua was on that squad...
Doubt it. It's more likely that by March 2007, Bob realized that his best older central midfielders (Mastroeni, Olsen) were marginally better at best (and more likely no better at all) than his young prospects (M.Bradley, Feilhaber, Clark & then Edu). Thus, Bob's decided to blood the youngsters and build chemistry in the middle in the hopes that by 2010, our central midfield will be a real strength of the team. And Reyna wasn't that bad in the 2006 WC. He had one really bad play against Ghana when he got hurt, but was actually one of our best players against the Czechs and Italy.