I have nothing against foreign born. Did you look at my list? It's full of dual nationals, people who are in other youth systems. I was touting Holmes before half you woke up. That I think some of them are overrated is just percentage reality. Just like not every U20 stud pans out or stays healthy. I think some of y'all pretend anyone born outside the country is awesome. They are another player. We don't suck that bad. They might be better might be worse. You bring them in and see. I don't hate Robinson, I initially loved him with those crosses. And then he got roasted a couple games badly. That is reality. Just like for Dest or Yedlin or Ben Sweat. As a defender I noticed when people get burned. The people who played more offense seem to notice attacking things. They then seem to respond to losing games for lack of defense.....by asking for more attackers without a knack for defense. Ditto Brooks. Costa Rica happened. Other games happened. There is an objective basis here. I realize some want to act like he is the only untouchable back, the first chosen, but the reality is he was gone for years, had bad games in 2018 under Sarachan, and has never earned the slot. He played two games last year. It is pure club snobbery to suggest otherwise. The actual reality is the consistently chosen backs by GB are people like Long and Dest (and god help me probably Lovitz). Cannon gets called more regularly than Brooks and he's 3rd choice whether I like it or not. I giggle when I hear Brooks treated as the one name in pen. He's the one of the bunch that ISN'T regularly out there. And GB you see coming a mile away. He doesn't tend to hide his plans. He makes his weird choices and mostly plays them. I have gone through and shown before that when Lichaj and a list of defenders play, we have a low GAA. I am a defender. I like actual defense. If you want actual defense where we don't lose to Mexico, you call a different set of people than if you call club snob favs or "players who get forward." Last time I ran the numbers -- and it was months ago -- the best GAA defenders regularly used were something like Lichaj CCV Long Cannon. Or maybe it was Lima. Brooks has been on the team for a lot of blowout losses. The response I usually get is he gets the tough games. And loses them. No one acknowledges the second part or whether that is a wise decision. I don't want the people who got trashed by England Colombia Brazil etc. I want the ones who tied France and beat Mexico. They are not the same people. You can look it up. Since you were a smearing twit: CCV is UK born, Lichaj has had a career abroad and had other nationality options. But my thing is MLS or not, born here or not, show up and play and you better perform. I actually give some favoritism to scouting players at big clubs, but not once they're capped and have a track record. The real difference on me is I judge by track record once they're here. I don't kiss up to players from big leagues based on theory. I judge by how they play. Sometimes that favors Pulisic. Sometimes it favors Cannon. Sometimes that makes Yedlin look bad. Sometimes it shows up Sweat. I am agnostic essentially. The theme of a jillion Brooks Yedlin Chandler FJ Williams etc, posts on here is pronounce the other fans the dumb ones and ignore their bad historic NT games that we are starting to forget, and give them their 20th shot because of where they play. At some point people will acknowledge there is a reason we didn't qualify in 2018, lost the GC semis in 2015, lost the CA semis in 2016, lost the playoff for Confed Cup. Don't pretend I'm the biased one. A lot of these people disappeared last cycle for a reason. They were given the keys and the team got run in a ditch. All I am doing is having a memory.
Please don't tell me you seriously want CCV to start over Brooks. CCV is a good player but is no where near Brooks level. Club form does matter and CCV has been rejected from championship teams which is a very bad sign.
I mean the problem to me with GB is he picks so bad it's easy to say FJ Chandler etc. are better than some schmuck the addled dude calls. Fair enough. But usually there are like a half dozen MLS guys, dual nationals, youth players, who deserve the same shot, have their own promise, and aren't dragging around 2018 cycle baggage like an anvil.
Dempsey was at Spurs and Fulham v.2 from 8/31/12 to 2/28/14. This is generally seen as a rough period in his club career. In that time period he scored 6 NT qualifying goals (on teams like Honduras and CR), and 3 friendly goals (on Germany and Belgium). At roughly the same time, 2012 MLS season, Wondo tied Lassiter's scoring record with a 27 goal season. 3 NT games, no goals. In 13-14 his MLS goals fell off but he broke his NT duck. This led to Belgium. Twellman in 2005 had 17 league goals. Got to start all our fall semi round qualis and had a grand total of 1 assist. Club form means jack squat. Anyone associated with this team knows this. It's like we want to literally re-learn basic lessons. Club form used to knock on the door but NT goal scoring had to answer or you went away. Whether you can hack club or international ball are two different things. To be pointed about Brooks, zonally marking air might work random weeks in Germany, it is not going to win you games in Concacaf, at least not the ones that matter.
You're confusing actual club form with where he plays, which is what they really mean. When broken down many of their claims amount to "this year he is starting for ___________." Re which league he plays in, how does NCAA compare? How does age group German ball or the 4th division or whatever compare? There is an implication beneath the league affiliation diss that isn't scientifically true. Mind you, we are not calling up the average kid at UC-Dude but when your best two forwards (players, period? right now?) are people who were brought in from college and age group ball, some of these anti-Reyna, anti-kid arguments seem a little like a grumpy old man watching Fox reciting received wisdom. League One concerns me but then + for probably not belonging there -- following his team down, it's not like he signed there after being released -- and + for his good season. The scientific approach would be he plays a need spot and give him some minutes. See how he stacks up in reality as opposed to theory. He's either worked out the shanks I remember or not.
Brooks got himself benched. I suspect part of the reason for it was his fragility. But part was also his lack of ball control under pressure. Now with Pomgracic suspended (red) and Tisserand injured, he's going to play again. He has to show well to keep his chances of getting back the spot. Unlike others, I don't consider Brooks an automatic starter for the NT. Not against CONCACAF opposition, when they got good dribblers up front.
to underline some of the bs going on here, gooch is a loyal sunderland player. sunderland has been in a tailspin for a few years. as such he has appearances in the EPL, championship, and league 1 as he has followed them downwards. to then stamp him a "league one player" is misleading. he had a goal and several assists in the championship the year they were there, and was called up then. he was good enough to get minutes in the EPL before that. which is enough to make vasillev or the wolves kid into the Next Big Thing. for example, tim ream was on fulham when they were relegated. so he is both EPL and championship. the deal is usually players are released when their team drops so this argument can't usually be made. i am yearning for a basic eyes discussion. all this club bs that can be made at a keyboard never having seen him play. how about "i remember a bunch of shanked crosses when he got called up." how about that. you know, reality. actual soccer play.
Off my list yesterday, the following are foreign born: CCV Sabbi Reyna Weah Siebatcheu Tillman(s) Frei Holmes Toljan Gall i expect that puts that stupidity to bed. ironically there are a few surprises like hamaleinen and green born here. maybe the secret reason the snobs dislike green is he is Florida Man.
how would we even know? this is like 2018 cycle where we go around in the same 6-8 people over and over and cry we can't find anyone. and then in reality there is a list of opara types who barely or never have their phone ring. while we call omar cameron etc. over and over in turns. when one of them screwed up we went back to the same list of screwups. no surprise at a key moment they imploded. richards is moving along at bayern. CCV is decent but a little klutzy and foul happy. some have suggested alvarado, i want to say i remember some nightmares at the end, but we haven't tried that. EPB has found his feet in austria. etc. etc. and at least part of my issue would be that give or take giving miles robinson some minutes, it's basically a long brooks zimmerman rotation. i think 99% of us would express some discomfort with that set. we might not agree on which ones, but we all think it's not good enough. so why are they in pen? kind of like LB, where camp cupcake aside it's like ream and lovitz and occasionally try dest. the position sucks, yes, but there are probably several omitted people who could play it. half the problem is not just a fairly set roster but comfort with it. we don't handle some of these panic positions like we're auditioning, but we should be. even if the coach decided lovitz didn't work, he will have little else vetted and nothing successful. it'll be "let's try dest." despite how that experiment went. because that's all else he's tried. or ream. people wonder what mentality leads one to start omar in a key quali? this. i have to be real, though, we have one friendly window left, this is likely more about consequences than that they listen to me and try anything. someone will expose LB or burn the CBs and the argument will revive but against the background of "can we call someone new in quali." there are no easy answers when you waste your time.
I think Gooch is probably worth a look. League One is overall not great, but he's one of the better players on one of the better teams in the league. Just looking at March, a lot of is probably determined by a couple of questions: is Morris going to stay home because of CCL? Is Weah ready to rejoin the national team? Are you bringing Reyna, and if so, as a winger or as a CM? I'd put both Reyna and Weah ahead of him on the integration/try out schedule, but there still may be room to bring him to camp or a roster. Only Pulisic and Boyd are European-based wingers; even if you add Reyna and Weah, he may be worth an add just as a camp invite to see if he can compete with them. I wouldn't crucify Berhalter for not bringing him in, but I don't think it's ridiculous. -------------------------- The level of love for CCV and EPB on this site can kind of get ridiculous. Like Gooch, both are justified a look (and CCV has had some), but placing them over Brooks?
when we played mexico and won it was lichaj CCV Miazga Moore robinson subbed when we played france to a draw before they won the world cup it was robinson parker miazga CCV moore yedlin EPB villafana subbed 3 of those names repeat themselves as starters, 1 more as a sub for reasons unclear to me we have fled these scenes as fast as possible perhaps that we are on a mission to win and have thus cast aside everyone from the good results so we can reshape how to play with passing backs and lose. because what we're trying to do is win, but in a way that takes time. we may lose in the interim to start winning. surely you understand the logic. people are like CCV hahahaha. they would rather start the guy who got his tush kicked in at the end of 2018 than the ones who got the upsets that year. this is why we suck, it's about rep and not results. under sarachan CCV got to play more, and broke even on wins and losses in a rough year. from portugal through italy we allowed 5 goals in 7 games he played against france italy mexico portugal paraguay ireland peru. 2 shutouts. same time period brooks plays 4 games, we allow 11 goals to portugal brazil colombia england. 1 tie, 3 losses. no upsets. no shutouts. what usually occurs at this point is i am reminded he was the historical starter. except he was a one half sub in world cup 2014, and if he owns GC 2015, CA 2016, the playoff, the first 2 qualifiers before he was sent to pasture, none of that went very well. the pattern holds for mexico qualis last cycle. the infamous away tie at azteca? no brooks no FJ no chandler. guess who's on the team for the home loss? exactly.
https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news...rnational-aims-and-his-love-sunderland-576160 i think everyone is so ambition and status obsessed they don't want to believe in loyalty, calibrated choices, or other modulations of ambition. this would complicate their ideas of pure merit and that you're in position x because of just desserts there is no above interest. i'm not overrating him, i basically hinted i remember shanked crosses when he was capped. i'd prefer to see a healthy weah, some of the other U23s/U20s/U17s. i just think the abstracted league/club arguments people make are circular-logic status markers as opposed to analysis. club is basically a "supposed to be good" (or not) argument. we've actually seen him play. why not discuss that.
Gooch should continue doing what he is doing and hopefully move up at the end of the season, with Sunderland or without. But there is a long list of guys playing winger that I would call before him. Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Boyd, Chandler, Moore are Euro options for this window. If Amon ever got healthy, I'd call him. If Taitague likewise can get a run and get into the 18 for Schalke, and then there are more kids coming.
Ventura Alvarado is in my list of need to try next. EPB might deserve a shot. Richards has stalled. CCV has fallen off a cliff. Glad, McKenzie, Trusty, etc. have not progressed and Miles is overrated, IMO. Parker took a step back last year. Matt Miazga is injured. Outside of that, Donovan Pines isn’t going to save us. Keita? He has a lot of work to do. Edwards and Maloney aren’t making any sort of noise. Opara is at the end of his peak years. Add Ream in that equation too. We need to project when a player is expected to decline. That leaves us with Long, Brooks, and Zimmerman. Brooks is injury prone and Long & Zimmerman are too comfortable in MLS. Sure, they should be able to do the job in CONCACAF. But I have my doubts that they’ll be good enough to get us into the World Cup Quarter Finals.
I wouldn't really call Long comfortable in MLS. NYRB have failed him. We shouldn't be worried about even getting out of the group stage this cycle because it's not realistic in my opinion with the current player pool being largely comprised of the lost generation. We have a ridiculously talented group of players that will be in their prime for 2026 and 2030 where realistically 2022 should be used for building them chemistry.
gooch and olosunde will be a lot more interesting to me come may. sunderland and rotherham are fifth and first in league 1 (respectively). still, thats pretty far down the depth chart (especially olosunde, until we can figure out a 6 rb formation that works).
The job is getting out of CONCACAF first, then winning the World Cup. Which, to be honest, I'm not sure will be happening this cycle.
Gooch to me is a lot more interesting than Olosunde. If you're going to be playing in a league like English League One, then you need to be truly excelling in order to get a look with the USMNT. Gooch seems to be doing that. Showing up and being "League One Average" isn't going to cut it. Right back is a tough nut to crack. There are guys in the championship playing fullback, like say Eric Lichaj, that have been on the outside-looking-in for a while. Even getting up to the Championship may not be enough for Olosunde. We have a Premier League fullback like Yedlin who may not be our starter right now. We have a Bundesliga fullback like Chandler that isn't getting in the squad. The next generation is charging hard. I've always been a fan of Gooch. Not because I think his talent is all that incredible. That kid just has all of the intangibles. The heart and desire that you can't measure. The fight and will to succeed. I see him as the kind of kid that's gonna get back to the Premier League thru sheer will and love of the sport. And of course Sunderland is the type of club that can get there. Rotheram isn't. [Rotheram has never been a top-flight club in England as far as I know. They've got attendance that would make FC Dallas blush.]
well, if the english fa promotes/relegates on tables as they stand olosunde will be a championship player next year while gooch will still be league 1. i dont know that i disagree with your individual evaluation all that much, but my point was i have zero interest in a league 1 player regardless of circumstance (being a nat team fan above all else), while a colaship player is comparable to other players in the pool. obviously theres more to player evaluation than the "level"/league they are at, but it is a factor. of course moving up the ranks at rb is a tall, tall order for anyone (see araujo, probably 5th- at best- on the depth chart), so gooch is almost certainly "closer" to the national team but thats really a skinniest kid at fat camp argument. my point, again, was strictly the possibility for one or both of them to move up a league. league one players arent in the conversation for me, colaship players COULD be. i dont think i ever implied one/both/neither would punch a ticket straight to the sr team setup.
With the way US Soccer is run, I don't see the men winning the World Cup ever. Until massive and long overdue changes are made to this organization, the best all of you can hope for is mediocrity and also-ran status.