As we approach the first game in awhile for the Nats I was thinking about the position Bruce is in and where he might start to rebuild. The question I have is about how fundamentally he will start to rebuild. If you consider the road ahead, and you think about some of the names we have relied on in the past, and then you tack 4 years onto the ages of some of these folks, you will see that Bruce has a serious decision to make and possibly some major house cleaning to do. So, taking one of the paths that Bruce might choose to follow, I will throw out the argument that he should start almost from scratch and deliberately write off some players we have relied on in the past that simply may not or should not be there in four years. Namely: Claudio Reyna Brian McBride Jeff Agoos Carlos Llamosa Tony Sanneh David Regis Frankie Hedjuk Jovan Kirovski Greg Berhalter Earnie Stewart Brad Friedel Kasey Keller Cobi Jones Eddie Lewis As you can see the list is long and I deliberately didn't quibble about any of the controversial names like Reyna, or Friedel and Keller. I did this deliberately because it represents a philosophy that I think Bruce may choose to follow. That philosophy being that if you rely too heavily over the next 3 years on old talent, even just a handful of them, then when you do get to the end of the road you may find that they have become indispensable and the team is built on a style that assumes they will be there. The extreme opposite of this philosophy is essentially the strategy that Sampson used during the qualifiers leading up to 98. He essentially used a veteran team to get us through and then try to rework the team at the end. In Sampson's defense he had a lot fewer options than does Arena now, but that only further highlights the size of the task Arena has ahead of him. As a key example, I throw out Claudio Reyna. Although O'Brien and Mastroeni allowed us to get by without him in some games, the team definitely relied on him as part of the engine room for a long time. Finding a suitable replacement for Reyna, or structuring the team in a way that doesn't rely on him so much will be the critical task for Bruce in the new team. I would also suggest that O'Brien may not be as readily available to join the Nats until serious qualifying begins, so essentially the critical area will be the playmaking, ball-control center of the field. The second key example is the defense. Other than Pope, I can't think of anyone that is a lock in the back, and even Pope isn't necessarily that. There are a number of defenders in MLS and abroad who really haven't seen that much time with the Nats. Finding our new backline is going to be the next big task. On top of that, I think an argument can be made that counting on either Friedel or Keller to be there in 4 years is stretching your expectations a wee bit. Granted, keepers enjoy a longer career, but 4 years is a long time, and we have some real talent knocking on the door. I will leave out the wingers and strikers because those positions are typically a flavor-of the-month category and we already have some young blood candidates. Either way, Bruce is starting with a clean slate for the most part, and I suspect that he will commit to the "brand new team" philosophy sooner rather than later. This El Salvador game is essentially a throw away game, and for that reason new faces are expected, but I think once he starts bringing in new blood he won't ever go back.
For the most part I agree that Arena should start to focus on new blood and weed out some other the older players.But Arena needs to keep a strong core of older players together for devlopement reasons.Some of the younger players are simply not ready or experienced enough to led the Nats. That's why i think USSF should try to set up as many international matches as possible before qualifying begins, therefore these younger players get the experience before stepping into a important qualifying match and making a critical mistake.
Sanneh had a stellar Cup and has really blossomed in the last two years, but counting on him to be an integral part of the team in 4 years and to be playing at his current level or higher may be hoping for too much. I think Sanneh and Berhalter could be veteran bench players for the backline, but there are so many names that need to see time in order to prove they can cut it, that I think Bruce might have to forego these two in the near future in order to rework what is essentially an empty backline. Some possibilities: Bocanegra Gibbs Suarez Barrett Petke Califf Stewart Pierce Cherundolo etc.. People will argue over a lot of these names, but finding real quality with any of these guys will simply take time.
Agree wholeheartedly. Bruce has more candidates than any US coach has ever had at this point, and relying on a National team schedule similar to years past ain't going to cut it. This year and next year should be very interesting.
Re: Re: Cleaning House - Rebuilding the Team. The U.S. has played a ton of international games in the last fifteen years. I can't tell how much the WC runup prior to 1994 contributes to the total, but prior to adding more historical data, the U.S. had one of the top two or three game totals in the Elo ratings.
The theory of permanent revolution--Trotsky coaches USMNT Funny thing. Back right after the WC, when Reyna was still making noises of taking several years off, there was a news story that had Donovan and other young players trying to talk him out of it. What do they know that the originator of this thread doesn't? That the point of building up traditions is to pass them on, rather than dumping them every four years? That youth learns best when used in an even mix with experience? That some of the geezers got game? The players based in europe will miss many of the friendlies, and some of the tournament games of the next two years. There will be many chances for new players, without a need for purges. My guess is that Arena will have a few camps with mostly new players, just to sort them out, but will make the youngsters earn their places against the vets in later camps and in friendlies. And the youngsters will be all the better for it.
Interesting that you put Jovan in with the "old" players. He's just 26, just 6 or so months older than Mathis and a year older than Wolff and he finally looks like he'll get significant club PT for the first time in quite a long time (ever?). As he's been the whipping boy around here for as long as I've been around, I hope he turns it around.
We always seem to end up with these sort of either or discussions when talking about youth vs experience. Really, it's silly since the best thing, and what Bruce will positively do, is to blend youth in with some more experienced players. Of course, I wouldn't want to rely on a lineup comprised solely of the old gaurd as defined on this thread, but I would be just as troubled at relying on a team comprised of nothing but young, comparitively inexperienced players. Expect half or more of our starting lineup in 2006 coming from the group that got a lot of time in 2002, bolstered by the best of the new crop.
Re: Re: Cleaning House - Rebuilding the Team. Yeah, Jovan isn't old. Just lousy. I hope we never see him on the Nats again. What a waste of valuable time.
I think that we should keep a player like Eddie Lewis around for a while as well. He's only 27 or 28 and unlike Kirovski, he's good.
The standard isn't who is younger, it is who is better. Goalkeepers--Can Cannon, Howard, Rimando and Brown will be better than Keller and Friedal within four years? No sweating here either way. Defenders--DC is trying to push Pope's game to a higher level: a vocal leader in the back line. All others beside Cherundolo and Vanney are done. Thank for your service--Agoos, Sanneh, Llamosa, Berhalter, Hejduk and Regis. Welcome new breeds of Sigi Schmid's 1999 U-20 defenders--Boca, Califf, Cherundolo, Perice, Garcia, Gibbs. Also Barret and Suarez. Midfielers--JOB and Mastronei will be the backbone on d-mids. Mulrooney and Vagenas can add the depth. Except the right midfielder, every position is full of promise. Attackers--Mathis, Donovan, Casey, Twellman, Buddle, Cunningham, Wolff, E. Johnson, Quaranta. We never have that many of depth.
I would think we will mostly see new blood over the next couple of years. Surely, somebody out there has the statistics on how many 1st caps were given out by Bruce the last time around. I don't see any reason that it will change much from that. From the list, I would hope to see Sanneh, Reyna, and Keller in the team. Even if they don't expect to see a lot of minutes.
I'll be happy if Bruce abandons his fixation on the "defensive midfielder" role. The rest will fall into place. The best thing to happen to him in WC2002 was not having one available. He had to play with his midfielders doing midfielders' jobs (contributing to both offense and defense) and he got excellent results. I believe this idea of the necessity of the American "defensive midfielder" (i.e. mess up the flow of the game, no real passing or dribbling skill required or even wanted) is a myth that can die a quiet death.
Ya know, I almost agree with Ghostie here. We don't need a Dunga-like player anymore. We do need players whose strength is defense (Maestroeni for example) but who can contribute to the attack in ways Armas and Williams couldn't. Sachin
In theory I agree with every word Ghosty has written above.. Unfortunately, until the United States can produce players who can play both ways consistently and effectively, we will continue to rely on "ballwinners" in the midfield.. For what it's worth, I thought Mastroeni played a hell of a defensive midfield during the World Cup.. Mastro was hardly if ever involved in any of our buildups to goals and basically stayed at home to do his job while Claudio and JOB could rome the field.. That sounds pretty much like a prototypical defensive midfielder to me.. I do agree thought that the days of Richie Williams and Chris Armas are quickly passing by.. As Bruce stated during the WC, "it's a young mans game now" and we have a pretty decent bumper crop of young professionals in the pipeline to help out in midfield..
Hey,don't blame America for the destroyer d-mid concept.Remember,Nobby Stiles won a World Cup. Reyna will be taking some time away from International ball,but may or may not be a contributor in WCQ.Be very sure,though,that he will get the shot to resume his place in the side. Keller will still be on the list.Keepers have a longer shelf life-must be the warm shirt keeps 'em fresher.. Agree on the need to find international level defenders.
What I find hilarious is how people's opinions change on players. Sanneh had a brilliant cup, and now he is considered one of the better players on the US nats. Very few people could honestly say that in the 4 years going to this past world cup, he wasn't one of the worst players on the team day in day out. Same exact thing for Lewis. Lewis was an absolute abomination against Honduras. That elbow was the absolute stupidest thing in the history of the world. He comes back, serves up one cross, and is already considered "good". Get out of here.
Mastroeni to Sanneh, cross to McBride, 3rd US goal vs Portugal. Mastroeni has the position locked up as tight as Armas did prior to his injury. His maturation in midfield in Colorado will be important, especially if Carlos Valderrama ever calls it a career. If that happens, Pablo will be called on even more for offense, which will only do him good on the International Level. Also, Mulrooney proved how valuable he was to the Quakes. I see him as the #1 backup to Pablo over the next 4 years. I see both Pablo and Mulrooney as significant upgrades from Armas and Williams.
In an ideal situation I think throughout qualifying and during the world cup, id like to see the same core players from WC 2002 playing, along with some of the new kids. I think we pretty much know Landon, DMB and JOB will be the core of the team, but it will be very intersting to see which newcomers get a shot, and also which vets decide to play, or get the chance to play such as Reyna, Sanneh...and even Pope (not sure of his age, anyone). I think it will be interesting, the US has never had this much talent, although I would not say that it is even a great amount compared to other major countries.
i would think that the some of those guys will be back for sure, maybe not for nov 17 but... Tony Sanneh Frankie Hedjuk Jovan Kirovski Greg Berhalter Eddie Lewis