don't know about you, but i don't mind not having the euro's..... they add to the team no doubt, but the mls'ers will probably have better chemistry.... we still have jolley, who undoubtedly will get a shot as he develops chemistry with pope game in, game out.... i think martino should've been included.....if he becomes the next reyna....we're fine....and don't forget about ricardo clark, who, if you've seen him play, can certainly be groomed as a #10.... defense: pope, boca, jolley, garcia midfield: beasley, martino, donovan, clark forwards: mathis/mcbride that's pretty damn good imo.
i've no doubt we can qualify w/ an all mls team, but forget ever getting to the qfinals at a world cup.
i don't see how we could go forward without considering sanneh, reyna or o'brien. those 3 were all outstanding at the world cup... maybe sanneh and reyna won't be at the same level due to age, but to go forward without o'brien would be foolish. i liked howard, but friedel is better, so i keller in my opinion
I don't know. To qualify, you need to win your home matches, at least tie on the road. The team last night would have lost if that game was in Mexico, and also consider Mexico didn't have at least 3 of their best players (Borgetti, Torado, Marquez). I was impressed by Mexico. We may have gotten them at the WC, but they still have a deeper talent pool. JOB makes a huge difference in the mid field. Martino has ways to go until he can reproduce what JOB and Reyna can at that position. Clark hasn't even played a minute for the National team.
but we can get to the world cup even w/out beating mex. and it's early...i'd put $ on clark being on the '06 team.
Without the 3 points from Columbus we aren't at WC 02. You need points from Mexico. Maybe Clark will be on the 06 team, but its far too early to say. Is he going to be one the team that gets us to the Cup? 3 professionals games isn't all that many.
A little bit of Euro seasoning is great of course, but I'm absolutely comfortable with an all-MLS team. That Gold Cup team last year was largely MLS, and they were a real shot in the arm for our World Cup hopes. Bruce even acknowledged that the new guard was more confident. I think they played better ball - certainly more exciting to watch and worth the risk. Now I know some of you think Mike Clark is really good, but as a midfielder?
I can't speak for them but I'm pretty sure they're referring to Ricardo Clark, the rookie for the Metros.
I'm still not that comfortable with an all-MLS team either. In another 5 years or so, perhaps, but not yet.
I am comfortable with an all-MLS team, but I would be more comfortable with Reyna, O'Brien, Sanneh, and Friedel on the squad.
This question is like asking if the Netherlands could qualify with only players based in their domestic league? They could, but its not likely and if they did, they wouldn't go that far. I think we will see our younger players in Europe sooner rather than later. You figure Landon is gone once that deal keeping him here is over. Howard will be gone soon. Many preseason forecasts said that DMB will leave the MLS at the end of the season for Europe (wasn't there a deal in place before the market went to hell?) Also you have players like Spector, Kabysoon (sp?), Adu, Smieck, etc. who have or will sign contracts with Euro clubs and could play their entire carrers over there.
Hear, hear. No need to artificially limit our depth in the name of "chemistry." In my opinion, Reyna and O'Brien in particular among our European-based guys have an ability to CREATE chemistry, as does Kirovski, although he hasn't been able to show it much recently with the Nats. There's really no culture gap between O'Brien and Donovan, two Southern Cal boys who got an early shot overseas. It's just that one of them went overseas and came back because he preferred his opportunity over here. But Tim Donovan is still a Canadian traitor, and therefore not to be trusted unless/until Canada is eliminated from qualification for the World Cup.
The MLS side can probably do most of our work for us, but we'll need at least a few of the Euro guys to be competetive at the cup, and that will mean integrating them into the team. I think we could really get our heads handed to us at Confed too, depending on what kind of squads teams bring if we went all MLS. I'd be really interested to see what a similar lineup to the one that played against Mexico could do with just a few Euros slotted in, namely O'Brien and Reyna for Pablo and Armas and Cherundolo for Frankie. Heck, stick in Sanneh for Califf and use Big Brad and we're looking considerably stronger with... .........Friedel ..Sanneh Pope Boca Dolo...............Beasley ....Reyna O'Brien .........Mathis ...McBride Donovan I think it would be really hard to argue that MLS could field a team that could take out that combined squad.
Could we qualify with this team? F -- Thomas Clark (Air Force Academy), Matt Clark (Oklahoma Christian) MF -- Jason Clark (Augsburg College), Colin Clark (SMU), Ricardo Clark (MetroStars), Shane Clark (St. Edward's U.), John Clark (UMKC) D -- Jamie Clark (Minn. Thunder), Mike Clark (Crew), Haley Clark (Amarillo HS) GK -- Clark Talley (U. of Memphis -- Carey's little brother) Coach -- Bobby Clark (Notre Dame) Given all the talk about Ricardo Clark at right back you could also move him to D if you wanted a 4-4-2.
Friedel/Keller, O'Brien, and a healthy Reyna are at this point the only three Euros that really enhance the team. I do agree with the posters who pointed out, however, that if US soccer continues to progress, then several of these "all MLS" players should be in Europe in a couple of years. Not to mention some guys who will bypass MLS completely.
Re: Could we qualify with this team? Dunno. They'd probably struggle. But if Clark Kent is available...
Last time I looked neither did we. Reyna-O'brien-Sanneh. Wolff & Lewis weren't available either. BTW, that was Azteca, or a reasonable facsimile without the urine and concrete chunks. Kevin
And the pollution and the elevation. Mexico without Azteca is Bolivia without La Paz. P.S. You can add Friedel and/or Keller to that list.
We could probably (and will probably) get out of the first round of qualifiers with an all-MLS side. Maybe we bring in Friedel and O'Brien, the two indispensable Euro-based players right now IMO. Howard is good and will be a major contributor towrads '06, but right now Friedel may be the best keeper on the planet and we need him playing every meaningful match if at all possible. But we shouldn't have trouble getting past the likes of Belize and Netherlands Antilles with a predominantly MLS side. After the first round, we have to bring in the best team we can for every game until we clinch qualification, period. You don't mess around with the WC, and as we saw last time the pre-hex rounds can be more than a little tricky. As for the discussion about Ricardo Clark - he may have only played 3 matches, but he looks like a seasoned vet on the field. He may have made only one or 2 minor mistakes so far this year, and has demonstrated considerable skill and poise on the ball. Both Clark and Martino deserve a shot with the nats sooner rather than later. They can both contribute immediately.