I only ask this after watching some of the games on TV today. I don't think ConFed Cup means enough to pull away 16 MLS ballers for about a month. This is a meaningless Tournament where everybody is sending lesser squads. Its basically an exibition that I bet scouts don't even worry about. Who cares if Landon Donovan and Bobby Convey make fools out 3rd Teamers from Brazil and Turkey? You know that we'll have at least 3 injuries that come in the range of groin pulls, tweaked ankles, etc. Did anyone notice the San Jose squad that was sent out there? Now consider that squad without Landon Donovan. You end up with a squad that would probably lose to A-League teams. The Fire lose thier best 2 best midfielders, and thei best defender. DC United lose the only player they have that has shown ANY kind of spark this season. Whats New England with Taylor Twellman? Gold Cup is one thing, your defending your turf and your territory. We have a World Cup, why the hell should there be a Confedarations Cup. I agree with Arsene Wenger and the rest of Europeans Club Soccer, Its just not worth the risk of playing 3 freakin games in 5 days
To be honest, I've never understood why countries don't take this tournament more seriously. It's an important & prestigious tournament IMHO. We're talking about the six confederation champions (as well as, two invited teams) playing each other for a trophy. Call me crazy but I'd consider this a mini-WC tournament. Plus, it's not as if it's played EVERY year, only every TWO years. These kind of tournaments can only HELP our soccer development in the US & should not be taken lightly. Personally, I'm looking forward to the Confed Cup & hope the USMNT does VERY well (which I think we will).
It is a good chance to let the young guys like Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Martino, Convey, and Twellman play against quality opposition. They are not gaining a great amount of experience or getting any better by beating up on Concacaf minnows in the Gold Cup.
Not to mention the results of Confederation Cup matches count towards FIFA rankings, just as much as continental tournaments iirc. As meaningless and arbitrary as FIFA rankings seem, they do help determine seeds at the World Cup. Nothing to scoff at. If anything, it's a rare chance for USA to play meaningful matches against South American and European teams.
Brazil's third teamers? Did you look at that roster? Brazil could probably put out 3 or 4 teams of world class players...
but it isn't important or prestigious, which is why it isn't taken seriously. but there are other important tournaments held every two years. There just isn't a need for an extra tournament, be it this or a WCC, to fill in the summer break. Have too many tournaments and it'd devalue the world cup and continental championships.
this Brazil team is probably a little bit better than the team that beat us last time before the 2002 WC
This tournament is designed to showcase talent from smaller confederations like Concacaf, Africa, Asia and Oceana in between World Cups. Soccer midgets like the US should be the best supporters of this kind of tournaments and should embrace it. People in Europe and South America are just being snobbish as usual. I hope the US gets invited to Copa America as well and accept it this time. It can only develop soccer interest and talent in this country. The clubs going to the Confed Cup are very good and if the US wins it, I'd be celebrating like crazy!
Its beenplayed at the wrong time of the year. I know the World Cup is about the same time but the importance of the World Cup makes it different. For MLS teams it is not the big a deal. You can lose quite a few games in MLS and still make the playoffs. What has to be a concern to MLS coaches is that The Gold Cup comes in Aug so you are talking about another serious disruption .I think only one of these Cups should be played in the same year.
The USA should be supoprting this tournament solidly. The people that think the experience of an extra month of MLS could at all compete with the experience of going to this tournament just don't see the big picture. Especially in the MLS where you play every team, I don't know...10 times a season?!? I think that if you're a 3rd year player, and you're lining up against Ethecheverry for the 20th time, you've just about learned what you're going to from that specific player. However, at a tournament like this, you will always get competition of more quality that there is in MLS or what most of our European players see on a regular basis. Playing with the national team as often as possible is a good thing in my opinion as I've constantly witnessed teams with good programs that build chemistry outperform those that do not. It is true that most countries do not bring their strongest possible teams. But honestly, we're arrogant to think our A- team can run circles around anyone's B+ team. Some teams are going to send their scrubs, like Brazil did in 2001 and Germany did in 1999. But the rest of the teams had a very good side on the field. Even a team that consists of only 5 players that start in the big European leagues give us great experience. Also, there is the experience the atmopshere brings us. Yes, we get this durign qualifying, but playnig an entire tournament in that location is much different than flying in the night before, and getting out as soon as possible as we do for our difficult matches in CONCACAF. Yes, the countries whose top players play in the leagues that start their pre-season in August and finish their seasons in June have something to complain about for rest, etc. The fact is they are too damned selfish to give the players a true off-season and they sure don't want anyone else interfering with their possiblity to make more money. It's club vs. country. And of course the sad part is that even though international football just doesn't make as much money as club football, regardless of its popularity. So fine, rest those players that go far in the cups and that truly need it. Or (gasp), find a way to rest a few of your top players during the regular season. Buying an international caliber player gets you his enormous skills, and the tradeoff is that you must rest him and be prepared for him to be out of the side on international duty from time to time. Maybe if you're a European or South American team, you get to see your country play against top quality opposition as often as you like. But from just a fan standpoint, what do we do in the USA? Aside from the World Cup, and friendlies that have absolutely no guarantee of getting a good roster or high level of passion for competing, we get to wait every 4 years to see our team take on someone from anywhere but CONCACAF. Invitations to the Copa America will probably never be guaranteed. I like to see our boys playing together as often as possible and the benefits for the USA far otuweigh any negatives. Just wait until Europe finds a way to kill this tournament. We'll be stuck playing the same 10 teams that will soon be far below our level of skill, that the only question will be whether or not we beat Mexico. Never once having a chance to beat another team in serious competition outside of the WC.
but doesn't this tournament lose its luster when even our own coach isn't sure why we play it? I'm not talking about a hypothetical case where we SHOULD be taking it seriously. But the reality of it. And the reality of it is that we are playing 3 games in 5 days. I don't know how any team can lay well in those conditions. By the 3rd game, teams will be exhausted and not playing upto standard, making the games practically meaningless. Its one thing when the tournament is properly organized and teams actually bring their good players. We're not even bringing out top 3 players. Think about it in terms of risk/benefits. Risk: seriously exhausting your players, in such a case the risk of injury is MUCH greater. MLS squads starting to come into form, but losing their top players for a month. We like to think that this is a league on par with European leagues. Well in reality its the USSF's Bitch. If ConFed Cup was ni October, and England was in the tournament, do you think you'd see the best English players getting pulled out of the EPL to play in the tournament? Benfits: If we do well, it'll create a buzz with our own media. The rather slim chance that one of our players does well enough to attract a Euro Offer (if it didn't happen after World Cup, why would it happen now?) The experience our players get from playing 3 "Name" Teams. Even though only Turkey will be able to field a fresh squad.
European teams did make offers for our players. The teams did not come to a final price or MLS priced them too high. Beasley and McBride come to mind.
the point you've missed is that those clubs have given their players an off-season, but this tournament has taken it away from them. Are you really suggesting that England (or any other country for that matter) should have cut it's season short so that the 20 or so English based players playing in the tournament can have a bit more of a rest? Maybe because the MLS season is so short and players get almost half a year off, there is less appreciation of how full the football calendar is in much of the world, which is the main reason why there is resistance to new tournaments being created. Saying that, I'm sure it will be a good experience for the US team, but I don't expect to see the citizens of the winning nation dancing in the streets in celebration.
The Confed Cup is a good tournament for the United States because it gives our players experience. We have a lot of guys playing in this who didn't play in a World Cup, and this is valuble to them because they get a taste of international soccer that isn't just a friendly.
I sure as heck would rather see US v Brazil,Turkey,and Cameroon(assuming we get to see it) than Colorado v Dallas, or any other MLS game,or even US v El Salvador or anybody else in the "more meaningful" Gold Cup. There is something to be said for entertaining the soccer fans. If other countries don't take it serious, good, it will give them an excuse when we beat them!
Agree Plus only 2 MLS teams don't make the playoffs....I'd like to think that at the end of the season, the 2 least capable teams will be left out regardless of whether some players miss 6-8 games in each club This US team we are sending is at best our B team, which will give young players the experience of what is like to play tough competitive teams (Brazil is tough and so is Turkey, regardless of what team they send)
B Team or available team Why is this our B team? McBride's wife is expecting. Friedel is worn out. Keller is post elbow surgery. Reyna is rehabilitating. O'Brien has been injured, again. Except for Pope, who was injured last night and may be replaced by alternate Garcia, this is our A team! These are the guys we have to rely on. There are probably no better players to depend on. The Confederations Cup is a great way of testing our USMNT period!
Re: B Team or available team You just proved the point why this isn't an A team. We are missing Friedel, O'Brien, Reyna, and McBride. Those are four of our best players, and all are starters. They are significant losses. Without all four of them, this can't be an A team. This is a very good team, but not an A team.
Re: Re: B Team or available team I'd have to agree with the previous post. This is our current A side, save the keeper, which is very adequetely replaced by Howard, our very near-future 1st choice keeper. The others are missing through injury or new papa-hood, and if we had a qualifier tomorrow, this would likely be the squad we'd line up with.
As a fan of US soccer, I'm glad we have the chance to play in this tourny. As mentioned before, it gives us to chance to play some better teams in an atmosphere that is above friendly-level. While above a friendly level, I'd still be more concerned with our performance and level of play than results. The World Cup, European Championships and Copa America are all more glamourous than the Confed Cup. Unfortunately the US can't play in Euro whatever and an invite is up in the air for Copa America. We take our opportunities for competitive matches when we can get them (with the MLS season so short), but as other countries are in different situations, don't expect the same level of commitment or attention toward the tournament.
I think for many people, the big picture is that MLS should not have to sacrifice endlessly for the development of the USMNT. MLS really hurts its credibility when it has teams that play with a bunch of rookies. The quality of the SJ team was bad enough this past weekend. I don't even want to guess what it would be like when LD and some other players are also absent.
MLS would not have gained any respect had the national team not done so well in Japorea. Little international tournies like the ConCup is going to help our younger players to grow and that is going to help at the next World Cup. If we go one better with MLS players or players developed here at the next WC, then the league will gain that much more respect.....
I think there has to be a fine balance. Given how thin the rosters for a typical MLS is, I think we are getting very close to (if not already over the edge) sacrificing MLS too much for the development of the USMNT.
This is an important point that supports the importance of the Confederations Cup. I think what is equally important, that has been left out of the post for this trend, is the fact that these are meaningful matches in EUROPE. The fact that this is not in our backyard means an extra bonus to our players gaining experience. Of course European and South American teams are not going to be thrilled about the experience.....they already play in Europe everyday with their club teams. But for us every time we go to Europe and play a game it's meaningful, because for us it's a new experience everytime. Was I the only one who was thrilled at the fact that the U.S. had a fantastic warm-up line-up before WC '02? Germany in Germany....Italy in Italy.....Ireland in Ireland. I honestly believe that that experience against quality opponents in their backyards proved to be very valuable in the WC. Any E Ways thats my eight cents. The first two were free. Emiliano -Go U.S.
If it was just prior or just after the MLS season, I think everyone would be for it. There really wouldn't be a downside. The fact it falls smack dab in the middle of the MLS season - to be followed quickly by a friendly agaisnt Paraguay and then the Gold Cup - leaves a lot of people feeling ambiguous about it, and rightly so. It shows how the world/FIFA truly needs a global calendar, however impossible that would be to pull off.