Davies at Sochaux 2: Hang in there, Charlie

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/05/13/davies.blamesochaux.ap/index.html

I wonder if it's actually true that Charlie was evaluated by a US trainer in person.

Wahl also tweets this per our discussion:

Davies is understandably emotional. But fact remains that Sochaux could not have prevented US from calling him into pre-WC camp.

Is that what Bob said?

 

I think they couldn't have kept him off the 30 man roster, but I don't think they are obligated to let him go before June 1.

 

Ask John O'Brien

 

From Goff:

"FIFA rules stipulate that, even if matches remain on the calendar after May 16, clubs must release players to their national teams. (The exception is the UEFA Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich on May 22.)"

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/05/us_players_weekend_schedule.html

 

When is his contract up at Sochaux?

 

What Bob said is the Sochaux medical staff did not "clear" him to play. That doesn't necessarily mean they said, "We refuse to release this player." It could be as simple as, "We do not think this player would be in condition to play."

I'm kind of starting to think that many of you are focusing way too much on this Davies situation, overanalyzing the few scraps of information that are out there, parsing everything way more than it needs to be parsed. And you're doing it at the expense of enjoying the run-up to the World Cup.

The truth is, everyone should have been PREPARED for this. The default mindset for the past nine months should always have been "Davies won't be playing in the World Cup."

Believe me -- I'd have loved a good ending to this story as much as anyone. I felt personally shaken up for quite a while after the accident. I thought Davies was a highly valuable asset to our team, with just the right kind of personality/persona that was good for U.S. soccer's image. And if nothing else, Davies' inclusion would have made for an incredible comeback story during our World Cup run, helping generate even more media buzz around the team. It would have been good for the sport here.

But sometimes stuff is just... stuff. Sometimes the simple, harsh reality is just that. Frantically turning over every stone as if there's a dark conspiracy waiting to be found underneath, dissecting the noun-verb agreement of every quote as if the Real Truth™ can be divined from it -- it doesn't do anyone any good. And worst of all, it risks growing into a thorny public distraction for our team as we head into the big bizness we've all been awaiting for four years.

It's time to move on. It's time to set our sights on following the rest of the Charlie Davies story after the World Cup.

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-...eam-not-medically-clearing-him?cc=5901&ver=us

davies calls out his club for not allowing him to play. clearly they had a huge hand in this. it sounds like the president is the one who got in the way...i'm not sure if i agree with charlie doing this but i'm glad the truth (his truth) is out.

 

I didn't see anything in the rules on whether a player is considered released if the season is over, but maybe that is the case.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/aff...8/97/regulationsstatusandtransfer_en_1210.pdf

From Annex 1 Section 1...

4. Players must also be released for the period of preparation before the match,
which is laid down as follows:
...
e) the final competition of an international tournament: 14 days before
the first match in the competition.

If a player does not resume duty with his club by the deadline stipulated in
this article, the next time the player is called up by his association, the period of
release shall be shortened as follows:
...
c) the final competition of an international tournament: ten days.

 

Well, I feel vindicated, since I've been saying all of this since Monday. Here's another article on the issue:

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-davies-sochaux

As Wahl said--and I've been saying--this was an illegal move on Sochaux's part. I really believe that CD9 has been shafted by his club. Hopefully, he slips in the back door as an injury alternate.

 

The spread of this story demands either a response from USSF or Sochaux within the next few days.

 

That and I think the US probably agrees with the assessment - CD is not fit enough, will not be fit enough, or there is too great a risk of coming back so early to Sochaux, to Charlie, to the USNT.

 

Has anyone read anything about the U.S. physio's or Hash's assessment of Charlie?

I'm sure that played at least as large a part in the decision as the response from Sochaux. Yes Sochaux refused to clear him medically. But, was the U.S. assessment negative enough to make any effort to bring Charlie along not worth it?

Just seems like the U.S. assessment would be more important to Bob than Sochaux's, ultimately speaking.

 

Here lies my problem with how Bob handled this. If he did not feel CD was fit based upon the medical evidence, then he should have just said that in his view Charlie is not fit and left it at that. Why even mention Sochaux? By even alluding to this idea that the decision was not entirely his own he set up this club v. country controversy that will only serve as a distraction and does no favors to either Charlie or the team. To me, this is a failure in leadership.

 

Official statement from Sochaux

http://www.fcsochaux.fr/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1570&Itemid=106

 

Over thinking it.


Check out the tweets that Goff gave on the situation before it turned into this whole 'conspiracy theory'. ALl tweets from the day of, may 11th.

2:13pm: "Davies physically not ready, Bradley says. No Adu either. Johnson, Buddle, Gomez are on list"

3:16pm: "Bradley never said Davies was going to be in camp. Even two weeks ago, he said he wasn't sure if he would make it back in time "

3:34pm: "USSF says it could've made an issue with Sochaux to make Davies available, but after own evaluations of him, decided not to pursue it "

4:13pm: "Sochaux says Davies not ready. USSF medical staff says Davies not ready. Fan disappointment understandable but to blame Bradley is ludicrous"

It doesnt sound like an issue, Goff stated USA were going to pursue to get davies once they found out that they werent going to release him, maybe a week or 2 ago, and probably sent someone to see if he indeed is ready yet, which he probably isnt (although he thinks he is). I understand as that seems the case.

 

link broken, statement is

Charlie Davies continued, since his car accident, his long way of rehabilitation. Since April 22 he trains with his team mates on the pitch during training sessions in order to gain progression in his rehabilitation. He hasn't played a single match so far.

The U.S squad, with whom FC Sochaux-Montbéliard is in regular contact after Charlie Davies' accident, has been informed that the latter will be in a stoppage of work situation until June 24.

A member of the USSF, the United States Soccer Federation, came to Montbéliard at the end of the month April in order to verify in person the condition of the player before the decision has been taken not to select Charlie Davies for the next World Cup. A decision only to be made by the USSF

http://www.fcsochaux.fr/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1570&Itemid=106

It almost does not matter what the 'truth' is behind the situation...Charlie feels it was due to the efforts of the Sochaux President, there will be a difficult relationship between the club and Charlie as long as the President is around...or at least for quite awhile.

Perhaps more fuel for CD's inner fire. After all, anger is an energy.

One factor I've been wondering about...from all the reporting on Lance Armstrong over the years I get the impression that the French have a very different idea about the ability of individuals to overcome serious health issues, especially among athletes...for Armstrong that led to the belief among many that it is impossible for an individual to survive cancer and return to elite status without being completely doped up. The attitude of an Americant, not an AmeriCAN.

It may be that the Sochaux President just does not believe it was possible for CD to return in this timeframe...after all if you go back to the original pronouncment of the club, it was never, "we'll see how things work out and help Charlie as much as we can" (which they have done I think - helping Charlie as much as they can) it was "we're terribly sorry that Charlie's World Cup dream has ended" or something to that effect. Sochaux may never have considered it possible that he would play.

 

You weren't even a little bit optimistic over his tweets (full training, etc.)?

But you're right. It's funny how much negativity there is here when we have two guys who didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making the team cannot stop scoring goals right now, and if either one ends up making an impact in June that will be an absolute fairytale. There is some real potential there.

Ha! Which one, though. The 2006 JOB that effectively ended his career that summer, or the 2002 one that had a half of year of health his entire career and managed to time it right for a World Cup *and* Champions League quarterfinal run?

 

Well, more importantly, the president basically campaigned against Charlie being called up.

I think even if Charlie wasn't assessed as fully fit by the US training staff, that he still would have been called up because of his rapid progress. If he continued at such a rapid pace, I don't think its out of the question that he would get back his fitness in time for the World Cup.

 

I love Charlie Davies but he needs to shut his cake-hole and man-up and take responsibility for this situation.

The reason he isn't going to the World Cup is because he broke curfew to go clubbing and got in a car late at night with a fellow clubber behind the wheel.

There are consequences for our actions. He broke curfew and he got in a tragic car accident and the recovery from that accident is taking too long to allow him to participate in the WC.

Davies dedication to his rehab has been admirable and his desire to play for the US is commendable.

But his situation is self-inflicted. Period. Lashing out at your bosses for making tough calls you don't agree with doesn't change that and it doesn't improve his situation going forward.

 

Just to make sure that the circles are complete.

Sochaux's medical staff cleared Davies for practice in early April and he has been practicing with the full squad - i.e., an actual soccer practice - since mid-April.

If the US "medical staff" believes that Davies isn't ready to practice now, then they must believe that either :

a) the US medical standards are higher than the French

or

b) Davies has gotten worse in his three weeks of practice.

Since neither is likely, I see no reason why Davies would not be allowed to practice with the US in Princeton at least at the same pace as he has been practicing with Sochaux.

If the above is true, the following are likely to be true as well.

1) Sochaux doesn't mind him practicing but doesn't want him exposed at this stage to a competitive match.

2) Bob Bradley doesn't want to make allowances for a player who is at a less than a top shape.

Thus, this comes down to being a pure coaching decision.

If so, Bob used the excuse of Charlie's club's insistence - an insistence they are back pedaling on already - instead of informing the player directly and giving his personal reasons for not inviting him into camp.

The so-called soccer media accepted the PR release by the USSF without delving into it further.

Davies's radio interview shed the light on the situation and it was the French radio hosts who got to the story and not the US "soccer media".

The French sport talk show hosts, in no way beholden to the USSF or Sochaux, simply asked Charlie questions that any fan of the club, the player in question and the USMNT should have wanted asked.

Instead, the US media bought the USSF bullshit.

And the French media did not.

This can certainly be the case and I explained it as a generic coaching decision above.

However, this is not what either Bradley, the USSF or anyone in the media said or inferred.

If Charlie's curfew violation last October is part of the equation, the media dropped the ball on that too.

 

Well, sure, to a degree. But I also tried to be honest about it with myself. I'm not gonna try to paint myself as some noble clear-eyed realist or whatever, but I guess I'm enough of a natural pessimist that I wasn't banking on anything, and was prepared for the worst.

What I also knew is that no matter WHAT happened -- whether he was included or not -- we almost certainly were not going to be getting the sharp, dazzling, slay-the-world Charlie Davies of the Confed Cup. At best, I figured we'd get a decent player with some emotional momentum on his side.

So I guess my expectations were always tempered to some extent.

 

Show me someone who's said he's ready to step into a competitive match in the next month?

I suppose the US doctors who examined him have "ulterior" motives too?

They are concerned about having a potentially important part of their football club's future in playing condition. Is that questionable behavior or just good business sense?

Whatever that means - CD does not have the fitness AT THIS MOMENT to be a contributing player in WC 2010 - what's so hard to understand about that?

Irrelevant

So run him out there, tear up his recently torn up body and buy the "comeback" video!

Plenty of people know, none of whom you seem to want to give any credit to.

At this level, football isn't a game of chance!

 

SFS's conclusion that it's bob bradley's and USSF's fault is SHOCKING!!!

Didn't see that one coming

 

If he's looking for a way to burn bridges, he's doing a pretty good job of it with petty declarations like that, sorry Charlie.