Everyone's responses seem to imply that Landon would miss a match for the USA, and I just don't think that would be the case. The cost to the USMNT wouldn't be that they would be without landon, only that he might be : a) jet lagged b) a little tired c) possibly injured, but that could happen anywhere, including practice for the USMNT. It wouldn't take Landon out of Thursday's semifinal unless he walks back to the east coast.
Not assigning blame. Just saying that Bruce has been outspoken about not liking the scheduling of games while the national team plays. This case might just be one of those unavoidable conflicts, but still, Bruce will keep Donovan make his point.
However, if US Soccer decided to cast that logic completely aside, there'd be no penalty for it. Yes, but had we played in the last Copa America and done well, we'd have a good shot to be seeded in this WC, so there might have been some benefit. At the same time, it is true that the Copa has a few problems of its own. Including one common problem: both tournaments are played once every two years, where they should be played once every four. (Combining the two of them, as voros has suggested, and forcing the minnows to qualify for it would probably be a good idea as well.)
We once came in third place in that tournament, and we're a better team than that today, so it's possible.
Perhaps this is Landon's decision. Or does it matter what he wants? Maybe the players don't think of the Gold Cup as a worthless trophy like you guys seem to.
While I agree with the thought, you still run into the problem that this was true of a number of players missing from their teams on the 4th of July weekend (Mastroeni, Armas, Pope, etc.) and they weren't allowed to return to their teams for league matches, so why should Landon be allowed to return for a friendly?
I think we more or less have looked at these games as glorified friendlies. However, if we played Mexico in the final, that would be a rivalry game that technically 'counts for something' (though, what do you get for being 'North American Champions' really?) so I have to believe they'd play that one pretty fiercely.
You could argue that those clubs don't really have a beef, since this game doesn't count in the league standings, anyway. But of course, it counts on the bottom line, so you could make a beef there.
So, subbing in Wolff, Donovan, and O'Brien late in the game against cuba to get a spark when he could have subbed in more scrubs proves that the Gold Cup is just a testing ground? Sure it's partly a testing ground, but he also obviously wants to WIN these games.
Shouldn't we treat our own tournament seriously though? Everytime someone mentions a tournament other than the WC and the Euro it gets poo poo'd as a contest that doesn't matter. As a nation that is trying to grow a soccer culture, it might be nice to see us take most tournaments seriously and participate in as many as possible.
where the US team will play the quarter final if in CA so why not ?! but if in eastcoast it's impossible for him to fly accrooss the country to play friendly.
every soccer player wants to play against world stars like beckham, but how about donovan? it seems to me he doesn't care...
I don't get why a striker that never scores get so much playing time. I just dont get it. When was the last time Wollf actually scored in a National Team jersey?
he knows he gets to play against them and others like them next summer in games that actually mean something
And that's why I said, its not like he doesn't want to win. But, are you telling me the US is so weak that it can't face Jamaica without LD? LD is in the same position as Claudio Reyna - Bruce doesn't need to use Reyna or LD in a friendly to know what they bring to the team. If winning were really that important to Bruce, why don't we have our whole first team in? Look, I like and approve of what Bruce is doing with this cup - its the best way to get USMNT ready for the big stage. All I am saying is that playing LD is not an essential part of what he's trying to do now.
Because releasing a player for a friendly does not undermine the integrity of the competition in the league. (And don't forget Bruce DID release Matt Reis to play for NE but did not release Landon to play for LAG in the very same game.) I assume that basically Bruce respects the integrity of the competition in league play and (with this one obvious exception) did not want to be seen as playing favorites or putting his thumb on the scale in favor of one team or another. Letting LD go for the RM game impacts no other MLS club adversely, and if you subscribe to the theory that the RM game is a "test" of the league's strength, then arguably all MLS clubs profit from having LD play in the RM game.
But again, even if he released Landon, he'd still have him for Saturday's match against Jamaica and for Thursday's semi-final against CR/HON
The problem with the Gold Cup is timing. Having the Gold Cup amidst WCQ is just pure stupid and it completely devalues the competition. Personally the Gold Cup blows. You want an example. US v Costa Rica in Salt Lake blew that attrocious affair in Foxoro the other night completely out of the water.
I know in times past there have been some conflicts with the use of LD's time and he's basically said, "I'll go where they tell me to go." So I kind of doubt it's his decision. And from the article, it appears that U.S. Soccer is not the least bit interested in having Landon fly back and forth across the country in between games. It's been obvious in this tournament that the team lacks a lot when he (and Beasley) are not on the field. I'm assuming they just value him too much to risk the extra wear and tear. But as someone pointed out, he wouldn't actually be missing any games and perhaps he could just be used for a half in either game. It would have been fun to see him get reacquainted with Figo , but I'm gonna enjoy the game anyway. Glad it's on TV.
ok ok.. How about one other tournament that we take seriously between World Cups. I would be happy with one at this point.