This midfield generation should have been benny's not mikey's i guess there is a good ole boy network to allow that to happen
Nagbe was bad the entire game. He literally fell down twice under little pressure in the attacking third and killed the movement. He didn't hold possession, didn't break up the play. Why was he on the field?
The other problem is that with Nagbe and Arriola last night, there was no defensive help for the fullbacks. The decisive T&T attacks before the match opened up in the 2nd half came down Nagbe and Villafana's side of the field. You can't expect a fullback to defend 1-v-1 for the entire game and come out unscathed unless he is one the best in the world, but a fullback is going to defend 1-v-1 if the US is only throwing out a combined total of 1 DM and box-to-box midfielder and the wingers don't defend.
Retires I love this game but running is hard. So I’m out!! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/IQ03oUpFuY— Benny Feilhaber (@b_feilhaber22) March 11, 2020
That first sentence says it all. The skill remains a long time, but the ability to get cover ground and beat kids to the ball fades all too soon.
That’s why I laugh at the people who don’t value athletic ability. All the know how and skill won’t work unless you have the minimum necessary speed and agility. Benny had a good run and should have been a bigger part of the USMNT after his SKC rebirth.
Fighting with your teammates and getting sent off immediately after getting a 2nd chance by a coach that hates you is technically doing something.
Yes, like few who have worn the U.S. jersey. Some long-range beauties too, that could really carve open a defense. For example: Argentina (at 2:45) Italy (at 0:30)
I've seen him in USA-Serbia in 2017, Bruce let him play for 20'. He changed the whole game immediately, made everybody on the team better. Didn't play after that AFAIR. And that's in 2017. In 2015 he was the best American player period.
This was a really frustrating player to be honest. We saw the talent in stretches. But his career in club football was a lot more "what ifs' than actual accomplishment. His European career was very uneven and was mostly a disappointment. And that's part of what kept him out of the USMNT compared to others. In his athletic prime (2010-2011 season), when he was 25, he was playing in the Danish 2nd division. There's always been this weird Bradley versus Feilhaber argument. I don't really know where that comes from. As if they couldn't have been a great partnership in their primes. Very different players. Its sort of an insider versus outsider issue, and there's a portion of USMNT fans that loves to be anti-establishment. There's been a long-standing rumor that Benny Feilhaber was a problem-maker in the USMNT locker room as a youngster. There was even a story of him getting into a fist fight with one of the golden children of the USMNT. [No, not Bradley] So there's always been this rumor that there was more to his exclusion from the USMNT than the coach's evaluation of his talent level. He was persona non grata for while in the locker room.
It had to be off field concerns. Vermes got his head and game right for a couple year stretch where he should have been a USMNT regular based on his play. I am a forgiving sort, especially because young men really do change their habits sometimes.
When he came back to MLS, a bunch of teams passed on him in the allocation order. Folks will remember that there were issues in New England with Benny. He did OK, but by the end he was basically a squad rotation player. He was sorta persona non grata again. They couldn't wait to get rid of him. Whatever Peter Vermes did in SKC to get his head straight...................worked wonders. Turned him into a league-MVP caliber player.
I remember there being stories about two separate incidents related to Feilhaber: 1. With Adu at a US or U-23 camp around 2008. 2. With Beckerman at one of the January camps with Klinsmann. Of course, Feilhaber fell out of the picture for awhile in 2008 (coincided with his club troubles), but he returned with a vengeance in 2009 and 2010.
There were supposedly those instances and others behind the scenes. THe Adu thing happened in 2008, but Feilhaber had his most caps with the USMNT in 2009. That one is talked about a lot, but I don't think it had a long-lasting effect. Mostly because Adu ceased being a USMNT option. Freddy was re-included in the 2011 Gold Cup squad, a team that Benny didn't make. It coincided with his weird tenure with the Revolution. In that 2011 Gold Cup team, Sacha Kljestan (then at Anderlecht, playing in the Champions League) was presumably picked over Benny. We had a nice little generation of central midfielders there. That 2008 U23 Olympic team featured Bradley, McCarty, Edu, Holden, Feilhaber, Kljestan, and Szetela (then at Brescia in Italy). It was almost as if Nowak couldn't decide between all of our central midfielders in that age group, so just took all of them!!!! Team of central midfielders!
This thread deserves more appreciation for Benny Feilhaber's career. In my mind, he was one of the more underrated, and criminally ignored, players in our pool from 2013-2017. Benny truly hit his prime from 2015-2016 and was an elite attacking midfielder in MLS those seasons -- a true #10 for a country that sorely lacked, and needed, one in the aftermath of Landon Donovan's retirement. There is an alternate universe in which Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan and Lee Nguyen (all of whom were elite #10s in MLS in and around the 2014-2017 timeframe) are USMNT regulars and key lynchpins of our attack during the 2018 qualification cycle, a cycle in which we routinely rolled out runner-style #8s ((Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Kellyn Acosta) or metronomes (Darlington Nagbe) in central midfield who weren't elite chance creators. This was also a time in which we struggled for creativity on the wings -- our attacking wing play from 2014-2016 was anemic as we largely relied on Alejandro Bedoya (a hard-working two-way mid who lacked the final ball or goal-scoring instinct), Graham Zusi (a serviceable crosser and two-way player), and Gyasi Zardes (who was a bit miscast as a winger). I often wonder how the fate of the USMNT would have been different through the entire 2018 cycle (from our disappointing 2015 Gold Cup through the failed 2018 WCQ campaign) had we infused more creativity in attacking midfield and utilized the in-form, prime-stage chance creators we already had - namely Feilhaber, Kljestan and Nguyen. I will also always appreciate Benny Feilhaber for the spark he brought to the USMNT from 2009-2010. He was a catalyst for our cinderella run to the 2009 Confederations Cup final, with a couple key assists and goals created during that magical run, and he was our go-to halftime sub in the 3 of 4 matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Benny had some ups and downs at the club level (struggling in 2008 at Derby County + some inconsistency at AGF Arhus and his early MLS days at New England), but he typically always showed up and delivered when given chances with the USMNT under Bob Bradley, and he developed into an elite #10 in the latter stage of his career with Sporting KC. I'll miss watching him play - one of the better final third passers we've ever had in our pool.
Thank you olephill2. I prefer the alternate universe squad for the 2014 cycle too. Beckerman found his way in though just past his prime. We should have made a bigger better deal of Benny, Lee Nguyen, Beckerman, Mastro - and then of course there's the Donovan debacle. What a harsh set-back, what a dark time we suffered after Bob.
Anyway, thank you Benny. You were true quality. A baller. Amazing and fun and you lifted the game when you stepped on the field. You were one of those rare guys (see above) who always looked better when the level was raised. Wish we could have seen more of you for the US, found your ceiling. Hope to see you in the booth and on the sidelines. Best of luck.
It's a great retirement note. Worth a read. And absolutely love the photo. Thank you, Benny! Will your remember your short pass combination play, outstanding vision and through ball passing in the attacking third, aggressiveness going into challenges when needed, the ability to hold possession and get out of trouble, and doing the work defensively. Baller.