http://www.fifa.com/en/display/article,53707.html or http://64.7.209.80/en/display/article,53707.html Bruce Arena speaks to FIFA.com about "the past, present, and bright future ahead for his up-and-coming Americans on the world scene."
Fifa: Have you had the opportunity to see young 13-year-old American football prodigy Freddy Adu play? Bruce: Yes I have. And I believe he is a very good player for his age.
Noticed that he mentioned Quaranta as being considered for the National team along with Convey (that we knew). This is a first for me I didn't know that Quaranta was even on The Bruce's radar right now. I would have seem to think that Quaranta would have had to be more of a dominant player in MLS. Anyone know if Tino has been called into camp to practice with the nats at least?
The only players that I can think of that can play their way onto the Sr team through MLS would be Edson Buddle and Santino Quaranta.
Bruce's radar screen is pretty far reaching. It includes Freddy, and might even include you and me. well maybe not me.
They are installing a "new look" at FIFA.com. It's been up and down throughout the day (at some point, one of the links was working, then the other, then both, then neither). Hopefully it'll be up for good soon.
Any youth national team has to be on the radar of the senior team. Tino has been pretty dominate in MLS, unforunately he missed most of last year with injuries.
I believe 'Tino and Buddle are about the same size, if we could pair them up top that could pose some problems if we played any teams with smallish backlines. I'm not calling for it, I think the Buddle-Donavon pairing is what it will be for the next few years, but its something to think about.
You have a pretty liberal definition of "dominate." He hasn't exactly set the league on fire in his two years even before he got hurt. He didn't look all that sharp at the U-17 Championships either.
Well dominate may have been a bit strong. Considering the following He was injuried at the world championship. Edson Buddle's stats for the last 2 years including this season 2003 GP 2 Goals 1 Assists 0 Points 2 2002 GP 21 Goals 9 Assists 5 Points 23 2001 GP 17 Goals 3 assists 2 Points 8 Total points per game 0.825 Tino 2003 GP 1 Goals 1 Assists 0 Points 2 2002 GP 11 Goals 3 Assists 4 Points 10 2001 GP 16 Goals 5 Assists 1 Points 11 Total points per game 0.821 If Buddle is ready for the National team, so is Tino. It shouldn't be a surprise if Tino gets called in, thats the point.
I think that the "new" faces that we will see are from the European front. The MLS guys had their fair share of offseason freindlies.
I guess it depends on what is meant by "new" faces. If by "new" they mean guys who weren't on the World Cup roster, we'll likely see some of those from MLS... probably more than from abroad. I'd think Bocanegra is nearing a lock for the Confed Cup. A guy like Howard probably gets to go too. Depending on what happens between now and then, guys like Cunningham, Convey, Buddle, Twellman, Califf, Victorine, or Garcia could be on the Confed Cup roster. But, sure, Euro-based US guys who weren't on the World Cup squad (Barrett, Vanney - due to injury, Kirovski) may get added too. Still, most of our Euro-based guys who might get a call for the Confed Cup were on the World Cup roster.
Someone point me to where I can learn about all these new, young players plying their trade in euro land and who now will get their chance with the U.S. nats. Seeing as how all the MLSers have gotten a shot. What are you talking about, ojsgillt? WHAT R U TALKING about? There are next to NO young'ens on anyone's radar in Europe. Two, with potential, come to mind. Conor "Mr. crappy olympics" Casey and John "I play for the worst team in the English 2nd Division" Thorington. Johnny O. is hardly a newbie. Cherundolo is a bit more than a newbie. Who's that leave? At THIS moment, the future of our national team lies squarely in the MLS. That could change.
I disagree. You can go the Yanks abroad section and see who all is plying their trade abroad. Potential NT'ers as Yanks Abroad: JOB, Dolo, Sanneh, Reyna, Friedel, Keller, Hahnemahn (on fire lately), Cannon (not as the #2 where he is now), Casey, Gibbs, Kirovski, Barrett, Lewis, Vanney, Thorrington (big stretch) All of the above have a shot to impact either qualifying or the 2006 team. We also have a bunch of other players spread out across Europe. The truth is MLS should feed Europe more so MLS can develop more players at home. DMpee, Mathis, Donovan, Howard, Bocanegra will all be jumping to Europe hopefully. But that is a whole nother can of worms.
But this conversation was about "new" guys to the team who are playing in Europe and who might be on the Confederations Cup team. Speedcake broadened it to the "future" but I presume that was meant to not include veterans. Of course veterans like O'Brien, the keepers, etc., will be major players through the next WC cycle. As for "new" guys, seven of the fifteen you named were on the World Cup roster. Vanney would have been, but for a last-minute injury. Kirovski is anything but new. That leaves Hahnemann, Cannon, Casey, Gibbs, Barrett, and Thorrington as potential "new" guys. Cannon and Barrett are all-but MLS guys, having just left the States. In any case, what are the odds that more than one of those four non-keepers are on the Confed Cup roster? Barrett would seem to have a shot, but do any of the others have a legit chance to be called up in two months? In addition, maybe one or two of the keepers get the call if Arena doesn't want to take MLS guys away from their teams to ride the pine.
thank you. some people just can't wait to push that quote button and then put in something clever! Add: Barret, while promising I guess, is plying his trade in Denmark. A league that can NOT be argued to be very superior to our own. He is starting, and that puts him in the chase along with the best MLS based defenders. He gets no edge by simply being in Euroland. Casey: Not playing, showed a few good minutes last season. I can't justify calling in a talent like Casey, over one in MLS that is getting significant minutes. When he starts making SOME impact for his team he can be considered for a callup. Gibbs: How old is he, I know nothing about him, can't comment. The point is that compared to MLS based youth at THIS moment Europe based don't hold any clear advantage.
http://www.fifa.com/Service/MR_A/53537_E.html The "new look" that was up at FIFA.com part of yesterday still isn't up yet, but they've now posted the Arena interview on the "old look" site at the link above.
I actually understood your post. I think that you are just looking too pessimistically at the Yanks abroad. My point was there is a large group of players who have the shot to impact 2006 whether on the team or in qualifying. I didn't even mention Berhalter. I listed those players because things aren't bad in Europe even with younger players. In addition to the verteran possibilities for 2006 that I listed, there are also a series of players (I think about 90 strong) who are in the lower divisions of various European leagues some of which are young. Some of them are currently on the reserve sides at big clubs and the US U-? sides (Simek at Arsenal, Spector at ManU this summer e.g.) some are at lower division sides (Gooch at Metz, Gibbs at St. Pauli, e.g.). Some of them are even in more obscure leagues. The moral was there are about 90 Yanks abroad. Any of them can put together a couple of good seasons, get promoted up a division and have an impact on the USMNT.
That is truth. What isn't truth is that the next few friendlies THIS year are going to involve a bunch of youth playing in Europe. I completely agree though that in a year, maybe two, even three, when many of these kids are getting more playing time things will be looking brighter than ever. Right now, I mean for this summer, even for the rest of this year, MLS is going to be providing 75% of every roster Arena puts togethor.
He burst onto the seen in BL.1 last year with St. Pauli, who were relegated, and spent much of this season injured, but has reclaimed a starting spot the last few weeks. He is 22 I think, drafted by MLS, but signed with St. Pauli to try and prove himself in Germany. He is center back, though he played on the right a couple of times I think, I think people said he is similar in build and style to Pope on the YA forum last year, but I have never seen him play.