Just because it's been a while and because speculation is fun, let's take a look at the Yanks Abroad vs. the MLS-based Yanks. For the most part, I am only including players Bruce has called into camp over the last year. I am ignoring injuries for the moment. Yanks Abroad Friedel Vanney Bocanegra Onyewu Russell Beasley Reyna Mathis Cherundolo McBride Casey Subs: Berhalter, Lewis, Convey, Howard, Keller, O'Brien MLSers Walker Gibbs Pope Mastroeni Zavagnin Armas Stewart Donovan Hejduk Wolff Ching Subs: Johnson, Jones, Kirovski, Cannon
whats with the lineups? vanney is a left back, russel a right back, and why is dolo playing left mid? your back 4 should definitely be dolo-berhalter-boca-vanney. eddie lewis should be starting LM anyways if beasley is on the right. if you are ignoring injuries, JOB has to start. as for your mls team, why play with 3 at the back and have hejduk playing left midfield? it should be 4 at the back, gibbs playing lb, and hejduk playing rb.
Apologies, my left to right is screwed up. Did you not notice that all of the outside backs and mids were on the wrong side? Who would you have play RM for the Euros? I'm all for Hejduk at right back for the MLS, but only one of the other MLS mids that Bruce has brought in can play wide (Stewart).
Wow! With the loss of Boca, McBride, Mathis, and Beasley, our MLS team is looking a lot thinner these days . . . Beasley could play there, but of course, he's much better on the left. I think that West could also play right mid for the Euros, but IIRC, he's been playing as a forward lately.
I think once Donovan joins Beas & Co. in Europe, this game would be no contest, especially if O'Brien was healthy.
no Edddie Gaven, Taylor Twelman, Aleko Eskandarian,Jimmy Conrad, ?????? and i could ad some more ......and why have 3 defensive midfielders on the field at the same time ? you only need one....isn't Stewart done what has he done lately to deserve to start ? I belive in MLS'players we have some good capable players that could challange any team
I like the chances for this side... it should be VERY good on set pieces and on the counter! MLS ---------EJ--Ching ------LD-------Gaven ----Maestro--Mulrooney Sanneh--Pope--Gibbs--Albright ----------Cannon Subs: Forwards: Wolff, Martino Mid: Cobi (...probably not Earnie...) D-mid: Zavag, Armas D: Hejduk (we can always swap Maestro, Mulrooney to D if needed) Keeper: Walker ...and yes, I think Mulrooney is vastly underrated...
some how i just how this feeling KZ HAS to be in there over mulrooney, not sure what it is.... about beasley's goal......excellent first touch, glad to see him finish that well. PSV has some awesome fan support
barring everyone being healthy. MLS --------------------cannon hejduk---------pope--------marshall--------gibbs -------------------------KZ ------klein-------------donovan------------gaven -------------Ching--------------------Wolff subs- EJ ralston pablo walker buddle EUROS ---------------------------keller ----Dolo-----------berhalter--------bocanegra-------vanney ------------------reyna----------------JOB --------DMB---------------------------------------lewis ----------------------------------mathis ---------------mcbride subs- casey howard convey russell onyewu and yes i know i left friedel off but if he wants to retire, then ill do it for him.
I tried to play along but I couldn't actually think of an MLS team that could compete regularly with the YA team. Last year I would have predicted an MLS win...but a lot has changed. When LD goes back to Europe next month this won't even be a discussion.
You got to be joking. Have you seen the goal Casey scored against Wolfsburg? A beauty that Mathis couldn't even dream about.
1 goal in 8 appearances versus 1 goal in 4 appearances. BTW, mathis dribbled through 2 or 3 defenders to score his goal, immediately after subbing into the game, i really dont think youd see casey do that.
Go ahead and put LD in the Euro squad. This thread is now useless as MLS doesn't even compare...we can discuss this again in a year or two when Adu, Gaven, Szetela, and Marshall come into their own.
Seeing how thin our MLS squad is looking, with Donovan leaving and maybe Twellman following him, makes me think that eventually, at least nine of the eleven starters on our A-team (the team that we'd run out in a WC qualifier or in a WC match) will be playing in Europe. It's inevitable that most of our best players will move over there sooner or later, if only because the money in MLS doesn't compare. There will still be talented young up-and-coming players in MLS who will get minutes with the national team, MLS players on the bubble of the national team who will get minutes, and veterans in MLS who are a bit past their prime but will get minutes. But if you had to pick our best 11, my guess is that nearly all of them will be playing in Europe.
it is something to be proud off not long ago we had no players in Europes first division this says a lot about the state of our National team and soccer programs Europe is the place to be, if you can play there then you made it Look at the other countries S.America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe too, their National team players all play in Europes best leagues. I do not have the need or time to make a count but even the French Nat Team players all play outside of France, maybe even Holland there is nothing wrong with that, but we should be proud our country is producing good footbalers
Even on the national teams, there are players that play in the domestic leaague. Patrick evra, France's starting left back plies his trade in Monaco. Barthez plays for Marseille. Bouma is starting cb with heitinga and both play for PSV and Ajax repsectively. Sneijider and van de vaart play for Ajax. Despite this, I do understand what you are saying.These players are part of a very small few with the vast majority of the players on most national teams plying their trades in one of the 4 big leagues. It is definitelty a sign of progress for the US team and hopefully players like Gaven, Szetela, Marshall and Adu will make the jump soon.
I'm not saying it's the same. Of course french and dutch leagues are better than MLS. MLS is in it's what, 9th year of existence I believe. I was merely refuting the claim that all French and Dutch national team players all play outside their own leagues. This doesn't somehow mean that the US is better, but I was merely giving exemptions to the rule that all good players on European national teams play in one of the Big 4 leagues.
Of course if all the best American players leave before their 25th birthday, the league is only going to stay that way. I'd rather have most of them here, but I'd rather have a lot of things different about the way MLS has chosen to do things and since I don't have Anschutz's money...
i wouldnt want any of them here, mls is not a priority inmy mind, our USMNT players improving their skills is more important.