Interesting, but with Clark signing in Germany we could very well see this: 2 strikers 1 paying in the EPL, 1 who knows (Altidore, Cooper? Davies? Findley? Ching?) 2 wide/attacking midfielders playing in the EPL (Dempsey, Donovan, Holden?) 2 holding/box to box midfielders playing in Germany (Bradley, Clark, Jones?) 2 outside backs playing in Germany/EPL (Cherundolo, Spector, Boca? Castillo?) 2 center backs playing in Italy/France/CCC (Onyewu, Demerit? Boca?) 1 keeper playing in the EPL (Howard, Guzan) I'm curious to see if the heavy influence of players playing in Germany and England will start to change the way the US team plays. Also this will be by far the most Eurocentric team to represent the US unless the European players end up injured. Right now I'm only seeing two starting positions as likely to be filled by MLS players (2nd forward, Donovan). Even that is only if Donovan doesn't want and get a transfer and because the preferred European starter got injured (Davies).
There is even a possibility if Davies recovers and Donovan extends his stay/gets a transfer that we will have no more than two or three MLS players on the final roster. Here is a fairly plausible World Cup roster: GK: Howard (England), Guzan (England), Hahnemann (England) DF: Cherundolo (Germany), Spector (England), Onyewu (Italy), Demerit (England), Marshall (MLS), Goodson (Norway), Bocanegra (France), Bornstein (MLS) MF: Donovan (England), Holden (England), Beasley (Scotland), Feilhaber (Denmark), Jones (Germany), Bradley (Germany), Clark (Germany), Edu (Scotland)/Torres (Mexico) FW: Dempsey (England), Davies (France), Altidore (England), ? (Casey, Ching, Cooper, Cunningham, Findley, Johnson?)
In my opinion Goodson Doesn't make the squad. Cherendolo goes. Beasley a long shot at this point. Dempsey takes his midfield spot. We go with Ching, Altidore and if Davies can't make it probably Casey. That is what I think will happen not what I want to happen. I still think Cooper has not gotten a fair shot at the Nats. The guy is quick and big and good with his feet for his size. But what the hell do I know.
Will the fact that so many of the players are plying their trade in England and Germany move the US towards playing an English or German or Gerglish style? I know that some people have stated that we play a similar style to England already.
I was only basing that roster off of Bradley's own lineup and roster preferences. Marshall and Goodson have been Bradley's second string CB's ever since Califf lost his place in the Midtjylland lineup. You could make a case for Conrad being level with him on the depth chart in Bradley's eyes, but since I was attempting to show a plausible roster with as few MLS players as possible the tie went to Goodson there. And Beasley was a first choice starter for Bradley for 2 and a half years this cycle. He was only dropped after the year and a half of club inactivity started to take a major toll on his play. Now that Beasley is playing again for Rangers, there's a decent possibility that he's heading to South Africa again.
And another thought. Why is it that the top US players seem to find their way to England for most every position except central midfielders. Those go to Germany.
strange topic... EPL, Germany, Spain, Italy... OK... but MLS-based players are in the one of the top 5 leagues in the world IMO
Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga, English Premiership, Spanish Liga, French Ligue 1. I'm curious to know which of those you believe the MLS is better than.
If MLS opens up its spending in the next decade I couldn't see why it couldn't make a claim toward being better than one of the Euro leagues. Their first step needs to be retaining all American players. Their next step is drawing stars from other areas of the world. Specifically signing young starlets. As for why our central midfielders often don't play in the EPL, its because most English teams closely develop their central players. Very rarely will you find an imported central player who did not come through the youth ranks of a English club . Midfielders are the quarterbacks of the pitch and in a box to box league like the EPL, coaches would rather take the one they know has their playing style stamped on him.
Bingo. There is a reason so many guys are in the UK, as well as guys like Bradley and Kljestan are likely to end up there one day. The US plays the same fast and physical style. Bundesliga play is much more similar than the styles of Serie A and La Liga. I guess maybe the Bundesliga is more technical . . . maybe? Because I'm sure Bob had some input into Mikey's move last summer and also suggested that Rico head to Germany as well. I guess Americans can go there to work on that weakness. ??? Well, Jermaine Jones is, uh, German. Michael Bradley is one, okay. Clark recently landed in Germany, partly from the suggestion of his national team coach. and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edu is with Rangers which is pretty close to an English team, Feilhaber won't be headed back to Germany, Torres won't be goint to the Bundesliga, Kljestan was being looked at by teams in the Eredivisie and the UK, and other guys like Beckerman and Mastro have stayed in MLS. 2 moves a pattern does not make.
mls will have to have significant increase in attendance to get the sort of money needed to pay for better talent... and with the current mls labor agreement in discussion, management doesn't want to break a model which has led to success... look at the world economy, ah, it's NOT a boom time, and when do boom days return?? who knows, when they do, then maybe excess funds find they're way to mls... give mls another 10 years, and we can revisit it... young american talent blooming is the future, then selling it to euros... will be that way for another 10-15 years
The MLS Champs would be average in the Costa Rican & Honduran leagues. We've had plenty of evidence throughout the years.
Not exactly. MLS teams have been very underwhelming in CONCACAF competition recently, but some clubs have not taken it very seriously. The roster system in MLS really limits the depth clubs can have and often they can't afford to play their A-squad. Also, the summer season is another variable. I think the better MLS clubs would be perennial championship contenders in the Central American leagues (although the difference in style of play is hard to take into account). But as for the USMNT, I think it can only be a good thing to have our players in as diverse a set of leagues as we do. When you think about it, we probably have the biggest range of club nationalities in the world with players in England, Germany, Mexico, the US, Scandinavia, and even Saudi Arabia now.
I would rank French, Dutch, Portuguese, Argentine, Brazilian, and Mexican first divisions clearly better than the MLS. International friendlies have shown the MLS on par with Colaship, J-League and Allsvenskan. No, the Turkish, Danish, Scottish, K-League, A-League and Greek leagues are not better than the MLS. The MLS is in the Top 15, but isn't even a top 10 league. This, however, is respectable enough.
I call BS. For one, MLS teams rarely take the CCC seriously. And two, let's see CD Olympia take on Columbus in a league game at Crew Stadium. And I've seen those same Costa Rican and Honduran leagues struggle against some mediocre USL teams in the CCC...So what does that tell me? While I think that teams like Saprissa and Alajuense would be giants in the MLS, on the whole the Costa Rican and Honduran leagues do not have the parity and the talent of the MLS as a whole.
Please no one else take the bait on this post. ^^^ Obvious trolling. You can't make a statement that dumb unless you're trolling.
Wow, really? We're in big trouble if we're dipping into the well deep enough for Beasley to be making the trip.
Ranking leagues in uefa is tricky enough as is. Most fans (and the coefficient system that uefa uses) would put the turkish, greek, danish, scottish and even norwegian league ahead of the allsvenskan. The trouble comes when you compare teams from the mid and lower part of their respective tables, teams who aren't playing in any continental tourney. And comparing any league to MLS, with its odd structure, is like apples and oranges. So while San Jose may be able to beat Denizlispor or Levadiakos, I would wager a lot of money that teams like Olympiacos and Fenerbahce, or even Aris and Trabzonspor, would beat Salt Lake a majority of the time. So I humbly submit that the team a player is on is probably more important then the league the team plays in. Of course the league the team plays in will determine how successful the team can be on the international stage. The champions of Moldova will not be winning the champions league any time soon. But if Stuart Holden were given the choice to go to either Burnley or say Spartak Moscow, I'd rather him choose the latter. At Spartak, he would be under more pressure to perform, he would be expected to be part of an attacking team, he would be surrounded by better players, and since Spartak qualified for uefa competition, he would likely play against teams with a variety of styles. We're fine with Edu and Beasley getting called up, but it would strike me as a bit worrisome if we started calling up Andy Dorman to the first team.
isn't spartak on it's winter break now....?? and they play thru the summer... regular playing time is the essence... you can be in a better league, but if you don't get regular minutes, then the extra money they make, really doesn't help making them more desireable for june 2010...
It was just a hypothetical choice. The point being is that just because player A is on team that plays in better league then the team player B is on doesn't mean that player A is a better player than player B, or even player A's team is better then player B's team. Bordeaux is a better team then Malaga, even though La Liga is better then Ligue 1. It just bugs me to see posters clamoring for every major talent the US has to go to the PL, even though there are teams in other leagues who would be better suited and have a need for that particular player.
agree, and the other concern is building a team, players who fit well together and have understanding... i think this is more addressed in team defense, where a guy like beasley can be very useful if you're trying to shut down some one on the wing...
Besiktas and Galatassaray would wipe their as_ with any MLS team. Turkish league is clearly better than MLS.