The Coming ‘Golden Generation’ Will Not Accomplish What the 2002 Team Accomplished

Tim Ream has been a great player for us. But he will be 38 almost 39 in 2026. Someone should be able to step up and replace him over the next 2 years.

 

If he's still starting for us, we're in big trouble. Surely Richards and a partner will see us through. Ream can hang his head high after his 2022 performance.

 

From the outside, it can be very difficult to measure things like intelligence and leadership though. Looking at leadership and the 2002 team: Pope was a quiet leader. Reyna was the captain and had captained his club teams. His technical qualities slowed the game down and made things easier for his teammates but he was also criticized for his conservative passing selection. McBride was definitely a leader, but he hadn’t blossomed into the guy that was beloved by Fulham yet. Earnie was definitely a leader. Some younger guys later known for their intelligence: Cherundolo: Donovan, JOB. But I do think it’s difficult to get a contemporaneous read on less tangible qualities in players. A lot of that you only really get to understand when a player is on the tail end of their career or they move to the booth or a coaching/management gig. Sanneh didn’t have a rep as a smart players, but his decision making in 2002 was pretty great.

And sometimes intelligence becomes more obvious as athleticism diminishes and players are asked to play a more proscriptive tactical role. Ream and the need for him to clean stuff up. His intelligence at his current age is much more obvious than it was 6 years ago.

And some players are maybe not the most intelligent on the field but they bring an intensity. Like a Jermaine Jones. I wouldn’t say he’s dumb, but his physicality and intensity (and occasional reckless/impulsive outbursts) gave those teams an edginess.

I think part of what we’re seeing when we say that we don’t have leaders is that the natural continuity of forming leaders/cohesion from the more senior guys was significantly disrupted due to our failure to qualify in 2018. WC camps are significant culture reinforcers for the next cycle and we didn’t get that in 2018. Historically, the over 27s on an WC squad tend to be our leaders and those guys reinforce culture and groom the next set of leaders from the younger 10 or so guys on the roster for next cycle. That was an obvious and consistent pattern for the 2002-2014 cycles. The younger half of the 2014 roster did not pan out and the 2018 disaster disrupted the leadership baton passage. A list of the under 27 squad members in
2014 who might have been under 29-35 year old vets for 2022 that were no more: Green, Yedlin, Brooks, Johansson, Mix, Chandler, Altidore, Omar, Fabian, Bradley. And a couple 27-28 year old defenders in Besler and Cameron. McBride, Reyna and Pope from the 2006 squad handed the keys over to the following 23-27 year olds from that squad for 2010: Dolo, Howard, Boca, LD, DMB, Gooch, Clint. I do think we’re in something of a protracted hangover from the younger half of the 2014 roster selection and the 2018 cycle debacle. We’re still less than two years out from 2022, which was a blank slate. We don’t get regular competitive fixtures against top 15-20 level sides that sort of forge that cohesion and leadership hierarchy. And now we’ve squandered our last best opportunity to solidify that before WC2026.

 

I don't see these recent performances for which he is being praised and deemed a must-have at this point. I have been to several US games in the past 14 months, and we looked better when Ream was not one of the CBs. Even in the Uzbekistan game I attended in St. Louis -- in which we won with Ream starting -- he looked like a newborn reindeer. Dude was falling all over the place and had to be saved by his teammates on 2 or 3 occasions. He looked the same against Colombia. He is visibly getting worse. It was a long time ago, but I don't want to think about the Costa Rica 17 game I also attended, along with the rest of that qualifying. He was so atrocious that we brought Omar Gonzalez back. He is getting far too much latitude here for a passable 2022 WC as an emergency replacement due to injuries. Let's thank him for that halcyon time, but recognize that has not been his career as a national teamer either before or after that year.

 

From context, it looks like you posted a different Transfermarkt link than the one you intended. Perhaps you meant this one?:
https://www.transfermarkt.com/vereins-statistik/wertvollstenationalmannschaften/marktwertetop

 

Well, I think it’s going to happen over the course of the next two years. Someone will step up and improve and be a better player than Ream.

Ream is dancing with old man time. Old man time likes to make us do a slow dance with him. It’s just a matter of time before Ream’s reflexes slow down. It only takes a slight regression in speed to make a big difference in playing ability.

Have you guys seen footage of older stars in celebrity games? It’s kind of sobering…

 

It's safe to say negative things about Ream at this point. Whatever is not true about him right now, will be true soon enough.

 

Ream is better than the rest of our center backs right now, especially on the ball, but that's more an indictment of our center back pool than an endorsement of Ream. He's already starting to lose his spot at Fulham. He was on the bench for the last 11 Fulham games and 15 of their last 20. That's extremely unlikely to turn around for a player his age and more likely to only accelerate. He may need a move to a lower level if he wants to stay on the field regularly next year. If 2 years from now Ream is still better than our other center backs at 38, it will be a bad sign. I'm not saying I know for sure that someone will pass him up, but I am saying that if no one does it's a problem.

 

Like I often say, if Ream is starting in 2026 at age 38, it's not going to be pretty.

I think the world of Ream but 38 year old legs have a hard time keeping up with a 23 year old with quick reflexes. Mother nature and father time are not things we can ultimately defy.

 

Right now, no one else is better, but I do think the gap between Richards and Ream is smaller than you suggest and the match consensus player ratings from the Copa matches tend are a good illustration of that. In a club environment, you have the luxury of sticking with the guy until someone steps in. In the international game, the staff will need to extrapolate development and aging curves to give time to the guys to build cohesion and systems with the few opportunities we have vs quality opposition through 5/2026.

Ream at 36 is already two years older than any non GK we’ve put on a squad in any of our last 5 WCs. He’s already older than Dooley in WC98. And the game has become faster.

For a player with Ream’s skill set and athleticism and caliber, time is pretty much undefeated for 38 year olds at that level. That doesn’t mean he’s out. It does mean that he’s a guy who won’t be able to go 90 for 3+ matches in a compressed tourney schedule. Even if losing a bit of additional athleticism does not result in his play falling off a cliff, his body won’t be able to recover if he’s playing the way he needs to.

I see him as a 90 minute for a single match in a pinch guy or someone who comes in late if we have a lead to reinforce.

At this point, we don’t even know if we’ll be playing 3 or 4 in the back. But we have 8 other backs on that Copa roster + Dest + Weah who can play outside. I can see Antonee and/or Scally playing more centrally or Adams dropping back.

This will be the first expanded knockout bracket, which means 5 matches through R16 at an average of 4 days between matches. Legs recovery and depth will be absolutely critical. Which is why it’s impossible for him to be a CB anchor. But it’s also the reason why I can’t see him not being on the roster unless his play falls off a cliff or CB development magically occurs. At best given the format and age, he’ll be our #3CB in a 4 back line.

The next manager will create a roster and rotations with the goal of getting to R16 and then letting the chips fall where they may. That’s going to require 90 from Ream in 1 of those 5 matches. And 20 to 45 in another (injury, starting CB sitting on a yellow at half, killing a match to for points, a knockout W or penalties, etc).

 

My post doesn't have anything to do with assumptions. It has to do with what happened, and you don't sound that aware.

I didn't think they played like dawgs against us and their play became despicable and highly controversial later in the tournament. Maybe you are into that type of thing, but most of the world wasn't impressed and thought they had no business being in the semifinal.

I'm going to put this in your top 3 worst takes along with your absurd views about Berhalter and Ream.

 

Yes, I do. That is why I am so confused by your characterizations. Maybe if we got more specific, it would become more clear to me and maybe others.

Did you think SK outplayed Italy and Spain? Did you agree with their approach to game? Do you think the complaints about the refereeing are unfair?

 

One of the biggest changes in roster composition after the WC was the MLS-based veteran bench players being phased out. It didn't really change who we saw on the field, because those veterans were already getting few or no minutes, but their absence from the locker room might be showing now.

 

Hahahahahaha!!!!! Gtfo!!! This is hysterical.

 

@The Clientele , I can't figure out why you would rep this dude's crazy post. Can you explain?