Agreed. He also had injury issues and was played out of position last year with the Metros. I fear the same may happen with Szetela, who has spent far too much time on the wing in my opinion. He is a d-mid. Clearly his game has not yet fully adjusted to the pro level but he is still in his first full pro year. And then there's the Andrulis effect.
Failed? I'd say it is working better than ever. Just because someone has "potential" and a youth national team pedigree is no reason to pencil them into future national teams. Some of these players have come along with nothing more substantive than their own groupies as reason for a call-up. If they have "disappeared" it is because they are either not developing or are simply being outplayed by other less heralded rivals. The National Team can only benefit by increased competition. The days when a player could be penciled into the line-up based on his performance in the U-20 Championship are over. Sustained, outstanding play in a professional league is the new standard for earning call-ups.
I just want to say that in the first grade I was an expected first round draft pick in the NHL. I had the Red Wings at every other game it was crazy. This is rediculous, its called Darwinism and it happens.
I thought I remember reading a survey a few years ago at one of the World Cups that only 1% of the guys starting there had been starters on their nation's U17 team. That percentage seems a bit lower than what I would guess from observation, but the point still holds that a bunch of guys just hit their physical peak early. Heathens makes a great point about young players needing to adjust their games, but it is also true that some players just hit a wall in their teens, where they have gotten as good as they can be physically. Then some physical late-bloomers with greater athletic potential pass them by. We see this in other sports all the time. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophmore. Jason Seahorn didn't even play tackle American football until his senior year in high school. Dennis Rodman essentially wasn't recruited by major Divison 1 programs. But each surpassed guys who were more highly regarded at a young age because each just kept improving athletically and their physical potential was greater than their more hyped colleagues. Or to bring it back to soccer, Bruce Arena once mentioned how, if it hadn't been for MLS, Eddie Lewis would have ended up selling insurance. What he meant was that, based on his performance as a teenager, Eddie Lewis just didnt' appear to be all that. In his twenties, in MLS, he kept developing both as an athlete (what I'm talking about) and as a player (what Heathens was talking about). Eddie ended up as a national team player whereas most of the guys who were playing for the USA on the U17 team when Eddie was that age will never be capped.
clark had one good year, one off year and now he's come back and is playing VERY well. what more can the kid do for you? also, it was one game ... but man Clark made Chad Marshall look slooooooow on Saturday. Was that on off day for Chad or is he always running in mud?
But you're missing Heathen's point. Martino's response after that set-back was to disappear, not come back more aggressive and smarter. Martino hasn't stepped up to the challenge.
Thanks, and yes, that's my point. Many people see the Cameroon game as the turning point for his failure to adjust, and it seems as good as any. Andrulis was a keeper, so I doubt he had much to offer in regard to the adjustment that was needed. Warzycha was a midfielder, so I would've thought that he might have been able to get through to Kyle, but it hasn't happened. If you'd like to see Martino develop into the national team player we all hoped he could become, I think the best answer for the Crew coaching situation would be John Harkes. Harkes was never afraid to mix it up, and perhaps he could teach Martino to play through the rough stuff, and to stay on his feet a bit more. Martino is soft, and unlike being slow or short, that's something that you can correct......
On the other hand, I read this in the L.A. Times after posting about how few U17 players play for their country's senior national team: "[Gooch] was a starter for the U.S. at the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in New Zealand in 1999 — the same team that produced Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley" What can I say? A statistical anomaly? The exception that proves the rule? Evidence that I'm totally full of it?
I think Martino has been the young nat that has disappointed me the most. I realy thought he was going places and he's never "upped" his game, never taken that next step. I'm afraid he's way down in the pecking order now, and players like Dempsey and Gaven have passed him by. When I made my mythical 2006 World Cup team 4 years ago Martino was on that list. Maybe I was crazy, but I really thought he'd be there. Slim chance of that now. Clark really does have a future on the Nats. DMid is a position in which we could use some depth. Our currect players at that position are all on the older side. He's one of that next group to step in. Don't give up on him, he's been looking good.
The kid stays in the picture Clark had a couple sour games early this season, but his play of late has ranged between solid and electrifying. The kid stays in the picture. Huh - now that you put it like that, I like Rico's chances. Mastro's club form swings dramatically, he's frequently suspended or injured. John O'Brien is creme brulee in cleats and Reyna has severe vaginitis.
Re: On the other hand, No, it's proof that the U.S. is by far the most efficient country at accurately identifying youth soccer talent.
For all the talk of Gaven on the board, he's not exactly one who is floating around the USMNT camp a great deal. His first cap was a friendly last year against Poland (proud witness to his first cap), and the Columbia friendly earlier this year. He entered both were as a substitute. His play in the U-20's wasn't exactly stellar, and there is a lot of depth in the midfield. Martino has 5 caps, and played in both the Columbia and Honduras friendlies this year, and came into both as a sub. I'm just not sure that either Eddie or Kyle has done much with their opportunities so far to get noticed. Unless Gaven gets into camp this fall, I'm not sure he's anything more than a 2010 prospect. It would seem that next spring is going to be spent solidifying the team, playing together, and the only opportunity to break through might be for a hot striker. Defense, keeper, and midfield....I think the last shot is this fall. Some of these younger guys who want to get into consideration need to up their level of play now, so that Bruce will call them into a camp once qualification is over. Gaven has been performing well in MLS, so that's to his advantage here, but time is ticking in terms of getting into camp and getting a chance........
Re: The kid stays in the picture rep for this post. funny. however, Mastroeni's club form may vary but when was the last time he had a really bad game for the nats? I agree otherwise, JOB and Reyna aren't Dmids. They are Central mids, holding mids or maybe attacking mids (in O'Briens case). And shouldn't really be mentioned in the same sentance as say Mastroeni, Mulrooney, Zavagnin, Armas, or Clark. p.s. (i'm going to break my own rule) Ricardo Clark already has a better outside shot than Reyna ever will. Reyna couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside.
Re: The kid stays in the picture Agree with you on Mastro - he's the best. Zavagnin is a capable back-up, as was Mulrooney. But Rico looks like an ideal candidate for Mastro's understudy.
the Red Sox have already signed the kid. They plan to trade him in 86 years, allowing themselves to win another World Series.