And why not?...........if they are our 2 best fowards at the time...........then they should be playing.
It's more likely that one of either Ching, Donovan, or Dempsey will be playing up top next to Altidore. Although I wouldn't say it's IMPOSSIBLE for Altidore and Adu to be playing up top together. Anything is possible.
1) All right, ill lean it towards "A" team, but Mexico had key players missing. 2) As everybody should have seen by now from my previous posts in the past.... I have tapes from every single USMNT game played and give exact times of examples.....and i can tell you sir, Ching lost the ball either with a poor touch or the Mexico defender stealing it from him, when he was trying to hold the ball up many times. He was also invisible most of the game in the off the ball movement regards and very slow in getting to the holes on loose balls.
It is all about defining what is "best", isn't it? If the USMNT coach was an 18 yr old, then there is a good chance they would both be playing.
Hey look this is just what is.........we are very weak up top until Altidore and Adu show up in the roster. Our 3 best youth players(Adu,Altidore,Bradley) easily are better or at the same level then Most of our starting team.........and their should be no reason to let the "age" question get involved, since it has no revelance on how good a player is compared to another player in that pool. Here is how i see our starting team in SA 2010-14 months away. ----------Altidore(20)-----Adu(21)--- Donovan(28)-----Bradley(22)---Demspey(28) -------------------Mastro(33)-------- A good mixture of WC Expierenced aged Veterans and leadership mixed in with immense talent form youngsters that we have never had before with the likes Altidore, Adu and Bradley. I really dont see a place in this starting line-up for Ching since Chings wheels are going to likely fall off even more...........he would be a good sub to use if we need somebody to hold the ball-up and delay time. Furthermore..........As with Altidore we clealy see how he can hold the ball up just as well. So their will be a dominant physical presence up front.
i wouldnt be so sure.... with Target Forwards, speed isnt a large priority.... Ching could very well last another 4 yrs at his pace.... that doesnt mean he will, simply saying that his "wheels" will be fine.... Jozy holds onto the ball?? i recall a passback to LD that set up the MB's 2nd goal against Mexico, but the vast majority of the time ive seen jozy get the ball he goes on the attack and attempts to get past his man (thank god he does, we need players like that).... with a Jozy/Adu pairing up top, Jozy will be forced into a more target forward role, and Adu will turn into more of a roaming SS.... similar to what they did in 07' U20s WC.... it worked well... im not saying it wont work at the senior stage.... we'll see how things pan out....
Yes, it would be one thing if Adu was playing lots of club football and still not being used for the national team. 1) I really like Adu 2) I'm not the biggest fan of Ching. By the way, Ching and Adu would play different roles for the national team in Bob's system (4-2-3-1 we've normally seen). They're not competing against each other for playing time. Ching's competing against guys like Altidore and Cooper. Adu's competing with guys like Donovan for the withdrawn forward's role. If Bob keeps his 4-4-2 from the TT game, then it opens up other possibilities.
Disagree: Up until about 6 months ago Bradley had a penchant of making critical mistakes at critical moments. It's only very recently that he has raised his game. Up until the T&T match Altidore looked lazy. If he puts in that kind of effort every game then he is a lock startere. Adu still has to prove to me that he isn't lazy or a pushover to earn a starting spot. False. Altidore gets muscled out by defenders much easier and is less likely to attack a 50/50 ball than Ching. Sometimes he doesn't even challenge for the ball, instead waiting for the defender to make a mistake. That being said, he does bring qualities to the table that Ching does not.
it seems the people we are arguing with fail to realize that we acknowledge Ching's abilities as well as his faults in comparison to other players.... they seem to have tunnel vision and fail to look outside of their own perspective.... we know that adu and jozy are quicker and more technical then ching, but ching brings quite a bit to the table for the USMN, especially against some of these CONCACAF teams... does anyone wonder why Ching was brought up for Quals, but was left off for the BIG 3 last summer?? personally i feel its b/c Ching is better suited against the more physical and less technical teams... Adu played in the BIG 3 b/c he excells against technical competition (IMO).... i wouldnt be surprised to see him get some quality time in Confeds for this reason alone
Are you suggesting that Bob Bradley adjusts his roster, starting 11, formation, and game plan according to who the U.S. is playing??? Noooooo, that just isn't possible. That would suggest he has some sort of idea of how to run a team.
1) What in the world does that have to do with Altidore not being one of the best. Yea ill take that lazy Altidore who scored that great header and worked the shit out of Mexico "A" team.........over somebody who runs all day like a headless chicken and gets tired and does nothing. 2) Altidore gets muscled out by defenders much easier?? the goals and plays i see from Altidore, he is bodying up the defender. He is a monster. Do i have to mention his goal vs Cuba where he muscled the bigger CB to the ground.......or coming in late this year vs mexico and bodying his man and running up field and setting up the secondary assist. I remember when he was much younger just turned 18 @South Africa and had 2 0r 3 guys on Altidore in a boxed in position and he still out mustled all 3 off the defenders...they couldent take the ball away.
1. I don't want lazy players playing for us. EJ ring a bell? Young players need to know that they won't make the squad unless they are playing balls to the walls everytime they take to the pitch. But hey, if you want to gift a bunch of teenagers starts and turn all our great prospects into EJ's and Feilhaber's then by all means... 2. He got bumped, worked, and stripped by a midget Mexican defender in Columbus and in every game I've watched him for the full NATS he has been terribly shy about going up for 50/50 balls in the air. Ching doesn't do that. Altidore is a great young prospect, but like all players he does have his weaknesses.
Do you also remember in the Mexico game how he tried shielding a ball and the Mexican defender just poked it away from him in open field? Altidore is really good, but don't pretend he doesn't have holes in his game. Edit: Kokoplus beat me to it
This is the bullshit US soccer mentality that I am talking about, value work rate over talent. I can't wait until this mentality disappear from the soccer landscape here in the US. If that was true around the world, the likes of Hejduk, Ching would cost more than the likes Ronaldo's, Riquelme, or even Altidore and EJ. So are you telling me that you would not play Ronaldo and Riquelme kind of players if you have them? Are you telling me if Altidore were scoring almost every game but is lazy, you still wouldn't play him? And he score against Marquez in one of his first game that he played. And he has now scored 6 goals in 9 games for the USMNT, how many goals has Ching score again? He was sold for $10 mil, how much was Ching sold for? You people are the most frustrating part about US soccer.
Ahh yes, the great riquelme, who will will go down having played in 1 world cup? who much like our fan favorite, couldnt hack it on the wings, and wasnt trusted in the center at Barca when he was there. who lacked the professionalism to last at villarreal, a euro team that trusted him? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/jan/22/europeanfootball.sport1 please stop this ridiculousness. The worst thing that we can have is adu turn into a riquelme. hejduk has played in more CL games than Adu and Altidore, so someone obviously thought he wasnt that bad.
Good god are you serious? Get off the bong now!!! US supporters would cream in their pants if we ever had a Riquelme. And where was Hejduk when he was 19 yo (FYI, Adu already played in the CL when he was 18 yo)? How much was Hejduk ever sold for? The guy who was never a serious starter for the US and only starts when we need to plug the holes in our lineup? That Hejduk?
obviously you would, but, lets consider the possible effects on the rest of the team. you dont care about the whole "greater than the sum of parts thing" since you have ignored everyone else mentioning it. Thats fine. Our system is built off of everyone working hard, because our players are not good enough without the additional coverage. as mentioned earlier by many others. we cant play 9vs 10 against some of these teams. some we can, but i really dont think he would have helped agains ES. Why is Heydude the whipping boy. The only reason I mentioned him is that he has worked hard, and in no way deserves to be widely castigated like this. He was good enough to get some games from a CL calibur team, thats all. I have very high hopes for Adu, and I expect him to play a role in the next qualifiers. Not sure exactly how it is going to work out, but I would expect sub minutes for him, maybe for Dempsey. To further my point, we need Adu to recognize the need for hard work so that he doesnt flame out after one WC round, because his talent promises so much, and we very well may not have anyone who can replace him.
Wait, are you telling me you wouldn't start Riquelme for the USMNT and that you think he wouldn't improve the team at all? This is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. Where was I whipping Hejduk? You are the one bringing up the point that Hejduk has more games in Europe than Altidore and Adu. All I did was making a counter point to that.
Yeah, it is pretty insane isn't it, that the US is the only soccer country in the world that have so many people value work rate over talent. Wait, we are not even a soccer country. No wonder why.
Why is Riquelme retired from the international game again? And how come Marcelo Bielsa, who is leading Chile to a possible World Cup berth, skipped on Riquelme during his early years when he coached Argentina? Oh yeah, because he felt his game was too slow and that his nonchalant and lackadaisical demeanor would harm the team more than help it. That is why he left him off the 2002 World Cup team much to the disappointment of the Argentine press/fans. Instead, a young Pablo "Payasito" Aimar emerged. Although he wasn't as talented with the ball (talented none the less), Aimar's skill-set and energy and hustle earned him minutes in Korea/Japan. He even replaced veteran Juan Veron in the Argentine's starting XI in their final group match against Sweden. Aimar is the same guy who signed with Benfica last summer and is now their creative midfielder. In a sense, he took over Adu's potential #10 role with the Portuguese club while Adu, himself, was loaned out to Monaco since he wasn't deemed ready.
All I am saying is that it isnt a sure thing that inserting Riquelme would magically solve our problems. He would probably combine very well with the offense (minus ching). I think that he probably would not combine with anyone we have in our roster that plays on the defensive half of the field. None of us are in a position where we can actually test this out. Now, we could find a way to fit Riquelme in, but it would need a system built for him. Ex post facto, that does not seem like a good idea. Obviously, you put together the team that is going to do the best on the field. If that best team is with him, its with him. Now, what you are getting at is a bit separate, and I am letting it color my posting. As a coach, i dont like nor want to put my trust on players that are as mercurial as Riquelme. I love creativity, but I want players who are willing to work hard, on my terms, not on theirs. I realize soccer is a bit weird in this respect, but as a coach, if my neck is on the line, i dont want to be relying on him. This is why i want more from Adu. you are correct, and i appologize for venting that spleen at you. I feel like hejduk gets attacked too much whenever people go on a warpath against the US' technical skills (which i will freely admit, he doesnt have).
Riquelme retire: 1) because he is getting old 2) because they are Argentina with talent out of the wazoo. 3) because he didn't get along with Maradona. When he was starting for Argentina, he was the most important component to that team. He still has 4 goals in the 2010 South America WCQ (2nd leading in CONMEBOL at the time when he stop playing, right now he's at 7th place, and still the leading scorer for Argentina). Look where they are now, 4th in qualifying and just got demolished 6-1 by Bolivia. Looks like they need the general back huh. And lastly, Riquelme would be the greatest USMNT player ever. EVER.