Before any bitches and moans about this, its only because KC doesn't have a game this weekend. Period.
I agree in many ways with you. All I'm saying is Feilhaber hasn't played a game since Copa America. I'm not sure how many training sessions he's even been at. Once he got to Derby he couldn't play because of Visa issues and then an ankle injury. Or we could question the Convey callup as he hasn't really played a full game for a year and half. And for some reason people focus all their attention on Bradley's callup. Now that Mastroeni is out, I can assure that Bradley will now start. And frankly, I'm glad he's got the chance. Since he's been around so long people forget that he's only 20 years old. Two years younger than Feilhaber. Four years younger than Ricardo Clark (who'd probably be in the squad, but for the fact that Houston has a home game on the 8th. An injury plagued Houston without Brad Davis and Stuart Holden alredy in the midfield). We should be focusing on how great it is we have a 20 year old starting in the eredivisie and getting an opportunity with the national team.
Can we see him do this again maybe? That would be cool. 1:10 mark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnSCNHDUBqc
Good catch ... Lucio will probably start. He's got more pace than Alex anyway, to go against either Donovan or Johnson on top for the US. I was working off memory on who's in/not in for Brazil and missed the guy.
In defense of Josh Wolff, he has always played well with LD and DMB. His inclusion due to his current form for 1860 München is no suprise to me... ...I am rather interested to see what he brings to the table this time around.
I am not sure what you are refering to in my post. Maybe it is a French thing. A friendly is useful for evaluating talent and learning to play with teamates in a new formation. But the US team is not going to be playing an attacking style against Brazil. Why the rush to bring in Altidore for a short camp against a team that is going to dictate the flow of the game? No one would care about the roster if Altidore was on it. And that has nothing to do with Brazil or the quality of the team. We could be playing a CONCACAF team and people would be upset. Club should come first in a situation like this. There are plenty of European players for BB to pick from.
1 more tiny quibble: he would have started anyway. Bob has, in my mind, shown a preference for Mastroeni and Bradley together. When all of the "big 4" are available, Mike has started every time since the beginning of June. Remember the oft' overlooked fact that it was Ching's unavailability that led to Feilhaber's start at Sweden.
I'd start Alex over Juan, if I were Dunga. Of course, I'd start Naldo over Lucio, too. And Dunga didn't even call him in. So you may find my defensive evaluation lacking.
Actually, it's pretty clear Rico Clark stole Michael Bradley's Girlfriend back in high School....... BTW, Clark is not on the injured list according to MLS website. http://houston.mlsnet.com/stats/injuries.jsp
We diverge on a couple of points. First, Bradley is the only one of the people you mention who is 19 or 20 -- which at this stage in the cycle makes a big difference. Second, in my opinion, Bradley has played well for the USMNT relative to his competition [which I don't think is true for Pearce], as well as the Under 20s. For me, he is even with Feilhaber, Clark and Mastroeni. I think playing time has been fairly equitably split between these four guys, so I don't have any complaints ... yet ... on this score. Kljestan and Edu are interesting projects at this position as well, but both are significantly older than Michael Bradley.
You have no idea which of the three of Feilhaber, Mastroeni or Bradley would have sat if Ching started. Since Mastroeni came out at half, that might give you some clue.
No Clark's not injured, he just has a game on the 8th. And Houston's missing several other midfielders due to injury.......And Clark was already taken from Houston for the Gold Cup and Copa America..... If MLS didn't play on FIFA dates, this roster would be entirely different. Bob wasn't going to take many players away from their teams for just a friendly. If this was a WCQ or important match then he would have. Instead, just like the Sweden match on a FIFA date, we called up predominantly players from Europe (which respects the FIFA calender). Now we can argue about why some other European based players haven't been called (Adu, Johann Smith, Sal Zizzo, Kamani Hill, Lee Nguyen, etc), but I have no problem with Bob leaving MLS players off (other than KC, which doesn't play). So if you wanna complain that Burciaga, Harrington, and Conrad weren't called, I'm also OK with that.
What forwards besides Wolff? Adu, Zizzo, Alvarez, Hill, Davies, Ching, and Noonan all come to mind. Aside from Ching, all are up and coming young players who have shown enough flashes of brilliance to merit inclusion. And between Wolff & Ching, I think Ching is the more likely candidate to make the roster and play the poor man's McBride role. Look, I have nothing against Wolff. I've always liked what he brings to the table. Quickness, hustle and ability to finish. But we know his ceiling. He is not starting forward material. At best he would be a late game sub to contribute off the bench. Because of that, why not use this opportunity -- a chance to play a full strength Brazil -- as a learning ground for younger players? Even if they don't step foot on the field, just training with the senior team and watching the likes of Kaka, Ronaldihno and Robihno would be an invaluable experience for these younger players.
Clarifying the starting lineup situation from Sweden v. USA in August, we have ... http://mnt-ussoccer.blogspot.com/2007/08/first-xi_22.html Without further ado, the team that will trot out against Sweden for the first meeting between the nations since 1995: Howard Cherundolo Onyewu Bocanegra (c) Bornstein Bradley ----- Mastroeni Feilhaber* ------------------------------ Beasley Donovan ----- Dempsey Brian Ching was a late scratch from the starting lineup after suffering a left calf strain. Benny Feilhaber has replaced him, and Landon Donovan will slide up top from his wing midfield position. ....
Even though I had never heard the term before you've already ruined it for me... it should've been Josie-lust... as in "and the **********cats"... EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot "kitty-cat" can be censored.
Finally an attempt to put forth some ideas instead of just criticizing. However, none of the names you mention make sense for this particular friendly instead of Wolff. First, Ching is injured, so all talk of him is as silly as Altidore talk. As to the rest: Adu is not really a forward like Wolff, so he isn't really relevant to this debate even if wasn't a lot more important for Adu to stay with his club and try and earn some time on the field with his club. Which it is. Adu can get experience at the Under 23 level. Zizzo is a right-sided midfielder at the international level, while Wolff can play this position too, that is probably not what Wolff was called into camp for. Another guy who can play with the Olympic team. Alvarez is an outside midfielder at the international level and once again not a direct replacement for Wolff. Also can get experience with the Under 23s. Hill -- has not played for his club this year and has played a number of times for the USMNT -- maybe his time would be better served trying to get a club job rather than throwing him to the wolves against Brazil. Also Olympic eligible. Davies -- hasn't scored a league goal for his club and his coach has criticized his work ethic and he has played numerous times for the USMNT this year -- sounds like he too would be better served trying to improve his club situation than flying to the US for a week and soaking in the atmosphere. Also Olympic team eligible. Noonan -- the only one that is not young, but he has demonstrated that he is an outside midfielder, not a forward, at the international level. Bottom line, Wolff is available and can hang in there as well as most US players at this level if he is needed. Because the younger players will learn more and benefit more in the long term being with their clubs -- either fighting for playing time or playing in meaningful games -- than soaking in the atmosphere in Chicago.