So people really think if we had put McKennie in place of Bradley and Miazga in place of Gonzo we'd have qualified? You know, our public is so naive that if Sunil and Bruce remain but field a bunch of kids from the Euro academies in November and we beat Slovakia B in that friendly, 99% of the folks here will say everything is back to ok.
I miss the Intensity of 2006 and the following Confederation Cup...Hopefully USA Soccer can regroup and come out stronger. We have over 4 years to right the ship. Let’s hope something bold is done. There’s time to come back stronger.
We do NOT need to "right the ship" at all. The ship is sunken and we need to rebuild it. There are only a couple of players from the current pool that should be used in the new ship and, right now, we only have part of the engine and we have no rudder at all. NO current member of the coaching staff should be allowed to continue and virtually no player in the MLS is sufficiently skilled at this point to be able to play at the international level. I hope this is a real wake up call and things get better but I expect that all that will happen is that a few people at the top will go away and the people they have taught how to lose at the international level will replace them and continue the losing skill for the future. We may become a power in CONCACAF again but we have no future past that unless a real rebuilding takes place and many more of our players and coaches move to get international experience. A second rate league and a VERY poor development program like we get through college will NOT get us past being an average team in a second rate confederation.
I think we need to have an "Open Tryout" across the country. Surely we can find 1 player out there who can play the 6. Another that can play the 2 or 3. Shore up those 3 positions and we are making a visit to Putin this summer. Criteria to tryout: 1. US Citizenship 2. Age 18-27 3. Weigh less than 230 pounds 4. Must have worn soccer cleats and shin guards during a soccer game in the past 10 months. 5. No felony record. That is all. I see some Sunday league guys that are pretty impressive, but over-the-hill. Surely there are some youngster out there that can play at a high level. US Soccer could even fund it by making it a reality show.
I expect there are many, but they've never played club, and don't play in college. We also need somebody else to evaluate them, I'm not sure our coaches know what they're looking at. Better still, get some foreign scouts (guys who go find the next Messi's (at age 12) for a living, and live well.) to come to see players in random places, or et up regional tryouts, easy to get to, and publicly advertised.