US Mens Soccer

[SeatownJay]

Bruce Arena has officially resigned. It's a small step, sure, but at least it's in the right direction.

http://www.espnfc.com/united-states/sto ... d-cup-miss

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Cameron and Wood have certainly. Wood may be set for a transfer to a bigger club in Europe. And to suggest that it would every time simply ignores how difficult it is. Atleast they tried.

The contentment of the MLS and USSF is what’s at discussion. While no one said ALL young players should go overseas the very good prospects should not only be looking but also be encouraged to by the national organization. Look how well the production line of the MLS did this cycle?

Pulisic is not some phenom to a nation of 300 million. There are plenty like him in Europe and plenty more with the same ambitions here in the US.

I think the whole blame MLS angle is an easy scapegoat.

This squad was old, and would have got it's clocked cleaned in the WC if it did make it in. So the missing the WC isn't important to me.

What's important to me is why is Howard still in goal? Why are guys like Demspey, Jones, Altidore, Bradley, Wondo, Beckerman, Zusi, Gonzales, etc still major contributors playing major minutes? Half these guys shouldn't even be on the squad, and the other half should be role players for leadership and to come off the bench.

Everyone keeps pointing to Pulisic, but he's an outlier of a far greater systemic development issue.

This country needs an entire overhaul of it's soccer academy/developmental system. Not it's pro league.

 

[Uncle Si]

Pulisic is not an outlier. Once you get over that notion you'll understand where the overhaul needs to start. And yes.. it starts with a pro league that does not properly develop or challenge its players and a federation that was quite comfortable allowing (encouraging and at times almost forcing) it's mediocre players to play in that league while continually reaching the world cup through a sub par group.

the average age of the field players on the roster was 27... that's not old.

Missing the World cup should be important to you, if you care about the development of the sport in this county. tens of thousands of kids playing soccer at a high level between the ages of 12-17 will now miss out on watching players like Pulisic and Wood represent their country. The impact of that can be staggering. The only thing that saves Pulisic as model of the US soccer now is a move to the Premier League.

The academy and development leagues are not the issue. they are creating fantastic opportunities for players. while i disagree with the focus on wins and the monetary incentives they are based on, their can be no doubting how much they have grown and are positively influencing development here. Problem is, when i help develop a player at 13 and get him to Sporting, and down there he is playing against the likes of Villareal, Barca, Bayern and Chelsea youth with great dreams of being a world class player and representing his country, he is then told by the director of the federation and his DA coaches that the MLS is where he should play.

When has shooting for the middle ever amounted to success?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Missing the World cup should be important to you, if you care about the development of the sport in this county. tens of thousands of kids playing soccer at a high level between the ages of 12-17 will now miss out on watching players like Pulisic and Wood represent their country. The impact of that can be staggering. The only thing that saves Pulisic as model of the US soccer now is a move to the Premier League.

I don't think you're giving the soccer youth and fans enough credit. The WC is the biggest sporting event on the planet for soccer players and fans, even in the US.

They'll still be into it, they'll still watch, just like you and I as soccer fans will watch.

Watching a stilted listless US squad get drubbed in whatever group they drew wouldn't help anything. My hope is this will end up being a good thing for US Soccer, maybe it'll help facilitate the much needed change many have been calling for a long time in every aspect of the program.

 

[Uncle Si]

Sure.. they will watch..

But that's not the point is it. You cannot quantify the impact of not having a 19 year old Christian Pulisic running around against the world's best in a US jersey.

Yes... this might actually provide as an inspiration to change. that's all that can be hoped for. But... that shouldnt not have come at the expense of a world cup. Klinsmann identified these issues years ago and was roundly and heavily criticized (by you as well). People were so desperate to protect the MLS it has cost the nation a world cup.

Sorry Sarge.. this is what it is. These things dont start at the base, they start at the top. The MLS and the USSF have been feeding off an inadequate and antiquated model for decades.

It cost them.. and all of US soccer fans. Now at the base level coaches and DOCs have to pick up the pieces fast

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Sure.. they will watch..

But that's not the point is it. You cannot quantify the impact of not having a 19 year old Christian Pulisic running around against the world's best in a US jersey.

Yes... this might actually provide as an inspiration to change. that's all that can be hoped for. But... that shouldnt not have come at the expense of a world cup. Klinsmann identified these issues years ago and was roundly and heavily criticized (by you as well). People were so desperate to protect the MLS it has cost the nation a world cup.

Sorry Sarge.. this is what it is. These things dont start at the base, they start at the top. The MLS and the USSF have been feeding off an inadequate and antiquated model for decades.

It cost them.. and all of US soccer fans. Now at the base level coaches and DOCs have to pick up the pieces fast

So let's be proactive in our discussion, how would you fix MLS and USSF?

I didn't want us to miss the WC btw, but my point is we're having this discussion NOW, as opposed to July 16th wondering what the hell happened, firing everyone and what to do now. I see this as a nine month head start on fixing these things we've stuck our head in the sand about because "we made the WC, everything's fine!"

It's not fine.

 

[Uncle Si]

We certainly agree there...

The USSF is unbalanced. It should be promoting a system and idea that promote development through competition, not progression through winning. From Academy to the pros. It should be doing more at the older age groups to get its competitive groups playing and learning from internationals. It should make coaching these levels far more enticing through more open licensing and courses, as well as better pay.

And then, it should be pushing it's better young players to challenge themselves at the highest level they can. Now, for some that might be the MLS. For others, it's elsewhere. Most nations do this.. you see these international players desperate to find teams they can get on to that will push them higher up the national tier, especially in the last year of a cycle

The MLS is a different story. Look, the league is successful. What it needs now is more Atlantas. It needs less Dempseys and Bradleys and Jones and Gerrards and more Nagbes. I dont know enough about the league to know how it all works, but it should be attracting much younger and far more creative players than it does. Then it needs to promote young coaches with more creative ideas about playing the game. It certainly needs a promotion and relegation system.

Those are the starts I guess

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The MLS is a different story. Look, the league is successful. What it needs now is more Atlantas. It needs less Dempseys and Bradleys and Jones and Gerrards and more Nagbes. I dont know enough about the league to know how it all works, but it should be attracting much younger and far more creative players than it does. Then it needs to promote young coaches with more creative ideas about playing the game. It certainly needs a promotion and relegation system.

I do think this is the direction MLS is going.

That's why they've created things like the S2 division, for small MLS division 2 regional leagues in order to give younger academy players better competition. I'd rather MLS merge with leagues like the NASL, so everything's not so splintered and dysfunctional when it comes to how USSF wants it's players developed. But it's a start.

Also why MLS has a young DP rule, to allow cap space and allocation money to go after younger stars to compete with other leagues for good young talent.

I don't think we'll ever see the end of the older well known DP, especially USMNT players that fans love and sell jerseys and tickets.

 

[SeatownJay]

Sunil Gulati was very successful in making the USSF into a financial giant. Now, we need someone in charge who makes decisions and hires people based primarily on how they will improve the product on the field and not how they improve the bottom line. They can start by hiring an actual full-time technical director for the entire national program.

 

[SeatownJay]

In brighter news for US Men's Soccer, the U-17 squad pasted Paraguay 5-0 to reach the quarterfinals of their World Cup. They'll face the winner of England-Japan on Saturday. If you want to watch it will air on time delay on FS2 at 12:30pm PST/3:30pm EST.

 

[Uncle Si]

Thanks Seatown

 

[SeatownJay]

The U-17s crash out in the quarters, losing 4-1 to England.

 

[SeatownJay]

If you're like me and have a definite interest in the future of the USMNT but don't really have a clue about the possible player pool, allow me to recommend the following. Reddit user putcoolusernamehere has been posting player pool breakdowns by position over at r/ussoccer. So far he's done goalkeeper, right back, and center back. Links are below.

goalkeepers
right backs
center backs
left backs
central midfield
CAM
wingers
strikers

 

[Uncle Si]

Fantastic Seatown. Will you add the other positions to your list as they become available?

I’ve coached against 6 of the guys on those lists

 

[SeatownJay]

Fantastic Seatown. Will you add the other positions to your list as they become available?

I’ve coached against 6 of the guys on those lists

Yep. Just edited it to add left backs, which he posted today.

 

[SeatownJay]

Here's the roster for next week's friendly at Portugal. Definitely a youth movement.

Player (club, caps/goals)
Goalkeepers: Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas; 0/0), Bill Hamid (Midtjylland; 3/0), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge; 1/0)

Defenders: John Brooks (Wolfsburg; 32/3), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Sheffield United; 0/0), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest; 13/1), Matt Miazga (Vitesse; 3/1), Tim Ream (Fulham; 26/1), Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna; 14/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United; 48/0)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 16/1), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 65/2), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland; 2/0), Weston McKennie (Schalke; 0/0), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution; 3/1), Danny Williams (Huddersfield Town; 22/2)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution; 26/3), Dom Dwyer (Orlando City; 3/2), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia Union; 2/0), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen; 0/0)

 

[Uncle Si]

A youth movement, an expansion of the pool to see more players and a well deserved rest for some of the regulars who are key parts of their foreign club teams.

 

[hawkfan68]

Here's the roster for next week's friendly at Portugal. Definitely a youth movement.

Player (club, caps/goals)
Goalkeepers: Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas; 0/0), Bill Hamid (Midtjylland; 3/0), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge; 1/0)

Defenders: John Brooks (Wolfsburg; 32/3), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Sheffield United; 0/0), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest; 13/1), Matt Miazga (Vitesse; 3/1), Tim Ream (Fulham; 26/1), Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna; 14/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United; 48/0)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 16/1), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 65/2), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland; 2/0), Weston McKennie (Schalke; 0/0), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution; 3/1), Danny Williams (Huddersfield Town; 22/2)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution; 26/3), Dom Dwyer (Orlando City; 3/2), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia Union; 2/0), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen; 0/0)

Interesting that they didn't include Pulisic and Bobby Wood. Couple of young guys that should be in mix. Honestly, I'd rather them play than Juan Agudelo or Sapong (he's 29 yrs old).

 

[SeatownJay]

I've added central midfield to the list of positional breakdowns.

 

[Uncle Si]

Here's the roster for next week's friendly at Portugal. Definitely a youth movement.

Player (club, caps/goals)
Goalkeepers: Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas; 0/0), Bill Hamid (Midtjylland; 3/0), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge; 1/0)

Defenders: John Brooks (Wolfsburg; 32/3), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Sheffield United; 0/0), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest; 13/1), Matt Miazga (Vitesse; 3/1), Tim Ream (Fulham; 26/1), Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna; 14/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United; 48/0)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 16/1), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 65/2), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland; 2/0), Weston McKennie (Schalke; 0/0), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution; 3/1), Danny Williams (Huddersfield Town; 22/2)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution; 26/3), Dom Dwyer (Orlando City; 3/2), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia Union; 2/0), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen; 0/0)

Interesting that they didn't include Pulisic and Bobby Wood. Couple of young guys that should be in mix. Honestly, I'd rather them play than Juan Agudelo or Sapong (he's 29 yrs old).

Meaningless friendlies at this point so giving two of your young stars a break from club and country makes sense