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- Thread starter Smudger
- Start date
David Villa is still a pretty good player. Will he still be good by the time that team actually kicks a ball? Kaka is not good. Besides, it's not so much about the famous, past-their-prime players they bring in that might still have enough in them to do well in a poor league - it's about the other players that get brought in. The league doesn't get better by adding 23 more roster spots every two years that inevitably get filled by below-average players.
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My point exactly. Has-beens from Europe doesn't constitute European competition. I'd rather have guys play in Belgium or Switzerland, let alone the Big 6, than MLS.
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Bucky32
Legend
Pete Thamel
@SIPeteThamel
I think MLS really dropped the ball during this World Cup. I hardly saw any advertisements. Here you had a massive, captivated audience stateside and they did little to grow their presence IMO.
@SIPeteThamel
I think MLS really dropped the ball during this World Cup. I hardly saw any advertisements. Here you had a massive, captivated audience stateside and they did little to grow their presence IMO.
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Especially any of the teams that had Team USA players on them...that's inexcusable. They should have been marketing the shit out of that.
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TheStoicPaisano
But I didn't, so it doesn't
All eight groups sent only one squad through to the quarterfinals...have to say the field looks pretty even.
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It will be fun to see how Gideon Zalelam fits into the entire situation over the next four years. Assuming he does/did choose the US. Klinsmann has already made it very clear that he's going to play some young players. Zalelam fits that role, and has quite a bit of potential.
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Bucky32
Legend
I think for the USA going forward making the round of 16 should be the expectation at a minimum. The biggest difference is creativity and control in the midfield. Yes, a few players are older, but there is still youth who should be important players. Yedlin, Brooks, Green, Johannson, and Fabian Johnson will be more seasoned. Bradley should still patrol the middle. Altidore will only be 27 in 2018. If Brek Shea could resurrect his career, he at least is an attacking player who could put pressure on opposing defenses.
I'll start to sound like a recruitnik here, but some very young players are coming up through the ranks who could play a role. Some are known (Boyd, Diskarud, Agudelo) and we'll see how they pan out. Others are beginning to draw interest. Luis Gil plays for Real Salt Lake and is seen as the next potential midfield player. Erik Palmer-Brown is a 17 year-old defender who has drawn international interest. Darlington Nagbe doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet, but will by 2015. Another intriguing prospect along those lines is 17 year-old Arsenal product Gedion Zelalem, who doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet but lived in the states for 4-5 years. His father reportedly almost has U.S. citizenship, and if that happens before Zelalem turns 18, he would be a U.S. citizen too. He withdrew from the German U17 side before the UEFA U17 Euros to "focus on club football," but some U.S. fans are holding out hope that it's because playing in that would have ruled him out from switching to the U.S. (since he wouldn't have been U.S. eligible at the time of playing for the German youth squad in official competition). Still very young, but many think he is a fantastic young playmaker.
There are other Americans playing for top club youth academies (Liverpool, Barcelona, some German clubs) and the U.S. academy system is improving (Yedlin is a product of the Seattle Sounders' youth academy). So, there is at least hope out there that things are getting better.
I'll start to sound like a recruitnik here, but some very young players are coming up through the ranks who could play a role. Some are known (Boyd, Diskarud, Agudelo) and we'll see how they pan out. Others are beginning to draw interest. Luis Gil plays for Real Salt Lake and is seen as the next potential midfield player. Erik Palmer-Brown is a 17 year-old defender who has drawn international interest. Darlington Nagbe doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet, but will by 2015. Another intriguing prospect along those lines is 17 year-old Arsenal product Gedion Zelalem, who doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet but lived in the states for 4-5 years. His father reportedly almost has U.S. citizenship, and if that happens before Zelalem turns 18, he would be a U.S. citizen too. He withdrew from the German U17 side before the UEFA U17 Euros to "focus on club football," but some U.S. fans are holding out hope that it's because playing in that would have ruled him out from switching to the U.S. (since he wouldn't have been U.S. eligible at the time of playing for the German youth squad in official competition). Still very young, but many think he is a fantastic young playmaker.
There are other Americans playing for top club youth academies (Liverpool, Barcelona, some German clubs) and the U.S. academy system is improving (Yedlin is a product of the Seattle Sounders' youth academy). So, there is at least hope out there that things are getting better.
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AuTX Buckeye
Founder & Pres of the Flemming/Holtmann Fan Club
Yahoo Pickem Champ
Former Game Champion
To your point about the future... I feel like our Latin American/Hispanic (however they would like to refer to themselves) heritage is kinda being ignored. Given the % of population that they represent and the fact that we have more German born players than Hispanic Americans is a bit odd to me. Seems like we could get a good mix of players with different backgrounds and skill sets.
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AuTX Buckeye
Founder & Pres of the Flemming/Holtmann Fan Club
Yahoo Pickem Champ
Former Game Champion
yesterday's team photo 
Maybe not entirely accurate but at times its what it felt like.
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I think round of 16 is expected now, and has been since 2002...I don't hear too many who are just happy to make it anymore. I do think there is a big leap to making it past the QF, though, and we clearly aren't there yet. Depth is a big concern, along with the points you and others have already made.
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I agree, although they had the benefit of playing Uruguay without Suarez, and England's team was, yet again, downright embarrassing. I certainly did not have them advancing, let alone winning the group outright.
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Bucky32
Legend
Yep. Belgium has 7-8 great players, a much deeper bench and have guys all over the top leagues in Europe. The U.S. has 1-2 very good players and a bunch of guys, young and old, who showed spirit, tenacity and heart in their efforts. The talent level on the U.S. squad is not close to Belgium and in the end, this did them in. Belgium brings in Lukaku off the bench and we bring in Wondo, big drop-off there. They bring in Mirallas and we bring in Yedlin.
All the European commentators came away very impressed with the U.S. effort, their spacing, technical prowess, discipline, and - other than the pulled hammys - their training and stamina. The overriding sentiment was they they need more talent. This is why Klinsmann left Donovan off the team, to help the process of playing young guys with upside. Now, they need about 5 more, especially a striker. Altidore is fine, but they need a back-up to him and some fast mids.
Coaching, effort, heart: A
Talent: C
Rave reviews for their effort in last night's match, high praise from stodgy folks who have been dismissing the U.S. forever. No more of that. We are on the up-and-up.
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Part of the high praise from stodgy Europeans is doubtless an ESPN/ABC directive for ratings and to "help grow the game" in the US and all that...I wonder what some of the Euros say when the cameras and mics are off. But I agree, we are risers in the world game, much as it looked after our performance in 2002...now we need to get that next generation of players into their international prime by 2018.
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