Scholarship table
That was some bullsh1t from Ramos. Also from Karius. What a strange game.
I'll stick with my opinion on Gold. He'll be in foul trouble within the first eight minutes.
Just watched the USA friendly with Bolivia. While it was probably a B/C side for Bolivia, it was fun to watch the future and fun to watch us look good. A few players stood out: Josh Sargent: He was active, strong, unselfish, and his goal was excellent. What made it impressive was not just the individual talent to take it out of the air, control, and beat the goalie 1v1, but it was also against Bolivia's first choice keeper. If that's a full international, there's no reason it plays out any different. He continues to impress at every level. Tim Weah: Quick, active, full of energy. I love having wingers with a nose for goal. I feel like we haven't had that type of play since Dempsey and Donovan played the 7/8 for us earlier in their careers. Antonee Robinson: I'm hesitant to get excited about LB debuts because so many promising starts have gone awry, but he was excellent. His pace and delivery up the left was so good, and not just on his assist to Weah. Defensively, while he was beat a few times, he showed both willingness to defend and the pace to make up for his mistakes. Him and Yedlin at the fullbacks could grow into quite the tandem. Keaton Parks: What stood out was how he didn't look 6'4" when he was on the run. He had good instincts to know when to drive up the middle, drift outside for a through ball, or get back. But doing it, he didn't have the awkwardness that many young lanky players have. He looked like he belonged and was natural in his body. Weston McKinney: Neither of the central defenders had much to do because McKinney did well marshaling the midfield and breaking up plays. He didn't do a ton going forward, but had some bright moments and made the workload light on the guys behind him.
https://www.theringer.com/2018/6/5/17428184/2018-world-cup-us-soccer-inside-story-jurgen-klinsmann-sunil-gulati-bruce-arenaGreat article breaking down what's gone wrong with US soccer in the last 7 years.
Drogba hasn't played in the MLS in over a year, and the Torres to MLS talk is nonsense. You take those players because they can help your image. Rooney to DC would be a good signing because it'll sell the jerseys and he's still got a few years left in him. I think all the Americans coming back to the MLS was a mistake unless you can't break into the first team abroad (see Zack Steffen). MLS is a lesser league but an all MLS team is still good enough to make the World Cup. The majority of the Costa Rico, Mexico and Panama rosters are MLS or Liga MX players.
Okay. If you say so. Throw out Drogba and Torres.You've still got schweinsteiger, zlatan, Rooney.Again, retirement paradise. Instead of focusing on development of the whole.
I don't care if veterans feelings were hurt cause klins called in younger guys. Work hard, be better and you'll make the team. MLS is absolutely a lesser league. Why are they still trying to give massive contracts and control to corpses like Drogba and Torres? It's stuff like that that undermines their stated place in the world.Other than those 2 topics, story was solid
Excellent read. Dense but thorough. My only hope, and Sarachan's method of blooding the kids should help, is that we basically raze it all and start from the ground up.Sorry, but there's no way Julian Green earned his spot over Landon Donovan. Jurgen brought in new players he was comfortable with. Some, like John Brooks and Fabian Johnson, were solid. Some, like Timmy Chandler and Julian Green, simply weren't up to the task. Green might still get there, but he did not deserve the nod in 2014.MLS is a second tier league, but sending 19 players to the 2018 World Cup when the domestic nation isn't going is solid. One of the drawbacks to growing a league is balancing growing talent with selling tickets. Names draw fans. MLS has been fantastic for the improvement of international players. The real problem with MLS is that it's been as good or better for other CONCACAF nations' players. Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, T&T, and others have reaped the benefits while our own NT is in the limbo of indecision between domestic and overseas leagues.
MLS is probably a top-10 or so league in the world. Somewhere in the 8-12 range depending on year. My issue with it is that it hasn't been dedicated to developing the USMNT. When you look at Germany, there was a concerted effort to develop players for Die Mannschaft. Our own league has been focused on its own marketing, which led to a focus on foreign stars (most can still play, but don't help our NT) or bringing back big name Americans that have the ability to play elsewhere.I would rather see a youth focused league that makes its money not at the gate, but in developing and selling its domestic players overseas. But as long as MLS is a business first, the development of USMNT players will always be a tertiary goal.
Regarding the relative strength of MLS, the European leagues are quite top heavy. You have four very elite leagues (Spain, Germany, England, Italy), a couple leagues that have a couple decent teams at the top, but a bunch of crap below (France, Portugal, Russia), and a bunch of leagues that just really aren't that good.Put it another way, there are more players from MLS playing in the World Cup this year than play in Belgium's national league - and Belgium made the WC and the US didn't. I think only one player on Belgium's national team plays in Belgium. And that league is rated the 9th best in Europe.
Julian Green scored on his debut in the World Cup. That alone validates his selection to the 2014 team. He was brought to be a spark and he produced a spark. Job fulfilled. Donovan going to Brasil would have changed absolutely nothing of what transpired down there.
Serie A hasn't been elite for most of the last decade. England is elite in terms of marketing but the quality of play is mediocre across the board. And to call Ligue Une a crap league is to not understand the level of talent the league has provided to the countries that you consider elite.Also, Belgium is an export country. Always has been. It's the middle man for African players to gain entry into Europe and then they move on to other countries. Some of the clubs are direct feeders into clubs in England and France.
Still can't believe we are two weeks away from a World Cup without the US. So disappointing. But then again, Italy, Netherlands and Chile all must be feeling the same way.