A mere two days after a story leaked about the US talking to Klinsmann, Sunil Gulati offered a four year extension to incumbent Bob Bradley. I suppose Gulati is content with more of the same. He likely thought a change in coach would simply be change-for-change's-sake. Often the change-for-change's-sake ends in disaster (see: Millen, Matt). Yet, it's occasionally necessary for a team to reach the next level (see: Brown, Larry).
The US team is in a precarious position. The core of the team - Donovan and Dempsey - will be in their early 30s for the next World Cup. The heart of the backline, Oguchi Onyewu, still has not recovered from his torn patellar tendon from a year ago, and the bright young striker, Charlie Davies, may never recover from his near-fatal car crash. Perhaps the best thing about the current US roster is Bob's son, Michael, who, at age 23, has shown signs of becoming a world-class central midfielder. The cupboard is relatively bare.
Jozy Altidore may fare well against Concacaf opposition but struggles mightily against the big boys of Europe. Tim Howard should be fine in net by 2014, but who will play in front of him? The US youth ranks suffered a major drop since the halcyon days of Freddy Adu. There's no Neymar waiting in the wings:
Now, I don't want to give the impression that the sky is falling. The US team does have its share of young talent entering their prime - Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu, etc. The problem is that the team has no balance. They're a team of midfielders, without a single playmaker in the lot. The defense remains in shambles. And to make matters worse, teams that retain managers for a 2nd World Cup tend to fail miserably on their second trip (see France, Italy 2010 or USA 2006). There's no simple reason for this dip in form, except that teams may become complacent with the same manager. I expect Bob's team to suffer the same fate.
The US benefited from a great draw this time around. With an aging team, an unimaginative coach, and a likely more difficult draw, the US will be lucky to get a point in 2014. It'll be a repeat of 2006. It's entirely possible that Klinsmann would suffer the same fate, but I maintain he'd at least breath some new life into this roster. Perhaps he'd also teach the forwards a thing or two about scoring. Just a thought.
I'm not thrilled, but a few counterpoints:
ReplyDeleteI don't think the (see France, Italy 2010 or USA 2006) comment necessarily fits. Those squads had more veterans, and perhaps overconfidence, ego, and less to prove. In 2002, the USA had a fabulous run, beating Portugal and advancing to the round of 16, then beating Mexico in the Round of 16, then looking pretty good in the loss to Germany. In 2006 pthbthtbth.
Italy and France 2010 were veteran rosters coming off meeting in the World Cup Final.
The 2010 US Team... well, we had a great moment with a memorable last minute goal, but really, they only tied England (and were outplayed) and lost to Ghana. I don't see this team resting on it's laurels. I see it as having something to prove.
The projected US squad in 2014? I see too many potential players with something to prove individually. Tim Howard and Landon Donovan appear to be very level headed, intelligent, and hard working; these are the only guys that could even consider having an ego regarding their accomplishments. Dempsey and Onyewu are nice players, and Dempsey seems to have a fair amount of piss and vinegar in his game.
The rest of the team? I'm not sure it will be "aging". If it is... then I'm not sure how much the coach will really matter. But there should be a lot of youth that certainly will have something to prove. And there is a chance that Donovan and Howard play in 2018. A long shot, but not out of the realm of possibility.
Bradley seems calm, and I didn't hear much complaining from players that were cut, or didn't get enough playing time. The roster seemed focused and enjoyed playing with each other and for Bradley. Especially Donovan, and he does seem to be the leader of the team in a calm and hard-working lead-by-example Steve Yzerman/Joe Dumars/Tim Duncan style.
Perhaps in a couple of years, once we get to the final CONCACAF qualifying we will think differently, but for now, I don't mind having Bradley to calmly and steadily guide the ship. If we do get a couple of players like Jozy or Edu or Charlie Davies or Michael Bradley that do make the jump (and quickly) to a Donovan-level of success, and we are ready for prime time, then perhaps we would be better served with a Scotty Bowman-type or a 90's era Doug Collins or Mike Keenan type to come in and stir up some shit to push them to the next level. But for now, I think it's about keeping the expectations and style of play steady and simple for our young players, so they don't have to learn a new system or coaching style, and can just focus on their games and personal development.
Indeed, I think you raise some very good points. The players definitely do seem to enjoy playing for BB. If anything, the '10 squad had excellent camaraderie. It was evident as early as the dramatic draw with Costa Rica last year, after Charlie Davies car crash. I've never seen Altidore so inspired. Perhaps the camaraderie will continue.
ReplyDeleteI suppose my issues with Bradley are a moot point. The bigger problem is not so much the coach but player development. It's not Bradley's fault the core is aging. I give Bradley kudos for throwing unproven talents like Hercules Gomez and Robbie Findley onto the World Cup pitch. His over-reliance on Findley and Ricardo Clark left much to be desired, but I can't fault him for ALWAYS playing favorites.
In his recent presser, Bradley did emphasize a desire to continue an injection of youth. That's what he should do... but the bigger question is whether or not the youth has talent. Shoddy player development in this country will continue to plague the US nats.
We all played soccer, and we all saw firsthand how poor coaching results in poor players. Is it my fault that I never learned how to properly shoot the ball until high school? Kids should be learning that from Day 1. I realize coaches and programs are superior now. But we - as a culture - still have an over-reliance on winning at the youth level. More important than winning another stupid trophy is skill and tactic development. That's what makes great players. Let the kids worry about winning when it actually matters.
My two pronged attack:
ReplyDelete1. Hire a bunch of auditors to comb over the birth records of every foreign player to find more athletes that may have been born on a US Army Base, or had an unknown father that had an American citizenship.
2. Figure out the top teenage players in third world Central and South American countries. Find US families to "sponsor" or "adopt" (or Christian families to "convert") the foreign families for a "better" life in the US. Might also work by hiring some ex-CIA or ex-KGB (or ex-Red Wing executives) types to smuggle the defecting players out of Cuba, North Korea, etc.