The U.S. roster is pretty young and fairly inexperienced. Drew Moor, Herculez Gomez and Marvell Wynne have never even been a part of a US senior camp before while five others have one cap.
The experience on this roster is limited to Kasey Keller, Ben Olsen, Jimmy Conrad, Taylor Twellman and Eddie Johnson.
I wonder if people will start to give up on Copa America even before the tournament starts. Yes, this team is young and yes, Argentina is bringing their full squad and yes, that probably means a tough game. However, when people start throwing out A team and B team and C team, it's almost as if there are set players for set positions and if those players aren't there, the team is suddenly terrible.
For instance, everyone thought that Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra were the best two central defenders before Gold Cup. And that duo has looked anything but solid as the tournament has progressed. Honestly, I'd take Jimmy Conrad and Jay DeMerit over those two the way things have worked out, and that's who Bob Bradley has at his disposal now. Justin Mapp has looked good in his opportunities. So has Benny Feilhaber. And then there's Andrea's personal fave, Ricardo Clark.
So now that Landon Donovan isn't there, and DaMarcus Beasley isn't there, and Clint Dempsey isn't there, now all of the sudden it's time to hit the panic button?
Hasn't the U.S. progressed since the early 1990s, when the depth was actually nonexistent?
6 comments:
With that team yeah I'm hitting the panic button and I'm not taking my finger off until this dream...nightmare is over. I thought the US would take this competition seriously but sending the likes of Drew Moore and Eddie Gaven this is sad. I understand most Euros players can't go b/c of there team's preseason but this is like sending lambs to be slaughter. Argentina is bringing Messi, Crespo, and Tevez taking it very serious. I feel the US is putting to much into the Confed Cup. We had an opportunity here to really have our best players battled tested. Instead all we can hope for is that this group doesn't become damaged goods but show us why they should be on the regular national team.
Luis you talk about depth and not getting into A squad or B squad but this is by far an untested un proven team showing you that we are not nearly as deep as we thought we are.
I hope these guys prove me wrong.
That's actually what I like about this roster. I think it has a chance to surprise, because it will be written off, just like the last U.S. Copa America team was. So many people act like if the U.S. doesn't have Landon Donovan, it just isn't anything, and sometimes I think the team plays down to that level, waiting for Landon to come and play well. Without him, I hope to see others step up.
I agree with you that the team depends on Donovan too much and waits for him to do something. I just think that winging the team off of him should have came in all those friendlies we had during the winter. To do this against one of the top team 3 or 4 teams in the world who are bring their best players to win this thing is just down right stupid. They could have brought in Wyne and Herc for for that friendly against Denmark but instead he wants to break a bunch of newbies in this way...stupid. An why not bring Pablo why bring a guy like Gaven who has been playing like crap for the past 2 and a half seasons? This roster would has made much more sense for the upcoming fall friendlies. Asking for this group to pull off the Game of Their Lives shocker is asking way too much. So many fans were so excited about Copa and the US disappoints them with this squad. I would like to see a squad that at least on paper indicates they want to win. I could go on and on with this.
Everyone thought that Onyewu and Bocanegra would be the best center backs in the gold cup? Why would anyone have thought that after the way Gooch has been playing. Honestly, those are the two worst central defenders.
Funny thing those two have been playing for the National Team for 2 years now and only this summer have people come to the conclusion those 2 are the worst central defenders. People screamed how Gooch was the future like he was Superman b/c of his job on Borgetti. Its funny how quickly people turn on you when you are down I guess. Its the coaches job to recognize when two players don't play well together. Those two have played well together before so I think its the change of the guard that has them offcentered. You can't began to understand the value an Eddie Pope brought to the US backline. The US has to find a defender that brings the kind of leadership qualities Pope brought on the field everytime.
Being ruthlessly honest: with the teams we're going up against, we're very likely going 3-and-out anyway, and I'm pretty sure Bradley knows it (if he doesn't, he's the wrong one for the job). Most of our backbone retired after the last World Cup, and quite frankly even the likes of Donovan and Dempsey aren't ready to step forward. And the best teams we've put forward for the Gold Cup are IMO not in any sense ready to handle anything outside of CONCACAF. (And has been looking shaky even inside CONCACAF. Canada, anyone?)
It looks to me like he's taken stock of what he's seen in our Gold Cup run, and decided to take the kids through a trial by fire to find out (a) who can step up when it's on the line, and (b) what the kids need so they can step up when it counts (i.e. World Cup qualifying). Since we don't have a team that stands a chance in the Copa America anyway, get some good out of it. Grandstanding with the mess that's our "best team" is pointless.
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