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Report: Davies won’t play for Sochaux this season

DaviesReuters

All of the positive momentum surrounding Charlie Davies' comeback has seemingly hit a bit of a roadblock, as FC Sochaux president Alexandre Lacombe told a French newspaper that the American forward won't play for the Ligue 1 side before the season ends.

Davies, whose recovery from an October car accident has been nothing short of remarkable, is still considered a hopeful to make the U.S. World Cup roster, but not playing in any competitive matches before the national team opens up camp will not work to his benefit.

What do you make of this news?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Hard lesson to learn but you can not take your career for granted. If he would have been in the hotel like he was supposed to be we would be talking about how many WC goals Davies would score.

    Lesson for those with a bright future in any sport, stay out of troublesome situations.

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  2. “With any other country, it would be absurd to even contemplate playing in the World Cup, when you haven’t played a competitive match in 8-9 months.”

    Enough said. Until he plays, this is not a story. Right now, he’s not even looking good enough for his club to hold out hope he might play this season. There’s no way Bradley can use a spot on him.

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  3. That’s the spirit! Keep dwelling on mistakes CD already apologized for, pledged to make up for, and that Bradley and his teammates forgave him for. The crash was a terrible tragedy. The lessons learned came too late. But there’s nothing for anyone to do about it except keep living forward.

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  4. Agreed. And the real issue about being less than 100% is that you’re begging for a re-injury. The examples are legion of guys who set themselves way back in the long run because they tried to come back too soon. Look no further than Jermaine…

    Better for him and his career, and even the Nats in the long run, if he’s able to fully recuperate before jumping back into the cauldron.

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  5. PB,

    Good post but what would be in it for an MLS team to take Davies on loan? Why would the MLS pay a player big money for maybe, what, 5 or 6 games before leaving for the World Cup?

    You are then as much as admitting you are some kind of backwater minor league that is prone to what amounts to publicity stunts. Even if you, Papa Bear, believe that to be the case, what MLS team be stupid enough to do that?

    Also, in case no one noticed, Dempsey is playing a lot at the striker position for Fulham. Like you, I can’t imagine why anyone would take an injured player to the most important tournament in the game. Davies, even at his best, is no Wayne Rooney and everyone will tell you that England made a big mistake when a half fit Rooney was rushed back for England’s 2006 world Cup and was pretty subpar.

    The USMNT is better off with a fully fit in form Davies but carrying an injured, unproven, half fit, rehab patient on your roster just to “inspire” people is a sick joke.

    Don’t tell me that Davies, at this point, is a more proven 20 minute instant offense sub than Gomez.

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  6. The guy is hurt. He can’t play. It’s his own fault. Had he not violated curfew, he would have been ready, and maybe no one had died.

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  7. i think just his presence on the field could make the difference. everyone would be so pumped that he made it to SA, and even if he only played 15 minutes a game, he could possibly be capable of making something happen. its still 50 days away, and all he has to do is show bradley that he is close enough to full health to at least take to the tournament as a sub and start donovan or dempsey up top with jozy

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  8. It’s too bad he wasn’t loaned to MLS during the window. Now there is no chance he’ll get playing time short of his contract being terminated.
    If I’m Bob Bradley, I’m 75-25 in favor of leaving Davies off the roster at this point. Charlie is a talented guy but ANYONE on the shelf for 8+ months is going to be rusty and will only be able to be a stoppage time-30 minute sub at the very very best and I don’t think that is a very helpful situation to put the USMNT team.

    It’s a shame really, he really looked poised to be one of the big contributors and now will likely be watching from home.

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  9. The Willis Reed analogy is more apt than you realize.

    Reed made his first two baskets and then that was it for the game. It was okay as that was the 7th game of the series the Knicks won.

    However, the US has to play 3 games just to get out of its group and 4 after that to win the World Cup. So, unless Davies is fully fit, you are putting the US in a deep hole from the start by bringing along a half fit player from the get go. This crap about “well 80% of Charlie is betterthan 100% of player X” is just that CRAP. You know why Bradley is so bad at subbing people? Because the team has crap depth, thats why. Unless Charlie can prove he is nearly 100% he shouldn’t go. This is the World Cup not some exhibition tour of Africa. The team can’t afford a passenger, as the English say.

    I followed the Knicks very closely during the Reed years and Reed was never he same player after that game so you might think about that as you wish for your fairy tail ending.

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  10. If Bob and the US doctors think he’s healthy, I don’t see what the harm is in bringing him. Jozy, Davies, Ching, Gomez. Dempsey can obviously deputize as necessary. I don’t think we can do measurably better than that.

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  11. For some reason Hull’s other mediocre strikers have scored more than Jozy – ok aside from zaki – so let’s not kid ourselves.

    Jozy’s no Arjen Robben or Rooney or Torres who can create his own shot, which is a problem. Even on a bad team a good striker should have more than 1 goal. So at age 20, we can’t honestly call Jozy a good striker can we? He may be best USMNT has got, but that isn’t saying much.

    But yeah if Jozy hustles and landon sets the table we can hope for more at the Cup.

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  12. Maybe he can get fit playing for an MLS team for a couple weeks if he’s nearly fit enough with the ligue 1 season coming to a close.

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  13. I think you got the starting line-up exactly right as of today.

    Whether it is Gomez or Buddle coming off the bench when Jozy runs out of gas will be settled by the Czech and Turk friendlies.

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  14. not surprising.

    i don’t know who should go but i think you have to question the wisdom of bringing, players that are not playing, players that are out of form, players that aren’t scoring if that’s their job, and players that are not fit.

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  15. Actually I’m sure Bradley will weigh heavily the views of Sochaux’s coaches and trainers.

    If the word out of France is that there is just no way Charlies is close to fit enough to play, then Bradley will save the roster spot for someone else.

    Seeing the broke-down guy who woulda coulda shoulda helped sitting on the bench, I don’t see how that does anything for the USMNT.

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  16. i think we all initially assumed he was out for the WC and just collectively prayed for Charlie’s health – then we got our hopes up with his speedy recovery. Now, reality has spoken, and Charlie will probably have to focus on 2014 as far as WC competition. Like an earlier comment, Hercules and Edson have been given a huge chance – let’s see what you’ve got, boys!

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  17. From Charlie’s Twitter, posted today. “Just to let you all know I’m progressing very well & lucky not to have had any setbacks & I’m working extremely hard every day. Believe!!!!!”

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  18. I wouldn’t get too up or down about this statement. Like someone said before, it would be somewhat irresponsible for Socheax to play Charlie too soon with nothing to gain in their last couple of games. If he has remarkable progress in the following weeks there may still be time to train at the camps and play in the friendlies. Honestly, it’s a long shot. US fans should not want him to try and play, risking injury, if he is not match fit.

    In regards to the forward situation, we really need to utilize our overloaded midfielder pool here. It would seem that Beasley, Bedoya, and Feilhaber are battling for the last roster spot at midfielder. I, for one, would rather see any of those three at forward before anyone else in the forward pool after Altidore (excepting Dempsey). Sure, give Gomez and Buddle a shot at the friendlies, but remember the jump to international play at the World Cup is a big one.

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  19. You obviously aren’t the brightest bulb in the bunch, so let me break it down in clear chapter and verse: Just because he’s not scoring goals in the PREMIERSHIP, doesn’t mean he is not a valuable asset to his club team or the national team. He starts regularly for his club team despite his terrible scoring record, that just shows that there’s something more that he offers than just goals.

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  20. I am not suprised. There is no sense rushing him back to the first team at Socha. They want to preserve him for next year. Also, this could be indicative that his rehad is far from over. I don’t see any chance that he will make the WC squad.

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  21. CD should go as a spectator only at this point. If Sochaux is holding him out in the hopes that he is back to form come next season then I have no issues with that. He will be missed but I’d rather have him playing at full strength next year with the prospect of a keeping his career going than to have him risk further injury and never be able to suit up for any club or the US ever again.

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  22. With all due respect, the last WC is irrelevant. By the way, there will be about 6-8 players from the last WC in this one. That experience will help. They will try to erase the disappointment from the last WC. The U.S. won their group in CONCACAF, so I think they can score goals. They also put the ball in the back of the net in the Confed. Cup. You do make a point about Davies not getting playing time. However, it is not like he is eating hamburgers all day, but it is a big concern. I think Gomez and Buddle can do well. I really do. They will have three international friendlies before the big show. The international friendlies before the WC will tell us a lot as far as what personnel to put on the field. By the way, we will get out of our group.

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  23. That makes a lot more sense and shows a sense of compassion from the president that really isn’t evident at all in Google’s translation.

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  24. no short corners broke this story this morning. He’s provided the following update:

    “UPDATE: Alright, everybody take a deep breath. I have spoken to Sochaux. Monsieur Lacombe’s statements were indicative of his personal outlook on the matter and not of an official medical decision of any kind.

    To sum up, Davies has not been shut down for the season or halted in any way from continuing his World Cup chase.

    Said Sochaux press officer Stijn Slaats to NSC: “At this moment, Charlie is working very hard on his rehab and we do all hope he will be able to accomplish his dream to be in the World Cup, without taking any risks of overcharging his rehab schedule.””

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  25. “driving a rear-wheel-drive Buick with bald tires over a mountain pass in a blizzard while a line of cars is tailgating you”

    Done it in the alps with what seemed like the biggest semi I’d ever seen tailgating me. And it wasn’t a Buick. And it was night. And there are no lighted highways in the Italian Alps. And the road signs are non existent. And I was lost.

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