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It’s Old School SBI Q&A Time

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIPhotos.com

By IVES GALARCEP

Good morning everybody. I haven’t been able to get together an SBI Live Q&A lately, and since I’m probably not going to be able to get one together for this week, I wanted to give readers a chance to send some questions in for me to answer.

So I’m bringing back the old school Q&A format for this week.

Submit your soccer-related questions in the comments section below and I will post answers to some of the questions on Thursday and Friday. Want to ask about the recent U.S. Men’s National Team qualifying loss? The upcoming MLS season? International soccer? The new season of The Walking Dead? Whatever it is, send your questions my way and I’ll try to get to as many of them as possible. I will be having an SBI Live Q&A soon, but for now you can ask your questions here.

Submit your questions in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Ives,

    Three part question:

    -How corrupt were the decisions to go with Russia and Qatar?

    -What are the chances that the details of this corruption ever get exposed?

    -Would that change the decision to have the Cup in these countries?

    Reply
  2. The possibility of unperceived existence…

    If a question is asked in a comment section and no one is around to answer it, was it ever really a question?

    Reply
  3. Any chance we see anyone from the Revolution on the Gold Cup roster? I know the last few years haven’t been pretty but there is some talent on the squad (Nguyen, Soares, Alston, Farrell). Is JK just going to ignore them like he did Benny until they move to another team…

    Reply
  4. JK is supposed to be a fitness guru yet USA seems to have less energy and endurance than ive ever seen from a USMNT. Before he arrived, I can’t think of a single game where USA has been run off the field yet I can name at least 3 off the top of my head in the last year. Is there any explanation why this keeps happening when it had never occurred before Klinsi? Am I not remembering correctly? Has USA had issues with fitness with Bob or Bruce? I don’t remember anything of the sort.

    Reply
    • I’ve seen the same problem. Klinsmann said we weren’t fit enough before, but under him, is the first time the US has looked more tired than their opponents.

      On top of that, he keeps talking about motivation, even bringing motivational speakers into camp, yet this team looks so unmotivated on teh field it is hard to watch. on top of that, he can’t even motivate his best player to play on his team.

      Reply
  5. It is obvious the USMNT has some defensive issues along the entire backline but CD seems to be the glaring problem. A name I haven’t heard in a long time but wouldn’t mind seeing back in the group is Jay Demerit! What are the chances he gets a call in and what are your thoughts on how he would help the team?

    Reply
  6. What are you hearing about stadium projects in DC and New England? Any realistic economics, (downtown) locations, reasonable timeframes? How about the competing NY stadia and teams/ownership groups/developers?

    Reply
  7. Why are we seeing a return to the 80’s with all these solid color and fluorescent soccer cleats? I miss the old school black kangaroo leather cleats.

    Reply
  8. Hi Ives,

    Since Donovan is missing from the Galaxy lineup for at least the first month or two of the season. What are the chances that the Galaxy beat Herediano and move onto the Semifinals in the Champions League?

    Reply
  9. Ives- I live in Mexico City, and go to a decent number of FMF matches. I’d be interested in working on your new “Americans in Mexico” feature- please shoot me an email to discuss.

    Question for SBI: What’s next for Bornstein? He’s gotten no love since he went to Tigres, and has been listed for transfer the past 2 offseasons, but nothing has happened. I know he is much-maligned on these boards, but I think the guy has shown himself to be a solid player, and could make an impact on a number of MLS teams. Have you heard anything about any MLS teams trying to work out a deal to bring him home?

    Reply
  10. what, if anything, do you think MLS teams need to do to improve scouting in africa? watching the cup of nations had me thinking about the talent in that part of the world right now

    Reply
  11. How are you feeling about the U-20 team that Tab Ramos put out? Do you think they can qualify, and if so how far do you think they will go?

    Reply
  12. Will the Southeast (not including Florida) get a MLS team in the moderately near future? What holds back cities like Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, Atlanta?

    A personal anecdote, in case anyone cares: I didn’t care about MLS at all before I left the Southeast. Then I briefly lived near a MLS team and got hooked. I moved back to the Southeast and now support a team I can’t watch live. My soccer friends still don’t follow the league. Ives, do you think it’s too big of a region (in terms of both geography and population) for MLS to continue to ignore?

    Reply
  13. Neither are with ESPN anymore, but during the Erin Andrews vs Michelle Beadle debate who would you have taken, Andrews or Beadle??

    Reply
  14. Do you see Lampard joing the Galaxy in the next transfer window? What do you think his impact will be on the Galaxy’s performance and on MLS in general?

    Reply
  15. Wondering about the new MLS USL partnership. Are the loans session long or can you send players back and forth like a triple A affiliate?

    Reply
  16. As the only person choosing to watch Dortmund over Mourinho, why do you think the Bundesliga isn’t more popular? Better fans, and more goals than every league besides the Eredivisie…

    Reply
  17. As a Red Bulls fan, I was wondering if you’ve heard anything regarding Luke Rodgers trying to come back to NY. Does he still want to, does the new management even want him, or does Homeland intend to never let him back in? Thanks.

    Reply
    • As for any decision out of Homeland, it appears that will be up to Saul. Carrie might have a say if Saul gives her a pass given what happened, but that remains to be seen. Pretty sure we won’t see Brody back in uniform, but he might get capped.

      Reply
  18. What do you think about Klinsy calling in the A-Team for the Gold Cup? I know it is traditionally for fringe players, but it seems our A-Team lacks cohesion due to so many new faces and so few games together. Wouldn’t the Gold Cup provide an opportunity for the team to gel, get momentum, and gain confidence? Isn’t this what Mexico did in the 2009 Gold Cup?

    Reply
    • That would strike me as foolishly doubling down on many players who are frustrating, too old, or both. I think it needs to be a B team event where players like Boyd and Corona and Lichaj and such get an extended camp and plenty of games to show that they are better than what JK reflexively runs out.

      I mean, at some point calling and recalling players like Sacha on some sort of gelling theory is like taping the kick me sign to yourself. I think he justifies it by certain people being tested — no matter what they’ve done with it — and others not being as tried. You can defend this a little bit in terms of quali games being no joke, but then when you get a more “friendly” window to try other players, you can’t waste it on recalling the usual suspects otherwise there is no room to integrate the new generation.

      If the results were there I might defend team building but there are a lot of frightening results in recent qualis, barely winning at Antigua, loss at Jamaica, loss at Honduras, etc. Does the current run of form seem to you to be a justification for incumbency? To the contrary I see a rather tepid run of form with some interesting players on the margins with limited cap histories.

      But, like I said, it needs to be a B camp (Jozy, Boyd, Corona, Mixx, Shea, Agudelo, Morales, Gatt, Gyau), not a camp cupcake C gathering. If they call in people like Evans or Wondo it’s a waste of time and they might as well call in the A to work out any kinks they can find. But IMO the A team problems have to do with formation and selection, not the need for more practice time together.

      Reply
      • While I normally would agree with you, JK seems to be incredibly stubborn about his player selections. As such, I don’t see any of those young players you mentioned forcing JK to add them to the starting line up based on their GC performances. If he has already decided on his best 23 wouldn’t it make sense to get that group as much time together as possible? Isn’t this what Mexico did in 2009 while they were still struggling? It seemed like the Mexican team rode the momentum of their GC victory into the final stages of qualifying and rode it even further into the WC.

        I also think JK (still being a relatively inexperienced coach) could use the extra practice coaching his preferred group of players.

    • not a chance. the A team will focus on qualifiers. players on the fringe of the A team will be in the gold cup with some veterans. some names off the top of my head that’ll likely be in the gold cup (as it stands today):

      lichaj, gatt, gyau, boyd, agudelo, besler, mix, corona, morales, ream, spector, goodson, beasley, kitchen, pontius, beckerman, davis, evans, s. johnson, hamid, bedoya, feilhaber, adu, etc.

      shea, kljestan, and torres i can’t even speculate on because those three could go either way.

      Reply
  19. Ives,

    Of the current player pool available (not counting Donovan until we hear something), who is your starting XI? Not who you think JK might start, but your opinion? What formation, which players? Go!

    Reply
  20. Where do you see Alfredo Morales and/or Joe Gyau ending up? Couple of interesting Germany-based players not getting a lot of time who based on talent could be helpful to the senior team if they could find a home and form……

    Reply
  21. (1) What is your honest assessment if Klinsmann’s performance so far?

    (2) What, if anything, could/should get Klinsmann replaced before the conclusion of the Hexagonal?

    (3) Do you have any inside information on what’s changed at RBNY? Was the hiring of Petke simply thrust upon them because of Sousa’s visa issues, or have they truly changed course and realized the value of American coaches with MLS knowledge? And do their roster decisions in the offseason point to a shift in philosophy toward a bigger role for American players, and young players? Do these developments point to “winners” and “losers” in the front office?

    Reply
  22. We sometimes hear about foreign MLS players who might someday be eligible for the USMNT– Alonso, Le Toux, Zakuani, Collin, etc. Imagine it’s possible for a moment–which of these guys would most help the current USMNT and why?

    Reply
    • I humbly submit that you are over rating Le Toux by a quite a large margin. Seattle, Vancouver, New York (and Philly once) all said “happy trails”. While I think he is a good MLS player. That is definitely not National Team material.

      Reply
  23. Do you think fans of the USMNT expect too much from the team? Would you agree or disagree with the statement that the USMNT has been punching above their weight class since the 2002 World Cup?

    Reply
  24. Have you heard the latest Sean Price album “Mic Tyson”? Pretty dope.. and speaking of Sean P, who’s your favorite rapper from the Duck Down/Boot Camp Click fam??

    Reply
    • Along similar lines, who do you think will end up having the better post national team career, Bradley or Klinsmann? Does Klinsmann have any ambitions beyond his current employment?

      Reply
  25. Complete hypothetical here – assuming our entire player pool was healthy (and in one specific case, not on sabbatical) what is, in your opinion, the best formation/starting XI the US could throw out on the field?

    Reply
  26. Tim Cahill on Bonuses and the lack of competitiveness in MLS games due to the wide-open playoff format. Reaction? Ideas for reform? I know we won’t have single-table promotion relegation, but is there a way to be better than other American sports in this regard?

    Reply
  27. How does the loss of Dike change things for Porter in Portland? Is there new (old) player capable of filling the boots?

    Reply
  28. Why does UEFA not sell the seats to CL matches in the first two-three rows? Seems that if the domestic leagues can sell them, why not UEFA? Looks bad on TV for the worldwide audience, suggests trouble is imminent.

    Reply
  29. How do you think the Red Bulls will do this year? do you see Mike as the answer or will he be another name in along list of coaches.

    Reply
  30. Hopefully you make it this far in questions…

    As a journalist, how difficult is it to balance criticism of a player, club, etc, while maintaining a working relationship? Do people end up holding grudges often?

    Reply
  31. Loved your post on the USMNT midfield the other day. If Holden were able to comeback to the level of play he had pre-injury, how would that affect your analysis? Could you see homing the center ahead of a Jones/Bradley defensive duo?

    Reply
  32. MLS held that big marketing event in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens with Garber, hundreds of fans, a bunch of community leaders, free t-shirts and balls and empanadas, nice pictures of where they’d like to put a stadium, and a promise not to screw up the park. They still seem to be missing a team, some owners, and approval for a stadium though. How close are we to MLS2 really? Are the Cosmos an option or the competition?

    Reply
  33. Who do we need to send petitions to in order to see Sunil’s backside?

    What do you think of DC’s roster thus far? I’m very disappointed. After our best finish in years, we seem to be regressing again. Najar gone, depending on a teenager from Brazil as our striker (or worse, Pajoy) – are the defensive players good enough to step in?

    Any news on the DC stadium front?

    Any word why Mix was left out of the Canada game? Was it merely to encourage him?

    Thoughts on Bobby Wood and his recovery? One of the stories of 2012.

    Any news why Gatt didn’t make his rumored move this winter?

    Of all the World Cup teams since 1990, which starting XI was the best?

    It’s funny to think how many of our players trained with world class teams as youths (Casey at Dortmund, Cooper at Man United). What is your favorite what-if youth player?

    Reply
  34. Is hodgson’s warning to lampard not to go to MLS a slap at the leauge or is just the matter of distances. Could we see a backline of chandler/castillo at lb, boca and gonzo centerbacks and cameron at rightback with johnson or possibly chandler being pushed up as wide mid?

    Reply
  35. Why do you think Klinnsman is married to fielding so many defensive or box to box style mids every game? Is it cover for our transitioning D line, he doesn’t think the talent any offensive mids have enough talent or experience yet, poor personnel choices, some mixture of them all?

    Reply
    • On a different vein how do you view MLS’s timetable to be a top league? Are they underestimating how long it will take? When do you see MLS becoming a destination league if ever.

      Reply
  36. Everyone has different opinions of European leagues. For example, people seem to love the technical/tactical aspect of The Netherlands, but at the same time hate on it saying that its too easy to score there. What are your opinions/views on the top leagues of Europe? Do americans in general seem to fit in some leagues better than others?

    Reply

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