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A look at what’s next for the USMNT player pool following World Cup elimination

Following the U.S. Men’s National Team’s stunning loss to Trinidad & Tobago and subsequent World Cup elimination, U.S. Soccer president says the road to 2022 starts right now. The hope of 2018 is over, and the U.S. now faces a massive rebuild.

That rebuild will occur from top to bottom. Changes will be made at every level, including the roster. With five years before the next World Cup chance, the U.S. will integrate a brand new crop of youngsters while saying goodbye to many familiar faces.

Over those five years, players like Weston McKennie, Matt Miazga, Justen Glad, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tyler Adams and Josh Sargent will be handed the reigns. They’ll have five years to learn, grow and develop as players. The USMNT will look very different in five years time.

But, as the new come in, the old must go out as several players have probably played their last USMNT game. It’s a bitter end for several USMNT legends, but one necessary as the U.S. looks to reshape and reconstruct a broken team.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the player pool, who’s staying and who’s going:

HERE TO STAY

CHRISTIAN PULISIC – Not much of a surprise here. Pulisic is now the focal point, and the USMNT will be built around him well beyond the next cycle.

DEANDRE YEDLIN – The Newcastle fullback continues to grow as a defender in the Premier League. He appears to be on an upswing, one that should make him a USMNT starter for years to come.

JOHN BROOKS – It was very apparent how much Brooks’ absence hurt the USMNT down the stretch. At just 24, Brooks still has a lot of growing to do and should be hitting his prime in 2022.

BOBBY WOOD – Like Brooks, Wood will be turning 28 when 2022 rolls around and, if his club performances continue to come, he’ll always be in the mix as a starting striker.

KELLYN ACOSTA – It wasn’t the best summer for Acosta, but he remains a midfielder with plenty of promise. He’ll be in the mix when next cycle begins, but he’ll need to grow into a more complete midfielder to compete with other talented stars coming through the ranks.

JORDAN MORRIS – Although it feels like Morris has been around for quite some time, it’s easy to forget he’s just 22 years old. He’ll need to take another step, but he has time to grow into a valuable piece of the USMNT.

PAUL ARRIOLA – Arriola has shown a ridiculous motor and the ability to play in a number of wide positions. That’s valuable, especially for a 22 year old that’s hopefully set for some stability with D.C. United.

JOZY ALTIDORE – Altidore is still only 27, meaning he’ll be on the tail end of his prime when 2022 rolls around. He’ll need to continue thriving on the club level, but there’s little doubt he’ll be around for the cycle ahead.

PROBABLY INVOLVED

MICHAEL BRADLEY – Yes, he’ll be 34 when the next World Cup rolls around and, yes, his status is up for debate after the recent collapse. However, it would be ridiculous of the U.S. to simply move on from their captain completely. Expect Bradley to remain in the fold as a mentor at the very least.

DARLINGTON NAGBE – It’s unfortunate Nagbe got off to a late start internationally, but he’ll be 31 when the next World Cup rolls around. He’ll probably be a piece of the next qualifying cycle, but he’ll be in a battle for midfield spots.

GEOFF CAMERON – Cameron’s involvement in 2022 might be a long shot given his age, but he’s still the most capable defender in the USMNT pool. If he keeps up his form at Stoke, he’ll be involved early in the cycle.

SEBASTIAN LLETGET – A bit of a forgotten man due to injury, but Lletget should be given a chance in the USMNT midfield when healthy.

JORGE VILLAFANA – Left back has always been rough and, while he hasn’t been faultless, Villafana has been okay. Until a more capable player rises up, he’ll be around.

MAYBE INVOLVED

BRAD GUZAN – There are younger goalkeepers in the mix, but it’s tough to expect them to be thrown in without any veteran leadership. At the very least, Guzan can be brought in as a veteran, although his days as a meaningful contributor are likely over.

MATT BESLER – One of the few defenders to escape without a major blemish, Besler remains a solid veteran presence. He’ll be 34 in 2022, but he’s a good person to have in the back that rarely makes mistakes.

OMAR GONZALEZ – It will be hard to move past everything that has happened throughout the Hex. Gonzalez will be one of several scapegoats, and it’s deserved in many ways. At 29, there’s time for redemption, but it remains to be seen if he’ll get that chance.

GYASI ZARDES – Zardes has been out of the USMNT lineup a bit due to injury and, while he remains a lightning rod for criticism, he’ll remain in the pool as depth at worst. Still, his club showings need to improve or he’ll likely fall out of the pack.

TIME’S UP

TIM HOWARD – The goalkeeper was marvelous in Brazil, but he’s clearly a step slower these days. It’s time to hand over the reigns and move on from a player that remains a legend, despite Tuesday’s display.

CLINT DEMPSEY – One would expect a few friendly matches to pursue the USMNT goalscoring record, but Dempsey’s days as a meaningful USMNT presence are over.

DAMARCUS BEASLEY – The left back was probably finished several years ago but, due to a lack of options, was a fairly consistent part of camp.

GRAHAM ZUSI – The right back experiment prolonged his career, but with Yedlin as the starter, it’s time to let the next defender serve as his backup.

FABIAN JOHNSON – Even before the USMNT failed to qualify, Johnson hinted he could retire from the team following the World Cup. That looks all but certain now, especially considering he’ll be 34 for Qatar.

ALEJANDRO BEDOYA – The Union midfielder was a key piece in 2014, but he was little more than depth throughout this cycle.

JERMAINE JONES – Even if the USMNT made the World Cup, it was unlikely Jones would be a part of the Russia squad. Now, that’s all but certain, ending his USMNT career.

Comments

  1. This article is a testament to how beat this site has become over the past several years. I’ve been watching SBI for the past decade and I’ve become increasingly disappointed by the quality of content. “What’s next for the USMNT” should not contain the obvious 32-36 year olds who barely played an impactful part in this cycle/hex. No sh*t. I read this article thinking we’d get more info on the depth of the pool. If anyone wants to create a competent site that can put out content more like the 2010 era of SBI you should have no problem dethroning this sad URL. I’d say most of the people who are in this boat with me who frequently post have more depth of knowledge and better perspectives than this site has had of late. Just my thoughts as an overall sad and disappointed USMNT fan who’s used this site as a safe place for soccer knowledge for maybe a little too long. Can’t see myself coming back here as frequently until i see more quality content like I used to see on a very regular basis. Ives can keep cashing his checks because of the people who made his fan base but it’s unfortunate for him to think they don’t notice the drop in quality.

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  2. “MICHAEL BRADLEY – Yes, he’ll be 34 when the next World Cup rolls around and, yes, his status is up for debate after the recent collapse.”
    —-
    Recent? Will all due respect, Bradley has been shambolic since pre-2014 World Cup. I have no idea why the media can’t, or refuses to grasp that reality. It’s a large part of the problem with the culture of our soccer in this country. Our small soccer media either don’t have the stones, or understanding of the game to call a duck a duck.

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    • No competitive matches scheduled, president election in February nothing is going to happen anytime soon. Plus very limited manager availability right now.

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  3. Time for ruthless roster decisions. Give the armband to Pulisic or Wood now. Yedlin stays. Acosta, Morris, and Arriola still have a chance. If Brooks forms bones out of his papermache then maybe we keep him. The rest on the list above should not wear a us jersey again. Bradley – done, Alidore – done, Lleget – done, Cameron -done, villifana – done. As of today if you are over 24 you are done. Nothing to lose. Play the youth. Adams, Vickers, McKennie, Sargent, etc

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  4. I think Altidore needs to go. He will be 32 by 2022, and his lack of accountability for the team, also Bradley, needs to be dispersed. Problem is we dont have any other strikers killing it right now. Start with the youth, get them minutes and give this team a new identity. Watching this team this cycle has been watching a team that is like an empty cicada shell. What the hell happened to this team where they can’t at least accomplish getting to the World Cup? Say what you will about our team not being as good as the other teams, but it really does hurt knowing we couldn’t get a result against Trinidad & Tobago.

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  5. Remember when this group bombed out of the u 20 World Cup when Bradley got a stupid yellow for timewasting and missed the most important group match?
    Remember the younger guys missing out on youth world cups and we were like “no big deal, those don’t prepare you much anyway.”

    It all caught up to us.

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    • Reply to Rory
      It was actually the Olympics that he got the 2 yellows suspension for, the U20s they advanced to the quarterfinals of the U20 WC (beating Brazil with Pato, David Luiz, Marcelo, and Willian). It wasn’t until the group after them that the youth teams struggled. That next group’s stars (2009) were Shea, Diskerud, and Dilly Duka can’t blame MB for that generation, they lost in the round of 16. That group didn’t make it out of the group stage at their U17 WC. Or the 2011 U20 group of Wood, Gyau, Lletget, Kitchen, and Rowe who didn’t even qualify.

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  6. Article just came out titled “Cameron’s bizarre omission explained”
    Says that despite going 90 minutes the week before being called in, Cameron WAS TOLD HE WASN’T FIT ENOUGH and would be replaced with Omar.. and he was pissed off..
    His only comment was basically Now is not the time to discuss this, you will have to talk to other people about why this decision was made…..
    Unbelievable….
    The article goes on to say that several of the team members were frustrated with the fact that Arena went with the same starting 11 AND frustrated that he played the 442 diamond again…
    I bet more stuff like this is gonna start leaking out and it’s just gonna get worse and worse… Arenas decisions are making JK look smart- a statistical impossibility… idiot

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    • @BAC, whet and read the article, good find. I’m hoping more players particularly veterans from now and the whole past cycle start to speak out and tell us how things are on the inside, wish Cameron said more and didn’t hold back though.

      Really is crazy that you would tell a EPL starter who has the second most EPL minutes of any player in the pool who played on the weekend for club that he’s NOT fit. Cameron got benched by BA after the CR game too so we have to remember that also. Lots of BA decisions just don’t make logical sense in regards to player selections, lineups and tactics. Cameron’s not perfect all the time but he’s a big step up over Gonzolez who we’ve known to be gaff prone one or twice in nearly every game he plays for the USMNT.

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  7. There’s not a single player on that list who can make a hard tackle in the midfield. Until we get a coach that understands we need that, we’ll continue to struggle in CONCACAF.

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  8. Biggest Failure of this cycle? This website. A disaster. A cacophony. A place now destined for failure in the absence of meaningful USMNT conversation for the next 18+months). I used to respect it. Regarded it as an admirable labor of love (I’m well aware that sites like this are minimally profitable to the owner/organizer). But this is garbage. It has been garbage for months. The complaints (which came from people who have been deeply loyal to this site for many years) have been registered and duly ignored. F*ck off Ives (not that you are even involved anymore). You got arrogant. Enjoy the famine.

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  9. Well Jermaine Jones didn’t hold back on his feelings about Arena, and Jones was no BFF with JK.
    Speaking of Jones and the dual Nats, if you get the chance, read the Bleacher Report article from about a week ago about Brooks. Great article.. and you can see the anxiety about whether Arena would still call in the dual Nats…
    Great story in depth about his friendship with Kesseweitter and their goal at age 7 to play for the USA, and how happy they were when they both made it happen.
    The article also mentions how nobody buys into the American dream more than those born elsewhere with a link to the US.
    In a sport that’s so Internationally interspersed with people from all over the world, it’s frankly shocking how Arena put the dual Nats out to pasture throughout his tenure.
    You wanna tell me Jones wouldn’t have made a difference… When Arriola was invisible and he had to look at his bench, you wanna tell me Fabian wouldn’t have been an option.. instead he brings in Deuce(who should have started) and locks us into basically a 424, when a slow MB was already stretched out… ugh. Guy makes me wanna puke I don’t know why he wasn’t put out to pasture long ago

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    • @BAC, agree 100%. Hoping JJ or another veteran has the courage to blow the whistle on whatever was happen on the inside that we as fans don’t get a chance to see. If anyone tells me their wasn’t some animosity going on between the German Americans and native born American MLSers I call it bull. I’ve managed enough teams in the corporate world to be able to smell animosity and lack of unity in a team. Our team reeks of a rift between the German Americans and native born American MLSers. Comments were made it just hasn’t been fleshed out by the media for us to see yet. Hope it doens’t take 10 years like it did with the Wynalda/Harkes saga which we learned when Wynalda slipped up and said it on his FoxFootballFoneIn radio/tv show 10 years after it happened.

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      • @Joe,
        I have to think it’s more on Arena than the players for 2 reasons. One, Arenas statements about the dual Nats, and two, Jermaine and Fabian have been an integral part of this group for a long time. I could see people questioning Chandler, but in reality we really don’t know how people inside feel about him because there’s been so little written about him in several years- and Bruce called him in once but never again. He never gave Williams a chance, and he sent Dwyer home early without an explanation and never called him again.
        You’re right, I don’t wanna wait to find out.
        So far Jones made his feelings known, and with Cameron’s comments this morning I hope we find out soon

  10. I want one of Joe Dirt´s tin foil hats. Johnnyrazor may be right in his critiques, but overall right now I need distraction by way of Joe Dirt grand theory. Give me something, anything to take away the pain. Otherwise I think I might drown. Lengthy anti-MB posts are just what the doctor ordered. Love the conversation.

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    • @Varela, too funny, but I’ve got a website tinfoilhats.com there $5 each plus shipping and bogo of course.

      But in all seriousness. I know what I say sound conspiratorial but lets play game theory for a second. When Donovan, who was MLS poster boy asset, started to age and took his sabbatical during WCQs MLS needed to start looking for other to be their next poster boys.

      They found two. Dempsey(who has been the real deal) and Bradley (not so much). MLS needs marketable stars to sell tickets and market it product to fans and media thereby increasing its viewership and eventually the next TV rights contract.

      Once MB and Dempsey became the heirs to Donovan as MLS poster boy that meant that their place withing the USMNT lineup would never be challenged. It also meant that whatever MLS formation or lineup we used had to adapt to these two players and be built around them.

      Dempsey has always earned his spot, he’s a legend and I not saying anything bad on him. But Bradley has always been up and down at best and since his 2013 ankle injury his best was behind him.

      Its business, MB had to be in the team for MLS. He’s the poster boy. Neither JK or BA ever really experimented with a MF that didn’t include MB. Lets ask ourselves, What has Bradley really show at the international level since 2013 that warrants his automatic inclusion? If the answer his him be the captain argument then it sounds like our managers where scared to make the hard decision of taking the armband and benching him, which leads to another question, If you’re USMNT manager why are you scared to change your captain and bench someone not performing consistently?

      I think when you think thru the Poster Boy Theory it makes a lot sense, anecdotally.

      Anyway, more tin hat theories to drown the pain for you.

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      • Joe-
        Except MLS doesn’t really market Bradley, Toronto is rarely televised in the US and MLS focusses most of its marketing on its NY and LA teams. If anything your theory would work more for Altidore who ESPN and Fox push more than Bradley.

    • Horvath is playing Champions League. Sure, he’s in Belgium now, but I expect he will earn a transfer to a higher caliber league.

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  11. i expect see this team in 2018:
    horvath
    yedlin
    miazga
    brooks
    chandler/Fabian
    williams
    mckennie
    lletget
    pulisic
    saief
    wood

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  12. I don’t know what else he’s done, but culprit number one is Gulati for hiring Klinsman for the second cycle and then for hiring Arena to replace Klinsman. Culprit number two is Klinsman for taking us down the path of destruction. And culprit number three, Bruce Arena for for nailing the coffin shut. Then, and only then, can you start blaming players.

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  13. Wow, apparently for what I read here, if MB had not played at all we would be going to Russia. Wow, and Antigoal gets a pass, even making it to the next WC. A guy whose heart sunk to his feet yesterday, who looked like a deer in headlights. I agree that MB has been disappointing of late, specially with his back passing, but to give Antigoal a pass is reckless. That guy should be the first one to never ever again wear a US jersey. Maybe he can make a one time switch to Haiti.

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  14. So who becomes the next captain? I don’t remember Donovan or Dempsey captaining the squad until well into their 20s. The options would be Wood and Brooks, I could see Wood, but Brooks is so injury prone and has some huge lapses in concentration. I think CP is still just too young to take on that role at least through the 2019 GC.

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  15. if any of the “maybe involved” group + Bradley down get called back into friendlies prior to March of 2019 it would be extremely reckless of US Soccer.

    we have such a great group of potential central midfielders and central defenders coming up. none of them should have to deal with the baggage of trying to figure out how to play next to Michael Bradley. if you were going to carry a veteran around it would be Matt Besler or Cameron but with Brooks, Miazga, EPB, CCV and Glad available and ready to step in there is no chance for any of the existing CB’s returning

    complete turn over, i don’t care we lose 10 straight friendlies to anyone as long as the average age is under 22 and it a completely new feeling squad I will keep watching.

    bigger question is are we on ice until … march 2018? scheduling november friendlies seems too soon and you couldn’t pay people to watch a january camp game right now. march seems like a good time after the USSF elections to completely move on.

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  16. OG AND BRADLEY SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH, YEAH, SO DOES FAT HOWARD THE DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY GRANDMOTHER COULD HAVE STOPPED THOSE TWO GOALS, PSSS

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  17. Ahh yes let’s throw our hopes behind the 17 year old who has 0 professional minutes to his name. Call me when he starts playing for Bremen. Until then let’s not go overboard by”handing the team over” to a bunch of kids who have accomplished nothing in their young careers. That’s another way to build complacency that doomed this team to its fate

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  18. I can’t say I didn’t see this coming and I hate this hate this hate this, not calling in Chandler when Yedlin was hurt was fireable, scrambling for a point in Honduras being bailed out by a lucky goal in the 85′ I said was when we should have fired Bruce. Everyone on here called me crazy.

    I’ve consistently called out MB for not being a CDM/true#6, he doesn’t fit a diamond midfield and that’s why he always works better with a partner. I’ve said this one over and over again and get flamed most of the time for it.

    After last window I said we need a real journalist to investigate the influence that MLS/SUM has on USSF and the autonomy of the US manager. JK mentioned autonomy was the sticking point why him and Sunil never got a deal done after the 2006 WC after his stint with BM in 2007. People here thought I was wearing a tin foil hat.

    We had a manager who either was being controlled in his callups to favor MLS players and was complicit in it, or we had a manager who legitimately rated MLS veterans over players starting in the EPL, Bundesliga, and other euro leagues. I believe it is both combined with an anti German American bias that slowly built the fire JK movement and eventually got their man in charge in BA. Way to go fellas. Still rocking my tin foil hat.

    Your going to hear and lot about we didn’t have the players and some of that is true, we have a talent gap in birth years 1990-1994, but even with that gap we had a more talented pool this cycle than any other cycle with the possible exception of 2002. A lot of out best talent (FJ, Chandler, Miazaga, Williams, Gooch, McKennie, Gonzolez, Hyndman, Green, etc) were overlooked for MLS veterans. Any competent soccer professional scout overseas will laugh at you if you say MLS is a higher level than English Championship or 2.Bundesliga or Eredivisie. You will get laughed at.

    As for the 90-94 birth years those kids where going thru their most formative years at the exact time we made the switch from using ODP to using the DA to develop talent. It was transitional and we had kids fall thru the cracks but DA is worlds better than ODP as seen by the number of kids pushing thru at the 17-21 year age now. As DA builds we need to find a way to remove the pay to play system to expand the scouting field, this is the true next level.

    Its the managers job to get the most talented players to work together to be the best team. Both JK and BA failed to do this in the hex, but JK has done it before with more or less the same pool at the Copa.


    Say all this for one reason fellas, so that you listen to me now. Here is what we need to do:

    1. USSF board asks for (because he has to be voted out not fired, vote is next Feb) Sunil to resign immediately. Find an interim placeholder president and fire BA and hire interim placeholder manager with no chance to become full time manager.

    2. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL I SAY HERE, board and interim ussf president need to hire an outside (preferably non US) firm like Deloitte or something like that to investigate and give USSF a clear view and evidence of the cronyism going on between MLS/SUM and USSF and what type of old boys network hierarchy are we dealing. This investigative firm needs to interview all the actors involved in the debacle, from JK to BA to Gulati to the players to the scouts to assistants, everybody. I would recommend a committee of former USSF actors be formed to act as a liason during the investigation but they would not have authority over the investigating body, could include persons like JK, Bocanegra, Reyna, Freidal, Wynalda, Rongen.

    3. Once investigative firm makes their findings and recommendations on how to restructure USSF those need to be followed and not brushed aside. Its about removing the cronyism and rooting it out. The old boys network has to go and needs to be outed for the public to see what type of favoritism and corruption was taking place and for who’s benefit so we know in the future what certain actors motives will be.

    4. Development. Need to keep progressing with DA and eventually find a way to make the money work where we can remove the pay to play system and thereby expand the scouting pool. Also need to invest in local soccer fields for kids in urban areas to play. Atl United has done this in downtown Atlanta with a few spots and inner city kids are playing pickup now. This could be revolutionary long term if expanded to other inner cities.

    5. We need a full time USSF president not a part time president who teaches economics at university with no footballing experience. This should be obvious to any other footballing nation and kind of reinforces the cronyism/boys network that USSF has, in no other nation would a person with Sunil lack of footballing experience make it that high in the federation, same goes for Chuck Blazer in the past too.

    6. We need a full time Technical Director separate and autonomous from the US manager. The Technical Director needs to determine style of play, long term vision,and coaching emphasis at developmental levels thru senior team and hire the various managers at different age levels up to including senior team to implement the greater vision.

    7. Remember fellas it sucks now, but the future is bright. We’ve got a lot of talent coming thru at the 15-21 year old age range that will be primed for 2022. Heads up fu-k the haters.

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    • More on MB, I’ve said it and other too. MB is not a true CDM/#6 he’s more of a box to box CM that likes to make plays from the deep lying midfield position. This is why he’s always needed a more defensive destroyers ball winner next to him in midfield to do the dirty work while he picks out long balls or switches field type passes but he’s not even been that good at this this cycle.

      Many of us like Bizzy and others as well as myself have been pointing out MB’s flaws for months if not years on this blog and others and have taken a lot of push back and name calling for it. We’ve stuck to our guns on MB lack of CDM abilities because we know its true. Now you see it for what it is too. Some might say there were no other options but is a routine starter in English Championship/EPL in D. Williams not an option, not even getting a call all hex? And yes MLS apologists the English Championship is a higher level of play than MLS, transfer prices prove this out.

      MB is captain and midfield general and his inability to link the backline to the forwards and the general bad MF play is on his shoulders as well as BA for choosing bad formations. MB is also captain and his job to marshal and call out bad play by teammates not putting in 100% effort on the field but its hard to call others out when you’re one of the worst positions in the lineup.

      Myself and other said it many times that MB seems to just stroll around MF letting play and dangerous counters just pass by him while he jogs to catch up to the play. A CDM is supposed to break up danger and make attacks slow down not jogging around while your CBs have to deal with the pressure because you couldn’t cover the space and decided to jog it back. BA is also at much fault for his lack of vision and predictability in playing the 442 diamond insistently even though it was clear we didn’t have the right personnel to cover ourselves defensively. Its like its the only formation BA knows how to coach.

      Also, it really needs to be investigated why was MB such an automatic pick. He has never been a world better. He was never a Dempsey or Donovan or Reyna. He was a decent MF option who played at several mid table euro teams before coming back to MLS in 2014. Its like he was some sort of made guy untouchable.

      Many of us here have been asking and stating why was the question always, Who is the best MF to pair with MB? We’ve always been saying this was not the question to ask and instead what should be the MF pairing without MB as a auto starter but as a potential option if he wins his spot. JJ said as much back in Jan/Mar with some comments about this and why he always gets blamed for MF problems and MB gets a pass on everything. JJ was the better MF in 2014 too, and leads all pool players in Champions League minutes, he should be listened too.

      You want answers…. Here is the answer. Why is MB always starting? Answer, MLS needs marketable players to push and promote its product domestically. After Donovan retired MLS needs a new talisman and paid the highest transfer fee ever to bring both MB and Dempsey back to MLS and are both MLS’ biggest marketable assets. They have to be in the team but only Dempsey was and is the real deal, MB has been going down hill since his ankle injury in 2013. MLS however needs them in the lineup to boost MLS. This is why the media and USSF turned against Klinsmann after 2014 because he left off MLS’ biggest marketable asset in Donovan in 2014 which was no no for the MLS/SUM alliance and money machine. MB was the next extension of that after Donovan’s retirement. Had he ever been benched the manager would have been fired next pretextt MLS/SUM had with cover for USSF and Gulati.

      I keep getting flamed for having a tin foil hat but listen folks and you’ll know what I’m saying is true. The issue is with MLS/SUM using USSF and senior roster call ups as marketing for MLS.

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      • don’t know about all of this, but it is definitely difficult to motivate players who think they are entitled to their spot no matter what. (Just like MB, Tim Howard had no business as our #1 GK after he took his sabbatical and especially after coming to the MLS.) And I’ve often wondered about the double standard that blamed Jones for mid-field problems. It didn’t seem to matter who MB was paired with, it was never the right fit, but the other guy usually got blamed, whether it was Jones, or Jose Torres or Ricardo Clark or Kyle Bekerman, etc. There is a very long list of guys who were tried and discarded until Jones came along.

      • Here’s the problem with your theory on MLS/SUM, they are hurt the most by the US not qualifying. New fans will watch the world cup because its the world cup, if they watch and find it interesting the might check out MLS. As fans and ratings go up advertising buys and rates go up. If its one thing MLS loves its money in their pocket, the entire budgets for those expansion clubs just took a huge hit, and some may even pull out. The other thing that doesn’t work is if MLS was really orchestrating this whole Bradley issue they wouldn’t have allowed him to play in Toronto, who are virtually never on TV for the American audience. This was a case of Arena believing he was the smartest guy in the room (coincidently the same problem JK had).

      • Joe Dirt, unfortunately when we are right everyone is wrong. Where are the Michael Bradley loyalists now? This is what it took to see our point….that he is not the person we need at DM when rubber hits the road? Well, now they see what we were talking about…..

      • @Johnnyrazor
        HE PLAYED Michael Bradley in the very midfield we are talking about. So just like the people who tried to justify his existence on the pitch 😀 , in our midfield, ARENA is to blame too.

      • Johnny, obviously MLS has a vested interest in seeing us qualify, like duh. But you are underestimating the arrogance and overconfidence of BA and the MLS/SUM money machine. They thought they had it in the bag and never considered it might really actually happen. Kept running their poster boy out there and organizing our roster and lineup around him. Thats why there was only real panic from the bench, staff, and Gulati after TnT second goal. The attitude was this is lowly TnT and we just waxed Panama 4-0 we got it in the bag.

      • However, they didn’t know we would only need a draw until after the win against Panama. The decision to leave Miazga, McKennie, FJ, and Chandler in Europe was made when we had drawn our last three matches with Panama two of them at home. There is one man to blame not a vast conspiracy, Arena felt he knew better than everyone else particularly Klinsmann. He wanted to show how much smarter he was than JK by playing FJ at wing, when it didn’t work even though Villafana was shown lacking he left FJ at home rather than admit he was wrong to move him from LB. Gulati didn’t say one word to Arena about the roster selection and if he did Arena and his arrogance wouldn’t have listened to one word of it.
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        US Soccer needs to re-assess its hiring process and the soccer media needs to start really investigating issues such as roster selection and the marketing agreement with SUM, but again there is no conspiracy because your conspiracy actually hurts MLS’s bottom line which is boosted the better the USMNT plays.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        “However, they didn’t know we would only need a draw until after the win….”
        ARE YOU SERIOUS JOHNNYRAZOR??!!!! So, they needed to know that all we needed was a draw for them to play? AGAINST A WINLESS T&T?? So the USMNT only win based on conditions???
        ——————————
        “There is one man to blame not a vast conspiracy, Arena felt he knew better than everyone else particularly Klinsmann……. “
        ARE YOU LISTENING TO YOURSELF???? Who put us in this position in the first place???? Who had a HORRIBLE RECORD, so bad that he had to get fired??? Just in case you missed it …..KLINSMANN!!!!
        ——————————
        Arena’s mistake was keeping Michael Bradley in his midfield, Altidore up top and keeping our talented international contingent off the field. And if keeping Michael Bradley on the field in favor of BETTER OPTIONS was one of his mistakes……were you not the BIGGEST MICHAEL BRADLEY ADVOCATE ON SBI????
        ——————————-
        “Gulati didn’t say one word to Arena about the roster selection…….”
        News flash Johnnyrazor, I didn’t see you complaining either. As a matter of fact, you and DLOA always tried to justify Bradley and Altidore’s existence on the field. ALWAYS. Only a few people have BEEN calling Arena out about his player selection and taking heat for it (like Gary Page, Joe Dirt, Turkmenbashy to name a few) and you were not one of them.

      • Reply to Bizzy
        1. You were one of the biggest Arena supporters, bragging on his undefeated streak this Summer. “In Bruce we trust” you said just days ago. Praised him for roster decisions on Friday night.
        2. There is no DM in our country that could have played as the lone midfielder over two matches like Arena set Bradley to do. Yes, Bradley was not very good, but Cameron could not cover that much ground either they aren’t supermen. For that matter Mascherano couldn’t have covered that much ground with no help. Essentially we were playing in a 4-1-5. Bradley deserves some criticism for not getting Nagbe and Arriola in better spots as the captain, but if Bruce is telling them something else it can’t all be heaped on Bradley.
        3. Klinsmann deserves blame no question. However, Arena was in qualifying position with four matches to play and only managed four points and was outcoached by less experienced managers in three of those four matches.
        4. Bradley didn’t let in two goals, that’s on Nagbe, Villafana, and Gonzalez. You said you wanted Omar on the field over Bradley (that’s what Cameron playing DM would have meant. Bradley was bad Omar was awful.
        5. Ha ha ha Beachbum did you see that Bizzy said I was the biggest Bradley supporter on SBI. Look back to last Summer where I was calling for Bradley to take some time off and start letter others take up the CM spot.
        6. Look back at my posts I said put two DMs in the midfield, play CP as a withdrawn striker that can move side to side, play a playmaker in front of Dms to link the back to CP and Wood/Altidore/Dempsey (whomever was chosen) and go from there. I’ve called for the death of the 4-4-2 diamond since before the Copa Centenario. It doesn’t fit our players.
        ————————————————————————————————————————
        Arena’s formation didn’t protect his roster who lacked a creative playmaker in midfield (CP was playing as a 3rd striker) and had only one center midfielder. As soon as TnT countered it was Bradley trying to catch three or four runners because the outside midfielders were too wide. Arena didn’t try to give Bradley any help until we were down two goals. Then he added Dempsey for Arriola which made the midfield defense even worse, causing him to add a defensive player down a goal seemingly to say well at least Panama isn’t going to win lets hold on. Arena’s roster selection is pretty pointless because the formations he put them in it wouldn’t have mattered who was out there.

      • Reply to Bizzy
        Also, the first comment you quoted was in response to Joe’s theory that MLS had chosen the roster it was not in reference to the players’ effort level.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        Yes I was the biggest Bruce Arena advocate (and I can own that unlike you) because KLINSMANN PUT THE USMNT in a HOLE AND I WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT. With the time he had managing the team and how deep the hole was THE MARGIN FOR ERROR WAS TOO SMALL for Arena to make major changes (YOU YOURSELF ADMITTED THAT). HIS ONLY FAULT WAS PLAYING IT SAFE THE MICHAEL BRADLEY AND JOZY ALTIDORE (who lost the fight in them because the don’t have to fight for their spot and respect on a top team)
        ———————–
        “There is no DM in our country that could have played as the lone midfielder over two matches like Arena set Bradley to do. Yes, Bradley was not very good…..”
        FINALLY WE ARE GETTING SOMEWHERE. Cameron or Danny William WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER AT THAT POSITION THAN MICHAEL BRADLEY (EPL vs MLS not even close)
        ————————
        “Klinsmann deserves blame no question…” WE CAN AGREE ON THAT TOO. You can’t hand someone a soup sandwich and expect miracles, especially being the coach for over 4 years, DESTROYING THE TEAM and using up all our live lines and room for error
        ————————-
        hahahahaha….NOW YOU ARE BACKING OUT OF BEING A MICHAEL BRADLEY FANBOY? 🙂 After all our arguments? no comment
        ————————
        To summarize it for you MICHAEL BRADLEY SHOULDN’T BE ON THE FIELD when the USMNT have GEOFF CAMERON, DANNY WILLIAMS, MCKENNIE, ETC

        even an old Jermaine Jones
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=164&v=_zYLi0jPwFc

      • Bradley was the best option not because he is a great player but because for 8 millionth time he’s better than Omar, Cameron should have 100% been in the lineup at CB. McKennie was injured, Williams was injured according to their clubs. Jones does not have the speed or stamina to have played two matches alone in the midfield either. The problem wasn’t the player it was the formation that would have isolated Jones and led to the same result.
        ————————————————————————————————————————-
        Arena widened the hole by playing for draws and putting all his eggs in the win the rest of the home matches. Then was not prepared when CR played differently than they had in the GC.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        MICHAEL BRADLEY WAS NOT OUR BEST OPTION when you have Geoff Cameron playing midfield for stoke city in the EPL HAHAHAHAHAHA. What part of that is hard for you to understand? MIDFIELD EPL > MIDFIELD MLS (Especially if the player in question is versatile enough to play RB and CB!!!!!)
        —————–
        Stoke City, an EPL team midfield line-up PREPARING TO GO UP AGAINST MANCHESTER CITY TRUST GEOFF CAMERON IN THEIR MIDFIELD….AND THE USMNT CAN’T PLAY HIM AGAINST TRINIDAD & TOBAGO???? REALLY.
        —————–
        AGAINST MC
        CHOUPO-MOTING—CAMERON—FLETCHER—-DIOUF
        —————–
        DO YOU THINK MICHAEL BRADLEY CAN MAKE THE MIDFIELD LINE-UP FOR A EPL TEAM….ANY EPL TEAM? HAHAHAHAHA…No

      • Notice Fletcher was next to Cameron (2 man CM midfield). Cameron should have started against TnT as a CB. If he had started against TnT for Bradley the result is the same, Nagbe and Villafana still get overrun which led to both goals including the one Omar put into his own net. Bradley was a symptom, the formation was the problem. Arena had the tools on the field to fix it, after the first goal he could have slid Nagbe inside and dropped Pulisic to the wing creating a flat 4-4-2 which should have gotten us to halftime 1-0. Then he could have made offensive adjustments at halftime to get the goal. Instead, he held his formation that was not working and later exacerbated the problem by adding a 4th forward further stretching the midfield.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        Nope he should have been in and Michael Bradley out. Not in together…..OUT!!! There was no urgency no pressure and no possession IN THE MIDFIELD. With Cameron’s size and strength in the midfield things would have been different. “A good offense is a good defense” and with Michael Bradley there was no respect (on the side of T&T) in the midfield. USMNT defense did a better job than the USMNT did theirs. Cameron should have been part of the weakest link for the USMNT…the midfield.
        Cameron is a better midfielder than Bradley and should not have been on the bench for ANY REASON

      • @Johnnyrazor
        ” Nagbe and Villafana still get overrun”…..hahahaha sometimes I think you just talk for talk sake. NOBODY ON THE WINGS GOT OVERRUN. ONE GOAL CAME FROM 50 YRDS OUT (NO PRESSURE, NO POSSESSION) AND THE OTHER WAS A DEFLECTION. hahahahahahaha The midfield was lacking in attack, in possession IN EVERYTHING, AND who was manning the midfield that didn’t produce?? Exactly….with an EPL player on the bench versatile enough to play RB, DM and CB, IN THE EPL, WE DESERVED TO LOSE. Bruce Arena was wrong for keep Bradley in midfield and it cost him his job 😉

    • Excellent essay. I’m only going to talk about the pay for play system. I play on an Over 50 men’s team. Our home field is shared with a local Academy that plays in the US Open Cup. My teammate’s son comes to almost all of our home games and he was playing Friday before the US Trinidad match so I decided to go hang out with my teammates, watch the youth game and head to the pub to watch the MNT. There were 18 kids on his team, and they all paid for that privilege, so he didn’t get that much playing time as a result. In my long winded way, it’s just an example of what’s wrong about pay for play. If a kid doesn’t get enough playing time because he has to share it with other kids whose parents paid thousands of dollars, it will harm their development.

      Reply
      • Reply to Super NC
        So you’re saying that Barron Trump playing for DC United U12s might not be about his playing ability.

    • MICHAEL BRADLEY WAS NOT OUR BEST OPTION when you have Geoff Cameron playi that can midfield for stoke city in the EPL HAHAHAHAHAHA. What part of that is hard for you to understand?
      —————–
      Stoke City, an EPL team midfield line-up PREPARING TO GO UP AGAINST MANCHESTER CITY (Not t&t hahahaha)
      CHOUPO-MOTING—CAMERON—FLETCHER—-DIOUF

      —————–
      DO YOU THINK MICHAEL BRADLEY CAN MAKE THE MIDFIELD LINE-UP FOR A EPL TEAM….ANY EPL TEAM? HAHAHAHAHA…No 🙂

      Reply
  19. Wow, that was one of the safest, most disappointing pieces of journalism I´ve ever read. About as a disinterested in the issue at hand as last night´s players. First Sunil and BA. Now this panglossian pablum.

    Reply
  20. Bradley’s influence needs to eliminated immediately. I would not let him poison our pool anymore. His memory is of failure and not of success. He led us to oblivion and should be shown the door. Don’t let it hit you on the way out.

    Reply
  21. Me and Johnnyrazor have gone back and forth about Michael Bradley so most know where I stand with that.
    There was not urgency in their play last night absolutely. It’s like they thought we were in or where we needed to be or somehow things will sort themselves out
    Our veterans looked like they lost their competitive edge, their quickness to the ball, their sharpness……heavy touch after Heavy touch, lack of accurate passing, no one dangerous enough to draw fouls for set pieces. Howard off step /off timing, Bradley continuously pressured into passing back was part of any dangerous plays, Altidore LIMITED shots on goal and no drives into the box. MLS is a slower paced league (as far as technical and tactical execution) than the EPL and Bundesliga, so there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON Cameron, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Bobby Wood,Timmy Chandler, Mckennie, Pulisic, Yedlin…..shouldn’t be (or even be part of) the Core players of this team
    I’m glad everyone can now realize that HOLD UP PLAY AND STRENGTH or WORK RATE AND BACK PASSING does NOTHING (AND I MEANS NOTHING) for the USMNT if we can’t make it to the next level or if the GAME IS ON THE LINE. A 19-year-old clearly carried this team on his back, with no one else hungry enough to make a difference with him.
    Its like being part of a group project or team and having people put in MEDIOCRE EFFORT, but because of their efforts in past projects or games, they are allow to be involve with really no input or major impact to the cause at all. And they get away with it because at the end the day YOU ALL SHARE THE GLORY on a team.
    There is a reason a lot of countries don’t stick to older veterans for too long because they lose that killer instinct, that drive to be seen and to be signed at a higher level.
    At least we got the shock and embarrassment now, rather than later (in front of the whole world losing 8 – 0 to Italy or Spain or something) and we can start building a team WITHOUT THE SAME OLD PLAYERS. :-\

    Reply
    • @Bizzy, you da man. We both have been saying this for over a year about Bradley and get ridiculed everytime. I hate that we were right though but all everyone else had to do was watch the fu=king games to see our MF was shambolic all hex and that starts with MB and ends with managers JK and BA.

      For me MB pre 2014 was MB90 and post 2013 injury was MB<<90.

      Reply
      • MB has sucked since WC 2014. Watch the matches (think it was Portugal) where his giveaway led to a Portuguese goal. He has been given a free ride for at least 3 years now despite his regressing form ever since returning from Roma.

        The frustration over him is warranted and just didn’t start yesterday or 10 games ago.

  22. Maybe keep Altidore around for the next round of qualifying, but forget any player who is now over 25. Begin playing youngsters immediately.

    Reply
  23. I agree with the comments concerning Michael Bradley.
    I’ve always been an apologist of MB, he was an instrumental player for almost a decade. Some of our best wins/memories in the past 10 years have involved Bradley’s contributions. But he is one of the main leaders of this squad – on and off the pitch. There is no way we can separate his influence on this squad and their repeated, poor, inconsistent performances. After this failure, there has to be a split made with the “old guard”. Perhaps, a few years from now, if a new squad is established, with new leadership and a different culture – Bradley can be brought back into the team where his influence will be diminished – but only then.

    Reply
  24. I was never opposed to Bradley, but I agree with the above comments. Mentor to what?
    How to walk slowly when you are playing the game of your life?

    I think everyone that played last night are in a hole to start. Some the hole is too big to take a chance on, even if they could work out of it. So, when they score a goal or make an assist it will mean that they are going to play full intensity when we need it next time?
    No, it doesn’t mean that. It means maybe they are good enough that they can play at half speed and still win.

    Next player. Give me someone that will win on a broken leg please.

    Reply
  25. All depends who the coach is. When we get a new coach, past Arena, Zardes days are over. I think Omar’s and Bradley’s days should be done too. We cannot move forward under capt back pass.

    In fact, Pulisic is about the only keeper. The key here though is that Arena is not the right guy moving forward

    Reply
  26. The idea that you would use inconsistent CB that will be on the wrong side of 30 is ridiculous. Besler Omar and Cameron (who is the least inconsistent), thank you for your service but you need to retire from the USMNT.

    Reply
    • Agree with these four. I think also keeping Arriola in the mix makes sense as he really only began to make his mark. I wish he’d go back to Mexico or move on to Europe though. Pulisic is already the leader of this team. No need to keep Bradley or Altidore for leadership. Nobody will say it but Howard, Dempsey, Beasley, Jones and Bradley should have retired from the international game after last WC. That would have given younger talent time to build some cohesion and toughness right away.

      Reply
  27. Bradley… seriously SBI?? You know once the Arena/Bradley old boy system gets uprooted you don’t have to be affraid of criticising MB.

    Guzan….lol. we have 2-3 GKs better right now with 5 years to get experience at the international level. You guys just can’t let go for some reason.

    Reply
  28. I am so tired of the media equating veteran with good for the betterment of the team. Just because Bradley is a veteran makes him a mentor? Why? How? What will he teach Acosta at this point, how to look like you are doing just enough while actually not caring at all? Also, why would you rather fail again with the same guys like Villafana, Cameron, Zardes, Nagbe, etc. when we can try new blood at those positions? Even if they fail, at least we tried something new in an attempt to right the ship. Instead you suggest we should spend any more time watching Bradley back pass, Nagbe miss open runners, and Jozy act like a petulant child without his binkey. Other than the top group, none of these guys should play again for this team, period! You do not fix this incrementally, you blow it up now when you have the most time to fix it!

    Reply
    • I agree, last night a 19 year old was leading this team. Honestly the Panama match as well. We have 5 years to build new leaders.

      Reply
  29. Somehow Bradley still gets support from the soft media.

    If he is in any way involved, it is just another pathetic failure from leadership. The Lion just “led” this team to the most embarrassing group of performances in US soccer history. Yet he needs to stay on as “mentor”?

    Mentor what? Failed leadership, backpassing, and the ability to receive praise despite having no position and no actual responsibilities?

    Ermmm, ok….

    Reply
    • All the complaimts about bradley passing backward; when’s the last time he won a tackle or a 50/50 ball. How about a 60/40 ball? I think that is his biggest deficiency as a player.

      Reply

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