The Soccer Thread (Version 7.0)

As I'm sure that I have written here before, it's amazing that he is the most famous soccer player in the world and he has never in his career been the best player on his team.

 

Interesting story from the BBC on former Brazilian great Romario:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22522995

 

I'm bracing for the flood of "End it Like Beckham" headlines.

 

Good.

Who would you replace for a guy that isn't in form, isn't really in shape, is somewhat of a headcase and can't even close on a penalty kick? I'm sorry, but you don't get to abandon the team for months on end at the start of the qualifying campaign only to walk on later.

I guess Victoria wasn't interested in spending time in China or Australia...

 

Here's the USMNT camp roster...

GOALKEEPERS (6): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/England), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton/England), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (8 ): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla/Mexico), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/England), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana/Mexico), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby/Denmark), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim/Germany), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg/Germany)

MIDFIELDERS (10): Michael Bradley (Roma/Italy), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana/Mexico), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor/Turkey), Stuart Holden (Bolton/England), Jermaine Jones (Schalke/Germany), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht/Belgium), Brek Shea (Stoke City/England), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim/Germany), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna/Austria), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur/England), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna/Mexico), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)

 

You're telling me you have more faith in Holden or Shea, both of whom are still lacking fitness after long-term injury absences? One of whom gets spot minutes for a Championship club and another who can't get on the field at all? This is little more than another attempt by Klinsmann to Send A Message and further prove that this is His Team. Boldly freezing out Altidore sure worked wonders, didn't it? He can't stop scoring for the US now.

This version of the national team lacks width, pace, creativity, goals, leadership and the ability to keep the ball. Donovan makes this team better in every one of those areas. If Klinsmann is more concerned with cranking out press releases and making sure everyone knows he's the Alpha Dog instead of making the national team the best it can be, then Brazil 2014 is going to be like France 1998 and Germany 2006 all over again.

 

Six goalkeepers....really, Klinsi? Really?

I really don't understand the fascination with Stu Holden. A good player, to be sure, but what in the hell has he done in the last 2 yrs besides get injured?

 

Three keepers for the qualifiers, three for the Gold Cup? Sounds about right.

There's reason to want Holden in the mix. At his best, he can be a box-to-box midfielder like Bradley, shielding the back line and contributing to the attack without the liabilities and/or turnovers that come with the likes of Jones, Edu, Williams or Clark. Maybe Klinsmann wants Holden in the camp so he can keep playing and building up his fitness. That's fine for the Gold Cup, but not for a run of World Cup qualifiers where the US needs nine points out of nine to truly feel safe about reaching Brazil.

 

Well, you can never have enough GKs in my mind. And he might be thinking down the road about getting some experience for the younger ones.

 

While I agree with most of what you're saying, and the general thought that leaving Donovan off the USMNT is ludicrous, you're forgetting that Graham Zusi has played fairly well in recent qualifiers. Is he Donovan? Not even close. But his distribution is high caliber, and his hustle to deny an open header may have saved a point in Azteca.

 

I'm not so sure Donovan/Zusi is an either/or proposition. The options on the wing seem to be Davis, Shea, Beasley, Johnson, Kljestan, Zusi or Dempsey. Let's assume Klinsmann plays two (at least nominal) forwards for the two home games -- if the last visit to Kingston was any indication, Altidore will be a lonely man on June 7. That's likely Altidore plus Dempsey or Gomez as a withdrawn striker, and Dempsey playing centrally leaves Zusi free to do his thing on the right.

What about the left side? It's hard to tell if Shea is healthy, but you can bet he's not match-fit. Klinsmann hasn't shown any inclination to start Kljestan, Beasley is listed as a defender (though that doesn't mean all that much, really) and Davis has hardly set the heather alight during his national team appearances. If it comes down to a choice between the Grown-Ass Man and Donovan to start on the left wing, I choose Donovan.

Of course, if one of the midfielders or forwards has to pull out through injury or moving to a new club, this whole discussion may prove moot.

 

Rumor is Carlos Slim is buying Chivas, but plans to dump the MLS version.