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Retired US Soccer / World Cup Thread (RIP)

siff said:
Yes, and his first goal this year (from the run of play) displayed that he still has great composure...something we've sorely missed from other US strikers
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Appeared speedy as well. Keeper never had a chance
 
why does everyone forget Buddle?

If we are still going to attempt to play the 4-2-3-1 he's about the only forward capable of playing that holding striker position
 
BillBrasky said:
why does everyone forget Buddle?

If we are still going to attempt to play the 4-2-3-1 he's about the only forward capable of playing that holding striker position
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Right now, here's my take:

Agudelo > Bunbury > Davies > Buddle > JOZY!

Davies and Bunbury might swap places, as might Buddle and #3.
 

http://insider.espn.go.com/sports/soccer/blog?name=us_national_soccer&id=6382349

The U.S. can learn from Mexico
April, 18, 2011
APR 18
12:00
PM ET
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9
By Brent Latham

Like it or not, the most handy measuring stick for American soccer will likely always be Mexico. Admittedly, it's a lazy and sometimes irrelevant comparison. But with the two rivals vying neck and neck for regional supremacy for more than a decade now, sizing up American progress through a Mexican lens can sometimes be a useful exercise.

It works both ways, which helps explain why the Mexicans were so fed up in the spring of 2009. The Mexican under-20 team had just failed to qualify for the under-20 World Cup for a third time in five tries, a year after El Tri's under-23 Olympic team had fallen well short in qualifying, as well. So after years of watching the United States qualify for just about every tournament out there, the Mexicans decided to do something about their youth teams.

One example does not necessarily make a trend, but their performance at the CONCACAF under-20 championship earlier this month would seem to indicate that the Mexicans are suddenly doing a lot right at the youth level.

"Two years ago, sadly, it went badly," said Mexican under-20 coach Juan Carlos Chavez after his team won the regional qualifying tournament in Guatemala. "Since then we've had a two-year process with these players, and we've played something like 10 international tournaments. We've made it to eight finals. We went to Venezuela, Japan and the South American tournament. We've played a lot of games and got some good results."

The results in Guatemala continued that pattern. The Mexicans won all five of their games convincingly, scoring 18 goals and giving up just two. The regional title was a milestone achievement, but the Mexicans will be looking to accomplish much more at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia in three months' time.

The Americans, on the other hand, failed to make the under-20 World Cup for the first time in 16 years. The tournament was scheduled in such an unbalanced fashion that direct comparisons between the two teams really don't amount to much, but the fact remains that the Mexicans showed a cohesiveness and professionalism superior to any of their rivals. While the Americans faced a tough assignment against the host team in the quarters -- and failed -- the Mexicans' incessant attacking play gave the impression they would have found a way to weather the Guatemalan storm under the same circumstances.

"The kids never give up, they keep going forward and proposing new ideas," Chavez said. "If we had one breakdown where our rivals scored a goal, the team had the personality to overcome it and win. It's the seriousness of the team, what they've learned as professionals."

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Such machine-like determination and fluidity might be too much to ask, at this stage at least, of an American team with players spread so widely around the world. The U.S. situation at the under-20 level differs most from Mexico's in that players come from so many diverse club situations in dozens of countries.

But Mexico's fine-tuned performance suggests that far-flung U.S. talent base may also be holding back the American under-20s, who showed up in Guatemala unprepared as a team to get the qualifying job done. The Mexicans, perhaps no more talented than the Americans in terms of individual skill position by position, fielded a much more unified and battle-tested squad.

Much of that cohesiveness results from pulling the entire squad directly from the Mexican club system, which is generating a slew of promising prospects these days. It's no coincidence that after the 2009 under-20 World Cup qualifying failure, the Mexican federation mandated that all first division clubs field under-17 and under-20 teams, which clash on game days before every professional match. Many clubs have taken their development approach even further, boasting six or seven reserve teams at different levels of the Mexican system.

"The under-20 tournament has really produced for us," Chavez said. "Of these 20 guys that came to Guatemala, 16 have already debuted in the first division and the other four are just a small step away. They are players with a lot of personality, a lot of quality, and as coaches we ask that when they put on the Mexican jersey they do it with a lot of pride and they go out and play with that pride on the field."

The FMF administers the Mexican top flight, while the USSF simply sanctions MLS, but has no hand in running it. So despite the return of the reserve league in American domestic soccer, don't hold your breath waiting for a parallel and similarly effective youth development system in the U.S.

The Americans will continue to rely on clubs scattered around the world -- including a number in Mexico -- to develop players. The long-term results may be just as positive in terms of producing players, but the realities of pulling players from foreign clubs will continue to make putting together a top-level under-20 team challenging.

In the meantime, expect to see continuously improving results at this level from the Americans' main CONCACAF rival, as the Mexican federation focuses on constructing teams to get results on the field, while leaving player development to the clubs back home.

"We're after results," Chavez said. "My coordinators asked me before we left Mexico that we would be the most disciplined team, that we would score the most goals and receive the least, and win the tournament. We came out well on all fronts."

Clearly, Mexico has raised the bar in youth development at home, and as a result it will get progressively harder to keep up with their youth teams on the field. For better or worse, that's the main yardstick by which the U.S. system will continue to be judged.
 
What can we learn? They can learn that I care about NT results and not U-20 results.
 
Siff, you should post on the MLS thread more if you like the MLS. We've been posting about Benny over there a bit.

MLS has isssued the release than Benny went to the Revs, but the Revs have yet to officially "claim" him. When contacted, they denied comment. Tweets are spreading that New England is looking to deal him immediately and Houston is putting together a trade package.
 
Sorry, TD. I thought that thread was only a fantasy thread...my bad. I'll start visiting it more regularly.
 
Oh, it was originally an MLS thread but the Fantasy part got added to the title at some point.
 
FCBayernReport FC Bayern Report
FC Bayern's American-born 18 year old MF Fabian Hürzeler trained with pro squad on Wednesday. He was recently recruited to the US U-20 team
 
Late to the party on the Davies discussion, but I'd leave him at DC unless he's still keeping up his goal a game average. He just last weekend got his first start, and with him still coming back from injury I think the bigger picture is more important.

And I would be absolutely shocked if any Wake alum was on the Gold Cup roster. I'm not sure any are even close as of today.
 
Big game tonight for US Soccer. It'll be a good symbolic measure if RSL can win the Champions League.
 
gsterp said:
Late to the party on the Davies discussion, but I'd leave him at DC unless he's still keeping up his goal a game average. He just last weekend got his first start, and with him still coming back from injury I think the bigger picture is more important.

And I would be absolutely shocked if any Wake alum was on the Gold Cup roster. I'm not sure any are even close as of today.
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1 start 1 goal? not a bad scoreline for starts
 
gsterp said:
Definitely. I just don't want to rush him back until there's basically no lingering question about his recovery from the accident.
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Yeah I understand. I could see him left off since we do have a few "in form" strikers at the moment in Agudelo and Bunbury.
 
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