Comments on: US Soccer 2008…2004 All Over Again?

By: anthony

anthony — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:09:09 +0000

i absolutely agree. howard is our num#1 stopper but we have many good keepers. without donovan and or Adu to take charge of the midfield the US look lost. no creativity, no flair as you say. skill players! i want M.Bradley to be our holding midfielder, but he can’t. not right now. he scored 20 goals in holland. how? as a holding midfielder? thats not the position he plays there. Bob Bradley should know, it’s his son. he needs to play more upfront. another coach is vital to be considered like Russia. we have talent yes, direction no. let’s give Bradley credit though, he has given young players playing time. and they have responded. he has helped give hope to US soccer for the future and for all of us to comment on this topic. the olympics will give more of an idea where US soccer is heading now. can’t wait!

By: matt

matt — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:28:48 +0000

hiddink is a pipedream. this is the second article this week i’ve seen about that and while it’s great its not like its actually gonna happen or fix some of the more glaring problems w/ player development unless we were able to hire hiddink and his staff and were able to keep them for something like 5-10 years to change the culture of soccer here. that’s something that wouldn’t happen anyway because alot of people @ us soccer think we’re on the right track and would refuse to give control over to one guy. that being said, we’re probably better than we ever have been…at least potential wise…and i’m guessing that’s good enough for the suits @ us soccer.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:13:05 +0000

I think a major step would be to change the NCAA substitution rules so they match professional and WC matches. That will force the players to get more technical and tactical and slow down the footrace. Coaches will have to get a lot better as well. Instead of trying to set up youth systems which US Soccer and the MLS don’t seem to have the resources for we should improve what we already have.

By: Brian Lomax

Brian Lomax — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:48:05 +0000

Donovan’s LA Galaxy are in first place in their conference actually, and Donovan should win MVP if he keeps up his pace this year. That being said, I think you’ve won this argument, but I still think Donovan is more important to the team than Howard is.

Donovan does lead his country in goals scored, while Howard is one a hell of a keeper. But Howard has had more success. I still think it tough to compare the 2 though in terms of who is better. The US would be ok with Brad Friedel or Guzan in goal. Without Donovan, this is a much different team.

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:40:38 +0000

We’re not talking about who is more important to the team. We’re talking about who is better.

Its always difficult to compare players at different position. A defender is hard to measure against a striker b/c they require a different skill set. A holding midfield requires a different skill set than an attacking playmaker center mid.

But at his position, Tim Howard has attained more success than Donovan has been at his. Howard plays for one of the better teams in the most competitive leagues in the world. If not for Edwin Van der Sar and a bad run of form, he could have been playing for the best team in the world. Donovan plays for a team that isn’t one of the best teams in a league that isn’t the best in the world.

Could Donovan play for a better team in a better league? Its a possibility, but he’s not doing it.

By: Daniel Beech

Daniel Beech — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:52:11 +0000

Good coaching is the lynch-pin, the fact that USA has gone this long without grabbing a high-quality coach is completely ludicrous.

Let’s also stop looking at Russia in hindsight. At the point of Hiddink joining them (and even a little while after) they were a little pathetic.

Last point is to improve on the culture of football in the US. Right now there’s far too much emphasis on it’s physical nature – they need to get someone in there who can administer and institute a more technical approach from the highest level in the MLS down to the lowest in the various academies.

By: Brian Lomax

Brian Lomax — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:54:27 +0000

Rob, Yes that would be the formation I would run too. But since our CB’s aren’t exactly…great…do you run the risk of just having one defensive mid on the field? If Michael Bradley can develop into a Gattuso type, then we are in business, but until then….we’re stuck in nuetral.

Erik…I dunno if I agree with that. I like Howard a lot, but to say he’s our best player? Its close, but how do you compare a striker/winger to a keeper? Its tough. I think Donovan is more important, because we absolutely stunk without him in the lineup against England and Spain. He makes the team go.

Jeremiah…SSF moved back here to the main page. More readers, more comments, etc. This article alone has gotten more comments than anything I ever wrote on SSF.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:04:42 +0000

The problem with Donovan is that he goes to sleep every four years, at world cup time. He’s fine in friendlies and in qualifying, but he simply will not play on the big stage. The US is wasting its time with him.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:20:27 +0000

Better friendlies, how can you beat Argentinia and Spain?

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:38:41 +0000

Hey Brian, I agree that we need better coaching, but I’m not sure I see all the same parallels between the current rendition of the USMNT and that previous version. We had to get through the CONCACAF in the 2002 qualifying, and we did well at that cup. I’d be interested to hear you flesh that out more. What exactly are the parallels that you see?

PS – what happened to State Side Footy?!