The Soccer Thread

[wolf stansson]

In an interview with sidelineviews, an LA Galaxy blog, Bob Bradley said they are "In talks" with Giuseppe Rossi about a call up to the senior squad.

 

 

 

 

Nothing will come of this, but it is worth mentioning.

 

Why would the USSF waste it's time?

Meh, it's just a phone call. I doubt it is high on their priority list.

 

 

Although it would be fun to kick around a lineup with two legit strikers. Our midfield would be packed if we moved Clint back.

[USSoccer]

In an interview with sidelineviews, an LA Galaxy blog, Bob Bradley said they are "In talks" with Giuseppe Rossi about a call up to the senior squad.

 

 

 

 

Nothing will come of this, but it is worth mentioning.

 

Why would the USSF waste it's time?

Meh, it's just a phone call. I doubt it is high on their priority list.

 

 

Although it would be fun to kick around a lineup with two legit strikers. Our midfield would be packed if we moved Clint back.

 

The problem with moving Clint back is that so far USSF and Bradley are too stupid to realize that having 3 of the same midfielder on the field is dumb.

 

If you have 2 real strikers, Clint could play in the center of midfield, and you could pick one of Bradley, Feilhaber or Clark to play behind him, and put Donovan just above him.

 

Yeah, I'm talking 3-5-2.

[wolf stansson]

Yeah, I'm talking 3-5-2.

 

I was thinking going forward with:

 

-----------------------Jozy------------Rossi----------------------

-------------------------------Deuce------------------------------

---------Beasley-------------------------------Donovan---------

-------------------------Bradley/Feilhaber------------------------

---Pearce/Bornstein--DeMerit/Onyewu--Boca--Cherundolo---

------------------------------Howard-------------------------------

 

 

 

I know people hate Bornstein, but go ask Lionel Messi if he is any good.

 

Then the question of where does Freddy play if he blossoms? We have a lot of attacking mids.

[USSoccer]

Yeah, I'm talking 3-5-2.

 

I was thinking going forward with:

 

-----------------------Jozy------------Rossi----------------------

-------------------------------Deuce------------------------------

---------Beasley-------------------------------Donovan---------

-------------------------Bradley/Feilhaber------------------------

---Pearce/Bornstein--DeMerit/Onyewu--Boca--Cherundolo---

------------------------------Howard-------------------------------

 

 

 

I know people hate Bornstein, but go ask Lionel Messi if he is any good.

 

Then the question of where does Freddy play if he blossoms? We have a lot of attacking mids.

 

If Freddy blossoms, he'll probably be better than our 3 attacking mids are, so he can replace whichever. However, if he does blossom, it's a good problem to have. It would be nice to have a surplus of attacking, world class players.

[wolf stansson]

Wahl on Michael Bradley

 

The son also rises

He's the coach's kid, but Bradley is addicted to soccer

 

How much of a soccer junkie is Michael Bradley? Well, the rising 20-year-old U.S. midfielder just bought an apartment right across the street from the stadium at Heerenveen, the Dutch club where he plies his trade.

 

When he's not playing games or training, he devours European soccer broadcasts, to say nothing of repeated viewings of his own matches. And if you're looking for Bradley to join the chorus criticizing the overloaded European soccer calendar, think again.

 

"There's no breaks, and I think that's a really good thing," says Bradley, who has won starting jobs in both the U.S. and Heerenveen midfields in recent months. "Our season's 11 months long. We get three weeks off in June. So for 11 months every day to go into training and know you've got to play well and perform and improve yourself to make sure you're getting on the field, that's how you really get better as a player."

 

More than anything, Bradley's unyielding appetite for soccer explains why he has improved more (arguably) than any other U.S. player over the past year -- and why he didn't bother to take three weeks off in June, playing instead for the U.S. in both the Gold Cup and the Under-20 World Cup.

 

"I didn't want a vacation on the beach or whatever," Bradley says. "When you're a soccer player and this is your profession, this is what you want to do every day. So you pay attention to things. You watch games. You talk about games."

 

And when Bradley talks about soccer, the similarities to his father, Bob, the U.S. national-team coach, are almost eerie. I've been covering Bob since 1992, when he was the coach at Princeton, but this was the first time I had ever interviewed Michael, and at times I swore I was listening to Bradley the Elder. Michael's speech has the same drawn-out pauses, the same expressions ("inside the team"; "it is what it is"; "knowing how to play"; "Look, ..."), the same cerebral deconstruction of the sport itself.

 

Make no mistake, that last similarity is a good thing. So much of the media coverage surrounding the Bradleys has addressed the surface impact (and potential conflicts) of a son playing for his dad on the national team, leaving aside the more important point: The U.S. now has a 20-year-old national-teamer who approaches the game with nearly the same thought process, passion and work ethic as one of the most accomplished soccer coaches this country has ever produced.

 

And at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, the younger Bradley has the elite-level physical tools his pops never possessed. Granted, he's still a work-in-progress -- witness his red card against Canada in the Gold Cup and his penalty against Brazil last month, both fatigue-induced brain locks -- but you could also argue that Bradley was the U.S.' most effective player in the 4-2 loss to the Samba Kings.

 

When asked how much influence Bob has had on how he views the sport, Michael doesn't hesitate. "All of it," he says. "Everything."

 

From the time Michael could walk, he was kicking a soccer ball around the Bradley house. As a kid he'd tag along on Princeton road trips, and he was a fixture at Chicago Fire practices after Bob took over there. As a teenager, Michael played for his father on the MetroStars and even scored the team's playoff-clinching goal in the emotional 2005 regular-season finale, three games after his dad had been fired.

 

These days father and son will dissect replays of Heerenveen games together over the phone, Bob offering insights from the family's home in California while Michael adds his perspective from the apartment next to the soccer stadium in Holland.

 

"These are all things we've shared together that have been some of the best parts of my life," says Michael. "I speak to him every day about everything: things in life, what's going on in soccer, how my training was today. He's the first person I'll call after a game."

 

They've certainly had a lot to talk about lately. After winning a spot in Heerenveen's starting XI this season, Bradley has scored four goals in nine games for a team that has been all over the map so far performance-wise.

 

Take last week: On Thursday, Heerenveen got knocked out of the UEFA Cup with a 5-1 second-leg loss at Sweden's Helsingborg but came back over the weekend to thrash Heracles Almelo 9-0 to improve its record to 2-3-2 in the Eredivisie. (For some of Bradley's recent highlights, check out this U.S. Soccer Blog.)

 

"The results haven't all been what we've wanted so far," Bradley says, "especially in the league where we've let some games slip away where we've played well but given up some soft goals. But the feeling on the team is very positive."

 

Bradley plays more or less the same position with Heerenveen -- holding midfield -- that he does with the U.S. team. But he acknowledges that he's able to move forward more often in Holland, which has allowed him to be more of a goal-scoring threat this season.

 

"With the national team at times it's my responsibility to make sure our different attacking guys -- Landon [Donovan], DaMarcus [beasley], Clint Dempsey -- all have the freedom to do the things they're good at going forward," Bradley says.

 

"So that means at times I have to be the one to be more disciplined and play in front of defenders a little more and break plays up and bring different people into the game from that position. Whereas here at times there's a little bit more freedom to be a guy who's a two-way player going up and down the field, defensively taking care of things and winning tackles but at the same time getting forward to support the attack and get goals."

 

That said, Bradley's performance will be measured less on his ability to put balls in the net than on how much he imposes himself on the midfield. No position on the field elicits more widely varying evaluations than Bradley's, even by people who follow the sport closely. Bradley may sound like a 40-year-old in a 20-year-old's body when discussing his role on the field, but it's a useful window into what he's trying to achieve:

 

"When you look at my position and see the best teams around the world, they all have guys who play in the center of the field who are the backbone of the team, the engine," he says. "In attack and defense for 90 minutes they make such a difference for their team. When you look at guys like Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira or Frank Lampard or whoever, these are all guys who have so much respect from their teammates because of the way they work and compete and what they bring to the team, and in the end that plays such a big role in that team being successful.

 

"So when I play with Heerenveen or the national team, that's the kind of player I try to be, the guy who from that position is defensively in on every play and winning tackles and headers and organizing things and breaking up plays and at the same time getting the ball and bringing different guys into the game and mixing up passes and getting forward to help out, whether it's by scoring goals or setting up goals."

 

Bradley joined Heerenveen in '05, nearly two years after the Dutch club spotted him playing for the MetroStars at a preseason tournament in La Manga, Spain. At the club's request, Bradley lived in Heerenveen's youth dormitories for his first eight months to get used to the country and learn the Dutch language.

 

If you're looking for indicators of potential staying power for U.S. soccer players in Europe, one of the best is the desire to learn a foreign language. The most successful ones tend to learn a new tongue (see: Steve Cherundolo in Germany, Kasey Keller in Spain and Germany, John O'Brien in Holland), while those that don't (Clint Mathis in Germany, Zach Thornton in Portugal) often don't stay very long.

 

In other words, keep an eye on whether Freddy Adu (in Portugal), Danny Szetela (in Spain) and Sal Zizzo (in Germany) pick up their respective languages the way their U-20 teammate has done in Holland.

 

"As much as everyone speaks English, to be able to speak and understand Dutch makes everything a lot easier," Bradley says. "And it makes it a lot more fun to be in the team, because you can sit in the locker room and understand jokes that are flying around. You can sit in a meeting the day after a game and understand what guys are talking about."

 

Of course, the more Bradley succeeds at Heerenveen (and on the national team), the less some cynics might wonder if his last name has any influence on his inclusion in the U.S. starting lineup. His recent U.S. performances should be enough to dispel those concerns, but let's be honest: The touchiest subject in any interview with Bob Bradley these days is his son.

 

"If he wasn't related to me, it might make the whole thing easier," the elder Bradley told me during June's Gold Cup. "But he's strong, and I think if anybody were to take the time to talk to the players he's played with over the years -- at the MetroStars, at Heerenveen and now in the national team -- people would realize that his understanding of the game, his mentality, his maturity, those are things that you want to see in young players."

 

(For what it's worth, I have yet to find a U.S. player who questions the younger Bradley's inclusion in the team -- on or off the record. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't have questions, just that they haven't mentioned them to me.)

 

"It's not like I sit at home thinking to myself, What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages?" Michael Bradley says of having his dad as the U.S. coach. "It is what it is. I can't change it. There's always going to be questions about it from the media, but it's not my job to worry about it or analyze it, so I don't."

 

And while he admits that he feels extra pressure to show that he deserves to be on the field ("Yeah, absolutely"), he emphasizes that it's more of an internal pressure that starts with him. "When the whistle blows I leave everything I have on the field for the team, and when you do that you earn the respect of your teammates and all the people on the inside of the team," he says. "For me, that's more important than anything else or proving to anybody on the outside that I deserve to be there."

 

Ultimately, Bradley has bigger goals than just making a U.S. national-team roster, and he knows his improvement will have to continue if he wants to reach them.

 

"I want to play for the biggest teams in the world," he says. "I want to play in World Cups and Champions League games. I have the confidence those are all things I can make happen. I just need to not be worried about the future, just keep trying to move myself forward as a player and go into training ready to work hard and compete and make sure I'm improving. I think if I do that then everything will take care of itself."

[shnsajax]

Yeah, I'm talking 3-5-2.

 

I was thinking going forward with:

 

-----------------------Jozy------------Rossi----------------------

-------------------------------Deuce------------------------------

---------Beasley-------------------------------Donovan---------

-------------------------Bradley/Feilhaber------------------------

---Pearce/Bornstein--DeMerit/Onyewu--Boca--Cherundolo---

------------------------------Howard-------------------------------

 

 

 

I know people hate Bornstein, but go ask Lionel Messi if he is any good.

 

Then the question of where does Freddy play if he blossoms? We have a lot of attacking mids.

 

If Freddy blossoms, he'll probably be better than our 3 attacking mids are, so he can replace whichever. However, if he does blossom, it's a good problem to have. It would be nice to have a surplus of attacking, world class players.

 

A surplus never seen before. Given the way the USSF butchered the Klinsman negotiations they need to make this up somehow. Not to mention I think we would have a better chance of getting Rossi if Klinsman was the manager.

[brinoch]

I thought this article was interesting. As I've said before, there's no reason not to pursue Rossi. Bradley's right to try and lure him to the team. All he can say is no, and the more he feels there's an immediate option, the more likely he is to eventually say yes. After all, he's not expected to play for the US MNT, so if he does, it's a windfall. The dedicated pursuit by the US, while Italy on the other side is a huge personal hill to climb for various reasons, has to weigh on Rossi.

 

Clifton's Rossi on U.S. radar

 

Clifton native and Villarreal star Giuseppe Rossi has stated repeatedly that his desire is to eventually play for the Italian national team. This has led Rossi, who lived in Clifton until he left for Italy at age 14, to play on several Italian youth national teams.

 

None of that has stopped the U.S. Soccer Federation from leaving the door open for Rossi to play for his native country. U.S. coach Bob Bradley admitted that U.S. Soccer had been in contact with Rossi and that the 20-year-old striker still has a place in the U.S. Soccer program.

 

"He's in a position to consider what he wants to try to do," Bradley said. "Up until now he has played for some of the Italian youth teams and U.S. Soccer has continued to reach out to find out what he wants to do."

 

Rossi, who joined Villarreal from Manchester United for $14 million, has been a key in helping Villarreal contend for a top four place in Spain. He has scored five goals in seven matches this season.

 

"He continues to make progress as a player and he's a player we all know has ability," Bradley said. "Right now he is a player with options."

[sethuel1]

I'll keep dreaming.

[Guest]

Just don't get your hopes too high though.

 

It'll be Klinsman part 2. Except Klinsman was actually supposed to happen.

[wolf stansson]

So Lampard (not surprising) and Drogba (a little surprising) want out of Chelsea now that Jose is gone and Avram Grant is targeting Kaka despite what would probably be around $200,000,000 transfer fee and Kaka's interview earlier this week in which he said he likes Arsenal and Man U because Liverpool and Chelsea are too plodding for his tastes.

 

Ridiculous. What a mess.

[shnsajax]

So Lampard (not surprising) and Drogba (a little surprising) want out of Chelsea now that Jose is gone and Avram Grant is targeting Kaka despite what would probably be around $200,000,000 transfer fee and Kaka's interview earlier this week in which he said he likes Arsenal and Man U because Liverpool and Chelsea are too plodding for his tastes.

 

Ridiculous. What a mess.

 

Kaka with Arsenal would be insane. They are so loaded on young talent right now, and Kaka's pace and flow would fit right in with them as well.

[brinoch]

So Lampard (not surprising) and Drogba (a little surprising) want out of Chelsea now that Jose is gone and Avram Grant is targeting Kaka despite what would probably be around $200,000,000 transfer fee and Kaka's interview earlier this week in which he said he likes Arsenal and Man U because Liverpool and Chelsea are too plodding for his tastes.

 

Ridiculous. What a mess.

 

Kaka with Arsenal would be insane. They are so loaded on young talent right now, and Kaka's pace and flow would fit right in with them as well.

 

That would be seriously illegal. And Henry would feel dumb for leaving, like, the best team conceivable.

[sethuel1]

So Lampard (not surprising) and Drogba (a little surprising) want out of Chelsea now that Jose is gone and Avram Grant is targeting Kaka despite what would probably be around $200,000,000 transfer fee and Kaka's interview earlier this week in which he said he likes Arsenal and Man U because Liverpool and Chelsea are too plodding for his tastes.

 

Ridiculous. What a mess.

 

Kaka with Arsenal would be insane. They are so loaded on young talent right now, and Kaka's pace and flow would fit right in with them as well.

 

That would be seriously illegal. And Henry would feel dumb for leaving, like, the best team conceivable.

 

Good thing Arsenal can't afford him.

[wolf stansson]

So Lampard (not surprising) and Drogba (a little surprising) want out of Chelsea now that Jose is gone and Avram Grant is targeting Kaka despite what would probably be around $200,000,000 transfer fee and Kaka's interview earlier this week in which he said he likes Arsenal and Man U because Liverpool and Chelsea are too plodding for his tastes.

 

Ridiculous. What a mess.

 

Kaka with Arsenal would be insane. They are so loaded on young talent right now, and Kaka's pace and flow would fit right in with them as well.

 

That would be seriously illegal. And Henry would feel dumb for leaving, like, the best team conceivable.

 

Good thing Arsenal can't afford him.

Not only that, but they'd be crazy to sign him even if they could.

 

Don't f with what they have going already. If they need to add somebody to go over the top, they don't have to make it the most expensive man ever.

[shnsajax]

So Lampard (not surprising) and Drogba (a little surprising) want out of Chelsea now that Jose is gone and Avram Grant is targeting Kaka despite what would probably be around $200,000,000 transfer fee and Kaka's interview earlier this week in which he said he likes Arsenal and Man U because Liverpool and Chelsea are too plodding for his tastes.

 

Ridiculous. What a mess.

 

Kaka with Arsenal would be insane. They are so loaded on young talent right now, and Kaka's pace and flow would fit right in with them as well.

 

That would be seriously illegal. And Henry would feel dumb for leaving, like, the best team conceivable.

 

Good thing Arsenal can't afford him.

Not only that, but they'd be crazy to sign him even if they could.

 

Don't f with what they have going already. If they need to add somebody to go over the top, they don't have to make it the most expensive man ever.

 

They could just give Kaka some real estate here, of course that doesn't include the transfer fee. This place would be very damn sweet, too bad I dont have 325,000 pounds sitting in the bank.

 

http://www.thestadium-highbury.com/stadium_main.htm

[wolf stansson]

Twellman and Guzan added to the roster. I like Guzan and am glad he got the call up. He is Chivas USA's goalie and is apparently on Aresenal's radar as a potential signing.

[USSoccer]

Twellman and Guzan added to the roster. I like Guzan and am glad he got the call up. He is Chivas USA's goalie and is apparently on Aresenal's radar as a potential signing.

 

I like Guzan as well. Twellman, notsomuch. I don't see the utility in giving him callups, especially in Europe.

[wolf stansson]

Twellman, notsomuch. I don't see the utility in giving him callups, especially in Europe.

I can't stand Twellman. Everything from his unnecessarily tight jersey and short shorts to his constant penchant for missing complete sitters. Can't win an aerial challenge to save his life either.

 

They only reasoning I can see is that other than Clint there is zero experience up front and there really isn't any difference between him and someone like Josh Wolff who would be the alternative.

[USSoccer]

Twellman, notsomuch. I don't see the utility in giving him callups, especially in Europe.

I can't stand Twellman. Everything from his unnecessarily tight jersey and short shorts to his constant penchant for missing complete sitters. Can't win an aerial challenge to save his life either.

 

They only reasoning I can see is that other than Clint there is zero experience up front and there really isn't any difference between him and someone like Josh Wolff who would be the alternative.

 

 

Twellman is infuriating to watch. He's worse than Wolff, because at least Wolff finds himself in positions to score a few times per match. Twellman isn't good enough to play at the international level. He's the homeless man's Robbie Fowler, only if Robbie Fowler had less pace and a weak shot.

 

 

I would have included Gabriel Ferrari before Twellman. Including Twellman just sheds light on how horribly thin our forward depth is. I mean, we're a nation of 300 million people, and currently our best striker is a converted midfielder.

[Jon]

I just got the DirecTV sportspack about 20 minutes ago and am certainly enjoying the Premier League Fan Zone (Man U vs. Chelsea). I got it for the Northwestern game on ESPNU this Friday night, but it'll be hard to give up FSC.

[MPC]

I just got the DirecTV sportspack about 20 minutes ago and am certainly enjoying the Premier League Fan Zone (Man U vs. Chelsea). I got it for the Northwestern game on ESPNU this Friday night, but it'll be hard to give up FSC.

 

FSC is good, but could be much, much better. Way too much non-soccer programming, especially in weekend mornings. When they do air programs it's pretty solid, but very Premier League intensive.

[USSoccer]

I just got the DirecTV sportspack about 20 minutes ago and am certainly enjoying the Premier League Fan Zone (Man U vs. Chelsea). I got it for the Northwestern game on ESPNU this Friday night, but it'll be hard to give up FSC.

 

FSC is good, but could be much, much better. Way too much non-soccer programming, especially in weekend mornings. When they do air programs it's pretty solid, but very Premier League intensive.

 

It could be a lot better, but it's still a relatively new medium, right?

 

My biggest beef is the lack of knowledgable commentators.

[wolf stansson]

I love FSC, but I think it is akin to a starving person loving liver if you served it to him.

[MPC]

I just got the DirecTV sportspack about 20 minutes ago and am certainly enjoying the Premier League Fan Zone (Man U vs. Chelsea). I got it for the Northwestern game on ESPNU this Friday night, but it'll be hard to give up FSC.

 

FSC is good, but could be much, much better. Way too much non-soccer programming, especially in weekend mornings. When they do air programs it's pretty solid, but very Premier League intensive.

 

It could be a lot better, but it's still a relatively new medium, right?

 

My biggest beef is the lack of knowledgeable commentators.

 

the fsc started as fox sports world in 1997 according to wiki, fsc started in feb. 2005.

 

i enjoy bobby mcmahon as a commentator on fox soccer report, other than that there isn't much commentary on the channel. this prem season, they started super sunday plus, its live from london with english commentators but its an fsc show. its been decent the few times i've caught. great highlights and re-caps of the weekends' matches.

[USSoccer]

I love FSC, but I think it is akin to a starving person loving liver if you served it to him.

 

This is a very apt comparison.

 

The US commentators are garbage. The Fox Soccer Report guys are ok. The guys doing EPL games are just the regular EPL announcers, so I'm not giving FSC credit for tapping into that feed. The Fox Fone In guys suck.