USSoccer

I played against a team that didn't speak any english last night. I am even more ready than before for them to beat the crap out of them. I haven't even looked at the Mexico roster, but I am sure I will hate more than half the team. It is muy bien. Castillo is out, but I the rest of their big guns are there iirc. No Guardado either.

Guzan still can't get a work permit. He's probably going to be languishing in MLS another year.

That's a pretty good roster to assemble. Here's hoping we go out and pummel Mexico. Seth, where are you watching the game?

Leadoff hitter is not a position.

I think if you take Ronaldo off of Man U, you have Liverpool or Everton. A top 5 Prem team, but not a championship contender. He's carried that team. Carried them. He makes Anderson and Nani look better than they are (I'm not impressed with either). He frees up space for Rooney and Tevez, neither of whom are brilliant, Thierry Henry circa 2003-4 strikers (Rooney is better than Tevez). Selling Ronaldo now would be stupid. Selling him just before the 2010 Cup, when he's a little older and his pace will probably have lessened just slightly, would be smarter.

Best player alive.

I should be abused for ever implyinh nepostism. It's ok, I implied it too. Nobody could have predicted this, I don't think. Rovers scouts were at the game today. I don't want Bradley in the Prem. I'd prefer he play in Serie A or even the Bundesliga. I don't see how playing for Rovers or Sunderland, in the middle to bottom of the table, playing basically a holding mid again (no EPL coach is going to let him attack as much as he does in the Erdevise) just doesn't do much for his development. His ceiling is changing to the point where he has a real chance of becoming the first real world class field player we've developed since...pretty much ever. The Ballack/Gerrard ceiling is now actually attainable. Even playing for an Everton side that's top 4 right now, to me, isn't enough. If he's going to play at that level, send him to Milan or even Juve (sorry, Seth), where he can go up against really good defenses in a good tactical league and play in CL games. As an aside, if he does continue this run of form, Bradley the Elder has to either change his formation or make some really tough decisions about his starting XI. At what point, then, does the mantra of playing in a good league at a high level begin to apply to Landon Donovan? Our starting XI, right now, probably looks like: Altidore Donovan Dempsey Bradley Convey Clark Gooch Bocanegra Pearce Cherundolo Howard You're going to have to fit Adu, Edu, Feilhaber, Beasley, Szetela, Zizzo, and whoever else emerges into that mix, just in the midfield alone. That's too crowded for a 4-4-2 bucket with two useless, defensive mids like we played all of 2007 with. I know our central defense sucked in 2007, but we actually have the makings of a decent attack, it we're willing to adjust our tactics a little. I don't want to say we're overloaded with options, but also there's easily a scenario (at least in my mind), that come 2009 when we're in the Hex, that LD will no longer be deserving of a starting spot. Will BB have the stones to actually make that call, if he's still in neutral in MLS? Altidore and Adu will probably start; Rui Costa can't play forever, and Freddy's goals/minute ratio is good. Jozy's going to be in Europe playing somewhere worthwhile by then. Demspey will be in his prime, 3 years in the EPL under his belt (unless he's killed by playing target for Fulham by then). There's Bradley. Feilhaber is in Europe, and the level of play he's getting playing Reserve games for Derby is probably MLS-equivalent. Beasley will be in the SPL, playing in CL games assuming he recovers from the knee injury. Convey actually looks decent half the time for a decent club in Reading. Edu will probably be in the EPL; he's decent. Clark is probably Mastroeni-redux, but still a good option. Who knows how Szetela will develop in Spain, but again, even though he's not playing for Racing, the training enviroment in La Liga dwarfs MLS. That's a bunch of known options who will all be playing at higher (or in Clark's case, equal) levels as Donovan. Injuries and poor form will probably be cancelled out by a couple unknowns (like Dempsey in 2006) emerging as options.

I should be abused for ever implyinh nepostism.

It's hard to plant and cut when your hair is that greased up; I half expect him to start singing about a car every time I see him.

That's unfair to toaster ovens. 80% of that roster is the international soccer equivalent of a AAA team. Just utter garbage. I counted 13 completely useless players, and I was being generous. That's got to be just the camp roster. There will be European callups, unless the Oompaloompa wants Bradley to lose 6-0 to Mexico. I'd imagine we'd see Adu, Dempsey, Bocanegra, Howard and Bradley at the very, very least. Probably Gooch and 'Dolo as well. Also, don't discount some of the U-23 guys coming from Bradenton to Houston a couple days before the match. That could mean Edu, Altidore and Zizzo are in the mix.

how is this good news? FSC was doing a fine job of putting up 3 games a weekend with decent commentary, and now it's all gonna be broadcast on the internet instead. Update: ESPN 360 has exclusive rights to Internet only broadcasts. FSC and GOL TV will still be broadcasting Seria A and Coppa Italia matches. GolTV has Inter Milan v Juventus at 3pm and Sampdoria v Roma at 12:30pm. FSC has AC Milan v Atalanta at 2:30pm. I like this lineup too, but I don't know if Mexico is the first game to try it at. --------Altidore-----Dempsey------- -----------------Adu--------------- ---Convey----Bradley-----Donovan--- Boca----------------------Stevie C ----Parkhurst-------Gooch----------- ---------------Howard-------------- They need to blood the newbies, so to speak. There's really no better way to do it than in a meaningless game against a quality opponent.

how bout a bucket 4-4-2 with Twellman up front, Adu and Altidore coming on as subs, and Jonathan Bornstein playing left back? That wet your whistle? That somethings my something. I fully endorse Wolf's lineup, except that I'm still not happy with Gooch and Boca in the center at the same time.

Luis Aragonés and the Spanish FA say it's in Spain. The oompa loompa said on the US MNT podcast that it is all but done but they won't officially announce it until contracts are signed. March 26, and it's a FIFA international release date so Bradley will have his pick of the squad. I might be halucinating, but we might add another European fixture that week of March 26. Are there 2 international dates that week?

Oy veh. Leadoff hitter is not a position.

One has to imagine that with all the consternation over the center field position since Corey petered out, if the Cubs at all felt Murton was a viable defensive option in center field they would have tried it by now beyond one emergency inning. Oh, I'm not trying to say Murton as a CF is a viable alternative. I'm just saying Murton in the 10 games a year you want to give Pie a break in CF is better than Byrd anywhere on the team. I'd be shocked if Pie starts more than 140 games next year. Even if he starts the season without a platoon partner, Lou isn't going to put up with his putrid bat against left-handers for long. That might actually depend on whether or not the rest of the offense sucks against LHP. If we're any sort of decent, maybe Piniella just leaves him in and lets him takes his lumps.

that makes a lot more sense considering it's a Euro tuneup for Spain. We should be able to get at least more game in against teams getting ready for Euros The ESPN writeup I saw had the game stateside. Hmm. Also, I do know we're playing Poland in Europe at some point this spring. Finally, Bob Bradley needs to come up with a formation that allows Bradley to be a two-way central mid, and not just a destroyer next to another D mid. If he's having that much sucess at Hereneeven playing as a CAM, we need to figure out a way to allow him to do that at the international level. I don't know if BB will get away from the bucket 4-4-2 though.

Just have Murton play CF every 10th day or whatever, or sign Kenny Lofton if you really need to put training wheels on Pie. I'd rather have Murton around to be a 4th OF than just dump him to get a platoon parter for Pie.

Where? Unsure. I'd bet maybe Boston or Chicago, though.

BTW, the USMNT will play a friendly against Spain on June 4th.

I watched it on DVR this morning on fast forward. It's hard to pay full attention to like a USMNT B/C team playing Sweden's B team. I thought it was appropriate that Donovan set the scoring record on a PK in a meaningless friendly. Twellman still sucks. Almost none of the players on the field should be on the field when the games really matter. There's only so much usefulness in depth. I do like what Ricardo Clark brings to the table, though. And Altidore played well.

I think he is another transfer away from getting a shot with a big club. Hamburg, Everton and Rovers are a good choice. He has stated in the past that Milan is his dream destination. Wherever he goes, he needs to play. The way he has improved since going to Holland and playing major minutes is amazing. He probably is...it's just that Milan and Juve are pretty barren in midfield (especially holding/d-mid) right now. Another problem with transferring to either of those teams is that he doesn't carry a Euro passport and foreign passport limits are stricter in Serie A. I just think it's nice that we're actually discussing a US player that's not a keeper playing for a major club.

a buddy of mine from newcastle is totally excited about this, and, apparently, so are all of his mates back home. Obviously. From the BBC website: :shock: Stupid Geordies. I hope Stoke beats them. They sure as hell outplayed them last time. Newcastle is like an early 2000's Washington Redskins team. I spend half the time I watch them saying "I know that guy, I know that guy", and yet their team is freaking horrible. Also, Geo Rossi is a wank for playing for Italy, and Eddie Johnson in the Prem is going to be a stitch, but if it takes playing time away from Dempsey I'm going to be right pissed.

I for one could not give two craps about Twellman's development. This isn't a Landon Donovan situation where he could take his game to the next level by playing in the soda league. He is one player I'd rather see stay in MLS. He is quality in the league and would do more for US Soccer by staying in MLS and being a good domestic player. x2. Playing in the Colaship means nothing for Twellman and his melon sized head. He is what he is. Playing for PNE against like Wigan or Watford isn't going to make him not suck. He's worth more to to the US Soccer program in MLS where he can be a "high level" player in MLS.

As Vance suggested, go buy a pair of Sambas. You probably aren't going to be playing at a high enough level to need anything better anyway.

Are you suggesting that the officiating in Serie A isn't on the level?