USMNT Midfield Talent Surplus More of a Curse Than Boon

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: September 15, 2010

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Now that the coaching situation has been decided—for better or worse—the U.S. national team can turn its attention to development, progression, and preparation for its 2014 World Cup Qualification Cycle.

Particular attention will be paid to which players are improving, which 2010 holdovers will continue to contribute, let alone hold starting positions, and where controversy and conflict abound in the coach's selection.

For the most part, there's not enough depth in the U.S. player pool for a tremendous amount of controversy. One viewing of the Brazil friendly reveals the dramatic drop-off between the talent of the United States' first eleven and the rest of the team.

But like the glut of top goalkeeper talent ten years ago (Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, a young Tim Howard), the current team is rife with midfield potential and anemic at most of the other field positions.

Bradley's biggest challenge may be how to utilize his depth without leaving any key elements out of his lineup.

And these decisions might get more difficult as the qualification cycle gets started.

The lack of American players transferred to European clubs could be the first sign that roster spots might not be as solid as they were going into South Africa.

The summer's tournament was supposed to be the coming out party for Michael Bradley, but despite a strong performance, there was little interest from bigger clubs. Perhaps Borussia Monchengladbach downplayed interest in their player. However, more than a few analysts predicted Bradley would have his choice of teams at the end of the summer.

Part of the problem may have been the American's midfield woes. Bradley never seemed comfortable with any of his possible partners. There was never really a midfield game other than defend, defend, defend.

When managers are considering players, especially the elite clubs, they have to ask, what w...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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