I don’t hate soccer. In fact I love soccer. I live in the states, so I’m required by law to call it soccer, not football.
Alas, I don’t have cable so I’m kind of behind the times a little, but where’s Michael Owen? Did Fowler kick the sniffin’ yet? What ever happened to David Seaman? Not that I ever liked him that much, but he seems to have been a staple on the English squad. (if by any chance I’m making absolutely no sense, remember I live in the states and I don’t have cable - take that into consideration before you beat me up.)
Wanna talk about the US National team. World Cup Champs by 2042 or bust!! Yeah, baby!
Ooops. I just re-read your post and you have Owen as a sub. I think that should be the other way around. Isn’t Fowler getting a little long in the tooth anyway.
Fowler’s only 25, so he’s got a few years left in him yet, he’s just had loads of injuries. I wouldn’t actually start with him yet, cos he needs some match-practice, but once fully-fit, he is the best we got! You’re not the only one who’d have it the other way round, but if Fowler gets his chance, I hope he’ll prove a few doubters wrong.
Seaman’s still no.1 for some reason, but is well past it. I just hope whoever becomes manager “retires” him gracefully. Best at the moment is probably Nigel Martyn of Leeds, but I reckon give Weaver, a young lad, some experience, and he’ll be all the better for it.
You may not watch it as much as you’d like, but your post makes sense to me! I’d like to talk about the US National Team, but I don’t know much about them ('cept for the fact they’ve beaten us a coupla times over the years!!) Have they changed much since '94 (probably the last time I saw them play) with Lalas and Wynalda. I know of Friedel, cos I’m a Liverpool fan, but don’t rate him too highly. You’ve got some good players though, IIRC.
The team selecton in the OP looks fine to me, with the exception of the exclusion of Kevin Phillips. I cannot for the life of me understand why he is not being given a regular run-out for England, especially when Owen looks as out of form as he did on Saturday. Can anybody explain the rationale of playing Sheringham and Heskey against Finland and leaving Phillips on the bench?
Personally, I would also leave Scholes in the squad. He’s been consistently one of the best midfielders in the side over the last couple of years.
I also agree with the underlying strategy proposed in the OP. We’re not going to win the 2002 World Cup (even if we qualify) and we’ve got precious little chance of winning the European Championship in 2004. Our best chance is to start to build a squad now which has the potential to do something spectacular in 2006 or 2008. That means trying to give some of the younger players a game even at the expense of tried and tested players like Adams, Le Saux, et al.
Yeah, Phillips has been under-used. It’s a shame to see some people used for too damn long (read Ince, Seaman, Adamsn, etc) ruining their reputation, and other players never got the chance they deserved (Le Tissier, Hoddle). Phillips looks like falling into this category, as does (even though it’s early days) Bowyer and Woodgate
Not to hijack, but Biffer expressed at least a little interest in the US squad.
First of all they’ve greatly improved since '94. Not so much that you’d notice though. They always seem to play at (or just under) the level of their opponents. When they play teams like Trinidad-Tobago, they get all cocky and seem to always be looking for that perfect, spectacular goal instead of just scoring, period. When they play the big teams they can usually keep up, but slip up just enough to lose.
Alexi Lalas is making records now I think, so he’s off. Eric Wynalda is past his prime and has some pretty crappy ankles.
The players to watch for us are: Cobi Jones - Most “American” type on the team. He looks better than he really is, though. Tough, but sometimes sloppy. Brian McBride - The undisputed leader of the team. He has improved so much since the last World Cup. He has a presence on the pitch, he leaps like Barishnikov, and his heading skills are deadly accurate. Joe-Max Moore - Probably the best known player on our squad. He has what it takes if he stays focused. He scored quite a few goals for Everton, but if I recall he wasn’t too well received by the English press. Ben Olsen - Brash young player who doesn’t seem to take any shit out there, and has above average skills. Ante Razov - Young up and comer with a nose for the goal. Claudio Reyna - plays for Rangers. Leadership qualities abound, and is very collected on the ball. Zach Thorton - Big imposing keeper. Better than both Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel in my opinion.
Others to watch are: Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Pope, Tab Ramos, David Regis.
This concludes my pathetic attempt to include the good ol’ US of A in matters of international football. Carry on.
Cheers Jack! Now that you mention it, a few of those names are familiar:
Cobi Jones I remember from '94. Fast little bugger if I remember, but not amazing on the skills front. Looked quite useful though.
Joe-Max Moore! I should have remembered him, he seemed to KEEP scoring for Everton last year. Definitely had the gift of being in the right place at the right time. Received quite well as I remember it, even if the reporters were all quite surprised, cos I don’t think anyone had heard of him.
Reyna I’ve heard of, and heard good things about, but don’t get to (or choose to) watch much Scottish football.
Also heard of Pope, but not heard much about him…
www.bigsoccer.com has some excellent forums, if you really want to discuss soccer in depth.
Ben Olsen is headed to Nottingham Forest in the English First Division. He’ll play there for the next few months, and may become a permanent transfer if things work out.
Alexi Lalas is a commentator for ESPN these days. He works most of the soccer:MLS, Olympics, WC Qualifiers. I think he’s pretty good.
Ante Razov is probably the best finisher we have right now. However, he can’t use his right foot at all and is apparently a real jerk. I hope that Wolff or Albright displaces him soon.
Landon Donovan is probably our best hope for the future. He’s playing for Bayer Leverkusen and will probably crack the starting line-up this year. He won the Golden Boot(MVP) at the U-17s, and he played very well at the Olympics.
DaMarcus Beasley plays for the Chicago Fire and is extremely fast. If he learns how to dribble, he might be even better than Donovan.
Thank you, that completes my total hijack of this thread.
I don’t think Weaver has quite proven himself yet in the Premiership, although I could see him and Wright fighting it out for the number one shirt in a few years. Dyer I like but I don’t think he’s really turned it on at the international level yet (except against Luxembourg). Woodgate could end up in the slammer yet. Cole could be great but (again) unproven (and a little overrated). Fowler’s an interesting choice…it could work, I guess.
I’d agree that we might as well write off the next world cup - if we even qualify and I seriously doubt it.
There are quite a few of the young Leeds United squad who would be ideal candidates were it not for the fact that several of them have yet to face trial for an assualt.
Lee Bowyer
Alan Smith
are the most obvious but you could name half a dozen more that would be woth putting on the list for further checking out.
Seaman has been well past it for a long time. He must have friends in high places. Otherwise, I can’t think whey Nigel Martyn and Tim Flowers haven’t been sharing net duties for the past three or four years. (Yes, Tim Flowers. The man is a goalkeeping hero.)
I wish Matty Elliott hadn’t decided to be Scottish.
You’ve got to have Little Dyer down the right wing. He’s got a lot of potential, so let him develop it.
I don’t understand why people keep leaving out Kevin Philips, either.
It’s a tough decision between Campbell and Barry for right back but Campbell’s got experience in his favour so I’d pick him. Also I’d leave out Owen because, in spite of the hype, he’s only proved himself once (against argentina) and he’s squandered too many chances, plus he was crap against Germany this week.
Tansu, I can’t agree about Seaman. I thought he had a great game on Saturday and he still came in for a lot of press criticism for reasons I just didn’t understand. Admittedly he’s past his 1996-97 peak, but I still think he’s a good first choice for England.
I think Seaman is probably seeing his last international duty. I suspect he’s getting by on reputation, and I wonder if he’s really completely recovered from his injuries (shoulder?) that kept him at subpar for most of last year.
Adams, on the other hand, is proving he can still anchor the back line. Not only is he a rock, but he’s an inspirational rock for the rest of the team.
On my side of the Atlantic, Thornton certainly fills a large portion of the goal mouth, but he’s got absolutely no foot skills. Yeah, he can punt it a country mile, but his teammates don’t dare play it back to him on the ground - he’s as likely to shank it into the stands as anything else. For the total package in goal, Keller is still better.
