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From the series, The Dodo and Mauritius Island, Imaginary Encounters, 2004. Harri Kallio.

This post has taken me longer to put together than a lot of posts. And it’s just names on paper. And it’s exactly why I don’t do this stuff, almost ever. After the jump is my best 11, with just enough explanation to leave my words wavering in the wind. Get in your shots while the getting is good!
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Two national team games in 48 hours, To say the second was more fun to watch than the first, couldn’t explain how nice it was to not have Carlos Ruiz on the field (thank god I don’t live in Dallas). U.S. Coach Bob Bradley chose to rest his veterans and come with an almost entirely new roster against the tired patchwork quilt that presently is the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Interestingly, the two starting rosters were almost completely different than those sent to Germany last summer.

You get a couple things from this squad rotation. While the historically stronger players get some rest, Bradley gets to see more players, and young players in real competition. Against a lesser opponent maybe, but the B-team, if you will, didn’t look that far behind the A-team.

The real truth is after the jump…
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a nation turns its lonely eyes to you (photo credit: Dave Osborne)

On Monday, USSF officially announced a national academy as part of new initiatives in their development program. The press release announces, “In a move designed to improve the development environment for players throughout the country, the U.S. Soccer Federation has taken the initiative in formalizing a nationwide development academy slated to begin in the fall of 2007. The U.S. Soccer Development Academy will begin with up to 80 elite youth soccer clubs from around the country being selected to join the program.”

I’ve said it before, and I still believe it to be true. Nothing is more important to American soccer than youth development. There’s no lack of lively debate over what shape the youth systems are presently in, but no doubt coverage of said debate is lacking (at the time of this writing, none of the top outlets – ESPN, SI, NYtimes, etc - have even a mention of it on their soccer pages). The Toledo Blade does have a piece about Wal-Mart funding the refurbishment of a soccer complex for the Adelante Latino Resource Center and Latin Soccer League, and it’s no surprise that Stephen Goff, the lone ranger of on-staff soccer beat reporters, pays it some attention, but even that is at his Insider blog (not the Post’s true soccer page), and it’s from last week when the decision to launch the academy was being discussed.

Does anyone care? The fine print and what it all means is after the jump…
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Feilhaber and Kljestan: new faces caught by a USSF photographer

US MNT 4, China 1. Game reports from Yanks Abroad and The Associate Press.

I’ve been saying for weeks: Feels Like Home. It’s summer, and US MNT is back with a full schedule of games that matter. Which is why their last tune-up before the Gold Cup commences later this week was like fantasy land. First CAPS all around! Over-the-Hill Bradley Alum: come on down! You’re the next contestant on Friendly International Soccer Against Lesser Opponents. It’s a reoccurring series. I think Versus is thinking of picking it up. Syndication is after the jump…
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It feels like summer. It feels like home. Rosters were announced and the games matter, starting next week. One last tune-up will have our Yanks abroad taking the field, as MLS teams were given the obvious reprieve before their best players are stolen for a good part of the summer. The better the US MNT does, the worse-off MLS teams will be: chalk another up for the scheduling gods. Oh, by the way, a little side tourney called the US Open Cup – maybe you’ve heard of it – begins on June 12. I’ve heard of it, but what is this USL you speak of?

After the jump are the two rosters (and one kind of random link not to be missed) - who sticks out to you on the China roster (some new names there) - that will face China on Saturday, in San Jose, California, at Spartan Stadium, 5 p.m. PT; the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and Galavision - and Guatemala on June 7 (all Gold Cup games will be live on Fox Soccer Channel)…
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Ives Galarcep gives us a few names to watch out for as we ponder who Bradley will take to the Gold Cup. All fine selections, but without a big surprise – though that isn’t Ives’ fault. What, is he supposed to pick a loser just to stick out, as ESPN apparently had John Kruk do on Baseball Tonight? Ah, sports journalism (can the J-word even be used here?). So good sometimes I want to cry.

The problem with the list, any list: there are no stand-outs. How do you pick between Harrington, Parkhurst, and Dunivant? You could even throw Boswell in there. Is there really that big of a difference between the players? Beckerman, Mapp, Kljestan? As national teams like Brazil cast off would be MLS stars, the US MNT is forced into borderline players. It’s a reality that is unavoidable, and makes Bradley’s job particular difficult (and intriguing).

Ideally, US MNT players should be solid starters on foreign soil or killing it in MLS. Clearly, that is not our present situation for even 11 starters. Who Bradley chooses to put on the field this summer will speak more about American soccer than the wins and losses (though the same might not be able to be said for Bradley who (re)opens his campaign with the more pressing Gold Cup).

At least Onyewu has some free time this summer to put an unusual season behind him. What better way to shop himself after a less than stellar season than by a strong international summer?

So, you’ve heard by now. Bob Bradley is the new coach. After the jump are the three opinions you need to read and my personal reactions, that I hope inspire everyone to think critically about the future, whether you agree with me or not. I add this last statement, because it is this greater opinion that I believe USSF has turned away from, closing their doors - not unlike another controversial president in this nation.
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What About Bob?

Pretty simple: According to a press release, USSF has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday during which it is believed Bob Bradley will be named the US MNT coach, removing the interim tag that has hovered around him like dirt to Pig Pen.

Not so simple: USSF President Sunil Gulati’s explanation to US fans for why it has taken 10 months to hire a coach and why no information has been released about other candidates. With some foreign leagues still playing, all that talk about waiting to speak to foreign candidates is getting sucked out of the US Soccer vacuum and out the window. Is there anything he can say or do to salvage this mess?

Expect politically correct answers followed by non-answers, topped with the zest of cliché. You can watch the press conference Wednesday at 1pm on ussoccer.com.

Between games on Saturday, basking in the glow of MLS opening day, I checked my e-mail to see if any early opinions had come in from friends and TIAS readers. Stuck amid the notes from impassioned fans hyping their teams or writing them off was this piece from Yanks-Abroad, one of the few outlets I subscribe to (which I consider an enormous compliment given the militaristic manner in which I guard my in-box from not just spam but all unsolicited mass e-mails). The column took to task “Project 2010,” that forlorn scheme directed at preparing the USSF system for a World Cup victory in 2010. Maybe it was the timing, but something seems amiss here. Or was I missing the point completely. You make the call. But first, before we go any further, there are a few things we need to get out of the way:
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Wednesday’s game against Guatemala was the antithesis of Sunday, which may be a good thing for a team that needs to learn how to get through the frustration of playing lower level CONCACAF teams that seem content to saturate their half of the field and play for a draw. Historically, the US MNT hasn’t been strong in those circumstances, and that trend continued with nary a player showing the creative aptitude to move the ball through the midfield. The tired, picky, foul-laden game did however allow more time to consider that which I was most interested in, the starting line-up.
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