OT- USMNT - per Klinsmann, 17yr old Christian Pulisic pushing for spot on Copa team
http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/story/2855706/christian-pulisic-maki…
The younger players we have coming up should make World Cups, Copas and other s very fun to watch in the future. This kid is very impressive at a young age, and from Hersey, PA of all places!. They also mention Jordan Morris as an "up and coming" and current player Deandre Yedlin (my kids favorite)
Apologies to all that don't care for soccer, but seem to remeber a few "mgosoccer" fans
Go Blue!
Well if there's one thing Klinsmann can do quite well it's recruit. Maybe not so much on the personnel decisions and coaching aspects. Hooray it's Brady Hoke!
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I'm going to start seeing Klinsmann point and clap all the time!
Pulisic is from Pennsylvania so I'm not real sure it was a big effort
Ok, it may have been an easier recruitment than some, but he's also a Croatian citizen and carries a Croatian passport. It may have been to avoid some extra European work paperwork, but Croatia was pushing hard to get him on their national team I believe.
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I'm fairly sure he got his Croatian passport to make it easier to get a contract in the EU countries because it avoids the minimum pay issue and work visa issues. The work visa thing is the biggest sticking point, especially in the UK because it requires you to play XX% for your country. Pretty smart thinking ahead by his parents (who I believe were also born in the US).
Croatia doesn't lose many players that have Croatian roots. HNS, the Croat soccer federation makes contact with the kids parents at an early age.
This was a big win for Klinsmann and US soccer.
Giuseppe Rossi was born and raised in New Jersey, didn't stop him from playing for Italy instead of the US.
Neven Subotic was born in Bosnia, lived in Germany for a few years (fleeing the war and his dad had a job there), and was in the US by age 10. He ended up playing for Serbia and not the US even though he'd even been in the age group US national stuff.
There are others too.
Rossi moved to Parma when he was 12. He lived in Italy for almost as many years as he lived in the US when he made his first Azzurri callup.
the Subotic issue is complex. He felt slighted by Bob Bradley or something, I don't remember the whole story.
It wasn't BB, it was the U-20 coach at the time. He publicly criticized Subotic and then left him off the WC roster.
but they did cap-tie him by playing him in the last work cup qualifier. He could've also played for Croatia, I do believe.
I wish Brian would write more often about USMNT. I know he's done it a few times in the past and gotten a bit of flack for it though. Thanks for the OT, OP.
IMO Klinsmann is absolutely right that our best players, or our up and coming players, playing MLS instead of in Europe is hurting the international team.
You could not have said it any better. MLS is for European star players who come here before retirement. I kid I kid
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MLS has been a massive boon for the youth development process that Pulisic took part of. The USMNT falling a bit is due to a lot of key players getting older and not good enough to play in high european leagues, not because you suddenly get worse playing in the MLS.
Pulisic also already got 7 appearances under his belt for a champions league squad at 17 years old in one of the best leagues of the world. I don't think you have to worry about him going to MLS anytime soon.
JK played a role in the creation of the MLS academy teams and I think they are great for devleopment.
I just disagree that you can get worst. Michael Bradley and Mixx are examples of how your skills diminish when you come back to the MLS.
Mix has been fantastic as a box-to-box mid this season. How much MLS do you watch?
Not to mention, he didn't play high level football before coming here? Is anyone suggesting that the Norwegian first and second divisions are anywhere close to the quality level that the MLS is?
April 23rd, 2016 at 11:59 AM ^
I think the argument would be that he needed to test himself against much better competition than MLS can provide to make that next step in development. Going from Norway to the Netherlands or Portugal would have been better had he gotten an offer. Granted, he would've made less money but long term he could have built himself up more. Now he's probably going to be a bubble USMNT player because he hasn't taken that next step. And MLS is partially to blame IMO.
The guys who are picking MLS aren't first teamers in the four big European leagues. Would you rather see them sit in the reserves for a BPL of a La Liga team, play in a 2nd tier European league or play in MLS?
Michael Bradley could have played for a mid or lower table team in those big four leagues no problem. He was stuck on the bench for an upper echelon Serie A team, but he could have played for a lot of other teams in those leagues. He had previously played for a lower table Bundesliga side. I think with his workrate and physical nature he'd have been a natural for the Premeir League. But he chose to come back to MLS, and he looks worse than he did a couple years ago. The competition simply isn't as good.
Hell, Yedlin's loaned to a team that is struggling to avoid relegation in the Premier League. But he's playing a lot. And it's making him better.
For someone like Dempsey who's on the downswing, coming back made sense. Same drill for Howard, who had lost his Everton job. But when the younger guys and guys in their prime do it, it's not good for their games, and thus usually not good for the national team either.
I think the mls is competitive enough now that it's right for some players development. It's critically important that the mls academy systems continue to mature and I predict that their growth and maturation will build us into a real soccer power in the next ten years. What they are proposing in Atlanta and and sac town are impressive and having been at the red bulls academy I can tell you the American pipeline will continue to expand.
But back to the point, for our best, more competition is better and usually that means any of the three big euro leagues. But for certain guys, the mls is fine.
Jordan Morris would have benefitted from some euro experience. Pulisic, Rubio, booby wood, and the kid on Man U, yes.
But guys like Bradley get to lead in the mls...which is something he would not do in Europe. And I actually think guys like Diskerud, green and other slender types can benefit from getting tougher in the mls.
MLS doesn't have a monopoly on toughness. Those guys could have been leaders on other teams. Bradley could have been a leader on a Leeds United, a Bournemouth, a Norwich etc rather easily. But he's regressed and is no more of a leader as far as I can see.
Academies are a big part of the USMNT strength going forward. But those guys need the chance to play in order to develop. Many are not getting that. Look at the LA Galaxy. Bradford Jamieson is blocked by DPs like Robbie Keane and Gio dos Santos. Same with Jose Villareal and Oscar Sorto. Do those guys make LAG a MLS contender? No. But those guys should be getting better opportunities than playing in the USL for a third straight year.
I'd rather MLS grow naturally, not this forced advancement that happens when you have DPs. Eventually we will get to the point where MLS is a top 8 league or so. Maybe the current method will speed that up. But it's hurting us right now IMO.
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while still going against top notch players and getting good coaching than playing full time in an inferior league. MLS is entertaining and some good football to watch but doesn;t compare to any of the top Euro leagues
When he came in against for about 15 min in the last qualifier, he only had about 3-4 touches, but from just those I honostly thought "This guy could actually be special". His first touch was better than anything I've seen from an American at that age.
He's playing regularly for Dortmund, who is second in the Bundesliga by a wide margin and just scored his first goal...I'm not really surprised even despite his age.
For all the Julian Green and Zelalem hype, Pulisic is actually making plays at a very high level. With the US missing the Olympics (again), there's no question he should be on the roster.
He just made Bunesliga team of the week.
MD30 TEAM OF THE WEEK
Agree? Disagree? Tweet in your picks for the weekend's dream XI! https://t.co/hAwYWSFho3 pic.twitter.com/MRfYKaJ1oK— Bundesliga (@Bundesliga_EN) April 19, 2016
It is good to see Zelalem get playing time at Rangers. Hopefully he can continue to develop.
Bayern Munich. Borussia Dortmund. Bayer Leverkusen. 9 of the 11. Dang. Not a lot of parity in the Bundesliga. Not as bad as Ligue 1 though.
At least there's some competiton for the 4th place Champions League spot, but the Bundesliga should be much better if teams spent some money. German teams are notorious for being cheap.
Been nice that he's gotten a couple of Bundesliga starts of late with BvB prioritizing the Europa League and German Cup matches for their starters.
I would have preferred if the subject read "klinsmann pushing for unemployment"
Pulisic lived in Michigan for a bit before his family moved to PA. He played on the Michigan Rush.
It sounds hyperbolic, but he honestly might be the best player the USMNT has at the moment.
I don't think it is hyperbolic at all. It is either him or Fabian Johnson who had a good season for Monchengladbach.
I don't see Pulisic as being as good as Bradley or Fabian Johnson. I would argue Dempsey is also still above him, and also Geoff Cameron. The fact that he's pushing for a spot on the squad should show that it's a pretty hyperbolic statement.
Maybe I was looking at it based on upside because for me it is hard to think of the USMNT without thinking about what the WC roster would look like.
From a skill perspective, I think Pulisic is ahead of Bradley and most other people. I think I'm more down on Bradley than most people so that could be clouding my judgment.
Wont argue about Geoff Cameron because I think he is most underrated and undervalued player on the team. He is capable of playing so many positions at a high level.
I wouldn't argue with Fabian Johnson or Geoff Cameron... But both of them are (or, at least should be) defensive options, with Cameron at center back and Johnson at outside back. John Brooks also had a solid season with Hertha and should be penned in at CB with Cameron.
But in terms of attacking options, I think Pulisic may be the best. Both Dempsey and Bradley are shells of what they once were... Dempsey in particular is maddening, because he's typically awful for 88 minutes and then has a moment or two of brilliance out of nowhere. His skill set was perfectly suited for a USMNT that doesn't possess the ball and lives on the counter, because his ability to pull a rabbit out of nothing is second to none (e.g., Ghana, WC'14). But for a possession-based team, he's not nearly efficient enough with the ball and he doesn't play a team game.
Bradley is still fine as a defensive midfielder, but the further up the field he plays, the more obvious his technical defencies become. His success rate for killer passes in the final third is abysmal.
Bobby Wood is the only other attacking American who is really in-form at the moment, but he's in Bundesliga 2, and he wouldn't be cracking the Dortmund starting XI if he were in the squad.
Bobby Wood is on a tear right now in the 2 Bundesliga...expect him to transfer to a Bundesliga team this summer.
Who will be the next Freddy Adu
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Scoring for Dortmund in the Bundesliga (and the youngest non-German ever to score to boot) is more than Adu ever accomplished.
Some player who signs the stupid Generation Adidas contract so they waste their prime development years in the MLS. I'm really glad that Miazga turned down the Generation Adidas contract.
the only thing they have in common is hype.
April 22nd, 2016 at 11:32 PM ^
I have heard about Christian in my family for years. He has been one of my nephew's best friends since they were little (my nephew was also quite phenomenal before being stricken with cancer in his femur). I can assure the doubters that he will indeed play for team USA and that if he does end up like the Freddy Adus, it will not be for lack of humility nor effort. His family has already made quite the sacrifice, he and his father moving to Europe, so that he could realize his potential. I look forward to him setting the standard for American soccer for years to come.
April 23rd, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
He scored his second Bundesliga goal today against Stuttgart.