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The Short List: Defending Bradley’s Gold Cup Selections
Bob Bradley’s decision not to bring in many of his regulars for the Gold Cup knockout stages may have irked some, but Goal.com’s Allen Ramsey is fine with running out young lineups.
Jul 22, 2009 5:15:56 PM
By Allen Ramsey
In a summer full of United States Men’s National Team action, the Gold Cup has taken a back seat, and rightly so, to more prestigious and important events. As such, U.S. manager Bob Bradley decided to go with what can essentially be called a C-team, or, at the very best, a low-level B-team, for the duration of the tournament, despite having extra roster spots available.
This move has drawn mixed reactions from fans and media. On the one hand, the Gold Cup has been dominated by the U.S. and Mexico in recent times and most people in the U.S. would consider it a huge failure if the team was bounced out of the competition before the final. More to the point, having a squad with very little National Team experience is probably not the best way to cruise to another Gold Cup crown.
On the other hand, this edition of the Gold Cup has been branded as the B Gold Cup, a tournament with nothing on the line, and all of CONCACAF’s big boys showed up with squads missing key elements.
I admit openly that some of Bradley’s selections baffle me- Jay Heaps, Jimmy Conrad and Logan Pause are all guys who have probably earned a call with their play in Major League Soccer, but none of them seem to figure into the future plans of the Red, White and Blue - and yet I still feel like there are several positives that will come out of Bradley’s decision to stick with this roster in the later rounds.
Removing The Safety Net
With Brian Ching being the one notable exception, the U.S. Gold Cup roster lacks the normal scoring threats. When Charlie Davies and Benny Feilhaber were on the field it seemed like the rest of the squad almost deferred to them, waiting on a moment of brilliance from one of the more established stars to carry them through. Now the squad has nobody to call on other than Ching, and the Dynamo man is not the type of player who can create the goals on his own.
This lack of established stars has forced others to find a way. In the Haiti match, the team’s first without the services of Davies, Feilhaber, and Freddy Adu, it was Stuart Holden who shouldered the load in the final minutes. Against Panama, we saw Heath Pearce and Kenny Cooper both play well in the attack, creating chances in ways that they haven’t in the past.
All of this plays to the advantage of those players in the future. The confidence to take on the burden of creating goals, rather than waiting on Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, or Michael Bradley should open up a new set of options when and if these players are called on with the first choice team.
The Springboard
While Gold Cups held before the World Cup are generally a testing ground for players that won’t make the jump to the first eleven, and a time for resting the starters during World Cup qualifying, the competition has always been a springboard for at least one player who ends up impacting the team the following summer.
In 2005 that player was Clint Dempsey, who showed enough in the Gold Cup to be included on Bruce Arena’s World Cup roster and ended up being one of the team’s top performers in Germany. This year, very few spots seem open in Bradley’s first squad, but you can count on at least one player from this Gold Cup roster (other than Brian Ching) seeing time in South Africa next year.
It could be that Chad Marshall or Stuart Holden have done enough to earn a roster spot, but, if history is any guide, injuries to one or more of Bradley’s top players will open up chances for one of the guys on this Gold Cup roster to make his way onto the field.
Beyond 2010
Most importantly, this tournament is a chance to look at the future of the U.S. National Team. Two years ago a young midfielder named Benny Feilhaber impressed everyone with his showing in the Gold Cup, including the memorable game winning goal in the final. In this 2009 roster are guys like, Holden, Marshall, Pearce, Robbie Rogers and Kyle Beckerman who should all figure into the U.S. team as it prepares for the next World Cup cycle.
With a number of players in the current U.S. pool beginning to show signs of age spots will become available, and it shows some foresight from Bradley to already be looking to fill those gaps.
Allen Ramsey is an assistant editor of Goal.com USA. The Short List runs every Wednesday on Goal.com
Visit Goal.com for more coverage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
In a summer full of United States Men’s National Team action, the Gold Cup has taken a back seat, and rightly so, to more prestigious and important events. As such, U.S. manager Bob Bradley decided to go with what can essentially be called a C-team, or, at the very best, a low-level B-team, for the duration of the tournament, despite having extra roster spots available.
This move has drawn mixed reactions from fans and media. On the one hand, the Gold Cup has been dominated by the U.S. and Mexico in recent times and most people in the U.S. would consider it a huge failure if the team was bounced out of the competition before the final. More to the point, having a squad with very little National Team experience is probably not the best way to cruise to another Gold Cup crown.
On the other hand, this edition of the Gold Cup has been branded as the B Gold Cup, a tournament with nothing on the line, and all of CONCACAF’s big boys showed up with squads missing key elements.
I admit openly that some of Bradley’s selections baffle me- Jay Heaps, Jimmy Conrad and Logan Pause are all guys who have probably earned a call with their play in Major League Soccer, but none of them seem to figure into the future plans of the Red, White and Blue - and yet I still feel like there are several positives that will come out of Bradley’s decision to stick with this roster in the later rounds.
Removing The Safety Net
With Brian Ching being the one notable exception, the U.S. Gold Cup roster lacks the normal scoring threats. When Charlie Davies and Benny Feilhaber were on the field it seemed like the rest of the squad almost deferred to them, waiting on a moment of brilliance from one of the more established stars to carry them through. Now the squad has nobody to call on other than Ching, and the Dynamo man is not the type of player who can create the goals on his own.
This lack of established stars has forced others to find a way. In the Haiti match, the team’s first without the services of Davies, Feilhaber, and Freddy Adu, it was Stuart Holden who shouldered the load in the final minutes. Against Panama, we saw Heath Pearce and Kenny Cooper both play well in the attack, creating chances in ways that they haven’t in the past.
All of this plays to the advantage of those players in the future. The confidence to take on the burden of creating goals, rather than waiting on Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, or Michael Bradley should open up a new set of options when and if these players are called on with the first choice team.
The Springboard
While Gold Cups held before the World Cup are generally a testing ground for players that won’t make the jump to the first eleven, and a time for resting the starters during World Cup qualifying, the competition has always been a springboard for at least one player who ends up impacting the team the following summer.
In 2005 that player was Clint Dempsey, who showed enough in the Gold Cup to be included on Bruce Arena’s World Cup roster and ended up being one of the team’s top performers in Germany. This year, very few spots seem open in Bradley’s first squad, but you can count on at least one player from this Gold Cup roster (other than Brian Ching) seeing time in South Africa next year.
It could be that Chad Marshall or Stuart Holden have done enough to earn a roster spot, but, if history is any guide, injuries to one or more of Bradley’s top players will open up chances for one of the guys on this Gold Cup roster to make his way onto the field.
Beyond 2010
Most importantly, this tournament is a chance to look at the future of the U.S. National Team. Two years ago a young midfielder named Benny Feilhaber impressed everyone with his showing in the Gold Cup, including the memorable game winning goal in the final. In this 2009 roster are guys like, Holden, Marshall, Pearce, Robbie Rogers and Kyle Beckerman who should all figure into the U.S. team as it prepares for the next World Cup cycle.
With a number of players in the current U.S. pool beginning to show signs of age spots will become available, and it shows some foresight from Bradley to already be looking to fill those gaps.
Allen Ramsey is an assistant editor of Goal.com USA. The Short List runs every Wednesday on Goal.com
Visit Goal.com for more coverage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
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