U23 Olympic Tryout Roster

[Clevelandmo]

Thanks for bringing up France '98, DCH - totally put that one out of my mind until now...so much hype around the squad before that WC failure as well. Less hype = '02, and look at that result.

Here are Reyna's comments - notice he doesn't mention Adu. However, JK's praise of Adu would lead me to believe he's headed for the senior team soon. As in the Gold Cup, he can be a great impact sub.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_i ... fying.html

I think Adu is a decent player who can do some good things with the ball at his feet, but he always seems to need time and space to do these great things and I don't know if he can do it on a consistent basis at the senior national team level. He also frustrates me at times when the ball is being passed around somewhat quickly, getting the defense moving around, then he receives the ball and slows down everything by doing step overs and other fakes at his defender, allowing the defense to catch up to the ball.

That said, he is the type of guy that does nothing for 89 minutes then makes that great pass that sparks something.

If my memory serves me correctly, Adu has always played well with the senior team, always had a positive impact of the game mostly with his passing, vision, and set pieces. This has been the case for years now. Youtube Freddy Adu vs Spain. With the U23s I was pretty disappointed in his play until the second half versus El Sal, and of course that goal vs. Cuba was a beauty. I never noticed he was so left footed before. For me the big criticism of Adu is that he has never made himself an important piece of his club team. He needs to do that with the Union. If he cant, I think that ultimately says something.

[Clevelandmo]

Um...you're welcome, Nev? Not sure what to make of the Adu oversight, couldda just been a brainfart?

Mo, it just irks me that quite a number of people, and not just posters on a message board, are giving grief to these German-American players by calling them mercenaries. And I recently saw a Steve Goff comment we he joking about how service members should get a basic sex ed course before being deployed to Germany. I know he trying make a humorous joke about our influx of German born players; but when you think about it, it's really not funny. His joke really came of sounding like he was really saying these kid's were illegitimate or the dads were just mere sperm donors. Being a military kid growing up, I know full well how some overseas kids can be cruel because of your nationality. I'm sure these German-American kids had it rough at times growing-up with a dual nationality and race. Continuing to hear these jokes from US supporters just seems tacky, especially when these guys seem honored to represent the USMNT.

Heather I understand why my ". . . with American fathers" comment bothers you as a military kid, and it's great that you stick up for them. I know these guys are legitimately American, and I even posted an article on here about one of them in which he talked about how much playing for the US meant to him. When I joke about them being German and not American, I talking from a soccer perspective. Their soccer development and education is completely German. Klinsmann is the one who says we need to find our American soccer identity yet he does it by integrating a lot of Germans (again Germans in terms of soccer) into the team before they really have deserved it compared to their American counterparts. Boyd got called up for the Italy match before I believe he had ever made a first team appearance for his club. Meanwhile Gomez was the first American ever to be the leading goal scorer in a top flight foreign league, but he got no call or even acknowledgement from Klinsmann. I think Klinsmann is taking the easy way out by bringing in Germans because he has more confidence that they'll play the way he wants the team playing which is essentially German. I love the way the Germans play, but to emulate it and then claim you're trying to find the American playing style is a joke. He cant coach guys to play how he wants so he's taking the easy road. It's not fair to the kids who grew up here, played in our system, did what they were told, and proved themselves (ala Baby Bradley), and then German broken foot stomping thugs get the captains armband.

Also, I found it very distasteful when Klinsmann was appointed and he started bringing nationality and culture into the picture. Someone's background has no place in the conversation when your talking about who you choose for the team. If you think scouting needs to be improved that's one thing but talking about integrating other players based on their nationality is something I dont agree with, and it implies things existed that havent. So as I'm sure you knew I would do, I'm kind of blaming Klinsmann again. He came into this job talking about nationality and culture so you have to expect people to scrutinize what he does in that context.

[nevzter]

Mo's gonna love this:

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_i ... a76e46970c