I know someone already created a thread on this (What is he thinking?) but I thought a thread with a more obvious title was warranted...
http://www.ussoccer.com/Tournaments/...er/Roster.aspx
Not that anyone cares, but here is my take on this...
Leaving Charlie Davies off the US 30-man preliminary World Cup roster really isn’t that much of a surprise. The man was nearly killed in a car accident that, if you’ve ever seen photos of the wreckage, it really is a miracle that anyone got out of it alive. But leaving Davies off the roster is disappointing because of the promise he was showing leading up to the accident, and the hope that we had of him completing his remarkable comeback in time to join the team on the world’s greatest sporting stage. Now, there is no chance of that happening, as Bradley must select his final 23-man roster from the 30 on the preliminary roster.
Fans live and die on stuff like this, especially in the modern age of instant information, and we have all been led to believe that Davies was really far ahead in his recovery, and he is still shattering expectations even with his omission. But was he ready to return to top-flight soccer? Was he ready for the World Cup? Clearly, Bradley thinks the answer is no, and he’s turned his attention to other players who he feels will be physically capable of contributing to the team.
Sochaux, Davies’ French club, also feels he isn’t quite ready to return, as the club president said weeks ago that Davies wouldn’t feature for the team again this season. So there has to be something to that. If Bradley believed there was a snowball’s chance in South Africa in June of Davies contributing to the team, you can be damn sure that Davies would have been on the 30-man roster. Maybe if the tournament was in July, hell even if it started in late June, Davies would have been called in to the team. I don’t think Bradley is the man to lead US Soccer to the promised land, but I have to believe he’s not that stupid. Davies simply must not be ready to perform, and that fact burns American soccer fans who don’t want to accept it.
At the same time, I have to question Bradley’s thinking because I am a fan, and I love storybook endings. Sure, there is less than a month until the World Cup, but are any of you really willing to completely write Charlie Davies off? The man came back from a lacerated bladder, fractured right tibia and femur, a fractured elbow, and facial injuries, and he seems to have mentally recovered from being in an accident that killed another person. He might not have been driving, but that still has to mess with your head. I honestly believe that Charlie Davies will be “fit” by the time the US takes the field against England on June 12th. Match fit? Hard to say that with complete confidence because he won’t have played in a match since before the accident, but fully recovered? Yes, and I say that because Davies has already proven his ability to surpass expectations.
So here is the big question for me: why not put on the 30-man roster? You don’t have to take him, and seven of the people you put on there without him aren’t coming anyway. Here are the forwards on the list: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey (who is listed as a forward but plays a lot of midfield), Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez, and Eddie Johnson. Clearly, seven forwards are not going to South Africa. If we assume all stay healthy, Altidore and Dempsey are locks. Bradley has a major man crush on Ching because even though Ching is slow and immobile, he calls him in fresh off a hamstring injury. Buddle, Gomez, and Johnson have all performed well at the club level of late, while Findley has appeared in four games for real Salt Lake in 2010 and tallied exactly ZERO goals. Given that a healthy Davies would be more useful for the US than MORE THAN HALF the forwards on Bradley’s list, doesn’t it make sense that a guy like Findley could be sacrificed for Davies on the 30-man roster?
Apparently Bob Bradley doesn’t think so. Now, when soccer needs all the positive PR it can get and a story like Davies would have been big news, that chance is gone. Davies would have made a huge impact on this team if he completed his comeback in time for the tournament, and I would have been willing to give him that shot as part of the 30-man roster. Now it’s up to other players to step into that role and show us what they are capable of, and Davies will have to wait another four years for his shot. Bob Bradley better hope the US advances out of its group without Davies, because if the team doesn’t advance, especially if Davies is a fully fit spectator, Bradley’s tenure as US head coach is done.
http://www.ussoccer.com/Tournaments/...er/Roster.aspx
Not that anyone cares, but here is my take on this...
Leaving Charlie Davies off the US 30-man preliminary World Cup roster really isn’t that much of a surprise. The man was nearly killed in a car accident that, if you’ve ever seen photos of the wreckage, it really is a miracle that anyone got out of it alive. But leaving Davies off the roster is disappointing because of the promise he was showing leading up to the accident, and the hope that we had of him completing his remarkable comeback in time to join the team on the world’s greatest sporting stage. Now, there is no chance of that happening, as Bradley must select his final 23-man roster from the 30 on the preliminary roster.
Fans live and die on stuff like this, especially in the modern age of instant information, and we have all been led to believe that Davies was really far ahead in his recovery, and he is still shattering expectations even with his omission. But was he ready to return to top-flight soccer? Was he ready for the World Cup? Clearly, Bradley thinks the answer is no, and he’s turned his attention to other players who he feels will be physically capable of contributing to the team.
Sochaux, Davies’ French club, also feels he isn’t quite ready to return, as the club president said weeks ago that Davies wouldn’t feature for the team again this season. So there has to be something to that. If Bradley believed there was a snowball’s chance in South Africa in June of Davies contributing to the team, you can be damn sure that Davies would have been on the 30-man roster. Maybe if the tournament was in July, hell even if it started in late June, Davies would have been called in to the team. I don’t think Bradley is the man to lead US Soccer to the promised land, but I have to believe he’s not that stupid. Davies simply must not be ready to perform, and that fact burns American soccer fans who don’t want to accept it.
At the same time, I have to question Bradley’s thinking because I am a fan, and I love storybook endings. Sure, there is less than a month until the World Cup, but are any of you really willing to completely write Charlie Davies off? The man came back from a lacerated bladder, fractured right tibia and femur, a fractured elbow, and facial injuries, and he seems to have mentally recovered from being in an accident that killed another person. He might not have been driving, but that still has to mess with your head. I honestly believe that Charlie Davies will be “fit” by the time the US takes the field against England on June 12th. Match fit? Hard to say that with complete confidence because he won’t have played in a match since before the accident, but fully recovered? Yes, and I say that because Davies has already proven his ability to surpass expectations.
So here is the big question for me: why not put on the 30-man roster? You don’t have to take him, and seven of the people you put on there without him aren’t coming anyway. Here are the forwards on the list: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey (who is listed as a forward but plays a lot of midfield), Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez, and Eddie Johnson. Clearly, seven forwards are not going to South Africa. If we assume all stay healthy, Altidore and Dempsey are locks. Bradley has a major man crush on Ching because even though Ching is slow and immobile, he calls him in fresh off a hamstring injury. Buddle, Gomez, and Johnson have all performed well at the club level of late, while Findley has appeared in four games for real Salt Lake in 2010 and tallied exactly ZERO goals. Given that a healthy Davies would be more useful for the US than MORE THAN HALF the forwards on Bradley’s list, doesn’t it make sense that a guy like Findley could be sacrificed for Davies on the 30-man roster?
Apparently Bob Bradley doesn’t think so. Now, when soccer needs all the positive PR it can get and a story like Davies would have been big news, that chance is gone. Davies would have made a huge impact on this team if he completed his comeback in time for the tournament, and I would have been willing to give him that shot as part of the 30-man roster. Now it’s up to other players to step into that role and show us what they are capable of, and Davies will have to wait another four years for his shot. Bob Bradley better hope the US advances out of its group without Davies, because if the team doesn’t advance, especially if Davies is a fully fit spectator, Bradley’s tenure as US head coach is done.
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