stak, I think there's a 3rd option in there where you start dolo for the big matches and Lichaj for the matches where his inexperience won't be as much of a factor. Now, the key to that is having Lichaj at least get a consistent game for Villa before we even start thinking about that. In a perfect world he starts for villa and we start him at RB, but that isn't likely to happen just yet.

That said, we need to start having our starters actually start for their club. Gooch not starting at Milan does **** all for us as does Guzan playing like 20 matches in his entire time at villa. We need Lichaj getting more games before we hand him the spot and let him do his thing for the next 8 years or so

Agreed, and that's a fairly good option, although obviously it's the biggest matches that provide the most valuable experience for him, so it's a tradeoff either way.

I mean, winning 4-0 against Haiti or whatever is better than not playing, but it's not nearly so valuable as playing against Mexico in a Gold Cup Final.

As always, have to find the right balance between experience and youth.

I think where he'd probably get some of the best experience will be during the qualifying campaign and have Bradley start him in costa rica or honduras. Those are games we should get results in and would also provide him with some very valuable experience

I don't know if any of you are aware of Gale Agbossoumonde contract situation (I wasn't), but it really highlights how bad these third party ownership deals are. Worth a read for sure. I feel bad for the kid.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/new...-agbossoumonde

am i crazy in thinking Guzan is our starting keeper next WC?

I'm not clear on what the problem is here... wouldn't he not be getting paid at all due to the knee injury and the ownership change?

I don't have a strong opinion, just wondering what's so bad.

Maybe, but he's well behind Howard atm.

yes, especially if he doesn't get the starting job at villa in the next 18 months

The key problem as I see it is that these people who own his rights rarely have whats best for the player in mind. They buy the rights and try to find the highest buyer, instead of trying to find the best situation for the player. Further, a team could come in and be a great fit for the player, yet the third party ownership doesn't want to sell him to them because the fee is too low. This is a kid that could easily be on an MLS roster right now, but instead is being shipped all around Europe looking for a team. For someone who is only 19, that is basically the worst thing for him. He needs to play.

Third party ownership also puts way too much power in the hands of these outside forces. Players, agents, and teams have little control over what happens to the players since the third party owners can loan the players out, then shop the player to other teams.

Seems like he made a decision with some trade-offs. He decided to shoot high for Europe after turning down the MLS, and then used this company to pay the way. It sucks that it didn't end up working out for him, but he's very culpable for his own situation.

Meh, I don't get how the hell Traffic didn't get him on that Portuguese 2nd tier team. That is the only thing the company really has done wrong, from what I can tell.

That's a big ****ing error though.

well Gale definitely admits to making a mistake and I agree, he's culpable. I have issues with the third party ownership system though.

So ******ed, USA doesn't need huge government support for the WC:

Right but didn't they rank Qatar as high risk? So that should be good for us, no?

England got high marks but they're the favorites for 2018 as I understand it. So say, they get 2018, that leaves it between the rest of us for 2022.

The other European bids are only in the running for 2018.

So that leaves it between us, Qatar, Japan, and Australia right?

And Japan just had it in 2002 and would be an obv less desirable candidate than us I should think.

So I would assume this latest news is good, rather than bad, for us, as it puts us ahead of Qatar. Biggest obstacle at this point has to be Australia...what did they score on FIFA's risk-o-meter?

I heard yesterday that some people are saying that England is now 3rd favorites for 2018 because their media keeps ******** on FIFA and their bid.

There's pretty much a 0% chance of Japan or South Korea getting it. Qatar might be a possible host in the future, but there's just wayyyyy way way too many question marks right now. It's between us and Australia and I'd assume we're a pretty solid favorite, especially since Oceania lost their vote.

I'm heading out to the U-20 game in Atlanta today, I'm anticipating a pretty tiny crowd based on the online ticket availability and I think it'll be a pretty cool chance to get up close to some high quality play. I'm familiar with some of the players but not all of them, any suggestions about people or things to look out for?

Hey, me too!

Two of the kids from the last USMNT game will be there: Agudelo and Boss. Also look for Lletget in the midfield (on West Ham's reserve team), Tristan Bowen (LA) and Omar Salgado (16 yo about to be a top MLS pick) up top.

There were two unannounced roster spots last I saw, so maybe someone like Mix shows up, but I doubt it

Thanks for that, I did a little research before I left and between that and the announcements I managed to put names to faces pretty well. Where were you sitting, I was front row behind the goal, wouldn't be surprised if we saw each other even since the crowd was a solid 2:1 in favor of Colombians there.

Quick summary of the game...kind of a sloppy first half all around, US nabs a goal right before half time off a cross that bounced around the box some. I was on the far side so I didn't see it too well. We played better in the second half but let a speedy Colombian striker school about 4 defenders and tuck one away in the 85th minute or so.

I guess because its a tournament they had PKs. Our second one was a decent take but blocked. Aguadelo went third and tried to pull a cheeky little chip down the middle which the keeper was able to recover for and push over. Juan was smiling and laughing as he walked back to midfield, kind of gave the vibe that he thought he was bigger than that game, if I was a coach I wouldn't have liked it. Boss missed the 4th with a weak shot down the middle...game over.

As for the players. Aguadelo is legit definitely seemed like the best on our side to me. Bowen was really solid as well, Boss had a good presence on the back line, you could tell he was in charge. He had one exchange with the keeper on a in between through ball and after went over and told him to be more vocal, usually you see the keeper doing the yelling after close plays like that. Keeper didn't impress me much, goal wasn't his fault but he had a few other shaky touches. Salgado had a couple of good chances he didn't capitalize on, I thought looked a little weak and unsure of himself out there, but I didn't realize he's only 16.

Good game though, even if these guys aren't world famous (yet?) its is pretty cool to get front row and within 3 feet of the action for only $15. U.S. needs to get a better turnout going though, I'd imagine Sunday v Mexico will be even more lopsided.

Went to the game again today, ended in a 1-1 draw and we choked in PKs again. Agudelo was impressive again, Lletget was also pretty solid in the midfield and I thought Zahavi (I think it was him) played pretty well. Also turns out the guy I thought was Agbossoumonde yesterday was not him at all, I guess he didn't start yesterday and is rocking something of a fro now...threw me off. Anyway he scored on a nice header in the second half to equalize.

Here's a couple of photos.

nice photos

no1 watches socccer.

/thread.

Thanks for your excellent insight!

any time.

Three day ban for this worthless troll combined with general suckitude.

Damnit Tuq, I was about to do that.