Interesting article from the usually pretty good jeff carlisle:
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/new...arlisle-soccer
I'll save you all the trouble of reading it. The thesis is basically, "maybe MB shouldn't be an automatic starter and we should consider Edu and Jones together in the midfield." And this because MB didn't play enough for Aston Villa.
I think in the past cycle MB was our best player. You could probably make arguments for Deuce, Landy, and maybe even Howard, but for me it was Bradley. Even the idea of benching him for the Gold Cup seems absurd to me.
Whatever the problems the USMNT has, MB is the absolute least of them. I predict that he'll be the best player in the Gold Cup from any team.
Can't wait, starting to get really excited for the tournament. I really hope Bradley trusts Ream and Agudelo, and I could see either/both of them having breakout tournaments. Obviously there are some other significant holes (LB anyone) but hopefully we'll both weather the mistakes and come out with the trophy.
I figure we'll essentially rotate JJ, Edu, and maybe MB to try to find the best partnership in the center of midfield. I really want to win this tournament, and I would think our Confed Cup run will make BB realize how critical it is..