http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhsgKRpWKPY

Anyone who watches MLS knows Brek Shea is having a breakout season. And as much as the British media may want to dismiss MLS and its talent, it is now beginning to it pay attention. Sky Sports is reporting that Liverpool and Manchester City both were scouting the U.S. national team’s 1-0 win over Honduras. In addition, Chelsea and Manchester United have also shown interest in Shea, according to the article.

Shea’s agent, Barry McLean, shared that his client would have interest in playing overseas (no surprise there). He told Sky Sports, “He has a contract with the MLS and FC Dallas for another three years so at this point it is premature to talk about a move.”

McLean said also said about a potential overseas move: “It’s on his radar. He is a young player with high aspirations and every player wants to play at the highest level. I think England would be an interesting option for Brek, but we will wait and see what happens.”

I have enjoyed watching Shea grow up professionally this year and at this point in his career he could benefit from playing overseas. In terms of fit, obviously the stability of Manchester United would be a good place for him to ease into European club football. That said, the end of the season may not be the best time for him to make a move. It’s clear that he has tired toward the end of the season with his USMNT and club responsibilities, so moving immediately into a new role and more playing time would be a bad idea. That said, if you get a chance to sign for one of the largest teams in the world, you pretty much have to make that move.

However MLS again would be the big loser. Just as the national team is getting a new star, a new face of American soccer, he moves overseas. FC Dallas would also face a major roster loss, something that MLS teams are increasingly facing as the talent level rises. Such in life in an up-and-coming league.

What do you think? What Premier League club would be a good fit for Brek Shea? Should he leave?

CONCACAF general secretary, nemesis of Mohammed Bin Hammam, and tabloid story-filler Chuck Blazer announced today he would step down from his role in the soccer federation at the end of the year.  Blazer had been involved in CONCACAF’s leadership for two decades and his resignation is certainly the end of an era.  He will, however, keep his FIFA executive committee spot, according to Bloomberg, but has not decided if he will run for reelection in 2013.

“My passion for soccer is undiminished and it is time for me to explore new challenges within this wonderful sport,” he said in a CONCACAF statement.  ”Running a governing body has been an incredibly fulfilling job, but there are so many other areas of the sport where as a senior executive, I will make a great impact.”

CONCACAF has not announced who will replaced Blazer but the resignation comes after a tumultuous few months.  As we reported on this site in August, Blazer was under investigation by the FBI for a variety of alleged tax evasions and failures to report income.  This of course came after Blazer’s role as a whistle blower when in June he accused Bin Hammam and then-CONCACAF President Jack Warner of colluding to buy votes from the Caribbean Football Union for the former’s FIFA presidential campaign.  In the aftermath, Lisle Austin of Barbados tried to force Blazer’s removal from the soccer governing body, a move that was later overturned.

I have no doubt Blazer will continue to lurk in the North American soccer landscape, no doubt finding a comfortable place to land and maintain his lifestyle.  If you think this is the last we’ve heard of him, you will be sorely mistaken.  That said, this is the end of an era for CONCACAF.  The confederation saw some massive financial gains under Blazer and an increase in the prestige of its members, mostly driven by the successes of the U.S. and Mexico.  Blazer also was key in securing ESPN’s bid for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, which has helped drive some growth in soccer viewership in the U.S. as well as a healthy American audience for last year’s World Cup.

However, this is a prime opportunity for CONCACAF to turn the page on this year’s terrible scandals and rebuild itself.  The confederation has at least two top-rate soccer federations (Mexico and, yes, the U.S.) as well as some smaller soccer associations that can be legitimately be described as up-and-coming.  Two countries have already hosted World Cups and a third is a prime destination for a future one (Canada).  In short, while CONCACAF will never be UEFA, it has a chance to be one of the better confederations in FIFA.  Failure to enact some ethics reforms and refocus its priorities will lead to it be passed by the AFC and CAF.

Sometimes life gets in the way of art, and that is the way this week’s Major League Soccer Talk Podcast ended up.  Technology has impeded host Chris Riordan from recording the podcast, so if you’re like me you unfortunately will miss out on some good Thursday night/Friday morning soccer talk.

But we here at MLS Talk want to make sure you get your American soccer news and analysis from the past week.  And while we can’t do it through your iPod, we thought instead we would allow you, the reader, to share your thoughts on the week that was in MLS and American soccer.  Since the Emmys were this weekend, we want you to vote award style.  Below are some questions that we want you to weigh in on that cover a variety of topics that occurred between September 17 and September 22.  Place your votes and then explain how and why you voted for what you did in the comments section.  Tomorrow we will have a preview of the weekend coming up, and next week the MLS Talk Podcast will return.

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Reports have come out this evening confirming that Bob Bradley will stay as coach of the US Mens National Team for another four years.  Just as speculation was growing that Bradley would be out, Jurgen Klinsmann would be in, and US Soccer was going to make some significant changes before the next World Cup, it seems that everyone has chosen stability over transformation.  There are several different ways to look at this:

This was the right move

Bradley may not be the most charismatic character of all time, but he did well.  Under his stewardship, the US won the Gold Cup, got to the finals of the Confederations Cup, won the CONCACAF qualifying group, and won its World Cup Group.  While the US did crash out of the World Cup by losing to Ghana in overtime, that game was as close as a game could be, and had the US won it, this decision would be a no-brainer.  While major countries like France and Italy were having personality breakdowns in South Africa, Bradley kept our boys loose, focused and together as a team.  The team was in great shape physically, and despite the obvious limitations of the US squad, especially after Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu suffered serious injuries, the team met its main objective – getting to the knock out stage.  Bradley has earned the chance to take the team to the next level.

This is a disaster

 Bradley is not the guy to take the team to the next level.  He made some fundamental mistakes in our tactics that cost the US a chance to really make a mark in South Africa.  What was Ricardo Clark doing there against Ghana?  What was Gooch doing in there against Slovenia when he could barely walk?  Were it not for a saving goal by Landon Donovan, the US would have been going home in the group stages, and this decision would have been a no-brainer.  Furthermore, that run at the Confederation Cup was not much of a run – we got slaughtered by Italy and Brazil in the group stage, lucked into the knock out stage, and blew a two goal lead in the final that could have delivered a historic moment for US Soccer.  Finally, winning things in CONCACAF is no great challenge.  Even Steve Sampson could achieve that!  If the US is ever going to move up from the JVs to the Varsity squad of soccer nations, it needs new leadership.

Honestly, it really does not matter

There is no more over-valued job than coach of the national team.  You don’t really develop players in that position, – you simply pick the best 23 available and see what happens.  Perhaps a coach like Raymond Domenech can cause a team like France to fall apart, but only a fool would say that Vicente del Bosque caused Spain win in South Africa.  Spain won because they have the best 23 players in the world.  The US will have more success when they have better players, and the coach of the team has only the most marginal impact on growing the pool of players that can succeed at the highest level.

What do you think?

After the failure of Germany 2006, nobody wanted to hire Bob Bradley for this job. It was hard to find a fan that thought he was the right man. US Soccer was desperate to hire Jurgen Klinsman. Columnist fantasized about importing some maestro from Europe or South America.

When the other options failed to pan out and Bradley was hired, there was clearly an air of Miss Congeniality about his appointment. His initial contract was not even guaranteed through the 2010 World Cup. Bradley was the date we all settled on while we looked longingly across the dance floor at the girls we really wanted.

And yet, Bradley did great. From the beginning, he wanted this team to play against the best competition he could find. That meant friendlies against top teams, and winning the Gold Cup so that the US could play in the Confederations Cup. Bradley banished the notion that games against Upper Tonga, Lower Bratslana, or the People’s Republic of Weak Sisters could offer anything useful.

Moreover, Bradley would seek out, find and play the young generation against these teams. The first time I saw Charlie Davies or Bennie Fielhaber play was when they put on the USMNT uniform. His son Michael earned a position on the team in such a way that nobody could ever accuse his coach of nepotism.

The team that took the field this month in South Africa was the most prepared US team in history. They had played more competitive games against meaningful opponents than any that had preceded it. Their fitness level was spectacular, and everyone knew their roles and responsibilities.

While many can take issue with some of his team selections, that will be the case with any national team coach. Every national team loss all over the world is always attributed to team selection, and the fact that the US team now has choices worthy to generate a debate is, in itself, an odd sign of progress.

That all being said, it is never a good idea to give a national team coach a second term in office. The US should look for a new boss.

The record for the second go-around is almost always a disaster. Italy’s Lippi, France’s Domenech and even the US’s Arena can all attest that the second trip to the dance is almost always worse.

Why is this? National teams need a fresh set of eyes to keep the team playing in a manner the Marine’s call “frosty.” Teams that are alert, aggressive and ready for action always do better. Teams that develop a comfort level with their coach and whose players assume (usually correctly) that their rapport and history will guarantee their place almost always underwhelm.

Four years from now, Landon Donovan will be treading that fine line between being a supremely experienced player who can dazzle and a 32-year-old player who is losing a step. If Donovan is really on the latter side of that line, will Bradley have the fortitude to drop him? If a manager does that to a player who has been with him for seven and a half years, will the rest of the team find that emboldening or demoralizing?

The US may be ready for a coach that combines the strategies and tactics of a foreign manager with the physical fitness and sports science expertise of a US coach. Who is that person? It is hard to say, but managing a young and improving US team is a plum position for many coaches of high reputation. It would be a strong move for US Soccer to explore that job pool.

As for Bradley, I would love to see him become the first American to manage overseas. I don’t doubt his ability and his intellect, and it would be fascinating to see the Princeton educated and hyper-disciplined Bradley bring something very new and very American to a European club team.

So how good is the US Men’s National Team? Over the past two years, the US team has fully revealed itself in relation to other teams and this is the report card-

• The USMNT is well ensconced in the second tier of international soccer, which is no small feat. Over the past 20 years, the USMNT has moved from international laughing stock to the group just below the tier that includes the best teams of Europe and South America.

• The US team is good enough to ruin anybody’s day, including world powers like Spain and England and, for a half, Brazil. But they are not yet good enough to do that on a consistent basis for an elongated run.

• They are the best team in CONCACAF (yes, you heard that right Mexico) and finished in first place in the World Cup Qualifying in CONCACAF, which is a far more grueling and challenging ordeal than finishing in first place in most of the European World Cup Qualifying groups.

• They are team with big quality in certain places (especially the midfield and in goal) and deficits in others (strikers and the back line). That is a criticism that most teams, including teams in the top tier, must often endure.

• The USMNT clearly has more heart and courage than they do soccer skill. That is not a small triumph. Italy and France have a lot more skill, but without any heart, they became national embarrassments.

There was a time not too long ago when watching the US team was absolutely cringe-worthy. The US could not string together passes in the midfield, release midfielders on a break and what passed for defense was a series of harried clearances to nobody in particular. Occasionally those teams would emerge victorious based on shear tenacity, but nobody would ever confuse those teams with something good.

Our current team still makes some foolish mistake that leads to early, soft goals, but they also have the ability to conjure up moments of beautiful, flowing skill. The two goals against Slovenia (and possibly the third that was unjustly ruled out) were moments of great quality from a team that expects to be able to move the ball forward and score a needed goal.

So what for the future? The current squad has a core of young players who will only get better. Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Torres, and Maurice Edu are very far from finished products and all have at least one and probably two World Cups left in them. Charlie Davies, whose absence was sorely missed by this team, will hopefully fully recover. Combined with Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, who all probably have one more Cup in them at their current skill level, this is a nucleus of a team that will only improve.
I would not be at all surprised to see a completely new backline in 2014, perhaps anchored by Clarence Goodson and Omar Gonzalez. Furthermore, it is easy to forget how long four years is in soccer time. Four years ago, Jozy, Maurice, Benny and many others were not on the radar, and I am sure that there are potential godsends being prepared for this team that are, at the moment, largely unnoticed.

Finally, I am writing this dispatch from Italy right now, which may help me with my perspective on all of this. Do you know which team the Italians hate the most? The Italian team – at least this year. They despise their own team, and its failure, with a NASA-hot fury. That is not a healthy way to lead your life – to hate the thing you love – and US fans should always try to avoid such a decent into the abyss.

Moreover, the Italians expressed an admiration boarding on jealously for the US team. For the Italians, the US team is everything the Italian team is not – passionate, honest, young and with great room for improvement. They see the US team as something to be admired and feared, perhaps not now but sometime soon.

South Africa 2010 may not have ended in triumph, and the game against Ghana was clearly an opportunity for greatness lost. But it was absolutely another step on the road to the USMNT’s ultimate destination, and the glory that will come with that summit.

In the next few days, USMNT Coach Bob Bradley will begin showing his cards and send out invitations to 28-30 players to join his camp in Princeton later this month.  Before those invitations go out, it is time for all the fans, pundits and blowhards to pipe in with our opinions on which 23 lucky souls should be on the plane to South Africa. 

So, without further ado, and with no Freddy Adu…here is my list:

Forwards – 4
Jozy Altidore
Brian Ching
Herculez Gomez
Edson Buddle

There is no thinner portion of the US team, made unfortunately thinner by the absence of Charlie Davies.  As dramatic as it would be to see Davies take the field next month, a mere eight months after his horrific car accident, it is just not going to happen.  Davies’ first competitive game, and his first test to see whether he has the ability to sprint, stop on a dime and pick out the right target, cannot be against England.  Sorry, but Charlie will have to wait until Brazil 14 to play in his first World Cup.

As for Gomez and Buddle, they get the slots in a slim field because they are doing the one thing that no other US forward is doing right now – scoring goals.  They may not be the best, but they are the best right now.

Midfield – 9
Michael Bradley
Maurice Edu
Landon Donovan
Clint Dempsey
Ricardo Clark
Stuart Holden
Jose Torres
Benny Feilhaber
Alejandro Bedoya

All of the sudden, the injured seem healthy, the substitutes are all starting, and our midfield seems surprisingly strong.  With Bradley, Donovan and Dempsey sure starters, the competition for that fourth slot in the midfield seems intense.  Edu has recovered from his injuries to become a critical player for Rangers.  Clark has recovered and is now starting and impressing for Frankfurt.  Torres has had an outstanding season for Pachuca.  Holden was doing great for Bolton before his injury and is back in full training.  If Holden impresses in the camp, he could slot in on the wing allowing Donovan or Dempsey to move into a forward slot.  Bedoya probably does not get in any game day roster, but as a rising star, going to South Africa would be a great experience.  Bob Bradley has a lot of tools in his midfield, and a lot of options on how to deploy them.

Defense – 7
Oguchi Onyewu
Carlos Bocanegra
Jonathan Spector
Clarence Goodson
Jonathan Bornstein
Jay DeMerit
Steve Cherundolo

With Gooch back in training with AC Milan, this all becomes a little easier than it was a couple of months ago.  It would be nice for Gooch to have a run out in AC Milan’s last couple of games, but at least he will show up in Princeton fit.  This allows Bradley to put in his preferred back line of Bocanegra, DeMerit, Gooch and Spector/Cherundolo.  At the moment, I would go with Cherundolo who seems to be playing better than Spector, but in either case, Bradley looks to have all the options for which he could have hoped.  The potential wildcard in all of this?  Goodson, who has had a rocking season in Norway and looked like the only American worth a damn in the January friendly against Honduras.

Goalkeeper – 3
Tim Howard
Marcus Hahnemann
Brad Guzan

Howard is the guaranteed starter, and barring something tragic, Hahnemann and Guzan will enjoy a pleasant seat at the festivities.  That being said, Hahnemann has been outstanding for Wolves this season – in fact a large measure of credit for the way Wolves has avoided relegation is down to Hahnemann’s work between the pipes.  He has been calm when needed, acrobatic when needed and positioned himself particularly well.  If Hahnemann’s affection for heavy metal music was the cause of his great form, Bradley would have the rest of the team listening to Slipknot all the time.

I can’t imagine any of these 23 not being invited to Princeton.  We will see who their competition is in the coming week.

On Saturday morning, Landon Donovan will board a bus at Goodison Park, the stadium at the top of the photo amid all the working class houses, and travel about a mile to Anfield, the stadium at the bottom of the photo amid all the working class houses.    Escorted by a phalanx of security, Donovan and his teammates will walk into Anfield and then, eventually through he tunnel, onto the field, and into an experience wholly new to Donovan.  No matter what happens for the rest of Landon Donovan’s career, no matter what happens in South Africa, no matter whether he returns to the Galaxy or stays in Europe, the following two hours will be among the most memorable he will ever have.

Of all the great European derbies, there are few that can compare to the Merseyside clash.  The Old Firm game in Scotland may be rooted in religious rivalry and for a half century the Barca-Real battle in Spain stood in for the civil war after the bullets stopped flying.  However, it is the proximity of the Merseyside battle that drives the vitriol.  For these two teams, separated by only a park, a cemetery, and 100 years of hate, this game can often define the value of their whole season. 

Part of what makes this Derby so powerful is the sound.  Both Anfield and Goodison are relatively small, confined stadiums.  The crowd at Anfield is right on top of the action, and the noise reverberates around the stadium like shaken pennies in glass jar.  For a normal Liverpool game against some random opponent, Anfield is one of the loudest stadia in the land.  For the Merseyside game, noise is taken to an entirely new level.  The noise at Anfield has feeling.  You can sense it in your chest.  When Donovan takes a cornerkick, he will be taking it while leaning against a wall of sound.  To the extent he will be able to make out anything specific, the dialog would make a pornographer blush.

Ultimately, it is these types of experiences that will make his loan to Everton so valuable to Donovan.  Playing with great players, against great players in an electrified atmosphere is something that you cannot get in 2010’s MLS.  Maybe one day, but not today.  To the extent that Landon under-performed in the World Cup four years ago, one of the reasons why is that he did not have enough experiences like the Merseyside Derby. 

The games Donovan has played against Mexico are passionate, but really do not compare to a Liverpool/Everton match up.  Ultimately, both Mexico and the US have always known that no matter the result, they were both going to qualify for the World Cup.  Beating Mexico is fun mostly because it is so galling to the Mexicans.  Losing to Mexico is always disappointing, but rarely devastating.  What Donovan will experience on Saturday is of a completely different nature.  The fans on both sides are so emotionally committed to the game that they hold nothing in reserve to cushion the blow should they lose. 

For us west-coasters, we are looking at a 4:30 am kick-off on Saturday.  My advice – set your alarm.  With ESPN2 broadcasting the game in HD, it is time to wall –off the TV room, turn the volume up, and let the action wipe the sleep from your eyes.  You rarely get to see a game like this with an American playing a position other than ‘keeper.  It should not be missed.

As Landon Donovan settles into the Everton, Michael Bradley becomes even more a fixture at the Bundesliga, and Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark leave the US and take big career risks to fight for a position on European teams, many American fans are bemoaning the fate of the MLS. What if all our stars go to Europe? What if the MLS becomes just a developmental league for European teams?

It may be counter-intuitive, and perhaps a little heretical, but soccer in America, and MLS in particular, can thrive as an exporter of quality domestic talent.

As I have said before, there are plenty of great soccer nations that export all their quality players and yet command a fervent following from their fans. Nearly every great Dutch player plays outside of Holland, and that does not make the Ajax fans walk around bemoaning the state of their league. The majority of the Argentina national team plays in Europe, and the River vs. Boca Super Classico in Buenos Aires makes the Galaxy/Chivas Superclassico look like a garden party. And of course, there is not a single member of the Brazil starting XI who plays for a Brazilian club team (with the possible exception of the newly outcast Robinho), but there are still over 400 teams in the Brazilian Football Confederation.

For the casual US soccer fan, they need to know MLS is not some rinky-dink outfit full of future high-school soccer coaches and European geriatrics. Nothing affirms the quality of our domestic league like watching our players be able to compete in the best leagues of Europe. As Donovan, Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Tim Howard move from MLS, lock down starting XI positions and square off on a weekly basis against the best talents in the world, casual fans begin to accept the product put out by MLS as worthy of their attention and support.

The more talent we export, or more precisely, the more MLS talent is craved in Europe, the more esteem MLS will garner among US fans. As US players head off to Europe, US soccer fans are affirmed in their decision to follow the teams that can create that type of quality. As the US fans learn, through the experiences of our US players, about the culture and atmosphere of European soccer teams, they will want to replicate that atmosphere here with our domestic league.

Most importantly, the success of soccer in America has far more to do with the success of the US National Team than it does Major League Soccer. Do you want to see full MLS stadiums this summer and fall? If the US team has a decent run in South Africa, it will make a MLS ticket one of the hottest tickets in town. For the US to do well in South Africa, its best player must spend a lot of time in Europe playing against the best the world has to offer. I don’t think anyone seriously argues with that (if you do, I have the US/Honduras game from last month featuring a mostly MLS team on my Tivo to show you). Will Donovan, Clark and Holden be better players this summer after their European experiences? There is little doubt they will be.

Sometime in the coming years, the US will hopefully produce a truly world class outfield player – a player who may start in MLS, but will go on to play an important role for one of the great teams of Europe. The moment when some US player takes off their Kansas City Wizards or Columbus Crew uniform and puts on their Real Madrid or Manchester United kit will be one of the great moments in MLS history – the moment when the MLS will have truly arrived as a great league worthy of the casual sports fans’ attention.