On the eve of the much-anticipated American Civil War between Everton and Fulham, American soccer fans are relishing the chance to see three of their best players take the pitch at the same time at the highest level of competition.  Other American sports’ fans do not understand the importance of this match: Kobe plays LeBron often (usually on Christmas) and Manning and Brady seem to play every year.  However, U.S. soccer fans for years have settled on seeing their best players either square off in MLS or not face each other competitively, due to playing in different leagues.

When the players take the pitch tomorrow another interesting sidebar will be discussed, and that is why the three best American soccer players are playing in, well, this game.  To put it another way, is this the best American soccer players can do, two clubs that are mid-table at best or, in Fulham’s case, seemingly always in danger of slipping into the relegation zone?  Why isn’t this historic match-up taking place in a Manchester derby or West London derby?  For the Everton U.S. players, the answer is that the chance has already slipped by.  Tim Howard had his time at Manchester United but has really found his place with Everton, a smaller club.  Landon Donovan has gone through a similar situation, except he simply failed to catch on at Bayern Munich and is just now being seen as potentially EPL worthy.

Clint Dempsey is different.  Although not a young prospect, the Texan is hitting his peak and his peak is pretty damn good.  His goal total for 2011-2012 is up there with players who could be considered with the Ballon d’Or, trailing only Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, and Sergio Aguero.  He became the first American to notch a hat trick during an EPL match and it was his second in all competitions this year.  The man scores goals but at age 28 his peak productivity window is closing.  So, should he strike out now while his Q rating is at its highest and make a move to a larger club?  Or is Fulham the best place for him right now?

One man with a large voice in the U.S. Soccer Federation made his opinion known last week.  In the press conference after the Venezuela friendly, Jurgen Klinsmann addressed the Dempsey hat trick and made clear that he wants his players to play at the highest level (audio can be found on the Total Soccer Show podcast).  In essence, he said that he wants to see players like Dempsey play at the highest level of soccer, which is not just the EPL; it is playing for a Champions League contender or, at the very least, a Europa League contender.

Practically speaking this may be a hard task, even if Dempsey desires a move.  While I will leave the analysis of team needs in the Prem to our sister site EPL Talk, I will say that there are few opportunities for consistent playing time in the Top 6 of the EPL, due to congestion at Dempsey’s position and budgetary restrictions.  The best fits may be Tottenham or Arsenal (which the Gunners being the better fit of the two) but even those two London clubs would not potentially give Dempsey consistent playing time.  And that is the biggest negative for Dempsey if he moved to a larger club: playing time.  Right now he has established himself as a fixture in the starting XI for Fulham.  Except for injury or forced rest, he’ll play for The Cottagers.  He will play against the best clubs in England and have a chance to refine his skills at the highest league level, something that will definitely benefit him in international play.  A move would likely impede this playing time as he would not be assured a starting spot in any of the top six clubs.

However, there are two major reasons he should seek a transfer to a larger side (we’ll stick with the EPL for ease of comparison).  The first is the competition would be extremely beneficial to push himself to the next level; it’s one thing to fight off a player below you for time and it’s another to push someone like Andrei Arshavin for a starting spot or first sub off the bench position.  The ability to play with the best players in the world in the best competitions in the world will not only improve Dempsey as a player but really test him for World Cup qualifying.  This is worth the trade-off of a few starting minutes.

There is another, off-the-pitch reason to make this move and Brian Straus nails it completely in his recent article on Dempsey.  Straus quotes an exchange from a recent The Guardian ”Football Weekly” podcast when discussing Dempsey’s hat trick:

“Pundits always say, ‘Oh, Clint Dempsey, I always like Clint Dempsey.’ What is it about Clint Dempsey? I think it’s that infectious spirit of, basically, he’s an American, which is quite exciting and glamorous. He’s a rapper, yep. What else we got?” one writer asked.

“He’s got a cool name, Clint Dempsey. He’s just cool. He scores great goals as well,” said another.

“Is he redneck? I asked this before and got accused of all manner — it’s a genuine question!”

While anyone who listens to the podcast knows that it has a sense of humor about itself, the undertone to the exchange is the lack of respect that American soccer players have in larger leagues.  They are at times a sideshow, primarily because in the past when they’ve played for the best clubs, they’ve failed to perform.  An American player should step up and show pundits and soccer fans how far this country has come.  Dempsey is our best shot, and he certainly could fail with a Champions League contender.  But I suspect he won’t, and we’ll never know unless he steps up and grabs the opportunity.

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ first season in MLS ended as so many other “expansion” teams’ season have ended in U.S. leagues throughout the years: basement and struggling to build for the future.*  After the near immediate success of recent MLS additions like Seattle and Philly, as well as the late playoff run by Cascadia rivals Portland, this season had to have been somewhat of a disappointment.  Now, on their third coach in less than two years, the team is looking to build on a solid nucleus to begin their climb up the tough Western Conference standings and contend for an MLS playoff spot.

The Whitecaps kick off our “3 Questions” series for this offseason, where I will take a look at every MLS team (in draft order) and see what three questions will dominate their offseason.  These questions and how they are answered over the next three months will go a long way to determining how or if they can contend for MLS Cup 2012, or whatever relevant goals they may have.

1. Third time’s a charm: how will the team fare under new coach and CEO?

To say there have been some changes in the team’s management is an understatement.  As mentioned, Martin Rennie is the team’s third coach is a little over a calendar year, and his style has won acclaim in the lower levels of U.S. soccer.  How he is able to implement his more cerebral coaching style on a team that has been at times a little mental (see Eric Hassli’s early run of red cards) will be a key to determining the improvement this club can make.  In addition, the recent resignation of CEO Paul Barber casts some shadows over the club.  While he will be replaced by in-house personnel, the absence of the man who helped move the team to MLS and into BC Place (as well as ultimately hired Rennie) adds a little uncertainty in the front office.  How all of these new faces deal with this team remain to be seen.  What we do know is that Rennie has been given the authority for personnel moves, so authority rests with him for the roster.

2. Can they stop allowing so many goals?

The ‘Caps offense was fine last season and at times even quite impressive, but their defense undid all of that good.  Not surprisingly that is one area where Rennie and the front office have been focusing their player purge.  While starting keeper Joe Cannon was re-signed after taking a pay cut, back-up Jay Nolly was shipped off to Chicago and North Carolina RailHawks keeper Brad Knighton was brought on as competition for the starting gig.  Their biggest defensive acquisition, however, is probably Young-Pyo Lee from South Korea.  The fullback is a World Cup veteran and played for clubs PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham Hotspur.  The team hopes his veteran presence will stabilize the backline, and with his pedigree there’s no doubt it won’t help.  The question is, will the players around him be good enough as well?  And will John Thorrington be healthy enough to be a defensive force in the midfield?

3. Will Omar Salgado continue his rapid rise to stardom?  

Reports from the Generation Adidas tour suggest that Omar Salgado is playing well and making a name for himself for the national team.  The GA tour plus his training in England and time in the U.S. youth camp have given the young forward valuable playing experience against some top-flight competition.  Now the question is can he take this experience back with him to Vancouver and translate it onto the MLS pitch?  The ‘Caps have scoring options around him, so he is not going to be relied upon to make all of the plays.  But a dynamic young scoring threat can make a difference for a team; look at how much better Kansas City was when Teal Bunbury was playing well or even Juan Agudelo for New York.  Salgado taking the next step could be a huge factor for this team’s improvement in the new year.

*Note: I know Vancouver is technically not an expansion team in the traditional sense, but the principles apply.

Bad news struck an all-around good guy today in a way that, in another situation, would have seemed almost comical.  Bolton and U.S. national team midfielder Stuart Holden is out for six months, according to his club.  The initial reports had him out for only six weeks after a routine exam of his healing knee, but further tests showed extensive unhealed cartilage damage in the knee.

Holden was an up-and-coming player for both the national team and Bolton Wanderers in the Barclays Premier League before injuries began to impede his career.  A broken leg in a friendly against the Netherlands robbed him of a chance to play in the 2010 World Cup and then an injured knee in a match against Manchester United not only set back his club career but has denied him a chance to play in the 2011 Gold Cup.  Holden had just made his first first-team appearance since the knee injury for Bolton last week after months of recovery, but a routine follow-up on his knee today revealed his damaged cartilage had not healed.

Holden was brutally honest about the news, saying via Twitter: “Floored, devastated, gutted, just a few words I can think of. I will continue to fight and I’m ready for another tough journey…..”

The impact on Bolton is severe, as the Wanderers are currently in last place in the BPL and desperately need some talent to stay up.  Sine his injury, Bolton have lost 11 of their last 15 matches and lack a creative midfield presence they desperately need.  He was so well respected by his club and the supporters that he was named Bolton’s player of the season for 2010-2011 despite missing the last two months.  But MLS Talk fans obviously are concerned about his future with the U.S. national team.  Jurgen Klinsmann had already been keeping an eye on the midfielder during his recovery and, according to Brian Straus, said “We’ve obviously been keeping a close eye on him since his injury because he’s not only a fantastic player but a great person.  He’s getting closer and closer, but I’m not looking to get him in United States squad as soon as possible.”  The fact is the new manager needs to see exactly what he has in the U.S. talent pool and with so much uncertainty Holden had a good chance to fight for a starting job on the national team.

According to the announced timeline, Holden will be back to contribute to World Cup 2012 qualifying if he is named to the team (which I expect him to be).  That said, knee problems could linger and certainly place his future in some doubt.  USMNT fans (and Bolton fans) should hope for the best and look forward to hopefully seeing Holden play again next year.

Photo by C.A.M. Stephans

By now you have probably heard the Bob Bradley deadline of May 23 to announce his call-ups for the U.S. National Team. This is a critical call-up, as not only will these players play in the 2011 Gold Cup but also in the friendly versus Spain.  As such, Bob Bradley will likely go the opposite of Camp Cupcake and take a veteran lineup to Foxborough.

But should he?  What should be the goals of the US Men’s National Team, June 2011 edition?  I’d argue the following should be the goals of Bob Bradley’s squad, in this order:

1. Win the Gold Cup and punch the ticket to the Confederations Cup
2. Begin finding the players for the 2014 World Cup
3. Not embarrass the country in the Spain match

In order to do this, Bob Bradley should bring a mix of veterans and up-and-comers, and in the process take a few gambles with this team.  Here are my suggestions by position for Coach Bradley, as well as a few predictions of who he will actually bring.  Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section:

Keepers He Should Bring: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, and Bill Hamid

Keepers He Will Bring: Howard, Hahnemannn, and David Yeldell

Until he proves otherwise, Tim Howard is the #1 keeper for this team and that will not change during the World Cup. The #2 keeper should be someone with experience who can step in during an emergency, so Hahnemann fits that profile as he transitions from Europe to MLS.  Brad Guzan is seemingly on the outs with Bradley plus scheduled his wedding for the end of this month.  Bradley could go with David Yeldell to continue the German connection but could again give Dominic Cervi a chance to earn a place on the team, despite the fact he can’t even get a start for his club team.  One day Howard will be too old to play for this team, and the US needs to begin planning for that now.  The final spot should go to a young stud who should begin to be groomed to be the next Tim Howard; the two MLS candidates right now are Sean Johnson and Bill Hamid, with Hamid getting the call due to having a better season so far.

Defenders He Should Bring: (starters) Tim Chandler, Oguchi Onyewu, Clarence Goodson, Carlos Bocanegra, (bench) Steve Cherundolo, Zak Whitbread, Tim Ream, Jonathan Bornstein, Chad Marshall

Defenders He Will Bring: (starters) Cherundolo, Goodson, Onyewu, Bocanegra, (bench) Chandler, Bornstein, Ream, Whitbread, Eric Lichaj

The backline is up in the air, but you can bet Bradley will go conservative here.  The U.S.’s biggest problem has been conceding early goals, so Bradley will likely thwart this by throwing out a veteran lineup.  My thought is that the Gold Cup is put up or shut up time for two U.S. defenders – Tim Chandler and Gooch.  Gooch is coming back from injury and it’s time to see if he can be an international starting defender before 2014 qualification.  Tim Chandler took the soccer scene by storm with a good showing against Paraguay; now’s a good time to see if he can maintain the hype.

Midfielders He Should Bring: (4-2-3-1) Michael Bradley, Jonathan Spector, Landon Donovan, Mikkel Diskerud, Clint Dempsey, (bench) Benny Feilhaber, Brek Shea, Alejandro Bedoya

Midfielders He Will Bring: (4-4-2) Donovan, Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Dempsey, (bench) Edu, Feilhaber, Bedoya, Jonathan Spector

I have always been a believer in the U.S. playing with 5 midfielders, with Bradley and Spector alternating between making advancing runs and playing back in the holding role.  Donovan and Dempsey are locks to start but the U.S. needs someone with vision and talent to make the right pass to get the wings and forward the ball in scoring chances.  Although young, Diskerud has shown flashes of this ability and he should get a chance now.  If nothing else, a call-up binds him to the U.S.  On the bench, Brek Shea has shown the ability to be a world class midfielder, with FC Dallas’ recent good run of form showing how good Shea can be.  Bradley, however, will probably fall back into the comfortable 4-4-2 and keep his standards in the midfield.  The bench for Bradley will also be experienced, with players we’ve seen before who have specific talents for specific scenarios.

Forwards He Should Bring: Teal Bunbury, Jozy Altidore, Chris Wondolowski

Forwards He Will Bring: Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Herculez Gomez

Let’s be ambitious.  If Bradley plays a 4-2-3-1, he needs a lone striker type, something Altidore is not.  He is talented enough to make the team, but he needs a second forward up front with him.  Agudelo could be that guy, but he is in danger of over-exposure and over-use this year.  Let’s see if Bunbury is as good internationally or better than Agudelo.  In the same vein, let’s give Chris Wondolowski one more chance.  The guy can score in MLS, so let’s see if he can do the same for the national team.

Ok, it’s time to revive the dead horse and ride it some more.  Trust me, I don’t want to but I have to.

Since the December 2 vote to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup, I have made peace with the decision.  While I still believe the country was not the best bid put forward (the U.S. and Australia were better venues in my opinion), I understand the logic and benefits and made my peace with it.  I wish them good luck and anticipate an absolutely excellent World Cup.

But it’s FIFA that keeps making my blood boil over this issue.

Today it’s Michael Platini’s interview reported in The Telegraph, where he shares his ideas and hopes for Qatar’s World Cup, among other topics.  His thought is that the 2022 World Cup should be a Gulf World Cup, or in his words: “I hope it will be a World Cup of the Gulf. It could be the World Cup of Qatar but played in the Gulf.”  This is interesting because the idea has been floated in the media by different soccer personalities but was always rebuked, usually by someone from FIFA saying Qatar has never applied for that change.  But now the idea of a World Cup hosted by Qatar but played in other countries seems to be gaining steam.

This is on top of the already brewing movement to move the 2022 World Cup to the winter months.  Last week, Sepp Blatter became the most recent person to suggest the event be played in January, and league schedules be adjusted accordingly.  This of course has been argued on this site and others, so I don’t want to rehash those arguments.  But it seems to me the 2022 World Cup has a general location, but not a set date nor set locations for the matches to take place.

Not to worry, Platini told the press: “When I organised (sic) the World Cup in France we did (things) differently from what we proposed in the bid.”  He conveniently forgot to mention France’s huge soccer structure already in place, as well as summer temperatures below 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  What these debates tell me is FIFA backed themselves into a corner by picking a location but not having a firm idea of any specific details.  Ask any bride-to-be or meeting planner, and they will tell you this is a recipe for disaster.

So should Qatar have its World Cup pulled?  Not necessarily; a winter World Cup hosted by the Gulf States but based in Qatar can still be a massive success.  But there are so many unknowns and unresolved scenarios that even an event 11 years away is looking like a dubious proposition.  So FIFA should take an unprecedented step (again) and do the following: announce after its elections that in December 2014, FIFA will review a new 2022 World Cup bid from Qatar.  Qatar’s bid will address the timing and location issues, as well as progress on stadiums and other logistics.  After the presentation, the executive committee will have a vote to confirm the bid, and require a supermajority to strip Qatar if it feels their bid is not prepared for the event in eight years.  If that occurs, FIFA can have a process to vote on new bids (possibly just have the other finalists resubmit) but it would need its committee to firmly and overwhelmingly reject (say, a 2/3rds vote) the current site.

The positives of this re-vote?  This gives FIFA and Qatar four years to decide the basics of the 2022 World Cup and begin to implement its plan.  If they cannot do this by 2014, FIFA needs to act in the game’s best interest and consider other venues.  This may or may not be the U.S., but that’s not why this is an important issue.  This is an important issue because the soccer community needs to know that the 2022 World Cup will take place and be successful, not a drama filled event like the Olympics were in Greece.  That way, we can finally figure out who won the 2022 bidding: Qatar, or some ambiguous idea.

The list of the 2011 Gold Cup sites was unveiled yesterday and there were two story lines coming out of the announcement: the number of venues that would be hosting their first Gold Cup matches and the number of cities that were inexplicably left off the list.

As a reminder or, if you are new to the sport, an explanation, the Gold Cup is the tournament where in 2011 the winner advances to the 2013 Confederations Cup.  It does not impact World Cup qualifying directly.  What a win in the 2011 Gold Cup does do is allow a team a series of matches against other federation champs in a World Cup-style format.  The United States used a great Confederations Cup run in 2009 (we beat Spain!) to create positive momentum for the 2010 World Cup.

The first round takes place June 5-14, and some of the venues are no-brainers to be on the list.  The Dallas Cowboys’ mammoth stadium will host the first match on June 5, and repeat hosts include Soldier Field (Chicago) and the Home Depot Center (Carson City).  The other four new hosts are Ford Field (Detroit), Raymond James Stadium (Tampa), KC Soccer Stadium (Kansas City), and Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte).  While Detroit and Tampa are huge media markets that make sense for international soccer, CONCACAF seems to be looking to build the culture in Charlotte and Kansas City, and I will be curious to see the crowds for the matches.

The quarterfinals will be held June 18 at the New Meadowlands Stadium and June 19 at RFK Stadium (Washington DC).  The semifinal matches will be held in Houston on June 22 and the final held in the Rose Bowl on June 25.  None of these sites are a surprise except for maybe Houston having the semifinal over the New Meadowlands.

What is a surprise may be the cities left out of this list.  Philadelphia and Foxborough, MA on the East Coast both have MLS teams but failed to get the nod.  Columbus, Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Jose are other MLS metropolitan areas that were not selected.  But the biggest shaft may have been the West Coast, which has two hosts both in California, and none in the Pacific Northwest.  Sounders fans will miss out on the opportunity to see Gold Cup matches next year.

The total list of sites is after the break, but what are your thoughts on which cities were selected and which were left off?  Should the West Coast or the Rockies gotten more matches?

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Schedule and Venues

First Round

June 5 – Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)

June 6 – The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA)

June 7 – Ford Field (Detroit, MI)

June 9 – Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)

June 10 – FIU Stadium (Miami, FL)

June 11 – Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL)

June 12 – Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)

June 13 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)

June 14 – KC Soccer Stadium (Kansas City, KS)

Quarterfinals

June 18 – New Meadowlands Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)

June 19 – Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (Washington DC)

Semifinals

June 22 – Reliant Stadium (Houston, TX)

Final

June 25 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)

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The time for waiting is over.  The final arguments are being made during the night in Zurich (and I’ll leave it to your imagination what “persuasion” means in Zurich) and all that’s left is the nervous waiting.  So, here’s your guide to the World Cup announcement:

When: Tomorrow December 2 at 10:00AM Eastern, 7:00 AM Pacific

Where: For TV viewers, you can watch the announcement on ESPN, Fox Soccer, and numerous Internet sites, including FIFA.com.  Of course you can chat with our own Jonathon Feyerherm here on MLS Talk tomorrow (which is how I will watch the announcement) about both the 2018 and 2022 announcements.  If you are in a partying mood, the U.S. Bid and local visitor’s bureaus will be hosting bid parties.  The major locations are:

Atlanta – STATS Food and Drink (300 Marietta ST. NW)

Dallas – Dallas City Hall Lobby

Kansas City – 810 Zone on the Plaza (4686 Broadway)

Los Angeles – ESPN Zone LA Live

Philadelphia – Tir Na Nag (1600 Arch Street)

Seattle – FX McRory’s (419 Occidental Ave S)

Washington DC – Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave NW)

You can see all of the official celebration sites here.  So, when the big day arrives, where will you watch the announcement?

Less than 48 hours from now, we will know whether the U.S. bid for the 2022 World Cup was a success or a failure.  In Zurich the U.S. delegation is counting votes, firming up yeses and feeling out no votes.  One advantage the U.S. has is star power, something a country like Qatar has to import or hire.  It may be hard for a delegate to shake the hand of a famous movie star or politician and turn down the United States.

The official presentation on December 2 will be done by a four-man committee: US Bid chair Sunil Gulati, Landan Donovan, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, and actor Morgan Freeman.  That’s the official presentation; but who should the U.S. have in Zurich right now to lobby these delegates and secure votes?  Below are the people I think would be the U.S.’s most effective spokespeople and who should be in Zurich for the rest of the week.  Some of these are no-brainers and some are possibly unrealistic and outside-the-box.  But if I were U.S. Bid president, these people would be my first call:

Bill Clinton – The former president is a global icon.  Besides being personally popular with many world leaders, he is the head of a huge global foundation aimed at alleviating poverty and disease.  He’s smooth and an expert at wooing reticent votes, and signing him up for this bid was Gulati’s best decision.

Michael Jordan – Another global sports icon, Jordan is world renowned as being the best player in the world’s fastest growing game.  Jordan would show that the American sports scene is united behind the World Cup as well as the sports business community.  Plus he would be a different face before FIFA and could be a genuine ace-in-the-hole to impress delegates.

Barack Obama – I know, this backfired spectacularly when the U.S. was bidding for the Olympics.  However, there is one major difference between the World Cup and Chicago Olympics.  A medium risk in the U.S. bid analysis was government support, and what better way to show that the U.S. government will give full support and resources to the World Cup than the face of the government, who by the way is popular internationally.  Although he will not be president in 2022, he can guarantee the delegates that his administration will begin preparing for the World Cup now and build it into any deficit plan his administration may pursue.

Steve Jobs – Europe has a bad history with Microsoft, ruling out Bill Gates, and is now bringing suit against Google as a monopoly.  But Steve Jobs’ Apple is universally admired, and his iPod and its technological brethren are universally used.  He could share information about American technological prowess and counteract Japan’s best claim to the Cup, that it will have a truly unique and technologically advanced World Cup.

Brad Pitt – There may be more popular actors worldwide, and maybe more beautiful people, but few possess the charm and positive ratings that the actor has.  In a delegation full of political and sports stars, Pitt would add a little Hollywood glitz and glamor to the lobbying effort, and convey how the media and popular culture can help build support for soccer in America.

Landon Donovan – The delegation has to have a soccer player, and who is more associated with U.S. soccer than Donovan.

Who do you think would be the most effective spokesperson for the U.S. bid in Zurich?

The United States has been the favorite to win the 2022 World Cup bid since it dropped its 2018 bid to clear the way for a European nation.  Going up against a Middle Eastern country, two Asian nations that previously hosted, and an island nation with little soccer culture, the U.S. has the money, media presence, and soccer infrastructure to guarantee a successful World Cup.  But as we approach the December 2 announcement date, the rumors continue to pop up that the U.S. is at best dead even with Qatar and another of its competitors.  So we have to consider what was once the unthinkable – what is the U.S. loses out on the World Cup?

How could America lose out on a bid?  Qatar, while disgustingly hot in the summer, has a lot of money that it can dedicate to the World Cup, and FIFA can justify giving them the World Cup as a way to promote peace in the region.  Australia is an untapped market and they could be viewed as the U.S. in 1994 – a nation where a World Cup will jump start the popularity of their soccer league.  And it would be odd to give Japan or Korea a World Cup so soon after they jointly hosted one, but they could be viewed as safe bets.  Plus we cannot ignore what wheelings and dealings occur behind closed doors.

The first thought that would come to many people’s minds if the U.S. lost out on December 2 is that we can reapply in four years for the 2026 Cup, and would have to be considered almost a lock.  The World Cups have gone Africa (’10), South America (’14), Europe (’18), and Asia (’22), so unless Antarctica were to boom in population, North America would be a logical next step.  This of course FIFA is logical and continues to rotate continents years from now when the 2026 Cup is selected, but let’s just assume.  But to assume the U.S. would definitely be that country could be a mistake.  Between the 2022 and 2026 selection processes, Mexico (who has already hosted World Cups), could stabilize politically and has a large soccer market.  And to the north is another untapped market – Canada could be targeted by FIFA as the new soccer infrastructure building project.  They have the money, government stability, and infrastructure to host a world-wide event.  Plus, as we have seen with Toronto FC and lower division teams, Canadians will support soccer.

What does the loss of a World Cup do to MLS?  Initially nothing, as where the international event will be held does not really impact MLS players.  But what it could impact is MLS governance.  We know FIFA hates some aspects of MLS, especially the schedule, and we assume that it would not deny the U.S. a bid because of simple MLS dislikes.  But what if FIFA wanted the U.S. market to conform with the rest of world enough that they denied the bid?  MLS could do one of two things – it could basically move further from FIFA or, more likely, begin to adopt FIFA guidance completely.  This means fall-to-spring schedules like most of the rest of the world.

And what does this mean for the U.S. national team?  It cannot be understated how important home field advantage is in the World Cup – the U.S. made the round of 16 in 1994, Italy placed third in the 1990 World Cup, Germany made the 2006 semifinals, etc.  The United States would lose a vital goalpost for progress – the USSF can build its entire structure with the goal of playing in front of the home crowd in 2022 and making a run for possibly a title.  But without that goalpost, it’s harder to have an end date for a building project which, frankly, the U.S. could use.  It can be done, but the advantage of a World Cup in your front yard cannot be understated.

So would losing the World Cup be catastrophic for the USSF?  No, but it would hurt.   A lot.

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?