I continue to argue that people don’t give enough credit to the impact Reyna made on the USMNT team. He was not good enough to overcome the fatal flaws of the 1998 and 2006 teams, but since he has left the team, the US has not had one clear player to control/dictate the tempo and style of play. This leads to the schizophrenic results of the last 3 years.

It may be argued that Stewart was maxed out by 2002, but he was playing at a great level at time. He was probably the most reliable player during 2001 and 2002, and a 2002 Earnie Stewart would be a consistant starter on this team in my opinion, probably with Dempsey pushed up top.

The biggest impact on the 2002 team was a healthy John O’Brien. He had never played consistantly for the US, and his impact was glaring. The 2009 team does not have a player in his prime that can make that type of combined tactical and technical impact.

Remember, that very same 2002 USA team was in 4th place after 8 rounds of qualifying, behind Mexico on goal difference, back when only 3 teams qualified the WC–no 4th place playoff back then. That bunch came very close to being a disaster.

The team that won qualification ended up being different from the team at the WC–Arena took big chances, starting youngsters Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley to great effect in the first match against Portugal. Neither of them had played in qualifying until the final irrelevant match.

We all know who similar nominees are for the USA in 2009.

I hope Bradley understands how forming a team for the World Cup is different than qualifying. Arena was conservative in his selections during qualifying, but not in the WC.

Kartik K- If the 2002 bench was that much better, I am not seeing it. Putting Cobi aside (no argument – a great player), a 33 year old Ernie Stewart or a Joe Max Moore who had already maxed out his career and would barely kick a ball again after 2002 is not some giant triumph. Similarly, I love Hejduk, but while he was the books at Bayer Leverkusen, he was never on the field. He was not a regular club player until he joined the Crew again. Also, while Clint Mathis had a great World Cup (or at least a great goal against South Korea), he will go down as the greatest “what could have been” player in US history. What does all that mean? The2009 US bench with Edu, Feilhaber, Cherundelo, Torres, Holden, Ching, Castillo (maybe), Marshall, and others is not so far from the mark. The 2009 team is thinner at striker perhaps, but thicker in other areas.

DA – You are right. We are, to some degree moving sideways. However, the 2009 team is still very young, and there are only a few players who are not likely to still be available and improved in four years. I do think we are on the verge of a big upgrade, though we may not be there yet.

Kartik M – (what are the odds of two Kartik’s replying to this post?) Whether Pope is our greatest defender or not (I would never give that award to someone who spent his entire career in the MLS), I still prefer the current back line. They play in tough leagues against tough teams for 9 ½ months a year. The biggest concern the US team has at the moment is Gooch, and how much time he will see in Milan.