Bradley says club inaction a detriment to U.S. players
Bob Bradley sees rusty players arrive at U.S. national-team camps ahead of important games, and he isn't pleased. Too many key Americans have been buried on the benches of their clubs.
"It's one thing if it happens for three or four months," the American coach said. "If it happens one year after another, then, guess what? It's trouble."
Halfway through the final round of qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean, the United States is in good position to grab its sixth straight World Cup berth. But it hasn't been pretty.
Following a 3-1 loss in Costa Rica on Wednesday, the United States had to rally for a 2-1 victory over Honduras on Saturday night at Soldier Field.
The U.S. is second with 10 points, 2 behind Costa Rica (4-1) and 5 ahead of third-place El Salvador (1-1-2), which hosts fourth-place Honduras (1-2-1) on Wednesday. That same night Mexico (1-3) is home against Trinidad and Tobago (0-2-2).
Bradley wants to see all his players in regular club action by the fall.
DaMarcus Beasley, a big part of the U.S. World Cup teams in 2002 and 2006, became a virtual nonentity by the end of his second season with Scotland's Glasgow Rangers.
He appeared in just 11 Scottish Premier League games, plus one each in the Scottish League and FA Cup, and the 27-year-old midfielder didn't score a single goal. He got into just three games after Dec. 6.
Jozy Altidore, the up-and-coming star forward, was purchased by Villarreal of Spain's La Liga from Major League Soccer and the New York Red Bulls for $10 million last summer.
Just 19, he made only two starts and four substitute appearances during the first half of the season for Villarreal, scoring 1 goal.
Then Villarreal, en route to a fifth-place finish, loaned him to second division leader Xerez on Jan. 30. But instead of getting more playing time, Altidore failed to get into a single match.
His only action in 2009 has been with the national team. He scored 3 goals in a 3-0 qualifying win over Trinidad on April 1, becoming the youngest American with an international hat trick.
Freddy Adu, who signed with D.C. United in 2003 at 14, may have been the most hyped young American player. Now 20, he has become more a spectator than a player since Portugal's Benfica obtained him from MLS for $2 million before the 2007-08 season.
He started just twice in his first season, scoring 5 goals in 21 league and cup appearances, then was loaned to AS Monaco of the French League.
He played 110 minutes in Ligue 1 - that's all season. He got into just nine league matches, all as a substitute and none after Dec. 21.
His only start was Sept. 24, when he played 69 minutes in a French League Cup match against Paris Saint-Germain that was so unimportant it drew 5,581.
Jonathan Spector, a 23-year-old defender, made 28 appearances for West Ham of the English Premier League in 2007-08 but needed surgery last June to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.
He didn't return to action for the Hammers until Dec. 28 and appeared in just nine matches all season, only four as a starter. In April he sustained a concussion and didn't return for six weeks. On Saturday he got a start at right back for the United States.