The Beggars of My Imagination

I'd just like to take a moment to address a point made by Ives Galarcep over on Soccer by Ives because I think it raises a couple of interesting points with regards to MLS, club vs. country, the US National Team, and Ives' sanity. The point that I'm interesting in is this . . .

As for the forwards, let me state it one more time. Kenny Cooper and Jozy Altidore were not called in because of MLS commitments as well as because of what will likely be busy national team/Olympic duty for both this summer. It would be great if they were called in but Bradley can't just ignore the fact that these guys have club games to play.

Okay, so let's parse this a bit. How does this logic apply to Mastroeni, Edu, Donovan, Guzan, Clark, and Hejduk, all of whom are equally, if not more, important to their MLS clubs than Altidore and Cooper? And I think it's highly likely that all of those players will also be involved in qualifying this summer. Heck--Edu at the very least, and possibly Guzan and Donovan as well, will also be involved in the Olympic effort.

But let's ignore that obvious point for a moment. There are a couple of other interesting points to raise here. Namely, MLS's continued ignorance vis-à-vis international fixture dates and the wastefulness of the coup that US Soccer pulled off in scheduling three world futbol powers in short succession.

First let's address MLS. If Major League Soccer continues to flaunt FIFA's international fixture windows, they need to suffer the consequences. I know, I know, it's so hard to fit the matches in given stadium constraints, scheduling with other sports, blah, blah, whine, bitch, whine. Either make the rosters big enough and deep enough to handle losses to international play or buck up and take your lumps if you continue to ignore a situation that borders on the ridiculous--having a league desperate for attention playing games while the national team is in action. Grow the sport, indeed! How do you propose to do that when you're splitting the attention of an already small and distracted audience?

Secondly, when exactly is Bradley going to get another chance to evaluate his players for the upcoming cycle against such an excellent set of difficult opponents? USSF finally comes through and schedules three huge matches against England, Spain, and Argentina, and you trot out the likes of Josh Wolff and Nate Jacqua? Nate Freakin' Jacqua? Even ignoring the fact that you're insulting the opposition by trotting out has-been's and never-will-be's, why wouldn't you want to test your best and brightest against the highest quality opposition they're likely to face prior to South Africa, be it the Confederations Cup or the World Cup?

To do anything less beggars the imagination.