THE FINAL THIRD

Interesting matchup in this first weekend of european qualifiers. World Cup third place Germany goes against a well-equipped and very capable Belgium. Belgium are a side that continues to improve thanks to the impressive youth setup the domestic league has adopted.

For a look at the Belgium side in detail go to “Bundesliga Talk”.

From Madrid to London… seems like a sideways move. Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp, revealed yesterday that the club had only open talks for Van der Vaart at 4pm. (Transfer window closed at 6PM yesterday) “…I thought he was going to Bayern Munich for about £18m and suddenly he became an awful lot cheaper and the chairman came to me and said: ‘Look, he’s available for around about £8m.’

“I felt we’d already got a good squad, it wasn’t a case of really being desperate to get anyone in. It was only when he rung me at about four o’clock and told me there was an opportunity here and did I want to do something?…I said: ‘I don’t really want to spend your money but if you feel you want to have a go then, well, let’s push on and give it a crack and see if we can pull it off.’”

Source

Saw this interview on “The Winger”… What is interesting is that Bob Bradley re-enforces the perception of American footballers around the world. American players are known for their work ethic and athleticism, not their technical and tactical savvy. To break into the top tier of world football, the USMNT needs to have a philosophy based on more than hard work. Players need to be stronger with the ball, be able to possess, and be better at finishing. It is worrisome that the attributes that are keeping us in the second tier are being brought up again at the beginning of this new cycle. Can the USMNT articulate and execute a philosophy that can elevate them into the first tier of world football?

Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has completed a move today to the Bun­desliga with Schalke, where he will rejoin for mer Real Madrid team-mates Christoph Met zelder and Raul.

Huntelaar had been on the outs at Milan for some time now after failing to secure a first-team place, and the sign ing of Zlatan Ibrahi- movic further reduced Huntelaar’s chances of first-team foot ball. Huntelaar has joined Schalke for a fee of around 13 million Euros, and will be looking to turn his career around in the Bundesliga.

Source

Want to hear the USSF spin on this… There are many qualified men, from both Europe and South America who could/should be considered… Bradley is a motivator, it is obvious that his players will go through walls for him… but the philosophy, the bucket formation, some of us want a different philosophy for the USMNT. Attacking, dominating, “imperialistic”… Do we have the players?

They’re coming…