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The U.S. national team's World Cup qualifiers are still two weeks away, but fans can't stop talking about the national team.
The latest installment of Your Questions Answers is loaded with questions about the national team, including prospects Jermaine Jones and Edgar Castillo, as well as head coach Bob Bradley.
Here are some more of your September Questions Answered:
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FRED-If you had the power to fire Bob Bradley right now, would you do it? Who would be his replacement?
IVES- Fire the coach who just led the team to a Confederations Cup final and has it in first place in its World Cup qualifying group? Nope, I’m not in that crowd.
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TOM FROM SYRACUSE- If Philadelphia make one big signing for their inaugural season, who do you think it could or should be? Is there any chance of Viera or someone of that caliber?
IVES- Not sure about Viera going to Philly. Peter Nowak will have a decision to make. Will he scan the Eastern European market for a player who not have the high-profile but can dominate in MLS? Or will he go with some name recognition? I just don’t see Nowak bringing in a guy who’s a marquee name. I see him landing someone with a slightly lower profile, but who can have a major impact. I’m also not convinced Philly has the money to spend on a high-profile player.
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MNMIKE- What's your take on the current situation involving top English clubs signing teenagers from France?
IVES- There are clear rules that teams are supposed to follow with regard to recruiting young talent and as long as that is being followed I don’t see the problem. Yes, there might be clubs that are breaking the rules, but at the heart of it, I don’t think it’s wrong for bigger clubs to scout and recruit top talent from other countries.
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BAQUITO ALYESKA- With Edu and Jones getting healthy, what do you think is the path forward (BB's tendencies notwithstanding) for the USMNT central midfield players/tactics?
IVES- I think Bob Bradley will have some tough decisions to make, but if everyone is on their game I’d say the Jermaine Jones-Michael Bradley tandem would make the most sense, with Benny Feilhaber-Maurice Edu being my second choice tandem when healthy. I wouldn’t write off Ricardo Clark either, especially if he makes the move to Europe this winter.
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PATRIOT71-Under the assumption that we do qualify for the WC '10, can you see any scenario where BB is not the head coach for the USMNT next summer?
IVES- No. Not really. If Bob Bradley was a wild one like Diego Maradona, and capable of a coke binge or unfortunte public tirade, then maybe you could have him be fired, but Bradley's as straight-laced as they come. If the U.S. team qualifies he will be given a chance to build his World Cup team next summer.
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FDV- Do you think that Shawn Michaels will ever win another world championship?
IVES- I’m not a big wrestling guy (Where’s Luis Arroyave when you need him?) but I can say that it’s time for some new blood in the wrestling game and continuing to trot out re-treads is boring. Then again, it’s entertainment so as long as fans keep buying tickets to see Michaels you’ll keep seeing him.
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TIMOTHY- Do you ever see Eddie Gaven stepping up and living up to his potential? He is a starter for a top MLS team, but by now he should be starting for the national team.
IVES- I would say Gaven was a victim of unrealistic expectations at an early age. He’s certainly talented, and showed so much at such an early age that fans expected the growth to continue at an unsustainable pace. He’s developed into a smart and effective MLS player but I’m not sure he will ever be a difference-making international player.
The knock on him has long been that he lacked that fire and extra gear to dominate. I’m not sure that’s fair. I’ve seen him show much more fire than earlier in his career, and earlier in his career he still managed to play very well even being a laid-back personality. Will that be enough to ever return to the national team scene? I’m not so sure.
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TERRY IN EVANSTON- Is it crazy for an MLS GM to use the salary cap to sign 18 players to contracts in the 90,000-120,000 dollar range while keeping 6 guys on the developmental contracts? Or would that just be to crazy to accept?
IVES- it’s pretty close to impossible to assemble that kind of team because you’re not finding 18 players who are worthy of that amount to put on your team. Even an expansion team would struggle to find that many players who are worth those salaries to put on one team. Lastly, who would be your difference-making players? Who will be your reliable goal-scorers? What about your stud center back? You’re not finding those players for 120K. So I suppose the answer is yes, it would be crazy for a GM to even consider this method, because it would be tough to pull off, and would probably yield a mediocre team even if you pulled it off.
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DELIBELLY- How many MLS players do you think will be in the starting eleven for the US when World Cup 2010 kicks off? Which ones? (Keeping in mind some MLS'ers may leave during the winter transfer window).
Do you think the development of MLS is lagging behind the development of the US team, and if so, what's the explanation for the divergence?
IVES- Assuming the USA makes the World Cup (anti-jinx disclaimer), I’d say there would be, at most, two. Landon Donovan is one (I think a winter loan is more likely than an actual sale). The second one could be anybody from Stuart Holden to Frankie Hejduk to Jonathan Bornstein.
I wouldn’t say it’s a question of MLS lagging behind, but rather the evolution of the USA pool and improvement of its players. With more players in Europe, and more players developing in good leagues with good teams, it’s that much tougher for MLS to crack the lineup. I would consider that progress. If the starting lineup was dominated by players who had never played in MLS then I’d be more inclined to say there’s a problem.
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DAVID- Do you think the US needs to give some other players a look in deadball situations instead of Donovan? I am admittedly a new fan but I have never seen him take a free kick and get a goal with the Nats thus I don't assume any team has to defend against that. He takes all free kicks, all penalties, and all corners. i am sure other guys are capable. It just seems another phase of the game were the Nats lack creativity and options.
IVES- The team practices set pieces on a regular basis and I have a feeling if there were players who were better with set pieces we would see them. I’ve seen Clint Dempsey take some at Fulham and hasn’t looked too bad, but I’m not sure anybody else stands out. I do agree though that Donovan has wasted plenty of corners and free kicks with poor attempts, so it wouldn’t hurt to have another option come along. Just not sure who that will be.
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SP-after the first few weeks of the european football seasons, what are your predictions for the premier league, la liga, serie a, bundesliga, champions league, and europa league winners?
IVES- Here are my picks: Chelsea in the EPL, Barcelona in La Liga, Juventus in Serie A, Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and Barcelona in the Champions League. Can’t predict the Europa League without knowing which teams drop into the competition from the Champions League.
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JOE K- Why don't the red bulls sign dilly duka?
IVES- Duka didn’t meet the criteria to be a homegrown player based on MLS rules, so the Red Bulls couldn’t sign him. There was talk about that rule being changed, but as of now I wouldn’t bet on Duka being allowed to sign straight to the Red Bulls.
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FRANKIE- Have you ever met a girl that you tried to date, but a year to make love she wanted you to wait?
IVES- Yes, let me tell you a story about my situation, I was talkin to this girl from the U.S. nation. (Man, that takes me back to the days of seeing Biz Markie perform in a park right in front of where I lived in Passaic, New Jersey circa 1988.) -------------------------- BRIAN-INDY- What do you drive a pimped out Escalade or a Chevy Malibu? Maybe something in between like a Jeep Wrangler? Also, you really need to have a live podcast after US games, just to discuss what happened and take questions from a few people. I think it would be very popular with the Mafia out there...Thanks IVES- I drive a black 09 Nissan Altima (No SBI MAFIA license plate though). As for a podcast, I definiltely want to do a podcast, it's just a matter of finding the time to set it up. I may just start with a simple audio podcast and hopefully transition to taking calls and becoming a proper show. Hopefully that can start before the end of the year. --------------------------
STL SOCCER FAN- Castillo has been described by you and others as a great left back at getting forward but that his defense lacks. At this point it's fair to say that he is better than Bornstein at defense, and much quicker than Boca. Some people mention that you need to "transition" a player into the position, but the game isn't a must win for us, and the chances we lose because of him is slim. So what do you think are the chances that he starts the Honduras game?
IVES- I would say zero percent. I’m not even sure he will be called in for the upcoming qualifiers. There is no rush to throw Castillo into the pool. You still need to be careful about how you transition a young player into the national team pool. It shouldn’t be assumed he will walk right in and get a chance like that without ever having been with the team before, or without ever having played with any of the players before.
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