Charlie Davies is the easier of the two. Clearly, Davies is not close to being ready. He was not cleared by his club to play and Bradley and the U.S., who claim to have been monitoring him closely, apparently agreed with that decision. The progress that Davies made has been fantastic and hopefully, this is not too great a setback for the young man because his career was all set to take off. Seeing the type of drive and determination of the past seven months coupled with the skills that we already know he has, I am more prepared than ever to predict very good things in Davies' future. BS has a respect, if dislike, for him as well since he scored against Malmo FF on BS' birthday when he was present at the game.
But Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers over Freddy Adu? Seriously? I am not Bob Bradley and he knows more than I do and is a better coach, but the Kljestan choice in particular irks me. I consider Adu and Kljestan in the same category, players who have been brilliant, but generally underwhelm. Of the two, I think Adu is generally a superior player. Moreover, while both have performed better this year than in the past (okay, Freddy wasn't even playing the past few years), Freddy Adu has actually been quite successful at Aris. Eddie Johnson has been more successful, but the two have combined well and, in a non-starting role, Adu has registered a couple goals and several assists. So why pick Sacha?
Well, I am guessing. But I think two factors are involved. The first is my failing. I am a soccer spectator; I am not a coach. Freddy is certainly more flashy than Kljestan. Bob Bradley has typically been unimpressed by style. I might argue this is the same reason that U.S. fans want to see more of J.F. Torres while Bob Bradley regards him as as second-stringer or a sub. Bradley would probably point out to me that the footwork, jukes, and moves often accomplish nothing and FIFA does not award style points. We are not Brazil and the USSF is not Roman Abramovich - we are not about to castigate a team for failing to "win pretty." So where I see Adu as being a superior player for his flashy abilities, Bob Bradley may value other qualities far more.
The second is Freddy's perceived attitude problem. He's not Szetela. He's not even Drogba, who you definitely want on your team but suspect can be poison in the locker room. He's like a less obnoxious (and considerably less ugly and troll-like) Carlos Tevez. Word is, Adu isn't big on training. Maybe because he was exceptionally-gifted at a young age; maybe because of the hype. Who knows, but he seems to lack the discipline to take his game to the next level. Sacha Kljestan, on the other hand, has publicly taken steps to address his off-the-field short-comings. He stepped up and asked for a leadership role at Chivas USA and has asked for more responsibilities. That is probably more what of what Bradley wants to see out of him. I would point out that the Goats are still quite poor. Moreover, while Martin Vasquez lauded Kljestan for approaching him about captaincy, I have heard considerably less praise from Vasquez about Sacha's abilities or successes as a team leader.
The last is pure speculation, but perhaps Bob Bradley is trying to light a fire under Adu for the future. After all of his hype and skill, a spot on the USMNT has been treated as damn near a birthright for Adu. Knowing that neither player would probably make the final 23, Bob Bradley may have felt that Kljestan would be better served with a vote on confidence and Adu better served to be presented with a challenge. My reasoning for the last theory is, however, even more specious than my other arguments.
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