ASN 100 Update
Jozy, Tesho, Rubio, Dillon: Here's All the Scuttlebutt
Trying to keep track of U.S. national team players, which continent they currently inhabit, and what there prospects are? We feel your pain. And we have an article crafted with you in mind.
BY
Josh Deaver
Posted
January 21, 2015
11:00 AM
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER AMERICAN returning stateside. Another laughable Deadspin article. Another round of self-flagellation and rueful hand-wringing.
Such is the offseason Major League Soccer news cycle.
Never a dull moment, the offseason has already seen American emigration from Mix Diskerud, Brek Shea, and now Jozy Altidore—with the promise of more returning sons on the horizon. All told, minus a few German-Americans, the contingent of foreign-based Yanks has shrunk dramatically, sending shockwaves of pearl-clutching and derisive scoffing throughout the soccer twittersphere (#seriousbusiness). While this must be considered a bad thing because LOLMLS, I’ll go ahead and take the negative in this debate.
As Jurgen Klinsmann has dramatically softened his public stance on such comfort-zone moves—as if it was a revolutionary idea that he would prefer his players playing against top competition or even if his decree was as resolute as advertised in the first place—there comes a realization that this was always a possibility as MLS grew.
What American player would eschew American (or, at least, Canadian) living and often better pay for an all-but-on-the-field comparable situation? With the league profile increasing in concert with the demonstrable premium clubs are willing to pay for national team players, you can certainly expect more to wash ashore in the coming weeks.
And why not? When describing the Michael Bradley fiasco to my non-sports-loving wife, she cut through the MLS stigma with refreshing pragmatism: “What’s the big deal? He’s got to provide for his family, right?”
She’s right. Very few athletes are truly dedicated to the principle of blindly obliging media narratives in deference to their own mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
Could Bradley have stayed in Europe, crisscrossing the continent for another four or five years? Of course. As a new husband and father, however, why?
It’s a testament to how MLS has grown but also to the freedom of choice it now seeks to provide. Given his druthers, and most things being equal-ish, the benefit for an American player living and playing in (North) America, still with a chance at national team stardom, will always outweigh observers' vicarious hopes for foreign glory. Whether you call it complacency or common sense, let’s just remind ourselves: professional athletes are not here to fulfill the expectations that are selfishly grafted onto them.
Of course, this is a bit different from the unending tale of woe that is the last 24 months of Jozy Altidore’s career. One goal in 43 matches is not a life choice. With a return to the MLS, he’s going to take his share of abuse. In truth, it’s probably warranted. (Or not. Sunderland is an awful team, so who knows?)
Regardless of what happens, his performance will inevitably become another barometer to make inane value judgments on MLS. If he scores and does well, it looks bad for the league. Told you it was a rubbish pub league! If he doesn’t score, well, Outthedoor always looked rubbish!
Being forced to play the part of returning hero will be the biggest challenge for the New Jersey native. It’s all over Altidore’s face. The same pensive look of someone who is unsure of his own self-worth. International success aside, it’s a bitter pill to swallow when your halcyon Premier League days were a forgettable run with Hull City. Now back in the warm embrace of MLS, it time to go to work. Nothing is going to be good enough anymore…for anyone.
January 21, 2015
11:00 AM