The American Soccer Youth Movement

 With the transfer window coming to an unemphatic ending yesterday, at least as far as Yanks are concerned, and the Bob Bradley/USSF re-up complete, it is now time to wave goodbye to the old and exchange pleasantries with the new.

I'm of course talking about the time of removing the war veterans and incompetent:
RB Steve Cherundolo
CB Carlos Bocanegra
CB Jay DeMerit
LB Jonathan Bornstein
CM Ricardo Clark
FW Robbie Findley

Sure, the first four on that list have a lifeline probably through the 2011 Gold Cup at least, and perhaps after they're still at the top of their game (this also means I'm really hoping that Bornstein has a Renaissance while in Mexico, because we need the depth).  Ricardo Clark is quickly being crowded out by the depth already in central midfield (Bradley, Jones, Edu, Feilhaber, Torres,).  Robbie Findley couldn't score at a Paris Hilton sleepover party.  Now, in to replace those guys:
CB Omar Gonzalez- Age 21, LA Galaxy
CB Gale Agbossoumonde- Age 18, Sporting Braga
RB/LB Eric Lichaj- Age 21, Aston Villa
RB Daniel Williams- Age 21, SC Freiburg (Pictured Below, bottom)
LB Edgar Castillo- Age 23, San Luis
CM Jermaine Jones- Age 28, Schalke 04
CM Mikkel Diskerud- Age 19, Stabaek
FW Conor Doyle- Age 18, Derby County (Pictured Below, top)
FW Danny Mwanga- Age 19, Philadelphia Union
FW Sebastien Le Toux- Age 26, Philadelphia Union
FW Yevgeni Starikov- Age 21, Zenit St. Petersburg (Pictured Above)

 The idea is simple:  Get these guys involved sooner rather than later.  The United States needs to explore its youth, because come 2014, the old horses like Cherundolo, Bocanegra, and DeMerit will all be at least 34 years old.  Top class teams around the world such as Brazil (which we experienced first hand last month), Argentina, Germany, and hell, even England, are calling up youth in batches to get them acquainted with the international game.  Why can't the US do the same thing?  Bob Bradley's reliance on the old guard and favorites is well known and documented, but recently he has been catching on to what the rest of the world is up to, by calling in guys like Alejandro Bedoya and Omar Gonzalez.  Sure there's always kinks to be worked out, but the wealth of experience gained is well worth it.  Am I saying we should start relying on guys who can't legally buy a beer yet?  Not at all.  But get 'em in the mix.  Throw 'em in to the fire, ala Gonzalez vs Brazil and Bedoya vs. Netherlands. 

Stories of guys like Conor Doyle, Yevgeni Starikov, and Daniel Williams are becoming more and more common place, which shows the US is developing depth.  What would've been amazing 20 years ago, is now being approached with a more of a "lets see what he can do" attitude.  Well, these kids have made it, and its time to try and take advantage of that.