My quick thoughts on the two Gulati revelations from the other day:
- The US will be playing in the Copa America. I am assuming that since the tournament was pretty much set up, it took a bit of arm twisting by Gulati to get the US an invitation. I can not imagine then turning around and saying no. Now that the US has an invitation, it must go, for the development of the team. To turn down an invitation now would reflect poorly on Gulati and whoever the new coach is. What remains to be seen is what sort of team we will be sending to Venezuela. Despite the appalling lack of activity these past few months, next summer looks to be a busy one for soccer in the United States: MLS, Gold Cup, and Copa America. I would look for the Copa America to feature European based players with a mix of young guys who are not vital to their MLS teams. I expect the the Gold Cup will feature our B+ team, with many of the MLS guys getting involved since long distance travel is not a huge issue. Perhaps the European based squad will be used lightly in the Gold Cup to keep them fresh for the Copa America.
- It seems highly likely that the new coach will come from the MLS. Clearly the time frame given by Gulati is intended to let people know that the decision is nearly made, but that they want to wait for the MLS season to end before announcing. On the other hand, if he waits until the very end of his stated timeframe, that would throw a certain Americanized German into the mix, who has stated he wanted to take about 6 months off after the World Cup.
Also, a word of congratulations to Clint Dempsey for being named Honda Player of the Year. Despite his antics of late in the MLS, the choice was clear, as Dempsey was one of the only guys on the field in Germany who actually seemed like he cared about the outcomes of the game.