End of an Era

First, it was Claudio Reyna. Now, Brian McBride, the second most prolific scorer in U.S. Soccer history, has announced his retirement from international soccer. Unfortunately, neither were able to walk off into the sunset after a successful World Cup run.

Happy endings aside, though, this was the right time for both Reyna and McBride to call it quits. At age 33 and 34, respectively, both would be much too old to be a factor in World Cup 2010. Consider that Brazilian defender Cafu was almost 36 this World Cup and received plenty of criticism for having lost a step. Reyna and McBride, who, unlike Cafu, have never been seen as a one of the world's best players, would both be older than the Brazillian by the time World Cup South America rolls around.

The timing is right for the men's national team as well. The team Bruce Arena brought to Germany was stockpiled with youngsters and McBride's retirement will free up minutes for the likes of Josh Wolfe, Eddie Johnson and maybe Taylor Twellman - a particularly good development if the U.S. sticks to its 4-5-1 formation for the long haul. One college coach I talked to a few weeks ago said that part of the reason the U.S. attack stalled in Germany was because McBride was too slow to play as the lone striker. This wasn't an indictment of McBride as a player, just an observation that he was the wrong man for the job as the lone man up top. With the international game adopting more and more of a "play not to lose" style, though, the lone striker formation may turn out to be more than a fad. Wolfe or Johnson could fit that role nicely, with speed to run through balls and long balls down and allow the U.S. midfielders to get forward.

The replacement for Reyna, on the other hand, is about as clear as wood. In the past, Bruce Arena was reluctant to play Landon Donovan as the number 10. He often opted to put him on the wings and, at times, allowed him to roam about the middle of the park. Even when Donovan came into the middle, though, the offense still ran through Reyna. It had to. Landon pulled his famous disappearing act far too often. I wasn't one to put total blame on Donovan for the U.S. debacle in Germany (I think it would've helped if Bruce had given him a more defined role), but I don't think Landon proved that he's the one to fill Reyna's shoes.

The end of the McBride-Reyna era means a couple guys are going to have to step up and take control of this team. And because a team's creative midfielder and striker are the most publicized positions, whoever does will define the next era of U.S. Soccer.