USA Needs Feilhaber

June 10th, 2008 | by: Carter Daly |

The disappearance of Benny Feilhaber has been filled with auspicious events since his outrageous Gold Cup winning half volley against El Tri, but one thing is painfully apparent when the Americans take on top international sides, we need that Feilhaber. Not the one who barely touched the pitch at Derby, not the one who may or may not have been kicked out of a Nat team camp for fighting, and not the one who is constantly on the trainer’s table.

Just about one short year ago, Feilhaber was the it prospect. Although not a teen sensation like Freddy Adu or Jozy Altidore, Benny was the missing link between the destroyers and the attackers. A two way central midfielder the likes of which the USA had not possessed as long as I could remember. The combination of his creative ability and willingness to track down opposing attackers made him the perfect partner for the even yougner Michael Bradley. And would it be completely off-base to think that the dip in Bradley’s recent form could be due to those playing next to him? While Ricardo Clark, Pablo Mastroeni, and Maurice Edu all bring their own qualities to the table, none of them posses silky smooth movement, pinpoint passing, willingness to get forward, and defensive determination that Summer ‘07 Feilhaber showed.

While it may not be as apparent against Barbados or any other CONCACAF foe, when group play rolls around by the summer of 2010, it would do the squad a lot of good to say hello to Summer ‘07 Benny Feilhaber once more.

USA World Cup Team Blog RSS Feed

elle

when did he get in trouble for fighting?
Pete

He was sent home early from a national team training camp last year and there was a rumor floating around that he had taken a swing at adu. Since that time the rumor was debunked.
http://seattle.theoffside.com Steve

Interesting point, but I have never really ALL of that out of Benny. Plus if he taking a swing at other USA players, maybe he is a negative influence in camp. Maybe that same attitude had something to do with his lack of PT at Derby.
Anyways, I hope he can recover from his injury and regain that form. His transfer to Derby was clearly a huge mistake.
jeff

hes had an unlucky year. hes not a negative influence in any camp and didnt fight anyone. he’ll bounce back, and we’ll all be praising his ability again
Clinton

I agree with Jeff. So he’s had an unlucky year. So what? He hasn’t missed anything big, and he has played well when we needed him to. We do need Benny. No one who wears the U.S. kit has the offensive saavy of Feilhaber (yes, even Freddy), no one passes as well as he does (i.e. Copa America-pass to EJ that lead to U.S. pk), and very few have the potential to make an impact on a world stage like he does. As mentioned in the article, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Michael Bradley does not play as well without him.