Looking At The Davies Comeback

So you're saying there's a chance

If you’re reading this blog, you know what happened to Charlie Davies last October. And probably know that he’s in the midst of a miraculous comeback that should, at the least, put his name on Bob Bradley’s provisional 30-man roster for the World Cup.

This week, after his club president said he wouldn’t play this season as our buddy Craig Stouffer first reported over at The Examiner, Davies returned to full training with the team. On Wednesday Davies tweeted that he scored his first goal and received his first tackle.

Those are two good hurdles to be over in getting back to match fitness. The latter part, taking his first challenge, is an ingredient of his recovery that I think is in his favor. That Davies is returning to soccer from a near fatal car crash may actually be easier for him mentally than for someone like Eduardo da Silva, the Arsenal player who suffered a severely broken leg on a horrific challenge on the field (video is here, but not for the faint of heart much like the Joe Theisman injury). I’m sure there had to be something in the back of Davies’s mind as he went through that first challenge in training wondering if his leg could withstand the tackle. And that will happen again in his first game. But he shouldn’t shy away from contact as much as he would have if his injuries had occurred on the field with the thought being “is this tackle going to knock me out of action for the next six months again.” That mental recovery can be just as difficult as the physical in some cases. Not saying Davies won’t be thinking along those lines, but those thoughts should be assuaged somewhat.

Also in his favor is the fact that, due to playing forward, he can be an impact player in just 15 or 20 minutes. I wrote last week that Herculez Gomez could be a super sub type of guy for Bob Bradley in South Africa given his propensity to come off the bench and score for Puebla. However, Davies would be a better option having already proven his skill at the international level.

Unlike Oguchi Onyewu, also returning from an injury suffered just days after Davies, CD9 doesn’t have to be fully match fit. Bradley says he does, and it would be great if he was, but he doesn’t have to be ready to play all 90 minutes on June 12. Onyewu, as a defender, needs to be fully match fit, both mentally and physically. I’m not sure he’ll be 100%, but even at 80-90% he’s our best option as a center back. I hope he’s that far along and that Onyewu is fully participating in Milan’s training now bodes well for his chances. As for comparison, Onyewu can’t be John O’Brien in ’06 while Davies can be Willis Reed for the Knicks in ’70 or even Kirk Gibson for the Dodgers in ‘88.

Lastly, aside from Davies himself, it seems that the person most affected in the accident was Jozy Altidore. Granted, Davies and Altiore were penciled in to be the starters, but with Davies out of action Altidore has seemingly been written into the lineup in pen by most observers and likely Bradley as well. However, had Davies stayed healthy and scored say 10-12 goals for Sochaux while Altidore toiled at Hull (1 goal, 3 assists in 28 appearances), would pressure have mounted to find a more suitable -- read: someone who is scoring -- partner for Davies? It’s obviously a hypothetical, but maybe that pressure would have pushed Jozy to perform at a higher level, not just being the guy drawing a few penalties here and there for Hull, but actually burying his chances. Yes, I understand that Jozy did a lot of the dirty work for Hull and the USMNT needs that as well, but the USA also needs someone to score and during the first half they’ll be looking to Altidore to do just that.

Since I wrote most of this on Wednesday and Thursday, Bob Bradley has come out and said (paraphrasing here) “Charlie has to be where we need him to be to be invited to the pre-World Cup camp.” You can read a full wrap up of it over at SI thanks to Grant Wahl’s reporting. (Even the WaPo’s Steve Goff chimed in on Davies this morning -- I really should have posted this yesterday. Damn you Champions League and Capitals!)

To me, Bradley is posturing and saying to Davies “don’t rest on your laurels, there’s still a lot of work to do.” Again, Davies able to give 15-20 minutes a game is worth a roster spot. Even if it’s at the cost of someone like Jose Francisco Torres, a guy we’d all like to see play, but doesn’t really fit into Bradley’s system and rarely sees the field.

In the end, Davies has until May 11 to show to Bradley he’s worthy of one of the 30 provisional spots. Unless something happens between now and then injury-wise, I can’t see Davies being left off that list. That alone would be remarkable. Bradley also talked of the proverbial dangling carrot the World Cup has been to Davies making his recovery but that he has to do what’s best for the team.

Even if he doesn’t play in any of the games in South Africa, taking Davies for locker room morale might just be what’s best for the team anyway.

- Pat Walsh