Honestly, I'd rather see a team made entirely of 22 year olds and have a core group that could be together for up to three more WCs than send out players who used to be amazing.
Well if those are the only two options, I agree, but they're not.
Besides, my point was just that it would be preferable for the players going to have had more experience. Not necessarily that I advocate picking other players just for additional experience. Obviously experience is just one factor to consider, but I have a hard time seeing how anyone could argue that additional experience isn't a positive. Whether it outweighs other issues, including age, tendency to injury, future potential, etc, is another story entirely.
My problems with banking on the argument of a core group that "could be together" for 3 more world cups is 1) they'd better be younger than 22, because 3 world cups from now those 22 year olds are 34 and are those players that "used to be amazing". And since the same "youth vs over the hill old farts" logic would apply then, they won't actually be useful at that point (at least not according to the logic being considered). So I would cap the number of future world cups that core will be the core to 2. I mean, I believe DMB is about to be the first american ever to play in 4 world cups, right? 2) the other problem with banking on the future is that the future never turns out exactly like we dream. Players get hurt, don't develop like we thought they would, etc, etc. So to a certain extent, the WC, particularly given its rarity, should be, IMO, a win now proposition, because you have no idea what 4 years from now is going to look like. I mean, if we'd picked a 2010 team based on potential for 2014 and beyond, what are the odds it would look anything like the 2014 team we have in front of us?
Bottom line, for me, is that there are plenty of places to develop those 22 year olds that aren't the WC. If they're not ready for the WC now, they shouldn't be there (with some rare exceptions). Now, if you have a 22 year old and a 32 year old that you believe are equally ready to contribute, then by all means, take the 22 year old.
