good list of guys cant really complain much, and given injuries they all make sense. Poor Pontius cant catch a break. Biggest snubs for me already mentioned; Okugo, DeLeon, McCarty, Myers, John, and maybe Silva. But thats just nitpicking, we brought in a ton of good guys. Gonzo and Besler need to be prepped for hex battle ASAP I hope Morrow shows well in camp, given position scarcity he could be closer to the big show many others think. Hope Juergen views him as a central defense alternate too as well as a left back option.
Nothing really surprising, maybe the surprise was no Donovan? I didn't expect him for this camp anyways. It's January camp so there is no need to get upset over the roster. But if I was forced to say who the 'surprises' are: AJ DeLaGarza - not USMNT material, bad MLS season and was very poor his last call up Tony Beltran - OK considering what type of camp it is. I was expecting Myers or Sarkodie. Connor Lade - not ready IMO and prob not US material, of all the rookies he is the one brought in. Jeff Parke - a nice MLS player and was brought in last Jan. Camp I believe. However at his age one would like Okugo, Berry or John. Brad Davis - great MLS player, best dead ball taker and best crosser in the league. Age, pace are concerns with his game translating to the international level. I have no prob with this call up, and if it was 2011 I'd prob argue for him on the A team. Brad Evans - good MLS player, nothing flashy and won't be cracking the A team due to his position. Benny Feilhaber - last cycle's super-sub coming off a poor season for the NE Revs. Some fans might be wondering why his teammate Lee Nguyen isn't there over him. Edson Buddle - be it injury or actual decline in ability Buddle did not look himself on the field for the Galaxy. I thought his touch and workrate were poor in the playoffs. However, much like Feilhaber their club form was ignored and are likely here because of their past USMNT performances. Players left: Steve Clark Austin Berry Amobi Okugo Kofi Sarkodie Chance Myers George John Matt Hedges Dax McCarty Perry Kitchen Eddie Gaven Nick DeLeon Luis Silva Conor O'Brien CJ Sapong Kenny Cooper Jack McInerney Alan Gordon But yes it is nitpicking.
If and when LD is ready to play again he will get an automatic invite to the next realistic camp. He has more than earned that right. A properly focused and hungry will absolutely light up JK's 4-3-2-1 tree!
yeah, i like the lineup but no way we dont trot out dmids there. if its davis and beckerman i will throw objects hard and far.
Yeah the midfield is off, but we have a rare problem in that hardly any defensive mids were called in to this camp. I like Beckerman but I think we know where he is on the depth chart already.
Besler and Gonzalez have the most to gain, especially since there is no Goodson in camp. Is Goodson trying to find a new place in Europe, or Klinsmann wants to give someone else a go?
Brian Sciaretta @BrianSciaretta It wasn't a factor. He just wasn't called RT @Howie_OT: imagine O'Brien's contract status was a factor, no? #USMNT
Oh oh. Now u did it. Don't u know. Anyone who says someone will never be good enough surely doesn't have a clue. At least that's what some of the BS intelligencia say. There is no way u can know this. Hehe.
This would be my favored line-up & projected... .................................Hall................................. ...DeLaGarza...Gonzalez...Besler...Morrow... ..........................Beckerman............................ ..................Diskerud...........Davis.................... ...........Zusi...................................Gatt............. ..............................Johnson.............................
I don't know why people are saying Delagarza is undeserving of a call-up. First off the guy has been one of the most consistent defenders over the last 2 years. Second, before his injury, AJ was playing very well with Omar back. AJ is a very technical centerback. He can stop players with speed and skill. He has trouble when he is up against players with height or who are physical. Put him with a big strong centerback and you will have a great pairing. I wonder if Jurgen will try the Omar-AJ pairing.
As I posted above, I believe AJD will play right back even though he has obviously played centerback more over the last year. For me, it's the only way I can rationalize a callup for him because his height makes him an unlikely option for CB at the international level.
Right now our biggest positional needs are an extra CB or two, and an extra attacking player or two in the starting lineup (depending on whether Donovan remains unavailable for the near future, whether Klinsmann relies on three holding mids, and whether he thinks Gomez and Altidore can start together). Gonzalez is probably the player that will be looked at most closely in defense. In the attack, Zusi and Johnson seem to have the inside track based on recent WCQ lineups. But there are at least a half a dozen guys in this camp who have been considered for a starting role in the attack in the past few years.