23 Tickets to Brazil

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by flem16, May 18, 2011.

  1. Footsatt

    Footsatt Member+

    Apr 8, 2008
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Fair point, but it's really hard to predict the unknown. Any guy could get injured (as you stated, Maestro or in 2010 Findley)... so we would need a different 23 for every potential injury. I don't want to play this game.;)
     
  2. TrueCrew

    TrueCrew Member+

    Dec 22, 2003
    Columbus, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    30 tickets for camp/preliminary roster.

    GK (3). Howard, Guzan, Rimando. No need for a 4th.

    D (9). Evans, Cameron, Besler, Beasley; Chandler, Gonzalez, Goodson, Parkhurst, Onyewu

    M (10). Bedoya, Jones, Bradley, F. Johnson; Zusi, Edu, Beckerman, Diskerud, Williams, Green

    F (8). Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore, Johannsson, E. Johnson, Wondolowski, Boyd, Agudelo

    Next up if an injury happens:
    GK: S. Johnson, Hall
    D: Orozco, Castillo, Ream
    M: Feilhaber, Davis, Shea
    F: Gomez
     
  3. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
    Nice list. Except:

    1) Spector over Evans. Specs is a better and more experienced defender. I just trust him more in a WC situation than Evans.

    2) Feilhaber over Boyd. Boyd is a nice young player, but he's not ready for a WC yet. Benny offers something not many others in the pool can offer. Plus, we already have 8 strikers in the 30-man list - way too many.

    3) Ream over Onyewu. Onyewu, while much experienced, just makes too many mistakes. Plus, he can only play one position. Ream on the other hand is a better distributor, and can play anywhere on the backline. Therefore Ream should make the 30-man roster. Ream also has three times as many minutes this season than Gooch (3300 min. to 1100).
     
  4. TrueCrew

    TrueCrew Member+

    Dec 22, 2003
    Columbus, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah. I can see Spector and Feilhaber making a preliminary roster. Actually, I forgot about Spector (and Torres). I just think that Cameron and Parkhurst are both do it all types that are ahead of him right now. If Evans doesn't get healthy, I can see Spector making a serious run at things.

    Boyd is the only true CF we have, I'll call him regardless. I don't think JK fancies Benny, though I certainly prefer him to, say, Davis or Shea. I might take him over Green at this stage, but I'd want to have at least 1 CF in the 30.

    I haven't seen much of Ream lately. But what I did see, was also very mistake prone.

    If I was going to knock someone off my 30, it would be Gooch, Agudelo, and Green.
     
  5. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    Jon Spector has no chance of being on the 30. None. He's not been on the radar at all over the past 4 years; why would JK randomly call him in?
     
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  6. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
    Cause he's our third-best healthy right back after Cameron and Parkhurst.
     
  7. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
    How is Boyd our only "true" CF? Altidore, Wondo and EJ are all center forwards. They can all score with their heads or their feet, and they can all hold up the ball.
     
  8. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    His hip injury robbed him of a lot of quickness, which would end with him getting exposed badly. Remember Kaka trucking past him like he was a traffic cone in 2009? It would be worse today. He's probably about the same level of defender as Evans is at this point.

    Yedlin would get called into the 30 before Spector; hell, based on callups this cycle Tony Beltran is probably ahead of Jon. JK probably doesn't know Specs' name.
     
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  9. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
    Uh, Kaka has made a lot of right-backs look bad. And Specs had a gorgeous assist to Dempsey against Brazil in the Confed Cup final in 2009.

    Specs has started 18 games or so in the Championship this year. He's also started about 75 games over his career in the Premier League. And he's still relatively young at 28. I would trust him more than Evans or Yedlin in a pressure situation.
     
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  10. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    Okay, but the fact remains that:

    -He hasn't been called into a camp by JK
    -He hasn't been called onto a roster, period, since 2010
    -He's no longer a higher level defender
    -18 starts over the course of a season in a 2nd tier league isn't anything amazing
    -2 other RB's not counting Chandler have been called into camps by JK this cycle
     
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  11. Reccossu

    Reccossu Member+

    Jan 31, 2005
    Birmingham
    Spector just cannot be a realistic option at this point unless three RBs get hurt, but I think it's true that, if he came in kind of "last minute" like that, he would play with fewer jitters than any other RB under consideration.
     
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  12. ttrevett

    ttrevett Member+

    Apr 2, 2002
    Atlanta, GA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    I agree re: Ream. Mr. Ream has picked a fine time to be in the best form of his life. The issues that put him on my list and not Gooch are TR's versatility and his lack of a major injury. Gooch's mobility is way limited compared to his pre-patella days, understandably. I can't see JK wagering on Gooch's fitness for a month in June after a long season.
     
  13. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    He was called in for Ukraine after Ream backed out. Point taken though that he was a last minute roster fodder addition.
     
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  14. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    Agree, Spector has next to no chance.

    But to set record straight, Spector has 3 caps under JK, the last of which came 2/29/2012 in the win in Italy. Also was called v. Ukraine (just a month ago), after Ream backed out (didn't play obviously).
     
  15. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    Ahhhh. I forgot about that Italy game. Or maybe I blocked it out because he and Sacha were getting worked on that side of the field the last 15 minutes or so.
     
  16. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    He may have called them, but he has not kept any of the Championship players around. JK only calls them as squad players, and they don't play two games in a row, not even as subs. Our of Williams, Lichaj, Ream, Spector, Gooch, and Packwood, I'd be surprised if more than one makes the 23. Matter of fact, I expect none of them to make it to Brazil. JK just doesn't seem to 'dig' the Ch'ship.
     
  17. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    I honestly don't remember Specs in that one either (14 minute sub), but based on the media reports he was actually pretty impressive; and that's a rarity for him. He has absolutely sucked in the vast majority of his Nats appearances. One pass in 2009 ain't going to get him a spot, and neither is half a season of middling work in the C'ship. There's a double digits worth of guys in front of him.

    My guess for JK's 30.

    These 28 I'd be pretty surprised to see them left off:

    GK (3): Howard, Guzan, Rimando

    D (9): F.Johnson, Cameron, Beasley, Besler, Goodson, Gonzalez, Evans, Parkhurst, Orozco

    M (11) : Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Jones, Zusi, Bedoya, Beckerman, Diskerud, Edu, Kljestan, Williams

    F (4): Altidore, E.Johnson, Wondolowski, Boyd

    This of course is assuming they are healthy. Injuries to any of the above could swing the last 2 spots in a different direction.

    The last 2 are tough.

    1st we have Green. We just don't know how highly JK thinks of him. He didn't look ready in Phoenix, but I'm guessing he's on. Probably not deserved. We'll see.

    The last spot -
    • Hopefully JK doesn't waste it on a 4th GK.
    • We don't know the status of the Xolos in JKs mind. Castillo is a distinct possibility as JK has called him consistently (even flying him to Cyprus), but he hasn't performed well - at all. Corona seemed to be in pretty good graces after the Gold Cup, but all that got him was 27 minutes in Bosnia and nothing since. Gomez is even stranger as he was sent packing from the Gold Cup, despite being a key warrior through early qualifying.
    • Does JK think he needs another true CB? He's got Besler, Goodson, and Gonzalez. Then there's hybrids Cameron, Parkhurst and Orozco. That should be enough, but if JK doesn't think so the options are Onyewu and Brooks. Tough to choose between them.
    • Brad Davis started our last match, that alone puts him in the conversation (then again, so did Tony Beltran). In fact he's started the past 2 that he's been available for. And he's playing well in Houston. But he's a very limited player. Brek Shea has been JKs energizer of choice off the bench. Then again, Brek Shea is an idiot.
    • I'd personally like to throw Yedlin's name in there, but the fact that apparently Beltran is ahead of him says no. Gil couldn't get a run at all v. Mexico so also, no.
    • Juan Agudelo gets a lot of love here, but he has all of 5 minutes of PT with the Nats in the past 15 months.
    • A bunch of other guys with shouts, but I can't hear them.
    • Timothy Chandler.
    My guess, Davis.
     
  18. futbal4eva

    futbal4eva Member+

    Jan 3, 2010
    Club:
    Sao Paulo FC
    I've long been a fan of Jozy's, but Jozy is now a lock for his next 'player of the year' award to be for 'worst player in the EPL' - by an apparent fan landslide.

    I fear Jozy's game and its weaknesses have been overexposed to the defenders USMNT will be up against in Brazil.

    Not to mention the psychological hazing/general ridicule starting the 'worst' will subject - all of us USMNT fans to, for years to come.

    More importantly, given the critical importance of the first game against Ghana for USMNT, right now it feels way too risky to assume Jozy is (back) in form/has learned some new tricks to make a difference in that game.

    Maybe a great run in the pre-Brazil friendly phase changes the tune.

    But as of right now, every other forward near the pool of 30 hoping to go to Brazil, literally, is playing at a higher level than EPL benchwarmer/U-21 Altidore.

    Klinsmann snapped Jozy out of his last funk, if he can do it again, against Ghana, Portugal and Germany - wow, now I am ready to be impressed.
     
  19. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    Jozyphobia is hitting a fever pitch
     
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  20. TheyCallMeBruce

    TheyCallMeBruce Member+

    Jul 22, 2013
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Now that we can't bitch about how awful Dempsey's been for the last five years, we have to freak out about something else.
     
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  21. Arlington-MA

    Arlington-MA Member

    Dec 7, 2010
    Club:
    Fluminense Rio Janeiro
    It's not 2009. Sorry to deflate the bubble but there's a less than 1 percent chance Spector or Chandler go.
     
  22. Arlington-MA

    Arlington-MA Member

    Dec 7, 2010
    Club:
    Fluminense Rio Janeiro
    Klejstan won't make the 30. Surprised to see you omit Johannsson?
     
  23. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    He's played in all of the past 5 Nats games where he was available, including 3 starts. That points to him being there.

    Johannsson is supposed to be listed making it a total of 28 secure spots (I only listed 27). My bad, thanks.
     
  24. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
    Anybody else concerned by Mix's lack of playing time? In three games for Rosenborg since the break, he's failed to start any of them (though was first sub in 2 out of the 3 games). Only 6 more games for Rosenborg before May 12. He'll make the 30 man roster, but I'm not sure if he'll make the final 23.
     
  25. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mix has been good for us, despite always having had a pretty unremarkable club situation.
     

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