Yes I'd like to see lots of new blood. The younger players I'd especially like to see called in are: Agudelo, Adu, Shea, Diskerud, Ream, Gatt, Zusi (not as young as the others but relatively new to the nats) and Boyd. And I know what I don't want to see: Jones, Bradley and Edu in the same midfield.
Mix is a very honest two way player. Much more of an 8 than a 10. Defensively I think he and Bradley in the middle would be fine.
---------Dempsey-----------Gomez-----------Donovan--------- --------Bradley----------------Edu--------------Jones----------- Johnson-----------------------------------------------------Lichaj ---------------------Bocanegra-------Cameron-------------------- --------------------------------Howard------------------------------- Subs: Guzan, Ream, John, Gatt, Altidore, Agudelo, Parkhurst We are gonna throw out the same old dogs, and i think our bruiser central 3 is the exact foil we need to deal with mexico. I want our bench to be stacked with new guys too, this is exactly the sort of match they need. Ultimately we gotta deal with the defense issue starting now and i think Cameron has a good teacher in Boca. Lichaj i guess is my left field pick, but he was a right back for Leeds and i think is a right footed player anyways and father time has caught up with dolo, its time to get someone else in there.
Anyone who is putting in someone very, very new and raw against Mexico in Azteca is smoking crack. Recipe for disaster. Gatt in Azteca as his first senior team appearance? Ream after not being with the team in months? There is no way Jurgen is deviating from Jones/Bradley/Edu in this match. All three will be trotted out. As such, he MUST get each player's role correct. Bradley is box to box, Jones and Edu behind him with Edu the CLEAR dmid. Also, depending on when this game is, let's keep in mind it might be tough getting the Europeans away for this match. AZ won't be releasing Jozy based on history. Clint might be working his way into a new club. EPL season will just be starting. This friendly is the one that's hated by clubs. Actually, is this a FIFA official date? If not, we can kiss a good chunk of the Europeans goodbye. Torres Gomez LD Bradley Jones Edu Johnson Bocanegra Goodson/Cameron Dolo/Lichaj Howard Think Clint will be breaking into his new club. If he's still at Fulham, he replaces Torres.
JK seems intent on riding the oldies. I think the only new blood that will be at camp will be Lichaj. I like many hope to see a fresh batch but I'm also wary that this is Azteca and I don't want the team to get embarrassed which might happen by playing too many youngsters. I do want to see Adu, Gatt, Lichaj, Ream, Cameron, Pontis, Zusi, Wotten, Morales, Mix and Corona. I really don;t see it happening though.
Other than Lichaj and Cameron, this is not the place for the others. They are welcome to get called into camp. But they are not playing. Hopefully we get into the Hexagonal early, they are welcome to get tested in the last qualifying game.
Jozy wasn't starting because he arrived to camp late and was "not in shape", whatever that means. If Klinsmann seeks to maintain the 4-5-1, I'm betting Jozy is more suited to it. Have no idea what the fascination with Mixx is, at this level anyway. His time with Gent showed nothing especially special, and Klinsmann seems to shy away from the game he brings to the team anyway.
Playing Mexico at Azteca for me is a test of pride, not experimentation. I woud call up the best available 23 and treat it like a make-or-break Hex decider and not a friendly. Besides, Mexico has been putting us to the sword at all levels lately. The game will mark a one year anniversary since the Klinsmann revolution. I would like to see a result that shows we have made some progress in a game against our biggest rival.
I don't care; it's still a friendly. I would use it to get some of the younger guys use to the environment. One friendly result against Mexico means nothing anyway.
Breaking our losing record down there and getting a win is not "nothing." It's an albatross. Sending a young team out to get beat 5-0 gets us nothing.
Gonzalez was expected to be back around July so if he is back in form by this match, he needs to be called in. Jurgen needs to realize our older players aren't cutting it anymore. Time to bring in some new players and mix them with the older players that still are playing well. --------------Altidore-------------- --Dempsey-------------Donovan-- ----------------Adu----------------- -------Bradley---------Torres------ -Johnson-Boca--Gonzalez-Lichaj- ---------------Howard-------------- Subs: Gomez, Agudelo, Boyd, Jones, Edu, Williams, Kljestan, Shea, Cameron, Onyewu, Howard, Hamid Not a big Adu fan but we need a playmaker badly and he is really all we got until Holden returns.
You will see the same lineup that you saw last night. JK does not deviate from the plan. I would bet that Dempsey will be 'unavailable' for this match if he finds a transfer this summer.
Jones or Edu, Ive said for a long time that both on the field at the same time just hinder possession too much. Edu will be forced out with the introduction of Stu or Fabian in the midfield.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Timothy Howard (Everton) DEFENDERS (7): Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers), George John (FC Dallas), Timothy Chandler (Nurmburg), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenhiem), Seb Hines (Middlesboro), Omar Gonzalez (L.A. Galaxy) MIDFIELDERS (8): Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Daniel Williams (Hoffenheim), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union) FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Landon Donovan (L.A. Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna), Andrew Wooten (Kaiserslautern) I'd like to see something like this, mixing a lot of things up, bringing in Gonzo & Holden asap just to try & get them back on form asap. Doesnt matter if they dont see playing time, it will help them get back to where they were. This would be more my squad. I really would like to start to see more technical sides such as one like this...
Goff just said an announcement for an august azteca friendly maybe done monday. Totally forgot torres in the previous post btw. Put him in there somewhere. Its too early to talk about squad for me.
----------------------------Boyd------------------------ -Shea/Johnson--------Dempsey------------Donovan -----------------Edu/Williams-------------Bradley--------------- --Johnson/Lichaj-----Bocanegra----Cameron/Ream------Chandler/Lichaj ------------------------------Howard--------------------------------- GK (3): Howard, Guzan, Rimando Defense (7-8): Lichaj, Cameron, Ream, Johnson, Chandler?, Bocanegra, Parkhurst, John Midfield (8-9): Williams, Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Shea/Adu, Gyau, Holden/Edu, Gatt, Zusi/Kljestian? Forward(4): Altidore, Gomez, Cooper, Boyd might be low on defenders, but williams could always be an emergency guy. But i would really like to see a youth movement in our backline, i think im just tired of seeing goodson, onyewu and cherundolo out there, and neither of those guys are long term guys (and the latter two look like they have clearly lost a step). Not the best roster, but i liked gyau from the olympic qualifying tournament and i'd like to see him at least get a call up. Shea is dependent on whether or not he is in form, if he's still struggling with injuries and such i'd let him stay at his club and work through it. Adu is in the same boat, and if neither of those two are in form, then we can bring in zusi and/or kljestian. But both are good prospects to keep a radar on as i think if they reach their potential could be dangerous players for our NT. I don't know a lot about gatt other than he plays for molde, so just for curiousity's sake i'd like to see him with my own two eyes to see if he's just hype or there's an substance to that. Only reason i'm considering cooper is that he does have talent (i believe he was with manchester united reserves at one point), and it seems like he's finally starting to figure it out. I don't think it would hurt to call him up and just give him a shot. I think boyd is a good prospect and i'd like to see him keep getting shots with the NT. Agudelo/wondo could be a replacement, though i think i'd like to see agudelo settle in at chivas usa, and wondo doesn't really fit our team composition right now in my opinion.
I'm not going to support calling in Chandler for a friendly. He can't be a part-time player who only plays in meaningless games. The next time he is called in should be for Jamaica. If he says no, call him in for Guatemala & Antigua.
well its why i said maybe.. im really still not sure what the situation is like between chandler and klinsmann, but i think he is the best RB prospect in our pool right now. If we decide that he isn't committed, then i have no complaint slotting lichaj in there.
I definitely do not want to see Cherundolo at RB. I want new blood in this situation. Not like the 2009 Gold Cup team, but a slant towards the younger players. Maybe some of Lichaj, Mix, Agudelo, Ream, Shea, Danny Williams matched with Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, Bradley, Jones. I'm not sure. It will be interesting to see who is called in.
I don't know why anyone expects or wants differently. You bring the vets to do battle. And agreed on Deuce.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Timothy Howard (Everton) DEFENDERS (7): Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Steve Cherundolo (Hanover), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenhiem), Clarence Goodson (can't remember), Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers) MIDFIELDERS (7): Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Daniel Williams (Hoffenheim), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Benny Feilhaber (NE Revolution), Kyle Beckerman (RSL) FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Landon Donovan (L.A. Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Chris Wondolowski (SJ Earthquakes) 1. Gooch out, Ream in. Lichaj in and replaces Castillo. Don't know how anyone is leaving out our Captain. 2. There is NO WAY Holden and Gonzalez are coming in for this with their injury recovery time. Holden has yet to play any games. Omar isn't even back yet. They need ample playing time first. Please stop hoping. They need to demonstrate for many months they are back before they have any business being on the national team. 2013 at the earliest. 3. I left him on there, but if Dempsey finds a new club, he will not be present and we'll need a replacement. I'm assuming Wondo keeps up his goal scoring record. I think this is realistic based on who has been called in. My major changes versus this past round are Lichaj, Ream, Feilhaber, and I'm assuming Williams is healthy. I don't rate Kjlestan who I believe performed away his opportunities with his appearances on the Nats. Out of position or not. EDIT: You want one more creative midfielder on there, I'd be willing to remove Wondo and insert Adu.
I'm a BIG fan of Gonzalez but there is no way he is getting called in fo the August game against Mexico, Omar will need to impress Jurgen in Camp Cupcake.
-----Torres------gomez-----Gatt--- -----Johnson-------------Bradley(Wengner?)- ------------------Edu------------- Lichaj---Boca---Cameron---Hedges- I'd like to see Wenger from Montreal get a call and see where we could put him. Maybe somebody who knows his abilities could suggest the best spot considering our needs. I wonder if he could fill in for Bradley if Bradley is getting acquainted with a new club or something in Serie A. I thought this game was not on but now I hear it is on again. It would be a good game for Johnson to play in to get acquainted with the beautiful air in Mex City and we could see how he does in mid while trying out new stuff at fullback.
Well I am just think maybe if Omar comes back in the beginning of July, maybe he might be able to make it but highly doubt it myself. More of just a hope cause we clearly need to be bringing in the new talent. Maybe for the September or October games we might see Gonzo finally. Jurgen can't ignore Omar nor should he. We clearly aren't as strong as we though at CB.