Potential post-Gold Cup changes: Freddy Adu should be up there on creative central midfielders/wingers. Bedoya seems more like a winger/second striker than a creative central midfielder. Please, God, no more Bornstein! Rogers should be lower. It seems clear that the only reason he was on the Gold Cup team was so that Diskerud and Shea would not be missed by their club teams.
I felt exactly the same, not too long ago! Isn't this exactly what a technical director's job is? Shouldn't we have someone talking to him about what his best position actually is & what puts him in the best position to have a future with the national team?
Understandable, but when is the next time he can become cap tied, without disrupting his club position?
Until someone steps up to replace him, or he falls majorly out of form, he's starting. Bedoya was hailed in the Gold Cup (as he should have been), and then vanished against Mexico. Remember, LD's also an MLS 32 (less wear and tear on those legs), and a fitness animal with no major injuries (so far, knock on wood). Until someone unseats both Deuce and Donovan, they start. Not saying someone can't, but someone has to first. Not only that, but they might have to unseat them at multiple positions - i.e. LD moving from right to left and Deuce moving up top. If they don't start, they are supersubs. I actually like the idea of having a couple of veterans on the pitch. Most of the winning World Cup sides have this - you have to have someone out there (typically the captain) keeping a cool head and sheparding the troops. You cannot have a team solely based of 24 year olds imo. You will most likely have a completely new back line. Completely new. You will have young forwards. One of your two D mids will be a veteran most likely. Not counting Howard, you'll have 2-3 players on the pitch that are 30+. Question is who they are and where they play. I also probably don't want both my wingers at 30+. Question for me is who slows down more Demps or LD. I'm guessing with our young striker core Deuce gets moved up top, we insert a speedy winger to pair with LD on the other side. But that's so far away from now... As for the list, as a Galaxy fan I can tell you: Chad Barrett - terrible finisher and bad first touch Michael Stephens - personally don't think he's going to make it. Hasn't sparkled in playing time this year, don't think he should go to Olympics. Harsh, but I'd prefer other options. Sean Franklin - has had a "meh" year so far Omar Gonzalez - contract runs out next year, so if the Galaxy want to get any money, they sell this offseason. He should be bound for Europe. AJDLG - decent, played well this year, but probably not good enough to unseat the other options
I have a Phd in Kenny Cooper and will vow that if bob goes, Kenny will be on the final 23 in the Gomez role as a sub barring injury. Dude has always played on bad teams but played well with good people around him See his NATS history and who was around him. And indeed he will be at the height of his powers in ' 14 Not the fastest, but against a tired defense he is dangerous. Agudelo bunbury and altidore can only dream of combining with streaking mids like Kenny can. And he kills clocks better the Ching ever did .... Needs to work on his PKs
My top 3 per position for our backline for the next year or so GK 1) Howard (Still solid, crappy final vs El Tri) 2) Guzan (Lots of clean sheets for Hull on loan from AV) 3) Hamid (A lot of people really like his potential) LB 1) Lichaj (Theres your 2014 starter) 2) Bocanegra (I think that whoever the coach is will re-tool the D, so we get younger) 3) Zach Loyd (Played good vs Chile) CB 1) Omar Gonzalez (You all need to watch an LA game to see how good this kid is) 2) Tim Ream (Awful Panama game ruined his tournament) 3) Clarence Goodson (Eh, I dont know what I think about this guy) RB 1) Tim Chandler (Electric RB, honestly I think he could be world class) 2) Steve Cherundolo (So good for so many years but he's getting old) 3) Spector (I hate how he never gets a chance) Would love some insight, just a list on potential or what not. Feel free to post your own
to try and add to my list, i am going to include a "state of the team" address which will break down the player pool in a different fashion in hopes that it shows which areas are of concern and which players are on the rise or on the decline given the fact that i hope the loss against Mexico will shake things up a bit. further, i will provide an analysis of how we stand in each position...Note that i am cutting out most of the not rated players and i'm going to be lazy and not include again each player's club and 2014 age given that you will be able to already see it on this thread. note the key: Starter: player is our first, clear, cut player to start with. anything other than this player is clearly a step down. A-team player. Contender: is a player who could actually push for a starting spot or is battling another player for that spot. further, if they were to start, you'd feel safe…or at least, hope to. Still, i consider these guys part of the A-team. Back-up: there is clearly a step down from the A-team at this point, but they should at least be competitive at the international level. In other words, they’re the B-team. Reserve: basically, the player is essential to our depth, but that they probably are not yet at least international quality. In short, they’re the C team. Outlook: player is not ready yet, but could be a contender within the time of Brazil. Cap Now: player needs to receive a call-up to test their worth. Washed Out: Player either is getting too old or proving that they are worthless Wait and See: I’ve added for the players like Jonathan Spector who we will have to wait and see where they switch to on the field at the club level to see if they will make the switch there on the national level too. Nationality ???: means that the player seems to favor another national team, but there is still a small chance they could play for us. Also, the player is a bit of an enigma to me and whether or not they are even deserving of a call-up. GOALKEEPERS Starter: Tim Howard Contender: none now Back-up: Brad Guzan Reserves: David Yelldell, Nick Rimando Outlook: Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson Cap Now: none now Washed Out: Marcus Hahnemann Analysis: -Tim Howard is still our clear cut number one goalkeeper. While he had a stinker against Mexico (not to mention his last stinker against Ghana), he is a good choice for us to have. -Regarding depth, there is a clear step down. Guzan is our #2 keeper and while he has the potential to be as good as Howard, i believe, he has not proven that yet which must make speculations about him hard to make. Hahnemann has to be Washed Out of this team despite the fact he is a solid back-up....right now. -of the new faces with a legitimate shot to contend sooner than later, Yelldell and Rimando are probably the best two. of the new faces that we will be looking at later (after the Olympics), Hamid and Johnson, we will have to wait to see how they develop before we could ever trust them to be key components of the senior team. -note i probably could have included Hesmer, Pickens, Perkins, Hall, Robles, and Hartman to this list, but given the fact that you do not see much rotation in goal, i did not. -Hahnemann might be the best goalkeeper the US has ever produced that never earned more than 10 caps. Also, while he may remain reliable for a couple years if something happens to Howard or if we want to have a good tutor for a young keep, Hahnemann will need to start being phased out. *Overall, not our biggest area of concern because despite Howard's faults, he is still a great goalkeeper, but we are only an injury away from Howard to be being in big trouble. RIGHT BACKS Starter: Steve Cherundolo Contender: Timmy Chandler, Eric Lichaj (converted-LB) Back-ups: Jonathan Spector Reserves: Sean Franklin, Frank Simek Outlook: Zarek Valentin, Sheannon Williams, Jeremy Hall, Perry Kitchen (converted-CB), Zach Loyd (converted-LB) Cap Now: Daniel Williams (converted-LB) Washed Out: none now Analysis: -Right now, i am feeling alright about RB. Cherundolo, when healthy, is probably our best field player. I am praying he does not regress much from here to 2014. basically, he is too good for us to start phasing him out based on his age. -Even after Cherundolo, we have some promising players in Timmy Chandler and Eric Lichaj. Further, Jonathan Spector has shown in the past how good he can be at right back…even though, he may serve us better in the MF or CB. -If Daniel Williams does select the US, we will have to figure out if his position is on the right…or where we need him, on the left. -Of the outlook players, Valentin and S. Williams do have promise but they are not taking my breath away either. We will have to see how they develop. *Overall, so long as Chandler stays a part of this team and Cherundolo keeps trucking a long, I feel confident. Something happens to them, and I would be ready to panic. CENTER BACKS Starters: none now Contenders: Clarence Goodson, Tim Ream Back-ups: none now Reserves: Chad Marshall, Marvell Wynne, Michael Parkhurst, Nat Borchers Outlook: Ike Opara, Ethan White, AJ Soares, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Eric Brunner, John Anthony Brooks Cap Now: George John, Zak Whitbread, Omar Gonzalez (again) Washed Out: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit Wait and See: Jonathan Spector, Geoff Cameron Analysis: -My personal choice would be that we start phasing out the old guys: Boca, Gooch, and JDM. They have all served their country well, but they are over-the-hill and past their worth. And if they weren’t good enough for CONCACAF in 2011, I do not believe there’s any chance they will be good enough for the World Cup in 2014. -Goodson, on the other hand, is just hitting his peak. He is by no means a world class defender, but he should still be very valuable for us until we can discover some quality center backs. -Tim Ream struggled against Panama, but that was hopefully just a small bump in the road. And as of right now, he’s our most tested defender that will be under 30 come 2014. He still has potential and I would not write him off…yet. -George John, Zak Whitbread, and Omar Gonzalez (ignoring his one cap) all need to be thrown into the fire…sooner than later. And I am talking about the next friendly, we have. We cannot let John defect. -The Olympics will tell us a lot about who are our most promising central defenders. But for Brunner and Soares who will both be overage, they are worth keeping an eye on to see how they progress, they are just not ready yet. -Note that while I did not list Spector as a CB, we will have to wait and see where he is fielded in the upcoming season. There is a [small] possibility he could be placed at CB and then we will have to consider him there at the national level given our lack of options. I would also say the same about Geoff Cameron if he ever moved back to play CB. *Overall, if there is one position that needs a complete overhaul immediately it is at center back. In other words, this position is the most wide-open of all of them. We desperately need some CB’s that can not only handle attackers with speed and flair but we also need some CB’s that can control the ball and help us open up the field. LEFT BACKS Starter: none now Contender: Eric Lichaj Back-up: Heath Pearce Reserves: Edgar Castillo, Corey Ashe, Marco Vidal, Darrius Barnes, AJ De la Garza Outlook: Brek Shea (converted-LM), Anthony Wallace, Rich Balchan Cap Now: Daniel Williams, Zach Loyd (again) Washed Out: Jonathan Bornstein Nationality ???: Fabian Johnson, Gotoku Sakai, Rodney Wallace, Oskar Gasecki, Miguel Ponce Analysis: -While Lichaj all gave us reason to feel confident about our LB situation, I will hamper my excitement. Lichaj played very well this tournament, but he will need to show consistency to be locked in as the automatic starting LB. -After Lichaj… damn. I feel like I am just throwing names out there. Daniel Williams does give me some hope if he would accept a call-up. We desperately need depth there too…which was proven in the Gold Cup final when Bornstein proved [again] that he is not a reliable option. Loyd is another guy I would meddle with in the upcoming season to see how well he can do there since he did well against Chile and we have nothing but time on our side now. -Pearce has always seemed to me the better option than Bornstein but like his counterpart, Pearce suffers from a lack of consistency. After him, yikes! -Of the young players, Wallace and Balchan have promise but they’ll need to prove it at the Olympics first. Further, we will see where Shea belongs on this team in the upcoming years. - There are 5 players that I list as nationality question marks and the fact is most are questions marks themselves like Gasecki. Wallace would be nice to have but wouldn’t be a miracle worker. Johnson is a bit of an unknown himself while Sakai and Ponce are heavily favoring other national teams. *Overall, Lichaj is our only real hope right now unless Shea converts and succeeds at LB and/or we can snag Daniel Williams and get him to play LB for us. If I see Bornstein again, I will cry. CENTRAL DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS Starter: Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones Contender: Maurice Edu Back-up: Ricardo Clark Reserves: Jeff Larentowicz, Dax McCarty, Kyle Beckerman, Jack Jewsbury Outlook: Amobi Okugo, Perry Kitchen (converted-CDM), Sam Cronin, Fabian Hurzeler, Nate Sturgis Cap Now: none now Washed Out: Brian Carroll, Logan Pause Wait and See: Jonathan Spector Analysis: -If Bob remains the coach, Bradley will still be locked to start, no matter what. However, if we get a new coach, he might open up room to let some of the other guys contend for his spot. Jones, on the other hand, is not going anywhere…at least, any time soon. -Of the topics I am most curious about is why we did not see more of Edu in the Gold Cup. I would have liked to have seen him come in after we had scored against Panama to help kill off the game. He is a solid player even though there are certain aspects of his game (passing) that need improvement. -it’s weird to see how much Clark has fallen off the radar since his poor showing in the World Cup. I hate how he has been made the scapegoat for all the USMNT’s problems when he is actually a pretty good player when he is playing well. Still, he is clearly behind the frontrunners of Bradley, Jones, and Edu while still ahead of the other reserve players. -Dax McCarty could be considered an outlook player given the fact that we seem to have a shortage of young CDM’s after Bradley and Edu. Okugo is the only real promising CDM we have, right now. -Again, I am listing Spector as I will in the winger/AM category, as well. We will have to wait and see what this next season has in store for him. *Overall, under Bob Bradley this is probably the most sure thing, we’ve got. If we do manage to find a new coach (unlikely) then he may decide to shake things up. Other than that, I believe Mike and Jones are two good midfielders, but I worry about them being too similar and the fact that neither are not all that great at passing. ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS/WINGERS Starter: Stuart Holden, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey Contender: Freddy Adu Back-up: Sacha Kljestan, Jose Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, Benny Feilhaber Reserves: Brad Davis, Bobby Convey Outlook: Graham Zusi, Collen Warner, Michael Stephens, Sebastian Lletget, Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Joe Gyau, Josh Gatt, Dilly Duka, Jorge Flores, Luis Gil Cap Now: Mikkel Diskerud (again), Brek Shea (again), Chris Pontius Washed Out: Robbie Rogers, Eddie Gaven Wait and See: Jonathan Spector Nationality ???: Michael Hoyos, Diego Chavarri, Junior Hoilett, Joe Corona Analysis: -While our best players play in this position, two will be over 30 and the other is consistently injured. The good news is that Freddy Adu finally gave me hope for the future. -Kljestan, Torres, Bedoya, and Feilhaber are all about the same to me. They are important for our depth and are capable of being pretty good players, but at the same time, none are ever really capable of being world class. And while Davis and Convey are both quality players, due to their age and the fact they are buried so far down the charts, I doubt we will see much of them any time soon unless we need them desperately. -Hopefully joining the ranks of our MF class will be Diskerud, Shea, and Pontius (Torres may need to be reentered in this category, as well). Shea and Pontius are having outstanding seasons in MLS and have deserved a look as soon as feasible. Diskerud, on the other hand, has been doing exceptionally well for Stabaek for some time now, and he deserves to be tested more with this team given his amazing potential. -Of the outlook players, Gyau and Gatt have the most promise given the fact they are starting to make names for themselves at the club level, but Lletget and Gil are hopefully not far behind. The rest will either be worth watching in the Olympics or we will have to wait and see how they progress throughout this season and maybe next. -As far as Rogers and Gaven, I am sorry Crew fans, but these guys despite being so young still are not international quality players. I rate them in the same category as Quaranta, Mapp, and Zizzo…good enough for MLS. -Of the nationality question mark players, they have all received a lot of hype…for Hoialett, it has been deserved. However, I do not know the likelihood of us getting any of these players so I cannot rate them. *Overall, this is still our best position so long as Donovan and Dempsey have their head on straight. This position gets even better with a healthy Holden and in-form Adu. Further, Bedoya, Kljestan, Torres, and Feilhaber are all good players to have at our disposal. And, we have some good promising players coming up like Diskerud, Shea, Pontius, Gatt, and Gyau who hopefully will give these other guys some competition. Finally, if we could snag Hoilett, Hoyos, and Chavarri on our side then I would be elated with how sound we are here. FORWARDS Starter: Landon Donovan (converted-AM), Clint Dempsey (converted-AM) Contender: Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Freddy Adu (converted-AM) Back-up: none now Reserves: Chris Wondolowski, Kenny Cooper, Edson Buddle, Herculez Gomez, Charlie Davies, Chris Rolfe, Chad Barrett Outlook: Justin Braun, CJ Sapong, Teal Bunbury, Bobby Wood, Jack McInerney, Conor Doyle, Blake Brettschneider, Will Bruin, Adrian Ruelas, Omar Salgado, Terrence Boyd, Joe Gyau (converted-WG) Cap Now: Danny Mwanga (A.S.A.C.-as soon as citizen), Eugene Starikov Washed Out: Eddie Johnson, Robbie Findley Analysis: -If we had any kind of depth, I would put most of our FW’s in the washed out category. Most are below average to mediocre at best and will be on the wrong side of 30 come 2014. Wondolowski may have put himself in that category, but he’s holding on by a thread due to a complete lack of depth. He may prove useful in the early stages of qualifying, but that is if we are REALLY desperate. -Hopefully, some of these young “outlook” guys will take the next step and prove themselves worthy of a call-up. Note that we actually have more outlook players like Wooten, McLoughlin, Saad, George, Kiesewetter, Bowen, Taylor, etc… but right now, my hopes for them are limited. Of the names mentioned, Brettschneider and Doyle give me the most confidence. Bruin despite being ROY frontrunner may or might not be international quality but I believe he has still earned a shot at Camp Cupcake. -Bunbury, Bunbury, Bunbury….jeez! I was becoming really excited about this guy for him to fall off the face of the earth. Still, he’s very young, and he can turn things around. -As soon as Mwanga’s citizenship comes through, I’d give him a call. He’s too special of a player to slip through the cracks and I believe he is just every bit as promising as Agudelo. Starikov, according to reports from Yanks-Abroad, seems to be doing well in the Russian league which I rate higher than MLS. I would like to see him get a shot to see what he can do considering we need to get our young guys blooded. *Overall, ugh! Is all I can say. We finally got Jozy scoring again, and then he gets hurt. Agudelo, on the other hand, is not ready for this level yet. He was completely lost against Mexico and needs some time before we make him an automatic starter. Further, all of our prime aged forwards, pretty much suck at the international level. However, there is hope on the horizon. We have a lot of promising forwards and hopefully, some of them will pan out.
Good post! One thing that bothered me though is that you put the RPL and MLS in the same breath (sort of). Russian league is vastly superior and has loads of talent so i don't think its even worth mentioning.
ahhh not the "h" word...but i guess as my team leader always said, "false motivation is better than no motivation at all." lol.
well, some people i believe do not rate the RPL that highly since it is not in one of the traditional soccer power nations of England, Italy, Spain, Germany, or France so i wanted to stress that it is better than MLS [presently ].
I really don't think Bornstein is done, especially after a pretty decent world cup. The entire defense played like shite that game. Also Marco Vidal probably belongs somewhere on that list, whether it be at FB or DM
I was mentioning in another thread that the US's primary goal right now is to actually build our player pool before qualifying starts. Further, i believe that we need to try and be at least 4 deep in every position before the start of qualifying, and i again will mention how we need to cut the dead weight now so that we can rebuild this team. Thus, this, to me, is what the player pool should look like in the upcoming 2011/2012 season. You may want to add some Olympic players, but i tried to leave them off so that they can focus on the Olympics. if they do well there, we can revaluate our team for the 2012/2013 early qualifying season. *=new or relatively new face Goalkeepers 1. Tim Howard 2. Brad Guzan 3. Nick Rimando* 4. David Yelldell* Cut: Hahnemann Olympic watch: Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson Right Backs 1. Steve Cherundolo 2. Tim Chandler* 3. Jonathan Spector 4. Sean Franklin* Olympic watch: Sheanon Williams, Zarek Valentin Center Backs (2) 1. Clarence Goodson 2. Tim Ream 3. Omar Gonzalez* 4. George John* 5. Zak Whitbread* 6. Chad Marshall* 7. Eric Brunner* 8. AJ Soares* Cut: Onyewu, DeMerit, Bocanegra Olympic watch: Perry Kitchen, Ike Opara, Gale Agbossoumonde, Ethan White, John Brooks Left Backs 1. Eric Lichaj 2. Daniel Williams* 3. Zach Loyd* 4. Brek Shea* +5. Heath Pearce +6. Marco Vidal* (haven't ever seen him play though, but based on hype and our lack of LB's) Cut: Bornstein Olympic watch: Anthony Wallace, Rich Balchan Midfielders (2) 1. Michael Bradley 2. Jermaine Jones 3. Maurice Edu 4. Jose Torres 5. Ricardo Clark 6. Dax McCarty* 7. Jeff Larentowicz* 8. Kyle Beckerman* Olympic watch: Amobi Okugo, Michael Stephens, Dilly Duka Attackers (2) 1. Landon Donovan 2. Clint Dempsey 3. Stuart Holden 4. Freddy Adu 5. Benny Feilhaber 6. Sacha Kljestan 7. Alejandro Bedoya 8. Mikkel Diskerud* +9. Chris Pontius* Cut: Rogers, Beasley Olympic watch: Joe Gyau, Josh Gatt Forwards (2) 1. Jozy Altidore 2. Juan Agudelo 3. Eugene Starikov* 4. Kenny Cooper* 5. Charlie Davies* 6. Justin Braun* 7. Will Bruin* 8. Blake Brettschneider* +9. CJ Sapong* +10. Danny Mwanga* (citizenship) +11. Conor Doyle* Cut: Wondolowski, Buddle, Gomez, Findley, Johnson Olympic watch: Teal Bunbury, Adrian Ruelas, Omar Salgado, Ellis McLoughlin, Terrance Boyd, Bobby Wood, Jack McInerney
i mentioned the players that i want to see for the coming 2011/2012 season, but i would like to see who the rest of you would include in the immediate player pool. personally, i like the idea of trying to be at least 4 deep in every position considering club commitments, injuries, suspensions, roster rotation, and form will come into play. So, posters please give me your immediate player pool so that we can analyze what things can or will look like going into qualifying.
Can't dispute most of this. Onyewu and Parkhurst are on their way out, but still in the mix at center back; at least ahead of Brunner and Soares. Onyewu's headed to Sporting CP; he'll have a chance to prove himself in the Primeira Liga and Europa League... if he does well, you can't overlook him. Freddy Adu made the most of his last chance; Ricardo Clark is on his last chance, too. If he can redeem himself for the 2010 World Cup, it would be a remarkable story. McCarty has to make the most of his time with the Red Bulls.
Well said. I have no idea what the future has in store for Bocanegra and DeMerit. I hope Boca can stay in the picture of the US team, only if its at LB because if Boca is at LB it means the US has finally solved the CB predicament.
if bob is gone, bornstein will be as well. as bob goes, so goes bornstein, mikey, jozy, findley and the rest of the gang.
Does anyone know why Blair Gavin has been out of it mostly this season? he was a very promising player last season but has not done anything this season.
Eleven Bravo, you should be a NAT consultant. Indeed the player pool needs rebuilding from the ground up--4 dudes looked at in each position, all dead weight cut and not looked at unless and until a bona-fide re-birth. ( Which I doubt for every single guy on your cut list) Selected olympic guys can be worked in after the first rotation is done. That is strategic long-term thinking, something Bob is incapable of. Bob works along the margins. Introduces one or two new guys based on noithing but potential. That's it. But there is no plan other than to run the posse he knows.
sucks because he does have a lot of potential...any word on his recovery? sorry, i do not follow Chivas that much nor have i seen anything from my limited sources.
Pretty sure he played on June 7 in league action for 14 min and week later played in the reserve game. Im not sure about last week though.