USMNT player pool for the 2014 Cycle.

Discussion in 'USA Men' started by Eleven Bravo, Mar 25, 2011.

  1. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. IndividualEleven

    Mar 16, 2006
    I wouldn't consider Michael Bradley an extremely important player given the quality available in central midfield-Joe Benny Corona, Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones, Stuart Holden, Danny Williams.

    Biggest worry with the Cup is Klinsman sticking with too many possibly fading players--such as Onyewu, Cherundolo, or Goodson--as coaches are often wont to do.
     
  3. futbal4eva

    futbal4eva Member+

    Jan 3, 2010
    Club:
    Sao Paulo FC
    Among the younger crowd, at the moment I would tag Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Fabian Johnson, and Timothy Chandler as all 'extremely important.'

    And before anyone moans about my including Jozy, he scored twice against FC Twente today. I was especially impressed by his not very subtle but also not flagged push off on the defender to get space for his first headed goal. It's plays like that that get you through qualifying.
     
  4. BimmerBenz95

    BimmerBenz95 Member+

    Feb 24, 2012
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My main concerns are Bocanegra and Cherundolo they will be too old and slow for the 2014 WC.
     
  5. drgonzo

    drgonzo Member+

    Jun 1, 2011
    Club:
    San Diego Flash
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When Cherundelo starts slowing down that wont be an issue. Either Chandler moves to RB or Lichaj steps in. Boca on the other hand is a different story.
     
  6. schrutebuck

    schrutebuck Member+

    Jul 26, 2007
    For better or worse, it seems Altidore is still the top American striker. The only reason I hesitated to put him with Bradley is because he needs some goals in the Klinsmann era. I expect they'll come in May. To me, Fabian Johnson is an obvious lock alongside Bradley but he just needs more caps. I spurned Chandler since he hasn't played a match that counts for the US. And of course, there are others on the edge like Edu or dealing with injury issues like Holden.
     
  7. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk Member+

    Jun 12, 2011
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did Johnson score his recent goal as a LB or LW? It looked offsides, but his finishing was flawless.
     
  8. BimmerBenz95

    BimmerBenz95 Member+

    Feb 24, 2012
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As a LB.
     
  9. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Makes me want to weep with joy. PLEASE don't get injured.
     
  10. LiverAndPineapple

    May 7, 2008
    Lichaj's not a bad option at LB either, and he's also new for this WC cycle. He had a good Gold Cup. This allows Johnson to play closer to goal. Suffice to say LB is looking much better now than it did last time around.
     
  11. braun

    braun Red Card

    Feb 22, 2001
    metro Boston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Seems like the squad is coming into focus now, more than a month before our next match. Most leagues have no more than 3 matches left on the season, and the likelihood of players being injured is less, as well.
    Not only have we found some depth at LB for the first time, but we have lots of options in midfield.
    Arena will have no choice but to release Donovan, if the USMNT is playing on a FIFA date.
    For now, if we are playing in a 4-4-1-1, Dempsey and Altidore will be up front, or more or less lined up in the box. The other forwards, whoever they are, are bench subs, when Clint and Jozy are tired, or ineffective.
    It is likely that at qualifiers, our midfield will consist of eight from: Donovan, Bradley, Jones, F Johnson, Williams, Edu, Chandler, Spector, Shea, and Torres.
    Eight defenders from: Boca, Goodson, Gooch, Parkhurst, Dolo, Lichaj, Chandler, F Johnson, Spector, and Williams.
    If Ream and Gonzalez can make their presence felt in the near-future, they will displace others, who are weakening or are injured.
    If Holden can make it back strong after next September or October, he'll slot into the midfield, instead of another CM.
     
  12. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't think that was ever the case in the previous FIFA datees, it was LD decision to take a pass due to not being well enough.
     
  13. futbal4eva

    futbal4eva Member+

    Jan 3, 2010
    Club:
    Sao Paulo FC
    OK, but Jozy scored another great (Dutch) league goal today against PSV.

    I expect Klinsmann and staff will notice.

    Edu should bolt for France and Ligue 1 if he gets another chance this summer.

    And I love Holden, but until Stu is healthy and back on the field with his pre-injury timing and touch, he's not. Which basically rules him out of the USMNT picture til next fall I expect.

    So..right now, the extremely important ie near-automatic first-teamers for the USMNT under-25 players are...same as before, Altidore, Bradley, Chandler, and Johnson.

    As Klinsmann noted, the major bummer for all the others not named above, is that given the Canada/El Salvador flops by the U23s, is that without the Olympics it will be harder for the next 2-4 younger players to break into that 'extremely important' club.

    Below them, there is a sea of potential
     
  14. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    It's hard to ignore somebody who's already scored 14 league goals in the eredevisie this season. (18 in all competitions)

    He's starting to become as much of a lock for this squad entering qualifying as Howard and Dempsey are.
     
  15. ScrappytheSeal4

    Jun 5, 2010
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not Donovan too? Or am I reading too much into a compliment for Altidore?
     
  16. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvqg9m1mHPY"]PSV-AZ 1-1 Jozy Altidore 14/4/2012 - YouTube[/ame]

    Jozy's out of this world goal today...
     
  17. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    God I hope his form continues into the national team.

    I'm ready for WC qualifying to start yesterday based on the form of some of our players right now.
     
  18. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    here is Greg Seltzer's look at the player pool; for comments look here: http://www.noshortcorners.com/2012/04/my-usmnt-clipboard-30.html
    A few headscratchers on that list. For one, Cameron at CDM??? Pearce the #1 LB??? :confused: Also, i think it's hard to analyze the player pool based on 3-deep position format because it's so easy to shuffle players around. More, how easy it is for a RCB to play LCB, or how common it is for a winger to switch sides or play as a fullback & vice-versa, or often some fullbacks swith sides.

    For my list, i know Klinsmann would probably slot Beckerman as one of the CDM and would put Williams as a RW, but i can't let myself do it. Also, it would be easy to shuffle Chandler and Johnson around, but i went with them in these positions because it puts the best 11 on the field at the same time, and allows Donovan to play RW instead of LW. Third, the RB position is wide-open really btw Loyd, Beitashour, and Myers. Finally, the winger positions was like throwing darts drunk and without looking...they could easily be different.

    #1 GK
    1) Tim Howard
    2) Brad Guzan
    3) Nick Rimando

    #2 RB
    1) Steve Cherundolo
    2) Jonathan Spector
    3) Zach Loyd

    #3 RCB
    1) Oguchi Onyewu
    2) Clarence Goodson
    3) Geoff Cameron

    #4 LCB
    1) Carlos Bocanegra
    2) Tim Ream
    3) Zak Whitbread

    #5 LB
    1) Tim Chandler
    2) Jonathan Spector
    3) Edgar Castillo

    #6 CDM
    1) Jermaine Jones
    2) Maurice Edu
    3) Daniel Williams
    -
    4) Kyle Beckerman


    #7 RW
    1) Landon Donovan
    2) Joshua Gatt
    3) DaMarcus Beasley

    #8 CM
    1) Michael Bradley
    2) Jose Torres
    3) Sacha Kljestan

    #9 FW
    1) Jozy Altidore
    2) Herculez Gomez
    3) Chris Wondolowski

    #10 CAM
    1) Clint Dempsey
    2) Freddy Adu
    3) Graham Zusi

    #11 LW
    1) Fabian Johnson
    2) Brek Shea
    3) Chris Pontius

    Contenders:
    Bill Hamid-GK
    Sean Johnson-GK
    Heath Pearce-LB/CB/RB
    Seb Hines-CB
    Michael Parkhurst-CB/RB
    Matt Besler-CB
    Chad Marshall-CB
    Seth Sinovic-LB
    Justin Morrow-LB
    Steve Beitashour-RB
    Chance Myers-RB
    Sam Cronin-CDM
    Alfredo Morales-CDM/CB/RB
    Ricardo Clark-CDM
    Jeff Larentowicz-CDM/CB
    Mikkel Diskerud-CM
    Joe Corona-CAM/RW/LW
    Benny Feilhaber-CAM
    Kelyn Rowe-CAM
    Robbie Rogers-LW/RW
    Nick DeLeon-LW/RW
    Joe Gyau-RW/LW
    Juan Agudelo-FW
    Edson Buddle-FW
    CJ Sapong-FW
    Terrence Boyd-FW
    Andrew Wooten-FW
    Kenny Cooper-FW

    Honorable Mention:
    Joe Willis-GK
    Tally Hall-GK
    Matt Pickens-GK
    Dan Kennedy-GK
    Ryan Meara-GK
    Zac MacMath-GK
    Quentin Westberg-GK
    David Yelldell-GK
    Jeff Parke-CB
    Michael Orozco-CB
    AJ De la Garza-CB/RB/LB
    Eric Brunner-CB
    Drew Moor-CB/RB
    Sean Franklin-RB
    Marvell Wynne-RB/CB
    Sean Cunningham-LB/CB
    Greg Garza-LB/LM
    Tony Beltran-RB
    Sheannon Williams-RB/CB
    Ray Gaddis-RB/CB
    Amobi Okugo-CDM/CB
    Perry Kitchen-CDM/RB/CB
    Tony Cascio-CM/CAM/LW/RW
    Danny Cruz-RW/CM
    Eddie Gaven-CAM
    Luis Gil-CAM/RW/LW
    Alejandro Bedoya-CM/RW/LW
    Brad Evans-CAM/RB
    Dilly Duka-CAM/RW/LW
    Lee Nguyen-CAM/RW
    Sebastian Velasquez-LW/RW
    Bobby Convey-LW/LB
    Conor O’ Brien-CAM
    Teal Bunbury-FW
    David Estrada-FW/RW/LW
    Steve Lenhart-FW
    Will Bruin-FW
    Charlie Davies-FW
    Robbie Findley-FW
    Conor Casey-FW
    Justin Braun-FW

    Serious Injury List:
    Omar Gonzalez-CB
    Stuart Holden-CM/RW
     
  19. USAMEX10

    USAMEX10 Member+

    Sep 24, 2010
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Dang, our contenders/honorable mention list looks pretty good. We actually have some decent depth in each position:D very nice. Hopefully some of the promising younger players are givin a chance later in the year/Camp cupcake.
     
  20. Tom Collingsworth

    Jun 14, 2011
    North Carolina
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    @ Eleven Bravo where is Eric Lichaj on your list?
     
  21. Tom Collingsworth

    Jun 14, 2011
    North Carolina
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed
     
  22. Tom Collingsworth

    Jun 14, 2011
    North Carolina
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This isn't who I think who would or should start at the positions (obviously since some are #1 at multiple positions...) just how my personal three deep chart would look. No Holden #1 @ CM and no Gonzalez #2 @ RCB on my list because of injury.


    #1 GK
    1) Tim Howard
    2) Brad Guzan
    3) Nick Rimando

    #2 RB
    1) Steve Cherundolo
    2) Timothy Chandler
    3) Eric Lichaj

    #4 RCB
    1) Oguchi Onyewu
    2) Clarence Goodson
    3) Geoff Cameron

    #5 LCB
    1) Carlos Bocanegra
    2) Tim Ream
    3) Zak Whitbread

    #3 LB
    1) Fabian Johnson
    2) Eric Lichaj
    3) Timothy Chandler

    #6 CDM
    1) Jermaine Jones
    2) Michael Bradley
    3) Maurice Edu

    #8 CM
    1) Michael Bradley
    2) Jose Torres
    3) Sacha Kljestan

    #7 RW
    1) Landon Donovan
    2) Timothy Chandler
    3) Josh Gatt

    #9 FW
    1) Jozy Altidore
    2) Clint Dempsey
    3) Cooper/Gomez/Wondo???

    #10 AM/SS
    1) Clint Dempsey
    2) Landon Donovan
    3) Freddy Adu

    #11 LW
    1) Landon Donovan
    2) Fabian Johnson
    3) DaMarcus Beasley
     
  23. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    thanks...i had one major typo in that i couldn't decide who i wanted on the left/right spector or lichaj. For the sake of argument, keep Spector on the right and Lichaj on the left.
     
  24. pisku

    pisku Member

    Jul 29, 2011
    Club:
    Alianza Lima
    #1 GK
    1) Tim Howard
    2) Brad Guzan
    3) Ryan Meara *just heard of him, captie him in the game vs antigua, don´t lose him :)

    #2 RB
    1) Steve Cherundolo
    2) Timothy Chandler *captie vs antigua, then gradually retire Cherundolo
    3) Eric Lichaj
    4) Alfredo Morales *good you win him and not Peru. Make sure hes is still comitted, captie him in the game vs antigua

    #4 CB
    1) Omar Gonzalez *what are you waiting for? *captie vs antigua to bad MLS didn´t allow him to play with America, he would learn a lot in Mexico´s league
    2) Jonathan Spector a defender in the premier league? don´t say more
    3) Alfredo Morales *good you win him and not Peru. Make sure hes is still comitted, captie him in the game vs antigua

    #5 LB
    1) Fabian Johnson
    2) Eric Lichaj
    3) Gotoku Sakai *what happened here? he has not played YET with Japan national team, I would try and call him.
    4) Greg Garza *if Gotoku is not available, even if he is, I would call Greg and captie him. He is playing in Mexico for god´s sake! don´t lose him like you lose Miguel Ponce ;)

    #6 CM/DM
    1) Michael Bradley
    2) Daniel Williams
    3) José Torres
    4) Brek Shea
    5) Joshua Gatt
    6) Sebastian Lletget
    7) Sacha Kljestan
    8) Joseph Gyau

    #7 AM
    1) Michael Bradley
    1) Clint Dempsey
    3) Joe Corona
    4) Fabian Hurzeler
    5) Joseph Gyau

    #8 LW/RW
    1) Clint Dempsey
    2) Brek Shea
    3) Joshua Gatt

    #9 FW
    1) Landon Donovan *USA best weapon, a real tank... or is there another crack?
    2) Jozy Altidore
    3) Terrence Boyd *captie!!!!
    4) Conor Doyle *captie just in case, even if he is commited.
    5) Teal Bunbury *one last chance.

    #10 SS
    1) Juan Agudelo
    2) Freddy Adu
    3) C.J. Sapong

    #11 Nationality issues
    1) Michael Hoyos CM
    2) Gotoku Sakai LB

    Starting XI (vs antigua in USA land to captie and test)

    1 Ryan Meara / Guzan
    2 Gonzalez / Morales
    3 Spector
    4 Chandler
    5 Johnson
    6 Bradley
    7 Corona / Lletget / Hurzeler
    8 Williams/ Shea
    9 Jozy
    10 Donovan
    11 Dempsey / Boyd / Doyle

    Meara

    Chandler Gonzalez Spector Johnson

    Williams
    Bradley Corona
    Dempsey
    Jozy Donovan


    Bench
    Morales
    Hurzeler
    Torres
    Lletget
    Boyd
    Doyle
    Cherundolo
    Shea
    Guzan
     
  25. Nevadatude

    Nevadatude Member

    Apr 14, 2012
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Pisku: you use friendlies to captie, not WC Qualifiers. The fact that you don't even mention Tim Howard tells me all I need to know about the rest of the post.
     

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