Omar Gonzalez of the Galaxy should be in the mix. Dude could be a stud center back for many years to come. Give him some caps now.
The hatred of Michael Bradley has to do with the hatred of our coach. Doesn't matter who the player or coach is. BigSoccer trolls will always hate the US coach, that's just how it is. If Leo Messi was on our team, and his father was the coach, 3/4 of BigSoccer would swear that the only reason Messi was even getting called up was because of "his daddy". Nobody can objectively say that Michael Bradley isn't the best central midfielder that we have. And he's only going to be better in 4 years. But it doesn't matter if he wins Premiership awards - the only way the hatred of him will stop will be when his father is no longer coach. In all seriousness, anytime somebody uses the phrase "daddy" in a post describing the Bradleys, it's a useful hint. It means they have absolutely nothing intelligent or mature to say, so you can ignore them and move to the next post.
I have no doubts that Omar Gonzalez can become a great CB. I watching this kid every Galaxy game and he is getting so good and it really helps that Bruce is coaching the kid and he has a former Nat, Berhalter, as his partner showing him the ropes
I had Gomez, Jozy and Bradley as alternates back in 2007. I might have had Clark. I don't remember if I did.
Altidore and Davies up front. Davies would've made a HUGE difference in this tournament. Midfield.........Donovan on the left with Bradely and Feilhaber in the middle. Holden on the right. Backline.....Agbossomounde on the left with Gonzalez and Edu in the middle and Franklin on the right. Thats the best I could come up with at this time. And a side note. Thank you Bob Bradley for blowing this tournament for us. Clark and Findley in the starting lineup against Ghana??? C'MON MAN!!!!
You can bet that Jones, Dempsey, and Donovan will be around in 2014, and definitely in the next 2-3 years. The fact that all three will be 31-32 doesn't matter whatsoever. Unless they get fat, a la Ronaldinho, they will still be excellent athletes. A few non-goalies in this World Cup who are 31 and up: Drogba (32) Puyol (32) Ballack (33...would have been around if not injured just before the cup) Lucio (32) Juan (31) Gilberto Silva (33) Kleberson (31) Cannavaro (36) Gattuso (32) Di Natale (32) Camoranesi (33) Zambrotta (33) Klose (32) Liedson (32) Deco (32) Capdevila (32) Walter Samuel (32) Gabriel Heinze (32) Martin Palermo (36) Veron (35) Rio Ferdinand (31) I could go on, but you get the point. Barring major injury, those three can be the rock of the midfield alongside Bradley, with Edu, Holden, Torres, and Feilhaber still in the mix. The midfield is the only area where things are looking good.
If the new coach hired for the next cycle is more possession, tactical, creativity oriented, I GUARANTEE Holden will be a starting CM for the US Nat in 2014.
Then I'll buy it. Frankly, I was surprised that we didn't see more of him. His got an excellent first touch, good delivery, and great possession. I think he'll help Bolton a lot.
I questioned playing Feilhaber over him at first, but obviously Bob made me eat my words. Benny was one of the real eyeopeners of this tournament for us.
Eyeopener? Benny has been a solid player for years, it just took him a while to find a decent club situation. Holden is incredibly overrated, in my opinion. Maybe he'll prove me wrong with a full season at Bolton.
Yes and no. Yes, Feilhaber is pretty good, but needs to land on his feet in Europe. No, Holden is not overrated. He's quite good. He'll show it this year at Bolton.
After a terrible season where he couldn't find his form, who would've guessed he would've done as well as he did? Before the send off series, who would you have predicted would play more minutes: Benny or Stu? It was huge for Benny to do as well as he did. Must've opened up the eyes of some Euro clubs as his club situation at the moment is much less than ideal. I think the fact that Stu was able to break into the starting XI so quickly at Bolton as well as the comments made by Owen Coyle speak volumes about his ability. He's the real deal.
The fact that the youthful teams have done so well (ghana, germany) with players who are a year or so removed from u20 youth teams, shows that we can't neglect to add any upcoming promising talent into our squad. We can't go into 2014 with an old squad, we can't do an England/Australia. We must integrate young 20,21,22 year old talent into our team somewhere if that talent emerges. If one of LLetget, Gil, Renken, Bowen, etc.. emerges as a more talented player than Benny, Edu, or Holden, etc, we must go with them.
-----------------Howard----------------- --Spector----Opara---Gonzalez--Garza---- -------------------Edu------------------ -----Holden------Bradley-------Donovan-- -------------Adu------------------------ --------------------Altidore--------------
Perkins (GK) C. Marshall C. Goodson J. Heaps H. Pearce -----------------------------------L. Pause --------------K. Beckerman ---------------------------------------------R. Rogers S. Holden ----------------------------D. Arnaud ------------- B. Ching Last summers valuble experience will pay off
Altidore---Davies Dono----Bradley---Edu----Holden Lichaj---Omar/gooch---Opara/Gale---Spector Demps probably comes off the bench as a forward with adu, feilhaber, Torres, and Bornstein all as possibilities. 1 of these youngens i do feel might have a chance to crack the lineup assuming all choose the USA. Michael Hoyos, Sebastian lletget, Charles Renken, or Joseph Gyau.
----Davies/Adu----------Altidore------------Gomez/McInerny ----Donovan (C)/Jones-----Bradley/Torres---------Dempsey/Holden ----DeMerit/Agboss--------Gooch/Opara-----Spector/Goodson -----------------------Guzan/Perkins------------------------- *Kljestan,Rogers,Bedoya,Pearce,Marshall,Feilhaber,Gil. All w/ a chance to make the team.
[LINEUP-4-4-2]Davies, Altidore, Donovan, Edu, Bradley, Holden, Alston, Opara, Onyewu, Spector, Howard[/LINEUP-4-4-2] My 23 Goalkeeper: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Bill Hamid Defenders: Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector, Jonathan Bornstein, Kevin Alston, Tim Ream, Ike Opara, Eric Lichaj, Omar Gonzalez Midfielders: Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Stuart Holden, J.F. Torres, Benny Feilhaber, Alejandro Bedoya, Brek Shea Forwards: Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Tristan Bowen
---------------Howard (35) --Spector (28)--Gooch(32)--Ream (26)--Bornstein (29) ----------------Edu (28) -------Holden (28)---------Bradley (26) ---------------Donovan (32) --------Davies (27)----------Altidore (24) Subs: Guzan (29), Hamid (23), Opara (25), Gonzalez (25), Franklin (29), Lichaj (25), Torres (26), Dempsey (31), Bedoya (27), Michael Stephens (25), Movsissian (26), Tracy (27) Pretty good mix. Oldest field player 32, most in their primes in the late 20's. Possibly will have one or 2 young guns (22 or younger) make the squad, but not as much of a chance next time, since most players will be in their primes.
Bill Hamid http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/bill-hamid/profil/spieler_77714.html would be 23 in 2014. Kevin Alston http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/kevin-alston/profil/spieler_99852.html (26) Omar Gonzalez http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/omar-gonzalez/profil/spieler_99690.html (25) Tim Ream http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/timothy-ream/profil/spieler_145466.html (26) Ike Opara http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/ike-opara/profil/spieler_125696.html (25) Eric Lichaj http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/eric-lichaj/profil/spieler_61575.html (25) I guess that is what happens when Defenders go to college and not straight to MLS. Brek Shea http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/dane-brekken-shea/profil/spieler_71107.html (24) Tristan Bowen http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/tristan-bowen/profil/spieler_105976.html (23) They youngest player on your list would be 23 in 2014, I am pretty sure some young guys will come out of nowhere in the next 4 years. I am sure there is a 15-16 year old out there that will make the US team in 2014. U-20 in 2009 http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/united-states-u20/startseite/nationalmannschaft_11946.html U-17 in 2009 http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/vereinigte-staaten-u17/startseite/nationalmannschaft_25514.html