Qualifying in 2 Months: who's on our 18 man roster?

[appoo]

I expect the strongest possible squad. The time for experiementation is over for now. Bruce is going to have to wait until after the semi-finals if we get that far.

This is my 18 man roster with starting line-up

Goalkeepers(2)
Brad Freidel
Kasey Keller

Defenders(6)
Eddie Pope
Carlos Bocanegra
Cory Gibbs
Gregg Vanney
Pablo Mastroeni
Steve Cherundolo

Midfielders(7)
Claudio Reyna
John O'Brien
DaMarcus Beasley
Chris Armas
Bobby Convey
Eddie Lewis
Landon Donovan

Forwards(1)
Josh Wolff

Strikers(2)
Brian McBride
Conor Casey



--------------------------Freidel---------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
----Cherundolo-------Pope-------Gibbs-------Bocanegra----
-----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------Reyna----------------------------
------Donovan-------------------------------Beasley-------
------------------------O'Brien-----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Wolff-------------------McBride-----------
-----------------------------------------------------------


we're up 2 or less after 60 minutes - sub in Convey for Cherundolo, switch to a 3-5-2
We're up 3 or more after 60 - sub in Chris Armas for McBride - switch to a 4 -5 -1

[galaxyfan03]

MY 18-man roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Friedel & Kasey Keller

Defenders: Eddie Pope, Carlos Bocanegra, Gregg Berhalter, Cory Gibbs, Tony Sanneh & Pablo Mastroeni

Midfielders: Claudio Reyna, Chris Armas, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Lewis, Bobby Convey, John O'Brien (IF healthy) & Clint Mathis

Strikers: Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, Josh Wolff

Stand-bys: Tim Howard, Greg Vanney, Steve Cherundolo, Ben Olsen, Steve Ralston, Kyle Martino, Conor Casey & Edson Buddle.

My STARTING XI:

----------------------------------Friedel----------------------------------
Sanneh----------------Pope-----------------Bocanegra---------------Gibbs
----------------------------------Reyna-----------------------------------
--Convey--------------------------------------------------------Beasley--
----------------------------------O'Brien----------------------------------
---------------Donovan------------------------------McBride--------------

I'm not sure how strong a group Arena will bring in for Grenada but since it is WCQ & the European-based players will be in off-season, there's NO excuse for not bringing our best. Especially, for the first leg.

[Atouk]

appooOnU, I'll have to think about my 18, but I don't know how a seemingly in-form Mathis gets left off the US 18.

Also, if I read the Ajax site right, John O'Brien's season has consisted of two friendlies in January, and four league matches in January and February, with him most recently featuring for 52 minutes on February 8th. The sore hamstring that kept him out of the Stars-and-Stripes' February 18th match in Amsterdam seems to have lingered -- or at least some injury has -- as he hasn't played since. Of late, he's not been listed on the substitute's bench. Is there any news out there that says JOB might be ready to contribute?

http://english.ajax.nl/show/id=119227/dbid=11/typeofpage=1823&team=1
I'm not sure how strong a group Arena will bring in for Grenada but since it is WCQ & the European-based players will be in off-season, there's NO excuse for not bringing our best. Especially, for the first leg.I can't imagine we'd drop many/any of our European-based players for the second leg. If you're in your offseason, I can't see why you'd rather play the Columbus leg than the Grenada leg. I know which one I'd want to extend a few days for a bit of a summer vacation.

[Martin Fischer]

Two things.

First, Arena may rest some players in the first round. I don't know if they will be Euros or MLS guys, it depends on the schedules. But Arena has shown the inclination to gamble against weaker opponents in favor of keeping clubs happy (foreign ones anyway) and not pushing chronically injured players.

Second, nothing wrong with the lineups posted, but to show JOB playing centrally right behind the forwards is silly. He can't do it, won't do it. If he and Reyna are the central mids, they will play level, which plays to both their strengths better.

[Davids26]

Two things.

First, Arena may rest some players in the first round. I don't know if they will be Euros or MLS guys, it depends on the schedules. But Arena has shown the inclination to gamble against weaker opponents in favor of keeping clubs happy (foreign ones anyway) and not pushing chronically injured players.

Second, nothing wrong with the lineups posted, but to show JOB playing centrally right behind the forwards is silly. He can't do it, won't do it. If he and Reyna are the central mids, they will play level, which plays to both their strengths better.

If the object is to keep club coaches happy, we'd likely see most of our Euros brought in for the Grenada home and home series. Most, if not all Euro's will be on their break by then, and we'd have to call in a very small amount of MLS players. Besides, McBride and Mathis need to get their goal totals up anyways :)

FYI McBride needs one more to tie Joe-Max Moore for 2nd in career goals for the national team.

A euro roster (with MLSer's to plug the holes) could be

-------------Keller/Friedel/Howard
------Dolo--Berhalter--Boca--Vanney
----Donovan--Reyna---O'Brien---Lewis (if healthy)
---------McBride----------Mathis

There you'd only be starting one MLS player with Sanneh, Casey, and maybe a Wade Barrett (but I think the Danish league is in season then too, not even sure if he's still in the MNT Pool) coming off the bench. I doubt Bruce will do this though, he'll probably mix a few more MLSer's into the lineup (Pope, Beasley, Gibbs, Convey, Wolff).

Either way, we're not going to the Olympics or Copa America this summer, so MLS coaches won't have too much to complain about other than WCQing call ups...

[appoo]

appooOnU, I'll have to think about my 18, but I don't know how a seemingly in-form Mathis gets left off the US 18.
who's place does he take? Convey? Wolff? Eddie Lewis? Don't say Armas because he's our best defensive player out of the midfield and need him to protect an uncertain lead

[Martin Fischer]

who's place does he take? Convey? Wolff? Eddie Lewis? Don't say Armas because he's our best defensive player out of the midfield and need him to protect an uncertain lead

An in-form Mathis would replace Eddie Lewis.

Convey and JOB (if healthy) could cover for DMB.

[TAKK]

As long as no one starts Armas...last 10 minutes at best...all above rosters look fine.
Mathis over Lewis. JOB will not be healthy (just don't count on him ever...if he shows it's a bonus)
Bruce has stated that after failing miserably on his gamble in Mexico and Costa Rica last time around he WILL CALL IN ALL OF HIS BEST, ALL OF THE TIME, where ever they are playing. His words after the last WC.

[Atouk]

who's place does he take? Convey? Wolff? Eddie Lewis? Don't say Armas because he's our best defensive player out of the midfield and need him to protect an uncertain lead
An in-form Mathis would replace Eddie Lewis.

Convey and JOB (if healthy) could cover for DMB.Of appooOnU's 18, I'd say Casey, then Lewis, have the most tenuous holds on their positions, plus O'Brien (if he's not healthy). I'll drop O'Brien due to fitness issues and Casey, while adding Mathis and Sanneh (assuming he continues to regain fitness -- he played 35 or so minutes for his club today).

Casey showed well in one game. That might get him a call-up if one of the established forwards (McBride, Donovan, Mathis, Wolff) goes down, but will he get the call instead of one of those if they're all healthy and in reasonable form? Maybe against Grenada, but it'd be hard for me to leave any of those four off the roster if they're fit. I don't know if Casey doing well against Grenada tells you much and you can't afford for him to show poorly, so I don't know if I'd take him.

My 18 at the moment:

Goalkeepers
Kasey Keller
Brad Friedel

Defenders:
Eddie Pope
Carlos Bocanegra
Steve Cherundolo
Cory Gibbs
Greg Vanney

Defender/Midfielder:
Pablo Mastroeni
Bobby Convey
Tony Sanneh

Midfielders:
Claudio Reyna
DaMarcus Beasley
Chris Armas
Eddie Lewis

Midfielder/Forwards:
Landon Donovan
Clint Mathis

Forwards:
Brian McBride
Josh Wolff

Possible camp call-ins/replacements for above:
Chris Albright
Conor Casey
Chris Klein
Frankie Hejduk
Gregg Berhalter
Richard Mulrooney
Tim Howard

Training with the team to get fit (and on team if fit):
John O'Brien

First XI:

--------------------------Keller----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
----Cherundolo-------Pope-------Gibbs-------Bocanegra----
-----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------Reyna----------------------------
------Donovan-------------------------------Beasley-------
------------------------Mathis-----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Wolff-----------------McBride-------------
-----------------------------------------------------------

[braun]

Of appooOnU's 18, I'd say Casey, then Lewis, have the most tenuous holds on their positions, plus O'Brien (if he's not healthy). I'll drop O'Brien due to fitness issues and Casey, while adding Mathis and Sanneh (assuming he continues to regain fitness -- he played 35 or so minutes for his club today).

Casey showed well in one game. That might get him a call-up if one of the established forwards (McBride, Donovan, Mathis, Wolff) goes down, but will he get the call instead of one of those if they're all healthy and in reasonable form? Maybe against Grenada, but it'd be hard for me to leave any of those four off the roster if they're fit. I don't know if Casey doing well against Grenada tells you much and you can't afford for him to show poorly, so I don't know if I'd take him.

My 18 at the moment:

Goalkeepers
Kasey Keller
Brad Friedel

Defenders:
Eddie Pope
Carlos Bocanegra
Steve Cherundolo
Cory Gibbs
Greg Vanney

Defender/Midfielder:
Pablo Mastroeni
Bobby Convey
Tony Sanneh

Midfielders:
Claudio Reyna
DaMarcus Beasley
Chris Armas
Eddie Lewis

Midfielder/Forwards:
Landon Donovan
Clint Mathis

Forwards:
Brian McBride
Josh Wolff

Possible camp call-ins/replacements for above:
Chris Albright
Conor Casey
Chris Klein
Frankie Hejduk
Gregg Berhalter
Richard Mulrooney
Tim Howard

Training with the team to get fit (and on team if fit):
John O'Brien

First XI:

--------------------------Keller----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
----Cherundolo-------Pope-------Gibbs-------Bocanegra----
-----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------Reyna----------------------------
------Donovan-------------------------------Beasley-------
------------------------Mathis-----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Wolff-----------------McBride-------------
-----------------------------------------------------------

Keller? Not Friedel or Howard (even if he doesn't start again this season)?
Dolo? Not Sanneh if in form? Not Albright if Galaxy skyrocketing in MLS?
Don't count out Boca, Califf, Berhalter, or even Mastroeni as CB's!
Boca at LB? (Defense for Fulham has not shined recently). What about Vanney? (although he sits the bench a lot at Bastia).
Reyna? Will he be healthy? (idem, O'Brien). Is Mulrooney really out of the picture? Or, Armas?
Is Donovan a MF or a F? (idem, Mathis). Can Kirovski capture the withdrawn striker spot if he succeeds with the Galaxy?
McBride would have started vs Poland if he had not gotten a knock! Makes Casey's posssibility at the position is higher after his first cap and relatively good performance.
Wolff? Will he stay healthy? And is Twellman out of the picture for any reason?

It is really hard to predict the starting XI.

[willykirk]

Getting thru qualifying is all about your best 11 on any given day. The Bruce will bring all the euros over every chance he gets (i.e. no conflict, and even if there are some) and everybody who busts his tail every chance he gets and shows something. I'm excited about Casey--I thought he looked good for almost the whole game against Polska--I thought his control and first touch were great and physical! Did everyone see the lick he layed on Jersey Dudek?!?! Just awesome--and a step sooner he might've scored. guys like this in the wings are good signs of things to come and over 18 months they'll get there chances. The Bruce has done a good job of letting everybody know you earn your spot every time....

[Autogolazo]

1. Bruce will never let any MLS coach get in his way of picking players for do-or-die matches. MLS wouldn't want it, either, they want their players succeeding at the international level, even against Grenada. They want to be able to post "Beasley hattrick" on their site, etc.

2. The biggest questions are health of JOB and Sanneh, and the Gibbs/Berhalter thing. Will Cory have shown enough by then, or will his play get swallowed up in the Burn's general suckiness? I'm just not a Cherundolo believer, either. Tony looked good against Holland, so here's what I think Bruce'll do...

Keller
Sanneh Pope Berhalter Bocanegra
Reyna
Convey Beasley
Mathis
Donovan McBride

[Atouk]

Dolo? Not Sanneh if in form?Some of your comments seemed to directly apply to my post and some were more general. I'll address a few. Yes, I'd generally start Sanneh over Cherundolo if the Big Cat is in form (although it might depend on the matchup).
Keller? Not Friedel or Howard (even if he doesn't start again this season)?
And, yes, I'm of the group that thinks Keller is, and has been for several years, the best US keeper by just a bit. That being said, I wouldn't mind starting any of a half dozen US keepers against Grenada.
And is Twellman out of the picture for any reason?
Twellman is only out of the picture insofar as I rate him behind those listed who are similar to him. I should have had him on my "edge" list but it was getting big.
Boca at LB? (Defense for Fulham has not shined recently).In my mind, Boca plays -- period. The form of Gibbs, Vanney, and others will probably determine where.
Don't count out Boca, Califf, Berhalter, or even Mastroeni as CB's!

I'm certainly not counting out Berhalter or Mastroeni. Mastroeni is in my 18 and Berhalter is the first central defender on the outside. I haven't written off Califf for future use, but I think he's behind Pope/Boca/Gibbs/Mastro/Berhalter at center back and we won't often go to #6 (if he's that).
Reyna? Will he be healthy? (idem, O'Brien). Is Mulrooney really out of the picture? Or, Armas?
Armas isn't out of the picture, he's on my team. Mulrooney is probably next in line at that position. If Reyna moves into that position, those two get pushed down a rung, that's all. Reyna's better. As for whether he's healthy or not, he played for the US on 3/31 and for Man City on 4/4. He's had groin issues since, but trained with his club last week before sitting out. Having played in 27 matches (in all competitions) for Man City this year, he's clearly much more fit than O'Brien, so I penciled him in.

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=195586&Title=REYNA+REMAINS+A+DOUBTIt is really hard to predict the starting XI.No kidding!

[m vann]

Here's me $.02:

GK: (2) that's all I'm gonna say
DF: (5) Cherundolo, Gibbs, Pope, Berhalter, Bocanegra
DF/MF:(1) Mastroeni
MF: (5) O'Brien, Beasley, Reyna, Convey, Lewis
MF/FW:(2) Mathis, Donovan
FW: (3) Casey, Wolff, McBride,

Possibilites: Vanney, Klein, Sanneh, Mulrooney, Twellman, Buddle, Martino, & Ralston

[m vann]

BTW, I have no idea how :( got there!!!

[SamsArmySam]

My 18 at the moment:

Goalkeepers
Kasey Keller
Brad Friedel

Defenders:
Eddie Pope
Carlos Bocanegra
Steve Cherundolo
Cory Gibbs
Greg Vanney

Defender/Midfielder:
Pablo Mastroeni
Bobby Convey
Tony Sanneh

Midfielders:
Claudio Reyna
DaMarcus Beasley
Chris Armas
Eddie Lewis

Midfielder/Forwards:
Landon Donovan
Clint Mathis

Forwards:
Brian McBride
Josh Wolff


Well done.

Only change to the lineup I bet we see is the inclusion of Hejduk instead of Sanneh. Two months isn't enough time for Sanneh to be back in international form. And the stakes are too high. That points to the tried and true. For Arena that points to Hejduk. Hejduk is our utility fullback. We've seen he can cover outside left and outside right. And he often brings his A game and surprises the hell out of all of us when it matters most. WC98. WC02.

Here's to hoping that Dolo and Boca/Vanney are in stellar form, but I for one won't be too upset if Hejduk takes the field.

[E Diddy]

My 18 for the FIRST ROUND ONLY:

GK: Friedel, Keller
Defenders: Dolo, Gibbs, Pope, Boca, Mastro, Berhalter, Vanney
Midfielders: LD, Convey, Reyna, Martino, Mathis, DMB
Forwards: Casey, McBride, Wolff

--------------------Friedel-------------------------
------Gibbs----------Pope-------------Boca--------
-------------Reyna--------Convey-----------------
LD---------------------------------------------DMB
--------------------Mathis-------------------------
-------------Wolff-----------Casey----------------

Subs: Mastro for Gibbs (70)
Martino on at LCM for Convey, who moves up to AM, Mathis out (70)
McBride for Casey (70)

5-0 USMNT

[Nutmeg]

Goalkeepers(2)
Brad Freidel
Kasey Keller

Defenders(6)
Eddie Pope
Carlos Bocanegra
John O'Brien
Pablo Mastroeni
Steve Cherundolo
Chris Albright

Midfielders(6)
Claudio Reyna
DaMarcus Beasley
Bobby Convey
Clint Mathis
Chris Klein
Richard Mulrooney


Forwards(2)
Josh Wolff
Landon Donovan

Strikers(2)
Brian McBride
Conor Casey



--------------------------Freidel---------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
----Cherundolo-------Pope-------Bocanegra-------O'brien---
-----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------Reyna----------------------------
------Klein-----------------------------------Beasley-------
------------------------Convey-----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Donovan----------------McBride-----------
-----------------------------------------------------------

If everyone were healthy and available, that's how my roster would look right now. I have nothing against Eddie Lewis, but the fact is this roster has 3 guys who are as good or better than him in the same position - O'brien, Beasley, and Convey. Good luck, Eddie.

I start JOB at Left Back, but if he's needed in midfield, then Boca slides over and Pablo stands in alongside Pope.

The key to making my 18-man roster is versatility. You never know what might happen. The more versatile you are, the better your chances of getting on the roster. That leaves one-trick ponies like Armas at home. Nice to have when the roster is 23 men, but too expensive when the roster sits at 18. Same goes for Lewis. Gibbs is versatile, but there is solid cover at the two positions where he is best suited - Central Defense and Left Back.

As always, the biggest question mark on the roster is right midfielder. Neither Mullan or Ralston have looked good enough in MLS so far to consider on this list. Believe it or not, I might take a look at Noonan at that spot. Sanneh is nowhere near, IMO, where he needs to be, and Albright has looked promising at RB.

[appoo]

As always, the biggest question mark on the roster is right midfielder. Neither Mullan or Ralston have looked good enough in MLS so far to consider on this list. Believe it or not, I might take a look at Noonan at that spot. Sanneh is nowhere near, IMO, where he needs to be, and Albright has looked promising at RB.
agreed.

But why didn't you slide Donovan back into the midfield and start Wolff? I'm of the opinion that Wolff is a better pure striker than Donovan is anyway.

[Martin Fischer]

...
--------------------------Freidel---------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
----Cherundolo-------Pope-------Bocanegra-------O'brien---
-----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------Reyna----------------------------
------Klein-----------------------------------Beasley-------
------------------------Convey-----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Donovan----------------McBride-----------
-----------------------------------------------------------

....

I have argued often for the JOB at left back experiement. But playing Chris Klein at right midfield is too much for me -- he just is not on the same level as everybody else. The only way I play JOB in the back is if I team Reyna with a pure dmid.

So I would go for shoring up the defense by moving JOB to play alongside Reyna behind Convey and Beasley, and insert Gibbs (why is he not on your roster?) in the center moving Boca out wide. Obviously no right mid, but the whole reason to play Dolo is because he can get forward, and with Gibbs, Pope and Boca, there are three fast and strong defenders who can cover.