The Bruce on Roster selections

[fighton2000]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=345805&root=us&cc=5901
Interesting article Which players are locks regardless of injury?(barring of course catastrophic injuries like got his leg bit off by a tiger, head fell off, skeleton tries to jump out of body...etc.)

[fighton2000]

if eddie johnson is only a maybe and doesn't play till may or june do you take him

[lobtuf]

if he's fully fit, I'd probably take him

but that is based upon the current striker pool not improving much between now and then

If Twellman had a proverbial monkey on his back and it's now gone and he starts scoring goals by the boatload then I would have to reassess.

[ursula]

if eddie johnson is only a maybe and doesn't play till may or june do you take him


You'd have to say "no" unless he shows he both has the touch all the way back and shows that he's fully fit: i.e. ready to run like a banshee for 90 minutes.

This question, and the answer are derived from the article which has several interesting quotes and insights. Among them:

Nor will Arena necessarily select the best U.S. players for the World Cup.

We here tend to get caught up with who's the best player on paper, or who's better in MLS, but Arena has to look beyond that and see who's performing well with his other players. Big difference.

[lmorin]

Another way to pose the injury question is to ask whether, at the World Cup level, a 95% (or a 90, 85, etc.%) Eddie Johnson would be an asset or a debit on the team. Same goes for every other player. I submit that there are very, very few players who are of any value to the team if they are not at 98-99% of their best level (see Ronaldo in France '98). It also helps to have a few like Sanneh who played about 120% of his best.

[Adam Zebrowski]

with and entire off season, i do suspect ej will come to camp january 4th, close to 100% recovered from his injury....

now whether his foot woes are chronic in the van basten model, who knows...

I think arena has his forward list of mcbride, ching, johnson and them it's up in the air, for the 2nd speed slot.....

donovan or beasley as forwards seems more likely to me, than another speed guy emerging....

and GAM would need to be hurt in april of 2006, or show mediocre form in the friendlies and early mls to get dropped....

I think it's 90% likely ej makes the roster

[swedust]

So we're going to need cryogenic freezing to keep JOB from picking up an injury before the tournament.

Eddie Johnson coming up lame might be just the fire under Ching/Twellman/Wolff/etc. collective asses to make our striker pool have some zing. Even if it's GAM in the end who goes, but has to work harder to make the cut based on other guys.

What about Reyna: what % of fitness would he have to drop below to not be worth taking? 70%?

[SUSIE-Q]

if eddie johnson is only a maybe and doesn't play till may or june do you take him

i don't understand this guy's injury, it's just a little tiny injury but, takes almost the whole season...maybe he has diabetes.

[Sandon Mibut]

i don't understand this guy's injury, it's just a little tiny injury but, takes almost the whole season...That's the thing with a toe injury like that. It's not that serious but it's quite painful and thus can be very limiting.

Nothing dramatic to cure it, just rest. It's just a matter of how much rest each person needs.

[Maldini#3]

Donovan and Beasley at the forward spot? Uh ... on a full-strength (and healthy) side, Johnson and McBride should be up front with Beasley and Donovan on the wings with O'Brien and Reyna controlling the middle. DaMarcus Beasley is best when playing on the wing. He's fast and has pretty good control of the ball. Donovan plays up front for club (should be playing in Europe but I digress) but is more effective in a supporting attacker role for the national team. Just look at all the chances he couldn't put away in this WCQ campaign ... and a few of those were gifts.

[fighton2000]

does anyone that's currently off the radar make it on jan. camp and friendlies alone what would they have to do .. people like Herculez and others

[lobtuf]

give Bruce free liposuction

[Indiana Jones]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=345805&root=us&cc=5901
Interesting article Which players are locks regardless of injury?(barring of course catastrophic injuries like got his leg bit off by a tiger, head fell off, skeleton tries to jump out of body...etc.)

The article clearly shows why truculent players like Mathis and Buddle are off the radar screen.........

[ursula]

does anyone that's currently off the radar make it on jan. camp and friendlies alone what would they have to do .. people like Herculez and others



It's gonna be real difficult for any player who hasn't played yet to give such a good showing this winter and spring that Arena would take them over a more experienced player. For example, take Gomez. In the winter camp he can show that he belongs, that he's just as good as Wolff or Twellman, but Arena is gonna select one of the later two for Germany simply because they've played in more high pressured international games (particularly Wolff). So Gomez will have to stand head and shoulders above his competition.

The same is true for other marginal non-capped players.

[goussoccer]

if eddie johnson is only a maybe and doesn't play till may or june do you take him

I think Bruce answered this - 'no'. His statements seemed to indicate that durability was very important at the WC, if Eddie is out until May, that means he has less than a month to get in shape, and prove that he is fully healed and functional. I would doubt it greatly. The ONLY way is if the other forwards totally bomb out...(which some on BS expect).

[GRUNT]

It's gonna be real difficult for any player who hasn't played yet to give such a good showing this winter and spring that Arena would take them over a more experienced player. For example, take Gomez. In the winter camp he can show that he belongs, that he's just as good as Wolff or Twellman, but Arena is gonna select one of the later two for Germany simply because they've played in more high pressured international games (particularly Wolff). So Gomez will have to stand head and shoulders above his competition.

The same is true for other marginal non-capped players.

I have a hard time criticizing Arena for his choices, because I have great respect for what he's accomplished -- not to mention, I'm only a BU-10 coach, so what do I know :o -- but I just don't get why he couldn't have been a lot more experimental in the CR and Panama matches, at the very least by calling someone like Gomez into camp.

[roachboy]

[QUOTE=ursula]You'd have to say "no" unless he shows he both has the touch all the way back and shows that he's fully fit: i.e. ready to run like a banshee for 90 minutes.

QUOTE]

Sorry, don't want to sound like a pedantic wanker (but I am, so I'll carry on), but the banshee is an Irish mythological harbinger of death who comes at night to wail outside the houses of dying noblemen. She does not run anywhere.

Sorry to single you out, I just notice a lot of missunderstanding on the boards about banshees.

Can anyone spot the uptight Irish guy with a taste for celtic mythology?! :D

:o

[Adam Zebrowski]

i think we need to wait till january to get a look at gomez....

cr and panama, basically clark was the new guy, with another look at spector...

bringing in too many new guys for a limited camp, when you have other priorities, just doesn't seem effective to me...

january is extended, and will allow time for a better overall evaluation....

[rollo]

The 2002 World Cup was also a major learning experience. Arena revealed that the U.S. changed tactics during the tournament, reacting to injuries, especially on the back line, and it is something he will concentrate on avoiding this time.
"We played three backs in the last games of the [2002] World Cup and the reason was because of injuries," Arena said. "We started with eight backs. This time around we've got to have healthy bodies. If someone gets injured in April we may have to leave them off the roster. We've learned from experience."

Is this an indictment of the 3-back experiments?? If so then the recent Costa Rica game was also because of a lack of backs? I'm confused..... It seems that despite these sentiments, Arena may still be trying to keep the 3-5-2/5-3-2 as an option for special situations though its probably clear that given the 4-4-2 is his formation of choice.

R