USA Squad v Wales

[Chester FC]

Don't know what to make of that roster . . .

[moorland]

CJ Brown is odd. Why would he be called up and miss next Chicago's game?

[voros]

Originally posted by Ritik Dholakia
http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=35812

for what it's worth...

sorry for formatting, posting from shite computer in London...

Agoos, Jeff D 5'10" 175 05/02/68 133/4 Dallas, Texas San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Brown, C.J. D 6'0" 185 06/15/75 14/0 Hayward, Calif. Chicago Fire (MLS)
Cannon, Joe GK 6’2” 190 01/01/75 0/0 Los Altos Hills, Calif. RC Lens (France)
Ching, Brian F 6’1” 195 05/24/78 0/0 Haleiwa, Hawaii San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Convey, Bobby M 5'8" 150 05/27/83 8/0 Philadelphia, Pa. D.C. United (MLS)
Corrales, Ramiro M 6’0” 180 03/12/77 0/0 Salinas, Calif. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Donovan, Landon F 5'8" 148 03/04/82 34/8 Redlands, Calif. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Eskandarian, Alecko F 5’9” 165 07/09/82 0/0 Montvale, N.J. D.C. United (MLS)
Kirovski, Jovan F 6'1" 175 03/18/76 55/8 Escondido, Calif. Birmingham City (England)
Lewis, Eddie M 5'10" 155 05/17/74 43/3 Cerritos, Calif. Preston North End (England)
Mulrooney, Richard M/D 5'9" 160 11/03/76 6/0 Memphis, Tenn. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Olsen, Ben M 5'8" 140 05/03/77 22/4 Middletown, Pa. D.C. United (MLS)
Petke, Mike D 6'2" 185 01/30/76 1/0 Bohemia, N.Y. D.C. United (MLS)
Reyna, Claudio M 5'9" 160 07/20/73 92/8 Springfield, N.J. Sunderland (England)
Rimando, Nick GK 5'11" 181 06/17/79 2/0 Montclair, Calif. D.C. United (MLS)
Stewart, Earnie M/F 5'9" 145 03/28/69 86/15 Point Arena, Calif. D.C. United (MLS)
Vanney, Greg D 5'11" 169 06/11/74 18/0 Tempe, Ariz. F.C. Bastia (France)
Holy crap, am I good or what? Only two I missed were Eskandarian and Reyna. I even got C.J. Brown right as the lone non-SJ or DC MLSer.

Is Reyna actually gonna try and play or is he just in camp? Eskandarian? I'd say Dunivant's earned more of a call uo than Alecko. Granted Bruce didn't have a whole bunch of Forwards available to him. I suppose Eskandarian is Quaranta's replacement. Good enough.

[voros]

Originally posted by moorland
CJ Brown is odd. Why would he be called up and miss next Chicago's game?
He picked up a red (two yellows) on Saturday and is suspended for the Fire's next game. Hence, he's available.

[mundial]

If Brown got booked twice Saturday night, he's suspended and would miss Chicago's next game anyway.

Bruce didn't want to upset MLS teams who are already going to be missing players for Gold and Confed cup, so he brought in available players and has enough to have a solid nucleus of actual players and give some fringe players a look. Funny that Arena is giving Eskandarian more of a look than Hudson...

[jeff_adams]

Is Reyna anywhere near healthy enough to be on the field?

Esky? The guy isn't even a starter in MLS for God's sake.

[mundial]

Who would you call in? Piss off MLS teams for some meaningless friendly against Wales' reserves? He's probably not going to play.

What's scary to me is the defense. This is a group of guys, with the exception of Mulroney, who basically weren't supposed to be part of the plans anymore.

Brown's last cap was nearly three years ago.
Petke's only cap was nearly two years ago.
Agoos' last cap was in the World Cup (although he did score)
Vanney's last cap was prior to the Cup (though admittedly he has been over in Europe and might have come to K/J instead of Cherundolo had he been healthy.)

We might see something like this

Cannon/Rimando
Petke-Agoos-Vanney
Olsen-Stewart-Mulrooney-Convey-Lewis
Donovan-Kirovski

With Mulrooney behind Stewart and Convey in the MF and Kirovski playing withdrawn and Donovan given free reign to run and score. Dangerously close to a 3-6-1?

Nick

[fidlerre]

this was the perfect time to bring in freddy! where the hell is freddy!?!?

[RobtheAggie]

Originally posted by fatmaradona
we know no giggs, what about the rest of the team? Savage? Hartson? Bellamy?

No Hartson, he is out with an injury that will keep him out of the UEFA Cup Final. If he is not going to play in that, there is now way he would fly to SJ for a friendly with the US.

[Scrandal]

Observations and comments

Bruce has stated-somewhere but I forget the source-Reyna is in camp for the training. Whether he gets any minutes versus New Zealand will be the determining factor whether he plays in the confed cup.

Rimando is crap..I'm sorry perhaps he plays better against teams without the initials KC. I'd really like to see Marcus...he deserves the callup with a great year. In fact Marcus deserves to be a backup in France.

3-5-2 definitely in the plans here. Unless Convey goes back to the left back and Lewis plays in front of him. Petke or Mulrooney can play in the back at outside right. Corrales is really worth a look but where?

I suppose it wasn't right to call in Cherondolo, Gregg, or Gibbs from their last games of the season for a long trip. I imagine these guys are what delayed the announcement of the roster-Bruce probably wanted a couple and it didn't work out.

Olsen gets one more chance in the midfield to show whether he has got it. Stewart and Mulrooney will be a hell of a hard working, tough central midfield.

Same thing for Kiroviski with respect to a last chance for the confed cup. Bruce is just grooming Eske like he does to other young guys.

This game is all about player analysis, NZ will be all about putting together the best squad for the tourney.

[Casper]

I think the selection process was pretty simple:

Call in Euro guys near the top of the list who are eager for some PT, whose seasons are over, and who want to audition for spots on the Confed Cup / Gold Cup (or both rosters).

This explains Reyna, Lewis, Kirovski, Cannon and Vanney - four of those five have barely been seeing time, and all of their teams are on hiatus.

Second, call in MLS guys who are in the Nat pool or near the nat pool from the two teams that don't have games this weekend, DC and SJ.

Third, since CJ has was suspended this weekend, hasn't had much of a look in camp for a while, and this team is a little thin in back (after Petke and Vanney, are you jamming Reyna and/or Mulrooney back there?), he's a good fit.

Strange way to put a national team together, but it's extremely rational.

This is a great opportunity for a lot of these guys - I hope they all take advantage.

Amazingly, come _really_ important games like WCQ matches, only Donovan off of this squad is a sure starter, with Reyna (depending on health and desire) and Convey strong possibilities.

My analysis:

The "first" team:
Convey
Donovan
Lewis
Reyna

The "half-tribute, half trying to prove we should still be considered first-string" team:
Agoos
Stewart

The "trying to play my way into the primary pool" team
Brown, C.J.
Kirovski
Mulrooney
Olsen
Petke
Rimando
Vanney (may be a little harsh)

The "well-earned first look" team:
Cannon
Corrales

The "hot prospect" team:
Ching (not that young, but neither is Eski)
Eskandarian


Considering the constraints Bruce imposed on himself, I'm not sure how many quibbles we can have with this roster - guys in Germany still have a game left, the England-based goalies probably wanted the rest, Quaranta probably would have been on the list but for injury, Ajax is still fighting for the league title, leading to no JOB, and I don't think the other Euro-based guys have proven enough ... who else do you want? Prideaux? Dunivant? Dayak?

[lurking]

Originally posted by Casper
who else do you want? Prideaux? Dunivant? Dayak?

Dayak is out, so hes a no go, although Id take him before CJ Brown if he was healthy. Dunivant... well if your going to take Eskandarian I dont see why you dont upgrade to an 18 man squad and take a look at Dunivant too, but then again the only reason I can see Bruce taking Eskandarian is to fill out the numbers, so not a huge complaint I guess.

[CbR]

saveing ricardo clark for some real competition ah?

[banbaseball]

this is the weirdest line-up i've ever seen. i have no idea what il bruce is thinking, but then again that's why i'm not a gaffer.

[Casper]

Originally posted by banbaseball
this is the weirdest line-up i've ever seen. i have no idea what il bruce is thinking, but then again that's why i'm not a gaffer.

Several of us have tried to outline pretty precisely the thought process; you're failing as a reader - cheer up, you may still make a great coach.

[GoDC]

Is this a real kick in the crotch to Ryan Suarez?? He got red carded also so would be available this weekend and CJ gets the call over him!!!

[Scotty]

How did Twellman manage to miss out on a call-up?

[Casper]

Originally posted by GoDC
Is this a real kick in the crotch to Ryan Suarez?? He got red carded also so would be available this weekend and CJ gets the call over him!!!

Not necessarily. He isn't yet cap-tied to either the US or Uruguay, and although this game wouldn't cap-tie him, he and Bruce may be deferring a decision on whether he should commit himself to the US long-term or not.

[fidlerre]

Originally posted by Scotty
How did Twellman manage to miss out on a call-up?

holy crap! does anyone read the threads they post in?

Bruce didn't want to upset MLS teams who are already going to be missing players for Gold and Confed cup, so he brought in available players <those who don't play mls games this weekend> and has enough to have a solid nucleus of actual players and give some fringe players a look.

hence twellman was not called in...new england has a game this weekend in columbus.

[robviii]

Originally posted by voros
Bruce has been open about Suarez not figuring into his plans

When?

The only comment I ever read was when he called Suarez a "tweener." He also called Donovan a "tweener" early in his Nats career.