11 most hopeful players

[jmeissen0]

what 11 players (does not have to be a team at all... just 11 players) do you think have the most potential to become something great for the national team in future world cups


my list (in no order):

-landon donovan
-damarcus beasely
-tim howard
-john o'brien
-freddie adu
-conor casey
-clint mathis
-kyle martino
-santino quaranta
-bobby convey
-taylor twellman

[jmeissen0]

not so good that i don't list any defenders... but i suppose it's better than having a list comprised entirely of defenders

[Preston North End]

Ryan Suarez (MLS)
Carlos Bocanegra (MLS)
Cory Gibbs (Germany D1 & D2)
Eddie Pope (MLS)
Oguchi Onyewu (France D2)
Danny Califf (MLS)
Nick Garcia (MLS)
Kelly Gray (MLS)
Wade Barrett (MLS)
Steve Cherundolo (Germany D2 & D1)
Chris Gbandi (MLS)*
Brandon Prideaux (MLS)
Tony Sanneh (Germany D1)
Jose Burciaga (MLS)

*Needs U.S. citizenship, IIRC.

Want some defensive minded or holding midfielders?

Pablo Mastroeni (MLS)
Jordan Stone (MLS)
Richard Mulrooney (MLS)
John O'Brien (Dutch D1) - he is not an attacking mid
Francisco Gomez (MLS) - he is not an attacking mid
Ross Paule (MLS)
Miguel Saavedra (MLS)

I've only listed players that will have played first divsion soccer last year-2001, this year-2002, or next year-2003 (without speculation on players turning pro for next year). Until a player that is not in a pro first division, he will find it very hard to get into the USNT set-up. And then they need to playing, though not starting, in some games.

The U.S. has one of the better defenses (USA, CAN, MEX) in CONCACAF. I think the defense played well overall in the last World Cup, which reflects our ranking in our region.

MLS, which is an attacking league, will continue to help the above players - except for the players overseas - become better defenders over the next two or three years.

Come 2005-06 these players - or others - will be ready.

[USARising17]

I think Saavedra is Bolivian, but I could be wrong...

[Colin Grabow]

Saavedra played with the U-20s over the weekend.

[Martin Fischer]

In the category of it's a free country, my list of 11 players who I think are most likely to make a serious contribution to the USMNT in 2006 but who have not yet seen action in serious (qualifiers or the World Cup) matches for the USMNT.

Tim Howard
Chris Gbandi
Oguchi Onyewu
Ryan Suarez
Carlos Bocanegra
Kelly Gray
Jordan Stone
Bobby Convey
Freddy Adu
Santiago Quarenta
Taylor Twellman

[Colin Grabow]

Grover Gibson.

[Davids26]

Preston are you sure about Gbandi needing citizenship? The Burn's website says he is a citizen. Not saying that they aren't wrong, but I wouldn't think that they are.

[JoBeck]

Michael Ricketts... oh wait...

[thacharger]

I still dont see Adu being on the 2006 World Cup roster? How old will he be in 2006? 23? Just kidding. I guess he will be 16 or 17, not entirley out of the question.

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by Martin Fischer
In the category of it's a free country, my list of 11 players who I think are most likely to make a serious contribution to the USMNT in 2006 but who have not yet seen action in serious (qualifiers or the World Cup) matches for the USMNT.

Tim Howard
Chris Gbandi
Oguchi Onyewu
Ryan Suarez
Carlos Bocanegra
Kelly Gray
Jordan Stone
Bobby Convey
Freddy Adu
Santiago Quarenta
Taylor Twellman

Way to go Martin..

That is exactly my list of 11......

[Jose L. Couso]

Ben Olsen

[russ]

Alexi Lalas :)









Ok,OK,Josh Woolf.

[Rocket]

Originally posted by Davids26
Preston are you sure about Gbandi needing citizenship? The Burn's website says he is a citizen. Not saying that they aren't wrong, but I wouldn't think that they are.
The Burn's site has stated that Gbandi's a U.S. citizen since the day he became a member of the Burn.

However, shortly after he was drafted, Gbandi stated in an interview at www.3rddegree.net that he was still a Liberian citizen.

Since the local papers haven't mentioned Chris obtaining U.S. citizenship, I'd imagine he still has Liberian citizenship.

I'll try to track Gbandi down after Sat.'s game and find out from the man himself what his citizenship status is.

[jmeissen0]

Originally posted by thacharger
I still dont see Adu being on the 2006 World Cup roster? How old will he be in 2006? 23? Just kidding. I guess he will be 16 or 17, not entirley out of the question.


i wasn't referring to just 2006

adu was someone i listed more for after that one

someone listed pope and i found that a bit hard to swallow

[Jerlon]

My 11 most promising for the USA

Tim Howard
Taylor Twellman
Landon (lets go with this name, nicknames are sticky)
Pablo Mastroeni
John O'Brien
Clint Mathis
Demarcus Beasley
Ryan Suarez
Freddy Adu
Joe Cannon
Tony Sanneh

[Bruce S]

gotta get Chris Klein on the list . He is playing fantastic soccer right now, even if he killed the Revs.

[Delta Blues]

Isn't it mind-blowing that the next generation looks to have a huge amount of upside over the current squad? Not many countries that have a competive soccer team can boast about such an increase over the next 5-10 years. We really are just scratching the surface. I'm really excited for the future. 2006 may not be as succesful as 2002, but I think from 2010 on we'll be a force to be reckoned with.

[Haus Bilas]

Surprisingly nobody's mentioned Jeff Agoos...

He just won't go away...

[soccer16-21]

landon donovan
ian russell
tim howard
steve jolley
brian mcbride
clint mathis
cobie jones
tony sanneh
ariel graziani
john o'brien
jeff agoos