Midfield is the strength of our program right now and we should move forward with a 5-man midfield in mind. Here's my preliminary 30-man roster. Goalkeeper 1. Tim Howard - Self-explanatory. 2. Brad Guzan - The only thing holding him back is Tim Howard. 3. Dominic Cervi - #3 GK is a crapshoot and the least important spot on the team. Cervi, being younger would seem to have more long-term upside than Yelldell or Rimando. Fullbacks 4. Eric Lichaj (LB) - Barring injury, he seems to have punched his ticket for Brazil and Russia. 5. Tim Chandler (RB) 6. Steve Cherundolo (RB) - Has a chance if he can stay healthy. With Lichaj on the left, there is less pressure on him to play end-to-end on the right. 7. Jonathan Bornstein (LB) - The national hero of Honduras is still young enough to have an impact... and Bob loves the guy. He puts nation before club. 8. Sean Franklin (RB) - Not as good as Chandler, but is very athletic and can play a similar style in joining the attack upfield. Needs to face a higher level of competition to develop his defensive game. Center backs 9. Clarence Goodson - With Bocanegra aging and Onyewu's body breaking down, Goodson will have to provide leadership and experience on the back line. 10. Omar Gonzalez - Has the physical tools to succed but needs to move out of MLS. 11. Tim Ream - Looked horribly raw in the Gold Cup. Needs a lot of work and has to leave New York to get it. 12. Gale Agbossoumonde - Very young; pure potential. Midfielders 13. Stuart Holden - Our most creative offensive player and best option on set pieces. 14. Landon Donovan - Self-explanatory. 15. Clint Dempsey - Versatility and passion will keep him in the mix as he ages. 16. Michael Bradley - As long as Bob is coaching, Mike is automatic. 17. Jermaine Jones - Bit of a late bloomer, but he has been our best player this Gold Cup. If healthy, he is a vital part of defensive gameplans. 18. Maurice Edu - Nobody else in the midfield pool can provide a change of pace and spark off the bench like Mo. Would like to see him out of Scotland and into a more competitive situation. 19. Alejandro Bedoya - Really like his energy. 20. Benny Feilhaber - A great decision-maker who will have to fight for the spot to play in the nation of his birt. 21. Mikkel Diskerud - Lots of potential. 22. Joseph Gyau - Potential 23. Sacha Kljestan - Would not be on here if not for his solid play in the Gold Cup. 24. Jose Francisco Torres - Not as athletic as his competition; he will have to prove his worth as a smart, creative player. 25. Sebastian Lletget - Potential. Forwards 26. Jozy Altidore - Still our best option but that can change real fast (like in the next two games) 27. Juan Agudelo - Needs more playing time with club. 28. Teal Bunbury - Has been ineffective in MLS 29. Charlie Davies - Has to work on regaining his form. 30. Jerome Kiesewetter - Longshot, but what the hell... German-borns have been working out well. If they're good enough, MLS midfielders and forwards can get by with their talent (Donovan, Agudelo). However, the mental aspect of the defensive game is different. Defensive players will not improve by playing in MLS; they must get solid experience against strong, cohesive attacking units, and that can only come in Europe. If Gonzalez, Bornstein, Ream and Franklin are stuck in MLS two years from now, we need to explore other options.
I'm going to go with something like this. GK: Howard, Guzan, MacMath LB: Lichaj, Shea CB: Goodson, Bocanegra CB: Ream, Agbossoumonde RB: Chandler, Kitchen AM: Donovan, Bedoya CM: Jones, Edu CM: Bradley, Diskerud AM: Holden, Feilhaber FW: Agudelo, Altidore FW: Dempsey, Gyau Super meh on the CBs. Love the attacking mids though.
Overall a pretty good list. Certainly a few position/people are crapshoots at this point in the cycle. I am not sure that I agree with your comments re: MLS or other leagues. What a player needs is playing time and a team committed to his growth. Moves out of MLS have been bad for some people (Adu, Altidore) to name but a few. They probably would have had better growth in MLS. That said, there lack of playing time was probably not only their fault but also do to changes at the club situation. I want our guys to be in stable club situation where they get plenty of PT. Obviously, you would rather have them in higher leagues (La Liga, Serie A) rather than lower ones but league strength is not the end all be all. Overall though a good list.
Anyone care to amend their list to include Fredito? Here is my list (with ages in June 2014 in parens): Forwards: Altidore (24), Agudelo (21), Adu(25), Buddle(33) Attacking mids: Donovan(32), Dempsey(31), Bedoya(27), Shea(24), Mix(23) Holding mids: Holden(28), Bradley(26), Jones(32), Edu(28) Fullbacks: Chandler(24), Lichaj(24), Bornstein(29) Centerbacks: Goodson(32), Gonzalez(25), Ream(26), John(27) Goalies: Howard(35), Guzan(29), Hamid(23) Last cuts: Torres(25), Convey(31), Agbossoumonde(22), Rimando(35)
I was referring mainly to defensive players. Adu and Altidore are offensive players who could have used more time stateside to mature before chasing European glory. I don't think anybody believes that it would be better for us if Lichaj, Goodson or Bocanegra were in MLS.
If the USA morphs into a 4-5-1, you have to think of 10 midfielders, of which at least two are pure CAMs. I can also see the two DMs/CMs shifting more to a pure DM and a pure B2B CM. ----------------------Guzan/Cervi/Johnson----------------------- Chandler/Spector---Goodson/Gale---Gonzo/Ream---Lichaj/Bornstein --------------------Mike/Edu----Holden/Diskerud----------------- Bedoya/Bunbury----------Adu/Sacha----------------Shea/Starikov -----------------------Agudelo/Altidore-------------------------- Expecting: - Spector going back to RB, after some trials in CM/RM. - Sacha becoming more a full CAM. - Bunbury adjusting to a winger position (it's happening). - Agudelo becoming greater than Altidore. - Starikov and Chandler sticking to the USA. This is the 23 I expect more for the 2014/2018 transition, but I'm putting them out there, thinking of a young team, young enough for 2014 and even after.
People with knowledge of Bornstein's past/current club play: Any chance we see him move to play CB? I feel like people have mentioned it in the past and he would add some quickness to partner Goodson. He gave a good account of himself in the WC and is widely hated on BigSoccer--surely a sign of quality.
Does anyone know the status of Danny Mwanga's pursuit of citizenship? At one point, he was said to be in line for it this summer (I recall a discussion or two about whether he would have it in time for the Gold Cup). Mwanga is roughly between the ages of Agudelo and Bunbury, and he is actually producing more in MLS (11 career goals in 37 matches, compared to 13/2 for Agudelo and 39/8 for Bunbury). Teal has stagnated this year, Mwanga's improving even in a crowded forward pack at Philadelphia.
I don't know that Teal stagnated. He scored two high quality goals in week 3 and was very dangerous up until then. It's almost like he woke up and forgot how to play one day. All of a sudden can't pass, not just missing, but by a lot - just strange. Part Vermes fault, part yips to me. CJ Sapong though is looking like a CF for the future. Hopefully his game continues to progress. He wins balls up top that I'm not sure any other player in MLS could win. Freakishly athletic.
Goalkeepers(3): Tim Howard Brad Guzan Bill Hamid Defenders(7): Timothy Chandler Eric Lichaj Omar Gonzalez Jeff Larentowicz Zak Whitbread Tim Ream Jonathan Bornstein Midfielders(9): Michael Bradley Jermaine Jones Maurice Edu Sacha Kljestan Landon Donovan Clint Dempsey Brek Shea Joseph Gyau Stuart Holden Forwards(4): Freddy Adu Jozy Altidore Juan Agudelo Eugene Starikov Starting Lineup (4-6-0 ish): ---------------------Howard--------------------- Chandler--Larentowicz--Gonzalez--Bornstein ----------------------Edu----------------------- --------------Holden------Bradley------------- ------------------------------------------------- Gyau-------------------------Altidore--------- ------------------Dempsey------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------
How does Larentowicz become a WC starter at age 30? How many actual central defenders do we burn through to get to that point? lol
I'll bite on the starters though... [LINEUP-4-4-2]Altidore, Adu, Dempsey, Bradley, Diskerud, Donovan, Lichaj, Goodson, Ream, Chandler, Howard[/LINEUP-4-4-2] Forward Sub: Agudelo Midfield Sub: Holden Defense Sub: Cherundolo GK Sub: Guzan
Great roster, except... What has Cherundolo done over the past two weeks to convince anyone he won't be there?!?!?!?!?! He looks to have a lot left. Ditch Kitchen, keep Stevie!!! No opinion on 3rd keeper for me. Other than that I'd take this Edit: wait a minute...forgot about Freddy!!!!...could beat out anyone...maybe..maybe... Benny will be injured of course, Freddy on!
Lichaj is right-footed. And Larentowicz is the most underrated player in MLS by a mile (including Brad Davis). Plus our CB pool sucks. I doubt anyone expected Robbie Findley to start at this point in the last WC cycle.
I have seen a lot of right footers play the LB spot and do fine. One of the best LBs in the world is right footed. Has Larentowicz played CB before? I agree he is underrated but I dont see him starting or getting time for the national team unless he goes abroad or starts consistently playing CB well enough to be considered one of the best in the MLS.
If healthy, I don't see how he can't barring some mysterious drop in form. Him and Chandler are going to be the 2 best players on this team in 2014.
[LINEUP-4-4-2]Altidore, Davies, Dempsey, Bradley, holden, Adu , Lichaj, Goodson, Ream, Chandler, Howard[/LINEUP-4-4-2] Forward Sub: Agudelo Midfield Sub: Donovan Defense Sub: Cherundolo GK Sub: Guzan im worried about ream, goodson pairing because they are slow.
I really hope we see a George John and Omar Gonzalez partnership in the back at some point in this cycle. I think it could kick some serious butt.
I don't necessarily agree on that. Dempsey for example could be essential and as long as he doesn't lose much, I'd have no problem with that. Same for Donovan actually (despite his recent dip in form)
That's a real stretch. (Seems like that's the second time I've seen Jeff's name thrown in the CB hat on these boards in the past couple of days... unless it was you both times? Strange.) Considering we have a player like George John out there. Or even someone like Ricardo Clark, who is out of the congested CM picture but has been plugged in at CB i the Bundesliga recently with Frankfurt. I like Larentowicz a lot. But he benefits from playing with Mastro, who may be the most underrated US National teamer of all time. Larentowicz is of a similar level as Beckerman (who I also think is a great player). All of those camp cupcake (and 2009 Gold Cup) caps allotted to Logan effin' Pause definitely should have gone to Big Red. A Beckerman-Larentowicz pairing would have been much more exciting than the Beckerman-Pause pairing we saw. That was brutal.