News: USMNT roster for Mexico, T&T World Cup qualifiers released

It's a good thing we got a new coach to call in the same players.

 

I doubt we would agree on the who, but we agree on the what.

 

Yes. Yes it was.

 

Beasley
Gonzalez
Zusi
Bedoya

When are we going to move away from these guys? Give me Lichaj, Zimmerman, Morales, Williams, etc.

 

The Ugly: Hamid once again ignored.

The Bad: DMB still there.

The Good: Look ma, no Wondo!


Jones not there because still injured. How many of our "Europeans" will actually be healthy enough to play?

 

Bedoya and Zusi are the Ralston and Noonan of our times. And horrifyingly, neither is actually as good as Ralston or Noonan.

 

Danny Williams has been ignored all season. Perhaps the only Reading game many American soccer writers/pundits have seen but he is certainly making his case.

Bradley is going 90 mins regardless. But you could easily find a place for Williams in our side. Realize he's in the playoff final and also realize we don't NEED him, but Dax McCarty and Bedoya?

 

Correct. I do wish we could move on from some of our aging 2014 core. Having to dig out of the hole we made for ourselves, plus the Gold Cup is on the horizon.

 

I love Dax. He is a very good player.

 

Zusi and Beasely shouldn't be there. Really, Zusi is extremely redundant with Yedlin and Chandler around.

The squad is fine otherwise(some gripes with the keepers), the guys looking in from the outside are probably Gold Cup bound.

Also, Williams, Sascha, Feilhaber, and Morales aren't that good.

Come on. We'd be middle of the pack with even an all MLS squad at the world cup.

 

He makes the sum of the parts worth more than the other guy did. Thats it.

The new players will come. Bruce may or may not go for them, but he makes the ones that he has now better than they were before.

 

Arena explicitly said at the start of his tenure how he was not going to make significant changes in roster selections due to the qualifying hole Klinsmann left the team in.

 

Bradley as lone Dmid at Azteca is a disaster waiting to happen. Cameron should start in his place (not happening). Dempsey is still useful and very crafty. However, he has to play with another up top to be effective.... We beat T&T 2-0, but lose down in Mexico.

 

I actually think the GC roster will consist of all the snubs. This is actually an okay roster for WCQ.

Btw, when is Beasley actually going to "retire" from the national team?

 

TnT:
-----------------Jozy-------------Demps

--------------------------Puli

Johnson-------------------------------------------Nagbe

-----------------------------Bradley

Villafana -------- Besler --------------Cameron --------- Yedlin


Mex
----------------------Wood----------
Beasley-----------------------------Puli*--------------------------------Arriola
--------------------------------------------------Bedoya
-----------------------------Cameron
Villafana---------------Besler ------Gonzalez---------------Chandler


*I would try to count on Puli and Nagbe splitting time at this position.

 

I would switch Yedlin and Chandler. Bradley will start the Mexico game like it or not but Dax might start the TT game.

 

No Lichaj either.

 

Twellman says this is one of the strongest US rosters ever!

 

This would be 20 pages by now if JK called this group in.

 

Thats his opinion, not mine.

 

The final objective is to finally win a game in a Europe-based World Cup.

We're over 80 years overdue.

 

I'm no slobbering Arena fan, but it is disingenuous to claim that this is no different than a JK call-up. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few key differences:

- No Orozco
- No Jones
- Villafaña present and likely to start
- Arriola and Nagbe likely to get serious minutes in their best positions in games that count.
- Acosta as a midfielder. Johnson as a midfielder.
- Credible backups for every position.

and, most importantly

- We will likely see players in well defined roles following a game plan.

In other words, solutions to many of the little things for which we consistently criticized Klinsmann.

 

Bruce is looking to his future in US Soccer establishment. I've written off this cycle but I don't blame Bruce. I was in favor of hiring him. In the end, maybe this will be a lesson but I don't think it will matter much.

By late 2018,focus will be on a new generation of players coming up who learned much of their soccer thru social media. That's perfectly fine with me. The approach to the game is more interesting and I look forward to guys on our u17 team like Durkin, Sands, Carleton, Sargent et al developing. Even if you look at younger midfielders already playing in MLS and compare them to Bradley and Dax, say, you see a different approach. There's a lot more strikers already playing who give us a lot more latitude than the old days of "I guess we add GAM " to the roster because there isn't anybody else who comes close.

I say leave Bruce alone and let him do what he wants. He was brought in to a dicey situation and deserves our support.

 

He never said he would do any different. He was hired on that basis.