23 tickets to GC?

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by RalleeMonkey, Mar 30, 2011.

  1. Real Corona

    Real Corona Member+

    Jan 19, 2008
    Colorado
    Club:
    FC Metalist Kharkiv
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If he plays, and my personal opinion is it won't be much, he'll play just like in the U-20s. Withdrawn behind the top striker with no defensive responsibilities.
     
  2. Maximum Optimal

    Maximum Optimal Member+

    Jul 10, 2001
    Yeah, I'm not sure how he'll do at the senior level, but I'd love to see a similar setup against Canada or Panama. Certainly the supporting cast will be superior to what he had with the U20s. Donovan and Dempsey rather than Rogers and Zizzo. A right back like Cherundolo rather than Beltran. And a central defender like Ream who can play it on the ground would fit in very well too.
     
  3. RobsterCraw

    RobsterCraw Member

    Mar 28, 2008
    I think that of the surprise picks, Wondo is the most justifiable.

    What other than a quality LB, does the US team lack more than anything else? Quality finishing and good goal poaching. Wondo is adept at being at the right place at the right time inside the box and some of his strikes are just amazing. Most of his shots are at least close, if not on target. There are still question marks about how well he can fit in with the USMNT regulars, but he looked sharp against SA in January, and has continued his goal scoring and creating heroics this season while Bunbury has not been in good form. Wondo and an injection of creativity may be just what the US needs in attack to start creating more goals and not relying on set pieces for wins. He's no kid, though, so the best he can probably do is contribute near his current level of quality, and act as reagent to the throne while the young, potential superstars develop.

    Much of Wondo's potential contribution to the USMNT depends upon the other forwards development/form. If Agudelo, Bunbury, Jozy and other forward prospects start scoring regularly and improving their form, a player like Wondo can easily get left behind the pack. But Wondo's simple goal poaching and good finishing is very effective for his club and if it works for the USMNT, then I don't mind relying on a goalscoring forward who plays a simple game without the elegance or flair of some of the more exciting prospects that aren't scoring so much.

    Agudelo could easily be the next big thing, and a lot depends on how soon he becomes a first choice forward. What I am really hoping for is that Agudelo provides not just goal poaching and intelligent hold-up play and good dribbling, but also creativity, because that is what the US needs along with finishing and a LB. In fact, if we were going only by player form and quality shown, of the forwards selected, Jozy is probably the least deserving of the call.

    With players like Agudelo Bunbury, Wondo, entering the US team plans, I could see the US moving to a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 with Jozy, Wondo, Agudelo, Davies, Gomez, and Bunbury being the leading contenders (assuming that LD and Deuce stay in midfield). I wouldn't mind seeing partnerships like Davies and Wondo, or the now popular Agudelo and Bunbury. Whatever the mix, it needs to be a good balance between strong ball-winning, good hold-up play, creativity, goal poaching, and finishing. All qualities the US has struggled to put together in its attack.
     
  4. comoesa

    comoesa Member+

    Aug 13, 2010
    Christen Press's armpit
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bob was watching Rizespore..
     
  5. Heist

    Heist Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Virginia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So are MLS players. I doubt that's the reason.
     
  6. TrueCrew

    TrueCrew Member+

    Dec 22, 2003
    Columbus, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, four candidates come to mind. Feilhaber being the most obvious, as he played there a lot during the WC. Second would be Kljestan at RM with LD moving left and helping to cover for the ponderous Bocanegra at LB. Third would be an out of position Adu, because like Torres, we can't have anyone succeeding in the middle in a creative role, because that could lead to Jr. being out in the cold (I also noticed no Bedoya and no Mix). Fourth would be Borsntein, because you just know Bob will do it at least one game.
     
  7. Skevin

    Skevin Member+

    Aug 9, 2009
    Colorado
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Czechia
    I hope we go with the 4-3-3 because without a doubt the two most likely people to score are donovan and dempsey. Donovan has proven how deadly he can be at RW this season for the galaxy. Dempsey has had a phenomenal year and needs to be in an advanced role. I hope we can copy the formation of chelsea so our XI would be like this.

    -----------------Altidore----------------
    ---Dempsey------------------Donovan---
    -----------------------Adu--------------
    --------------Bradley--------------------
    --------------------Jones----------------

    I only have Adu there because he can hold the ball and pass it to our wingers and even play a 2nd striker in this formation.
     
  8. DestroyerDaMarc

    Dec 8, 2005
    New York
    Club:
    Newcastle Jets
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I really think the most glaring issue is Rogers over Bedoya and Mix. If this is the last time we see Bradley as coach, this is the reason why.
     
  9. Mr Martin

    Mr Martin Member+

    Jun 12, 2002
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes, the supporting cast will be better now. And that U20 setup was the ideal way to use Adu, with 2 quality CM/DM players covering for Adu's mediocre defensive play. I'm not against testing it at some point, and in the future it is the right way to use Adu, should he prove a necessary addition to the XI.

    However, while Donovan can play as a real winger if necessary, I think Dempsey is not suited to such a role. Clint is a totally different style player from wingers like Rogers and Zizzo. He and Adu (and at times Donovan) would all be competing for that inside space.
     
  10. ctoa23

    ctoa23 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 25, 2007
    E&G Forum
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bedoya and Mix are still in the beginning of their club seasons. It's much better for them to keep playing there rather than get garbage minutes in the GC, especially if they're going to move on to bigger and better things.

    Bashing BB for his roster selection is just a cop out for those who are mad they didn't get who they wanted.

    Regardless of who he picked, you people would still be out in full force.
     
  11. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    I'm reading a lot of people hoping that Adu plays CAM. Adu is nowhere near strong enough in traffic at this time to sacrifice a forward for him, much, much less an actual CM that can cover our middle and dictate the terms of the match.
     
  12. DestroyerDaMarc

    Dec 8, 2005
    New York
    Club:
    Newcastle Jets
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Really, because MLS started at the same time.

    And its great to move on to bigger and better things but Bob didn't hesistate with Davies now did he?
     
  13. Maximum Optimal

    Maximum Optimal Member+

    Jul 10, 2001
    In the friendly against Poland, we had Dempsey and Feilhaber next to each other and at times it produced some very fluid play with the two interchanging frequently. When you have skillful creative players, they tend to figure out how not to get into each other's way. Dempsey and Adu should be able to figure it out in that situation.
     
  14. Heist

    Heist Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Virginia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't follow this comment. Davies is injured and he wasn't called in and it sounds like he probably wouldn't have been...
     
  15. SnakeEyes

    SnakeEyes Member

    Oct 7, 2001
    Garbage minutes in the Gold Cup? Will they still be garbage minutes in 2013 when we are watching Mexico in the Confederations Cup instead of us? What about the minutes they would get in 2013 against each region's best in the stadiums that will be hosting the World Cup the following year?
     
  16. giffenbone

    giffenbone Member

    Jan 22, 2006
    Raleigh, NC
    You really think having bedoya and/or mix in the 23 is the difference between us winning the gold cup and not???
     
  17. jakepc42

    jakepc42 Member+

    Mar 26, 2011
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You're not really this ignorant are you? The concept garbage minutes meaning when we're blowing out the likes of Guadeloupe and we stick in Mix/Bedoya to finish the match and not have guys like Donovan/Dempsey get injured. Those 2 (Mix/Bedoya) will have very little impact (if any?) on us getting to and possibly winning the gold cup. I.e. they won't be playing in anything important.
     
  18. Heist

    Heist Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Virginia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Why bring anyone any good then after the 18th slot or so? Its fair to ask questions about Bradley's choices. Calling in the best players with the best chance to help the team is his job for this tournament. Some of his comments about the choices make it seem like he views it differently.
     
  19. deron

    deron New Member

    Jul 25, 2006
    Centennial, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, he's been on BS every week looking for a stream.
     
  20. irish56

    irish56 Member+

    Oct 30, 2006
    indy
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Probably.
     
  21. irish56

    irish56 Member+

    Oct 30, 2006
    indy
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not a chance.
     
  22. schrutebuck

    schrutebuck Member+

    Jul 26, 2007
    Yep and we would appreciate it if Bob Bradley outed himself right now. I'm not sure who he is anymore, although everybody knows that in the old days of the 2010 cycle he was Prime Time. ;)
     
  23. minya

    minya Member

    Mar 27, 2008
    san diego, ca
    OK. I'm Bob.
     
  24. StevenTacle

    StevenTacle New Member

    Apr 8, 2011
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    On Freddy Adu:
    “We have followed Freddy since he transferred to Rizespor. We’ve watched him a number of different times on the computer. We’ve not managed to get there. We watched one of his playoff games this morning, but we still feel that there are good signs from him as a player that have shown us soccer qualities that we think help our team. It hasn’t always added up enough yet with the full national team but this seems like it’s a good opportunity to get him back in with us where we have a good month together and can challenge him. We hope that he has continued to grow and mature and can play a bigger role with the national team.”

    On Brad Guzan:
    “Brad made a personal decision and his schedule didn’t allow him to be available for this Gold Cup.”

    On Timmyy Chandler:
    “We were pleased with what it was like to bring him into the camp in March and get him on the field. We continued to follow his play at Nürnberg and we’ve had a number of different discussions with Timmy and with the club and when we added them all up at the end of the season, his first real season playing at this level, we felt that it didn’t make sense at this time for him. He’s carried a few little injuries of late. He has told us that physically and mentally this season has been a hard one. We feel strongly that we’ve worked hard to build a good relationship with him and felt that when you added everything up that the time wasn’t right for this Gold Cup.”

    On Charlie Davies’ progress:
    “We certainly have seen a lot of progress from the start of the MLS season until now. We’re excited about that. I had a good conversation with him on the telephone the other day and just told him that I still feel that it’s still not totally where it needs to be. Part of that is tricky because you’re looking at strikers and you want to see goals. Obviously he’s done well to put himself in some good goal scoring situations but in terms of his all-around contribution to the team I still think he’s working his way back. Hopefully he can take those comments and keep moving forward.”

    On Teal Bunbury:
    “Teal is a young striker that we certainly see a lot of potential in. I think we’ve had a good opportunity to work with him in some camps. I spoke with him and just felt that this time, in terms of our whole roster; I didn’t think it was the right time for him. I don’t think he’s been as sharp as we would like so far in the season. I think that’s a sign of him continuing to mature and grow. Quite honestly, another part of it is the fact that as we watched different games we felt strongly that Chris Wondolowski was in good form. He has scored some good goals, some very different goals and Chris seems to be a player that gets a couple of chances every game. There are always a lot of variables when putting a whole roster together but those are some of them that played into the situation with Teal.”

    On Alejandro Bedoya:
    “He’s a player we’ve seen some good things from when he’s come on into games. He has energy and willingness to be involved in the game in a good way, but nonetheless we looked at some of the other players and now in some cases you have to make some tough decisions where certain guys are almost in the same category. In this particular case, some decisions went in the favor of some other players.”

    On Robbie Rogers:
    “Robbie is a player that everyone knows has ability to run at people, get behind people, and he’s capable of playing on both flanks. Thus far in MLS this year he started the season having missed the January camp because he had knee surgery following last year. I think his mobility and his energy in the team have been good. We felt it was a good time to get him back with us and build on some of the things that we’ve seen over the years. We all know that Robbie has a lot of talent and in different moments with the national team it has come out in a very good way and now we think this is a good time to see if we can push it a little further.”

    On who will play left back:
    “Carlos Bocanegra and Jonathan Bornstein obviously give us two left-backs to begin with but we have seen Eric Lichaj play as of late at left back. Jonathan Spector has played some at left-back too, so we do think we have some different possibilities there and we’ll certainly look at all of them when we get into camp. Carlos, in the latter part of the season for St. Étienne played a good amount as a center back so again that’s all a part of the versatility that fits in well when you put a roster like this together.”

    On Nick Rimando:
    “The way we have always handled this in the past is the one spot on this roster that has a different situation is if it’s the third goalkeeper. If the third goalkeeper is an MLS goalkeeper then primarily he is staying with his club team, he will continue playing in the league and we would bring him in when needed. We have some decisions to make when we get into camp to reassess exactly how we’re doing with Timmy Howard and Marcus Hahnemann but one possibility for sure is at least to begin with that Nick will be with Salt Lake and I’ve discussed that with him and I’ve also discussed it with Jason Kreis.”

    On Juan Agudelo:
    “We still feel that we’ve had good opportunities to work with Juan and in that regard it’s similar to Teal and now when I mention the different things that get sized up these are all things that get weighed. We feel that Juan in different camps has done well. We’d like to see him play as a starter with the Red Bulls but in different situations it’s easy to see, given the form of Luke Rodgers and Thierry Henry, that sometimes you have to fight hard to get your spot again. We know how that works but we still feel this is a good Gold Cup for Juan and the good things that we’ve seen so far will hopefully come into play as we move forward in this .

    On Mixx Diskerud:
    “Mixx is a younger player that has shown promise. So many different things get put into it when you’re looking at a roster. I think Mixx is a player, and this is true with Teal as well, when you think about the Olympic team situation coming up and other opportunities including friendlies with the national team that we’ll see him again.”

    On whether Timmy Chandler is considering playing for Germany:
    “The simple matter is that in the way things work in soccer these days, until a player plays in an official match, you don’t know for sure. In all of our conversations with Timmy he’s always expressed how excited he is to have played for the U.S. and we feel that there’s been a very good level of discussion and follow-up with him and it’s all been with the idea that he’s going to continue to play a role for us.”



    On Robbie Rogers being selected over someone like Brad Davis:
    “Yes, Brad Davis is a player that is on our radar. We respect what he is all about for Houston and in this particular case we felt, again, I’ve tried to give good ideas of what we were thinking but I don’t want it to seem like it was ever Robbie versus Brad, for instance, but, I think Robbie’s ability in terms of going at people, his speed, his ability to play on both sides, his versatility, some of those things came into play.”

    On Steve Cherundolo:
    “I have had good conversations with Steve from the end of the World Cup until now. He had an excellent season at Hannover. He continues to play really well and one of the things that I think is really important, we’ve been really fortunate that we’ve had players like this in the past: veterans who have been big parts of our national team who have a mentality and an attitude that says if you think I can help the national team, I’m open to being considered. They didn’t choose to make an official retirement. Steve has had an open mind and if we feel he can help us, great. When you look at everything that has happened throughout this year, he’s shown that he’s one of our best players. He’s had a great season at Hannover and I know he’s really looking forward to this
     
  25. schrutebuck

    schrutebuck Member+

    Jul 26, 2007
    I was going to ask you to explain your squad picks, but it seems like StevenTacle has copied down your rationales already.
     

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