you don't need to be 6'8" to play like jan... cooper is big like jan... granted not as big but i think he can still play in a physical manner and act as a target forward. does that make sense? and who else would i play? i think brian ching is currently our best option up top. he is what a target forward should be. he shows well to the ball. holds the ball, plays it off and maintains possession. eddie does not. he gets the ball, puts his head down and takes off. against better defenses it will not work. even landon gets lost when he plays up top. he's a much better attacking midfielder. he can't hold the ball well. clint dempsey would be another good option up top if we were playing with 2 strikers. he would be a great compliment to ching who he could make runs off of and be creative. as of right now i think our best two options are ching and dempsey.
Yes he can play physically, but nowhere close to what Koller can do. Cooper is 6'3" (1.91m). Koller is 6'8" (2.02m). Here is a list of players who played center-back during the World Cup. All of them are taller than or equal to Cooper. None are taller than Koller. In fact, I think Koller is the tallest non-keeper in the game right now. Quite the advantage for Koller. CRO: Tudor (1.93) CZE: Rozehnal (1.91) ESP: Ibáñez (1.92) GER: Mertesacker (1.96). Metzelder (1.93) ITA: Materazzi (1.93) POL: Bak (1.94) SRB: Gavrančić (1.91), Krstajić (1.91) SUI: Djourou (1.92) TOG: Nibombé (1.96) TRI: Laurence (2.01) TUN: Jaïdi (1.92) USA: Onyewu (1.93) That being said, I think Cooper is still a good option for the future (see my list).
No way is Freddy Adu even close to a roster spot. As of now, I think he's practically a lock NOT to make it... 4-4-2 with a box midfield thanks to our outside back's attacking capabilities. Howard Simek-Onyewu-Bocanegra-Bornstein Fielhaber-Bradley/Mastroeni Donovan-Beasley Altidore/Johnson-Dempsey Pack Your Bags Boys: Landon Donovan F/M DaMarcus Beasley M Clint Dempsey M/F Eddie Johnson F Oguchi Onyewu D Carlos Bocanegra D Tim Howard GK Kasey Keller GK Nearly A Lock: Bobby Convey M Pablo Mastroeni M Benny Fielhaber M Justin Mapp M Jonathan Bornstein D Safe Bet: Steve Cherundolo D Brad Guzan GK Eddie Johnson F Michael Bradley M Frank Simek D Joze Altidore D Jonathan Spector D In A Battle: Kenny Cooper F Gabriel Ferrari F Jimmy Conrad D (or DeMerit depends on form) Others to Watch For (Dark Horses): Jay DeMeritt D Michael Parkhurst D Brian Ching F Sascha Kljestan M Johann Smith F Lee Nguyen M Cory Gibbs D Carlie Davies F Freddy Adu M
woah woah woah. we play a box midfield thanks to our outside backs attacking capability?? news to me... to say that simek, bornstein, or anyone else you throw in there has attacking capability is a bit much. we play a box because our middle is very weak. bradley and feilhaber can't handle the distribution in the middle by themselves. and our backline is weak and we need some extra clogging in the middle defensively to help out. we do not play that way due to our outside backs attacking capability. yes, they can run up the line. yes, they've been somewhat effective against the likes of el salvador...but to say they have attacking capabilities is a stretch. even when they do make runs against the weak competition in the gold cup they don't look confident on the ball, their crosses are weak (except the one by spector that landon blew, but i'd say spectors the best attacker and hey, if you give an infinite amount of monkeys an infinite amount of time and some paint brushes eventually you'll see a work of art right?) and they lose posession too often.
Starters Altidore Landon Beasley Adu Dempsey Clark Spector Demerit Boca Simek Howard Bench Johnson Mapp Fielhaber Convey Bradley Mastroeni Onyewu Bornstien Cherundolo Conrad Keller Guzan
im surprised so many people here have Adu on the team. i dont see what he's done to even warrant consideration. he hasnt even done all that well in MLS. lets see if he can light up the Under20 tourney. but if not, im not sure we'll see him on the team.
Vincenzo Bernardo got invited to a U17 camp in New Jersey which starts june 20th. I spoke to the director of the youth system Mr. Santoro. He stated that Napoli recieved a fax for the USSF a week ago inviting Bernardo to a camp. any probable U17 rosters set??? If bernardo does well in this camp he's be most likely in. Finally some European experience in the roster, which is important. Hackworth should deffinitly take him. We'll see.
i believe by the time it reaches 2010, we would be able to create a roster that would be most effective with our gameplan. -if we want speed on the wings, we put beas and donovan outside. -if we want to control the middle defesively we can put mastro in with clark/bradley against a very attacking opponent (brazil,argentina) -if we want a more attacking middle we can put either clark/bradley with feilhaber -if we want a technically strong midfield against an opponent where we would most likely control possesion, we can play with: adu-----feilhaber-----clark-----dempsey ...you see where im going
EJ - kenny cooper beasley - bradley/feilhaber - donovan - dempsey bornstein - boca - onyewu - simek howard
I don't see how everyone is leaving Convey out? I believe he is one of our best midfielders and when he comes back from injury will show it.
3 years is a long time. Who do you guys see as the most likely current starter to get bumped or not even make the cup team? Besides TT... please, leave that punching bag alone for a bit.
I'd have to say Beasley. Not because of his play, but because we are getting pretty deep there. Him or really our entire backline.
If I had to guess..... GK - Howard, Guzan, Reis D - Gooch, Bocanegra, Gibbs, Demerit, Spector, Cherundolo, Bornstein, Simek MF - Dempsey, Beasley, Feilhaber, Clark, Bradley, Kljestan, Mapp F - Donovan, Altidore, Cooper, Davies, EJ
A healthy Convey could. An improved Mapp could. Especially if he moves to Everton like I'm always hearing. And I guess Adu could play there, but I don't see him being a regular by 2010. I'm just thinking we're pretty deep there, so anything's possible. Same goes with the CBs.
My Projected 2010 Roster GK (3)- Tim Howard, [SIZE=-1]Marcus Hahneman[/SIZE], Brad Guzan Defense (7)- Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Cory Gibbs, Jonathan Bornstein, Jonathan Spector, Jimmy Conrad Mid (8) - Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Bobby Convey, Benny Feilhaber, Freddy Adu, Pablo Mastroeni Forward (5): Eddie Johnson, Josmer Altidore, Johann Smith, Gabriel Ferrari, Brian Ching On the Bubble: Ricardo Clark - M Frank Simek - D Jay DeMerit - D Heath Pearce - D Charlie Davies - F Sascha Kljestan - M Bobby Boswell - D Lee Nguyen - M Danny Szetela - M
1 Starting XI: ---------Dempsey----------- Beasley--------------Donovan -----------Adu-------------- ----Bradley------Feilhaber--- Bornstein-------------Cherundolo ------Conrad---Onyewu------ -----------Howard----------- LOCK: Landon Donovan-M Tim Howard-G Clint Dempsey-F DaMarcus Beasley-M SAFE BET: Bobby Convey-M Eddie Johnson-F Ricardo Clark-M Benny Feilhaber-M Michael Bradley-M Steve Cherundolo-D Jonathan Bornstein-D Oguchi Onyewu-D Jonathan Spector-D FINAL PICKS: Freddy Adu-M Jozy Altidore-F Jay DeMerit-D Frankie Simek-D Carlos Bocanegra-D Jimmy Conrad-D Justin Mapp-M Pablo Mastroeni-M Kenny Cooper-F Kasey Keller-G Brad Guzan-G IN A BATTLE: Marcus Hahnemann-G Matt Pickens-G Matt Reis-G Brian Ching-F Kyle Beckerman-M Marvell Wynne-D Sacha Kljestan-M Todd Dunivant-D Jose Burciaga-D Heath Pearce-D Michael Parkhurst-D Bobby Boswell-D Chris Rolfe-F Herculez Gomez-F DARK HORSE: Taylor Twellman-F Troy Perkins-G Joe Cannon-G Santino Quaranta-M Davy Arnaud-M Kyle Martino-M Brad Davis-M Danny Califf-D Danny O' Rourke-M Brian Mullan-M Jeremiah White-M Ben Olsen-M Brian Carroll-M Cory Gibbs-D Jeff Parke-D Hunter Freeman-D Chris Albright-D Eddie Robinson-D Dasan Robinson-D Ugo Ihemelu-D Chad Marshall-D Nate Jaqua-F Alecko Eskandarian-F Chad Barrett-F OUTLOOK: *Charlie Davies-F *Lee Nguyen-M *Gabriel Ferrari-F *Maurice Edu-M Stuart Holden-M Arturo Alvarez-M Alex Nimo-M Ofori Sarkodie-D Nathan Sturgis-D Julian Valentin-D Chris Seitz-G Preston Zimmermann-F Andre Akpan-F Johann Smith-F Kamani Hill-F Dax McCarty-M Danny Szetela-M Eddie Gaven-M (yes, he's still on there) Robbie Rogers-F Amaechi Igwe-M Michael Harrington-D Adam Cristman-F David Arvizu-F Nico Colaluca-M Tim Ward-D Sal Zizzo-F Jonathan Villanueva-M Jared Jeffrey-M
Altidore Donovan Beasley Dempsey(interchangable with Donovan) Adu Feilhaber Bocanegra Demerit Onyewu Spector torn on the left...take demerit out and insert bornstien...either works for me...just a lineup i want to throw out.
I'll set this up differently by showing my 1st 11 players, my second 11, and then name my third goalie. (I'm sure many won't agree this is just my opinion) First 11: Howard Cherundalo Parkhurst Bocanegra Gibbs Dempsey Feilhaber Bradley Convey Altidore Donovan Second 11: Guzan Spector Onyewu Demerit Bornstein Nguyen Clark Edu Beasley Johnson Ferrari Third Goalie: Seitz
My prediction for the final 23: Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Matt Pickens Defenders: Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Simek, Michael Parkhurst, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, Jimmy Conrad, Jonathan Spector, Jonathan Bornstein Midfielders: Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, Bobby Convey, DaMarcus Beasley Forwards: Kenny Cooper, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey ------Altidore---Dempsey--------- ------------Adu------------------ Beasley-------------------Donovan -----------Feilhaber--------------- Spector----------------------Simek -------Conrad------DeMerit-------- ------------Howard---------------- Alternates: Kasey Keller, Marcus Hahnemann, Carlos Bocanegra, Cory Gibbs, Heath Pearce, Bobby Boswell, Marvell Wynne, Kyle Beckerman, Danny Szetela, Pablo Mastroeni, Justin Mapp, Lee Nguyen, Sacha Kljestan, Eddie Johnson, Chris Rolfe, Johann Smith, Herculez Gomez, Gabriel Ferrari, Brian Ching
GK: Howard, Guzan, Westburg DEF: Boca, DeMerit, Gooch, Gibbs, Bornstein, Spector, Simek, Pearce MID: Feilhaber, Bradley, Beasley, Dempsey, Convey, Clark, Edu STR: Donovan, Altidore, Johnson, Davies, Cooper Howard Simek-Boca-DeMerit-Bornstein Dempsey-Feilhaber-Clark-Beasley Donovan Altidore
You think Gibbs, Adu, Johann Smith, Altidore and Gabe Ferrari are locks and Rico, Simek, and Demerit are Bubble players? This must be a joke, right?