Here are my picks for WC 2006, I am generally not a predicter (especially not three years in advance), but I thought this would be fun. Also my knowledge of the youth talent pool is somewhat limited. GK Friedel, Brad GK Howard, Tim GK Thornton, Zach D Bocanegra, Carlos D Hejduk, Frankie D Convey, Bobby D Cherundolo, Steve D Conrad, Jimmy D Pope, Eddie D Garcia, Nick M Beasley, DaMarcus M O'Brien, John M Mastroeni, Pablo M Olsen, Ben M Klein, Chris M Twellman, Taylor M Martino, Kyle M Cunningham, Jeff F Donovan, Landon F McBride, Brian F Adu, Freddy F Buddle, Edson F Wolff, Josh Yes for all of you Mathis lovers, he doesn't belong there.
GK Brad Friedel Gk Tim Howard GK Kasey Keller D Carlos Bocanegra D Oguchi Oneywu D Jonathan Spector D Steve Cherundolo D Eddie Pope D Chris Gbandi D Cory Gibbs M Claudio Renya M John O'Brien M Pablo Maestroni M Bobby Convey M Kyle Martino M Ricardo Clark M Demarcus Beasley M Santino Quaranta F Landon Donovan F Edson Buddle F Clint Mathis F Freddy Adu F Ed Johnson
On current club form, I'd agree with you, though he has been good in his last few Nats appearances. One question that always pops up in my head though. When people talk about Mathis losing a step due to injury and never coming back to his old self, how can they then go and include Josh Wolff? Wolff has had just as many injuries as Mathis, but Josh hasn't brought nearly the same amount of production to either club or country as Mathis has. I hope both players can get back, but seriously, it's hard to justify dropping Mathis yet keeping Wolff.
I think Ed Johnson finds his way onto the team. I doubt we will Mathis or Twellman although could contribute in qualifying if injuries occur. Sorry for the ignorance, but who is Jimmy Conrad?
Any player who will be over 30 by 2006 is a question mark. Some guys can still contribute at 35 or 36. Some guys fade away after hitting the big 30. I think McBride as a forward might be gone by 2006. He might still be one of the top MLS players by 2006, but not sure for NT. It's hard to say....
And, even if somebody else does step up into that role (Buddle?), I can see McBride in a Cobi-Jones-esque role in '06. I do know - almost as a fact - that Cunningham won't go (at least, not as a midfielder) and neither will Thornton. I'm real bullish on Ricardo Clark.
I'll pick 'em apart for you one by one: Thornton: no friggin' way. Adin Brown, Kasey Keller will be much better choices. Conrad: I like him so far on the Wizards, but I'm not so sure about that. Suarez and Petke would be just as compitent at this time. Klein: Right now yes, but he has to show he can bring his game from being used to MLS to being on international par. He has it in him, just hasnt shown it yet. Twellman: First, hes not a midfielder, hes a pure finisher. Second, maybe, but he has to prove he's not a one hit wonder. Cunningham: Don't think so. Buddle/Wolff: If Mathis can get his act together he would definitely be before these two. Freddy Adu: Are you kidding me? He'll be 17! The two biggest names to ever go to the WC at 17 are Pele and Ronaldo. Pele is Pele, Ronaldo rode pine in WC '94. Maybe Adu is the next Pele, but thats a stretch. He hasnt played a game of professional football in his life, and you think in 3 years he'll be ready to go at some of the best defenders in the world? Its hard to keep all the available players in your head, but names that stick out to me that I value and should have shot are: Greg Berhalter, Eddie Lewis, Chris Armas, Claudio Reyna, Santino Quaranta. Remember, even though your youthful talent may win games, you must take experienced players to teach them how to get the job done.
Looking back at some of the predictions I probably would change them Thornton is a solid keep, the thing is the US has so many keeps it will really come down to who is playing the best at the time getting the nod as the No. 3. I would probably drop Wolff and move Twellman up to Forward. Also add Quaranta in the midfield. Cunningham is playing well in MLS and I know he hasn't exactly shown at the national level, but he still has a boatload of ability. Klein is also a question mark for me, but i do not know who I would put in there. I have a question, who is Ed Johnson?
I have a sneaky feeling Twellman will be in as a forward. And I think that Frank Simek has a chance to sneak in, too.
As much fun as all of this is, we really need to wait to start naming names. Smieck, Spector, and Adu all need to mature (some more than others), who knows how their skills will develop? Also we need to seriously consider the fact that some of those guys may never regain their pre-injury form (Wolff, Olsen and Mathis).
I'm all for crazy premature predictions. Hopefully half of these will be right GK: Friedel GK: Hahnemann GK: Adin Brown D: Pope D: Bocanegra D: Cherundolo D: Jim Curtin D: Kelly Gray D: Jonathon Spector D: Ryan Suarez D/M: JOB M/D: Convey M: Beasley M: Donovan M: Ricardo Clark M: Reyna M: Mastroeni M: Olsen F: McBride F: Mathis F: Buddle F: Adu F: Quaranta Fire away
Despite the meaninglessness, it's still alot of fun to speculate. I'm glad people are finally starting to give Martino the respect he deserves. The two Columbus games that have already aired nationally this season have been great exposure for a kid that just oozes skill and potential. He's alot of fun to watch and I'm sure even more fun to play with. Now for Twellman. Talk about a guy constantly fighting an uphill battle in the court of public opinion. I just can't understand all the Twellman haters out there. The guy scores goals. Right now, is there any american striker more productive than Twellman--No. Buddle, EJ, and Quaranta will become great players and Adu could be the next Pele, but Twellman is the real deal now, and he's only 22. Sure his USMNT statline pales to his New England performance, but Ruud Van Nistolrooy wouldn't have scored with the service Taylor got in those few meaningless games he was called in for. I not only see Twellman going in 2006, I see him starting - if Bruce gives him the chance, which he will, after TNT puts up four 20+ goal seasons in MLS (as long as we're making predictions) I'm also going to throw Brad Davis in the midfield, maybe not as a starter, but as a spark off the bench. He's still young and needs to make his mark in MLS, but he's incredibly skilled with arguably the top left-footed bomb in the whole MNT program Just my 2 cents
I somehow don't see Jim Curtin in the WC '06. Though I will admit there's not much difference between him and someone, say, like Califf. I could be wrong though.
Yeah, that was a flyer, but he's young and he's got size and moves fairly well...I was impressed seeing him at RFK. Mostly though, there are 3 or 4 players who will really develop in the next 2 years or so to earn a spot on the squad. I'm guessing he'll be one, but it's just a guess.
Two names to watch out for: Eddie Johnson, Guillermo Gonzalez Johnson was the man in the 2001 U-17 championships. Actually, he was the only American who showed anything in that tournament. He's young, but if he can get a shot with the naitonal team, I really think he'll become a standout. As for Gonzalez, he's even younger than Johnson. He'll be 21 in 2006, so 2010 is more likely, but Gonzalez is already a standout with the U-17. He'll be someone special.
Re: Re: 23 for WC 2006 I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I haven't seen him play other than a few clips on the Internet. And agree that he's got a lot of maturing to go. But, even if he never sees a minute of playing time, it sure seems right now that there's a good likelihood that he will be on the team. And, even if he doesn't see a minute of playing time, that might be a very good thing for him (and us). No slight to Meola, but I would similarly have liked to have seen Tim Howard get the third spot at the last world cup. Not so that he would play, but so that he will have been there. Don't underestimate the value of that experience, and don't be surprised to see Mr. Adu in Germany.
2006 age in parentheses: GK: Friedel (35) GK: Howard (27) GK: Rimando (27) D: Cherundulo (27) D: Pope (32) D: Bocanegra (27) D: Spector (20) D: Garcia (27?) D: Hejduk (31) D: Mastroeni (29) M: Beasley (23) M: Olsen (29) M: Reyna (32) M(/D): JOB (29) M: Martino (25) M: Convey (23) M: Donovan (23) F: Adu (17) F: McBride (34) F: Mathis (29) F: Buddle (25) F: Quaranta (22?) F: Gonzalez (20)
another 2006 roster thread. When will it STOP being so fun to speculate? Someone make this a sticky so folks will quit starting a new one every week.
Re: Re: Re: 23 for WC 2006 And where have you heard this? From uninformed posters on BigSoccer? I've read one thing out of Bruce Arena's mouth about Adu. Basically he said "Adu is definitely talented, but he's young and its too early to comment." In absolutely no way does that imply that it "seems" like he's going IF we qualify. This experience crap was delt with pre-World Cup. Its obvious that Bruce Arena doesn't think the same way you, and many others, think. He's proven that he feels that if you're going to the WC, you take the 23 best players you could possibly take. No one goes for experience for the next time around. He proved that with Meola. Meola was obviously, in Arena's mind, the best #3 we had. So he went, because you'd hate to see freak red cards and injuries force you to use a guy you never planned on using and only brought along for experience. And I completely agree with that philosophy. Now if Adu plays somewhere in the public eye, and his ability and skill are there, it doesnt matter how old he is. If he's got it, he goes. But unless you know the kid, or have seen him play against similar competition you cant just go assuming he's on the roster.
Freddy Adu: Are you kidding me? He'll be 17! The two biggest names to ever go to the WC at 17 are Pele and Ronaldo. Pele is Pele, Ronaldo rode pine in WC '94. Maybe Adu is the next Pele, but thats a stretch. He hasnt played a game of professional football in his life, and you think in 3 years he'll be ready to go at some of the best defenders in the world? Brazil is a better team than the US. They have better players. Therefore, it's tougher for a 17-year-old to make Brazil's WC squad and see playing time. We don't have as much depth, making it easier for a 17-year-old to make our team. And if Freddy Adu is one of the several best players in the country at that time, he should go to Germany in 2006. This thread is about predictions. Maybe in 1991 a couple guys in Brazil were talking about whether Ronaldo would make the WC squad in 1994. I'm willing to bet some people thought he would, and some thought he wouldn't. I don't consider it unreasonable to say that Adu has as good a chance of making the US '06 squad as Ronaldo had of making the Brazil '94 squad. I'm not saying it's definite, but at this time I'd predict that Adu will make the WC roster in 2006.