PLEASE!!! Reyna shouldn't be on the field NOW, let alone 2 years from now after his body has had 24 more months of breaking down.... not even on the bench. Here's who I hope will be starting in 2006. The bolded players are locks to me right now -- right down the 'spine' ... --------------------------Casey---------------Johnson-------------------------- -------------Beasley---------------Donovan--------------Gaven---------------- -----------------------Dempsey-------------------Mastro------------------------ -------------Spector-----------------Boca------------------Gooch--------------- ------------------------------------Keller---------------------------------------- Top subs: Howard, Whitbread, Garcia, Marshall, Martino, Clark, Szetela, Adu, Buddle, Twellman, Ching It's a young man's game. Hopefully Arena realizes that -- after all, look at what the young guns brought to the table in 2002. The up-and-coming crop of youngsters is even more technically skilled and everyone will have 3+ years of professional experience by then -- most with 6+ years. The current rookies will have two additional years of solid experience from this point in time. To me, that's the way to go. In my pool, no one over 30 except Keller. Mastro is 30, followed by Ching at 28. Give the dinosaurs their gold watch, pat them on the back, and let them watch from the pressbox...
Yeah ... I was really teetering on whether or not to include him. My original thinking was that, although he's made tremendous strides in his short time in Europe, he hasn't been there long enough. However, your question has made me reconsider. Please see my modified post above.
Captain10 I dont see how Mastro can be a lock. Your other two defenders are a reach. Spector will be what 20? That was fine for attacking players like LD & DMB. Not for a defender. As to Gooch nice physical ability in the air but otherwise no. Should have better alternatives. I like Gibbs better than him and think Marshall may be able to pull it off. I know that Marshall is possibly too young.
I didn't read all the posts, but Reyna and JOB have to be considered locks if healthy. Reyna is too polished to keep off the field ( apotential D-Mid or Right back). You can run the offense through JOB if you have to, but he can share responsibilities with Donovan.
I also fell that Pablo is near a lock to start. Starting the first game of the World Cup is great, but look at the lineups B.A. had to come up with in '02
Mastro isn't even a lock to start or even make the bench now, and he's not a player that's on the rise. There's no way you can call him a lock for '06. Donovan and Beasley are the only lock-starters we have right now, and the rest all depend on how we build the team around those 2.
Chad Marshall has all the ability and potential to displace Boca, if there is one player who does it will be Marshall, but I don't think he will because I think Boca's gonna continue to develop into our best defender since Pope in the next two years. We could see a Boca - Marshall pairing in the back but that would be two left footers. Marshall and Spector are the best young defensive talent we have.
I like your team I think that 3-5-2 could work, but I don't like some of your subs ---- Whitbread has done nothing and i seriously doubt that he will do anything in the next two years to warrant even being considered part of the pool of players to be in Germany in 2006 if you need another defendere look to a prospect like Jeff Parke or well the only one I can think of right now is Parke he might be the only one we have (you could say Simek and Kabyinsson but i really can't since i've ripped Whitbread). The notable exclusion from your list is one player named Eskandarian. ESKANDARIAN how can you exclude this kid, he's one of the best forwards in MLS he's performed, Bruce needs to put him in camps until he proves that he can or cannot cut it at international level then he needs to cap him again because those what 5 minutes against Wales are not enough. I personally also think that Esky should start ahead of Casey and i don't even know if Casey should make the bench. I also don't know that I'd include Twellman ahead of Josh Wolff or the guy i think will play himself in MLS ahead of those two Mike Magee. Dolo should make that bench too. If your going for youth thats a good youthful relatively inexperienced team.
A lot can change in a few years, my friend. Howard wasn't even considered our 4th keeper at WC time...but only a little more than a year later, he goes to MANUre and is the EPL keeper of the year less than a year after that.
I'm not really sure how much all of these young guys are going to improve by 2006. It would be great to have all of them mature and have us field a nice young, talented team in preparation for great things in 2010. However, I think we've got to be realistic here. Yes, we are going to have a relatively young roster but I think Arena is going to try his best to mix in the vets as well. A lot of this also depends on what type of formation he's going to go with. Personally, I do not think we are very deep in the back at all. Berhalter is a big body and tries to organize things but I think he is attrocious on the ball and is not a great man defender. Cherundolo is nothing more than a slightly better skilled Frankie Hejduk IMO. The idea of Convey playing in the back...less than even on the bench...is crazy. The kid is an individual player and that is why he gets almost no time at Reading. I'd love to see O'Brien get healthy because I think he is our best bet at left back. Bocanegra might not be your typical CB but I think he is our best option right now. He's played well with Fulham and is one of our few defenders doing good things overseas. Pope is slowing down very quickly and is no where near as physical as he used to be. I think this is why Arena has such a close eye on Gooch. However, the kid is still a very raw talent. Gibbs is vastly overrated and needs to hit the weight room as well as find his right foot. It's too early to tell just how good Spector is or is going to be. He could really improve with ManU and end up as one of the starting wing backs. I think the strength of our team is actually in the midfield. We have a lot of versatile players who can interchange positions there. Guys like Donovan, Beasley, Gaven and Dempsey, when given the opportunity to roam are very dangerous. Dempsey is a kid who I think is sneaky good, meaning that he'll sit back in his D-Middy spot and then jump into the attack and cause a spark. He doesn't have the quickness and tenacity like Donovan but he seems to be a very smart player who knows when/when not to push forward. Beasley has got to be a fixture out wide left. Gaven needs to work on his body strength so we can figure out where he's going to play. He has good ballwinning skills that should put him in the middle of the field because I'm not sure he's got the ability to fly up and down the flank for 90 mins. Donovan is more suited for that but we need him in the middle as well. I really hope that Bruce leaves Eddie Lewis on the bench or maybe off the roster. He's got a nice left foot and that's it. Too bad you can't substitute him in just for corners. It will be interesting to see how age has affected Reyna and Zavagnin by 2006 as well. Zavagnin has overcome some major injuries in his career and has finally put it all together but he is getting up in age and it could be too late for him. Reyna is battling yet another injury and who knows where he will be come WC'06. Mastroeni seems to not really have a position either. He's too free with the ball in the D-Mid position and too small to play CB IMO. The 3 definites have got to be Landon, Beasley and Boca...right now anyway. All of this could completely change in a matter of months.