You figure that Bradley keeps Adu, Altidore, Beasely and maybe Pearce on the roster. Anyone from DCU figure for a "look see?" My guess would be Tino if anyone. He is a former Nat pool player and is playing at a high and intelligent level right now. Of the other "possibles". Namoff is too old for Bradley to consider; Pontius might be in the pool after 2010, the same with Wallace (if he chooses US over Costa Rica). Don't believe there are any others in the mix.
I wouldn't want to see him call up any of our players who would have NO CHANCE to make the WC roster regardless of anything they do in the Gold Cup. That immediately strikes Pontius off the list. Quaranta would have an outside chance if he ripped everyone a new one at the Gold Cup, owing to the fact that he has been in the national team mix before. Pontius could score 5 goals and get 3 assists at the tournament, and it wouldn't matter. So I'd rather see him with DC.
Not gonna happen. Bradley will use the Copa d'Oro as a very early test for guys he's thinking of taking to S. Africa. Quaranta is very unlikey, and Pontius is about a billion to one.
Tino has been tearing up the league for the past year and a half. What else does he have to do to get the attention of Bob Bradley? The way he's playing now, Tino should be a regular call up no questions asked.
wait, I thought I replied to this yesterday... Gold Cup has always been viewed as a tournament for fringe/new players Confederations Cup was the World Cup tuneup (fat lotta good there...) Of course, who knows who'll be doing the calling up
Jakovic is on the preliminary Canada roster. Canada roster Nobody else from DC United on any of the rosters.
US Roster While I'm glad that none of the DC players are going to be tainted by Robo-Bob, I think that the roster proves that the guy is an idiot. Gaven, Clark, Marshall, Mastroeni, Arnaud, Cooper are all on the list, but Quaranta and Pontius are not? Gimme a break.
We get to play the Crew without Gaven, Rogers, and Marshall? And the Rapids without Mastroeni and Casey? I'm not going to complain about that. Some of the names were a bit odd, but the absence of Donovan and Bradley is more alarming. It seems to be a list of all the European and MLS players who didn't go to South Africa. In any event, I have a hard time believing that that is the final roster.
It's the preliminary one USSF had to submit to CONCACAF before yesterday's deadline. The final roster will consist of 23 players selected from that list.
Quaranta has to be one of the top 5 guys in the league right now...unbelievable he's not getting a look
Remember that standard procedure is not to include players on both the Confed and Gold Cup rosters. These guys need a break sometime, and the MLS players do have a day job. Should be no surprise that there little or no overlap. This is interesting, because he is tied for the league lead in assists?, or pretty close. He's playing well, no doubt. However, I'm not even sure he's playing as well now as the last time he got capped. Some could argue that he got a good chance at it and has to be more consistent to get another shot. I would have liked to see him called him for this tournament, but I can see some reasons why not. I don't understand why not him, and some of those others instead.
name me 3 guys on United playing better right now and I'll tell you why you're wrong. Don't even bother with Pontius, because Q is the one setting him up all over the place, including a bunch of golden opportunities he's wasted. The whole field is tilting toward Santino right now and the amount of work and influence on the game coming from his spot is amazing.
And this is one of the most profound reasons Bradley is a failure of a coach at the national level. He's playing too much the role of Youth Coach instead of the men's national team. Too old at what 27?!? Unless he forgot something, the World Cup starts next year at which time Namoff will be 28, hardly too old. Playing untested kids is for the beginning of qualifying NOT a year before it begins. These same kids have been given chance after chance and have mostly failed with the exception of Bradley, Feilhaber, Spector and Altidore in my opinion. There are others like Adu who are on the brink of performing but not getting a chance when he's obviously needed. And then you get players like Davis who is destined to be a starter but clearly isn't ready. Namoff is the perfect player to bring. He's mature, intelligent and can play RB and CB not world class but good enough and better than some of the dung being played. We don't have the depth of world class skill (if any) to throw out the perfect team but if we're to play with kids who are still maturing we need players out there who can lead and wont get themselves in any unwanted trouble. Case in point being the last game. Two central midfielders under the age of 23 against a world class team, Brazil, who teams with world class players struggle. They can't control the game and get frustrated. A straight red card on an absolutely stupid childish tackle. And if you ask me it's no question the two players who have been straight red carded have come from the MLS. Bradley has held his emotions in when he's been chasing the ball around for 90 minutes because he's played in Europe and has had better guidance than the MLS and its coaches. There's a huge difference in 98% of a MLS player and a European player playing in most leagues. Their maturity is far superior than their counterparts because they understand the game. The MLS for all it's done so far is still miles behind the techniqual teams of Europe and more attune to the bullish of the MLS. Someone in another thread said perhaps it's not the ref's fault but the MLS' for allowing the league to be a lot rougher than most leagues... Age is never a factor a year before a World Cup. It comes down to who's playing the best soccer at the time and a third of the team brought to the Confed Cup have done little to earn that spot. It's either hyped European or MLS kids or "proven" vets of the game. The likes of Beasley should never be allowed near the team again and unless Bradley can solve Dempsey's in ability to dig in when he plays for his country he needs to be dropped as well. I'd rather have a running, ball busting Adu on the side than a whinging stand around player like Dempsey.