Who gets the call? Conrad? Parkhurst? Goodson? Califf? DeMerit, after surgery? I would probably prefer Conrad, always liked his game.
What's Jay's recovery time? This pretty clearly pushes Carlos back into the center of the line, which I'm not that pleased about. We don't have great depth at CB right now.
Count me as a 2nd vote for my boy Jimmy Conrad. Marshall and DeMerit should be the options if they're healthy, Goodson and Parkhurst after that.
Conrad's not going to be a starter against most teams, but he could add some depth. Right now, this probably nixes any possibility of Boca going outside. It will be DeMerit/Boca in the center and probably Bornstein/Spector out left and Spector/Dolo on the right.
You would think Conrad would get first call with DeMerit next. If Goodson or Parkhurst have to see the field in South Africa, we are 3 and done. Hometown bias here, but if they could have gotten Geoff Cameron games earlier (got hurt in the January camp) and he had played center back all season for Houston, I think he would have been one of those surprise guys that make a WC roster. Loads of talent and physical ability, just not that experienced. Not going to make that jump now.
If we move Boca to the middle then I give Castillo a call and see how he works out at LB for Denmark. And I look at Conrad and Marshall (I forgot, I like his game too, esp as we'll need an aerial defender next to the small Boca) to fight for the other CB spot.
Everyone just gets pushed up a spot. Boca stays in the middle for the foreseeable future. DeMerit starts when healthy. Then one of Marshall or Conrad. Goodson next. One name not mentioned is Cameron. Versatile and good ball skills. I'd call him into camp cupcake for certain.
How about Edu, I know that he played there in the olympics, could he play there in a pinch if he needed to?
I mentioned him 2 minutes before you did! If he stays at CB he will start for the US in the next cycle. Has the size, speed, skills, needs seasoning at that position.
Ricardo Clark wouldn't be a bad option, especially if the addition of Edu and Jones to the midfield limit his chances there.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say a great big ******** YOU to Neven Subotic. Now, I think our best option will probably be Demerit, although I still think he is a significant step down from Gooch. We need our best players on the field, so it may be a good idea to experiment with Edu or Rico there. Edu preferably as he has experience in defense.
Marshall's about to return from his injury, he seems to be next in the depth chart after Gooch/Boca/DeMerit.
LA Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez?????? at least he's an inch taller than gooch Bruce Arena likes him and he's on the MLS ROTY short List
With Gooch and DeMerit out: Bocanegra, Marshall, Conrad, Goodson It would be nice to have Neven, but we need to stop blaming Rongen for this. His heart was never with us.