Let's talk about the Poland match [r - USA vs Grenada]

Replace Donovan with Esky of even Wolff - who needs more time with the Nats - and replace Beasley with Mapp.

 

Isn't Meola sitting on 99 caps? Let him get his 100th vs. Poland. Walker's got a lot more time left than Tony does.

 

Namoff? I've seen him every week here in DC and don't even think he should be starting in the MLS much less for a #8 ranked men's national team.

 

What about Kenny Cooper? He plays for Manchester United ...

 

i'd have ld and bease there as subs or something but that's about it. i would much rather see the minicap squad out there- get a healthy buddle (oxymoron?) up top or eskandarion like someone else suggested. as for the left, i would like to see gros over mapp if he can play over there. and there are other deserving or intriguing players like martino, ching, and noonan. i agree wholehartedly with the premise. this is a great chance to put some of those guys out there.


and why not bring in the cooper kid for kicks and giggles. we all know how great he's been for MANCHESTER UNITED (ooooooooo!) reserves.

 

I think you have to have Taylor Twellman in there if he's healthy. The guy has had a brief stint with the nats and played well whenever he got in. Looking at our Forward pool, out of the players who are not regulars on the Nats, Twellman is atop the list. EJ, Esko, Buddle, Ching and Noonan are all great forwards but Twellman has proven himself over the past two seasons and deserves to be in there. I know he has slumped a bit in the MLS this year, but look at the whole picture: he's been a phenom up top the previous two seasons, he played well in the Confederations Cup last summer, and played very well in the US game vs Mexico this year. I really think he can rival Wolff and Casey to start some of the upcoming qualifiers alongside McBride and Bruce needs to give him the full 90 against Poland to prove it.

 

i like this rule.

 

I like the idea of pulling in a bunch of new guys into camp, but I don't think that's usually the way Bruce likes to do it. He usually likes to heve has several veterans (Stewart, Armas, etc.) to provide leadership and guidance on the US system, and likes to slowly work newbies into the mix.

I just don't see Il Bruce calling all of the players listed on the first post that haven't been to a camp yet (I counted maybe 11) into the Poland camp. My guess is he'll call in 3 (Gaven, Marshall, and EJ?).

 

"I'll take soccer for $500, Alex."

"It's a visual daily double, Perry. Here's the answer. Despite not playing first team minutes, he delivered the cross that led to this Landon Donovan goal."







"Who is Eddie Lewis?"

"CorRECT."

I have an idea. Let's get rid of all the stupid policies, and play the team most likely to get us a good result, m'kay.

Right now I'm rolling my eyes with all the intensity of 1000 burning suns.

 

Well, I don't know if this is for giggles or if you're REALLY serious, but we are about to head into some REAL qualifying, and in REAL qualifying...well, what you have here is not going to happen.

So, also for giggles, but this time, ahem, SERIOUS giggles, here is what I think the NMT future holds for a certain set in the list of players over this cycle...and beyond. It's not pretty for your...ahem...fantasy roster, so stop now if you don't want to be TOO shocked.

***************

Walker -- will get called into friendlies, but will play in no qualifiers unless any of the following three -- Friedel, Howard, Keller (and maybe Meola) are unavailable.

Hartman -- will likely get no caps in this cycle.

Albright -- if he gets 6 caps over the next three years, I will be shocked.

Gray -- no caps over this cycle.

Chad Marshall -- no caps over this cycle.

Danny Calif -- a cap or two MAYBE next year, assuming our top 7 defenders somehow become amputees.

Beckerman -- no caps in this cycle.

Jeff Parke -- see Danny Califf.

Dempsey -- maybe a cap next year, maybe not.

Namoff -- the only USMNT shirt he will ever wear is the one he buys from Eurosport.

Martino -- Let's watch and wait. We..and he...may have to wait a while.

Clark -- maybe a cap next year, maybe not.

Gaven -- ealiest cap next year, and might will his way onto the roster for '06, but he will get no caps in meaningful qualifiers in this cycle.

Lisi--see Clark.

Gros-- see Lisi.

EJ -- Cap next year, then we'll see. See Gaven

Buddle -- See EJ.

Cunningham -- wishes he could get his Jamaican eligibility back, because his USA eligibility won't do a darn thing for him.

Escandarian -- If he gets 90 minutes over the next cycle, he should be ecstatic.

 

I wanna see some new guys. I'm sooooooooooooooo tired of seeing guys like Armas,Kirvoski and Stewart out there.

 

You may be frustrated at seeing all the usual suspects, but, hey, satisfying us is not in Arena's job descrption.

I think Arena will weave in the new faces over the next 12 months or so. But it won't be done wholesale, like the fantasy roster you concocted to begin this thread..

Meanwhile, my prognosticatons may be dead on..or may not be worth a 1/1000th of the bytes used to transmit them or render them on your screen.

Like I said, for giggles. I certainly had fun writing them...though Bryan Namoff isn't going to get called in unless the entire player pool comes down with the dengue fever.

Also I never did say Chad Marshall wasn't as good as Califf. Player X getting caps and Player Y not getting caps in any give cycle does not mean Player X is better. In fact, over time, he may be worse.

Rather, defenders need two to three years of professional experience before they can get National team time. He's a rookie, and had got some a'learnin' to do. Marshall's time may come. But it's not coming in this cycle, unless very late in it.

 

What good is it to bring all these guys in at once for "experience," if they're not even going to experience playing with our National Team regulars?

 

I want to see Gaven and Dempsey get a shot.

Also, I want to see Convey playing in Reyna's spot!!!

 

This is way too early to even start with the nonsense I'm about to post. With that being said...

I'm so stoked for this game, can't wait to get back to a Nats game. I'm alright with experimenting, but I think the experimenting will come in formation rather than new faces. Here is my projected lineup.

-------------Meola-------------
----Sanneh---Gibbs---Boca-----
-----Zavagnin----Mastroeni-----
---Donovan--Martino--Convey---
-------Casey----Twellman-------

Explanations:

GK: Meola, he's going to get his 100th cap and we all know it. According to Bruce, Meola is still in his qualifying plans. If this is going to be the case, I want to see Meola back in a nats uniform in a friendly before we just toss him back into qualifying. I know he's a vet, but it has been a while. (Also if he gets his 100th cap in a friendly, Bruce might rethink his plans )

Defense: Unusual formation for the US, but I think it tests us, and isn't that the point of a friendly? Sanneh played well against Honduras, and then got injured. I'd like to see him playing RB since Churundolo played it against Honduras and Sanneh isn't likely to be a central defender when it matters. Gibbs has been playing great; I'd like to see how he handles the central defense duties on his own. Boca at LB, he plays it at Fulham, with Pope and Gibbs capable of the center duties, why not try to play him at LB in this friendly?

DM: Zavagnin has been part of Bruce's plans, he seems to do well from what I've seen, but I just haven't seen enough of him to make a judgment one way or another. Great opportunity for him to get some minutes. Mastro has played DM and in the back, I think he's a better DM than defender, another opportunity for Bruce to see where he can contribute the most.

AM: The biggest change here would be moving Convey from LB to left attacking mid. Convey has played great in an attacking mid role in the U20s. We know what Beasley is capable of, so why not let Convey run the left and see what he can do? I'm not as particular about Donovan and Martino, I just couldn't currently think of a better duo. Bruce took Martino along to France at the confederations cup last year, he got some minutes there, but he never really got a good chance to prove himself to the nats. Some people think Martino is a major player in the future of the Nats and some people think he's overrated, I say we give him a quality chance to prove his worth. I think it would be interesting to see how Donovan, Martino, and Convey played off of each other.

F: Conor Casey has played well, was obviously one of Bruce's main forwards until his injury. He needs more experience as a Nat so starting him is a no brainer. Twellman has always impressed me. He's been one of the elite players in the MLS the past two seasons. He has played well for the nats in limited playing time. I've already said what I think about him earlier in this thread; simply the other good forwards in the league (exception of Wolff) are behind Twellman in the depth chart.

 

The problem facing most nat teams is they don't play together enough to develop the tendancies of a team.
We're much better off getting the regular suspects time on the field, maybe mixing in newcomer or two to see how they blend.
Can see no point in handing caps to no-hopers.
As an earlier thread topic noted, this isn't devo time. The players who come in have to be ready. Bringing young guys with potential for upside is a waste of time.

 

I would like to see some of these younger players get into the mix in the wcq's, and from what Bruce has done in the past I think they have a shot. Look how many different lineups we had prior to wc2002, and how the youngsters broke into the scene, i could see some of them doing the same thing this round.

 

Riiiiiiiight. Because DC looked so good with him gone and they've looked awful at the back since his return.

 

I think Bruce should give Jim Curtin a shot. He'll be playing in his home stadium with his home fans there giving him support. And he'll need a big guy in the back anyway.

 

My roster, with justifications:

Guiding principles:

1. Don't pull anyone away from the European pre-season.

2. Only bring in players who can benefit from the experience.

3. Bring in players that might contribute at some point during qualifying.

4. Don't bring in anyone rehabbing an injury.

5. Sentimental choices are acceptable. In Chicago, against Poland. Remember that this is a doubleheader with New England/Chicago, which eliminates those players.

GK:

Assume the following are unavailable for Euro pre-season: Friedel, Keller, Howard.

MEOLA - give him the 100th cap.
WALKER - still benefits from getting acclimated to the team. In case any of Friedel, Keller, or Meola retire sooner than expected, he's suddenly pretty high on the depth chart and we want him comfortable.

Other possibilities: What is Zach up to? Anything?

DEFENSE:

Assume the following are injured or in Euro pre-season: Bocanegra, Sanneh, Vanney. Assume Pope doesn't need friendly callups anymore, nor does Hejduk.

GIBBS: Close to fully integrated into the team, a chance to anchor the defense.
MASTROENI: Off his game in his last two Nats appearances, needs to redeem himself.
ALBRIGHT: The Albright-to-right-back experiment continues. Even if he's our third-stringer at the moment, developing him into a viable option is smart.
CONVEY: Might make it into the midfield in this match, which I wouldn't object to.
KOTSCHAU: Good MLS-based LB option, particularly if Convey isn't playing left back.
MARSHALL: Very forward-looking pick. The kid has been surprisingly good, though. This "future development" could also be filled by Parke; I picked Marshall on my perception of higher potential.

MIDFIELD:

Assumes the following are in Euro pre-season, or playing in the Fire-Revs game: Beasley, Reyna, Ralston, Dempsey, Lewis, Armas, Mapp.

DONOVAN: The team revolves around him. I'm less concerned about his exhaustion now that he's graduated from the youth nats. That's the best reason not to bring him in, though.
ZAVAGNIN: With both Reyna and Armas out, give him a chance to run the show. Only six caps, and a few of those were late-game subs, so needs the experience, still.
KLEIN: Has shown a lot more this year than previous years. A useful option if we want an actual right winger ever in qualifying, but can do OK on top of a box midfield as well, which he has shown as an occassional a-mid or Gansler this year.
GAVEN: The future is now. He may be ready for WCQ soon - this is a perfect opportunity for a get-acquainted cap, or even just a get-acquainted "sit-the-bench."
MULROONEY: Fell off the radar screen a little bit this year, but playing well. Deserves a look vis-a-vis Zavagnin again.
MARTINO: Maybe see what he can do alongside Donovan in the box midfield? Tons of promise, needs looks to be viable.
MULLAN: I had only planned six midfielders, and an argument can be made for only one of Mullan and Klein, but Brian's improved a ton and really looks as good as anyone else who's not a lock Nats starter lately.

FORWARD:

Assumes McBride back at Fulham, Twellman either not 100% or playing for the Revs with Noonan. Assumes Kirovski only gets the call if Polish sentimentality rules the day. Assumes Wolff is just as well off with a rest, although Chicago sentimentality could be a factor.

CUNNINGHAM: MLS' hottest striker might be a useful offensive sub. Maybe Wolff or Mathis, if not starting, are better for this role, but I can easily see Cunningham coming on against any of our semifinal opponents and scoring.
CHING: MLS' leading scorer, and a type of player Bruce likes. Injuries to McBride or Casey, and he might be a useful guy to have on a WCQ roster.
JOHNSON: Really has started to seem ready this year for the Burn. Still frustrating at times, but as much or more potential as any other forward in the pool.

With a lineup as follows:

-----Meola
Albright-Gibbs-Mastroeni-Kotschau
-----Mulrooney-Zavagnin
-----Donovan-Convey
-----Ching-Johnson

Enough anchors that they shouldn't be completely disorganized. Since we'll be allowed five subs, almost everyone gets in the game.

 

I like this idea. Speculation is always fun, and Appoo and Casper both have a handle on things. One name I'd like to throw into the mix is one Oguchi Onyewu, though he might be better served by euro pre-seasoning. Will he be back with Metz or still in Belgium?

Up top it would be fun to see Cunningham/Johnson or either plus Ching, but I'll bet we see Jovan. I'd like to see Convey get a chance in the midfield.

I am really looking forward to this double-header.