I know he did it before at the Olympics and all but is there anything to read into this? Maybe Bob is assessing his options without Gooch? Honestly after watching Gooch today I don't see how we can bring him.
Edu is a lock for the final 23. Bob's trying him there tonight indicates he will be on the squad and looking at options. Notice no Marshall sub in for Gooch? Gooch will probably be day by day decisions and might be an option off the bench if he isn't ready for Prime Time by next month. Still a better option than Marshall or even Goodson.
Gooch might not even be fit to make the final roster. Bocanegra's just had hernia surgery and will probably be needed at LB. Demerit's apparently having depth perception problems after his eye injury. This is looking more and more likely every day as something we might see at the World Cup.
We can't bring Gooch based on what I saw tonight -- not even close, but Edu at CB would be a disaster. Why would the coach even consider that??? I wanted Gonzalez in this camp. Sure, he's a little green, but if needed, I think he would have been up to it. He's progressed a lot in the last year and a half. How Gooch was brought in instead is a mystery to me ... Keep Marshall in the 23. DeMerit and Goodson at CB ... and we'll keep our fingers crossed and pray a lot ...
He looked how you'd expect a rusty player to look. You didn't see enough tonight to not bring Gooch. I do think we saw enough to know Edu isn't really a CB. He looked great in the first 25 minutes or so.
We saw: A non-jump A limp at halftime A big bag of ice on the bench It's not rust. He can't move the way he needs to.
It could have been rust. The non-jump was a timing issue. He was basically wrong footed as he was backpedaling and could push off. The limp I didn't see. Wouldn't be surprising for it to be a bit sore. The ice would have immediately been slapped on regardless of how his knee was feeling.
What he said. The non-jump is the only thing that concerns me of those three... and even then it could be something or it could be nothing.
That non-jump (and at least one other before it) really does worry me. On the other hand, I'd be stunned if neither the Nats trainers nor ACM's let Onyewu anywhere near the field without making him take a few vertical leaps to make sure that his knee could handle it. Testing somebody's vertical isn't tough or time-consuming. Oh, and Edu at CB: Not a good idea. I'd rather keep Onyewu in the twenty-three and if he can't go because he's not fully recovered, Bradley can bring in Marshall or (if I understand the injury replacement rules) even Gonzalez.
The non-jump was arguably as much of a mental problem as a physical one-- it was not unlike the situation in which Gooch was injured in the first place.
That was my first thought as well. Until I saw what looked like a hitch in his gait. The knee might be acting up. If it's one of those mental, reflexive "Don't jump, Gooch! That's how you got hurt last time" issues, I'm worried because he doesn't have time to get over it. That's a player who's not ready and probably won't be 100% there. If it's a knee problem, well, I don't see how 3 weeks are going to make much of a difference after 7 months. He's our best defender. We all saw how much more composed he was than most of his teammates on the back line. But if he's got a bum knee and can't jump..... (Edu isn't a CB. He defends like a midfielder.)
So, we probably need Boca (had surgery a few weeks back and is upstairs eating burgers and chicken wings) to play left back. Cause Bornstein's awfulness was only upstaged by Pearce's ineptitude. Except that at center back, DeMerit can't play, so that leaves us with Goodson - who at 28 is still raw between the ears - and Jonny Spector, who is indecent at anything besides right back. Not to worry, we're betting on good ol' Gooch: As the kids would say, FAIL. Kids can be cruel, much like the truth. OK but we've got promising young Mo Edu who could play CB in a pinch: Nope. He quickly and completely shat himself on the job. And even Steve Cherundolo was decidedly unassertive. One of our few veterans, little to no leadership. For those who did not realize it before, you can see how young our squad is by watching this back line try to move the ball to midfield when we're down a goal. Our guys were crapping themselves, and that Kljestan/Edu 1-2 knockout was just about inevitable. Bob Bradley is going to be up all night and he won't need any coffee. Hopefully he'll put on some Doors, punch a mirror and summon the warrior within to take down Capello.
I'd say Bob has 2 weeks to give either Mo and Mikey a crash course on how play in central defense. Or he could go to a 3-man line. Or both.