No, it's been brought up in the thread before me. It seems quite silly, IMO. Notice I said _some_ games. No matter what his fans say, I don't think he's a prime asset when facing good teams. It has nothing to do with being fancy with the ball (Adu is, and I'm not including him in the 23). Ching can assist, on occasion. But often he's just slow, misses good chances and looks lost on the field. That's my personal opinion. I hope I'm mistaken, if he's taken to South Africa. And just to make clear: in every 23 I've posted here, I've always included Ching. I don't think he's at any risk of being left out. I wish there were better alternatives, but there are none. And I'm aware he is a hard-working guy, and in his good games he is there fighting for balls. In his bad games, though, you can go through 45' of play without seeing him once.
1. Howard 2. Donovan 3. Dempsey 4. Bradley 5. Gooch 6. Bocanegra 7. Spector 8. Altidore 9. Guzan 10. Davies 11. DeMerit 12. Feilhaber 13. Clark 14. Edu 15. Jones 16. Pearce 17. Cherundolo 18. Hejduk 19. Califf 20. Holden 21. Ching 22. Torres 23. Perkins
1. Howard 2. Donovan 3. Onyewu 4. Dempsey 5. Bradley 6. Bocanegra 7. Spector 8. Altidore 9. Davies 10. DeMerit 11. Guzan 12. Feilhaber 13. Jones 14. Edu --------around here, things get more uncertain, expect more movement below this line than above it----------- 15. Cherundolo 16. Hejduk 17. Clark 18. Ching 19. Bornstein 20. Holden 21. Califf 22. Rogers 23. Hahnemann --------------currently outside looking in, but in roughly as much contention as those above-------------- 24. Torres 25. Kljestan 26. Pearce 27. Marshall 28. Adu 29. Perkins 30. Beasley 31. Casey 32. Goodson 33. Johnson 34. Cooper 35. Quaranta 36. Wynne 37. Castillo 38. Mastroeni 39. Keller And probably about a dozen others who are longshots for this cycle only figuring into the equation with a run of good form and the injury bug striking at their position (ie Beckerman, Orozco, Szetela, Hill, etc.) EDIT: To arrange them in another, perhaps easier-to-analyze format, I'll also list them in a sort of "certainty-weighted" depth-chart format (not necessarily the exact order in which they start): GK: 1. Howard 2. Guzan --------the line after things get less certain------- 3. Hahnemann --------on the outside looking in, with a legit shot------ 4. Perkins 5. Keller Defenders: 1. Onyewu 2. Bocanegra 3. Spector 4. Demerit --------the line after things get less certain------- 5. Cherundolo 6. Hejduk 7. Bornstein 8. Califf --------on the outside looking in, with a legit shot------ 9. Pearce 10. Marshall 11. Goodson 12. Wynne 13. Castillo Midfielders: 1. Donovan 2. Dempsey 3. Bradley 4. Feilhaber 5. Jones 6. Edu --------the line after things get less certain------- 7. Clark 8. Holden 9. Rogers --------on the outside looking in, with a legit shot------ 10. Torres 11. Kljestan 12. Adu 13. Beasley 14. Quaranta 15. Mastroeni (Beckerman is close to being on this list at #16, but I'm excluding him because I don't think he'll be given the chance to win someone's spot, he only comes into contention with a string of injuries. Mastroeni might theoretically be in the same position, but he might be given a chance to prove himself once more if cracks show in the game of the players above.) Forwards: 1. Altidore 2. Davies --------the line after things get less certain------- 3. Ching --------on the outside looking in, with a legit shot------ 4. Casey 5. Johnson 6. Cooper My last 3 picks on my 23 in particular I consider to be VERY provisional. They're currrent "hold" on those spots are extremely nominal, and they could easily be unseated by their competition below. If anybody wants to debate, I can explain my thinking on these picks and non-picks, etc.
This is no fault of your own...it's the fault of TV only following the ball. It is borderline impossible to see what the grinders and the guys who work tirelessly off of the ball are doing on a TV broadcast. You might never see Ching in 45 minutes. That is entirely possible. That's because the camera's don't follow a guy making a run 40 yards off the ball that opens the center channel for a speedy striker to exploit. The don't follow the guy in the box tangling up with two defenders at the near post so the player at the back post has a free header. Just because you don't personally see Ching doing all the hard work that he does, doesn't mean he isn't doing the hard work that he does. When you talk to players and coaches after the game (and I do because that is my job) all of them praise Ching for his workrate, what he does off the ball, and how much easier he makes the game for his teammates.
Excellent point. Of course, living outside the USA, I don't have the chance to see the Dynamo play in real life, nor the internationals. Yes, there are things we from the outside miss. Like chemistry in the dressing room, or what transpires outside the stadium.
In other words, Ching's a water carrier. And in many peoples' thinking, water carriers are fine and dandy in the defensive midfield, but they're less enthusiastic about them up top. As has been pointed out a gazillion times.
Ideally of course I'd prefer stars that could score goals AND carry water. But last I checked, Drogba's Ivoirien, hence....
Posting my 23 without looking at anyone else's list. Assuming everyone's healthy, of course. 1. O'Brien HA! Made you look. 1. Howard 2. Donovan 3. Gooch 4. Dempsey 5. Bocanegra 6. Jones 7. Bradley 8. Cherundolo 9. Spector 10. Altidore 11. Davies 12. Ching 13. Demerit 14. Guzan 15. Bornstein 16. Clark 17. Edu 18. Feilhaber 19. Torres 20. Hejduk 21. Marshall 22. Holden 23. Hahnemann By position F Altidore Davies Ching M Donovan Dempsey Jones Bradley Clark Edu Feilhaber Torres Holden D Gooch Bocanegra Cherundolo Spector Demerit Bornstein Hejduk Marshall GK Howard Guzan Hahnemann
Sigh. In the history of the USMNT, has anyone's name been so simple to spell, and yet so often misspelled? It's WOLFF.
None of you have your #1 right. Michael Bradley has to be #1. Nobody is more certain to make the team than Bradley Jr.
1. Bradley 2. Howard 3. Donovan 4. Bocanegra 5. Dempsey 6. Gooch 7. Spector 8. Altidore 9. DeMerit 10. Clark 11. Davies 12. Jones 13. Guzan 14. Ching 15. Feilhaber 16. Edu 17. Cherundolo 18. Hejduk 19. Torres 20. Adu 21. Perkins 22. Cooper 23. Bornstein
Grumpy, it was huge when people first realized this. Now it's like a drum rim shot in those old worn out comedy routines.
haha, try not to get your panties in a bunch.. but the guy is right. Michael is #1 on this list of "23 in their order of certainty"
You know, sometimes I seriously question the maturity and knowledge of some posters, and I honestly can't always tell which one is the greater lacking...
Pretty much anyone fromm 1-5 is interchangeable and equally guaranteed a spot on the 23. MB has more than earned the distinction of being in the top 5.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QAVtFuN9Cg&feature=related"]YouTube - Beating the Internet Trolls[/ame]
1. Dempsey 2. Donovan 3. Howard 4. Onyewu 5. Bocanegra 6. Bradley 7. Davies 8. Altidore 9. Spector 10. Jones 11. DeMerit 12. Ching 13. Feilhaber 14. Rogers 15. Cherundolo 16. Edu 17. Bornstein 18. Holden 19. Torres 20. Cooper 21. Guzan 22. Perkins 23. Marshall --- 24. Orozco 25. Pearce 26. Hejduk 27. Clark 28. Beckerman 29. Castillo 30. Quaranta 31. Kljestan 32. Adu 33. Conrad 34. Jaqua 35. Califf 36. Hahnemman 37. Whitbread 38. Arnaud 39. Diskerud 40. Vidal 41. Hartman 42. Rolfe 43. Wynne 44. Heaps 45. Evans 46. Pause 47. Beasley 48. Parkhurst 49. Moor 50. Mathis
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad3Hzsy1-20"]YouTube - Family Guy - Stewie - Say WHAAAAT!?[/ame]