GK: Howard, Guzan, Perkins Def: Onyewu, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Spector, DeMerit, Marshall Mid: Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Feilhaber, Clark, Holden FW: Altidore, Davies, Casey --------------------------------- 2 Defenders, 2 Midfielders, and 1 Forward will be added from the following list: Defenders: Conrad, Castillo, Pearce, Goodson Midfielders: Quaranta, Edu, Torres, Jones, Rogers, Pause, Beckerman, Evans Forwards: Ching, Cooper, Arnaud, Cunningham, Findley In short, 12 players are going to be bitterly disappointed, and 5 ecstatic.
I'd say that's still quite premature. There's competition for the back-up winger/AM slots, though at least some of it is coming from somewhat unexpected sources (Feilhaber might well take one, giving us 4.5 CMs, and Torres could possibly take the other). Plus... the season isn't over yet; we might yet hear from Beasley or Adu. You can't quite count either of them out (though I wouldn't suggest holding one's breath, either).
Not when one of those hairs goes by the name of Marcus Hahneman who's got a blizzards chance in South Africa to make anyones 23 . Or Davies on the same "likely" level as Bornstein! .
howard 100, guzan 100, perkins 50 onyewu 100, bocanegra 100, demerit 75, marshall 50 cherundolo 90, spector 90, castillo 50, hejduk 50 bradley 100, jones 75, feilhaber 60, edu 50 donovan 100 , dempsey 100, holden 60, torres 50 altidore 100, davies 100, ching 75, adu 60 my 23 guys with their relative likelihoods.. those on the bubbkles are guys with the 50 and any one with a 60... those above 60 are virtual locks
I'm revising my prior version a bit: Dead Certain Locks and also the Starting XI (unchanged): 1. Donovan 2. Howard 3. Dempsey 4. Onyewu 5. Bradley 6. Bocanegra 7. Altidore 8. Davies 9. Spector 10. DeMerit 11. Jones* This is the Starting XI, and as such, even if a couple of these guys see their form slip, they will all be in the final 23 at least as key backups. *Jones moves up to #6 if he really shows well once intergrated with the team. Virtual Locks because they are Key Reserves and Sometime-Starters: 12. Feilhaber 13. Cherundolo 14. Edu 15. Guzan 16. Ching These 16 players are totally locked in, barring an unfortunate injury. These 16 are the core of the team. The remaining 7 spots are up for grabs and will depend on form over the next 7 months. Make the team's final cut due entirely to form, positional need, and/or positional flexibility at the time of selections 7 months from now: 17. Holden 18. Clark 19. Bornstein 20. Marshall 21. Torres 22. Perkins 23. Beasley Total: 3 Keepers; 7 Defenders; 9/10 Midfielders; 4/3 Forwards. I'm thinking Dempsey might become one of a 3-man striker rotation, which would make Ching the 4th striker and alter the XI somewhat. Beasley still barely makes it for the 23d spot, just over Rogers, because he is a veteran of 2 Cups and superficially can play 2 positions while Rogers only 1. ******************************************** On the outside, but definitely get in if someone in the top 23 loses form or is injured: 24. Rogers 25. Hejduk 26. Hahneman 27. Mastroeni 28. Kljestan 29. Adu 30. Conrad (#24 to #30 are named to the 7-player alternates list for the World Cup.) 31. Califf 32. Castillo 33. Goodson 34. Casey 35. Beckerman 36. Cooper 37. Johnson 38. Pearce 39. Simek 40. Wynne That's the 40-player pool. Anyone outside that has no real chance. Torres and Perkins moved into my 23 since the last time. Califf dropped all the way out below the alternates list. Hahneman dropped to the alternates list. Castillo is the only newcomer, and he has an outside shot at passing Beasley and Rogers for the final spot on the 23 if he plays well in whatever opportunities he gets. I dropped Quaranta totally from my top 40.
IMHO 110% going: GK: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Defenders: Gooch, Dolo, Boca, Spector, DeMerit, Marshall Midfield: Dempsey, Bradley, LD, Feilhaber Forwrd: Davies, Altidore That leaves 9 spots - 1 Keeper and 8 field players to choose from : Keeper: Perkins, Hahnemann(sp). Defenders: Conrad so he can write some more articles in South Africa, Edgar Castillo, Pearce, Goodson & Hejduk. Midfielders: Edu, Torres, Holden, Jones, Clark, Rogers, Adu, Beckerman Forwards: Brian Ching, Kenny Cooper, Conor Casey I will admit that I have not seen Jones play and cannot really rate him. But he does come from a good league with a reputation as skilled with the ball who likes to get into the attack as well as do the dirty work.
GK (mandatory 3) Howard Guzan Perkins DF (7) Onyewu Bocanegra Spector DeMerit Cherundolo Marshall Castillo MF (10) Donovan Dempsey Bradley (the most certain of all) Clark Feilhaber Holden Torres Edu Jones Adu FW (3) Altidore Davies Ching
By position (not certainty) GK: Howard, Guzan, Perkins (3) D: Bocanegra, Onweyu, Cherundolo, DeMerit, Spector, Bornstein, Hejduk (7) M: Torres, Bradley, Clark, Mastroeni, Holden, Jones, Adu (7) F: Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, Davies, Ching, Casey (6) Could be Hahnemann instead of Presthus, Feilhaber or Edu instead of Adu or Holden, and Cooper instead of Casey
GK- Howard, Guzan, Marcus H Def- Onyewu, Boca, DeMerit, Spector, Dolo, Marshall, Castillo, Bornstein* MF- Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Jones, Feilhaber, Holden, Torres, Edu, Clark* FW- Altidore, Davies, Cooper, Adu No idea about Bornstein or Clark, but i think they'll battle one another for that last spot. With 4 guys in D that can play central, 2 that can play right, and 3 that can play left back without Bornstein on the team, he may be forced out. With Clark, how many central mids do we honestly need? If Adu has a solid season, he could play himself back on, if not, slot in Ching I guess, though having him take the field in the world cup isn't exactly a pleasing thought. I rate Cooper much more highly than Ching. Either way, we can't have Altidore and Davies going big minutes every game.
As of right now, and assuming no injuries, I think the first 20 slots on the team are more or less agreed upon by majority of USMNT watchers - and especially by Bob. GK: Howard, Guzan D: Spector, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Marshall, Bornstein M: Dempsey, Donovan, Bradley, Jones, Feilhaber, Holden, Clark, Edu F: Davies, Altidore, Ching 21st spot: MF Torres vs F's Cooper or Casey. I can understand how carrying just three pure forwards is a little scary since we start two, but with Dempsey & Donovan there's plenty of coverage up top. Besides, if we run into injury trouble at F, which lineup provides for a better USMNT team? Dempsey starting at F and one of Feilhaber/Holden/Torres at RM, or Cooper/Casey at F and Dempsey playing at RM? Yep. Either Casey or Cooper would be our 6th striker, and would have no business on the field barring severe injuries to our forwards. Torres meanwhile has gotten crunchtime minutes in the WCQ's when our squad is at full strength at his position (outside mid) and his skillset matches a team weakness. In my mind it's no contest, get on the plane Torres. 22nd spot: Last defender tossup between CB Califf, LB's Pearce, Castillo or RB Hejduk. I really think its between Castillo or Hejduk, all depending on if Castillo shows anything at LB (I haven't seen enough of him, but some people here seem to think he walks on water). If he does, Castillo's in. If not, with Gooch, Boca, Demerit, Marshall plus Spector or Edu able to fill in if needed, not sure Bob would feel the need to add another CB in Califf when Mr. Inspiration was available. 23rd spot: 3rd goalkeeper ... who cares?
World Cup less than four months away. Let's take a new look. Regretably, it is a bit more of a crap shoot now with the injuries, recently. 1. Tim Howard: 2. Landon Donovan 3. Michael Bradley 4. Carlos Bocanegra 5. Jozy Altidore 6. Jonathan Spector 7. Steve Cherundolo 8 Jonathan Bornstein 9. Clint Dempsey 10. Oguichi Onyewu 11. Jay DeMerit 12. Brad Guzan 13. Benny Feilhaber 14. Maurice Edu 15. Ricardo Clark 16 Clarence Goodson 17. DaMarcus Beasley 18. Marcus Hahnemann 19. Jose Francisco Torres 20. Stuart Holden 21. Sacha Kljestan 22. Freddie Adu 23. Eddie Johnson
1. Landon Donovan 2. Tim Howard 3. Michael Bradley 4. Carlos Bocanegra 5. Jozy Altidore 6. Brad Guzan 7. Clint Dempsey 8. Oguchi Onyewu 9. Jonathan Spector 10. Jay DeMerit 11. Benny Feilhaber 12. Jonathan Bornstein 13. Jose Francisco Torres 14. Maurice Edu 15. Stuart Holden 16. Ricardo Clark 17. Steve Cherundolo 18. Marcus Hahnemann 19. Brian Ching 20. Charlie Davies 21. Freddy Adu 22. Edgar Castillo 23. Chad Marshall Bubble Boyz: Kenny Cooper, Troy Perkins, Eddie Johnson, Clarence Goodson, DaMarcus Beasley, Herculez Gomez, Jermaine Jones, Heath Pearce
*Assuming everyone is healthy GK 1. Tim Howard 2. Brad Guzan 3. Marcus Hahnemann *Set *Alt-Troy Perkins *Keller, Friedel DF 1. Carlos Bocanegra 2. Jonathan Spector 3. Jay DeMerit 4. Jonathan Bornstein 5. Steve Cherundolo 6. Oguchi Onyewu ----crap shoot---- 7. Chad Marshall 8. Frankie Hejduk *Daniel Williams, Marvell Wynne, Frankie Simek, Edgar Castillo, Heath Pearce, Michael Orozco, Jimmy Conrad, Clarence Goodson, Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Sean Franklin MF 1. Landon Donovan 2. Michael Bradley 3. Clint Dempsey ---crap shoot---- 4. Ricardo Clark 5. DaMarcus Beasley 6. Benny Feilhaber 7. Stuart Holden 8. Maurice Edu 9. Freddy Adu *Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Dax McCarty, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, Chris Pontius, FW 1. Jozy Altidore ----crap shoot------- 2. Conor Casey 3. Charlie Davies *Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson, Marcus Tracy, Chris Rolfe, Kenny Cooper, Robbie Findley, Jeff Cunningham
GK 1. Howard 2. Guzan 3. Hahnemann D 1. Onyewu 2. Bocanegra 3. Cherundolo 4. Spector 5. DeMerit 6. Bornstein 7. Goodson M 1. Donovan 2. Dempsey 3. Jones 4. Bradley 5. Clark 6. Beasley 7. Feilhaber 8. Torres 9. Holden 10. Edu F 1. Altidore 2. Davies 3. Casey
I'm really surprised to see so many people choosing Casey over Ching as our obligatory target striker. Casey may have scored a bunch of goals with the Rapids, but he's tactically useless at the international level. Neither Casey or Ching are going to be Just Fontaine in this tournament, but at least Ching can hold the ball and create space for others.
I'll assume everyone is healthy except Jones, who I just don't think will get the call so late after such an injury. GK 1. Howard 2. Guzan 3. Hahnemann D 1. Onyewu 2. Bocanegra 3. Cherundolo 4. Spector 5. DeMerit 6. Bornstein 7. Goodson --------------- Marshall Califf Wynne M 1. Donovan 2. Dempsey 3. Bradley 4. Feilhaber 5. Clark 6. Beasley 7. Torres 8. Adu 9. Edu --------------- Holden Rogers Kjlestan F 1. Altidore 2. Davies 3. Ching 4. Casey ----------- Findlay Johnson
GK Howard (3) Freidel Guzan Defense (8) Gooch Bocanegra Goodson Demerit Hejdyuk Cherundolo Bornstein Spector Midfield (7) Clark Edu Torres Holden Beasely Bradley Donovan Forwards (5) Altidore Dempsey Davies (if fitness tests show that he is at the same level pre crash) Findley Ching Alternates: Defense Geoff Cameron Parkhurst Marshall? Midfield Adu Brad Davis Forward Johnson Rolfe
The lastest injury and rehab projections (which tend to be pretty uncertain) play a role in this, if everybody's healthy then of course this changes accordingly: GK: Howard Guzan Hahnemann ------------- Perkins D: Bocanegra Spector Cherundolo (minor inj) Demerit Onyewu (inj) Bornstein Goodson ------------ Marshall Pearce Castillo Simek Cameron Hejduk Conrad Califf M: Donovan Bradley Clark Dempsey (inj) Feilhaber Holden Edu Torres Adu --------- Beasley (minor inj) Jones (inj) McCarty Beckerman Rogers Bedoya Kljestan Pontius F: Altidore (and from here it's honestly up in the air) Johnson Ching ----------- Casey Davies (inj) Cunningham Cooper (inj) Findley Tracey (inj) Hence: 1. Howard 2. Donovan 3. Bradley 4. Bocanegra 5. Guzan 6. Altidore 7. Spector 8. Cherundolo (minor inj) 9. Demerit 10. Hahnemann 11. Clark 12. Dempsey (inj) 13. Onyewu (inj) 14. Feilhaber 15. Bornstein 16. Holden ----------below this line the level of certainty drops considerably------ 17. Edu 18. Torres 19. Goodson 20. Johnson 21. Ching 22. Adu 23. *Wild card (probably a defender, possibly a midfielder) If the first 22 picks go that way, then #23 is being held in abeyance for a guy who can play left back (Pearce, Castillo) to grab it. If no one does, than it most likely goes to another midfielder, and who depends on the health/form of our central midfield solidifiers. If there are any question marks over any of them, then it's another solifier (McCarty, Beckerman, or a fully healthy Jones jumps right to the top). If there are no question marks, then it goes to an attack-minded midfielder who offers something different (Beasley, Rogers, Bedoya).
Let me be the first to put Williams on a provisional 23. It isn't that I think he'll probably go. (Indeed, I think Adu is more likely to go then him.) It's that I think the 23rd player will be the 8th defender and the 3rd right back and that Williams is more likely to go than Hejduk, Simek, Alston, Cameron, Wynne, or Lichaj just because he was once named to a Bundesliga team of the week. 1. Donovan 2. Dempsey 3. Howard 4. Onyewu 5. Altidore 6. Davies 7. Jones 8. Bradley 9. Bocanegra 10. Spector 11. DeMerit 12. Hahnemann 13. Guzan 14. Cherundolo 15. Bornstein 16. Clark 17. Holden 18. Beasley 19. Casey 20. Feilhaber 21. Torres 22. Goodson 23. Williams ----- 24. Adu 25. Hejduk 26. Marshall 27. Edu 28. Johnson 29. Ching 30. Simek 31. Bedoya 32. Kljestan 33. Davis 34. Rogers 35. Findley 36. Pearce 37. Cunningham 38. Alston 39. Cameron 40. Cooper 41. Wynne 42. Lichaj 43. Friedel 44. Perkins 45. Gonzales 46. Beckerman 47. Rolfe 48. McCarty 49. Pontius 50. Tracey 51. Castillo I assumed that everyone was healthy.
Williams is not even eligible for us yet. Mind you, it's likely just a matter of filling out some paperwork, but let's chill.
Like I said, I don't think it's probable. I think that it's something like 60% that the 23rd player is a third RB and I think that, if it is, it's something like Williams 25%, Hejduk 20%, Simek 20%, Alston 10%, Cameron 10%, Wynne 10%, Lichaj 5%, all of which makes it pretty unlikely that Williams will be on the roster. Still, it seems to me, more likely than the relevant alternatives. What do you think?
In a fantasy world where everyone were to suddenly get 100% healthy, it would look like this IMO: As lock as lock could be: 1. Howard 2. Donovan 3. Jones 4. Dempsey 5. Onyewu ----------------- Quite certain: 6. Bradley 7. Davies 8. Guzan 9. Bocanegra 10. Cherundolo 11. Spector 12. Demerit 13. Hahnemann 14. Altidore 15. Clark ----------------- Relatively certain: 16. Feilhaber 17. Bornstein 18. Holden ----------------- In a battle: 19. A central defender (Goodson, Marshall) 20. A central midfielder (Edu, Torres) 21. A forward (Johnson, Ching, Casey most likely, possibly Cooper, Cunningham, Findley, Tracey) 22. A left back (Pearce, Castillo) 23. A wild-card impact player (Adu, Beasley, Rogers, Bedoya)