Who do you think Arena won't list this Wednesday, but who could help the US if they got on the field in the WC more than someone who will likely make the final 23? I'm going with: Adu Rolfe Mathis Buddle Nguyen (maybe) I think that the first four would very likely make an impact. Of those I actually think Adu is the least likely, but he still is pretty likely. As an offensive sub, told to run at whichever defender is guarding him, I could see Adu breaking open a world class defense with a decisive pass or tricky move and freeing up EJ or crossing to McBride for a goal. It is plausible...but I think Convey is probably better at this. Buddle has been in good form for New York, and when he's firing on all cylinders he looks damn impressive. I'd even venture to say he looks quite a bit better than our beloved EJ. Buddle's foot skills and physical presence are actually quite a bit stronger than EJ's IMO. I can't say his finishing is better, I just don't know. I do know that Buddle does score spectacular goals he creates out of nothing in MLS, which very few other forwards outside of Ruiz and maybe occasionally EJ do. Mathis is just a wildcard as always, capable of second half brilliance, for sure. He has shown absolutely nothing for over a year, which is why he is definitely not in the 35. But my suspicion (and probably many others) is that with the motivation of World Cup glory and a career resurrection, Mathis could easily repeat his 2002 brilliance given the chance. A chance he certainly will not have now that he's not in the roster for today's Jamaica game. Rolfe is another second half sub I could see creating something out of nothing. He'd certainly be dangerous around the box, as he has shown over and over he can create space for himself and get off dangerous shots. Hell, he roasted Maldini/Nesta and scored a great goal vs. AC Milan. How many other forwards do we have who can claim to have beat 1 v 1 a starting CB for a team in our WC group and scored? How many could potentially even do this? Maybe Wolff? That's about it, I don't see EJ doing that, or McBride, not on their own. And Nguyen I think is an interesting right mid second half sub. He's a player with ridiculously silky moves and vision. He's not lightning fast, but he is a player who can certainly rip open a defense with an incisive pass. He got a little first team action with PSV, and I could see him making an impact. I just haven't seen enough to say for sure with him, though. I've seen a couple games with Indiana, the WYC's, and his PSV game (were there more than one? I only saw one he was playing in). As you can see, these are all offensive players. All, except Mathis, are young, inexperienced up and comers. I think this makes sense. It is tough to slot in a defensive player who isn't experienced. That is why a player like Conrad is not on the list. His impact would be minimal. Our defensive corps are quite strong as is, especially in the middle. I don't see Conrad doing BETTER than any of them. He could probably be argued to be on par with or better than Bocanegra in the CB spot, but Bocanegra can play left back and is therefore very useful. Berhalter hopefully doesn't make the 23, but if he does, you could argue Conrad is all around better, but that is certainly debatable (don't forget Ronaldo abused Conrad in the MLS-Real Madrid game too...to go along with Conrad's less than stellar showing vs. Germany). If Berhalter is on the final 23 roster, I would not be opposed to switching any of these 4(5) players for him on the roster. We have plenty of depth at centerback, and we really can't trust Berhalter now can we? Why not just get rid of him altogether. I'd rather throw Mastroeni at centerback than Berhalter after seeing their respective performances vs. Germany. Feel free to add to, deduct from, or criticize this list and mention players you'd like to take off the likely 23 in their place.
It's accurate enough, but Bruce has shown no inclination of bringing someone that he only plans to sub for extra offense. Everyone else except maybe O'brien will be expected to be a full game player. I think he's wrong not to bring one of Adu or Rolfe, maybe even both since Rolfe should be ahead of Wolff anyway.
I think Rolfe will be on the 35. Adu might be there as well. If Wolff gets injured, is Arena really going to replace him with another target forward? Adu might get on the 35 just to give him an excuse to come train some with the nats. Personally I would have liked to see Nguyen get a shot at trying out this cycle, but he doesn't play regularly and isn't likely to be in top form.
We'll supposedly find out today...but I think there's no way Adu and Rolfe are in the 35. If they are, why wouldn't Arena call them in for the Jamaica game? There is no reason why he wouldn't. They didn't make it.
There will be no announcement today of the 35. Apparently Arena or the USSF changed their mind. Anyway, I see Rolfe making the 35 because they'll want a couple forwards in reserve. Obviously the loser of the Ching/Twellman battle will be there, but what other forward has gotten more callups than Rolfe who's not going? I don't think the Jamaica game was about finding the best reserves, it was about deciding between all the bubble players for the roster of 23. That's why you had Olsen/Zavagnin/Ralston for the last midfield spot. Ching/Twellman/Wolff for one or two forward spots. Albright played and Mastroeni played CB to see if we can afford to take Albright instead of Berhalter. Probably all of these guys will be on the 35, but there are still a lot of spots available.
I'll say it on behalf of Texans everywhere. .. Cooper. After the repeatedly dismal performances from forwards in our last few games, I am thinking, "What the hell? Why not? It cant be worse that what we've seen." Plus, Cooper seems to understand that when a midfield cannot provide service, good strikers come back and get involved in the gameplay in order to create that link and provide options.
An uncapped player isn't making the final 23 based on a few MLS games. No way. And from what I've seen of Cooper he looks good, but no better than Jaqua. Now if we could take Ruiz or Mina, I would in a heartbeat.
I know he aint making the final 23 - he aint gonna make the final 35. But that's exaclty what the question in the thread is!
Sorry...good point. I guess that Cooper is full of potential, but I don't think he's shown he is clearly as good as or better than Jaqua, Casey, or even Twellman. I'd agree with you, but I think we are more desperately in need of a fast, non-target forward as we already have McBride as a target. If Cooper were to theoretically make the WC roster, he wouldn't play. But I get your point, and I am excited to see what his form is like in MLS this year. A guy his size with his skills is pretty nice to see.
lol - no worries. Our concern is the same. I love Arena, but honestly, how much of Ching, Wolff, etc do we need to see in order to discover what they're capable of. We've seen all they can do. I think we should have been looking at others as well.
Considering his play as a rook and in the winter camp, save for the disastrous starting performance, I just don't see how one look-sie can be enough. I worry about him taking too many touches, but Twellman, Ching, and even GAM have been so underwhelming that if I was Arena I'd be considering Buddle, Rolfe and Cooper and anyone else that can finish or contribute at this point. It's enormously disappointing to realize that not a single forward has advanced beyond questionable status over the past four years. GAM appeared to have, but his injuries have lead to a slump and perhaps some confidence issues, he's not the player he was 18 months ago. Ching showed flashes pre-injury but staked no claim, Twellman looks done, though I'd like to see what he can with a midfield with actual talent. Donovan alone does not a midfield make, I'd like to see what he could do getting service from guys like Convey, Beasley, Reyna and O'Brien, the most likely MF starters, rather than the scrubs we've seen this past winter and early spring. Still it's depressing, you need to stand out and none of our forwards have, if I'm arena I'd be watching Buddle, and Cooper real close because Wolf, Ching, Twellman and GAm have all been monumental disappointments. Ching has lead feet and never wins headers or holds the ball well despite his size. Twellman is perpetually invisible if he doesn't have great service, Wolf has now scored one goal in the run of play in his last 21 appearences. And we're taking this guy?!?! At this rate, he's made Twellman and Ching look like freaking Pele and Adriano. Who would I add to the list? Buddle, Cooper, Gaven (granted he's looked poor for a while), Mapp, Adu, Feilhaber, Demeritt (spelling) etc. Plenty of guys, Adu may make the list, but I don't think any of these other guys will.
Not to nitpick, but what is the basis to say he's been in good form for NY? In the opener, Perkins gifted him a goal by dropping the ball right in front of him and leaving him an empty net to tap the ball into. Other than that, I don't recall him giving the DCU defense any trouble. And I don't recall him making any impact last weekend against NE.
Didn't he hit the post last weekend on a wicked shot from outside the 18? That is impact to me, 1 goal, 1 post in two games.
totally agree that Cooper won't be on the 35 man roster and could probably contribute. i guarantee though that we will see more of Cooper between 2006 and 2010 than we will of Ching/Twellman/Wolff/Johnson...
I'm guessing you mean Rolfe? I wouldn't say that game was disasterous - he did assist on that heal flick, put away a shot and had some good runs. He missed some opportunities, but I doubt (especially now) any other forward would have done better, but I still think his performance wasn't the clear sign of "not ready." If that were the case than people like Twellman, Ching and so forth should have been gone after one mediocre performance. Like you, I would have liked to have seen more players for sure and Rolfe should have had more games. Twellman had a pretty good midfield against Poland.