That would be incredibly unfair to Houston. I'd say for the USA: Holden is a shoe in, Ching probably. Cameron a dark horse, and no way on Davis (though he probably deserves it). Team Canada, I have no idea. But there is really no point on calling Onstad, it is time for them to start looking to the future as well. DeRo has already said he's staying at TFC. I think they'll go with younger, foreign players for the most part. I favor Mexico to win the tournament, they'll bring their first team because they need to get the stuff together, badly.
Beasley may have lost it... but considering his experience plus his past and recent contributions to the national team, it might be premature to throw him on the scrap heap. Bradley would do so at his own peril. Plus, really who is going to play left wing in the tough games besides him and Donovan (and Donovan is not a left sided player). We don't have a ton of left sided depth. I thought for sure Feilhaber was done for and then presto chango he is now the flavor of the month, or was until Jermaine Jones decided to play of us. Its been a tough year for Beaz. He was starting to get into a groove at Rangers and then he got hurt. He's had a bad run of form, but at 26 I am not sure he is done for, especially if he can find a new club and get his mojo back at that level. To be fair to Bradly he has hinted that Beasley needs to get his act together and we have seen less and less of him as qualifying has progressed. The issue with the GC is that I really doubt Bob is going to go all Copa America on us and throw a bunch of newbies to the lions. It is our regional championship and a great chance to beat Mexico again. Some of the lineups people are throwing out for the GC are good players and all, but they have zero international experience and are going to struggle against most Concacaf teams. Bob needs a few vets and solid players to flesh out the team and guarantee competitivenessm since Beasley has already mentioned that he is being considered for GC I think that there is a good chance we will see him and some others fron the Confed squad there.
BB has said he wants players to have consistent PT with their clubs. He isn't going to call in NT players twice in one summer and cause them to miss critical training with their clubs. That will hurt their chances for PT, and make it likely they are not in form in May 2010, which hurts the Nat team. Again, the only exceptions will be players who are still without a club, or in a dead end with their current club and looking to move (Pearce, Beasley). A GK (Guzan) who isn't missing much by missing training. Or if there is someone whose club season is offset a bit, so they can play GC and not miss preseason training. For the most part, it will be MLS up and comers (Holden, Marshall), some nice MLS vets (of the Ching, Hejduk, Mastroeni, Conrad, Arnaud, etc), and maybe a foreign player or two (Szetela, White, Whitbread, Parkhurst, etc). Plus someone coming back from injury (Cherundolo) and who is well established at their club. And I'd think Bob would NOT devastate an MLS roster. So I don't think Ching, Holden, Cameron, Boswell, and Davis from Houston. Or Marshall, Hejduk, Rogers, and Gaven from Columbus. I'd say 2 at most from any team.
I wonder if Thorrington might also get the call, as he started to pop up last year occasionally. I haven't seen him mentioned in many if any potential rosters on here, including my own, but Bradley would obviously consider him given his call ups recently.
I would take Holden, Quaranta, and maybe Arnaud and Rolfe. And the best right back not yet mentioned is Bryan Namoff, who is miles better than Wynne, IMO, and a better man marker than most on the list. And I would give a run to a Brad Davis and/or a Colin Clark.
As I commented on the MLS: News and Analysis continuous games thread, Robbie Rogers has taken a step back from last year. In the game today vs. Chivas USA, although his pace was still evident, his first touch, dribbling, crossing, and just overall decisiveness were all a bit off. Whether this is due to injuries from earlier in the season, I'm not sure. Given our limited options on the left side he still might get called in, but the assumption that it's just a matter of time before he becomes an integral part of the USMNT pool is now on hold. He may eventually overcome the slow start to his season, but it will take time to convince the USMNT coaching staff that he's ready for the next level. Stay tuned...
I think I read or heard somewhere that the rosters for the Gold Cup is due on the 19th. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I hope I didn't just dream this up.
If so you have very boring dreams ... unless you also dreamed the roster consisted of Victoria Secret models wearing the lingerie as uniforms.
I'd really like to see us go with something like: -----------------------Casey ---------------------------------Davies Clarke-----------------------------------------------------------Holden ---------------------Mastro--------Torres Sturgis------------Goodson--------DeMerit--------------Hejduk I know, Holden is playing CM right now. But, he's not going to take a spot from Bradley or (most likely) Jones. He's as good an outside mid as he is an inside mid, so let's see if he's "the answer" to our lack of outside mid problem. And, I'd have White, Cooper, Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Davis on the roster. I know this will garner howls of derision. But, how is Eddie Lewis performing at left back with the Galaxy? His huge mistake against Cze was when he had no experience there. Is he learning [ducks], because he's still the best crosser in the country. I know, this is a relatively inexperience group. But, it's got 2 guys in the middle that should hold it together as well as anyone except for Bradley. It's got another guy in Holden who is already a fringe WC roster type. It's got DeMerit in the back paired w/ a real up and comer in Goodson. It's got Frankie. And, Sturgis is a guy that is a capable fullback - not a guy that has "huge upside." He's a guy that may never be a big deal, but will always be competent.
If any of my callups are injured, feel free to call me a dolt GKs: Guzan, Hanhemann, Pickens Defenders: Marshall, Parkhurst, Orozco, Whitbread, Vidal, Pearce, Cherundolo, Freeman Midfielders: Thorrington, Beasley, C. Clark, Mastroeni, White, Quaranta, Holden, Feilhaber Forwards: Cooper, J. Johnson, Buddle, Jaqua I think this crop is a good mix of veterans, young players with sufficient international experience, and young players who need a look or deserve a look.
I will be so pissed if either Connor Casey or Pablo Mastreoni are called up for both tournaments. The Rapids finally have a decent, watchable team, and your going to gut it for the whole summer to prepare the national team for next years World Cup? Look, we've pretty much qualified, we've got one warm-up type tournament (the Confederations Cup). The Gold Cup squad should only include players whose European clubs, in off-season, want them to get game time, and other non-MLS players (college perhaps?). The crooks who run CONCACAF will make enough money off that till last until they can scalp their tickets for the World Cup. If coach Bradley calls up Casey for both tournaments, I'm not rooting for the US next year and you can put my name on a "Judas" shirt if you want to.
Yeah, I always liked him better as an outside mid, and when he was playing withe the U23 olympic team he mostly played RM. He did play some CM in the Netherlands game however.
Cap her and tie her! Seriously, she's got better vision than virtually anyone in our pool, and better technical skills. But the gals just don't have the athleticism to play with the boys.
Hahnemann says he plans to fight for starting spot preseason at Wolves. He wants to say going into WC 2010 he is a premiership starting goalkeeper. I agree with his decision. right, so Guzan starting, bring Robles, and uh, someone like Cervi as number three.
Posted this in another thread, but Curt Onalfo said today at his weekly press conference that Davy Arnaud had been called up.
Is 'dolo back? I'm not sure, honestly. If he is back, GC would be a great way to get him some training for the NT as well as the upcoming season. Any roster that doesn't include at least Holden and Cameron is a crap roster. That kid Cameron sooooo deserves a call up.
Arnaud is a fine player, and is playing well. Gold Cup is indeed a just reward for his fine play. But I don't really see him as being an outstanding player on the next level, or having the potential to be outstanding on the next level. So I think he may bump someone who does. We'll see tomorrow.