Simply put, who's on your squad if you could take anyone in the USMNT pool, not just Arena's favorites? My picks aren't that far off from who will probably make the team, but there are a few areas where the Bruce and I differ. (Obviously, some of these guys don't have the experience at the international level, but that's Arena's fault, not mine. ) ++++++++++++ Punching their tickets: Target F: McBride, Ching (Twellman gets voted off the island IMHO) Speed F: EJ, Rolfe (Wolff is just not getting it done) Withdrawn F/AM: Donovan, O'Brien (both are pretty much automatic locks when healthy) 2-way M/RM: Dempsey, Mullan (Mullan looks to be back in form - too bad Bruce hasn't noticed) LM: Beasley, Convey (automatic) DM/HM: Mastroeni, Reyna (Again, no contest, although it kills me that I don't have room for Clark here. Ricardo is my first alternate if someone in the midfield goes down to injury. I could even see bringing 7 defenders in order to have room for Clark as the 9th midfielder.) LB: Lewis, Dunivant (We need the offense these two bring, and Gibbs is the option at LB if we need a defensive look. I also like Spector here if one of these two gets injured.) CB: Pope, Onyewu, Gibbs, Conrad (I think Boca and Berhalter are the weakest links defensively. Used to be a big Bocanegra fan, but he has been guilty of some disappointing defensive lapses at Fulham this year) RB: Cherundolo, Hejduk (Frankie's experience, leadership, fitness, and versatility are the reason he goes to Germany - can't fault Bruce here) GK: Keller, Howard, Hahnemann (pretty much no controversy) Alternates: Forward: Twellman, Eskandarian Midfield: Clark, Noonan, Wolff Defense: Spector, Bocanegra, Albright Goalkeeper: Reis, Cannon ++++++++++++ I would be really happy if that squad were to represent the U.S. in Germany this summer. So...post your own line-ups or tell me what's right or wrong with mine.
Here's who I would bring, if I were the coach. This will not actually happen. FW: McBride, Johnson, Twellman, Wolff MD: Donovan, Beasley, Reyna, Mastroeni, Ralston, Olsen, Convey, Dempsey DF: Pope, Onyewu, Gibbs, Cherundolo, Hejduk, Bocanegra, Berhalter, Lewis GK: Keller, Hahnemann, Howard
Keller cherundolo gibbs onyewu lewis dempsey donovan reyna/maestro beasley EJ-hopefully will be this cycles donovan mcbride-consistent bench? who cares
F - McBride, Johnson, Rolfe, Adu M - Donovan, O'brien, Convey, Beasley, Dempsey, Reyna, Pablo, Mapp D - Gooch, Gibbs, Boca, Pope, Lewis, Dolo, Spector, Ricardo Clark he'd be the injury replacement for Pablo or Dolo. he has played RB for his club and I would have got him some nt time there. GK - Keller, Howard, Hahnehman
if i was Arena Rolfe, Mapp, Clark, Buddle, Dunivant, Mullan, Spector, and Jaqua would have been given more of a chance.
I would seriously consider bringing Ching. In the event of an injury to McBride, he currently seems like the best replacement if we feel we really need a target F. Ching has been scoring a lot of goals lately in MLS. I know he hasn't done much on the national team but unless I'm mistaken he hasn't played that much with our top MFs and didn't get much service. I realize he has his limitations but he's bigger and stronger than our other forwards and we might need to play direct against some teams, especially if we get behind.
ching cant even get near the goal vs. jamaica, norway, poland, etc.etc. what makes you think he can stand up to the likes of group E, in a do or die situation? LOL ching LMAO
Maybe he can't. But things change. Pablo wasn't on anybody's list 6 months before 2002 but his form really came around in the last few months and BA correctly figured he could play a good role for us. Ching now seems to be in really good form. Maybe he just hadn't gotten it together and hadn't figured out the international game when those earlier games were held. I'm not saying he's a great player, just that his style most closely approximates McBride's. McBride really didn't come into his own until he was about 27, so maybe Ching can still make a step up in class. If we want someone with decent size to back up McBride, it basically comes down to Ching or Johnson or both. There really isn't anybody else.
if i was Arena... GK-Keller, Hahnemann, Howard DF-Cherundolo, Onyewu, Gibbs, Lewis, Spector, Bocanegra, Pope, Hejduk MF-Reyna, O' Brien, Donovan, Beasley, Clark, Mastroeni, Dempsey, Convey FW-McBride, Rolfe, Mapp, Wolff Why Spector? it was hard to pick between Spector or Dunivant, but the fact is that the last defender probably won't play much unless of many injuries or cards. therefore, you don't want just a leftback. also Spector will be important in 2010 and it'll be good experience for him. Why not a back up target forward? because we don't have a back up target forward that i think is good enough for the WC. so why give it to a crap player that won't get anything done? or you could give it to a player like Mapp, who is muscular enough to play the role, and is ten times more dangerous? why do i cut Johnson? Johnson just hasn't shown that he's ready or that he has the maturity(reason why JOB makes it). i don't think he would do anything in this World Cup, but try and dance with the ball and get hurt. Alternates- G-Meola D-Dunivant, Conrad, Albright M-Olsen, Noonan, Adu F-Twellman, Johnson, Jaqua Starting XIthe different possibilities) ------------Mapp/McBride---Wolff/Donovan------------ ---------------Donovan/JOB/Reyna-------------------- ------Beasley/Convey------------Dempsey/Beasley---- ------------JOB/Reyna/Mastroeni--------------------- Lewis/Hejduk-------------------------------Cherundolo --------------------Gibbs----Onyewu---------------- --------------------------Keller---------------------- Starting XI locks: Donovan, Gibbs, Onyewu, Cherundolo, and Keller. JOB, Reyna, and McBride would be nice to have locks but might not have the fitness. everyone else it depends on the strategy.
This is just so hard if you're not actually a coach. Because the last two or three players on the roster aren't going because they're the third or fourth best option at their position. The last two players are going to fill very specific roles on the TEAM. And unless you've sat down and thought through every situation you might face as a coach it's hard to make realistic picks.