Yes, that's right, for the first time we're knocking down the number to 50. Why? Because we're starting to get a fairly clear focus of who Arena is looking at. As I did last time for 2010, I'm going to try and focus the age ranges based on the 2002 WC ages. I ran into a problem though. Here's the estimated age ranges for the 45 field players: 1967-1972: 2 1973-1974: 4 1975-1976: 6 1977-1978: 9 1979-1980: 9 1981-1982: 8 1983-1984: 5 1985-1989: 2 The problem is (as we all learned earlier in the year) Bruce has been using a ton of guys with birthdays 1974 and before. We also haven't seen much from guys in the 1975-1978 birth range. So looking through who has been playing and who hasn't been I adjusted the numbers like so: 1967-1972: 3 1973-1974: 6 1975-1976: 4 1977-1978: 5 1979-1980: 9 1981-1982: 8 1983-1984: 6 1985-1989: 4 The 1985-1989 range looks like a lot of players for that young, but when I post them you'll see that none of the four are worth counting out at this point. One other note, players are moved to various positions in order to get what I think are the guys most likely with a shot. So don't start yelling at me about John O'Brien's position. Anyhoo: GOALKEEPERS 1. Tim Howard - 1979 - Manchester United 2. Kasey Keller - 1969 - Southampton 3. Joe Cannon - 1975 - Colorado Rapids 4. Jonny Walker - 1974 - Metrostars 5. Adin Brown - 1978 - New England Revolution LEFT BACKS 1. John O'Brien - 1978 - Ajax 2. Bobby Convey - 1983 - Reading 3. Jose Burciaga Jr. - 1981 - Kansas City Wizards 4. Jonathan Spector - 1986 - Manchester United 5. Todd Dunivant - 1980 - San Jose Earthquakes RIGHT BACKS 1. Steve Cherundolo - 1979 - Hannover 96 2. Frankie Hejduk - 1974 - Stepover United FC 3. Tony Sanneh - 1971 - Columbus Crew 4. Chris Albright - 1979 - Los Angeles Galaxy 5. Robbie Russell - 1979 - Rosenborg CENTER BACKS 1. Carlos Bocanegra - 1979 - Fulham 2. Eddie Pope - 1973 - Metrostars 3. Cory Gibbs - 1980 - FC Dallas Burn 4. Oguchi Onyewu - 1982 - Standard Liege 5. Gregg Berhalter - 1973 - Energie Cottbus 6. Chad Marshall - 1984 - Columbus Crew 7. Danny Califf - 1980 - Los Angeles Galaxy LEFT MIDFIELDERS 1. DaMarcus Beasley - 1982 - PSV Eindhoven 2. Eddie Lewis - 1974 - Preston North End 3. Kyle Martino - 1981 - Columbus Crew 4. Justin Mapp - 1984 - Chicago Fire 5. Freddy Adu - 1989 - D.C. United RIGHT MIDFIELDERS 1. Brian Mullan - 1978 - San Jose Earthquakes 2. Chris Klein - 1976 - Kansas City Wizards 3. Ben Olsen - 1977 - D.C. United 4. Davy Arnaud - 1980 - Kansas City Wizards 5. Danny Szetela - 1987 - Columbus Crew DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS 1. Chris Armas - 1972 - Chicago Fire 2. Kerry Zavagnin - 1974 - Kansas City Wizards 3. Pablo Mastroeni - 1976 - Colorado Rapids 4. Richard Mulrooney - 1976 - San Jose Earthquakes 5. Ricardo Clark - 1983 - Metrostars ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS 1. Landon Donovan - 1982 - San Jose Earthquakes 2. Claudio Reyna - 1974 - Manchester City 3. Clint Mathis - 1976 - Hannover 96 4. Eddie Gaven - 1986 - Metrostars 5. Clint Dempsey - 1983 - New England Revolution FORWARDS 1. Eddie Johnson - 1984 - FC Dallas Burn 2. Josh Wolff - 1977 - Kansas City Wizards 3. Brian McBride - 1972 - Fulham 4. Conor Casey - 1981 - FSV Mainz 5. Taylor Twellman - 1980 - New England Revolution 6. Brian Ching - 1978 - San Jose Earthquakes 7. Edson Buddle - 1981 - Columbus Crew 8. Alecko Eskandarian - 1982 - D.C. United
if you're talking 2006.... you cannot discount friedel who cares if he plays in anything for us until then... we don't need him to qualify, and if we do... we shouldn't be there
I wouldn't. But sadly, I think the chances of us getting to see JOB playing for the Nats again are small. As a latecomer to discussion here, is there a reason why Nick Garcia isn't under consideration? He has two caps where he started; he came in as a late sub in a few other matches. I hadn't seen those matches; do people think he sucked? What about Petke? I'm not lobbying for him; I'm just curious what the perception of him his re: the Nats. A certain amount of home-colored glasses may be involved here; but one player that impressed me with his development this year, and whom I'd like to see get called up for a friendly and see how he does, is Brian Carroll.
one thing... look at the left backs and think about who the new kid on the block is dunivant... and only job is older... and job's been in holland for half his life convey's been pro since 16... spector 16/17 (18/19 now) burciaga has been around for a few years... injured, but been pro for awhile dunivant is an 80, a second year pro and only 2 years younger than job... who has absolute tons of experience i dunno...
I don't see any of the right midfielders making the team in 2006. Maybe Dempsey can make a difference in that spot.
I think you have pretty much nailed the 2006 pool with respect to forwards. The pool is 8 right now. Four will go. Given the fact that the WC is over a year and a half away, form matters more to strikers than any other position, and injury changes everything, I would say we cannot pare the pool down any more than this right now...but good job.
just remember... it's not a case of picking slots... it's a matter of picking the best team... guys slide from one position to another based on what's going on (that and i have no idea why reyna would be considered an attacking mid... especially over the course of his career with the national team) job, if healthy, is in the midfield (not defense, keep dreaming... our best field player from the 2002 world cup ain't going to defense)... donovan can easily play on the right, or center, or up top, or... bocanegra could easily take left back who knows where gaven and dempsey will be most likely start to earn pt at i rather doubt dunivant gets pt anytime soon
It came down to Califf and Garcia for that last defender spot. My own opinion probably differs, but Arena has appeared to favor Califf throughout and so there he sits. Garcia has work to do to get there. He not only has to knock out some guys in the 50, but then he's got to go through 27 more to get to the final 23. So guys like Garcia, Ralston, Vanney, Cunningham are on the outside looking in at the moment mostly because I had to limit it to 50.
But then you say that O'Brien won't play left back when we really have very little else there and we appear to become more loaded every day in the center of midfield. Fullback is an attacking position particularly in the system Bruce prefers to play. Vanney's another '74 which would push that total up to 10 field players born in 1974 or earlier and that's obscenely high. He'll be 32 and he already looks about finished to me. He was always slow and is now sloooooow. He got ritually abused against Panama. Bruce might bring him to have him sit the pine like Regis, but he'd be better off bringing someone else and I think he's coming to that conclusion. Think of it as a horse race where Vanney was leading at the half mile marker but as we're at the top of the turn he's laboring badly. He's going to be worse in 2006 than he was in 2004 and he was no great shakes in 2004. The best American left backs in MLS are Burciaga and Dunivant. Pretty much everybody else are players the team's fans love to scream at. It's the MLS version of right field in little league. There's essentially no one else out there. For the other three guys listed it's not even their best or natural position.
What about Wade Barrett? I hope he'll get called into another USNT camp. I hope it doesn't have to come down to Dunivant. He's dangerous going forward but lacks speed and he's just not that good of a defender.
Yeah, right now it seems like the best option is to use one of our attacking midfielders on the right (as long as it's not Landon). Gaven seems like a good choice since he plays on the wing for NY. In fact, I think he might play on the right tomorrow. I'd also like to see Martino get a shot on the right. Those two, plus Dempsey are all creative, dynamic players with speed. I think one of them could pan out to be a good solution.
WRT left backs, what about that kid Karbasiyoon at Arsenal? Isn't he played on the left? I know he's totally off the radar now, but maybe he has a Maestro-like ascension for 2006 if we continue to have nobody for that position. Arsene Wegner knows a little something about identifying talent....
Yeah, I pretty much agree that if the same Johnny O who played at WC2002 is available, he has no business playing left back. It was pointed out by somebody that we are very deep in center midfield, but 2002 JOB is better than all of our other options, except Landon. I'm sure that some would even argue that he is a better option than Landon. And that position is a huge priority over left back. That said, JOB has been injured for awhile and sometimes players just aren't the same after injuries (Sanneh, Olsen, etc). If JOB can't at least come close to duplicating his form from 2002, then he may be looked at as an option at left back. Also, I'm still not sure if he could play left back for the USA. Ajax seem to dominate most teams they play, so I've never seen him do any heavy duty marking at left back. Playing with the US, there will be games where the opposition dominates possession and the left back is asked to do some really serious marking. I can't really say whether he can do it or not, since I've never seen him get the chance. I've only seen Ajax in league games. Maybe somebody has seen JOB play against a superior team in Champions League?
I think Frank Simek will be a part of the defender mix before it is all said and done. He's reportedly played extremely well from the get go at QPR. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Danny Karbassiyoon make a late run at left back. He's been the man on their reserves side, and when he's gotten a run out, he's performed for the full team, most recently beating a full-strength Everton (currently EPL #3) in the Carling Cup and getting rave reviews in the process. Another player people should be keeping a very close eye on is Peter Philipakos, who is about to return to the Olympiakos full team after recovering from a hernia operation. This is a guy who was the starter at right midfield - where the US really needs some help - for a club doing very well in the Champions League in a tough group. I don't know if voros' list is how he'd rate the Top 50 now, or where he thinks they'll be 2 years from now, but here are the changes I'd make to his list. This is not how I'd rate players now, but where I project them to be come 2006: GOALKEEPERS 1. Kasey Keller 2. Tim Howard 3. Joe Cannon 4. Jonny Walker 5. Adin Brown LEFT BACKS 1. Danny Karbassiyoon 2. Bobby Convey 3. Todd Dunivant 4. Greg Vanney 5. Jose Burciaga Jr. RIGHT BACKS 1. Steve Cherundolo 2. Robbie Russell 3. Frankie Hejduk 4. Tony Sanneh 5. Chris Albright CENTER BACKS 1. Carlos Bocanegra 2. Chad Marshall 3. Pablo Mastroeni 4. Jonathan Spector 5. Oguchi Onyewu 6. Eddie Pope 7. Frank Simek 8. Cory Gibbs 9. Nat Borchers 10. Danny Califf LEFT MIDFIELDERS 1. DaMarcus Beasley 2. Eddie Lewis 3. Freddy Adu 4. Justin Mapp 5. Josh Gros RIGHT MIDFIELDERS 1. Chris Klein 2. Peter Philipakos 3. Brian Mullan 4. Danny Szetela 5. Brian West DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS 1. John O'Brien 2. Kerry Zavagnin 3. Claudio Reyna 4. Ricardo Clark 5. Clint Dempsey 6. Ned Grabavoy ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS 1. Landon Donovan 2. Eddie Gaven 3. Kyle Martino 4. Clint Mathis FORWARDS 1. Eddie Johnson 2. Brian Ching 3. Conor Casey 4. Taylor Twellman 5. Brian McBride 6. Josh Wolff 7. Edson Buddle 8. Alecko Eskandarian 9. Davy Arnaud 10. Pat Noonan
It's where I'm guessing Bruce would be looking at things right now for 2006. I personally would turn over every stone in MLS (including the retired stones named Jordan) before using Hejduk again, but that's me. I personally probably wouldn't put Casey among our top 10 forwards either. I won't mention my opinion of Chris Armas...
thankyou for remembering/knowing that spector is NOT a left back. though hes been injured for awhile, no one should count out chris klein he was great for us at Rm and can be again. also, gaven and Dempsey could be listed at multiple positions, as could a few others. does someone have a really good sight with bios and info of americans abroad?
Those are probably the 8 that will be somewhere in some of the rosters between now and 2006. Really Mcbride probably wont be there he will be 34 and dosetn really play all that much for Fulham.Johnson will probably be there so thats 1 so far. Ching is a maybe right now probably not. Wolff has World Cup experience so he would probably be ther so thats 2. Buddle well he should unless hes injured so far thats 3.Twellman needs to prove that he can play at the National team level so far thats a no.Casey hasnt really done much either for the National team. Esky yes thats 4.If you want you can add a 5th and i would say Ching.
I agree with you that Philipakos is one to watch, but I don't remember him earning a starting spot for Olympiakos -- are you sure about that? I don't doubt that he might have started a few preseason friendlies for them, but I thought he was only a sub once the regular season started.
Right mid and the outside backs positions are the most open to me. Dmid is a bit of a question mark, especially if we are talking about a single Dmid and not the box midfield formation. Right mid is just wide open and Peter Philipakos could be the big outsider to make it. If someone steps up they can make a huge jump right into this team. It's there for the taking. Frank Simek could be the right back if he can continue to get playing time, he needs to extend or get another loan. To me there's only 4 realistic candidates for RB. I just think Sanneh isn't going to be healthy enough to have a good shot. RIGHT BACKS 1. Steve Cherundolo 2. Robbie Russell 3. Frankie Hejduk 4. Frank Simek Other than Bocanegra, I don't know what to think of the left back position. I think Vanney is gone and I don't see Convey as a real choice. It's either Boca or a new guy. Maybe Danny Karbassiyoon can slip in but time is short. Spector is interesting to me and I wonder if he has a chance at Dmid. His ability to cover multiple positions is a huge asset during a tournament. DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS 1. Claudio Reyna 2. Kerry Zavagnin 3. Pablo Mastroeni 4. Ricardo Clark 5. Clint Dempsey 6. Ned Grabavoy I think the Dmid list is full of guys that can play in a box midfield but can any of them stand out as a single Dmid?
Probably ? Anyone else you can think of now that should be on the list ? Sure, players can come out of no where but I don't see anyone else right now who has a legit shot. Wait a sec...Twellman hasn't proved himself and Esky has ? I won't argue that Twellman hasn't shown his best yet on the National team (except for the last time he played against Mexico where he did great), but what has Esky done on the National team to deserve the 4th spot ?
Noonan maybe has a case. Magee really doesn't have one, but he's not a bad player and still very young. Bruce still seems to like running Cunningham out there occassionally.
Mastroeni and Clark are both "destroyer" type d-mids more than 2-way guys like the others. I think both Grabavoy and Dempsey belong closer to goal. Grabavoy also might need a coaching change since he more or less stopped playing soon after Sampson took over and I didn't hear anything about an injury.