My opinions of course: Barrett, Wade-MLS success won't translate to the international level. Beasley, DaMarcus-WC vet Bocanegra, Carlos-would've made WC team had he not been injured. Brown, Adin-will figure by 2010, 50/50 right now Califf, Dan-try again in 2006 please. Cullen, Leo-MLS success won't translate to international level. Cunningham, Jeff-has a pretty decent shot at 2006 IMHO, especially with the injury to Wolff and the ability to play right wing. What was that Karl about him not having a chance? Donovan, Landon-WC vet Dunseth, Brian-has shown improvement though still a long shot IMHO. Hernandez, Daniel-has improved a lot IMHO....if he can be a team player will get other chances besides this one. Howard, Tim-See Adin Brown Klein, Chris-will make it past this one. Martino, Kyle-will show enough to get called up in another two years(only 21 now). Mastroeni, Pablo-WC vet Mathis, Clint-WC vet McCarty, Chad-not sure what Bruce was thinking with this one. Won't make it. Olsen, Ben-would've went to this cup had he not been injured. Quill, Eric-see Wade Barrett Rimando, Nick-see Brown and Howard, of which he's behind IMHO. Robinson, Eddie-might make it Suarez, Ryan-definitely gets other chances. Twellman, Taylor F-if he's healthy, he definitely makes it. Victorine, Sasha-probably a more versatile Ralston. Redlined at the Olympics IMHO. Only around 6-10 of these guys make it to 2006 and most of those are guys who played this time around. We're looking at 3-4 new guys max from this roster IMHO.
While it's still too early to tell, he did score the game winning goal against a quasi-Premiership team recently, and didn't look too bad on defense either. Surely that Spurs team he faced had as much talent as a lot of the teams we'll meet in qualifying.
I assume you mean making the final WC 2006 roster. I would not be surprised to see many of these guys play in the qualifying rounds. Last time through Bruce used a huge player pool.
Re: Re: Who won't make it past this camp? Really? I heard he sucked in that game and got a lucky goal. I rate Broome higher personally.
No I mean some of these guys won't get called up for awhile if ever again after this. Let's face it, if you can't hold your own against El Salvador, well, uhh, you're not that good IMHO. And Bruce will judge players based on practice also. Barrett's one of the most overrated players on these boards IMHO although I do tend to think that he'll make it past this camp, just not onto the final roster. For most of my comments though I meant not making it past THIS camp.
Califf will get called again, Im not sure if that is what is implied in the original post or not. He has had some success on the international level(eventhough it is youth team experience) and he plays on one of the top MLS sides. Arena himself said that he showed well in the camp for the last Gold Cup. That and he is a pretty good man marker(see MLS Cup and the job he did on Twellman). Will he make the next WC team ? Who knows. But Im sure he will get multiple chances between now and then.
I don't rate Califf very highly. I think he's got a lot of maturing to do and he's only 22, so he's still got time. He got roasted against South Korea pretty badly and I've never liked his speed/lateral quickness. He's good in the air and fouls the hell out of people. That's all I've seen from him. His distribution is also quite average IMHO.
Well, there's ALWAYS a CHANCE -- it's just that right now, based on the way he more or less habitually and typically plays, I'd say the chances are slim, slim, slim for him to get into meaningful qualifying games and into the finals. I confess though this call up is a bit surprising, but just a bit. Yes, he's fast, and racks up the points in MLS, but.... It's not that he doesn't have the skill, or the speed, or the athleticism. It's much more than that. If he actually LEARNED how to play the way he SHOULD play, he could be quite a difference maker. Don't get me wrong...I'd LOVE to see him turn it around. That would mean another flashy option for us. Given what I've seen, and what's been posted by knowledgable Crew fans, I think it's a long shot... By the way, I think it's very important to keep in mind that there are many purposes to camp BEYOND finding out if this player or that player can cut it or not. Part of the purpose of camp is getting a player to come to awareness that he is NOT capable of cutting it.
Rimando's a good keeper who won't make it at the international level for the US due to his size. I'm glad to see Suarez get a call up for this match. The same with McCarty.
Have to also say that I'm surprised at McCarty's inclusion, and can't imagine him making the cut. The times I've seen him he has shown a tendency to get beat by speed and then try and recover with a reckless tackle.
I agree with the maturing statement, he does have a ways to go. But playing along side Lalas has improved his game. As for the fouls, Califf has a little bit of a reputation among MLS officials. He has made some stupid fouls but he also gets called for fouls that many veteran defenders would not be called for. Califf on the other hand, does not have a bad reputation on the international level. This could work in his benifit if he takes advantage of his international opportunities and shows well. Sigi thinks that Califf has promise and so does Arena, I think that these two men's opinions must count for something in the US soccer community.
Sure they do. But Califf is still just long term potential to me at this point. Considering his age and his experience('99 U20 WYC, 2000 Sydney Olympics, Two MLS cup finals), he's going to be in the mix. However, I for one don't think that his current skill set will transfer well to the international level, especially when we play opponents who have players at the world class level. I'm sure he gets a little better each year though.
Re: Re: Who won't make it past this camp? I don't get this one at all. If a player is not going to cut it, why does he have to get called into camp? Makes no sense that Bruce would waste time appeasing a guy he has no plans for. He's got enough to worry about selecting between the guys he figures may actually step up, without taking responsibility to hand hold every guy who thinks he may deserve a chance. Besides, how is one camp gonna convince a player he ain't got it? Most guys competitive enough to play any pro sport are pretty confident and are more likely to figure they could do better with another chance. Bringing a guy to camp you know you don't want just leads him on, and I don't think Bruce is a tease.
Karl Keller said, "By the way, I think it's very important to keep in mind that there are many purposes to camp BEYOND finding out if this player or that player can cut it or not. Part of the purpose of camp is getting a player to come to awareness that he is NOT capable of cutting it." I could not disagree with a post more. First of all, if JC needed to be brought to this level of awareness, it would have happened in the 2 week camp that took place last year before the South Korea game in Korea, or it would have happened in the month long camp and Gold Cup competition. That would be plenty of time for a coach and a player to "come to an awareness" that JC was not going to cut it. Obviously, Bruce disagrees with Karl and is working on gradually phasing JC into the team, Arena's system, and the role that Bruce believes he can play. But the point behind all of that is, in my mind, absurd. If Arena wants to bring a player to an awareness that he's not going to cut it on the MNT, he doesn't call him in. Bruce gets relatively few opportunities to evaluate players in this type of environment, and I think he's a better coach than to waste a few spots in camp for the purpose of driving home a point. I think nobody said it well enough, Bruce is not a tease.
Yeah, those strong, fast, versatile players who might possibly fill in a weak spot for the MNT at the left back position are worthless. What the hell was Arena thinking?
Of the players called into camp, I think Cullen has the longest shot of actually getting any time on the MNT. Who knows, though? Bruce has called him in before, so there must be something to Leo's game that Arena likes.
Just looking at the roster once more it's hard to answer the question that this thread's title asks since several of the players are obviously "projects"- they aren't ready right now, but they might be as they continue developing at the rate that they have lately. I realized this when I thought about Victorine, " where was Vaengas?" Well, Sasha's been better lately compared to Pete, especially in Sigi's eyes. One can look at several (marginal? questionable?) players on the roster that way: Dunseth and McCarty and Cullen for starters, all of whom have been playing well as of late. This game is meant to see these guys much like the Mexico III game in late Fall of 2000 brought in the likes of Donovan, Convey, Franchino, etc. It's obvious that some of these guys are way down the depth chart when the full team is together but on the other hand they are all young and there is a possibility that some of them will blossom in the next four years and force their way onto the team. Thus getting them into a camp early for a meaningless game will give them and Arena am early look at their possible future.
Make like Marty McFly and head back in time This has been done before, but the time is right for another viewing. Here is the roster for the first friendly after WC '98: GK-- Zach Thornton DF--Carlos Llamosa, Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope MF--Cobi Jones, Joe-Max Moore, Richie Williams, Clint Mathis, Eddie Lewis FW--Roy Lassiter, Brian McBride Subs--Chris Armas, Mark Chung, Ben Olsen, CJ Brown ********* WC vets--Agoos, Pope, Jones, Moore, McBride 8 players from this starting lineup made the WC 2002 roster--Llamosa, Agoos, Pope, Jones, Moore, Mathis, Lewis, McBride 2 players perhaps would have made the WC 2002 roster were it not for injury--Armas, Olsen 2 were alternates--Williams, Thornton From this lineup, only 3 were not in the final consideration for the last World Cup--Lassiter, Chung and Brown. Add in that Chung essentially retired from the national team, and only 2 players out of the 15 who saw playing time were not in the final cuts for the WC 2002 roster. The full roster also offers some interesting comparisons. Like the US v El Salvador roster, the US v Australia roster was entirely MLS based. 11 players are looking for their first cap this time, while 9 were looking for their first cap in '98. Also interesting is the age difference. In '98, however, 3 players were over 30--Agoos, Bravo and Fraser. This time, our oldest players are 26 (a bunch of them.) The average age for this roster is under 24. Another look at the full roster reveals of those who did not start in '98, I believe only Wolff made the WC 2002 roster, and Razov made the alternates. According to the press release, Maisonneuve also would have been in camp had he not been injured, and he also made the alternates for '02. ********* What conclusions can we draw from this? I think the only solid one is that MLS has immensely improved the depth of potential national team players who are young. The part where only 3 players who received playing time did not make final consideration for the WC 2002 is more a fun coincidence than a predicator of Arena's plans. Therefore, I would not claim that those who play in the friendly have a better chance than others of making the team. This is too naive an assumption -- it discounts things like changes in form over the next 4 years, players abroad, players who may go abroad, players who may come back to MLS and the rapid rate at which MLS is producing solid, young American players. However, it will be interesting to chart this starting lineup against the final roster in '06 when the time comes