We haven't had an A-team match since November and since then, in the words of Project Pat, the script done flipped. This could be the most unpredictable set of call-ups in a while. If I'm in charge, it looks like this. FORWARDS Jozy Altidore Brian Ching Freddy Adu Landon Donovan Eddie Johnson MIDFIELDERS Michael Bradley Benny Feilhaber Jose Torres Maurice Edu Ricardo Clark Stuart Holden Alejandro Bedoya DEFENDERS Jonathan Spector Clarence Goodson Carlos Bocanegra Jonathan Bornstein Jay DeMerit Edgar Castillo Frank Simek GOALKEEPERS Tim Howard Brad Guzan Marcus Hahnemann
Already posted in another thread, but wth, here's mine again: FW: Altidore Johnson one of Ching/Casey/Findley/Cunningham (I'll say Findley) MF: Donovan Bradley Edu Adu (Could be listed as FW, but I think gets time at LM) Torres Beasley Holden Feilhaber Clark DF: Spector Bocanegra DeMerit Pearce Bornstein Simek Goodson GK: Howard Guzan That's 21 which is a little high for a midweek friendly. But I would want to see all these MF who play abroad as that's where the toughest decisions will be come June.
Bigsoccer has generally figured the callup list out. Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann Spector, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Bornstein, Goodson, Castillo, Simek Donovan, Bradley, Torres, Edu, Clark, Holden, Rogers, Beasley Altidore, Johnson, Adu, and either Rolfe or whichever forward scores against ES. I have no idea which MLS forward(s) BB will call up, and whatever decision BB makes will say a lot about the World Cup pecking order. I'm assuming Feilhaber still has his ankle injury and BB will let him sit this one out as well.
i aree that the game should have a bit more than average for a midweek friendly given the unusual circumstances of this match. (3) GK Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann (8) DF Simek, DeMerit, Spector, Bocanegra, Bornstein, Castillo, Goodson, Marshall (7) MF Edu, Donovan, Beasley, Bradley, Torres, Adu, Bedoya (5) FW Findley, Altidore, Casey, Ching, Johnson my starting XI: ------------Altidore---Findley----------- Donovan--------------------------Beasley ---------Edu-------------Bradley-------- Bornstein---------------------------Spector ------Bocanegra (C)------DeMerit--------- ------------------Howard----------------- Bench: Guzan/Hahnemann, Goodson/Marshall (depends on ES), Simek/Castillo, Torres, Bedoya, Adu, Casey/Ching/Johnson (depends on ES) My Subs: *I want Adu to play FW at some time. so probably for Findley *Casey/Ching/EJ should replace Jozy at some point *Torres should come in for Beasley...or Edu or Bradley *One of the fullbacks (Simek/Castillo) should replace Bornstein at the half and move Spector to LB. *i'd bring in Goodson/Marshall and Bedoya late in the game...around the 75+ mark. Not on Game Day Roster: Guzan/Hahnemann, Goodson/Marshall, Simek/Castillo, 2-Casey/Ching/Johnson -------------------------------------------- Possible, but left off for reason: GK N/A DF Williams (probably won't happen), Cameron & Wynne (depends on ES) MF Holden (want him to stay at Bolton); Kljestan, Gaven, Pontius, McCarty, Evans, Davis, Rogers and Beckerman (depends on ElSal) FW Cunningham (depends on ElSal) Not called up, but still in picture (barely though, except Perkins): GK Perkins DF Orozco, Franklin, Gonzalez, Pearce, Hejduk, Conrad MF N/A FW Cooper, Rolfe, Tracy Injured: GK N/A DF Onyewu, Cherundolo, Alston MF Jones, Feilhaber, Clark FW Dempsey, Davies
I like this, but I'd add in Findley, one of Ching and Casey, along with Marshall. With the labor situation the way it is (possibly) they could use the extra time, however little it may be.
Here's my slightly different group after today's game. Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann Spector, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Bornstein, Goodson, Pearce, Simek Donovan, Bradley, Torres, Edu, Clark, Holden, Kljestan, Rogers, Beasley Altidore, Johnson, Adu, Ching, Rolfe [LINEUP-4-4-2]Ching, Altidore, Donovan, Torres, Bradley, Holden, Bornstein, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Spector, Howard[/LINEUP-4-4-2]
FW: Altidore,Johnson,Ching,Tracy. MF: Donovan,Bradley,Adu,Beasley,Edu,Torres,Holden,Clark DF: Spector,Demerit,Bocanegra,Bornstein,Goodsen,Pearce,Simek, Williams**** GK: Howard, H-Man,Guzan.
Can a roster be fourthed? I also think we will see either Ching or Casey with Altidore. I said it on another forum, but Jozy is working great with JVoH and it seems at this point he really needs a target forward to work off. Casey and Ching looked good in that role tonight (don't flame me, I read the in-game thread, but I actually thought Casey looked pretty good tonight). Also, if Boca isn't the captain, does he start? Goodson looks good, he could go with DeMerit and Bornstein, who is also looking good, on the left, and Spector on the right. Or Pearce on the left if he keeps up the form. I keep getting remebrances of him against Argentina. Would like to see him regain that form, and he looked excellent both going forward and on defense tonight.
My roster Howard Guzan Spector Bocanegra Goodson Bornstein Demerit Simek Williams Donovan Torres Bradley Holden Beasley Bedoya Edu Altidore Ching Rolfe Adu Not including Clark becuase I don't think he will be healthy enough.
I doubt we'll see more than one or two MLS players make the trip over. BB has had them for the last month and should have a good sense of them. Ching did the most to help his chances tonight and Bornstein is probably the holder at LB so I expect Altidore--Ching Donovan--Bradley--Edu--Holden Bornstein--Bocanegra--Demerit--Spector HowardBench: Guzan, Castillo, Goodson, Beasley, Torres, Johnson, Adu Called in but don't make game day: Tracy, Simek, Hahnemann Injured: Feilhaber, Clark, Dempsey, Onyewu, Cherundolo, and Jones
with all the injuries lately here are players from europe & mexico i know are available: timmy landon adu EJ Bradley torres castillo altidore holden Cherundolo Spector boca guzan cooper injuries i know: benny clark jay demerit gooch beasley edu deuce davies any updates on any of these would be great... the BIG ????? who does he take from MLS? i think SACHA Ching Findley or Jeff Pearce Maybe Marshall maybe rogers but that's it no more than 4-5
Is Castillo really a possibility? Don't know. After Pearce reclaimed his LB depth spot last night, I think Castillo is bye-bye. Edu, Beasley and Demerit seemingly have recovered from injury and are playing again, especially JD. Findley understandably got hurt mid-game last night and wasn't as good afterwards but Cunningham was worse. Goodson has made Marshall unnecessary just now. Dolo is still healing. Rogers was really unimpressive unfortunately. Kljestan OTOH made a very good argument after all these months to be included.
I like your roster bshredder, but I'm going to call in Kenny Cooper and Eddie Johnson as forwards. (so Altidore, Ching, Cooper, and Johnson as the forwards) Then I'm going to move Adu back to the midfield, and not call in Bedoya. I'm also not going to call in Williams, but will call in Castillo. Left back is a bigger problem spot than right back.
DeMerit, Beasley, and Edu are all back from injury....and are playing. They'll most likely all be called up for this match. Clark is back in training, but hasn't played a match. He's a question mark for this Holland game.
Clint, I like your group the best of all. NO CASEY and I agree with the Cooper and Johnson ideas, even though I am not big on them, we have to find finishers and the ES match showed we are in dire need there.
I like this group as well, although I'd probably put Edu in there over Torres with him (Torres) coming in as a sub in the 2nd half for Holden or Donovan.
redoing my list after the El Sal game (2/3) GK Howard, Hahnemann, [Guzan] (7) DF Pearce, Bornstein, Goodson, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Spector, Simek (5/7) MF Edu, Torres, Beasley, Donovan, Bradley, [Kljestan, Bedoya] (4/5) FW Ching, Casey, Altidore, Adu, [Johnson] starting XI: ----------Ching------Altidore-------- Donovan---------------------Beasley -------Edu-------------Bradley------ Bornstein----------------------Spector ------(C) Boca--------DeMerit------- ---------------Howard-------------- Bench: Hahnemann, Goodson, Pearce, Simek, Torres, Adu, Casey Subs: -Torres (Edu, Beasley) at half or early in 2nd half -Adu (Beasley, Ching) at half or early in 2nd half -Casey (Ching, Altidore) later in game -Simek (Spector) at half -Pearce (Bornstein) at half -Goodson (Bocanegra) later in game...we need to see if him and DeMerit mesh well. FEW NOTES: *I'm guessing Bob has completely dropped Marshall from consideration giving his limited minutes v Honduras and zero minutes against El Sal. i must say it's disappointing though. Moreover, the same thing goes for Cameron...who i was really hoping to see get minutes. *Gaven may have helped his cause, but i don't think it was enough. Also, i don't think we'll see Beckerman, Cunningham, McCarty, or Rogers for this one, but they're not through yet. Davis, Rimando, and Evans are probably done until next cycle. *Hejduk, Tracy, Cooper, and Rolfe are still possibilities that weren't part of the camp cupcake. but i doubt we'll see them. Hejduk probably the most...given the serious lack of depth right now at RB. *Feilhaber, Davies, Jones, Alston, Cherundolo, Clark, Onyewu, and Dempsey are still all on the injury list. *I'm dropping Findley, and Castillo also from the list. Findley had a really poor game against El Sal (and with Ching & Casey playing well...it hurts him more)...to the point that i think he blew it for South Africa unless he does really well in the next few months in MLS and performs well against CR and Turkey. *Because of Pearce's game against El Salvador, i have feeling that Bob is going to forget about Castillo. *I genuinely doubt we'll see D. Williams. if it were me, i'd call him up, but i doubt Bob will. *I still would leave Holden at his club...him getting time with Bolton is more important right now than garbage minutes he'd get against the Netherlands. We'll see what he can do against the Czech and Turks
[LINEUP-4-4-2] Altidore, Ching, Donovan, Bradley, Paco, Holden, Bornstein, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Spector, Howard [/LINEUP-4-4-2]
Called up by Bob today: GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton) DEFENDERS (7): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United) MIDFIELDERS (7): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Everton), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), José Torres (Pachuca) FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)
Suprised to see Findley get in ahead of Ching. Maybe he's asking Findley to show him something whereas we all pretty much know what Ching brings to the table. That said I would have liked to have seen how Ching plays with Altidore. Glad to see Gringo Torres make it. Pearce looks to have shut Castillo out for this cycle. The same might be said of Goodson v Marshall
Biggest surprise for me is no Adu. At this point Freddy will have to walk on water in order to get a look. DMB Johnson and a host of others have done nothing in recent chances...SMH