Bob Bradley released his 33 man player pool for the upcoming friendlies last night. While the usual suspects made the list there are certainly some surprising inclusions. By position:
(note: I went ahead and put players where they likely will play i.e. Donovan in the midfield)
GOALKEEPERS: Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
Bradley has gone away from the experienced keepers for now but I don't read too much into that. If we needed a win in a qualifier and Howard wasn't available I'm pretty sure he'd still call in Keller or Hahnemann. The only two from this group I think see the field are Howard and Guzan.
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
I'm ecstatic that Frankie Hejduk got the call-up here, especially as he was arguably our best defender in the Gold Cup and has played consistently well for the Crew. It's also nice to see Orozco get the call-in after his very impressive Olympic qualifying performance. Other than these two there are not any huge surprises. Cory Gibbs evidently didn't show Bradley much in the Poland camp to warrant playing time or a call back for the friendlies, which is too bad as he seemed poised to make his MNT comeback.
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
Great to see Beasley back with the Nats after having to watch Bobby Convey vs. Mexico. It's somewhat surprising to see Feilhaber called in after his long, strange season with Derby and omission from the Olympic qualifiers. As an experiment, Bob Bradley should give Edu, Feilhaber, and Clark the start in one game each alongside Michael Bradley. This may be the best way to determine who our two center mids are going into WC qualifying. The only major surprise to me from this group is Eddie Gaven. Not sure he brings anything to the table whatsoever. The player who I'm most ready to see out of this group is Robbie Rogers. With Beasley coming back from injury and Eddie Lewis being so old, I'm really hoping Rogers sees some playing time on the left wing. Too bad Stuart Holden didn't get the call-up but his time will definitely come.
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)
Pretty average group of forwards but it's what we've got. I think our best option is probably Adu-Altidore or Dempsey-Altidore but we'll see how it plays out.
Overall I am happy with this group. Some players seem to have been called in just to get a closer look for the Olympics (Cervi, Seitz, Gaven, Kljestan) but nonetheless should benefit from any full national team experience. The roster for the England game, which will include approximately 22 players, is due out next week. Here is my best guess (what I think Bradley will actually do):
----------------Howard-----------------
Dolo-------Boca-------Gooch-----Pearce
------------Bradley----Edu-------------
Dempsey------------------------Donovan
------------Altidore----Ching------------
Bench: Guzan, Hejduk, DeMerit, Spector, Beasley, Adu, Clark, Mastroeni, Lewis, Feilhaber, Wolff
-Believe me, I cringe when I look at this line-up too. Same back line as the Poland friendly, and same outside mid combination due to Beasley not being 100%. I think Bradley has enough confidence in Jozy to start him up top but I don't think he is as willing to start Freddy. Altidore replaces EJ from the Poland line-up and Edu replaces Clark (two changes that I feel he will make). I'm hoping for something a little different (see my last blog "Daydreaming") but we'll see what happens. Regardless of who plays I don't think I've ever been this pumped for a friendly, and I really think we can pull it off in London. Only 12 more days!
--Outlaw Veteran
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3 comments:
Dominic Cervi is gigantic, 6'6?!?! Wow, and he is still a young guy. If he ends up being a decent goalkeeper the U.S. could have a physical presence in goal that has never been seen by our national team.
I think that Bradley may use Adu as a starter on the wing, perhaps with Hejduk behind him. Exploiting Beckham's lack of pace on the flank will be key, and Freddy can whip a ball in as good or better than most of our other options. Hejduk is great for overlapping and running all day and tracking back on defense. Doing that would clear Donovan to be paired up top with Jozy. That makes for a more potent line-up, IMO.
Cmon Frankie Hejduk!!!! Thats fucking great, classic goal against Canada to inspire us to the Gold Cup Trophy!
I also like seeing Kenny "1/2margarita mix, 1/4cyclone, 1/4st. ives) Cooper back in the line-up as well. I mean really, who else will take their shirt off if they score against barbados! Cmon Kenny Cooper!
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