CONCACAF Gold Cup - US Roster

Discussion in 'Americas' started by agoo, Jun 24, 2009.

  1. agoo

    agoo Member

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    Here's the preliminary roster:

    Seems like this will be a bit of a B-team competition. This one doesn't qualify for Confederations Cup, so no one cares all too much. Mexico is sending a B-team and I would anticipate that we will too. Here's what I'd like to see for a US, 23 man squad:

    GK - Brad Guzan, Luis Robles, Chris Seitz

    DF - Jay DeMerit, Eric Lichaj, Chad Marshall, Michael Orozco, Michael Parkhurst, Marvell Wynne, Brek Shea, Patrick Ianni

    MF - Freddy Adu, Stuart Holden, Pablo Mastroeni, Robbie Rogers, Jose Francisco Torres, Danny Szetela, Sal Zizzo, Bryan Arguez

    FW - Kenny Cooper, Jeremiah White, Brian McBride, Marcus Tracy

    I know McBride is retired and Mastroeni is clearly past it, but for this tournament and with this young team, there needs to be a few vets available. I think Shea, Zizzo, Arguez and Tracy are all long shots though.

    Here's who I would start:

    ----------------------Guzan----------------------
    --Wynne-----DeMerit----------Marshall---Lichaj---
    ------------Mastroeni-------Szetela---------------
    --Rogers---------------Adu----------------Zizzo--
    ---------------------McBride----------------------


    I would definitely try to get all of the new guys on the team capped as well.

    One thing that I would love to see is getting the guys who have national team potential and dual citizenship in and capped. Brek Shea is one. But others like Peri Marosevic, Mikkel Diskerud, and Vincenzo Bernardo come to mind. Diskerud and Bernardo are most important to me as they are playing in the countries where they could also consider, Norway and Italy respectively.
     
  2. Colonel Ronan

    Colonel Ronan Continue...?

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    I'm nervous.
     
  3. agoo

    agoo Member

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    Here's the announced roster.

    I was expecting a b-team, but this is a c-team at best. Still, we should advance to the knock out stage. Here's who I'd start:

    GK - Robles
    DR - Cherundolo
    DC - Parkhurst
    DC - Marshall
    DL - Pearce
    DM - Beckerman
    MR - Holden
    ML - Rogers
    AM - Adu
    FC - Cooper
    FC - Davies

    Solid group with a chance against Mexico as they didn't send the a-team. Costa Rica and Canada look strong though.
     
  4. Mixx

    Mixx JBB JustBBall Member

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    LOL! I was going to say the same thing.
     
  5. rocketeer

    rocketeer Active Member

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    why?

    g - Luis Robles
    d - Jay Heaps, Jimmy Conrad, Michael Parkhurst, Brad Evans
    m - Santino Quaranta, Stuart Holden, Sam Cronin, Colin Clark
    f - Kenny Cooper, Davy Arnaud

    that was the starting lineup for the haiti game in case you were wondering.
     
  6. agoo

    agoo Member

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    [​IMG]

    5-0 Mexico in the final. Ouch.

    So what did we get out of this tournament? I think we saw some respectable depth from the USMNT. A few players gave Bradley something to think about for the next trip to South Africa. While there, Davies and Feilhaber were the best players on the team without a doubt. Davies used the few matches he played to stake a regular claim on a first team spot, while Feilhaber further announced that he's back and firmly in the picture. As for the other players, Chad Marshall looks solid as the fourth center back and Heath Pearce might be back in the mix at left back. For new guys, Stuart Holden, Kyle Beckerman, and Robbie Rogers are in consideration for the WC roster. Brian Ching continued to be what he was, a steady veteran presence as a target forward.

    So what else was there? Troy Perkins seems likely to be the third choice keeper...and that's about it. What we saw was a C-team going up against a mix of Mexican regulars and a group of fringe players. Bradley has some luxury now that he can call in some of these guys against lesser opposition in qualifying and leave players with their clubs. The guys that faced off with Mexico can go up against El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago, while saving the big guns for Mexico, Costa Rica, and Honduras.

    Here's my projected World Cup roster after the Gold Cup:
    STARTING XI:
    GK - Tim Howard
    DR - Jonathan Spector
    DC - Oguchi Onyewu
    DC - Jay DeMerit
    DL - Carlos Bocanegra
    MR - Clint Dempsey
    MC - Michael Bradley
    MC - Jermain Jones
    ML - Landon Donovan
    FC - Jozy Altidore
    FC - Charlie Davies

    BENCH:
    GK - Brad Guzan
    GK - Troy Perkins
    DR - Steve Cherundolo
    DC - Chad Marshall

    DC - Michael Orozco
    DL - Edgar Castillo
    MR - Stuart Holden
    MC - Benny Feilhaber

    MC - Maurice Edu
    MC - Ricardo Clark
    ML - Robbie Rogers
    FC - Brian Ching


    Italicized players participated in the Gold Cup. Bolded players were available against Mexico.

    Benny Feilhaber takes the role of super-sub. If we're winning, he replaces Davies and provides a strong possession player in a central, attacking role. If we're losing, he replaces the defensive minded Jones to provide more attacking chances out of central midfield. This does leave us thin at forward, but both Dempsey and Donovan can step up in a time of need. If Beasley can find a place to play, he could end up replacing either Castillo or Rogers, but I don't see him starting in South Africa.
     
  7. hielo español

    hielo español Welcome aboard Dre

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    You could see this beating coming a mile away I'm afraid.

    As for giving Bradley something to think about, if you had him in the final I think you would have come closer to beating Brazil, hell you may even have done so.

    He was immense v Spain.
     
  8. agoo

    agoo Member

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    As Michael Bradley goes, so goes the US. Donovan and Altidore may get all of the publicity and Howard is the best player, but Bradley is the key player for the US. Most of the time, this works out for us very well as he is rounding himself into a solid player at the highest levels of international soccer. However, he still has a tendency to get stuck into some dumb challenges and, with the state of officiating in FIFA, that's not good and he'll be receiving questionable yellows and even worse red cards. Of course, this is probably true of most tenacious 21 year-old midfielders and is something that comes with age. I just hope that age is 22 (he'll be turning 22 on the 31st) and he'll be in full swing for the World Cup. I also think that the addition of Jermain Jones and the return of Maurice Edu will do a lot for him in this area. They will take on more of the defensive responsibilities and allow Bradley to get forward more. While Clark has been solid, he just isn't operating on their level, while Feilhaber is more of a playmaker and needs a destroyer next to him, like Xavi works best with Marcos Senna for Spain.
     
  9. hielo español

    hielo español Welcome aboard Dre

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    Believe me, if there is one thing I know it is soccer and when I saw Bradley and then found out how old he is I was amazed.

    He got a stupid red card okay but up until that time he was positionally excellent, tough in the tackle, energetic and economic with the ball.

    I played defensive midfield for a long time and I consider it my "position of expertise" if you will.

    Bradley has unreal potential for a player from the MLS (and I mean no disrespect).

    He is an up and coming player in an ever improving league and he has a tactically excellent coach.

    He doesn't strike me as a player I would want to get forward all that much.

    I think you should stick to what you do well. A battle and want it more with a bit of finesse from the likes of Donovan and Dempsey.

    Don't try and make Bradley something he is not it would be such a waste.

    Or maybe he is more than what I've seen, but at the top level (ish) he looked excellent at doing the simple things and a lot of the time this skill is overlooked.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2009
  10. hielo español

    hielo español Welcome aboard Dre

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    Who are your MLS side? I watch as much as I can (hopefully about to get to see more) and my team are the Revolution.

    There is only one reason why.

    STEVIE NICOL.
     
  11. agoo

    agoo Member

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    Revolution as well because I'm from the Boston area originally. Haven't seen hardly any of this this season though.

    As for Bradley, I don't ever want to see him in an attacking role. But based on what I have read about his play with Heerenveen and seen in highlights from Gladbach, he has a knack for putting himself in the right spot at the right time in the box to score wide open goals. He scored 16 in his last season with Heerenveen. I don't think he has had that freedom yet with the national team. He's not a finesse player, and never will be that. But he can finish when he gets the chance to and has also put in some shots from distance, just outside of the box. Jones and Edu will allow him to pick his spots to move up the field, and he has the mind to choose those spots appropriately.

    And no slight on the comment about Bradley's MLS background. Most of the top US players get plucked out of college. The few who don't are the ones that go to MLS out of high school, like Bradley, Altidore, and Adu. A guy like Maurice Edu (who went college, MLS, Rangers) is very much an exception as far as typical US player development paths go.
     
  12. hielo español

    hielo español Welcome aboard Dre

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    I've seen nothing of Maurice Edu so I can't say but from what you say about Bradley the best form of defence in this case might be attack.

    Your problem with playing the 4-4-2 consistently is you don't seem to have any wingers. The best thing to do in this case is the 4-2-3-1 like Liverpool play.

    This could potentially be excellent for you IF Bradley develops his game. He doesn't have to do anything spectacular just get the ball and give it. He could then become a box to box player and turn up in those great positions you like without giving up any defensive cover.
     
  13. Colonel Ronan

    Colonel Ronan Continue...?

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    Carlos Vela scored and had an assist. That's all I care about! :)

    Does anyone have a highlight video?
     
  14. agoo

    agoo Member

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    Edu was with Toronto FC and moved to Rangers. When Ferguson got suspended, Edu stepped in and was in control of the midfield for the few matches that he played, including his first Old Firm match. I think Edu was a big part of the reason why Ferguson was sold this off-season. There was also an article after his first match about how dominant he was. Not sure if I can find it again, but I will look for it.

    Edu also played central defense in the Olympics and looked very strong there. He and Jermain Jones (once he joins the US officially) should be the main competitors for the spot next to Bradley.

    As for the formation, the 4-4-2 was what worked for us against Egypt, Spain, and Brazil (for 45 minutes anyway). We used a 4-2-3-1 before, but was not that effective as our best goal scorer (Altidore) needs support and our top target forward (Ching) can't score goals. The 4-4-2 with Altidore and Davies was terrific in the Confederations Cup as the two forwards worked extremely well together, particularly considering that they are 19 and 23 respectively and only played together before at the Olympics. We do need wingers, but if Altidore and Davies continue to develop and Donovan and Dempsey get their outside-midfield roles defined, it could work for us. If we had wingers, I think we would be using them though.
     
  15. agoo

    agoo Member

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    Colonel Ronan likes this.
  16. Colonel Ronan

    Colonel Ronan Continue...?

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  17. rocketeer

    rocketeer Active Member

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    that isn't true at all. bradley is good and just continues getting better as a player, but he is in no way the most important player on the team.
     
  18. rocketeer

    rocketeer Active Member

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    i watched about 10 or 15 minutes of the game and in that time vela and dos santos absolutely shredded the US defense. it was impressive stuff from mexico and at the same time just horrible from the US.
     
  19. Colonel Ronan

    Colonel Ronan Continue...?

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    Vela is a true wonderkid. He's going to be big in the future.
     
  20. rocketeer

    rocketeer Active Member

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    perkins did a very good job to put himself in the picture for 3rd string keeper, ching probably will hang out to a backup forward spot, and holden probably did well enough that he should be making the team as well.

    other than that, i don't think any of the players who were at the gold cup full time will(or should) be on the roster. pearce's performances should signal the end of his time as a legitimate call up for the national team until castillo and others have been given shots at left back. robbie rogers is just not a good international player. his service is too inconsistent(but mostly just consistently bad) and he never plays well against any just decent national team sides.

    from the roster listed, i'd drop rogers and add adu, castillo/bornstein would be competing for one spot(or both make it if castillo emerges as a legitimate starter moving demerit to the bench), califf/parkhurst/marshall would compete for one spot(unless both left backs are chosen), and the final spot would be left open for now for a midfielder or forward. at this point i'd give it to torres but it could be used basically for any attacking player who shows well in the next year.
     

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