Photo by ISIPhotos.com
Here is the roster for the U.S. national team’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Barbados:
Goalkeepers– Tim Howard (Everton FC), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Dominic Cervi (out of contract),
Defenders– Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock)
Midfielders– Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)
Forwards– Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo)
Here’s a closer look at the group:
So who is missing? Jozy Altidore, Kenny Cooper, Ricardo Clark and Robbie Rogers are some of the players whose absences will draw reactions. Altidore is recovering from an ankle injury and going through the process of his transfer to Villarreal so his absence isn’t a surprise. As for Cooper, Bob Bradley stated very clearly last week that Cooper is on the radar but is still working his way into a position to be chosen.
Clark is a victim of his poor performances against Mexico and England, as well as Pablo Mastroeni’s impressive performance against Argentina. Michael Bradley, Pablo Mastroeni and Maurice Edu get the call in those deeper midfield roles.
Brian Ching is back in the fold and I have a feeling he will get the start on Sunday ahead of Johnson, who has been just plain disappointing in recent national team matches.
The United States plays host to Barbados at Home Depot Center on Sunday (5pm, ESPN2) in the first leg of their home-and-home World Cup Qualifying match.
What do you think of the roster? Share your thoughts below.
royce- while ill agree with you that lack of quality service could make the difference, i want to point out the several chances EJ had in front of goal that he missed… big example is the wide open goal where EJ headed wide b/c he hit it like a scared 8 yr old…
now im not blaming EJ completely on lack of goals, it has to start in the midfield… but its not the complete lack of creativity and quality that prevents him from scoring….
first, ives we need a post about US national team salaries and organizational salaries. for example, the USSF president used to be an unpaid position (as late as 1999… don’t know if that’s still the case)… so all this argument that everything is about money is a little bogus, while politics and dynamics play a role in everything…
second, i think all this talk about our strikers is letting our midfielders off the hook. i mean, even when mcbride was playing we had quite a bit of trouble scoring goals, and mcbride is clearly world-class. so, i think that our lack of opportunities and creativity in the midfield is making all of our attackers (except josh wolff) look worse than they really are…
Anyone who is clamoring for Robbie Rogers over Eddie Lewis in a WC Qualifier is nuts.
Regardless of opponent (or lack thereof.)
Eddie is VERY solid and consistent, can play multiple positions, the best crosser on the team, and our most dangerous on a free kick from distance.
That goes for any number of youth players. There will be time and opportunity to test these guys, whether it be the Olympics, in a larger camp for other qualifiers or in friendlies.
There isn’t a player on this team who isn’t a known quantity (save Cervi, but I get why he’s in camp), and in a game where even a draw is disastrous, there is no room for a guy who MIGHT do well.
I’m not saying that the Parkhursts, Rogers, Coopers, Beckermans, and Davies (really?) aren’t capable of quality, just that having someone like Ching who YOU KNOW can win a ball in the air, or Eddie who YOU KNOW can out run anyone and finish an easy sitter are better options than guys you should or might be able to do those things. It’s hard to gameplan with “maybe.”
arena futbol- soumare is elligable for US… he just isnt sure if he’d play for us or Mali… Luis had some quotes from him saying that he’d be honored to play for the US if they ask, but he is on the fence b/c Mali is his home….
Eugene – whats the point of bringing in another seasoned vet keeper??? Cervi is on the roster for one purpose… training.. he’ll never see time over Howard and Guzan… the only 2 keepers that would have made sense to bring in would have been either Seitz or Westberg (after his half performance against the italians)… Seitz is training with RSL and is a sure fire for the olympics…. Westberg is trainging with Troyes in france…. having Cervi there to train is quite a smart move as you are giving a possible talent get USMN training and quite possibly could pursuade clubs to take a look into him since we are showing so much interest in his developement…
Don’t think Soumare is a US citizen. Seem to recall Fire folks saying he had a green card. But hopefully he will become eligible for the USMNT in the future, along with Subotic and Torres.
It took forever for Bradley to realize Twellman was a bust at the international level. It looks like it will take as long too realize Johnson is one also.
Robbie Rogers?
Soumare Bakary?
everyone stop hating on Ching. He is a solid target forward that in addition to being able to hold up the play, passes and moves very well for a forward. The guy is good and though I would like to see Cooper also, Ching is a very solid choice.
I really dig the passion of you lot. I’m glad that people even get angry at WCQ selections in this country.
We don’t know how seriously the USSF is taking the Olympics. Looks like they’ll save the U-23s for that and have a NT that can form a partnership over WCQ.
I’m sure they hope they can plug in some of those U-23s before 2010.
Seems reasonable.
Second,
GET EJ OF THE NATS. he does not deserve a spot on the starting line up. ugh…
Is Benny Feilhaber still hurt?
Posted by: Andrew
He is out for at least 6-8 more weeks in regards to being fit enough to contribute.
Charlie Davies.
Paging Charlie Davies.
Is Benny Feilhaber still hurt?
Seitz > Cervi. Seitz doesn’t start at Real Salt Lake anyways (and probably never will before he heads off to Europe). Having him on the team would be a great experience for him. Being with the best Americans and learning from the great Tim Howard would be much better than rotting on the bench in Salt Lake.
Arena futbol
Thank you for those lineups from previous campaigns. Those teams could teach this bunch about passing the ball out of defense.
We tied Argentina so there is no reason Barbados couldn’t tie us. There is no such a thing as a low pressure WC qualifier especially for a coach whose postion is as insecure as Bradley’s. If we somehow screw up qualification it would be catastrophic. So I wouldn’t expect Bradley to take any chances until qualification is secured.
Pat the Red Bulls fan
This is a blog. People are invited to post opinions. Obviously they think they are worth posting. What did you expect?
COOPER!!!!!
A statistic:
In the last 2 WC cycles, number of non-WCQ matches played between first WCQ match and first WC match = approx. 20.
So, there are plenty of chances to try new players in lower-pressure situations if a coach is looking for that.
Buddle? You’re kidding, right?
It’s been said repeatedly on this thread: Ching works hard ALL the time.
He works well with his back to the net.
He is better than people think he is off the ball.
Donovan and Dempsey work well with him.
His style complements EJ’s (and try to resist, please, the snide, cheap comment: yeah, they both don’t score goals. Haahahahahahah).
We have to win this game, and big.
I’m just as interested in seeing Cooper as the next guy, but why should any of us expect anything different from BB than what we’re getting? His choices have been consistent.
What’s interesting to me is that during the Gold Cup last year, Ching didn’t even dress for the semifinal against Canada, then started, and played a pivotal role, pardon the pun, in the final against Mexico.
I know there’s disagreement here, but I don’t think he played poorly in the matches this spring, and if you want to argue that Cooper has been hot, well Ching’s been just as hot LATELY. It’s obvious that Bradley trusts him, and Donovan has been quoted several times where he said how much he loves to play with him.
A curiosity: Ching was named to the larger pool for the past three friendlies but didn’t even dress for any of the matches, and here he is being named to the roster for the Barbados series. Cooper does have match on Sunday, while Ching has one this Thursday, which could be the reason why Cooper is not called up.
But I wonder: Does anyone on this board have any info on what happens at the meetings (which I assume occur) where the decisions are made about who to call up, who to dress, who to start?
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ching start along side EJ, but I don’t expect him to. I do expect to see a lot of EJ, and we better get used to it. I think he showed more heart on Sunday than I’ve ever seen from him, and i’m hoping that, despite my misgivings, he’ll come through.
I love how certain people on this thread think their opinion is better than others. Just shut your mouth’s. You’re so transparent it’s scary.
! the national team is a reward for good all year round play and only the best of the best should be playing, not people that are shopping for work! Give me a break!! I am out of contract! why not call me up!
Posted by: AdamAlfi | June 10, 2008 at 02:46 PM
Mr. Alfi,
Can you play with your back to the goal? How is your first touch?
National teams are not all-star teams and they don’t exist to reward good players. They exist to play in tournaments and thereby make money for their respective governing bodies. And those governing bodies have politics that make the current Presidential race look like the campaign for Senior Class president of my high school. Just look at the women’s team and tell me how did a coach like Ryan get such a prestigious job? Just be glad Bradley is at least halfway decent.
The international scene is littered with star players who for one reason (sometimes political, sometimes not) or another do not fit in with their national team and so they don’t play.
And its not as simple as you make it out to be, just put the all stars out there and let them play. It’s how you play for the US not how you play for Real Salt Lake. If that worked so well, Argentina and Spain should have blown us off the planet the last two games. Man for man, those two teams have so much more talent than we do that it should be like the Giants playing Rutgers. The trouble with this edition of the USMNT is that with the exception of our goalkeepers, and maybe Dempsey, Cherundolo and Donovan, the chances are none of these players would be a regular in the first eleven of a top half team in England, Italy, Spain or Germany. That does not mean we can’t do well in a World Cup but it does mean the team has to be very together and work very hard when playing the big boys. It also means they can’t take anyone, even Barbados, for granted.
No one currently available to the US (except maybe Altidore who is still very unproven and also in the midst of a transfer)) is a prolific goal scorer. Cooper has just come back from injury and its asking a lot for him to just step into a totally unfamilar setup and succeed. He’s not that good yet. At this point, what goals we get will likely come from set pieces and the midfielders, mostly either Dempsey or Donovan. That is why EJ will play, because while he ain’t scoring he seems to at least be making better runs and passing the ball better. Ching is there because of Donovan who, guess what, in spite of the fact that everyone hates him, is still our primary difference maker. Dempsey was there for all three games but it wasn’t until Donovan came back that the US started to light it up.
Ok Moment of truth, we are ready for the qualification, BRADLEY why, why you have to play Brian Ching again please look for other player that can be more gol hunger, have more control of the ball, someone that can be sneaky and has speed. I seem a couple of players that play in the sub21 and sub17 that are very good foward better than Dempsey, Ching or EJ. We need someone that can score, we starting to look like MEXICO we keep depending of the same players like for example Borgetti, Cuathemo. Come on BRADLEY look for more players or you need to have better Scouts. Is is time to stop recycling the same players, If this Foward you have on this lineup don’t do better give a chance to Cooper, Edson Buddle, Art Alvarez, or go look south the border. PLEASE!!! and GO USA GO
The Starting line-up i’d like so see if everyone is healthy and fit:
——————–Howard——————-
—Pearce—-Onyewu——–Boca——-Dolo—
——————-Beckerman(Benny)————-
–Dempsey———-Adu————–Beasley—
———–Donovan—————————-
—————————-Altidore————
I think Cooper and Kyle Beckerman both deserve a shot.
Ok Moment of truth, we are ready for the qualification, BRADLEY why, why you have to play Brian Ching again please look for other player that can be more gol hunger, have more control of the ball, someone that can be sneaky and has speed. I seem a couple of players that play in the sub21 and sub17 that are very good foward better than Dempsey, Ching or EJ. We need someone that can score, we starting to look like MEXICO we keep depending of the same players like for example Borgetti, Cuathemo. Come on BRADLEY look for more player or you need to have better Scouts.Please Stop recycling players is time to get new blood at front if Brian Ching,Dempsey,EJ, Give Cooper a chance, Alvaro, Buddle, or other players.
Also, I agree that Kenny Cooper not being on the squad is ridiculous. Ching is a waste of a spot.
play this
——————Dempsey——————
——-Beasley—————Donovan——-
——————-Adu———————
————Bradley————————
——————–Edu——————–
——Pearce—-DeMerrit—Onyweu—–Dolo-
——————Howard——————-
I like this lineup for the usa. In full strength i think altidore for dempsey, and god if felharbor can develop into a great passer and player this team will be really tough. I think edu is going to develop into a good holding mid. Boca is soo overrated i like demerrit more.
I’m sick of hearing about Parkhurst.. We have about 5 central defenders that are better options than him. Onyewu, Boca, Califf, DeMerrit… Hell, i’d rather see Gibbs get caps than Parkhurst. Or Subotic, but we’ll see how that goes.
Oh How I miss Joe Max and Preki!
People need to realize that BB does not have a pool of Klose, Toni or Ronaldo (pre tranny hookers days) to choose from for our forwards. Ching and EJ might BOTH be on top for the first game.
I also think Eddie Lewis needs to be out there somehow. He looked very good consistently. Plus he is a leader and can help the tempo of the game. And of course, we are still looking for someone to fill the void that Preki left, especially on set pieces. I would also like to see Freddy Adu out there with Eddie Lewis at the same time.
nothing wrong with ching being called up, but no cooper? a work in progress? he’s a year younger than eddie johnson. he hasn’t had half the playing time EJ gets, and yet he still has a goal in his two measly appearances. he at least deserves the call up. ridiculous.
The inclusion of Johnson at this point is just totally inexplicable. I don’t even know what else can be said about it. He’s demonstrated time and time again that he’s actually not any good.
Ching I have no problem with. When he’s on the field, Landon does good things. I hope to see the two of them up front.
Timmy
Dolo-Gooch-Boca-Pearce
Demps-Bradley-Adu-Beasley
Ching-Donovan
I’m comfortable with almost everyone on the roster except for Johnson, so I’m not going to scream and shout if I don’t see my preferred starting lineup. Definitely would not blink if Hejduk or Lewis were in the starting XI, though I’m really hoping not to see two CDMs starting (basically, I really want Adu in there).
I am not quite sure why everyone is so impressed with Cooper. He just doesn’t have the necessary tools to be an international striker – Jozy does, Cooper doesn’t – it’s that simple
Can someone explain to me why the love for Dominic Cervi who has ZERO professional experience and has never been signed to a pro contract?
Why should he get the call ahead of guys like Marcus Hahnemann, Adin Brown, Matt Reis and Chris Seitz? Frankly I find it disgusting.
Not surprised that Rico didn’t get the call, he’s been awful for months and I don’t think he should get any more calls until he straightens out his act. What bothers me the most are the number of cards he draws, his poor fouls and his general hacksmanship. Although I would put Mastroeni also in that camp. Either Edu or Kljestan should get the start and Szetela should get a call up. I’d really like to see a Kljestan/Bradley combo seeing as they’re both 2-way midfielders.
Say we win the first leg by a large margin (5-0 or higher) I say we bring in a young less expierenced roster to the second leg, how about a starting lineup like this?
—Cooper—-Donovan—
-Rogers–Adu–Edu—Zizzo-
-Pearce–Orozco–Parkhurst–Hedjuk-
———Guzan———
I feel fairly confident that this squad could get a result against Barbados.
Everybody here hates Bradley and all our forwards suck and everybody wants new players.
Well look at it this way- if we lose all your wishes will be granted. Otherwise get used to it.
GK: Howard, Guzan, Cervi
DEF: Pearce, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Cherundolo, Parkhurst, Califf, DeMerit
MID: Bradley, Mastroeni, Beasley, Dempsey, Rogers, Adu, Klejstan, Edu
FOR: Donovan, Cooper, Johnson
How’s that for a roster?
Can the US finally use the 3-5-2 formation its about time we see it from BB it was a successful formation he used with Chicago, and now he has the players for the system and some are much better than most of Chicago players at that time. We will do well with the 3-5-2. And I hope that the US keep going with that intensity they came with against Argentina and now bring it to Barbados this is a game US should dominate if they play like that. Please can we stop dissing EJ come on he showing a bit more drive on the field.
brett: of course the English are club over country right now 🙂
WRT to the forwards, I can make everyone happy:
Twellman wasn’t named 🙂
Forgot to add, Arena’s boys won in Barbados too, 4-0 on goals by Stewart, Moore, Jones, and Razov.
for comparison: rosters Arena used against Barbados in 2000 2-leg WCQ match up.
1st leg at home:
————————
Friedel
Sanneh Berhalter Pope Regis
Stewart Reyna Armas Jones
McBride Moore
subs used: Lewis, O’Brien, Ramos
result: 7-0 win
goals: Moore (2), McBride, Pope, O’Brien, Ramos, Stewart
2nd leg in Barbados:
—————————-
Meola
Berhalter Llamosa Agoos
Klein Ramos Armas Stewart Lewis
Mathis Moore
subs used: Jones, Razov, Williams
Probably the most notable move BA made was to rest McBride and start Mathis, who only had 4 caps prior to the game. Obviously, Clint went on to become very important both in qualifying and at the 02 Cup. The other experiment was Chris Klein, who had only 1 previous cap, which came in the friendly leading up the 2nd leg. Klein made less of an impact, getting used a sub in 3 of the next 4 friednlies, but not used in and WCQ matches until he was earned a surprisng sub appearance in a WCQ against Mexico at Azteca (0-1 loss). After that, Klein was never used again in the 02 cycle (although he was somewhat of surprise when listed as an alternate for the 2006 World Cup roster).
I’d definitely rather have Quentin Westberg whose season is over and is a much better keeper than Cervi. People keep saying Cervi is there because he’s out of contract….maybe he should choose to work on getting a job rather than taking up space on the MNT.
I think it’s a good sign that we can be upset and have a discussion and speculate on why certain players were left off… it certainly shows we have depth and competition at positions.
And EJ has certainly been disappointing of late, but that being said given the available choices, at the end of the day he still ranks among our best choices at forward i think. Furthermore, he’s a relatively young 24… meaning i think it’s too early to give up on him completely.
And I know it’s not the same sport or a completely similar situation, but at one time the Minnesota Twins ‘gave up on’ a young player – David Ortiz – you might’ve heard of him.
Brian Ching: experienced and has games on Thursday and Wednesday.
Kenny Cooper: inexperienced and has a home game on Sunday.
you all do the math.
Ching, Cooper, whoever…just no Eddie Johnson, please. Wynalda before Johnson. And come July 1, I hope that Bob Bradley reads the handwriting on the wall and puts Jozy on the field whenever possible.
How sad is this: our fourth-choice striker from 2006 (and many preferred Twellman, which would make Ching our fifth choice) is possibly our first choice striker in 2008, and it’s not because of anything special that he did.
And I agree with one thing KC said: if Johnson scores against mighty Barbados, we’d better not hear “EJ is back!”
JB: excellent point. Thank you.
Also, keep in mind that these are CONCACAF referees, arguably the worst in the world. The field in Barbados is as likely to be a swamp, sugarcane field, or a cow pasture playing in a tropical storm. You don’t take chances in Qualifiers. End of story
@brett – fair point re: other friendlies and the most recent friendlies. And good to know roster can be changed after the first leg.
KC- if BB brings the same group to the 2nd leg if we beat them 5-0 this sunday i will be shocked…. honestly i wouldnt know what or how to think…
if we win 5-0 or greater i want to see the likes of Rogers, Kljestan, Cooper, Guzan all getting call-ups and/or starts…..
Yes, whoever asked, BB can change the roster for the 2nd leg. This roster is only for this match.
Here’s one way to contemplate the situation at forward: whom would you rather have at forward on your club team: Johnson, Ching, or Cooper? (Altidore is injured, so I’m omitting him.) Johnson seems to enjoy some sort of presumption of competence because of his incumbency at striker, while the other two are still “earning” their way onto the squad. But given overall performances at all levels over the past year or two, I still fail to see how EJ keeps finishing first.
The “oh, its just Barbados” attitude is disturbing. England is sitting at home for Euro 2008 because they drew Macedonia at Old Trafford. Scotland would be in this tournament if they had not lost to Georgia in qualifying. Bulgaria would be in this tournament instead of the Netherlands if they hadn’t drawn against Albania. Cameroon beat Ivory Coast twice in World Cup qualifying but missed the World Cup by drawing against Lybia and Sudan. Nigeria missed the World Cup because they drew with Rwanda one of the weakest teams in Africa. Lesson: these games matter.
Ching Dynasty reigns in America!!!!
Brett..I just hope you are right. What do you say if Bradley brings the same roster to the second leg if say we are up 5-0? At that point I will completely give up on Bob Bradley’s ability to help us become anything more than an after thought in 2010. It doesn’t even have to be a complete roster overhaul just some key changes to the roster and the players getting time on the field.
I would prefer a lineup looking like this…
–Ching—–EJ–
——Adu——-
DmB——–Lando
—–Mastro—–
HP-DC-Gooch-Dolo
—–Howard—–