Here it is, the 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team:
Goalkeepers– Brad Guzan, Chris Seitz
Defenders– Michael Parkhurst, Maurice Edu, Michael Orozco, Marvell Wynne, Nathan Sturgis, Patrick Ianni
Midfielders– Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Sacha Kljestan, Stuart Holden, Danny Szetela, Benny Feilhaber.
Forwards– Brian McBride, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Robbie Rogers
Alternates: Dominic Cervi, Frankie Hejduk, Dax McCarty, Robbie Findley
As expected, McBride, Parkhurst and Guzan got the over-age calls while Altidore will be there along with Adu and Bradley.
What do you think of the team? What is the most surprising selection? And the most shocking absence? What should be the starting lineup?
Share your thoughts below.
Parkhurst is a brilliant selection and choosing Guzan for GK is probably a solid choice, giving the new Aston Villa man some real solid international experience in the pressure cooker of the Olympics.
Not including Kamani Hill even as an alternate is a bit surprising, given his flexibility (I could even see him as an attacker if he had to).
One of the most interesting things to me is that this is a very pacy team with lots of fitness. Of everyone, the only player on this list that can’t run like the wind is Brian McBride and that is not his job. What is also interesting to me is the emphasis on midfielders and strikers. Will Novak go all out on attack? Parkhurst I trust to keep the back line organized.
I would like to see something lie a 4-1-4-1 formation like this
———-McBride———–
Rodgers–Adu—-Altidore–Bradley
———-Edu————-
Sturgis–Orozco–Parkhurst—Wynne
——–Guzan——–
With so much depth in the midfield and the toll that the Olympics will take on midfield players, I think Novak has done well.
There are lots of options for Novak in terms of formation.
Hill for Ianni. Hill can play right back, mid, or forward. That’s real versatility.
I thought Sturgis and Feilhaber were both injured?
I am just trying to figure out how the midfield will work with a 4 man defense. I mean you have Rogers, Holden, Sasha, Adu, and Bradley who should all start, and even Edu is good enough to slide into a starting role if he doesn’t play defense. I will say this we have the best group of midfielders in the tournament at this point, the question is will they gel together. I wish Spector wasn’t hurt because I think our problem will come in the defense.
Ives:
If you were willing to criticize the selection of Bornstein to the all-star team (as one possessing talent but not recent form), how could one not dispute the selection of Feilhaber to the Olympic team? The man has talent, but when was the last time he played consistently? I’m not sure why Feilhaber is granted the occasion to suit up for the USA when he can’t even find a pro club that wants him on the field.
Why all the hate for Ianni? I’m not saying he’s a freaking beast on defense but let’s look at him realistically. In the league, the Dynamo are 4th best on defense and Ianni has been a big part of that. In all competitive games (champ cup, league, USOC, SuperLiga), Dynamo has a GAA of 1.09. That’s not too shabby. Then GAA for when Ianni is on the field is only slightly higher, at 1.12.
Both the Dynamo and Ianni had a horrible beginning of the year. The Dynamo had a GAA of 1.44 for March and April, but Ianni’s was a rather bad 1.68. However, since then they’ve both improved defensively quite a bit. For May through today, the Dynamo have an impressive GAA of 0.86, while Ianni’s is even better at 0.83. Considering the fact that Ianni was not a frequent starter before this year (and this year only due to Robinson’s injuries and suspensions), perhaps his early failures were due to his inexperience.
Chuck would rather Sean Franklin see the field. I agree that Sean is having a good year, but I doubt his numbers are anywhere near as impressive.
At least two people have said that they rated Ianni horribly based on watching highlights on MLSnet. Really? Did it ever occur to you that highlights rarely include boring good defensive plays? If my opinions about players were based on highlight shows I would similarly say that about *any* defender. I would also probably think that Alan Gordon and Chad Barret were pretty good goal scorers, and wouldn’t that be an erroneous conclusion?
Again, I’m not saying Ianni is the world’s best defender; just wondering why so many of you think he’s so godawful.
What no Chad Barrett?!?!?!
I kid, I kid.
And the race for fourth is on!!
No, but really, I’ll take this 6.62 days of the week. I’d love to see Benny become who he was and what he should be, but Dax was on fire in Tampa and Nashville. Oh well, I’ll certainly take it.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting only one formation will be used. I think people are suggesting what the best formation, based on the personnel selected, would be in a vacuum.
I seem to recall that in the qualy tournament PN changed formation from game to game depending on the situation. Sometimes it looked like a 4-4-2 / 4-4-1-1 with Adu and Altidoire up top, and other times it looked like a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 with Davies-Altidore-Findley or Gaven-Barrett-Findley.
(Of course, we had trouble generating much scoring in any of the matches, so hard to draw conclusions on what works best. )
But we can say that PN doesn’t necessarily have to come out in just one formation, as most of the above posts seem to suggest.
I’m with those predicting a 3-5-2 with the selection by Nowak, as well Holden on the right and Sasha in the middle with Bradley:
——Altidore-McBride—–
————Adu————
-Rogers————–Holden-
—–Bradley–Kljestan—–
–Sturgis-Parkhurst-Orozco–
————Guzan——–
Wouldn’t surprise me to see Wynn on the right either, although I hope not in a 3-5-2. If a 4-4-2 then Holden out Klejstein moves to RM & Wynn to RB.
I still think Forwards may suffer from a lack of service as the wing play will be weak.
Why didnt he do all Fire fans a favor and take Barrett??? Damn you Nowak!
Just to point out since everyone is so confident, if Argentina and Brazil win their respective groups in group stages and their quarterfinal games, they will meet in the semi-finals. So everyone saying it will be Argentina vs. Brazil for the gold might want to take a look at the bracket and realize that probably isn’t going to be happening, unless one of the 2 teams doesn’t win their group. Just a thought…..GO USA!
> Are we allowed to have an overage alternate?
Amit- I think the deal is that we only add Hejduk if one of our overage guys goes down. Of course if Guzan was injured, they might call Cervi (gulp) instead. But if McBride or Parkhurst gets injured they have the option of calling Frankie.
ya know, this team could win a medal. USA! USA! USA!
I hope the excuse of “but we didn’t send in our 1st and strongest side” will not used if the Olympic team fails to get out of the group stages or is demolished during the knockout portion of the tournaments. It is such a BS excuse.
Dang it Nowak! You were supposed to get Barrett out of the Fire’s line-up!!!!!!
Chad get used to it. Won’t be the last time McBRide takes your spot this summer.
I hope Ianni doens’t take the field too oftne. I was wathcving SuperLiga the other night and that mofo is SLOW!!!! Messi could walk past him.
Which he would do in the Gold Medal game after we win the group to avoid the Argies until then.
that’s true – i’d be surprised if some teams didnt take 3 tho, and even more surprised if ANY other teams named an overage gk..
——Altidore-McBride—–
————Adu————
-Rogers————–Holden-
—–Bradley–Kljestan—–
–Sturgis-Parkhurst-Orozco–
————Guzan——–
I would have chosen Dax over Feilhaber, but this team still looks good anyways. I’d really like to see this line up, but Nowak will probably put 4 in the back.
Are we allowed to have an overage alternate?
On a side note, as unfortunate as the situation is, I’m kinda glad that there is no more stock in the Eddie Gaven reclammation project.
> also, 2 gk’s is kind of a risk in itself
Dave, um, how many GKs would you take given an 18-man roster?
>i swear people need to look at the list
> before they post something. cervi is
> not on the team.
yeah, wtf, people!! stop talking about cervi as if he were named to alternates list! there is no “dom cervi”! he does not exist! he is a proganda tool, just like 9-11!!
Dave,
Why would Cervi make it,
Hes never played a minute of real top level soccer in his life and looked suspect in the amatuer games hes played.
Hopefully Mcbrides inclusion will help him get to the Fire. Mainstream sport fans will get to see more of him plus the press usually accorded to local Olympians is good. Imagine what a long run for the team can do for him and US soccer.
It would be a shame if Toronto ruins this opportunity for the popularity of soccer in the US.
wow – cervi didnt make it… i think its kind of a disservice not to allow a young gk to get olympic experience by naming guzan – who never impressed me to begin w/.. its not like guzan has a future w/ the full team any time soon over howard. also, 2 gk’s is kind of a risk in itself – ask john terry
———-Jozy—-McBride——-
—————Adu—————
Rogers——————–Holden?
——–Bradley—-Klejstan——-
—Orozco—Parkhurst—Edu—–
Couple problems with this team:
1. No right wing. I guess you could, as most people have suggested, put Klejstan there, but I would prefer him in the middle. What you could do is drop Holden from the above lineup and play Klejstan on the right, but have him drift centrally while Wynne makes runs out wide from the fullback position (something RBNY did last year on the left side with Mathis and VDB for a time). That would mean switching to a 442, leading to problem two.
2. No fully fit left back. I guess you can take your chances with Sturgis, but why would you when arguably your best three defenders all play in the center? Nowak played a 3-5-2 in DC and picked pretty much the best defender in the league, who just so happens to be the anchor of the best and most consistent defense the past few years (in a three-man backline!), as an overage player.
I can’t wait to see Brain McBride put on the U.S. Jersey again
I agree with the questioning of Patrick Ianni as a selection. I usually see him giving up goals. I would have preffered to see Kamani Wolf, Sean Franklin or someone else. Would have liked to see Dax McCarty as he played well during olympic qualifying. Otherwise I like the group. Hopefully they will Gel.
I think that McBride was an excellent selection. Some people may have short memories but goals were hard to come by in qualifying. Also, don’t sleep on Holden.The dynamics of the team completely changed once he started game 2.
Remember that the Olympic schedule is very condensed (group games August 7, 10 and 13) so our lineup for all 3 games could be different. McBride is up there in age and hasnt’ played a match in months so while he’s likely to start our first match, he could come off he bench the second or be subbed for early in any match. No way he goes a full 90 for every match meaning Davies will get time. With our glut of midfielders we could see nearly everyone get significant time to keep everyone fresh. The only two people I see that could play the full 90 on every match is Freddy and Parkhurst. Even Jozy and Edu could be subbed out.
i swear people need to look at the list before they post something. cervi is not on the team. he is currently on trial at portsmouth instead.
Subotic, like Francisco Torres, has yet to select which country he is going to play for. Not sure when people are going to catch onto that.
Not sure about Ianni. Would have liked to see Zizzo in as one of the midfielders. If he had to replace Holden, so be it. I think Zizzo adds more creativity than anyone in the current midfield roster other than Adu.
Seriously, our 2nd best U23 GK doesn’t have a team? What’s wrong with this picture?
Is Cervi getting undeserved caps with US Soccer, or do we just not have anyone better? There are other U23 GKs that play professionally:
M. Allen, 86 – Bryne FK (Nor)
Q. Westberg, 86 – Troyes (Fr)
T. Hall, 85 – Esbjerg (Den)
Given our reputation a gk-factory nation, you’d think our 2nd best u23 GK could find a team to pay him!
p.s. Hey, Cervi, Chivas USA need a keeper. Talk to them.
Most surprising? Dominic Cervi — who is not a pro player. No idea why the guy keeps getting called while he can’t sign a pro contract and actually play pro soccer
i overall love the selections except for mcbride. if you put a guy with that much experience and history out there, that means he has to play every second pretty much. this is a problem for 2 reasons. 1- i see the olympics as a chance to try to grab a medal but also to let some of the young guns like kljestan and rogers shine and maybe get a transfer deal, or in the case of feilhaber, resurrect a career. with mcbride out there, it pretty much guarantees he will start up top, and assuming jozy is up there with him feilhaber/kljestan/some one else in the middle will not get much playing time. 2- i do think jozy and mcbride are very similar. both are big powerful guys who are capable of great hold up play, but they also both dont have the best ball skills and i think would be better off paired with a smaller more skillful player. here’s the lineup i would love to see
jozy/mcbride
adu
rogers – feilhaber – bradley – kljestan
sturgis – edu – parkhurst – wynne
OR
jozy – mcbride
adu
kljestan – feilhaber – bradley
same back 4
but here we’ll have the problem of having no wingers/width and therefore will get little service to our big target forwards.
finally, i dont want to see feilhaber on the wing, 1 because i think we have better wingers, 2 becaues i think hed be out of position, play poorly and then it would only make the hole he’s in deeper. i still think we need feilhaber (or at least a player like him) on the MNT. someone with composure who can hold possession and distribute well. he’s the best we have now, and i think derby not kicking him to the curb or sending him to israel (for a pretty good sum too) shows they still have faith. i do too
Warren-
I agree that a 3-5-2 would be great, but I thin kyou are overstating the evidence:
For this team, Sturgis has been primarily a left back (also some time as a CB, and I think may have gotten a portion of a game as a d-mid).
Also, I don’t think PN has gone 3-5-2 in the earlier matches at all.
However, Parkhurst is very familiar with a 3-5-2 and is a good anchor for that formation. I like the idea of this team going 3-5-2, as it gives the chance to play to our strength in the center of midfield.
I know this will provoke but putting Sasha on the outside is like giving a symphony conductor a trio to work with. he can be lethal in the middle.
Why Ianni? I not a fan of the way he plays. too slow (SuperLiga).
Ives, what’s the story with Torres from Pachuca?
Camjam: I have watched every minute of every RSL game. Sturgis only entered the Columbus game on Sat in the 89th minute. Thus, he really hasn’t played since may. What games have you been watching. Sturgis hasn’t even played much for the Reserves and only played 8 minutes recently in a friendly on Tuesday. So, yes, Sturgis has not played since early May.
I hope Benny is fit to play. I wonder if they are using this as an audition for him to other teams? The midfield is looking pretty good though, I wonder who will start on the right side of MF? At least with Benny we know he will be able to play at this level due to his full MNT experience.
I can’t wait for the games to start. I just hope all of them are televised.
People, given the fact that we have five of the six defenders being center backs, I highly doubt the intention is to trot out a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. With the addition of Parkhurst we will be coming out with a 3-5-2, aka Nowak’s favorite.
Expect something more akin to:
——–McBride——–Altidore——-
—————–Adu——————
—Rogers——————Kljestan—
———Feilhaber—-Bradley———
————–Parkhurst—————
—–Orzoco—————–Edu——-
—————–Guzan—————-
Sturgis not played since May? Which games have you been watching? More poignantly, LB is where Sturgis has filled in periodically,and done well.
Just about right, and quite close to Ives’ guess yesterday. I would’ve taken Hill or Franklin over Ianni, as I’ve seen Ianni getting beat for goals all year on mlsnet highlights. He probably won’t play much though.
One thing I notice is most of the chosen defenders are suited towards centerback. Or, more accurately, Wynne seems the only natural outside fullback for a 4-4-2. Along with a glut of center-mids, does this suggest Novak going with his perferred 3-5-2? I think so. My guess for game 1:
—McBride–Altidore—
———Adu———–
Rogers———Klejstan
—–Edu—Bradley—–
Orozco————Wynne
——-Parkhurst——-
———Guzan———
Go get em boys! First up, Japan, August 7th.
The one guy I forgot to mention yesterday, who would have a great selection due to the depth at left back is Igwe, who plays for the Revs. This guy just started getting PT with the first- team this year and has been pretty good. Michael Harrington of KC could have also help at left back and left mid.
where is Dax, i guess Benny will keep getting the nod, could you imagine if he was riding the pine at a decent team, he might be named captain of the nat’l team
I echo those who are nervous about a Parkhurstless Revolution side. The Revs are deep with attacking talent, but defensively, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much available to them. Igwe is available, but he’s only played when the Revs have switched to a 4-4-2. Going with three in the back with Heaps as the only real center back isn’t something I would be looking forward to. Rob Valentino will have to step up big time, or Shalrie could see time in the back three with Pat Phelan playing central mid, assuming he’s able to recover from that injury last night.
As for this team, I like it. Altidore and McBride should be able to score some goals and seeing Edu, Orozco and Parkhurst available in defense is good. I don’t think we’ll beat Brazil or Argentina, but I don’t see this team disappointing at all. Possible bronze or silver depending on how the tournament shakes out.
It does not do any good to be in the mix if you are not climbing the ladder …
——-Altidore—McBride
Rogers ——-Adu——–Holden/Kljestan
———– Bradley
Sturgis–Orozco–Parkhurst–Wynne
Guzan
Juan – Subotic would have started in this team. It is too bad he didnt get selected. This would have been great for he and the USMNT