U.S. men’s national team coach Bob Bradley has named his 20-man roster for the upcoming games against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago.
Here it is:
- GOALKEEPERS : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO)
- DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)
- MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3)
- FORWARDS: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8)
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals
Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne are the new faces, earning call-ups after their performances at the Olympics while Ricardo Clark replaces injured central midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. The other 17 players are the same group that made up the squad that beat Guatemala, 1-0, last week. You might be surprised to see Steve Cherundolo on the list but he is just suspended for the Cuba match, meaning he should be in the lineup vs. Trinidad & Tobago.
As for the absences most likely to cause a stir among fans, Kenny Cooper, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore are not on the roster, which is probably causing some U.S. national team supporters to go crazy.
Here’s a closer look at the squad:
So why no Altidore, Adu and Cooper? Bob Bradley has decided to go with veteran options in attack while giving newcomers Orozco and Wynne look in the back-line, where Cherundolo’s red card suspension from the Cuba matc has opened the door for one of them to possibly get some playing time.
So why no Cooper? I offered this explanation as to why we haven’t seen the FC Dallas striker in a Q&A this morning:
It boils down to this. Bradley has had Cooper in camp, had him in camp in January of 2007. At that time Cooper was not impressive and didn’t play that well in the camp. Even before he could work his way back into serious consideration he suffered an injury last year. Fast forward to now, while Cooper has emerged as a great goal-scoring threat in MLS, you could argue that he was also scoring goals in MLS in 2006, which is right before he went into that 2007 camp and failed to impress. Now, I think Bradley would want to be able to bring Cooper into another camp and have a long look at him in training, playing against fellow national team players to see how much he has really progressed.
I think this still applies. I’m sure part of the angst from fans over Cooper is the fact that Eddie Johnson is getting call-ups even though he has struggled mightily with the national team. While this is true, Johnson does have a track record of playing well against lower-level CONCACAF teams (eight goals in eight World Cup qualifiers) so these games could theoretically be the type of games that help Johnson get going on the national team.
So why no Altidore and Adu? Perhaps Bradley wasn’t impressed with Adu at the Olympics, where he played well against the Dutch but struggled mightily against Japan. He did have that quality half against Spain and showed some glimpses late in the England game, but there must be something. Could it be a desire to led Adu settle at Monaco? The French club is off for two weeks so that doesn’t seem to be the reason.
As for Altidore, there may be more to his exclusion than meets the eye. The story coming out of the Olympics was that he was slowed by an ankle injury, but the injury doesn’t seem to be affecting his transition to Villarreal. (Not getting anywhere on the story I heard regarding the real reason behind Altidore’s lack of playing time at the Olympics, but let’s just say don’t be surprised if Altidore isn’t seen on the national team any time soon.)
What do you think of the roster? Happy to see Wynne included? Surprised to see Orozco included? Angry as heck that Cooper/Adu/Altidore were left off?
Share your thoughts below.
Hmm…
Maybe Cooper deserves a call up, but I can’t see him being that impressive at this point. He needs more time to develop at the international level (maybe after we get maximum pts from the next two).
Donovan should be moved to the center of the pitch to run at the seams. Even at FFC Dempsey can’t do much up top without quality at his side (hopefully Zamora will help this season). I like Sacha coming in for him as a sub. Though he still needs a little work, I like firey players like him.
Other than that, I agree with everyone else about the midfield. Back line though; enough of Pearce already. Time and time again he disappoints. I think Bornstein would be a much better addition to the team.
Someone needs to hit bradley on the head really hard. like maybe near the temple.
We know that Ching and Dempsey won’t do anything special for this team.
Why not play Cooper and Buddle and see if they can show anything more than those guys, which would be hard not to do.
Brett-Those two mistakes were just prime examples of a player’s greater faults. Califf was solid against Argentina. But Demerit was solid against them as well, both in his 30 minutes this year and his game last year in the Copa America. And Califf is solid, definitely, and I prefer both he and Demerit to Bocanegra. But from what I’ve seen, admittedly a small sample, Califf is prone to mental lapses. Nothing, however, compared to Orozco, who was torched repeatedly in Beijing, and doesn’t get minutes for his team in the Mexican League. If you want to say he’s a project for the future, someone to keep an eye on, then fine. But calling him in? When the perceived reasoning for keeping guys like Adu, Altidore, and Cooper out is they don’t have the experience or mental capability to deal with this kind of game? That’s absolutely ridiculous. They’re both good players. Just because you don’t get called up for the USMNT doesn’t mean you’re awful. (Similarly, just because you do get called up doesn’t mean you’re good.) When Bradley first started, I was always excited to see a roster announced. Now I just can’t wait to see which names will be on there that are total stunners. Cooper and Altidore would seem to be a forward pairing that is at the very least worth exploring, and at the most an extremely exciting prospect for 2010, and beyond. Sadly, we’ll never see them, since short of winning FIFA World Player of the Year, there’s no way past Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching.
Bradley never ceases to amaze with his absolute stupidity. What is he thinking? What is he building? Is he trying to see how many games he can win with second tier players with a few front runners? Orozco -WTF – he was the worst of all the defenders and cost us aany chance of advancing. he gets capped why?
Seriously, people wanted Arena out but Bradley is absolutely far worse. He’s capping people over and over again that can’t even get minutes for their club or have been loaned out to pasture to die. They produce nothing for the USA, look bad and get called up again. he’s turning US soccer into a joke. What will it take to send this clown packing?
How come charlie davis never gets looked at for the MSNT, from the little i have see from him on youtube and the 10 mins he was in the olympics, he looked impressive to me.
I think people who are down on Orozco from the olympics are overlooking two things: he’s normally a center back and he was stuck with a flood of players coming down the left flank because Robbie Rogers, though good in the attack, didn’t seem to provide any defensive help. Orozco had to mark opposing midfielders and fullbacks coming down the lines. He held his ground pretty well, and he showed very well in the qualifiers leading up to the olympics…at least the one I saw in Tampa.
I love that he brought in Orozco. He played very well in the olympics. He was a stopper for us in the back, i barely saw anybody taking it past him. Plus it was criminal what the referees did to him in the game against Nigeria. What a bad call, couldn’t the referee see that the Nigerian flopped. I thought it was Denzel Washington out there, with that superb acting job. Wynne on the other hand i am not to thrilled about. He did really bad in the olympics. He would make too many mistakes and then he would rely on his speed and athleticism to fix his mistakes. He always does this… on the Red Bulls he was the same way.
I really think that we need Adu in the midfield though. He has proved in every game that he has played that he is creative and is not afraid to go against good competition. He will take it to the defense… no hesitation. Thats what we need because with the current midfield that Bradley chose there is no creative player. Why do u think that our fowards struggle to score? Why do u think Onyewu is one of our leading goal scorers in the past year. Because we have no creativity in the middle.
Orozco? are you serious? He was the worst player in the olympics IMO. What would posses BB to call him up. I do like Wynn getting called up. I hope he gets some time.
Adu and Altidore would address two huge needs — creativity in the midfield and danger in the front line. But the biggest mystery remains Eddie Johnson. If he is better, and more ready, than Cooper, Altidore, and even Charlie Davies, my name is Vladislav Bogicevic.
Bruce Arena was overly loyal but he was loyal to better players – Bradley has gotta go.
Eddie Johnson?
I’m calling nepotism!
Ive said it before, i’ll say it again, WE HAVE LESS THAN 2 YEARS BEFORE THE WORLD CUP, OUR PLAYERS NEED TO START PLAYING TOGETHER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
PREdICTION: BRADLEY is out after Xmas. I think this is already in the works.
Hmm…. do you think if we pooled our pennies, the US could steal Guus Hiddink away from РоÑÑиÑ?
Well I’m sorry that I don’t please everybody but this are the only players I feel comfortable. If I loose and don’t qualify to the world cup I might get fired, plus I playing it safe I don’t want them to know that I don’t know about soccer but I have a book call Soccer for Dummy. People should buy it. Anyways I love my players I always going to call Dempsey, Eddie Johnson, Brian Ching, My Son Bradley, Bocanegra, Gouchie, Lewis and of Course my savior Donovan.
Worst roster ever!
OK PEOPLE I REALLY PISS OFF AGAIN, HERE WE GO AGAIN, I DON’T KNOW WHY BOB BRADLEY KEEP CALLING THE SAME PEOPLE, BUT LIKE I ALWAYS SAID BB DON’T ANYTHING ABOUT COACHING IN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL… IT LOOK LIKE EVERYTIME THERE IS A ROSTER FOR THE USNMT WE ALREADY KNOW WHO IS GOING TO BE ON THE LIST BY MEMORY. JAJAJAJA BB IS A JOKE. PLEASE LETS REMOVE THIS GUY BEFORE WE LOOK LIKE A FOOL AT THE WORLD CUP AGAIN. WHY DID WE GET RID OFF OF BRUCE ARENA, IT LOOK LIKE WE GOT THE CLONE OF BRUCE ARENA HE IS DOING THE SAME THING… SORRY FOR THE CAP LETTER IS JUST I REALLY FREAKING MAD.
Everyone is so critical of Hejduk and Wynne. If not those two, then who should play right back? There are very limited options right now. Everybody needs to exhale. The purpose of a qualifier is to win and move on. The old farts will not be on the roster for 2010 if the US makes it. Remember the introduction of beasely and donovan to the team? it didn’t happen until very late in the cycle.
“Do some of you really think Michael Bradley should be benched? If so, are you actually watching the games or just reading the results?”
Watching the games. What are you doing?
Michael Bradley has done absolutely nothing for the national team. He was nonexistent in the Guatemala game, and was horrible in the Big Three matches over the summer. The guy has zero composure on the ball, gives the ball away virtually all the time, and makes reckless tackles as often as Mastroeni. The fact that Michael is the only US player to start every single game since Mexico in the winter points to only one thing: he plays because his father is manager. Because, objectively, his play on the field does not deserve to be the *only* automatic starter on the entire team, especially when we have other central midfielders (both defensive and offensive) who are as good or better.
Honestly, I don’t understand what people see in Michael Bradley. It’s as if they read his stat line from Herenveen and think “he must be a good national team player if he scores goals for his club team in Holland”.
I am not liking the Bradley era because it seems it is about favorites.
No Jozy and Adu? If it is about form, then some of the other roster selections should not be there.
Freddy Adu is the only player we have right now that can hold the ball in the midfield while under pressure. He can also create something out of nothing. He did fine in the Olympics when the genius Nowak put him in the right position.
It is not Adu’s fault that Nowak’s tactics did not play to his strengths. When he moved Adu back into the withdrawn forward role during the Netherlands game, his talent shown through.
Then again, I remember someone pointing out that the players that got us to the next round 4 years ago, were not the players the ended up on the final roster. Maybe Freddy is in the long-term plans for Bradley.
this is crazy. how does eddie johnson still get a look with this team, he has fallen way off the radar screen for me and he looks like an amatuer player he blows. how can bradley leave off adu and altidore. Adu is our best player i dont care what people think, we need to start to build a team around him for 2010, not leave him off the squad. heres a suggestion to gulati FIRE BRADLEY!!!!!!
If Bradley wasn’t impressed by Adu at the Olympics, then he simply doesn’t know the game. Period. Sure, he “struggled” against Japan. But that’s because Japan was able to triple and quadruple team him because he had no support. Three or four defenders can mark anyone in the world out of the game. The key is to have a few other options (playing well) that can kill the opposition for focusing exclusively on one star player. Adu didn’t get that support in the Japan game. Against Holland, they thankfully gave Adu a little space and he killed them…this also instilled more confidence in the rest of the team.
This isn’t rocket science, folks. If Bradley was indeed disappointed by Adu’s showing in China, then he needs to get far, far away from US soccer.
jayrig5- so you chastize players on 1 mistake??
while ill give it to you those seem like big mistakes…difference makers… but every player makes mistakes…. but Califf was solid against Arg. and Orozco is performing well for his age… Orozco cost us gravely against Nigeria, but honestly, the kid is showing promise and i applaud BB for showing him confidence… a young quality central defender is not something to throw around…
KC- “Because Bradley coached Sacha not Holden. I 100% agree with you though, Sacha does not deserve to be an automatic selection at this point…Holden, Adu and even McCarty outplayed him.”
holden would play left mid…. sacha would play (most likely) central mid… i would love to see Dax get some nat time… his quals for the olympics were excellent… as for adu, id rather he settle in at monaco, then play Cuba :-/
Ryan- its best not to get lumped into the MB arguements….there are a large number of people on here at are blind… not saying MB is amazing, but i blame alot of his faults on the rest of the team not helping… i cant count how many times ive seen him make the run to receive a pass and then turn to notice he has no outlet b/c our players hardly run off the ball.. hence y theres such a large number of back passes….
either way i tend to avoid the MB haters
Dave- MB’s time wasting was not a bad play…. in extra time, every second counts… the reason we tied the dutch was not b/c of MB or Adu’s 2nd yellow, but rather the fact our wall JUMPED… who teaches their players to jump in the wall?? ugggg
jeeez, all the adu comments are rediculous… im glad he’s not playing right now… id much rather him fight for his position on his team…. the WC is in a lil’ less then 2 yrs… with the Gold Cup, Copa (if we are invited) and Confeds, Adu will have PLENTY of time to play with the nats….
he’s clearly proven himself from the U20’s WC and the Olympic quals and actual olympics… he’ll get time…
—
as for no why no Cooper?? it boggles my mind… i cant wrap my mind around not including Cooper…
Jozy needs to stay at Villareal… he needs to train and build his spot on the team… like adu, i feel he’ll learn more staying there then coming and playing for the US against the likes of Cuba….
I think Wynne is up there for the most egregious pick. Speed is important, but I think it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t have the talent to play at the national team level. If he plays, he may do fine against Cuba, but he is a distraction from finding a true backup to Cherundolo. He needs a couple of years of seasoning, maybe learn how to kick a ball, and then he can be tried again.
Do some of you really think Michael Bradley should be benched? If so, are you actually watching the games or just reading the results?
Some of the fans on these comments sections and a few other boards are really, really clueless (or just blind MLS supporters).
I guess this will be the only time Kenny Cooper ever gets called in?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hZm8oXsguQ
I just don’t get it. This seemed like the right time to bring him in. EJ and Ching have done nothing in a long time.
You sound like a bradley apologist. This is getting absurd. Does BB think he is a genius? Disgusting rewarding Orozco red and playing son after his bone head play against the dutch. Adu and Cooper should be shoe-ins at this point.
Why no Holden?He outplays Clark on a nightly basis and outplayed Sacha at the olympics
Posted by: west | August 29, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Because Bradley coached Sacha not Holden. I 100% agree with you though, Sacha does not deserve to be an automatic selection at this point…Holden, Adu and even McCarty outplayed him.
screw orozco keep your elbows down newb
So here’s my theory of what may have happened between Jozy and the USSF. Prior to they Olympics Jozy and his new coach Pellegrini had an agreement that he would guarantee him first team football if Jozy would falsely claim an injury to reduce his chances of getting hurt or worn down at the tournament. Upon Jozy’s return to Villarreal there has been no other speak of an apparent injury and he has featured more minutes in all their preseason games then he did in the entire Olympics. Also, with all the injuries to the club’s other forwards I haven’t seen anyone express any concerns about his supposed ankle injury. He seems to have been the recent poster boy of American soccer and I can see this as one of the only reasons he could find himself ,for the time being, shunned by the federation. If my theory is correct though I’m sure we’ll never really have anyway of knowing it’s validity because it will surely be denied. Thoughts?
Pardon my ignorance, but Adu is cap-tied now, because of appearing in WC qualifers, correct?
Why no Holden?He outplays Clark on a nightly basis and outplayed Sacha at the olympics
its not like our attack really strikes fear into anyone anyway but what is bradley thinking by weakening it even further? i’m so tired of this tool.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Danny Califf? Michael Orozco? The former scored an own goal today that kept his team out of the UEFA Cup. The latter was last seen completely costing his team with a stupid, unforgivable mistake at the Olympics. If Bradley’s true opinion is that Orozco, Hejduk, Califf, Johnson, and Ching are better for the USMNT than Demerit, Parkhurst, Adu, Altidore, and Cooper, then he needs to go. And if his reasoning is that there may be better options, but he’s still taking a look at people, then he needs to go. I’m sick of it. Part of me really hopes the USA somehow gets to host in 2010, so the spotlight will shine even brighter on Bradley’s idiocy. (This quote may look ridiculous if they reach the quarterfinals again, but should that happen, I’d feel pretty safe in saying that it will be in spite of the coaching, not because of it.)
Cooper must be given another look and another chance. In-fact, if I remember correctly … he scored in one of the few times he played for the US?
I bet Bradley wouldn’t bring in Rossi if he was interested in playing for the US … in-fact, Bradley probably told Rossi he would not bring him in … that’s probably why Rossi is playing for Italy!
There are 3 forwards more deserving that EJ … Cooper, Buddle, & Davies. Even Arena would bring in those 3!
SOS different day. Nice to see Orozco rewarded for his idiocy but better players for the U23s left off. And since EJ and Edu are as new to their clubs as Freddy and Jozy, let’s not hear the BB koolaide sippers use that excuse this time.
Gutless wonder, scared of Cuba…
Adu and Altidore should be invited in; not Orozco and not Lewis.
The very fact that anyone calls Ching our best target forward shows how sorry our National forward pool is. Ching is a horrible international…no better than Twellman and I sure don’t want to see him back on the Nat’s.
Hejduk is Mr. Giveaway and couldn’t put a quality cross in to save his life. He has very little technical skill, he makes up for it with his little bursts of speed.
While I would have called up Cooper and Adu, I don’t see what the complaint about Lewis, Hejduk, and Ching making the team is. Although they’re older players, they are also good players. Hejduk is our first or second best right back, Lewis has established himself as one of our top 2 left mids, and Ching is our best target forward. Whether or not they will be “too old to play” in 2010, they aren’t now, and we still need to win these games. If guys like Hejduk and Cooper were on the field sucking like Eddie Johnson, I’d be mad at Bradley for including them, but if they keep bringing their best play, I’ll keep playing them. We can’t cut guys out of the mix because we’re afraid they’ll age too much in the next 2 years.
I was definitely a Bob Bradley supporter, but I’m beginning to waver. If you are bringing in Eddie Johnson to languish on the bench, -and our starting forwards, no matter who they are, should be able to score on these teams- then why not bring in Cooper or Altidore or someone, anyone else? However, I forgot the commentators name, but someone on this board pointed out that Jurgen turned down the job because Gulati refused to give him full control. If that is true, then perhaps the reason Adu and Altidore aren’t getting called up is because of some political nonsense and perhaps is outside Bob Bradley’s immediate control, which is completely unforgivable, if true. I do wonder why some younger guys aren’t getting called up, even if just to watch from the sideline, like Orozco and Wynne in this case. But please Ives, tell us more about the Altidore situation. Is US soccer really serious that they would alienate our best young prospect, all due respect to Adu and others? I mean this Villareal team is easily the most quality team a young American, or perhaps any American, has made. Don’t give me any SPL old firm nonsense, the SPL is no where near the level of La Liga. What will this wilderness do? What has happened? Why can he be okay at Villarreal but no the Nats? Please Ives, at least send us to a website that will tell us what the rumors are. It seems that a lot of US coaches, from Bradley to Nowak to Rongren, with his absurd Subotic decision, have trouble with the most talented of our young players. Is this a problem with US soccer? For example, a player like Riquelme-i know he is young but my point is attitude-was always a headache for his club team but always found a spot, in his prime, for Argentina. I do understand Adu’s exclusion, to some degree, he isn’t built for a game like that Guatemala mess, so save him for a better more technical team, well that is what I thought before that game anyhow. However, I simply don’t get the exclusion of Altidore at all, just bizarre.
Dempsey is simply a waste of time
Orozco and Pearce were particularly unimpressive.
I don’t understand this man…
What on Earth has Orozco done to get a call? He was very mediocre in the Olympics, and currently sits on the bench for his Mexican club. Definitely not a squad to get excited about here.
OBVIOUSLY, you dont know how to spell
Julio, I think your problem is that you’re comparing Cooper to players in La Liga and the English premier league. How many American players do you see lighting it up over there, yet alone playing regular minutes? The fact is, we don’t have the talent like those countries and those teams do. Until we do, we have to pick those who are producing. So all in all, yes those two leagues are full of talent, but your comparison holds no water because we as a country are not on that level. Cooper may not be comparable to that level but he’s the best the US has right now, but that’s just my opinion.
Obviuosly Mr. Bradley hasn’t either….
Julio,
“I can’t believe Adu and Altidore are not on the team. I don’t have a problem with Cooper, he is a scrub. Come on fellas, if you watch La Liga and the English premier League you know talent. This guy Cooper has no talent, the MLS is a good competitive League but Cooper scores because he is playing against some scruby players…sorry I said it.”
You must not have seen Cooper play. Cooper is better than Altidore right now.