Top Stories

USMNT roster for upcoming qualifiers to be announced today at 3:30pm on ESPN SportsCenter

JurgenKlinsmannUSMNTBosnia1 (ISIPhotos)

By IVES GALARCEP

If you were ready for another long weekend of waiting to find out which players would be called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team, you might want to find some new plans.

U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann will announce the World Cup qualifying roster for upcoming matches against Costa Rica and Mexico at 3:30pm today on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

The announcement will come much earlier than Klinsmann usually unveils roster, with the U.S. team usually waiting until after squads are already in camp before revealing which players have been called in.

Here is SBI’s projection of the roster.

Who are you hoping gets the call? What player are you hoping Klinsmann leaves home?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Forwards: Jozy, Clint, Landon, EJ, Johannson
    Mids: Bedoya, Beckerman, Bradley, Jones, Johnson, Kljestian, Zusi
    Def: Beasley, Besler, Brooks, Gonzales, Evans, Orozco, Castillo, Cameron
    GK: Howard, Guzan, Rimando

    I think I got everyone.

    Reply
  2. Sasha-Ching up front

    Casey-Connor-Casey-Casey Mids

    Casey-Wondolousy-Sacha-Sacha

    Sacha goalkeeper

    Kljestan a super sub for the world. On all seriousness I hope Ching & Casey make it. Fingers crossed

    Reply
  3. oooh, is this like NCAA announcement of the 64 (68) teams?

    will they have “On the Bubble” categories? (Lichaj-always Lichaj, Spector, Corona, Williams, Fiscal?
    “Last Four In” (Beckerman, Castillo, Rimando, Donovan-JK’s last prod for missing the winter/spring)

    Reply
  4. —- Evens —-
    Evens – Evens – Evens – Evens
    —- Evens —-
    Evans – Evens – Evens – Evens
    —- Howard —-

    Although I might try Evens up top with Evans.

    Reply
      • My liver actually takes a certain amount of pride in enabling my habits. I think it views this as a time to shine, as well as another USMNT cap.

  5. Why does Ives remove comments that were posted earlier in this post? Its not the first time I’ve noticed this. The comments didn’t have anything vulgar or offensive in them unless you count pointing out errors in the post like saying here is a potential roster but not actually providing it either with a link to the post or in print.

    Reply
  6. I’d be a little surprised if we brought in Besler, Gonzo, Goodson, Cameron, and Brooks, especially with Brooks’ recent playing time/injury stuff. I’d bet Parkhurst slides into the Brooks spot

    Reply
  7. Good to see a roster announcement get on SC. Getting the games and highlights on mainstream tv is good but building anticipation before the game is the next step. US Soccer getting respect!

    Now if only i could be around a tv in the middle of the afternoon…

    Reply
  8. Curiously, Jogi Low today canceled his press conference to announce the Germany roster for next week’s WCQs. The press conference, scheduled for about noon German time, was postponed until Friday. Makes me wonder whether John Anthony Brooks is at play here. Or maybe Jogi wanted more time to try to convince Timothy Chandler to accept a call-up.

    Reply
    • Can Timmy still play for Germany? I had thought that he filed his one-time switch. But honestly he went back and forth so many times I’ve forgotten now.

      Reply
    • Somehow one poster in particular had to find a way to bring Timmy Chandler into the discussion. I am beginning to believe that he is just pulling everyone’s chain to see how riled up he can get them. I have been a patsy in the past, but no more. @ BIFF i know that secretly you love TC and want more of him in the jersey that he is so passionate about. I bet you already have a Chandler USMNT jersey that you wear every time you visit SBI.net.

      Thanks for making these in between discussions entertaining.

      Reply
      • Huh? Are you sure Timothy Chandler is cap-tied? I think he’s only played in friendlies. I don’t remember him ever playing in competitive fixtures.

      • the game you always use as an example of why he shouldn’t be on the US team is the game he got cap-tied in. the Honduras game.

      • Yank ..Yank… on the chain. Boys, don’t let Biff do it to you too. He got me fired up more than one time. Maybe Biff is Phil Jackson off line. Pulling the mental strings to control our thoughts, and illicit a fiesty discussion for his enjoyment. BIFF from now on you will be Zen Master to me.

    • I think can’t no play for germany cause he is been cap tie with the USA. He play already a FIFA game with USA and that was against Honduras for the Hex. so that automatic tied him to the USA

      Reply
      • sorry about my comment. I think chandler can not play for Germany anymore since he was cap tied in the game against Honduras.

  9. I could really care less when he releases the roster, I care more about the results of the game than meaningless stuff like this

    Reply
      • Well, thats what he said = he “could care less” which means he cares some and not as little as possible, which would be “couldnt care less”. Could care less means the opposite of what CamRahn Bay took. Which is it Chris? Could you care less or couldnt you? 😉

      • Ha, one of my biggest pet peeves and was going to say something about that. Definitely some more room to care I guess.

  10. This is a miracle. Klinsmann finally doing something sensible like announcing the roster a week before games rather than continuing his silly games of swearing players to secrecy which they can never hold and then in some cases waiting until only two days before game day to “officially” announce the roster. I would bet 25 cents that the players are behind this move, that they let Klinsmann know after the Bosnia game, with over half the roster revealed before the official announcment, that they were tired of the secrecy and Klinsmann relented.

    Reply
      • Yeah, I guess it could be because the players asked for it to be released a few days earlier so they could tweet that they made it and stuff.

        I think more likely is the ESPN asked JK to come on and announce it publicly just before the weekend because Mex (and hopefully actual qualification) is coming up very soon on ESPN and they want to start promoting it.

        I agree that isn’t kind of annoying not to see the roster until Monday, but the “it’s nonsensical!” and “he looks indecisive!” stuff seems misplaced to me.

        As I see it, it only looks indecisive to someone who doesn’t realize the players know well in advance who’s going to be there, barring changes due to last-weekend injuries and the like. It’s just the public announcement that’s delayed. And surely anyone who’s looking forward to a USMNT roster announcement likely knows that, so I don’t get that criticism at all.

        As for what sense it makes. I suspect it’s for 2 reasons. First, any last minute injury adjustments. Second, because I think JK is probably a sporting fellow, and might see some slight advantage in giving the opposition as little time as possible to prepare for the squad that will show up. Or maybe he’s a bit superstitious about people getting injured after the announcement. Who knows.

        If the players hate it and complain, then sure, maybe change the policy. But it doesn’t seem like arbitrary lunacy or anything.

      • JK can always make roster adjustment because of injury. so waiting until the last minute really doesn’t make much of a sense unless he is undecided about a player and wants to see him in one more game before he decides.

      • My sense is that after the infamous news article came out in March, the players and Klinsmann had a private heart-to-heart with the players finally being open with their gripes. And to Klinsmann’s credit, he lightened up and started being more flexible, and I think since then he has played more than two d-mids at the same time as he was frustratingly and nerve-wrackingly doing all during the first 20 months of his tenure. It just seems the chemistry is much better now after the players blew off steam than it was before the article, and maybe a couple of players after the Bosnia game suggested a change. Because the Bosnia game was totally ridiculous, with the roster announced 48 hours before but with all sorts of Tweets and club press releases about roster players, including the photo of Williams and Fabian at the airpost on the way to Bosnia.

      • biff i love you you offer by far the most specific speculation of any usmnt site I follow.

        “At that point the players, sharing between 10 and 13 pizzas (NY style), took a secret vote. A couple of the Liga MX players formed a bloc but they couldn’t overcome the MLS-Prussian alliance. The measure carried 17-6 to begin releasing the roster in advance of the weekend games.”

    • The lapse in secrecy looks to be primarily on the clubs. They were releasing lists or mentioning it to the press, so the word was out. The more non-MLS players we have, the worse any security will be. I suppose they figured it wasn’t worth the effort.

      Reply
  11. Who wants to bet that there is a delay in the announcement today?
    Wouldn’t be a roster selection without a twitter fury about “the roster is late because…”

    Expect it at about 7 PM tonight…

    Reply
      • +1

        Jermaine Jones is nasty! He brings an edge that strikes fear into the ankles and knees of the opposition. Plus he can score if need be as he demonstrated in the last Champions League. Jermaine Jones is one of our best players. I hope the Jermaine Jones experiment continues and succeeds!

      • #totesagree

        Any regular starter for a Champions League team has a place in the USMNT. Jones is a total badass.

    • Good news is the experiment has ended. Bad news (for you) is the results suggest he’s here to stay, and start. Which, for the record, I completely agree with.

      Reply
    • Seems clear to me that Jones and Bradley are the best central midfield pairing for the USMNT. Who would you play there? Cameron? He looked good there in the last qualifiers but he doesn’t play there for his club, meanwhile JJ starts in midfield for a Champions League club every week. Sure, he’s undisciplined but I think it’s worth putting up with for the other qualities he brings.

      Reply
      • Kljestan not likely to start as long as Jones is around … but he’s definitely playing his way into a bigger role … Bradley, Jones, Cameron, Kljestan, Diskerud, Beckerman, whoever else we’ve got … what a great “problem” to have! Depth for the USMNT? It’s pretty sweet to see.

      • It is clear who the best two players in Cmid are not who the best pairing is.Jones likes to roam too much around the pitch when he plays with Mikey and at times that leaves both out of position to recover defensively.A case can be made that with Cameron both cmid roles a better defined, Cam stays Bradley goes.After playing together for more than two years Jones and Bradley haven’t figured out how to succesfully play in a pulley system.Can it still happen, yes, but I doubt it.

      • This is where the 12 year old in me wants to scream, “Scoreboard!” There seems to always be a lot of complaints about Jones, but for me Klinsmann’s record speaks for itself. We are on great run of form as a team and if JJ and MB are his first choice pairing that’s enough for me.

      • Wasn’t trying to complain about Jones.Rather I was trying to make the point that Jones’s inclusion in the starting 11 shouldn’t be as clear cut as some posters make it out to be.Regardless of the recent results a case can be made that Cameron is a better fit with Bradley based on what we have seen from the brief time they’ve played together.Maybe JK should give Cam and Mike a shot in some upcoming friendliest and see what that looks like.We already know what Jones and Mike can do.

      • I will as that these calls for Cameron aren’t from thin air.A couple times he’s come on for Jones and the team has looked more fluid and balanced in the midfield.

      • Agreed. Cameron has looked good. (And I am saying you are doing this but) often times fans overlook the difference in competition between Jamaica and Panama’s midfield and other teams Jones has played against. JK does see them together in training and pedigree suggests Jones is a better option.

      • I tend to agree with Dudester here. I would like to see Cameron get a shot with MB so that we have some basis for comparison. JJ was a turnover machine in the Bosnia game and his 2 yellows in CL this week show the risk of having him out there. It’s not an easy decision, but I think JK should throw Cameron in there with MB for a couple games to see if there is a better pairing.

      • Most of the JJ detractors point to him being a yellow card machine/problem. He has exactly one in this year of qualifying, and that was a professional yellow because a defender turned the ball over in a bad spot and we needed to stop the play.

        Maybe on the club level he is a little more reckless, but that has not been his pattern for the US in the last year and 6 months or so. Maybe JK explained to him, he would prefer JJ be more disciplined, and he responded like a professional. Maybe at Schalke its’ not as big an issue with the coaches. I’m not expert but I don’t see the yellow card issues for the USMNT that JJ’s detractors continually speak of.

      • Yeah yellow cards for a player in jones’ role are not an indicator of poor discipline. They simply come with the territory.

        And why does it even matter if he racks up yellows? So he gets two and is suspended for the next game? Fine, now you play the backup.

        Don’t start the backup every game as some backward precautionary measure.

      • I don’t really mind the turnovers. Most of them are made going up the field and don’t really put the defense at risk.

      • Jones suffers from gonzoitis aka lack of concentration.Even in a champions league qualifying game that’s worth 20mil he still had these lapses.

    • With it being opening weekend in college football I suspect ESPN wanted to get this out there so it wouldn’t get lost in the traffic….and yes the fanatics would have noticed none-the-less….but they are trying to market the game to casual fans and grow the game with new fans….so it makes sense….

      Reply
  12. I know it’s beating a dead horse….but would really like to Eric Lichaj be brought into this team, hell how about Jonathan Spector? But then again maybe we’ll be surprised and see Tim Chandler not just be brought in, but perform WELL in Costa Rica….however after his performance in the heat of Tegucigalpa, I doubt it is very realistic to expect Chandler to all of the sudden excel in San Jose, Costa Rica. Wouldn’t mind seeing Fabian at Right Back, Ives you suggested this since he IS a right footed player if we stick with Beasley at the usual Left Back spot and if we can count with either Bedoya, Donovan, Corona or even Torres and EJ to play the Left mid spot…hell even Castillo can play there where he can excel rather than struggle with defending more at Left Back

    Reply
    • Here it is from an earlier post:

      PROJECTED USMNT ROSTER

      GOALKEEPERS- Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Nick Rimando

      DEFENDERS- Brad Evans, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, John Brooks, Clarence Goodson, Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson, DaMarcus Beasley

      MIDFIELDERS- Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Landon Donovan, Alejandro Bedoya, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, Graham Zusi, Kyle Beckerman, Sacha Kljestan

      FORWARDS- Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Eddie Johnson, Aron Johannsson

      Reply

Leave a Reply to 2tone Cancel reply