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USMNT roster announcement postponed until weekend because of late injury concerns

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Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

It turns out, the U.S. Men’s National Team roster will not be unveiled sooner than expected.

U.S. Soccer announced Thursday morning via Twitter that the scheduled release of Jurgen Klinsmann’s roster for the Americans’ final pair of 2014 World Cup qualifiers was pushed back from Thursday to the weekend due to injury concerns. No word yet as to which day the roster will come out on.

Regardless of when the roster announcement is, players are expected to begin gathering in Kansas City on Sunday. The U.S., which is already qualified for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil, is set to host Jamaica at Sporting Park on Oct. 11 before wrapping up its qualifying campaign with a game in Panama four days later.

Disappointed by the roster announcement delay? Don’t really mind too much? Who do you think are the injury concerns that may have altered the scheduled announcement?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. TV Coverage: Since FOX Soccer doesn’t have the contract anymore has anyone else noticed the crap coverage? This includes EPL, USMNT, talk shows and just general football news.

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    • I think Beckerman Jones is more likely. Jones isn’t disciplined enough to stay deep in a more defensive roll and Diskerud likes to go forward. Jones isn’t that great at dropping back and receiving the ball from the backline either as we saw in Costa Rica. I don’t see Klinsmann dropping Jones from the lineup so Beckerman, Jones is most likely what we’ll see.

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      • Yea you are probably right. I would really like to see Diskerud-Cameron, but we know that would never happen.

      • Home game vs. Jamaica. I would expect JK to be aggressive. Now the game in Panama, different story. But I could see Dix and JJ. I think JK believes more in JJ than anybody else, including JJ and his parents.

  2. Mayne this be a good time 2 cal n sum fringe players like Fredy Adu, Jon Bornstein, Jon Spector, Tim Reem, Tony Beltran, AJ Delagarza, and Connor Lade.

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    • Adu & Bornstein are not Fringe players. Neither has seen anything close to consistent PT with their club teams.
      DeLaGarza (if I recall) has switched to another country (Guam or Philipiens).
      Ream was called in during the B&H Friendly, but wouldn’t really call him a fringe player at this point.
      Beltran was with the USNT squad for the Gold Cup. Played 1 game and showed he’s not up to this level.
      Spector is an option, but would expect to see Chandler or Lichaj called in before spector.
      Lade….I just don’t see that happening before January….and even then I think Klute gets called before Lade.

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  3. —– Boyd —- Johansson —-
    Donovan ——————- Arriola
    ———– Adu — Diskerud ——-
    FJ – Brooks (one arm) – Gonzo – Lichaj
    ————– Guzan ——————–

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  4. My picks:
    Besler
    Feilhaber
    Opara
    Zusi
    Dempsey
    Evans
    E. Johnson
    Rimando
    Beckerman
    Yedlin
    Arnaud
    Mapp
    Perkins
    M. Harrington
    Jewsbury
    Findley
    Grabavoy
    Beltran
    Borchers

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  5. I can’t believe I’m going to have to wait another 3-4 days to complain about why Lichaj isn’t on the roster and why that central midfielder got called in instead of that other one

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    • Wait, you like that other one? He’s not even getting any playing time! That central midfielder is starting in MLS games every week, he should beat out someone riding the bench in Europe.

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      • oh come on, that guy was never given a fair shake. He’s only had limited time with the Nats and my opinion would play much better alongside Bradley than those two

      • My guy is starting in Europe! Why is Klinsmann ignoring him? Especially with Bradley down, we need him!

      • Your guy is a scrub playing for a 3rd division European team! And all this talk about this guy and that guy is also rubbish – both of them just pass square balls around the field.

        Now here we have a guy who can be transcendent! Sure he’s a little on the young and inexperienced side, but isn’t that what we US fans are all about anyway???

      • this is the most ridiculous comment I’ve read on this site! He is vastly out of form, unfit for duty and isn’t even a “real” American. This team needs hustle, poise and commitment to JK’s ideals, whichever they may be at the moment. They need to buy in to his system and believe to get to Brazil.

      • lol. you guys are funny, but dead wrong. They all stink, we never develop top talent because we only play the coaches son!

  6. Julian Green called into Germany’s U-18/19 Euro squad. i believe if he plays, he’s provisionally cap-tied. that’s annoying. Hurzeler at least continues to score and i believe Stanko is in the gameday roster against Sevilla today.

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    • Youth squad participation doesn’t cap-tie you so long as you have an active passport for other nations at the time you play for said youth squad.

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      • if you play in an official FIFA recognized youth tournament, you are provisionally cap-tied to that team. Euro qualifiers are an official FIFA youth tournament. as such, he if plays, he will be provisionally cap-tied to Germany and would have to file a one-time switch to play for the USA.

        obviously he’s been playing for both youth teams in friendlies for awhile, but this is different.

  7. If we finish on top of the table we will essentially be seeded in the tournament?? I know there are some other variables like world ranking, previous results, etc. that play into the seeding but if there’s chance why not throw some 1st teamers out there to get a favorable result. I’m not saying put the A+ team out there, I must prefer a B+ team so some guys can get some experience. It serves us well integrating some others by seeing what they can do. This is all hypothetical, however and it all depends if these results actually having meaning. If they have no effect go ahead and throw some youngster out there.

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    • There’s always a chance, but FIFA has not announced what method will be used to do seedings (and they haven’t announced that beforehand in the past). They use a system of “who do we think the top seeds should be?” and then work backward. It’s almost impossible for us to get a top seed in the current system.

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      • It’s kind of like the way they choose the host nation. Decide which nation you want, and then change the rules as necessary. Make everyone bid under the assumption of a summertime tournament, and then switch it to the winter. It’s easy.

      • Decide which nation you want Add up all the bribes you’ve received, and then change the rules as necessary.

        FTFY

    • Us finishing first will not affect our seeding, at least if they keep the system from the 2010 world cup. It is purely based on world rankings. The US will not be seeded.

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      • They’ve announced that neither Columbia nor Belgium will be seeded specifically though. If teams haven’t been in the past few world cups, they’re out of consideration.

      • I see a brazilian newspaper said that. It is not something FIFA said. Even with those teams out there are still 12 teams that can beat us out no matter how well we do in our own matches.

    • FIFA’s seeding formula is based on the 8 teams they want to be seeded.

      The seeding formula should have been released for the 2014 tournament a long time ago, the only reason not to is to manipulate the formula to get what you want.

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      • Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands+at least one more Lat Am country (home continent either COL, URU or CHI) get seeded regardless of their current rank they are “pedigreed” teams that the system will be tailored to to make sure they’re seeded…. that’s seven…

        so can U.S. get seeded ahead of an England, France, Portugal or another Lat Am team? if all of those make it I say no… If 2 of 3 Euros don’t make it then we may have a slim shot… basically all three Euro teams have to miss out for U.S. to have a 50/50 shot versus an Uruguay, Colombia or Chile to get seeded

    • Don’t kid yourself. There is no way we get seeded. None. Concacaf gets no respect. We are just going to have to battle our way to the top.

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      • yes – mexico was seeded in 06. US finished 1 spot out (9th overall) in a very convoluted seeding process that year.

        there is actually a decent chance US could be seed. while I agree to some extent that FIFA looks at the options and figures out a system to get the teams they want seeded there is a real possibility that this year it could come down to, say, US and swiss for a final seed.

        in that sort of scenario i dont think FIFA would be biased towrds switzerland (not a perennial power) and may in fact be biased towards giving the seed to a team not in UEFA (or S America)

        anyway, mexico was seeded in 06 and not out of the question that US may sneak in for a seed

      • US is currently 13th
        USA 996 954 1040
        Their current points are 996. The max they can have this month is 1040. Let me do a little comparison and let you know the best case scenario for the US.

      • Ok. I’ve done the math.
        First, rumor is FIFA will use the October rankings for seeding (which makes sense frankly). In October’s rankings, there are 6 teams the US can not pass, no matter what that team does and the US does. Spain, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Uruguay and Brazil. We can’t pass those teams. 2 spots are still open to us. However 8 other teams would beat us in world rankings if they win their October matches (meaning we would be ranked 15th in the world. These teams would all beat us no matter what the US did, if they win their own games: Columbia, Belgium, Netherlands, Croatia, Portugal, Switzerland, Chile and England.

      • there is also a rumor that only teams who qualified for 2010 WC will be eligible for a seed… giving US a shot at a seed (if that were true)

      • Perhaps. I saw that rumor, but the only source I’ve seen is a Brazilian newspaper. I’d feel better if it were a Swiss newspaper as they seem to be making the decisions. I still think the only way we get a seed is if they decide to go with 2010 Group winners as the seeds.

  8. Kind of annoying we’ve know Mexico’s roster for like 3 weeks. The US players will be in camp practicing before the US announce who is on the team.

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  9. I’m a little torn about the approach here. We don’t “need” the games and don’t need to go with an A line up. BUT… at some point we may need help from others late in qualifying and we wouldn’t want them sending out a C team.

    Plus, JK does have a point – there are a limited number of games to get the team prepared. And he has seldom had all the parts available to him at the same time. But Seattle and LA will be pretty pissed about losing players during crunch time.

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    • Seattle and LA can blame MLS. These games have always been on the calendar and there was a good chance that they were going to be highly important games for the US in qualifying. The US qualified early sure, but Seattle and LA should expect to lost their international players on FIFA breaks. If MLS doesn’t want that, then they should build their calendar around these dates. Just like next June would be a bad time to expect players like Donovan and Dempsey to be available. MLS should know that now.

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      • Maybe it is MLS scheduling BS but is is still Klinsmann’s choice. If he choses to screw with a couple of MLS teams than HE is chosing to do so. It is MLS crunch time baby! If my team (no I won’t tell you which one) gets dicked over by this then I WILL blame Klinsmann. Fare or not.
        #SomeNotAll

      • Jesse: I agree. That doesn’t mean factoring in the politics of the current set up doesn’t come into consideration. Personally, I think you do go full strength. But I do wish MLS accommodates the dates in the schedule, even if it means starting earlier and ending later.

        McQ: Nonsense. Should they behave like a real league like, say, the European leagues that refuse to accommodate the African Nations Cup schedules or give players grief for playing in their regional tournament?

      • I totally agree, MLS should build their calendar to celebrate the international game not compete against it. International soccer is what first made me a fan as a kid. Watching Italy v Brazil when I was 10 helped make me a soccer fan. If I were MLS, I would go so far as to host watching parties with local players during these breaks. As a fan, I would take my son to watch the game on our stadiums video board and hang with MLS players.

      • And they are games that matter for Panama and Honduras and even Jamaica, countries that will pull MLS players away for these qualifiers. Now that MLS is the magnet league for CONCACAF non-Mexican players, it’s time to accept we lose too much when we don’t take the FIFA breaks.

      • +1 Absolutely, North America’s best players are making their way into MLS and those players will leave during qualifying. Time MLS to make the adjustment.

      • Seattle should be happy as they play better without Johnson, Dempsey and Evans. Seattle fans should know that.

  10. These games don’t really count for us anymore. Why would you need to monitor injuries? The whole situation would seem to suggest being conservative, ie, if you’re borderline don’t bother. His process is instead as though we have must win games and haven’t clinched…..in which case you might monitor the borderline and even call up people who might not get cleared….cause then roster maximization with some risk makes sense. This is no risk world….we already have it clinched.

    I don’t see the point other than PR or playing it a little risky to wait. Call in the healthy people. If one of them gets hurt, evaluate a replacement per normal.

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    • +1 why even call in someone who has been nursing an injury for a game that doesn’t matter? Just call in the next healthy person at that position, which gives you a chance to evaluate that player and prevents the other player from possibly re injuring himself

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    • seriously. especially considering there is another camp right around the corner in november. if there is any doubt, let them focus on getting healthy

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    • While these games technically don’t towards qualifying they are still important. The next two matches are the last two competitive matches until the World Cup. Building team chemistry is important and it’s important to put players in a competitive environment that friendlies don’t always provide.

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    • Maybe Jurgen is doing exactly what you are saying! He learned a few guys are nursing injuries so he has decided to not call them in. Now he has to find healthy replacements and that is taking him a couple extra days.

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    • One reason to take this seriously is that it’s good practice for the coaching staff to act like they are picking the WC roster for these games. Next summer they’ll be dealing with the same sort of difficult decisions and injuries, undoubtedly. Why not take it seriously, use this as a test and sharpen the process, rather than jacking around and picking fringe players willy-nilly?

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      • i dont really give a sh#t about when the roster comes out… but what exactly, is the staff doing today and tomorrow that they could not have already done

        they should have a current depth chart at all times and if someone gets injured this week, look at the next 2 (or 3, whatever) guys on the chart and decide which one to call.

        should not take more than 10 minutes

        they should already have the info they need on the top 40 or so guys in the program.

        (or they could hire me, ill take care of it!)

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