Photo by ISI Photos
U.S. men’s national team coach Bob Bradley recalled 21 players from the team’s earlier camp for training ahead of the upcoming friendly against Mexico in Houston on Feb. 6.
Landon Donovan leads an MLS-heavy list of players who should make up a good portion of the roster that will face Mexico at Reliant Stadium in two weeks (But you should expect some European-based call-ups as well). Here is the roster:
GOALKEEPERS – Steve Cronin (LA Galaxy), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Zach Wells (D.C. United)
DEFENDERS –Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Todd Dunivant (Toronto FC), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo)
MIDFIELDERS –Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)
FORWARDS – Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Jeremiah White (AGF Aarhus)
Bradley will add some European-based players to this group for the match, but it appears unlikely that Bradley will call in a full-strength squad. You may recall that he didn’t call in a full-strength squad against Mexico last February in Phoenix and the U.S. team beat a full-strength Mexico squad, 2-0.
What do you think of this group? Share your thoughts below.
It is going to be ok. What I would like to know see is BB bringing in several other youngsters to the U23 squad. I did not see AGAIN (NEVIN SUBOTIC), Sal Zizzo, Szetela, Adu, etc…. Also if we decide to bring the heavy hitters from Europe we need to make sure that we bring Demerit (Captain of his Team), Nevin Subotic is rated as one of the top 10 defenders in Bundesliga 2 and he is 18 years old!!!! Why is he not being invited? If we don’t bring him in soon he may decide to switch Nat Teams and play for Serbia!! I can Trul see our back 4 including some of these names in 2010 Demerit, Subotic,Parkhurst, Pearce, Edu, Boca, Gooch, Spector.
I like this team, there are a few guys who have a lot to prove before they can be considered “regulars” on this team. Mapp, who I love offensively, needs to play a very good game after an injury plagued season… Ricardo Clarke for me is a lock for the team, but he still needs to solidify himself as a cog in the center of the field w/ Bradley for the next 6-7 years. And I think he will, he always seems to impress (when he’s not kicking defenseless people)… Parkhurst, Robinson, and Califf, all of whom are on the verge of being regulars, possibly fighting for a starting spot (Boca and Oneywu need competition) so they need to show well… finally lets hope that Donovan plays in the midfield and not up top, he’s not a forward, just doesn’t have the mentality needed. Hopefully out wide again, I like that spot for him, especially seeing as how we don’t really have anyone who owns the right side position (Dempsey hasn’t taken it yet, and I’m not sure he ever will)
They need to get Landon off the wings, put him in the center again, and stop trying to play the wings so heavily.
We got lucky with the Sweden win, offensively we were a mess.
I’d like to see Twellman replaced with Dempsey, but either way, I’m okay so long as they stop all the header attempts.
thanks Nicole and nateinSF for infusing some calm and wisdom here. I’m sure we’ll get Edu and Jozy since the U-23 camp ends on Feb 2. As for who I’d like to see from Europe come in, lets see Mike Bradley, Bobby Convey, Freddy Adu, Gooch and Pearce, esp Bobby and Adu to help with our attacking. I’d feel better about our chances if we had these guys v. Mexico.
I should mention that the one game so far where the mold was broken was when we played our next generation against Switzerland, on their turf, and won.
I guess what concerns me is that Bob Bradley says this:
“We are very pleased with the work we put in so far this year, and are looking forward to the next challenge against Mexico,” said Bradley. “We will continue to build on the concepts that we have established during the last year, and we are clearly progressing as a team as we move forward in preparing for the start of World Cup qualifying this summer.”
And yet in the past year-and-a-half I have still not seen us field a team that could have beaten either the Czech Republic or Italy in the 2006 World Cup.
What I have seen is a lot of scoring on set pieces (only headers, not bending the ball over a wall) and counter-attacks. I haven’t seen a lot of skilled play and I haven’t seen a lot of goals from the run of play. I’ve seen a lot of long ball, but I haven’t seen much of a short passing game.
In fact, I don’t think BB has experimented with a formation other than the 4-4-2 (or perhaps a 4-4-1-1).
So what I’m trying to say is that Bradley has NOT done enough experimentation and has not yet stamped a new vision on this team different from the Arena era. I kind of hope we lose to a young, talented Mexico, because maybe it’ll shake us out of this slumber that we’ve put ourselves back into post the Arena firing. ‘Cause the way we’re playing may cut it in World Cup qualifying, but it’s not going to cut it in the next World Cup.
Aristotle; Thank god I thought I was the only wondering why the hell Kenny Cooper is not getting call ups. He is one of three (that I can think of off the top of my head) true target forwards in the entire player pool. The other two are either starting to get over the hill (Ching) or not quite ready to be a full time starter for the nats (Jozy). If theres one type of player we need the most right now it is a target forward whos solid in the air. It blows my mind that Bradley is willing to experiment with guys like Noonan and White but refuses to give someone like Cooper a shot.
Looks like Bradley wants to get this winning streak vs Mexico ended before qualifying begins. Don’t want the pressure of keeping up the streak interfering with qualifying, ya know.
NateinSF,
Vela is better than Dos Santos. Check out this goal last Sunday for Osasuna.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmF4ns9ezDE
It was very foggy but I watched the whole game and this guy is going to be something special. It seems Dos Santos has hit a wall in his development.
It’s kind of funny to hear everybody ripping Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan, and to a lesser extent, Chris Rolfe. MLS has almost been picked clean of good strikers in particular. In addition to Eddie Johnson I guess Pat Noonan is gone now as well. Twellman also appears to be on the verge of going.
Seriously, who does this leave in MLS? Ching, like a lot of other U.S. strikers, has not been himself for a while. I guess this is why everybody is raving about Altidore like he is Ronaldinho even though he has a long way to go before being considered a major threat on the full international level. The only guys left that I can see are Jeff Cunningham and Kenny Cooper. Why haven’t they been called in? They deserve it just as much as Rolfe, surely?
BK, “Although Noonan as a midfielder I’m sure will go great (cough cough!)”
Didn’t he start at the wing and set up both goals in the last game? That being said, I think he is weak compared to our other options for the wings.
Wow, do people need to clam down over here. This is not the full squad, folks. I hope you changed your undies after you relaxed and figured there will be guys from Euro coming in the week before the match.
yikes! it’s almost embarrassing to read all the whining and crying by some of you pathetic lot. Seriously, as Nicole pointed out, you might want to read a bit more before you come on here and cry like little babies. You just want all the information to be spoon-fed to you, don’t you? Next time, do some research before moaning about camp roster selections. Then, maybe you’ll get a grip and realize this isn’t the final roster for the Mexico match.
I’m sorry but we ain’t beating Mexico with just this group. I applaud BB for incorporating more players into the pool, but Mexico will win their first game against us since ……since……I can’t remember.
P.S. Zach I completely agree. With a sniper like Twellman on the field Mexico will be lucky to hold us to 7 goals.
About this roster posted here. I would just like to say:
“ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,
ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!
To Nicole I would just like to say:
“Oh yea? Well YOU are just a little girl!”
On a much less childish and girlie note, I would like to say:
I am sure the roster will have a lot more players on it than this! Do we really want to reverse a lot of our progress against Mexico with an 11-0 loss? If anybody says we just need to experiment against Mexico and this will be a good chance to mold a team, blah, blah, blah. I will kill them! Alright that seems a bit harsh. I will throttle them! Alright, I will at least say bad things about them!
Calm down kids. The European guys don’t get called in until February. Yeesh.
I can only hope that Noo-nan’s transfer to Norway will lead Bob to drop him from the squad so he can start adjusting to his new team. He is completely useless.
And I can also only hope Rolfe sees zero minutes in the match.
WWWWHHHHHHYYYYYYY!!!!.
TT again….. 🙁
a question: has anyone seen Vela play? I can watch Giovanni due to Champions League appearances, but haven’t yet been able to see Vela in action. Any thoughts?
“you may recall” hahahahahahahah good one ives.
I think Bradley does well in order to see who steps up to this kind of intense rivalry and who disappears. Give experience as well.
Guys… this is the camp squad not the final roster. Add the YAs and the U-23s to this list and you can make a pretty decent starting XI.
everyone is complaining but what better scenario is there? The U-23s are coming in two days before the match along with European based players. On the US Soccer website it specifically states that on Feb. 3rd Bradley will be naming the complete roster, and that is also the day he moves players from LA to Houston for final preparations.
If on Feb. 3rd the complete roster is still short of top level talent, I too will complain. A lot of these crap players might be used for drills? This isn’t the end of the world here.
Why are there so many of you that just panic and gripe and carry on like a bunch of little girls? Just read up on all the information and save yourselves. The US Soccer site says that Altidore, Edu, Kljestan and Wynne are in Bradenton for U23 practice. It also says the final roster, WHICH MAY INCLUDE MORE EUR0PEAN-BASED PLAYERS, will be finalized prior to the team’s departure from Carson.
I swear, I think most of you like to gripe and whine and complain. It’s so much easier than just informing yourselves.
Red Bulls pre-season is in California? Anyone know where?
I’m glad to see Twellman is included due to his devastating finishing abilities on the international level.
this is crazy, Taylor Twellman again, how many times are we going to have to use this guy. Is the pool of forwards that bad that we have to use this guy? My goodness i dont think i’m going to watch this game for this is a joke on the part of Bob Bradley.
Damn, why does it seem like we are in perpetual experimental mode and never have a full strength squad. I know this is early in the world cup cycle but i thought this match was matched up with the international schedule. It would be nice if we could have a few games with our best XI playing together. If not then why not just make them U-23 games and forget about seeing players like Twellman over and over.
From Jozy himself: “Next week I’ll be with the Olympic team in Florida until Feb. 3 getting ready for qualifying games. I don’t think I’ll be with the Red Bulls when the guys start preseason training in California. Then there’s the national team game against Mexico on Feb. 6. Bob told me I might be going to that game as well. After Mexico, it’s back to the Red Bulls.”
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/jozy-altidore-all-soccer-all-the-time/
I heard through ESPNDeportes that Mexico is bringing in Dos Santon, Vela, and all the European gang for this match except for Castillo who is out with a shoulder injury for the next 6 weeks. Why don’t we bring in our U-23’s at least? and use this as a real training match for them, I am sure they would do better than this roster. Why do we still call Taylor Twellman?
Nice job getting the nickname Pancho – the three sons are all well thanks.
I dont know the olympic qulifying sched, but i would assume it is arranged so we dont have to choose which qulaifyers to send our best youngsters to?
i think they will call in decent European players to complete the starting XI. They just can’t have those guys for the entire camp of two plus weeks. I believe FIFA has specific dates when the must be released by clubs, probably like 4 – 5 days in total.
however, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Fulham crew gets a reprieve due to their relegation status.
Wow, with that roster, we are going to get douched. Although Noonan as a midfielder I’m sure will go great (cough cough!). Let’s hope Mexico doesnt call in Dos Santos and the rest of the gang or we will most likely get slaughtered on US soil.
All I want is one game where we actually bring who Bradley thinks is his best team. It’s getting to a point that we need to wrap up the experimentation or at least limit it.
Hey Fred, (hows the 3 sons?:))
You are right of course about not getting ‘too cocky’ (always being accused of that!)
But in reality, if you have to manage two teams U23 and Full team, where do you put the priority first? On March Olympic qualifying matches, or on June WC qualifying matches? Me, I go for the March games.
Ooh boy do we need some European reinforcements. This is a weak roster.
Doug -> Jeremiah White is a 26 year old speedster who made a couple of poor decisions relative to his club signings out of Wake Forest. He is a speedy RM/F who never caught the eye of the full team till this year.
Here is Yanks Abroad page
http://yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=players&id=40
wow, i payed over $50 per ticket and will be driving 4 hours to see this match because i was under the impression that we were actually going to try to beat Mexico or atleast bring a couple guys who MIGHT actually have a chance to see playing time in South Africa
Guzan/Conrad/Clark/Donavan and maybe Mapp/Parkhurst are the only players that might even make the roster for South Africa
I want my money back, this is absolutely ridiculous, on a Fifa approved international break no less. i am really, really pissed off
Pancho lets not get too cocky – I dont think the US team can consider qulifying a gimme – even if it should be
Since when is beating Mexico not a priority. This team sucks.
Aren’t Goodson and Noonan both now signed to Norwegian clubs? IK Start and Aalesund I think (even if I can’t spell them)?
Disappointing group so far. I was getting rev’d up with all the previous posts about who should start. This is not looking like the debut of the next generation i was hoping for.
Barry -> Won’t we need them in qualifying? Well yes,… but not really. I mean do we really need Jozy and the Pussycats, (oh, oh new name for those U23s on the regular mens roster), to beat the El Salvadors, Dominicanas, etc. of the world?
Jozy, Edu,Wynn, Sacha are all likely at Bradenton at the U-23 Olympic team
Sorry if I’ve been under a rock lately, but does anybody have any info/insight on Jeremiah White?
Wait they are in camp with U-23’s I just saw on ussoccer.com. If they qualify for the Olympics does that overlap with WC2010 qualifying that starts this year? Will we need them at first for WC2010 qualifying? Ives?
WTF!!!! It’s no roster without JOZY!
Hmm Where is Edu and Altidore?
No Altidore? What’s up with that? Ives can you explain or get some clarity on why?
Why not a full-strength squad?!?!?! Doesn’t this game take place during a FIFA-sanctioned break for international friendlies? Also, doesn’t this go against what Sunil Gulati said about shrinking the player pool as we get closer to qualifying?
Ok MLS heavy, but no Jozy? Would like to see Holden or Alvarez as well.