Photo by ISI Photos
Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard highlight the 22-man roster chosen by U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley for the United States’ upcoming friendly against England on May 28 at Wembley Stadium (3pm, ESPN Classic).
Beasley also earned the call after making his first appearance for Rangers last weekend since knee surgery six months ago.
One player not on the list is Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore, who has been in inconsistent form early in the MLS season. His absence is still surprising considering the lack of established forward options in the national team pool. It shouldn’t come as a complete surprise considering the combination of club and Olympic obligations Altidore will have this summer.
Donovan was one of only three MLS players called in for the match (Brad Guzan and Ricardo Clark being the others).
Here is the rest of the U.S. roster:
GOALKEEPERS – Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS – Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS – Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS – Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (Out of Contract)
Here is the England roster for the match:
ENGLAND
GOALKEEPERS – David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Chris Kirkland (Wigan)
DEFENDERS – Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)
MIDFIELDERS – Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
FORWARDS – Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
What do you think of the roster Bradley chose to face England? Surprised to see Altidore left home? Surprised to see three players (including two strikers) who don’t have teams right now make the roster? Share your thoughts below.
Jaqua is shite……. it should be Jozy
Jozy Altidore should definately be on this roster
Why does Landon still afraid to play in Europe? Go red ,white and blue.Beat England.
Cooper should be on the field, his size and skill is what the United States needs vs England
This is the group I’d like to see starting:
G HOWARD
D PEARCE
D ONYEWU
D BOCANEGRA
D CHERUNDOLO
M BEASLEY
M BRADLEY
M EDU
M DEMPSEY
S DONOVAN
S JAQUA
SUBS: CLARK, SPECTOR, ADU
Absolutely no EJ or Wolff!!!
One comment: I wish Jeremiah White had been called in, even though the SAS has yet to conclude.
I also feel a deal of regret gents and babes are so clueless prior to expressing their opinions. Would be nice if we had more knowledgeable supporters, but don’t get me wrong; It is brilliant to see the upsurge in interest in the national team based around the friendlies this summer and the onset of WCQ.
I think its a good line up. For all those “where is Jozy” freaks…calm down.
the boy and yes he is still a boy needs some rest. also it gives Bradley a chance to check out his other striking options. I mean can Nate Jaqua be efficient? or better yet can Eddie Johnson find some type of form.
I would have loved to see someone other than Eddie Lewis but what are you gonna do.
Anyone like an Italian-type tree formation?
Howard
Dolo – Gooch – Bocanegra – HP or JS
Benny – Bradley – Clark
Adu or JW – Donovan
Dempsey
It’ll be fun regardless, but I do wish we had some of our true wingers healthy and on the squad. And speaking of which, are we going to see Adu on the wing?
I don’t have a huge problem with this roster. I’m interested on who Bradley plays in the center of the midfield and at forward. I’m looking forward to this game and am hoping for the best.
what I would like to see but won’t
Howard
Cerundolo Onyewu Orozco Spector
Bradley Clark
Dempsey Adu Beasley
Donovan
vs
James
Bridge Ferdinand Wheater Warnock
Bentley Gerrard Barry Downing
Rooney Agbonlahor
what I expect to see
Howard
Cherundolo Onyewu Bocanegra Spector
Donovan Bradley Feilhaber Lewis
Dempsey Johnson
vs
James
Bridge Ferdinand Terry ACole
Beckham Gerrard Barry JCole
Rooney Owen
I think Ted was close, but here’s the starting XI I expect to see:
………Howard……….
Dolo..Gooch..Boca..Pearce
Wolff..Bradley..Clark..Lewis
…..Dempsey…Donovan……
I can imagine a lot of switching around among Dempsey, Donovan and Wolff, as all have experience playing forward and right wing. The trouble is that there is not pure striker among them (I know Wolff used to be but I’m not sure still that kind of player).
I agree with Rocco. “Out of Contract” doesnt mean these guys cant find teams (although that may be an issue with Cervi), for most of these guys it means their contract is up and now they are “Free Agents” in US terms.
For instance, Jaqua just signed for the last few months of the season. Then he proceed to score 5 goals in 10 matches and helped a very mediocre squad avoid relegation. Now hopefully he can parlay that into a contract with a better club.
Having “Out of Contract” by his name, means he now has options.
Same with Wolff. Started for most of the season. Someone decent will sign him.
Lineup:
Howard
Dolo Gooch Carl Pearce
LD Bradley Clark Lewis
Dempsey Jaqua
With Spector battling for Pearce’s spot, Feilhaber for Clark’s,
Beasley for Lewis (if he is match fit, someone has to watch Becks)
Wolff for Jaqua.
I dont see Dempsey giving us enough defensive cover as a winger, so he stays up top. LD and Wolff could flip flop.
If we are gonna have a chance in this match we have to have great service on set pieces. I dont care who England has in the back, Gooch, Bocanegra, and Dempsey are tough to control.
Stupid call up…How you not going to bring Edu? Johnson.. dude is done…. Jozy?! Who Cares about MLS there are the games he needs to play!
I hope Bob uses this as a chance to get some of the younger guys a taste of real competition. As mentioned, England could field one brutal line-up.
The thought of our guys having to deal with Downing, Gerrard, Rooney, Agbonlahor, etc. on the attack is scary.
Still – for guys like Adu, Bradley, and Pearce, this match could be a great test.
Here’s the lineup I would like to see
———Jaqua———-Dempsey———-
————-Adu—————-
—Beasley/Lewis————–Donovan—
—————-Bradley—————-
Pearce——Boca———-Gooch—–Dolo
—————–Howard——————
I think, after doing well in his brief stint in Austria, it’d be good to see what Jaqua could do against higher quality
European opposition.
Donovan’s scoring form has been solid as of late, but his ball skills will be crucial in putting pressure on the English defense. Good games out of Bradley and Gooch will help their chances of moving/coming back to England this Summer.
Why shouldn’t we be making a big deal about players being out of contract? If these guys are that good, they wouldn’t be “out of contract”, they would be signed by their clubs.
I love how people have already thrown Benny to the wolves when they haven’t seen him play at all in the past year. The kid still has the goods and is still young. A bad move to Derby, unfortunate coaching changes, rumors of a bad attitude and you’re off the bandwagon. But don’t worry, we’ll welcome you back once the kid steps up.
No one has mentioned this yet, but the weakest part of this roster, besides Wolff, are our starting centerbacks. Let us all keep a close eye on Gooch and Boca because these next three weeks will be a great test of their ability. I just want to see DeMerrit get a full 90 one of these days. I think he brings more to the table then Gooch.
Everybody needs to remember that the games that count are a month away. Bob is still using this time to see who will be ready THEN. Also, just because you are included in the list doesn’t mean you will play. For guys like Feilhaber and Johnson, this is a chance to show you can cut it in competition with people in our team pool. Don’t forget that Bob has to work with the MLS coaches to release players at various times in the future, even if these are FIFA dates (at least Spain and England I believe). Ives, any word on where Wolff and Jaqua will end up?
Rando and Demnon Juice, Marcus H. just had surgery to remove all (but one) of the screws that were put in his hand last year. Not available.
Here’s my beef with all of this: No potential movement.
What I mean by that is that there is virtually (except Guzan who won’t play, Donovan who is a known commodity in Europe, and Rico Clark) no revelations in the squad. I was hoping that at least Jozy would be there to have a look from the English. This lineup may well resemble our qualifying squad, but I think that if you are going to have games against high profile teams then why not take young players to get them experience at that level?
Oh, and JustinV – Deco is not out of a contract. Barca are just allowing him to seek out a transfer.
Some of these comments are pretty ridiculous.
Nate Jaqua – he earned a call-up by scoring 5 goals in 10 games for SC Altach in Austria. He is out of contract because he only had a 1 year deal.
Benny Feilhaber – he got into a terrible situation at his club, and has an attitude problem, but there’s no reason not to call him in (but he will not start)
Eddie Lewis – we are low on healthy Euro-based wingers, and we could use his experience against England (although I would have preferred Zizzo’s speed)
Josh Wolff – this guy has been in the USMNT picture for about 10 years now, and Rocco – he was in the Bundesliga 2, so no he was not starting for a B-liga club. And 1860 Munich did not see fit to offer him another contract. Read into that what you want.
Dominic Cervi – he is still looking for an opportunity in Europe, so he was easier to bring because Seitz has MLS obligations.
DaMarcus Beasley – he is coming off a serious injury and has played about 12 minutes for his club since coming back, and that was on Monday. He will not start.
Ricardo Clark – we did not take him from Houston so that he could sit on the bench.
The Line-Up:
EJ Dempsey
Lewis Clark Bradley Donovan
Pearce Boca Onyewu Dolo
Howard
Potential Subs: Spector, Beasley, Feilhaber, Adu, Wolff
Eddie Johnson won’t start.
Dempsey – Donovan/Wolff
Lewis – Bradley – Clark – Wolff/Donovan
Pearce – Gooch – Boca – Dolo
i think Wolff gets the start on the right (Beasley isn’t ready to be thrown into the fire yet) and Donovan is up top with Dempsey.
Feilhaber and Adu definitely come in during the 2nd half. Bradley will also want to see a less experienced defender in the 2nd half. Demerit?
Man i really would have loved to have seen Kenny Cooper. Hopefully we will soon
zzzzzzzz. Have fun scoring.
A lot of these selections have to do with availability (many MLSers that are crucial to their clubs have games around the England date) and ease of travel. It makes sense that BB is using a lot of Euro guys because they’re close by and don’t have to travel far after a long season. Our first choice 11 will look different than what you see fielded against England.
This Benny being crap talk reminds me of the Bradley being crap talk. I watched some of the Derby games and I have to say I thought he looked like the best player on the team. In fact, it appeared to be his problem. Derby was awful. They were slow and didn’t appear to have ever played one touch (unless it was booting it out of the back for one of their forwards) ball. Benny was laying out passes and no one would be running or looking for them. Then I think he got a bad attitude. I saw pretty much every game Eddie Johnson played for Fulham through FSC and downloading the games on bit torrent. He was so bad, I could barely watch. I’ve never seen a player with that potential and transfer fee, play as scared as he did. I could count the number of forward passes he made on two hands. I could probably also count the number of times he went at a defender or shot a ball on my feet. And Rocco is completely correct about being out of contract. It doesn’t mean they are bad. They are out of contract. In other sports they are called free agents, and being a free agent doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a call up. If anything, you may need that call up to get your caps up in order to get work permits. I’d rather have people taking chances in Europe rather than Landon who collects caps and play in MLS when he is probably the most talented player we’ve ever had (still to early to bestow that title on Adu and Jozy, who are talented, but haven’t put in the time yet) and could use those caps to play in England or maybe Spain or Italy. But no, he’s happy making compartive chump money in the MLS and hanging on the beach. Sorry, 8.5% beers make me ramble. 🙂
I wont criticize BB because i agree with those that have said mls is just in swing and this is just a friendly,etc etc, but the talent level in between these two lineups is a little scary. I think we will be lucky to stay withing 2 goals.
actually, Wolff had played for 1860 munich this previous season rocco, which is in Germany’s 2nd division.
The fact is we can’t be like england and have all of our players play on the big 4. This is a friendly, and I think we’re treating it as one. No major harm in this lineup. Let’s get the kids some experience in front of a huge crowd.
I think we have the speed to keep up with England because we never lose to Mexico and their pace is among the best in the world.
I think we have the intangibles to compete with England – we relish the underdog role and we’re coming off a big win at Poland, and England is coming off missing Euros.
I think we have the team chemistry to compete with England (I actually think that’s our best feature, better than a lot of the football powers out there for sure).
But dangit, they have so many talented, experienced players. We’ll see.
I love the roster, except that I would have loved to have seen Cooper instead of the useless Eddie Johnson. I guess Bradley didn’t want to take him away from the Dallas, but he’s got to get into at least one of these games, if not both of the remaining ones.
Does anyone think the US will come out like this?
—————Johnson————
Adu———-Donovan———Dempsey
———Bradley——-Clark——–
Pearce——Boca–Onyewu—–Cherundolo
To clarify why I don’t like Wolff: He is wasteful with the ball. His first touch is bad, and his passing and crossing are badly timed and usually inaccurate. His one outstanding quality, his speed, has faded over the past couple years. He used to be a good player for the national squad but I don’t think he has what it takes to cut it at the international level.
The fact remains: club commitments and injuries aside, Wolff doesn’t play for the national team again. His inclusion can be attributed to Bob playing nice with the clubs.
I understand why he was selected, and, given the circumstances, why Bob called him up, I just don’t agree with it.
That said, I’m a college student and Bob Bradley is a national team coach.
This is totally off target but did anyone else watch the Chile-France game from the Toulon Tournament today? That was a game and a half. Hopefully they have highlights at some point for those who missed it.
About England’s lineup: Capello has been using a 4-4-1-1 (or 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-3-1-1 or whatever you want to call it) with Gerrard in the hole behind a solo striker.
Barry will get the nod in the center, with Lampard most likely to partner him (I’m not saying that is a good thing, I’m just saying thats what it looks like). He fielded Barry next to Hargreaves against France but he will be playing at home and coming out with a defensive lineup would be a bad idea.
I’d like to see us experiment with Adu and Dempsey up front. There is no classic target forward other than Jaqua, but Bradley can bring him in later as a sub when he wants to change tactics.
Deco is out of contract. So he must suck, right?
Like Rocco I don’t see what it matters if someone has “out of contract” after their name. That’s life in professional sports. Wolff and Jacqua have both gotten lots of time in their most recent clubs – Cervi, no.
And I agree wholeheartedly with Dominghosa – hey people, the MLS season is going on now! The Euro players are off now, they probably will not have left their euro homes yet for US vacations, so call them in. I’m actually a little surprised Bradley managed to pry Clark away from Houston – which clearly needs all the help it can get. Guzan, too; but his form as of 2 weeks ago might seem to indicate a little change in goal for Chivas.
Easy 2:0 win for England.
I like the selection:
The bulk of this team is experienced- look for Bradley to try and get the Brits
US soccer needs its out-of-contract talent to find a home- overseas. This is a critical moment for US Soccer- how would EJ respond to coming back to MLS?
Altidore- not sure how he would fare against tthe likes of Ferdinand and Terry.
My curiosity has been piqued. it seems to me Capello is trying harder to get his first win, more than Bradley, who is just trying to see what hes got. I like the roster, I wish they would sit Howard to see whatelse we have back there,(its just a friendly afterall) I have a feeling that we may be surprised (good suprised) at the outcome.
Cervi is to soccer what Shawn Bradley was to basketball – ‘has measurables’ yet ‘is garbage.’ Hard to predict how much more he will progress but he has some time and I hope it happens.
Feilhaber’s Derby saga reminds me of that movie ‘Goal’ where the skillful, underdog walks into The Toon and lights it up after getting cut a few times. Like Newcastle, Derby is: a) a dump & b) took a shot on a creative player unlike others on their team, but unlike Hollywood, EPL coaches don’t give players unlimited chances to prove they can do more than dribble in circles. Get to Spain, young man! (Maybe Tab has contacts at Betis for you.)
Of all the players selected, Cervi and Wolff are the only guys I think were mistakes. That said, only 11 play at a time and I, for one, think we’ll play solid ball just like in Warsaw.
Lastly, I hope Gulati has a sky box where McBride and Keller can get manicures while hot chicks feed them grapes and waft them with peacock feathers. Proper OldSchool Ballers, both of ’em.
BBB-Out
None of us know the logistics of Wolff or Jaqua being out of contract, but both of them did very well, relatively speaking, in lower-tier leagues. Perhaps Wolff is looking to move up to the Bundesliga 1 and perhaps Jaqua is looking to move up as well (Holland? Coca Cola?). We don’t know, but I’m sure both are more attractive to teams out of contract so that there is no transfer fee.
4now, I actually like that lineup you predicted.
Too much hate on EJ by all. I can’t wait until he scores in this game.