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We're less than a hundred days before the World Cup, meaning the clock is ticking more loudly as U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley gets closer to picking his squad for the summer tournament in South Africa.
Bradley will announce his 23-man roster around mid-May, before the June 1 FIFA deadline and before the team departs for an East Coast destination for a pre-World Cup training camp.
I wrote a column on my picks for the 23-man roster for FoxSoccer.com. There are a few surprises, at least some picks that might surprise some, but I do think the core group of the squad is pretty easy to identify.
Here are some thoughts on my selections:
Jonathan Bornstein's inclusion will surprise some who want him banned from the team after Wednesday's match, but I still think he's better than given credit for and had some good moments in between the really awful moments. I did include Heath Pearce, but anyone thinking he's a lock to do well must have amnesia blocking anything prior to 2010.
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Alejandro Bedoya has just two caps so it's crazy to include him, right? Perhaps, but given the less than stellar form of players such as Robbie Rogers and Sacha Kljestan, as well as the lack of forward options, I can see Clint Dempsey being used solely as a forward in South Africa, leaving room for a wing option. Bedoya is coming off a very promising first season in Sweden and if he can keep up the stellar form for Orebro, he will be in the mix for a roster spot.
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Some readers brought up Freddy Adu, and yes, he should have been listed among the fringe midfielders not to make the squad. He's on the radar, and if he can put together a good stretch of solid form and playing time for Aris he would have to be considered.
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Would Bob Bradley really only take two pure forwards in Jozy Altidore and Brian Ching? Maybe not, but unless Charlie Davies can recover and take a roster spot I'm not sure who you take at the expense of a good midfielder. Robbie Findley is possibility, but showed little vs. the Dutch.
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Does taking five central midfielders make sense? Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Jose Torres and Benny Feilhaber all make my squad, and while it might seem like one too many, it should be noted that Feilhaber can help on the wing and Edu could potentially provide some cover at centerback. It also remains to be seen how Feilhaber recovers from his ankle tendon injury.
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The Fox Soccer squad I chose was my 23-man roster, not the roster I think Bob Bradley would pick if he chose a team if he had to pick it now. That said, I'm not sure how different a team would be that I thought Bradley would pick. Perhaps another forward in place of Bedoya, and perhaps another centerback in place of Heath Pearce.
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What do you think of the 23-man roster I selected? What would be your 23-man roster? (If you list your proposed roster, please, just use commas to separate players).
Share your thoughts, and squads, below.
pjscdn…a preliminary roster (30 slots I think) is due May 15th. Final roster isn’t required until June 1st.
If Daveies, Jones & Feilhaber can’t go I’d add Torres, Beckerman, and reluctantly Eddie Johnson….Really Beckerman before Clark?
having watched the game again after almost a week, I am convinced that people, Including Yves, watches game with heavily tinted glasses. Folks see what they want to see. So here goes:
Bedoya doesn’t add anything that Freddie doesn’t do. He is a defensive liability on the left and his positioning is terrible. Mikey Bradley was no where near the stud fans said he was. He made a few good passes but by and large he didn’t make many crucial defensive stops, he kept giving the ball away. I am not saying he is a bad player; he is just not the great player some claim he is. We need a coach that can convince players that they can play with anyone. It took three games and a miracle at the Confed cup to convince us that we were good enough. In the WC we won’t have that luxury. Edu is ready for prime time. He is the answer to the defensive frailties in the middle; And Eddie Johnson didn’t look nearly as bad as his detractors claim. he looked comfy on the ball and his first touch? The game is on espn360, replay it.
If Davies and Altidore were still a duet, there would be no reason to move Dempsey and Donovan from the postions where they are at their best for the USMNT.
Clint and Landon are midfielders who can play up top rather than forwards who can play midfield. Hodgson seems to think that and so does Moyes. They know more about this game than either of us.
But, as you say, this is all very irrelevant.
I don’t see Altidore as a top two striker if Dempsey or Donovan is playing up there. Then Altidore is 3 compared to the old Davies. We all guess that Altidore will be stronger than Davies now, so it doesn’t matter.
People forget the US played 4-5-1 in a number of the WC qualifers leading up to the Confederations Cup and then played 4-5-1 in the Italy and Brazil games, which were bad losses. Granted the red cards messed things up in those games but then the US went to 4-4- 2 with Altidore and Davies in the Egypt games and the rest is history so to speak.
When the US played 4-5-1 what Ives feared did in fact happen. Jozy is more experienced now so maybe this doesn’t happen but I can understand Bradley’s interest in keeping the 4-4-2 of some variation.
“He was hyped, all be it too much, but hyped for a reason. The kid had skills. ”
Wrong, kemosabe.
The kid was hyped because at the time no one had seen a US eligible 14 year old with such skills.
Mind you this doesn’t mean those skills translate into adult greatness but in the US at the time there was a lack of soccer heros; besides he was a great story, kid’s mom wins lottery allowing the Adus to immigrate to the US. Nike got involved and the rest is history.
To date Adu has proven that he can offer glimpses of skill but has never been able to sustain that at the senior level.
You are probably an American and you think that 20 is young but in the rest of the world Adu has been a pro of whom much has been expected and little has been produced for nearly 6 years now. That is a real long time to keep people waiting for theproduction. In the rest of the football world there are plenty of younger cheaper, better talents. Freddy can still have a career as a pro. However, it will be as a second or third tier pro, not the superstar you all seem to think, based on what solid evidence I don’t know, that this kid is football skill incarnate,made whole and brought to earth to save the USMNT from an inability ot retain possession.
I take John O’Brien as the 23rd man. If he can round back into form, he’ll be our best player.
I’m only half joking…
1- People pay them to do this so your opinion about Casey and Ching is obviously wrong.
2- You want speed? Put Findley, Bornstein and/or EJ on the wings. Lots of speed there
I do not understand why ppl consistently put Ching or Casey in their roster? They are both WAY too slow to play in the WC. Neither has proven they can hack it in my opinion. And I also think, contrary to his success at Everton, that we put LD at middle of the pitch, except for the England match where he could speed by their defenders as seen in the Man U match. I like to see speed at both wings, Beasley and Edu/dempsey, and control in the middle with Holden and Donovan. getting the ball up to altidore and Davies, idc if he is only 50%, still 50% better than Ching.
I take my Jonathan Bornstein pick back, like brandinho said, he’s horrible. I dont understand how Bradley continues to start this guy, its starting to get embarrasing. I put him with my 23 just because he, idk happens to be a regular. Like i said, before, i hope edgar castillo shows something. for the love of God
I think that Ives’ 5 central mid argument is not a good one at all. Only JFT can effectively play out wide. Feilhaber is horrible on the wing. When he has played there he looks lost… No way BB takes 5 center mids.
(SBI-I said from the beginning that I wasn’t sure of five central midfielders would happen, but your explanation is completely flawed. What do you base your Torres on the wing claim on exactly? How often has Torres played on the wing? He’s entrenched as a central midfielder at Pachuca. Feilhaber has started on the wing for Aarhus. Just because you think Torres is better out there than Feilhaber doesn’t make it so.
Bradley probably goes four central midfielders and takes another forward, but again, the roster was MY roster, not the roster I think he’ll take. Apparently you and everyone else harping about the five central midfield thing seems to lose sight of that.)
3/6/10 Adu DNP. More posts to follow.
Ives, the only way Bornstein is better than given credit for is when people say hes unbelievably terrible when in fact hes only really terrible. He’s not good in any way. He gets burned and beaten in every game. He makes dumb decisions, he costs the team almost every game. He sucks, no other way to spin it, he sucks. If you wanna put him on because of his experience, fine. But you cant make him out to be better than he his. He’s horrible in every way and he’s there because we cant seem to find someone whos less terrible.
Were not going to go to the World Cup to play the worst teams in concacaf, were going to go play teams with talent and Bornstein cant do anything against anyone with talent. I guarantee you if he starts, which he will because he’s Bradley’s pet, he will give up a crucial penalty or own goal. Mark it down.
There wasn’t any lionizing going on. I conceded that torres didn’t impress in the dutch match.
And “style over substance” is nowhere near what I said. “Overall ability vs very specific ability” would be closer.
Simpson is right footed and too slow to play left back
“Here’s hoping Bradley holds off on final picks until after the Czech friendly. There’s still too many unanswered questions. ”
He can’t.
The rosters are due May 15-16 and the Czech game is May 25.
“While Torres appears to be more talented than Kljestan, I think that Bradley trusts Sacha more”
Not likely. Those two are very different players and you don’t ask one to do what the other does and vice versa.
Sacha’s biggest problem is he is mentally weak and lacks confidence. He’s tentative which is a cardinal sin. Compare Sacha to Bedoya for example. Bedoya has no hesitation, he just goes for it. With Sacha you can almost see the gears turning in his head before he tries somethng and that is certain death for a player. I suspect this is one reason why Bradley still finds the odd opportunity to get him on the field. Sacha’s problems might be solved with one good game or they might never be solved and he will drift off into obscurity, poverty and a grim existence. sad I know but I think all you guys forget youare talking about real people and their livelihoods here.
The lasttime I saw Heydude, it seemed to me he was hurt and unfit. Simek is just coming back from imjury so it it comes down to those two and they are both fit I vote for the Dude mostly because he is one of the few USMNT players with a pair.
I’m pretty sure it’s a rule that you have to name 3 keepers. And I don’t think you can name Bocanegara, for example, as the third keeper and then play him in the field.
To get to the final you have to play 7 games and if your keeper gets hurt in game 1, then it can get pretty dicey without that third guy available.
really? Conrad and hejduk? Really. Last i saw of conrad he got 2 yellow cards in 17 minutes. And He’s supposed to be a leader? I don’t mean to disrespect anyone’s opinion of the 23 but the thoughts of some of the players I’ve heard should be in SA have sent shivers down my spine lol.
If i had to choose a 23 it’s be
Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann
spector, demerit,onyewu, Bocanegra, goodson,cherundolo, Pearce, Bornstein aka Gaffe Machine(Should not start. I chose him very begrudgingly)
Beasley, Edu, Holden, Dempsey, donovan, torres, feilhaber, clark, Bedoya
Jozy, Davies, Ching
Obviously good runs by Johnson, Edu, Edgar Castillo(remember him?), and/or a timely comeback by jermaine jones could change all of this.
U-20 are not big games. They feature kids. come back when you grow up.
Bedoya has more cojones. He’s stonger and more aggressive and he has no fear.
What you are saying then is you prefer style over substance, like those US fans who lionize Torres for his beautiful near misses and dump all over Cooper for his Tap in “Garbage” goals.
Got to love US fans.
Your interpretation is a bit of a stretch.
The preferred US lineup was Davies and Altidore, together. They are two different types of players. If both are healthy and fit they play together.
Sacha could be Bradley’s personal pick in 2010. Sampson picked Wegerle, (golf), and Arena picked Lewis, in previous cups. There’s a historical record for bad personal picks. Bruce’s was probably the worst as he started Eddie at LB and he was rubbish.
I agree with your 23 Ives, but drop Beasley if he doesn’t get more games at Rangers.
G HOWARD
G GUZAN
G HAHNEMANN
D ONYEWU
D DEMERIT
D BOCANEGRA
D SPECTOR
D BORNSTEIN
D CHERUNDOLO
D HEJDUK (For the experience as he’s a leader in the locker room)
D CONRAD (Same as Hejduk)
M BRADLEY
M FEILHABER
M TORRES
M EDU
M CLARK
M DEMPSEY
M BEASLEY
M HOLDEN
M DONOVAN
F ALTIDORE
F CHING
F DAVIES
I think Homer Simpson could do a better job than Bornstein at left back.
Can we really stop thinking of robbie findley as a viable option. Bob Bradley wasted a real chance to evaluate Adu and Johnson for the chance to et robbie findley start. i mean lets be serious, if bob bradley thinks a player like robbie findley could really have been a factor against teams like netherlands and england, then that doesn’t make me feel good at all for South Africa. Findley got his chance and showed little against el salvador. Eddie Johnson should have started that game. Perhaps we would have seen more of him, which is what we need. And BTW if we want to be taken seriously on the world stage, lets stop entertaining the thought of the kyle beckermansand the conor caseys of the world being USMNT regulars. Please?
no. He is easily pushed around.
Ok Ives, you have really gone and forced my hand here. I am going to go out on a limb here and say, that Freddy Adu is so great that he could run the offense like this guy could run the Colosseum at Ceasars Palace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM
So take that! and realize you just lost
wow, so much more informed and yet names so similar.
“I can’t think of a better reason to exclude a player. If Freddy was about 3 times better than he is, you might be able to make a case that you should build the team around him, but he is not so good as to warrant such a move. Therefore, Adu either learns to fit his skills into the team concept or he becomes surplus to requirements. There are many examples of this in the international game.”
I have been wanting to say this, but I didn’t know how for the longest time… I get the feeling that Adu wants teams to build around his game, and that is an unfair desire since he isn’t good enough. True, he is a very good player, but there is the age old adage no I in team, and this is freddy’s biggest downfall. He seems to refuse to be a cog in the machine and wants to run things…Which is why he is not a starter.
I still think he has a place on the bench as a late option sub for left wing a and striker paired with altidore though.
2 questions for you Ives. 1. Assuming one of them had to go to the World Cup, who would you rather bring in addition to the current roster, Adu or Kljestan? 2. Who do you think Bob would pick?
This roster is predicated on playing a 4-5-1 for the reasons described below.
Roster:
Forwards: (3) Altidore, Ching, Casey
Midfielders:(10) Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Beasley, Clark, Edu, Feilhaber, Holden, Jones, Bedoya
Backs:(7) Bocanegra, Bornstein, Demeritt, Onyewu, Goodson, Spector, Cherundolo
1) I do not believe that Charlie Davies will have recovered to being the quick, fast dangerous partner for Jozy that he was during confederations cup.
2) In Davies absence, there is no bona fide partner for Altidore in his developing iteration.
3) Without other useful forwards in the USA pool, I would commit to only 1 up top and take only 3: Altidore, Ching & Casey.
4) I do believe that Onyewu will be fit but not game fit as I doubt that he gets a game with Milan. But injured or not he was not going to get a game. Nevertheless he owns a starting role.
5) Switch Donavan & Dempsey
6) Donavan plays best on the Right as he does for Everton
7) Dempsey plays best on the Left as he does for Fulham
8) Each plays best in a free role to attack the flank or to pinch in as they see fit. Neither is strictly a flank player. With free, attacking roles, each can be very dangerous. Indeed, Dempsey cannot play well maintaining width.
9) With the dearth of LB’s, Bocanegra will play wide as he did at Confed. He will manage the LB mainly as a defensive player adding little to attack.
10) Michael Bradley is a box to box midfielder. He can initiate attacks and his work rate will allow him to get forward to support the attack or to funnel back quickly for defensive responsibilities.
11) Behind Bradley, Edu & Clark (Jones, if fit) to perform as a defensive screen.
———-Altidore
–Dempsey ———-Donovan
———–Bradley
—–Edu——–Clark (Jones, if fit)
Boca—Onyewu—DeMerit—Cherundolo
———–Howard
Let’s see if I can make this brief or at least shorter.
POSSESION
“I mention Freddy because (although he may mot be as great or ever be as great as the midfield players on the top three teams), at least he could be a step in the right direction”
Maintaining possession is about more than just having excellent ball control. Most of the US players look great on the ball before a match. Among other things, what seems to be lacking is that feeling of where their teammates are. When you play with the same people for a long time you develop a good feel for where everyone is.I suspect the constant changes on this team and the lack of practice time hurt that.
I’ve seen games where Benny for example, was a passing machine and everything was clicking and then I’ve seen him have games where every ball was a give away. It helps to have Brazilian level skills but I suspect more time together would be even better. Freddy by himself isn’t going to make that much difference. He’ll need people to pass to and to get the ball from.
FITTING IN
“I get that feeling Bradley maybe does not want Freddy not because the talent isn’t there, but because he does not fit into what Bradley might want to do.”
I can’t think of a better reason to exclude a player. If Freddy was about 3 times better than he is, you might be able to make a case that you should build the team around him, but he is not so good as to warrant such a move. Therefore, Adu either learns to fit his skills into the team concept or he becomes surplus to requirements. There are many examples of this in the international game.
The incident about Nowak you refer to was when Nowak was playing Adu out on the wing at DC United and Adu, 14 or 15 at the time, wanted to play a central midfield role, something he was not fit to do then and isn’t fit to do now. The day a 14 year old starts running your life is the day you are finished as a pro coach. Oh and I saw him play in those years and he had flashes but often he looked like…well…a 14 year old. Sometimes he still does. I think your opinion of him is inflated in extremis. Yes, he isonly 20 but that is old when you have been the greatest thing since sliced bread since you were 14. In Europe and South America lots of players ( particularly big shots like Adu)are considered finished or second tier material if they haven’t made a big splash by 20 years.
DAVIES VS CHING CONFED CUP.
There is this notion that Davies only played in the Confed Cup because Ching was injured and Bradley was thus forced to play him and had nothing to do with Davies’ rise. I find that a bit of an oversimplification and revisionist history.
Ching’s last game before the Confed Cup was against TNT. The next two games were Costa Rica, where Jozy played alone up front (Charlie subbed in at 80 minutes) and then the Honduras game where Conor Casey played with Jozy and Davies did not play. On to Africa.
In the first two games in the Confed Cup, Italy and Brazil, Jozy played alone up top. Davies came in at 66 minutes for Jozy. Of course the red card complicated things.
Jozy was alone again in the Brazil game, there was a red card, Davies did not play and Casey came on for DMB just after half time.
In the Egypt game Davies finally started in a 4-4-2 with Jozy and the rest is history, Casey subbed out Davies late in the game.
Ching was hurt true, but his alter ego TARGET MAN, was there and it’s clear to me that Bradley chose Davies over Casey for the 4-4-2 formation and that Bradley dumped the 4-5-1 for the 4-4-2, albeit after the 4-5-1 failed, though with all the red cards flying around it was kind of hard to judge. So, if you believe like everyone seems to, that Casey and Ching are interchangeable, then Davies did beat out Ching over the course of a number of games.
Since Simek hasn’t played for the US since… Gold Cup ’07 (?) I’d think that Hejduk is still ahead of him, given his past contributions, strength as a locker room guy, and experience at both outside backs and midfield.
If I had to place a wager between Sacha and Torres today, I’d still put money on Sacha.
BTW, my comparison about the style of Dutch and Spain and Adu …lets put it this way. That is the type of soccer I want to see. I said Adu is at least a step in the right direction. I said he will probably never be as great as the players on those teams. I don’t think I am alone in hoping that one day the USA will be able to play similar to Spain or Netherlands. Maybe there are other successful styles but it is the style I like to watch.
On top of that, I will put the shoe on the other foot. If you can not even give it the time to read and think about what I am trying to say before you dismiss it , then maybe your assessment is flawed.
Please, lets not be a part of the Xbox generation, can’t be bothered to read more than the usual 25 words. IF you don’t miss my point and you can point out why it is all flawed, I can accept your criticism and move on. Otherwise, don’t simply dismiss it until you have something to really say about it, or you can just ignore it if you can’t be bothered and move on.
I am just having fun and I like the kid, I think he does not deserve the hype he gets, but he probably does not deserve the criticism he gets.
(SBI-JW, it’s not about not being able to pay attention. It’s about not being compelled at all by your argument. In other words, you didn’t make a good one and it lost me pretty quickly. That’s my assessment and why I stopped reading.
And again, your whole thing about Adu is more an issue with American soccer as a whole, but you choose a poor vehicle for your argument. I’m sure we would all love it if the United States had a pool of skilled players like Spain, Netherlands and Brazil. We’d all love to watch that, but using Freddy Adu as your exhibit A for how you wish the USA could be like those countries is VERY weak. If you want to make your point that you wish American soccer had more skill and a better possession game and more technically gifted players, that’s a fair opinion and one most would agree with. When you start going “Freddy Adu should be on the team because he embodies what I wish the national team could be” that’s when you’re going to lose people because it’s a serious reach. He’s a step in the right direction? It’s more like he has some of the tools that more Americans could benefit from, but his tool box is still missing too much to say he’s “A step in the right direction.”
As for the criticism Adu gets, I think his biggest fans are more to blame for the criticism he gets than anybody because they make absurd proclamations about his talent and about where he should be and what he deserves and that forces sensible people to respond with strong opposition and some can take it too far and say he’s terrible (while the Adu haters take the opportunity to completely savage him). This has plagued him his whole career, unrealistic expectations and hype that only make it harder for him to develop at a reasonable rate.
I’ve said a million times that he’s got skill, but skill alone doesn’t make you an impact player.)
oh come on
Freddy Adu over Bedoya. I can’t get over that a player like Bedoya who hasn’t shown much is going to get picked before Adu who has shown a salad game lately and who has done more for our USMNT. I’m sorry, but Bedoya can’t just have one ok game and all of a sudden he is the new man on the roster. Adu’s game overall and league is far superior to that of Bedoya. Drop Borns or pearce and bring Bedoya, that would be a better choice.
Bedoya-out
Pearce-out
Bornstein-out
If healthy:
Jones-in
Adu-in
Davies-in Soooo much better this way. Edu,Boca,Spector can play RB.
The rest looks just about right.
(SBI-So the Greek League is Adu’s league now? How many starts does he have in that league exactly? Actually, as it stands, Bedoya is the one of the two who has actually held a starting job in Europe for an extended period of time, as in more than a few weeks. Bedoya has more starts in Europe over the course of his one year career than Adu over his two years. That’s what you conveniently ignore, the fact that Bedoya established himself as a starter in his first season. That’s evidence of a player who has matured and played well enough to earn that role.
More importantly, Bedoya has shown he could fit a role on the national team, which is as a true wing player. It’s not really a question of Bedoya over Adu. The roster is about 23 players who can fill roles and as of right now Bedoya looks like he can fill a role. Adu could still fill a role but he has to put together a sustained run of playing time and good form for Aris. Otherwise, his recent nice run will just be the latest fleeting flash of potential. I’d love to see Adu actually put together that run. At least then, he’d have a tangible body of work to point to rather than those fleeting flashes of potential that have spanned his career.
As for your roster suggestions, that would leave the U.S. roster with six defenders and ten midfielders, a bit overboard. There you go again, trying to compile a list of talent rather than trying to build a team that can play in a tournament.)