Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
Brondby IF and United States centerback Clarence Goodson has a broken toe that will keep him out of action and almost definitely exclude him from the U.S. roster for the upcoming friendlies against Argentina and Paraguay.
Goodson did not play in Brondby's 2-0 win over Sonderjyske over the weekend, and according to this report from Denmark, Brondby's team doctor said Goodson is expected to miss a few weeks.
Goodson had just made his debut with Brondby the week before, going the distance in a 1-1 draw with Lyngby.
What do you think about this development? Who would you like to see Bob Bradley trot out at centerback in the two friendlies?
Share your thoughts below.
Oops. Was supposed to be in response to thread re: DeMerit.
Agreed. We’ve seen him shut down Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney. Even with some rust, I think he’s a good option.
i would to c brek shek at centerback, but not sure against argentina. i think gooch is playing left back now, so my guess would be either edu, ream, and gonzales maybe michael bradley
i cant believe some of u mention ricardo clark
I don’t know…no MLS player has had a meaningful game since at least last fall, unless they were in the January camp. At a certain point, rust is rust.
I’d definitely have no issue bringing him in again. I mean, if he plays well in MLS this spring, there’s no reason he couldn’t start in the Gold Cup.
He has shown well there in his appearances for Frankfurt. He would have great distribution.
Break Shea please.
If anyone saw the Norwich-Bristol Championship League game on Fox Soccer Plus today, they would have watched a very composed, very good and very experienced Zak Whitbread playing for Norwich, which are incidentally in second and posed for a run a a promotion spot to the EPL.
I think it’s about time BB had a look at this guy!!
Ugh…no Clark….please…
read “gold cup” not “world cup…”
Even for the World Cup, I think Boca’s lack of speed might be a major issue for us if he plays LB.
I know he plays there for St Etienne, but from reading reviews on his play (via forums, online news, game reports, etc..) the main comment is: OK in defense, brings nothing to the offense, always has poor games vs. speedy wingers.
Let’s be honest, Boca was never a speed demon, but he loses a step with each passing year, and is, at best, an slightly below average ligue 1 LB.
My hope is that even for the WC we pair him and Gooch in the middle, and find another option on the left.
Especially since BB’s system depends much on overlapping outside backs.
It was Pearce
But he probably will start at left back in the Gold Cup. I think we need to have people play in their likely positions for that tournament.
Might have been Heath Pearce.
Let’s try Boca as CB. He & Gooch pair up well and have done it before. Right now they’re probably our best central defense pairing.
Then we can try something new at LB as we all know that Boca won’t be the starting LB down the line, so we might as well start trying new options there.
If I remember correctly when we played Argentina in the Olympics one of our defenders shut Messi completely down in the first half. In the second half of the game Messi was switched to the other side and he scored.
I think it was Spector or Bornstein. Does any one remember which on it was? It might be a good idea to call him up again
Actually Shea played lots of CB when he went on the Spanish tour with the Adidas generation players, I believe his partner in the back was the BOSS, Shea has size at 6’3 with lots of pace.
no thanks.
good point. he had a couple of very solid showings at CB before his injury, and he definitely isn’t breaking into our midfield anytime soon. this could be his chance to move back into the national team picture, and could give us more composure on the ball in the back. he doesn’t have the technical ability of an international midfielder if you ask me, but he would bring some composure on the ball to our back line that is sorely lacking (except for Cherundolo)
Ream has pace, more than Gooch but that is not saying much. I believe out of the 3 towers (Gooch, Gonzo, Goodman) Gooch is the slowest one…I just realized our towers names start with “GO”.
Why would you like to see that?
When did Ream develop pace?
It might not matter a whole lot if Ream is rusty or not, Messi would be a handful for any defender we have.
i’d like to see rico clark get in there for a start. lets see what he can do at CB with the natioanl team
Considering the fact that this is probably going to be a more Europe-based roster, I’m thinking that we’ll be seeing Edu at center back for the Argentina game. With MLS starting, I’m wondering if Ream will even get a call-up (that is not a statement about his skill, but more a matter of timing).
The guy hasn’t played a meaningful game since last summer. no thanks
NEVER, EVER, EVER match Gooch and Gonzo….not enough pace! Either would be OK with Ream or Edu.
DeMerit may be a bit rusty due to his time without a club, but he’s been with Vancouver training for months now. It would be worth calling him up: he had one of the best WC performances of anyone on the team and he’s a veteran, so the younger CBs could learn a thing or two from him.
So FCD is moving Brek Shea to center back. That is a great move in my opinion. The kid is horse with good speed and can distrubute from the back. I think this could be the type of move that gets him into USMNT and Europe. Maybe not gold cup but could be in the running for WC since our CB’s are getting old.
Scratch that play 3 in the back….Edu and Jones in front of those 3
Adu = Charlie Sheen.
Winning.
If fifa 11 updated default US roster has any prediction…Edu will be at centerback
Ream is a better match up with Gooch. One is the ox, the other the reader. A Vidic-Rio styled partnership.
Keep in mind though that all the MLSers are going to be rusty – is it wise to play a rusty Ream against an inform Messi?
I think we move Boca inside with Gooch and toss someone into left back.
Whitbread deserves a call up.
Edu. A better option than Ream right now because he’s in mid-season form.
Can Freddy Adu play centerback?
If so, that’s my choice.
Actually, even if not, that’s still my choice.
If Clark is fully fit, I’d love to see him suit up next to Gooch. That has the potential to be a pretty fierce high-low combination based on the way Clark had been playing before the cheek fracture.
This hurts us. I think he is one of the most under-rated players in our pool.
da dum dum tsing (that’s the sound of the snare-to-high-hat after the joke)
I didn’t realize until I read it today that Goodson is soon to be 29. Looking forward, he might be OK as a back up option but I’d love to see one of the younger center backs get pushed along so we’re not starting two 30+ year old guys during WC qualifying.
Horrible timing for Clarence. He could lose his starting place if Ream/Gonzo/Edu or someone else step in and perform well against Argentina and Paraguay. I really want to see Ream next to Gooch, but I have a feeling Gonzalez will get the start.
tough break for Clarence.