Sorry I’ve been alittle delayed on everything here but here’s the January roster for the Nats.More or less the camp cupcake we expected, with all Scandinavian and MLS plaers coming in. Brek Shea, Bill Hamid, Kyle Beckerman, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury and Jeff Larentowicz have all been called into the senior camp under Jurgen, but here’ s a real chance for them and others to prove they belong. Past January camps have always been a key part of bringing MLS and other plaers into the fold.
A lot of these players are a little fresh for my taste, but expect at least one of those defenders to be on the senior team by the time qualifying starts. We’re pretty shallow there and calls for Oma, George and Geoff have been ringing for months(although I’d put my money on Parkhurst.)
Also some names might seem to be missing from this roster, but remember there’s a simultaneous U-23 camp going on where players like Mixx, Freddy Adu and Zac MacMath are more likely to get playing time and will surely get a good look there as well.
No real shocks, all things considered, a lot of MLS names people have been calling for and a few others who we’ve wanted to see Jurgen look at for a while. If they aren’t here they’re with Caleb Porter. The only disappointing spot for me is Rico Clark. He’s not as bad as I remember, I’m sure, but he really has no place on our senior national team and he’s proved it multiple times. Not that he can’t play at a CONCACAF level, he can, but we’re mighty deepwhere he could help us. I’d rather see Beckerman, Bradley, Williams, Jones, Edu, Johnson and even Larentowiczbefore I believe Rico deserves another shot at the national team.
USMNT JANUARY CAMP ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS: Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), George John (FC Dallas), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS: Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), C.J. Sapong (Sporting Kansas City), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Image via Wikipedia
No surprise as they loved him on his first time around, but Everton wants to bring Landon Donovan back into the fold with another loan move. Apparently Moyes is counting on Timmy Howard helping out a bit in bringing him back to the club. Also maybe the two of them would be able to influence Brek Shea another possible addition to the team.
The other reports seeping out of LA as Houston makes their way in to face off for the MLS Cup is about a possible incoming deal. Apparently the Galaxy are in talks with Chelsea to bring in Frank Lampard, current England captain who is currently 33, two years older than Beckham was when he joined the club. Beckham has been offered chances to go back to Europe and is apparently seriously considering them.
Lampard could only come if Beckham leaves as MLS teams are only allowed 3 DPs and it would be unimaginable for Lampard to not come in as a Designated Player.
…and I don’t just mean he could go to any team he wants and manage to get a contract. Although Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton are all apparently calling and more calls are surely expected no one seems to know where the kid plays. Klinsmann and FC Dallas seem to call him a leftwing or a striker most often, but some people are calling him a center-back, and most people apparently view him as a centre-half. Although Shea has played other positions(and was quite the prospect at center-back considering his size and speed) I’d be shocked to see him end up playing anywhere but on the wing or up top.
So everybody’s putting out line-ups right about now and I really don’t know how to handle that. I’ve been looking for a way to sum up in a simple formation what I expect Jurgen to do. I can’t I can tell you the 11 players I expect to start though and I guess we can go from there.
1. Tim Howard-obviously we need a keeper and he’s the one that’ll start. Although I’d really like to see Hamid get some minutes, he shouldn’t get them against France
2/3. Steve Cherundolo/Timmy Chandler- A given at right back for this team until someone really steps up at left back. Until we see someone other than Chandler who can hold down the left spot this is it. Chandler will eventually take over Dolo’s spot on the right, but not until they fill the hole on the left.
4.Carlos Bocanegra- He’s the captain and we’re not going into the game without him. The interesting thing for me is that I think his spot is much more up for competition than the other CB spot.
5.Michael Orozco Fiscal- Jurgen is doing something very specific by giving this spot to Fiscal and later subbing him out for Ream. I was personally shocked when I saw that he put both Onyewu and Bocanegra on the field at the same time. Fiscal and Ream have been getting called in because they play a totally different role from Onyewu, Bocanegra and Goodson. Those three might be the better defenders, but Fiscal fills the role better. The only issue with that is, with Ream being out the only real backup I can think of here is the newcomer Alfredo Morales who reportedly can play CB and would seem to not be the hulking style of player that Bocanegra, Onyewu and Goodson are.
6.Kyle Beckerman- Everyone thinks Beckerman does nothing and doesn’t do it particularly well, but there’s a reason that Jurgen keeps putting him in this spot. The deep lying holding midfield who starts the attack from the back is an important part of what he is trying to do. Beckerman might not be Makelele but he fits the same role and gets a lot of the exact same complaints from critics. Beckerman may not be the best player but he’s the best at that position. Edu may be a better defender but his passing isn’t quite there. Bradley may be appealing to some, but he’s very much a box to box midfielder. the only other player I’d be particularly interested in seeing in this role would be Danny Williams. I haven’t seen much of him at Hoffenheim, but from what I have he looks to have the qualities required to play this position pretty well. Although I still think Beckerman has done well.
7.Landon Donovan-Honestly the hardest spot to judge what might happen. It’s Landon’s spot ultimately because he has no real competition. There’s a reason that Robbie Rogers and Danny Williams have both gotten time there since Jurgen joined the team. There’s not a ton of depth on the wings. I’d assume that we might see one of those two out there again although it’s equally possible that Shea or Run DMB get the start there. If I had to hazard a guess (which i guess I really set myself up to do) I’d go with DaMarcus Beasley, but it could really be anyone.
8.Michael Bradley- I don’t see either Bradley or Edu owning this spot if everyone’s healthy, but I think this is the spot they’re fighting for now as they’re both vaguely box-to-box players and that will fill this spot well enough. With a full roster this is probably Stuart Holden’s spot(assuming he comes back where he left off), but that won’t be for a while. If not him I’d give it to Jose Torres(assuming he comes back where he left off) but that won’t be for a while either.
9. Jozy Altidore- He’s looked better and better playing back to goal since he’s started playing alone consistently for the Nats. I’m not in love with him either, but I don’t see much of a better option. The only real thought I have on strikers is that Gomez should get a chance to prove he’s not the one. I definitely see Altidore on the field, but where is a question. I think we might be better suited to have Dempsey play back to goal and have Altidore a step deeper playing where he can face the net and pepper shots rather than worrying about the distribution.
10. Clint Dempsey-The only player on the team who really doesn’t have a potential sub. I may not have mentioned other’, but Howard could be subbed for Hamid, Altidore could be subbed for Buddle, everyone else could come off for a worse player but with no huge loss to the formation. Who would really be able to fill in for Dempsey? Fabian Johnson would probably be the only player who even qualifies as the same position. Any issue with Dempsey means that either Landon fills his spot or we start playing with a second striker. He is given this kind of free reign in the middle of the park for a reason. Landon Donovan is not the best player on this team any more and the transition to Klinsmann has only made that more apparent (although getting the best two on the field together sometime soon would be nice(and Torres and Holden too?)).
11.Brek Shea- The one and only, the man who single handedly drives this blog. Really 90% of my traffic comes from pictures of his goofy hairstyles. He’s the best wing we’ve had since DMB was young. A few months ago I thought that Timmy Chandler would be the best player for the USMNT in 2014, but the more I see of Brek Shea the more I reconsider. They both have great promise and should absolutely be a key factor in the teams success for a long time.
I see them lining up in somewhat of a 4-3-3 or a 4-1-3-2 depending on how Brek Shea is feeling and whether or not we have the ball.
Howard
Boca OMF
Dolo Chandler
Beckerman
Bradley
Beasley
Shea
Dempsey
Altidore
*Altidore and Shea would be a lot closer than this might make it look but Dempsey would be floating in between the two levels to play basically wherever he wants.
Wenger reinforces that its just a training period and not a trial. Not surprising but worth mentioning so that people don’t run away with the idea. Also pushing the idea that America and Asia will have a huge effect on the future of the sport. The growth of the game in these regions really will have a huge effect on the world game. I know that I want to believe it myself so I’m a bit biased but it really does make perfect sense that North America, specifically the USA, and Asia will both continue to grow and really diversify the top level of the game in very interesting ways. Its nice to hear someone like Wenger supporting that.
Two more players will be joining Brek Shea on a flight to one of the biggest teams in England. Chicago’s Sean Johnson will be on trial with Manchester United, while Marc Pelosi will be joining Arsenal. So Shea is training, Johnson’s on trial since De Gea hasn’t been super effective in goal, and Pelosi, at 17, has signed on to join the Arsenal.
USA U-17 Captain Marc Pelosi has signed with Liverpool and will be joining their youth team. He’ll join Vilyan Bijev, who has been loaned to Dusseldorf in the 2. Bundesliga, in Liverpools youth ranks. My only worry when it comes to players going to big name clubs like these is that they won’t get very much playing time. Pelosi would likely be loaned out which would allow him more opportunity, but Bijev’s loan deal has led him to playing in exactly zero games all season. We’ll see how this turns out for Pelosi.
The USMNT is preparing for set of friendlies against France and Slovenia and announced their roster for them both. The roster comes with the side note that anyone playing in the MLS cup finals will leave the team after the first match and still have a chance to practice for a full week with their team prior to the game.
Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard, Bill Hamid
Defenders (7): Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Alfredo Morales
Midfielders (9): Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Robbie Rogers
Forwards (4): Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle
Most of the names are starting to become familiar, but there are a few key changes. Agudelo, Bunbury, Ream are out Goodson, Alfredo Morales Fabian Johnson are in. Also missing from the roster and garnering legitimate complaints area LA’s Omar Gonzalez, Dallas’s George John and Anderlecht’s Sacha Klejstan who have all looked very good in the past season. Also Hercules Gomez is missing, duh.
Klinsmann seems to have settled on a core of players pretty quickly, which was to be expected but he is still working out how they all fit together along with filling out the team. Howard, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Chandler, Fiscal, Edu, Dempsey, Shea, Beckerman, Donovan and Altidore (Yes 11) have, I believe been called in to every camp where they were available and gotten substantial playing time. Most of the other players have also been seen under Klinsmann in some capacitiy
Goalkeepers: Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)
Defenders: Eric Abidal (FC Barcelona), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia), Adil Rami (Valencia), Anthony Reveillere (Olympique Lyon), Mamadou Sakho (PSG)
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Alou Diarra (Olympique Marseille), Yann M’Vila (Stade Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Marvin Martin (FC Sochaux), Samir Nasri (Manchester City)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin Gameiro (PSG), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Jeremy Menez (PSG), Loic Remy (Olympique Marseille), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
In part because it’s apparently what everyone wants to hear I’ll let you know whats going on with Brek Shea. The Big Rooster is planning on training with Arsenal for a bit before coming back to FC Dallas in December. He isn’t playing for Arsenal. He isn’t on loan to Arsenal. He isn’t even on trial with Arsenal. He’s just training with them. Still very exciting but a lot of people don’t understand that those are different things. Of course being there means he is under their noses and is therefore more likely to be picked up by them, but they’re also not taking a truly serious look at him. I would love to see Shea go to a team like Arsenal and get some real playing time, but as we saw with Onyewu at Milan, it’s all about how much you’re actually playing. i would much rather Shea stay here and start than sit on Arsenal’s bench. Let’s not forgot the names Theo Walcott and Gervinho before we start suggesting Shea would get real time on the wings at Arsenal, they may be having a relatively down year, but there wings are still strong. I don’t expect to see Shea back at Dallas next year, but I also can’t imagine he’ll waste his time with a team like Arsenal that will bury him on the bench. At least for his own good I hope not.
The Right-Back spot is one of the deeper spots on the roster and one of the most talented. New players are coming in to break through old players and we could feasibly have three players who play right back for club being forced into other positions because they’re too talented to leave on the bench. A position of strength and a position of promise. The Left Back spot has been a troubling one, but that’s exactly why I decided to list this as one spot. I highly doubt that Jurgen will call in a worse LB instead of just switching a young RB over. Even if he would, a lot of these players are so versatile its not even an issue. Bob had switched players back and forth between both sides and Jurgen has continued to do so. These positions aren’t different enough to count separately.
Steve Cherundolo-32 Hannover
Obviously Dolo’s the incumbent. He’s got the spot until somebody steps up and grabs it out of his hands. Of course another right back playing in Germany has had a few attempts to do so. The biggest concern about Dolo going forward is his age. He’s 32 now. He’ll be 35 by 2014. I haven’t seen a single thing to show me that Steve’s going downhill by any meas. He’s still one of the best and probably the most under-appreciated American soccer players of this generation.
Timothy Chandler-21 Nurmberg
One of the key points of interest in the recent “Germerican” movement. Johnson and Williams haven’t looked bad in their time with the team. Jermaine Jones was a nice addition. Even counting Klinsmann leads to a bit of an up and down view of it. Chandler is why people are excited about the sudden influx of German players. At least for me its more about the sudden influx of players who can play like Timmy Chandler. As young as he is, as versatile as he is, and as talented as he is I honestly expect Timmy Chandler to not only be starring in the 2014 World Cup. I expect him to be the best player on the field in most matches by the time 2018 comes around.
Eric Lichaj-22 Aston Villa
A lot of us have pegged Lichaj as most likely to fill the Left Back spot, and he really doesn’t have much of a shot behind the two players above. When he gets back from injury he should be competing more for the left back spot which puts more pressure on both of the players above him. A good player whos got a spot on the team for sure.
Zach Loyd-24 FC Dallas
Also a natural Right back having a very sucessfull season with FC Dallas, and building report with Brek Shea(which may make him a good option on the left), Loyd has been one of the many players who are considered to have a shot at stepping into the hole at Left Back. Although Timmy Chandler has filled that well I can’t imagine Klinsi wants to keep him there long term. Loyd should definitely get a serious look.
Jonathan Spector-25 Birmingham City
Specs has had his high points and his low points but I really do love having a player like him as a 12th man. Need a CB? He could fill in. Need a RB or LB? He could fill in. CDM? CAM? Anywhere along the back line and up the core of the middle of the field Spector could play. I expect most of his time to come at the outside back position but he could just as easily vie for a role farther up the field.
Sheannon Williams-21 Philadelphia Union
Sheannon has really come on this year with the club. He showed a few flashes last year but nothing as good or consistent as he’s done this year. If you want offense from the back he can give you a ton of that. There’s been many times this season that Sheannon has led the attack and even gone on breakaways all by himself. He, along with Loyd got a lot of talk when Dolo went down in the Gold Cup and the hole at Left Back opened even wider.
Danny Williams-22 Hoffenheim
He just joined the team and is expected to fill in the central midfield, but he was also considered an option at Left Back by many. I had assumed he’d fill one of the holding Midfield spots, but when Jurgen used him along the right flank it brought that question back to my mind. Danny could play RB if we needed him to. I don’t think we need him to but he looked good enough to earn another look somewhere on the field in his little playing time with the team.
Fabian Johnson-23 Hoffenheim
We’ve seen very little of Johnson too, but as with Williams I believe from what I have seen and read that he’ll earn a spot on the team easily and quickly compete for a starting spot somewhere. The influx of talent to this team is exciting. Bob saw a lot of these players so I’m by no means blaming him, but we are still at a point where the USMNT is growing rapidly. As for Johnson, he’s been mentioned mostly at LB, but thats where the hole is. I’m very interested in seeing where he ends up being played.
Bobby Convey-28 Earthquakes
I’m not saying Bobby Convey has no chance of ever making the team, but as with many of the names mentioned in BigSoccer Left Back threads, it seems pretty hopeless. He’s pretty old to bring in. Convey’s a relatively good defender in MLS now and had a small place on the USMNT roster for a short time, but he’ll be 33 by 2014 and there’s so much depth at right back that there’s no need for him. Or most other players on BigSoccer threads whether too old, too young or just not good enough.
So here’s my suggestions. I’m going to give one depth chart for this spot assuming that the top two will be the starters and everyone from there on will be depth. Very few of these players can only play one side so there’s no reason to draw a line between them. They’re almost all better on the right side anyway.
WCQ: basically the team I would play in a game tommorow
1. Cherundolo
2.Chandler
3.Lichaj (I know he’s injured but he still has a spot pretty comfortably).
4.D. Williams and Johnson (I haven’t seen either enough to choose but if I had to I’d go with Williams purely because he’s played with the team already).
WC2014: the team as I project after a few years of settling, for whatever that’s worth.
1. Chandler
2. Cherundolo (unless he voluntarily retires he’s not going anywhere).
3. Johnson
4. Lichaj
A few other notes, I expect Danny Williams to be on the team but I’d still probably peg him as a midfielder which is the only reason I left him out of the top ranks here. Chandler could do the same thing of course and slide up to RW. Also I expect Spector to be on the team because of his versatility. He’ll show up on about every list I do except Keeper. Sheannon will definitely get a chance to prove himself and I wouldn’t put it past him to step farther up in to the battle but I just don’t see it as of yet at least. Any one else you think might get a shot? Or should?
Image by NathanF via Flickr
-Brek Shea is only getting better.
-Danny Williams is good, but Ecuadors Left Back is very good.
-Clint Dempsey is starting to find his place in Jurgens formation.
-Landon will presumably fill in for Danny Williams at RW
-Onyewu is back and has probably earned a place in the starting lineup.
-Michael Orozco may still have something to say about that. He was out for injury in the Ecuador game and only an injury brought him off against Honduras.
-Tim Ream will have no say in who starts. Spain was a valid excuse, and Ecuadors good too, but the kid has leaked goals for Red Bull too.
-France won so we’ll probably be playing them next month. Also Henry apparently doesn’t play for France in competitive matches anymore. I don’t pay enough attention to the Euros.
-Timmy Chandler has established himself at LB. So much so that when Dolo did come out Spector took over RB and Chandler stayed at LB.
-Chandlers offense has gotten somewhat better from the left, but not what we’ve seen from the right either.
-Everyone hates Kyle Beckerman and his fluid backpasses. I think he looked better than anyone else in the spot. I think he’d also look real good if we put a Stu Holden or a Danny Williams-type player next to him.
-I wish Spector would’ve gotten another shot at LB. He didn’t look bad against Honduras there. He looked pretty bad against Ecuador at RB. If Spector can play LB it allows us to move Chandler to RW and keep Dolo on the field.
-Tim Howard is still the key to any success this team will have in the near future.
-This team is getting newer and younger fast and it will take time for them to start congealing and picking up more goals.
-Maybe it was just me but I thought Jozy pulled off some of his best hold-up play against Ecuador. If he can do that consistently I won’t be calling for a second striker.
-Agudelo looked fine. Buddle didn’t look like anything. I literally didn’t see him after he came in.
-Edu looked good while he was in, but he played very high. If that player is going to play so high, I’d rather see a more creative player fill it. Holden would be good. Bradley may fit a little better. Even Landon could do it. I’d love to see Torres play from there with his passing ability, but there’s no way I’d give him that much responsibility defensively.
-Run DMB is back on the field and not looking bad at all. It’s very cool to see players who aren’t around very often come back in and suceed.
-Most importantly, Jurgen may not have made this team better but he absolutely made it deeper. I don’t think he has a total handle on MLS yet (calling Ream over Gonzo and John and Agudelo over a few others with such consistency), but he’ll get there. He’s brought players back in who can still play and has looked at players in Europe who were the kind Bob would miss (Johnson, Williams although Bob did bring in Chandler).
-It’s hard to lose 1-0 but that game had 1-0 written all over it from the start. Both defenses played well. Howard played well as usual and it was just a matter of who would make the mistake. As usual it was Tim Ream. I like what the kid can do but he doesn’t belong on this level yet. He has to prove it with club. He did last year, but he fell back this year. Maybe he’ll turn it around but he’s been struggling.
bpmangan
mattsant16
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