Reply With Quote
Findlay scoring explains the quake. Jesus was so surprised he must have dropped something.
So the end of times may have arrived... Earthquakes on the east coast and in CO today... and Robbie Findley scored in the Carling Cup.
(Lichaj also scored for Aston Villa in the cup today)
Findlay scoring explains the quake. Jesus was so surprised he must have dropped something.
10 days away from the Costa Rica game, so time to start speculating on call ups.
Apparently Rangers have made a comment that Edu, Boca and Bedoya are all being called up.
Ives has his predictions here: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_b...riendlies.html
I lol'ed at this in the comments section: "I've been informed that Timmy Chandler is expecting to be injured/fatigued/busy for the September friendlies."
Here is my prediction (I'll stick with 23):
G: Howard, Guzan, Yelldell
D: BocaBoca, Cherundolo, Goodson, Chandler, Lichaj, Orozco, Danny Williams, Omar Gonzalez
M: Lando, Deuce, Junior, Edu, Jones, Bedoya, Brek, DMB, Beckerman
F: Jozy, Agudelo, Herc
Robbie Rogers v. Edson Buddle to stay in a 1-1 deadlock until January
I agree with your 23, actually. Maybe George John over someone at Def though.
I left out John because as we saw with the last friendly, Jurgen is aware of sensitivity with a player just having joined a new club and supposedly John's transfer to EPL is almost done. I do want to see him in camp soon though esp since he is also eligible for Greece.
If the do call in John I'd sub him out for Williams, who was my long shot pick.
I'm not expecting but I hope Fabian Johnson gets a call up. I think Sasha and Mix might get a run.
Scott, you think Torres will be left out?
In normal cir stances I would have picked Torres over Bedoya but with the reports already out that Bedoya is getting called up I went that route.
Actually I'd pick Torres over DMB and Beckerman also but DMB has shown good form of late in Mexico and I think Klinsi wants SOME vet presence... and Jurgen raved about Beckerman after the Mexico friendly so I picked him. If they go with 25-26 guys into camp I'd add Torres first then Robbie Rogers and maybe another striker option like Buddle or Corona before he totally goes to Mexico (apparently he's already decided on Mexico, maybe we can change his mind).
I would love to see Fabian get called up too... I just don't know how on the radar he is.
Roster is out and its craaaaaaaazy.
Definitely not crazy - actually. The intial USMNT tweet was all kinds of ed up. I saw Forwards and then the name Johnson and no Agudelo, Jozy or Landon and was like WTF EDDIE JOHNSON.
DEFENDERS (9):Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Edgar Castillo (Club America), Timmy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Michael
Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls)
MIDFIELDERS (9):Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Jose Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (4):Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
No Bradley. Guess Jr better find a ing team quick.
Interesting to not see Bradley there, but all of the players selected have been getting regular starts for their club, so it's an obvious message that he wants in-form players getting regular action. Here is Jurgen's quote on the exclusion of Junior, Germany Jones and Ricardo Clark:
“All three of these players are trying to sort out their club situations, and the deadline for transfers is a week away. They have also not been playing matches, so for these reasons we decided to select different players for this roster.”
Glad to see Fabian Johnson on the squad. Interesting to see him listed as a mid though (although I believe that is his natural position - we want to assume him as a LB option just because he CAN play LB). Also, Chandler better not have any excuses this time.
Only head scratcher to me is Bunbury since he has not been in great form.
And before I forget...
Robbie Rogers 2, Edson Buddle 1
And of that squad, here is my guess at a best Starting XI
4-2-3-1:
-------------Howard-------------
--Dolo--Goodson--Boca--Orozco
------Edu--------Beckerman-----
-----Lando--Torres---Deuce-----
--------------Jozy----------------
I'd like to see Brek get the start, but don't know who he pushes out unless Landon starts at striker or we go 4-4-2 with Landon and Jozy then a MF of Deuce-Edu-Torres-Brek.
Would be nice to see Chandler start as well, but how can you bump Dolo from RB? He's been our best defender all year.
I'm guessing the Costa Rica game will see a stranger starting XI then our top XI for Belgium since that is the bigger test. I think Belgium is an up-and-coming team that will do well next year in the Euros
So, the defenders look fine. I still wonder why Pearce gets called up and not Omar Gonzales (or Loyd and not Franklin for that matter) but overall its good.
MF looks good (FU Scott)
Forwards look good but Bunbury over Gomez my biggest gripe on the roster. Herculez is in form like a mfer while Bunbury has been mediocre all season.
I got Orozco and Castillo mixed up... in which case... that changes the backline options.
I don't want to see Castillo start at LB again, but Goodson-Boca is our best central defense combo. So we can kick Boca to LB and move Orozco inside, or maybe replace Orozco in my lineup with Zach Lloyd? Eeeeeh...
Manny, tbh maybe Omar and Franklin just suck ? Ever thought of that? There are other teams besides the Galaxy, Man City and whatever Russian team bandwagon you are going to join as soon as you figure out who has the most money.
If I had to guess on starting 11 I would actually see it like this
-----------Howard----------
-Dolo-Fiscal-Boca-Chandler-
--------Beckerman---------
Rogers--------------Shea--
----------Landon----------
------Dempsy-------------
--------------Jozy--------
Omar is the best CB in the MLS. Heath Pearce can't hold his jock. Franklin is the best RB in the league too and he's good enough to play mid as well. Watch a replay of the Dallas/LA game from a few weeks ago. Franklin destroyed Shea and I LOVE Brek Shea. There's a reason the Galaxy have the best D in the MLS.
And amazingly... neither of them have ever gotten a serious look from Bradley or Jurgen. Certainly Jurgen has seen a lot of their games.
We'll see.
Also, I don't think Chandler is a LB option.
And amazingly... neither of them have ever gotten a serious look from Bradley or Jurgen. Certainly Jurgen has seen a lot of their games.
We'll see.
Also, I don't think Chandler is a LB option.
Klinsi pulls off more surprises. I like his exclusion of Jones, Bradley and Clark. How does Bedoya feel right about now. No one is talking about him. There were reports out of Rangers that Edu, Boca, and Bedoya will all make the US squad but Alejandro is the only one left off. OUCH.
Really excited about Fabian Johnson. I think he'll get a good run out there. I wouldn't even be surprised if he starts but the most likely event happening is him replacing Shea or whoever starts at left mid. The fact that Klinsi has him in midfield lets me think that it's Castillo's LB job to lose. Lloyd/Pearce are LB options too. The microscope on him just got bigger. My prediction is Johnson will replace Castillo even as early as the Belgian friendly.
Klinsi's pick IMO really boils down to club situations (Jones, Clark, John, Bradley, Lichaj is fighting for starting spot at Villa) and his pet players who can play his style (Rodgers, Bunbury, Ream). Pearce/Lloyd are simply experimental and to create compe ion for Castillo. It's a little concerning to me that Mixx hasn't been called but I think Sasha has played better and Larentowicz was chosen over him because Klinsi wants an extra DM with Bradley/Jones/Clark out. Now to Franklin. He's played well but I don't think he's Klinsi's type of player. His touch is suspect. The same goes for Bornstein, Findley, Wynne (extremely underrated in MLS IMO). Got me on Gonzalez...maybe Klinsi just doesn't like him. He should consider European offers next year if he's serious about US callups.
Looks like Joe Corona is lost after Mexico called him up for Mexico's U23 squad. The move still doesn't cap tie him to Mexico but his interview to ESPN Deportes was pretty telling.
Corona looks to be Mexico international
My Spanish sucks but it sounds like his mind is made up. If he becomes great, the fire Klinsmann chants won't stop. I still cringe when I see Rossi tearing up La Liga.
Also, George John was in Greece getting his Greek ID that allows him to get automatic work permit for the Blackburn move. He had to be diplomatic about dispelling reports that he will only play for the US team. His agent is quoted as saying, ""George is extremely attracted to playing in Greece; he has a very serious interest in it,» Philipakos confirmed."
George John to Greece?
Just something to watch out for.
Really excited for the US vs. Costa Rica friendly.
Last edited by Spurologist; 08-25-2011 at 06:51 PM.
Hopefully Holden doesn't take too long to get healthy and back to form. While not the end of the world, these early times in the Jurgen era are formative. Then again, an in-form Holden might actually be our best player so maybe it's not a big deal.
Good analysis Spurologist
You're right about Chandler.
As far as Jurgen not calling up either of those two I'm pretty sure you can't read very much into it. I'm 95% sure Omar will get plenty of shots in this cycle and I think Franklin will get looks as well but he's the lower prospect of the two.
If you want to throw your hat in with Bradley's judgement in the back let me just throw one name at you so that you remember how great his judgement was. Bornstien.
Its pretty hard to argue about Omar being the best MLS CB right now. He's an excellent defender, he's improved a tremendous amount on the ball this season, and he's probably the best target on set pieces in the MLS as well. The reason so many Galaxy players have scored on headers this season is a combination of Gonzo in the box and of course Beck's great service. If Omar played for FC Dallas and not the Galaxy I promise you it would not be George John being sold to the EPL right now. For the Galaxy he's probably worth more as a player than for as a transfer fee.
Franklin definitely doesn't have an amazing touch but he's so damn fast, has great defense, so its odd to me. Its not THAT big of a deal with him because we have Chandler, Churundolo and Lichaj back there on the right but I'd rather see Franklin in a RMF spot than Rogers and with the players that he called up I do think Rogers is the best option to start on the wing.
I think once Holden gets back you will likely see a middle triangle with Holden up front and 2 holding/defensive mids. Beckerman, Edu, Jones, and Bradley give you good options for those 2 spots.
I think - and I really hope this is correct - but that Jurgen is going to play Demps and Donovan in a central role more as withdrawn strikers than out on the wing. Landon does not belong on the god damn sides and its aggrevating to see both Arena and Bradley try to pigeonhole not only he but Dempsy on the opposite side there. Give those guys freedom around the center of the pitch and you'll see great things.
Oh man - I didn't even think about it but Chandler's probably more of an option to start at RMF than Rogers.
If Klinsi wants an all out attack, he'll go with a 4-3-3. I'd love to see it.
--Dempsey--------Altidore-----------Donovan
--Shea-------------Edu-------------Chandler
--Johnson--Boca--Orozco/Goodson--Cherundolo
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
