Tag Archives: landon donovan

ten words or less #69

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Tottenham's Gareth Bale celebrates scoring against Arsenal

look at the joy and elation on every single face in this photograph. including the face of one gareth frank bale.

While I don’t want to gloat over Tottenham’s North London Derby victory on Sunday, I am going to bask in the glory of that victory for just a moment. I want to marvel at Gareth Bale — while we still have him, at least. Can I also shine a spotlight on André Villas-Boas, who so many had doubted, decried and dismissed for a recall of his predecessor before he had even had a chance to prove himself? And too, maybe I should take a second to apologize to Daniel Levy, the man I often attacked during Spurs inactivity during transfer windows. Because right now, sitting in third after a 12 game run that’s gone WTWWWTTTWWWW, I’m feeling pretty good about Spurs.

Though with a tricky trip to Anfield to face a surging Liverpoolside at the weekend — not to mention a Europa League match against our old friends Inter in the midweek — things could go off track quickly if Spurs get too far ahead of themselves. So if for no other reason than to get my mind out of the clouds, here are some of other links to keep me from daydreaming of greatness quite yet.

One reason why Bale is taking the world by storm. - guardian.co.uk

Soccer once had the mighty MLB shaking in it’s boots. – twitter.com/pothunting

This USMNT 2002 photo shoot will haunt your dreams. – nytimes.com

Stylish playmaker prints to hang on your wall. – behance.net

Commitment to a soccer publication can change your life. – inbedwithmaradona.com

Brian Phillips’ intriguing take on El Diego’s past and present. – grantland.com

Alexi discusses football corruption, simulation on the Colbert Report. – colbertnation.com

Berba’s talents are literally endless. – dirtytackle.net

Can’t complain about not being able to watch games anymore. - giltedgesoccer.com

Alright… who wants to get me this? - whoareyadesigns.com

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ten words or less #66

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Tottenham's Clint Dempsey celebrates scoring against Manchester United

deuce earned his stripes against united once again.

From this American fan’s perspective, the long holiday weekend that’s just passed us by was quite a good one.

Saturday’s fixtures were chock full of goals, averaging just over three and half per match. Then on  #EpicSunday2 (© Fox Soccer Channel) with an entertaining Gunners loss to Chelsea and a gutsy, come-from-behind draw for Spurs against Manchester United. And with a whole additional day to recover after spending Sunday at the pub watching it all go down — not to mention being able to squeeze in a few hours of skiing on Saturday night — I would be hard pressed to design a better weekend for myself.

So with some bigger things around the corner still needing some attention and final polish, this seems like the perfect time to share some of my favorite links from the last week.

The European Transfer Market: Visualized. - transferwindow.info

Greeting fans through your car sunroof isn’t the best idea. – theoriginalwinger.com

Il Fenomeno finally get’s his move to England. – guardian.co.uk

Well look who’s decided he wants to play this year. – lagalaxy.com

Footballer lowered into a well to save a little girl. – dailymail.co.uk

Ferguson has bigger issues than Zeki Fryers move to Spurs. – espnfc.com

Like Rapinoe, I wish more USWNT players would move abroad.
- prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com

Ronaldinho get’s his own, footie-themed Bollywood Space Jam. – indiaglitz.com

If MLB ran soccer teams… their kits could be AWESOME. – kckrs.com

Adu now looking for his 9th club in 9 years. – soccerbyives.com

a winter abroad

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Two months. Eight weeks. Sixty days. It’s not a whole lot of time no matter how you look at it. But it seems to be the magic time span these days, at least for MLS players it seems.

aston villa's robbie keane and everton's landon donovan

by allowing its most prized possessions to go on loan each winter, is MLS playing with fire?

Whether urged on by Klinsmann’s pleas for American players to get more time in competitive playing environments, or spurred on by the past successes of the short-term moves of MLS-bigwigs, the growing fad in American soccer is to get yourself a two-month, winter loan to Europe.

There have been no shortage of temporary moves to Europe this MLS off-season. Of course there have been the hyped moves involving the loans of high-profile players like L.A. Galaxy duo Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane — who have moved to Everton and Aston Villa respectively — and Red Bull’s Thierry Henry return to Arsenal. But there have been lesser heralded moves too, such as West Ham’s move for F.C. Dallas defender George John and L.A.’s Omar Gonzalez heading to Nürnberg.

A number of other players are trialing or training with European sides to gain some experience, and hopefully attract a foreign bid or two. I’ve written a good deal about Brek Shea’s two months with Arsenal, but there have also been shorter training stints for at least fifteen MLS players. That’s included youngster Juan Agudelo at Stuttgart and Liverpool, Robbie Rogers and Kyle Beckermann at Kaiserslautern, and Tim Ream at Bolton and West Brom, just to name a few.

With the temporary moves coming for players all over the MLS spectrum — from established stars to up-and-comers — it’s promising that there appears to be a growing demand for the league’s improving talent pool. It’s a sign Europe’s elite sides are starting to at least consider that we’re a country capable of producing a decent amount of quality players worth having a look over.

However, I do have to wonder if all of these moves are the greatest thing for MLS.

For most of the young players, the moves will end up being nothing more than glamorous learning opportunities. Their goal will be to make the most of the time training with a different class of players, therefore raising their game or at least picking up the habits of higher level professionals. They’ll get the extra competitive football experience that the Jürgs says our country’s set up is lacking, and hopefully they’re return to their MLS clubs with a sharper knowledge of the game, and everyone will be happy.

But while MLS seems content to allow it’s shining gems to go out and grow themselves, it feels like they’re turning a blind eye to the fact that it’s also a great opportunity for the finest young talent in the league to showcase themselves to other, wealthier employers. I mean I can’t imagine a single one of those players not going into those trials/loans/trainings thinking: This is the chance I’ve been waiting for… I better not blow it!

This open door policy has already seen Robbie Rogers turn his brief spell in Germany into a transfer to Leeds United. Tim Ream’s time with Bolton also looks to have paid dividends, as the Wanderers look set to spend their Gary Cahill money on a transfer for the ginger-tinged Red Bulls defender. George John’s loan terms with West Ham have an option to buy if he manages to impress during his two months at Upton Park, so he could be off too.

They’ve got a name for this type of issue: talent drain. And with MLS seemingly giving its blessing for foreign sides to take a free look at their best players, it comes off as them accepting their place as a stepping stone league. This flies in the face of the Commish has stated on several occasions, which is to turn Major League Soccer into one of the preeminent tournaments in the world.

robbie rogers at leeds united

it seems that robbie roger's short term move to europe this winter has paid off... for now at least.

Now maybe MLS does a much better job reinvesting the millions in transfer money they rake in during these sales than I’m giving them credit for, and if that’s the case, I’ll happily eat my words. But in the mean time, I’m going to assume that it’s still a bit of a risky strategy.

And all of that only takes into account the youngsters. What about all of the veteran, star players tacking two months onto their seasons; how can their departures possibly hurt the league?

First, Klinsmann’s desire to see American players securing loans or training spells in Europe is centered on his belief that the MLS season is too short. That does hold true for many players who teams don’t make the playoffs, or exit them early. Problem is, all of the high-profile loans have involved players whose teams made deep playoff runs. Keane and Donovan were both directly involved in the MLS Cup game winning goal. Hell, Keane hasn’t really had a break from training since the beginning of the last European season when he was still with Spurs. So none of them are in a position where they’re lacking for matches or sharpness, especially when you consider that Donovan and Keane are also still logging serious minutes with their respective national teams.

Ultimately, star players being loaned out during the MLS close season does nothing but put extra miles on their valuable legs. And extra miles on (mostly) older legs usually end up leading to one of three outcomes: 1) increased susceptibility to injuries, 2) burnout or 3) both.

Don’t believe me? It’s already happened, twice.

The gigantic risk MLS exposes itself to is best embodied by David Beckham rupturing his Achilles tendon playing for Milan two winters ago. Beckham’s move was supposed to help him earn a place in the following summer’s England World Cup squad — something MLS considered of great benefit at the time — ended up costing the league dearly when he was forced out of the entire MLS season. Regardless of the size of potential media-exposure gains the league would have received from Beck’s participation in South Africa, it was likely dwarfed by the lack of match-day ticket revenue the league missed out on by not having him play.

For those saying “Well that was over two years ago,” this isn’t something that only occurs in the past. As it turns out, MLS has already suffered one winter-loan casualty so far this season. And ironically, it’s not even one of their big guns that’s gone down injured. Instead, it was L.A. Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez, a younger player who should have become a regular feature in the USMNT’s back line in 2012. But thanks to a collision with “American” teammate Timmy Chandler during his first training session after signing a 2-month loan with Nuremberg, the MLS Defender of the Year will now be out for at least the next seven months… a.k.a. most of the upcoming MLS season.

an injured beckham on loan to milan

losing beckham for a season apparently hasn't phased MLS at all. but, will lightening strike twice?

And though the loss of Gonzalez won’t really hit MLS in the pocketbook the way Beckham’s absence did, it will undoubtedly be a big hurdle to overcome in the Galaxy’s defense of their crown. But if MLS end up losing Donovan, Henry and/or Keane to injury during their loan spells, it will hurt them both on the field and off.

Let’s assume the trend of taking MLS players on loan continues to grow next season (I’d be willing to wager that it probably will), the amount of risk they’ll expose themselves to each off-season will go up exponentially. I’m not sure how great of a scenario the league could be getting themselves into unless the think about these types of moves in a bigger picture.

Look, these loans and trials are ultimately a good thing if they lead to the development of better American players. I’m all for them leading to more American players playing in more competitive leagues in Europe, and the added benefit we could see from the increased levels of experience. But I want to make sure that such moves aren’t undercutting MLS’s mission and efforts to develop better American players. We need to protect the investments we’ve made so far, and that protection requires a wide variety of issues to consider. Here’s hoping MLS and US Soccer did their homework before allowing this policy to become more common place.

In the mean time, we can’t do anything other than sit back and see how this season’s off-season MLS moves shift out. Obviously, I’m hoping that nothing but great news. Trust me when I say that there is nothing I want less than for me to look back in two months and say “I told you so.”

ten words or less #33

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Aaron Biber and Tottenham's Peter Crouch

crouch visited and got his haircut by aaron biber. when biber's barbershop was trashed during the riots, the looters shockingly left the autographed crouch photo he's holding.

Welcome back, distinguished readers, and thanks for reading my latest article on wrong side of the pond. I am attempting to keep today’s posting very formal, proper, and short as this blog needs to get into in-season form for the start of this European campaign. So with that in mind, let’s skip the silliness today and get on to the sub-ten-word links below.

No word on whether he was red carded or not. – mirror.co.uk

WTF is that face, Landycakes?!?! – dirty tackle @ yahoo.com

Farewell to the best defender of his generation… after Maldini. – therunofplay.com

This took balls… brilliant work by adidas marketing. – kckrs.com

Sir Alex 1 : the Daily Mail’s Bob Cass 0 – whoateallthepies.tv
A tip of my hat to 2-time defending fantasy champion Lippadona for pointing out this link.

The new La Masia: now that’s an academy. – theoffside.com

Don’t care if everyone’s linked to it… brilliant. – arseblog.com

The Canadian MLS clubs always nail branding. – designfootball.com

the keys to the car

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do you remember the first time you ever got to drive a car? i do. i remember feeling like i was a badass. “look at me, driving around with all of the other adults,” i recall thinking, despite the fact that i was just a naïve, pimply-faced 16 year old that was still struggling to control my pubescent hormones. but none of my character flaws (ADD, immortal, egotistic, etc.) mattered, because i was driving a freaking motorized vehicle like a grown up.

much like every other car-crazed 16 year old, i went flying about the streets of southwest ohio like a bat out of hell. seeing as how i was invincible at the time, i thought nothing of breaking speeding laws because i was an adult and i could handle it. blast the music and roll the windows down? sure… i could even handle four more distractions, so i’m going to pick up my friends now.

tim ream of the united states

ream took a beating last night, but also showed promise.

of course, this attitude eventually lead to trouble. six months into having a drivers license, i had rear ended two cars, a speeding ticket, and a trip to juvenile traffic court all resulted.

clearly, i was in over my head and i wasn’t ready for the responsibility of driving the car.

some might say that it’s my parents fault for giving me the keys to the car too early, as they failed to recognize that i wasn’t ready to handle the privilege of driving. but i disagree, and instead think my parents did the right thing. while i suspect they did recognize that i was probably too immature to step behind the wheel of the car aged just 16, they probably also knew that you have to let the chicks leave the nest at some point. it’s often said that learning by experience is the best way to learn, and while i often learned lessons the hard way (and still do), those early miscues eventually made me a better driver.

moral of the story: sometimes you have to let your kids to do things that they’re probably not ready for, just so they can learn a necessary lesson or two.

in last night’s gold cup tune-up against spain, USMNT coach robo-bob bradley did exactly that: he gave the keys to the car to the america’s next generation of footballers. and predictably, they crashed and burned like your average 16-year-old driver.

at this point, there’s little doubting that the americans are a nation on the rise on the international stage. we’ve had some respectable showings at recent world cups, made the final or the confederations cup, and have finally become a dominant force in our own region. but all of this success has come mainly on the backs of a core group of established veterans: donovan, dempsey, howard, onyewu, cherundulo, bocanegra, etc. and while these guys are all at or around their peak playing years, they’re all closer to the ends of their careers than the beginnings. we can’t continue to expect them to play every game from here until the end of time, so we’re going to need some young guys to step up and show they can contribute.

and honestly, what better way to test your youngsters than against the world’s indisputably best team who is looking for a bit of revenge for the defeat in the confederations cup two years ago? quite the trial by fire if you ask me.

in last night’s 0-4 drubbing, the US started nine players with less than 35 caps. of those, four were earning their fifth cap or less… two occupying spots in the american’s extremely leaky first half back line. two of the subs brought in during the second half had less 30 caps between them. so to say this was an inexperienced teamsheet tonight would be an understatement.

so with that in mind, maybe we should have expected an outcome like this. while i expected spain to come out winners, i also thought bob’s bhoys might keep the scoreline respectable. instead we received what can either be interpreted as a masterclass lesson in how not to play in the future, or a gigantic warning sign that the USMNT’s future isn’t quite as bright as we’ve quickly gotten used to during to.

for some players, last night was probably an excellent learning experience. tim ream was out worked by a physical álvaro negredo several times (especially on negredo’s off the bar chip), but i think last night’s bruises will taught the young big man an important lesson or two. and though juan agudelo didn’t live up to his hype, he showed some flashes against a very experienced and organized spanish defense. goodson showed well in the second half in the back, but was caught out for torres late ego-boosting goal. let’s just hope the fresh blood in the team took something from this moving forward, and will be better drivers moving forward for it.

robbie rogers takes on sergio ramos

rogers might not be able to cut it at this level.

unfortunately, i think this match also might have been the first nails in a few players’ coffins. jonathan spector, despite being a “veteran” with 31 caps, continued to show he can’t cut the mustard at the top of the game: he was too slow in decision making regardless of the position he played. robbie rogers again looked to be in way over his head when playing against the world’s elite. kljestan, another one of my favorite whipping boys, put in another indifferent performance. the 25 year-old would have needed to put in a massive performance to convince me to be impressed with him in the slightest. i’d like to be critical of altidore, but he rarely saw the ball… maybe because he didn’t work hard enough to find it?

either way, maybe there are some guys in bradley’s young contingent that don’t quite deserve to be the ones driving this team forward.

luckily, bob realized at half time that he needed to stop the bleeding and put in some of his big guns. the addition of dempsey, cherundolo and bradley certainly brought some calm to the side. but again, it took the addition of the old guard to make it a respectable match.

let’s be honest though too: the americans are not going to face a team like spain in the gold cup. that’s not to say that the won’t be facing any quality sides in the regional championship, but there should be enough talent in the squad to challenge the mexicans for the title, especially since bradley will have his best available for the tournament. but whether or not the young lads can shake off the ass kicking from the spanish in time for the first match against canada might be a more important thought to ponder at this point though.

who knows: maybe some of the youngsters will step up, showing they belong up here with all of the adults. but eventually, the next generation of yanks need to start carrying their weight and contributing, or all of the progress we’ve made in the last 12 years will be for nought.

round up #23

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now that the transfer window has (quietly) closed and the theatrics of the world cup are slowly fading into the background, i feel like we can finally focus on what really matters: the football.

this would be awesome... if marquez wasn't there.

but, let’s be honest.. i love the fluff that comes with it. and here’s the best i’ve come across on the tubes in the last week.

mind blowing social experiment of the day – theoffside.com
if you were take a stroll around say, downtown manhattan, while the world cup final was on this summer, and nothing would have looked any different than any other normal day. thousands of people would still be snapping pictures in times square, buying knockoff purses in chinatown, and strolling about times square. but flash to brazil, and things are clearly different. one man had the bright idea to roll around são paulo during the world cup finals with a video camera. the biggest city in south america was a virtual ghost town. while it’s not surprising that the soccer-mad country would be consumed by the big event, i am a little shocked to not see a single person in the entire clip. which makes me wonder… how the hell is this country going to host the finals in 2014 if no one wants to work during the games?

making the most of being sent off – dirtytackle @ yahoo.com
fellow defenders will agree with me when i say that those nancy-fancy forwards always go down for fouls pretty easy. they fall with the slightest nudge, rolling about like someone castrated them instead of a having just suffered a little shirt pull. it certainly doesn’t help that the refs always tend to give those diving bastards the benefit of the doubt. so trust me when i say we defenders have some pent up rage that lives within us all. so when you see a defender lose it a little when they get a foul called against them. but the reaction of the guy in this video, well, i just can’t find the words to stick up for him.

donovan’s ridiculous price tag – matchfitusa.com
when donovan signed the four year extension with the galaxy in the fall of 2009, two things immediately came to mind:

  1. landycakes is a moron, and apparently never wants to play in europe ever. why would he put himself in a position where it would be harder for him to move abroad?
  2. MLS just made a shrewd move to make sure they got paid when donovan tried to make his eventual move to europe.

both thoughts were true, to an extent at least. donovan’s contract extension did nothing but give MLS the upperhand with any potential suitors from the old continent, meaning they could ask for a good deal more money in any transfer moves for the golden egg. landon’s extremely successful loan to everton, coupled with his good performances in south africa, meant that donovan was a hot commodity. don garber’s eyes no doubt had dollar bills instead of pupils at that point. unfortunately, their little plan turned into a giant cockblock. perhaps catching wind of interest from cash-laden citeh drove up their asking price, but america’s pride and joy isn’t worth $16 million. in the end, neither party got what it wanted. great.

the crest of a wave? – guardian.co.uk
i love logos… they’re fascinating to me. to me, there is nothing more iconic than an emblem that is instantly recognizable the world over (nike, mcdonald’s, coca-cola; please take your bow). it’s a necessity in this day in age where everything is branded. but the incredibly difficult thing about having a good logo or crest is creating it.

i for one don’t mind most teams taking a stab at remaking their image, though it’s insanely hard to create a new identity that is still grounded in tradition. while the article gives credit to arsenal and chelsea for their new crests’ paying homage to their histories, i also think tottenham deserve credit in the same regard. while some clubs make the change very poorly, there are, of course, also clubs like fulham that desperately needed to change, and did so well.

henry and rafa take the path – metrofanatic.com
the fact that this photo can even happen in this country… boy, it makes me feel like MLS is on to something special. ignore for a second that RBNY might be trying a little too hard to be the new cosmos. can you imagine sitting next to henry, one of the best players of an entire generation, on the subway? that’s equivalent to sitting next to brett farve or derek jeter, and easily being able to take a picture with them and not get mobbed in the process. please MLS; intelligently ride this wave of awesomeness.

this is not a popularity contest

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greetings from south africa on the last day of world cup 2010… ok, i’m lying. i’m sitting in my living room in ohio at 9 in the morning, just like i have for a majority of this summer’s big event.

and from my bird’s eye, HD view of the action, i’ve had a chance to watch a constant stream of amazing footballers grace the pitches in south africa. and though the football wasn’t necessarily the greatest most of the time, there is no doubt that some players really stepped up to the occasion.

of course villa made my best XI, but there is no way his world class teammate cesc could squeeze in.

with that in mind, i’ve tried my best to assemble my best XI of south africa 2010. i’ve always been quick to criticize to bash fifa’s decisions for this team in past tournaments, but doing this for the first time on my own was way more difficult than i had imagined. this is especially true when you could probably just use the whole of the spanish starting eleven and call it a day. and the difficulty of not naming high profile players, even those who didn’t perform to their abilities, is that much harder.

(a quick tangent… “the high profile player” pick easily explains how claudio reyna made the 2002 best XI, despite having a poor tournament. a USMNT spot on that team was guaranteed because of their impressive run to the quarters, and that spot should have been landycakes, or brad friedel’s. instead, the organizers probably looked down the US roster and said to themselves, “oh, i know who reyna is… he used to play for rangers!”)

anyway, without further delay, here are my picks for this summer’s edition. and feel free to throw out any objections you like.

fernando muslera (gk – uruguay)
i really struggled not to pick muslera’s teammate, luis suárez, for the keeper spot in the eleven. however, picking a striker who just so happened to make the save of the tournament seemed a little out of place. either way, muslera deserves the nod over portugal’s eduardo due to his team’s deeper run in the tournament and his huge penalty saves against ghana. despite the fact that muslera had only 12 caps with the national team.

giovanni van bronckhorst (d – netherlands)
love him or hate him, the oldest player in the tournament (this includes goalkeepers and outfield players) has been a rock in the back for the dutch. the captain somehow always evades the probing eyes of the referee when pulling off his dirty tricks, which makes him few fans despite the fact it’s part of what makes him so effective at this age. add in his thundering goal in the semifinal against uruguay, and there is just no way you can leave him off his this team.

philipp lahm (d – germany)
another captain, another solid performer. and it should have been expected from the right-sided back from bayern munich, as he was one of the standout performers in germany’s 2006 run to the final on their home soil. he also had to stepp up big to hold the captaincy in place of the injured michael ballack, and managed the job very well.

carles puyol (d – spain)
it pains me to put him in this team, even though he rightfully deserves it. at times for barcelona, he is so out of control that you have to wonder if he has any clue what he’s doing out there. and yet he always seems to make it work. plus, do i really want to put a neanderthal in my best XI? (after writing this, i’ve now become a little afraid of having the geico caveman show up and kick my ass.) alas, i have to. puyol was instrumental in spain’s three game clean sheet run to today’s final, and the winner in the semi against germany doesn’t hurt either.

michel bastos (d – brazil)
this kid is fun to watch. he runs up and down the flank just like any brazilian left back should, yet he does it with a little more style and class (probably due to the fact that he plays on the left wing for lyon). i’ll probably get some cocked heads from this selection, but i think the 26 year old is had a strong tournament and is a rising star in the game.

xavi (m – spain)
although i prefer the stylish play of his teammate, iniesta (who was a hard snub for the first XI), there is no doubting xavi’s place here. if he’s not on your team, you didn’t watch enough games or have no clue what you’re talking about. he will be one of the front runners for the golden ball, heavily depending on the result of today’s final and whether or not villa scores again.

wesley sneijder (m – netherlands)
i still don’t get how real madrid didn’t think they would need sneijder any longer. it makes me so mad. and yet here wesley is, after leading his new side inter to champions league glory this spring, pushing the oranje towards world cup glory. yeah, there is no way you would need him. especially when kaka is a shell of his former self.

schweinsteiger pushed his way into my team, despite the fact that he haunts my nightmares.

bastian schweinsteiger (m – germany)
i like to describe schweinsteiger as a bigger, stronger and more technical version of craig bellamy. they both look like they could kill you if they felt like it… you know, that crazy eye look that they both give players that they’re mad at. and all i can picture schweinsteiger as is a gigantic SS officer… and that’s exactly how he patrols his midfield. with intimidation, size and great technical ability.

thomas müller (f – germany)
in addition to making my best XI, he is probably a shoe in for the young player of the tournament award too. the young bayern stand out has been incredibly impressive this summer. he has formed a very impressive partnership up front with whomever he plays with, but is an especially strong 1-2 punch when partnered with klose. look for young thomas and his other young teammates (ahem, ozïl) to be an international force for years to come.

david villa (f – spain)
he’s been lethal. i don’t think i really need to say much more than that. and as a real madrid fan, he makes barcelona infinitely more scary.

diego forlán (f – uruguay)
from manchester united flop to perennial pinchichi candidate in spain, “san diego” continued his fine run of form this summer in south africa. along with national hero suárez, forlán carried uruguay all the way to the last four with style and pin ache. could a big move back to england be in the cards for the atletico madrid man?

on the bench are a few more decent players:

  • iker casillas (gk – spain)
  • john mensah (d – ghana)
  • andres iniesta (m – spain)
  • landon donovan (m – united states)
  • lionel messi (m – argentina)
  • keisuke honda (m – japan)
  • asamoah gyan (f – ghana)
  • luis fabiano (f – brazil)

revisiting “boarding passes, please”

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way back in january, i wrote the longest blog post i’ve ever written outlining who i thought bob bradley would be taking to south africa this summer. i’ve been anxiously awaiting the day bob would finally announce his 23-man roster, just to see how well i would do predicting bob’s simple mind.

the USMNT arrived in south africa on memorial day. it's time to see how accurate i was at picking the 23 guys who would get a ticket back in january.

that day has come and passed.

and guess what? i didn’t do too bad.

though there were some shock exclusions/inclusions, most of which i like much better than i had predicted bob capable of selecting. though i don’t want to go on giving him too much credit at this point. let’s revisit that subject after the world cup.

so let’s get on to evaluating how well i did picking who i thought bob would be giving his boarding passes to. and we may as well re-evaluate the players he chose while we’re at it.

for sure on the plane (8 out of 8 correct)
these were the guys i knew would be in south africa. i would have wagered anything on it… but i didn’t, because i’m an idiot (not that there really are any places to bet on “what eight guys will definitely make the US world cup roster,” are there?). either way, i killed it on this round.

1. CORRECT – landon donovan (f – l.a. galaxy): landycakes has certainly set the stage for himself going into the summer. his loan to everton turned out to be a fantastic move, finally proving himself at the highest level consistently. if he has a good world cup, his price tag will skyrocket and MLS will surely cash in on bidding war that will ensue for his signature in august. so, it’s easy to say that donovan has some lofty expectations to meet. will he be able to handle the pressure? here’s hoping he does.

2. CORRECT - tim howard (gk – everton): having a world class keeper is the best remedy for having a suspect backline. good thing that’s not a problem for the USMNT, right? … RIGHT?!?!

3. CORRECT - jozy altidore (f – villareal): my worries persist about altidore. he didn’t get any regular time at with one of the worst premier league teams this season. though he showed some flashes of brilliance, they were very quick flashes and few and far between. i still doubt he’ll ever be able to play a full 90, and he can’t be in that great a form if he wasn’t breaking into relegated hull city’s line-up. he’ll be a starter on june 12th, but will he do anything productive. probably not (yes, that is a challenge jozy. prove. me. wrong.)

4. CORRECT - carlos bocanegra (d – rennes): chuck. what an enigma. captain of the USMNT, regular in europe. but we just can’t ever seem to play him in his best position: left back. if they would play him there instead of the center, then we wouldn’t have to freak out anymore about whose playing on the left flank. we have plenty of quality center backs bobby; please play bocanegra where he belongs. oh, and let’s hope he is fully fit come the england game.

5. CORRECT - michael bradley (m – borussia mönchengladbach): the coach is bringing his kid along, and just like every national pool players’ parents’ worst nightmare, i’m sure they’re all thinking that the coaches kid will get the favoritism. while a case could be argued for this when mike was brought into the national team fold a few years ago, it definitely isn’t the case any longer. bradley deserves to be here. let’s just hope he can keep a level head for the next few weeks.

6. CORRECT - jay demerit (d – watford): if he can shake the injury bug that he’s had over the last year, i want to see jay starting at centerback next to onyewu. that way we can play bocanegra at his natural left back.

7. CORRECT - jonathan spector (d – west ham): pencil him in as the starting right back (though he could face some competition from steve cherundulo), but it’s possible we could see him on the left too. let’s hope he remembers to bring his consistency boots too.

8. CORRECT - brad guzan (gk – aston villa): back up (to another retired american) at aston villa, back up for the national team. poor guy will probably never get to play.

don’t have my pass yet, but pretty sure i’m getting one (8 out of 8 correct)
i must have been taking my genius pills still at this point, because i nailed this round too. don’t worry, this won’t become a trend.

9. CORRECT - oguchi onyewu (d – a.c. milan): gooch proved his fitness  after the horrific torn patellar tendon that he suffered in the USMNT’s last world cup qualifier. the question that remains though is whether or not he can play at the same level he played at in last summer’s confederations cup. if not, the yanks are in trouble.

10. CORRECT - clint dempsey (m – fulham): deuce came back earlier than anticipated from his partially torn knee ligament, even contributing in fulham’s late season run to the europa league final (including this STUNNING goal against  juventus at craven cottage). promising news for a team that needs good injury news.

11. CORRECT - ricardo clark (m – eintracht frankfurt): finding regular time at the end of the bundesliga season was key to clark making the final 23, and he’ll be in tight competition with michael bradley for the starting defensive midfield slot on june 12th.

12. CORRECT - stuart holden (m – bolton): i’m glad stu made the team, especially after he cracked into bolton’s squad towards the end of the english season. i was worried he wouldn’t see the minutes after his leg break a few months back. his creativity and consistency are in demand with this roster, and i’d love to see him make the starting 11 against england.

13. CORRECT - jonathan bornstein (d – chivas usa): just as i predicted, the mexijew made the squad simply because we had to bring in another true left back. and hopefully he’ll only play because we’ve gotten to plan C, D or E due to injuries. or if we’re up by two goals against england and we bring him on for a forward… but hopefully not even then.

14. CORRECT - steve cherundulo (d – hannover 96): he’s healthy, and has loads of experience in europe and internationally, but he still can’t get in front of spector. but if spector catches one of his patented cold-streaks, expect steve to steal back the spot.

15. CORRECT - benny feilhaber (m – agf aarhus): not the danish-based player i would have liked to see make the final roster (cough, rolfe), and not exactly the beset player the USMNT have at their disposal. but he’s got the experience and bob’s confidence. let’s just hope he ends up keeping bornstein company on the bench.

16. CORRECT - maurice edu (m – rangers): edu played great for rangers down the stretch this season, and his reward was earning back the national team spot he hadn’t occupied in nearly 9 months due to a knee injury. should be a starter, but that’s only if bob can see beyond benny.

yeah, i think so, but… (4 out of 7)
here’s where it fell apart for me. but that’s to be expected, as these guys are pretty much the fringe players in the squad. like i said earlier though, bob surprised me with some of his picks in this space, in a good way (for now at least).

17. WRONG – connor casey (f – colorado rapids) edson buddle (f – l.a. galaxy): saying that i am stoked that casey didn’t make the roster is an understatement. but there is no way that i could have predicted that buddle would have made this team. who would have known that he would have caught fire this MLS season? certainly not me, and certainly not anyone else back in january. i hope he can keep up the good form, because we certainly don’t have many other forwards with impressive goal scoring credentials lately.

18. CORRECT - jose francisco torres (m – pachuca): miracles do happen, and torres is proof of that. i didn’t think that there was a chance in hell that bob would pick him. now that he’s made the team, my thought process is, “i doubt bob will use him.” if he does though, i would not be surprised to see torres involved in something awesome.

19. CORRECT - demarcus beasley (m – unattached): despite rangers not extending his deal, lazarus has risen from the dead and has reclaimed his national team spot. after last summer’s performance in south africa, i thought for sure he was done. i still think that bob doesn’t quite trust him anymore though, and would be surprised to see him get tons of time in june. and if we play him on the flank in the back again, i might actually fly to south africa to and beat bob silly.

20. CORRECT - marcus hahnemann (gk – wolverhampton wanderers): edged out troy perkins, as he should have. not much to say here, other than it will take a weird sequence of events to actually get to see the wolves shot blocker get the nod in south africa.

21. CORRECT - clarence goodson (d – start): i felt like i was going out on a limb to call this one back in january, and my how well that worked out for me. he’ll provide solid cover in the center of defense in the event that we have any major injury problems.

i certainly wasn't expecting a former MLS journeyman to make the final 23. gomez's good form has made me look silly.

22. WRONG - edgar castillo (m – tigres) herculez gomez (f – pachuca): looks like i picked the wrong mexican player for this spot, and i’m not surprised i didn’t see this one coming either. gomez has been in stellar form in mexico this season, and we needed to bring another forward in good form if charlie davies wasn’t passed fit.

23. WRONG – charlie davies (f – sochaux) robbie findlay (f – real salt lake): i don’t need to reiterate why i wasn’t surprised to see charlie not make the squad, but i’m still upset that he won’t be in south africa. will findlay and castillo be able to fill davies’ growing empty shoes? i don’t know. but they need to, because jozy doesn’t look to be prolific at anything aside from headbutting people.

final tally: 20 out of 23 players picked correctly.
so overall, i was pretty pleased with myself on picking this roster. do i like all of the picks? no, not really. but could they really have brought in anyone else (aside from davies or rolfe… both of whom are hurt) that would have been major improvements? no, not really.

no sense in getting all worked up either way, at this point at least. let’s see how bob uses the 23 guys at his disposal, then we can start kicking and screaming. until  then, let’s support out boys and hope that my hired snipers can pick bob off before the 12th.

sometimes the timing isn’t right

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So the other day I was cutting the grass at my new house, which had grown quite long due to the previous tennants being lazy bastards, and feeling like i was cutting elephant grass in india. It was a windy day, and as I was pushing through the nearly knee-deep grass, i saw what i thought was a leaf blowing in the wind along the ground. Being a man, I of course had to gun right for it, hoping to shred it up with the mower into a million tiny pieces.

what does charlie davies have to do with a kitty i found in my yard? read on my friends, read on.

But then the “leaf” moved against the wind, very quickly. Confused, I screeched the mower to a halt to avoid running it over. This was no tan leaf, but instead it was actually a tan kitten.

Now it’s important to know that I’m an animal lover, and am quick to get attached to puppies and kitties much like your average third grader. Not helping the equation was that the kitten looked just like the cat I had growing up, so my heart strings were definitely being pulled.

My fianceé and I had recently talked about getting a cat to help warm our new dwelling, so I figured we had just hit a goldmine. She (shockingly) fell in love with it immediately, so that wasn’t a hard sell on the significant other front. I was already calculating how many hours I could spend in the next few days having the cat chase a laser pointer.

But, of course, things are never quite so simple.

After taking the cat in to a local pet store, they informed me that the kitten was about a month old and still needed to be bottle fed. That requires tons of attention, as you’re supposed to feed them at least five times a day. Not easy when both my wife-to-be and I are working-class folk.

Checking with all of the neighbors to make sure it wasn’t their cat, we determined that it was a neighborhood stray’s kitten. Which means this cat certainly wasn’t litter trained yet. Throw in the fact that we weren’t even moved into our new house yet and couldn’t keep it at either of our current residences, and it started to be come very clear that the timing just wasn’t right for keeping the cat.

Together, we made the decision to give the cat up. It crushed us both to give it away, yet we knew that it was better for us and the kitten to find it a proper home. Maybe if it had been a couple weeks later it would have worked, but this just wasn’t the right time to keep a new pet that needed lots of attention. Yet despite this, I don’t think my fianceé has stopped crying yet….

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So why did I ust spend 500 words talking about a kitty on my soccer blog? (Rest easy WSOTP fans: I’m not changing this into a stray animal blog… yet.)

I think my experience with kitten is the perfect analogy for what Charlie Davies is going through right now after missing out on making the USMNT roster for this summer’s World Cup.

So far in his career, it’s all been about timing for Charlie.

CD9 burst onto the scene, stepping out from the tall grass just like the kitten, at the right time. He was inspirational for the national team at the Confederations Cup, building a strong connection between mainstays such as Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore. Jozy would hold the ball up, and Charlie would run through off of him. He and Donovan would often combine like they had been playing together for years.

To be honest, I hadn’t seen anyone in the USMNT with his speed up top since Ernie Stewart. After his opening goal against Mexico at the Azteca, it became clear that Charlie was an emerging force for the US. His timing couldn’t have been better, as he was filling a role that Bob Bradley had desperately been trying to fill for his entire reign: the foil to Altidore.

But Davies’ timing hasn’t always been good, and you could easily say his timing wasn’t right for choosing to be in a car after curfew that fateful night in DC.

No one was surprised when the initial reports came out saying that Charlie would miss the World Cup due to the horrific injuries he suffered during the accident. But we all were shocked and stunned when it was revealed (rather early on I must say) that Davies looked to be on track for a miraculous recovery and could possibly be able to return to action with Sochaux before the end of the season. The World Cup started to look like a possibility again.

I’ll have to admit: I jumped on the bandwagon. I wanted to believe. I debated ordering my first USMNT kit in over ten years with a 9 on the back. I followed his tweets ever more closely, and scoured the intertubes looking for any info on his progress.

But in the end for charlie, just as with the kitty, the timing just wasn’t right.

Despite being able to run, make cuts and starting to work with the ball, Sochaux wouldn’t declare Davies fit in time for him to play in their last match of the season. And while he returned to some light training with the squad, it was never a full contact return. Everything seemed to take a turn for the worse in mid-April, when Sochaux president Alendre Lacombe announced that Davies’ “season was over.”

This obviously made Bob Bradley’s decision much much harder. Would it be worth the risk to bring Davies into the pre-World Cup camp without having any indication of his fitness level? Would bringing him in too early cause irreparable harm to Davies’ still recovering body? Would it be worth sacrificing a roster spot for a guy that might not be able to even step on the pitch, when there’s a list of players who are fit and ready right now?

in the end, the timing wasn't right for davies to be included on the US roster. just like his timing wasn't right for him to get in this SUV back in october.

In the end, Bob knew how to answer these tough questions.

And while I’m sure his heart was saying, “Take the kid, he’s worked so hard to come back and he’s already paid so dearly for his mistakes.” (Is it just me, or does anyone else imagine Bob talking like he’s from the Victorian era… with his stoic/robotic look of disillusionment and proper posture.) But, his brain was telling him the smart thing to do is to leave Chuck behind.

Sure, I was shocked to read the USMNT provisional roster and not see Charlie’s name. But deep down, I wasn’t all that surprised either.

While I would love to have seen the kid in South Africa, i know that Charlie likely would have been nothing more than an emotional motivator for the team. He would probably have to watch from the bench every game, as several able-bodied player sits back at home in the States refusing to watch the tournament because they were left off the roster for a gimp.

It’s just too big of a gamble. And Bob ultimately made the hard, but correct, decision in deciding to not select Charlie. Maybe things would be different if he had a little more time to recover and prepare, but in the end that wasn’t the case.

So for now, the move to keep Davies off the plane will allow the national team to focus on the task at hand. It will allow them to spend time identifying Charlie’s replacement up top to partner with Jozy (paging Edson Buddle… Edson Buddle, please step up). And while I’m not sure that anyone will do the job quite as well as Davies did at last summer’s Confederations Cup, I have to think that someone can at least be identified to partially fill those shoes.

So the timing just isn’t right for CD9 right now, but it doesn’t have to remain that way for the future. He’s only 23 years old, and assuming he stays focused and regains full fitness, he’ll be hitting his peak just before the 2014 finals in Brazil. Hell, it’s conceivable that he could even make the 2018 finals wherever they might end up.

With that in mind, I think I might just go ahead and order that new US kit with davies name on the back… that way i’ll be more than ready come 2014.

boarding passes, please

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the build it up for this summer’s world cup has been, at times, agonizingly slow. this was especially true after last year’s drama-filled confederations cup and qualifying campaigns.

don’t get me wrong, i’m thoroughly enjoying this european season. there’s been an near infinite amount of drama on that front as well (where to start? ghana rushing essien back from injury to play in a mostly pointless african cup of nations, possibly screwing themselves for the world cup. the tevez/neville war of words. the mess that is portsmouth. henry’s handball. liverpool. dirty transfers and subsequent transfer bans. mourinho assulting the press. this list could go on for hours). but despite everything that happens during this european season, i’ve always got an eye on south africa.

we know that landycakes will be leading the USMNT this summer, but who will be helping him to carry the load?

and the long wait for this summer’s main event seems to be getting slower, and slower, and slower for the USMNT and it’s fans. after our astonishing run to the confederations cup final last summer, the football gods decided that the US team had had enough fun and time in the sun. it’s been steep downhill since.

serious injuries to key players has been the biggest problem for the yanks. first it was charlie davies’ horrific car crash. next came oguchi onyewu’s blown patellar tendon, just days after davies’ accident. then last week, clint dempsey’s partially torn PCL has put his participation next summer in doubt.

but there are other problems to keep in mind, too. MLS’s lingering labor issues looks likely to lead to a lockout, meaning our domestic-based players are probably facing a long period of time without team training and match fitness. additionally, a few of our other regular european-based inernationals are just returning to playing from long injury lay-offs, like jay demerit at watford or maurice edu at rangers. kenny cooper, now playing for 1860 munich, is also laid up with a what i hope is a long-term injury.

then there are also some players whose form is either terrible and/or are burried on their team’s benches. jozy altidore has seen more time as of late, though hull signing egyptian international amr zaki will definitely limit his playing time further. jonathan spector has been very suspect for west ham as of late, while eddie johnson and freddy adu are keeping each other company greek side aris’ bench.

of course there are also american’s who have just made the leap across the pond, and will be hoping to make good first impressions at their new clubs to keep their world cup hopes alive. stuart holden has been the subject of much conjecture over the last month, with on-again-off-again moves to number of european sides (burnley, sporting braga, and most likely bolton). ricardo clark just signed with eintracht frankfurt, so he’ll need to settle in. and chris rolfe has just begun training with aalborg, his new team in denmark.

so with the clock ticking on the world cup roster deadline, and no shortage of major issues to consider, manager bob bradley has some big time decisions to make. that question is mainly, who is going to get one of the 23 boarding passes up for grabs for the plane to south africa next summer? well, now you’re going to get my predictions for who i think bradley will be picking… like it or not.

we’ll break this up into five categories of players, based on their odds of making the team. so, let’s see in a few months whether or not i will be eating my words.

for sure on the plane
these are players that anyone who has a passing interest in pro soccer knows would probably know will be on the team. the shoe-ins of the team.

1. landon donovan (f – everton / la galaxy): landycakes deservedly get’s the first seat on the plane, probably sitting right next to bob so they can make out talk about strategies and such. even if his loan to the toffees doesn’t go over that well, his inclusion is guaranteed. i would even go as far to say that even if he loses a leg in a liverpool pub fight, bradley will still take him.

2. tim howard (gk – everton): timmay’s seat is almost as much of a given as donovans. he’s the undisputed number one for the USMNT, with no apparent challengers… that is, unless brad friedel pulls a shocker and unretires. sorry, tim, i’m just saying.

3. carlos bocanegra (d – rennes): as captain of the team, it would blow my mind if he was left off the team. although he’s lost some pace over the last few years, and is prone to being a re-tard from time to time, he seems to inspire confidence in the defense when he’s out there with them. i’d really prefer to see him as our starting left back, unless injuries force him to the middle. but bob will play him in the middle.

4. jozy altidore (f – hull / villareal): despite the fact that jozy can’t get consistent time anywhere he plays, despite the fact that he hasn’t really been all that productive up front, and despite the fact that he can’t ever make it a full 90 whenever he plays for the national team… he’ll be on the plane. however, he needs more match fitness and experience if he’s to make an impact next summer. asking for compassionate leave due to the haiti crisis (due to having extended family living there) probably won’t help his cause either.

5. michael bradley (m – borussia mönchengladbach): there are many that believe mike is getting a free ticket just because he’s got dad in his corner, but i’m not in that camp. he’s performed well for the national team (40 caps, 7 goals), providing the gritty toughness that our midfield usually lacks. however, he sometimes gets sucked too far up field and can be wreckless with his challenges.

6. jay demerit (d -watford): having just returned from a long injury lay-off due to an eye infection caused by his contacts, the watford captain is just regaining his form for the championship outfit. personally, i think he’s the most underrated player in our national team. he’s a solid marker, good in the air, and tends to play intelligently. his fantastic play at last summer’s confederations cup cemented his place here for me. aside from a fully fit gooch, he’s the best center back in the USMNT pool. plus, his rise to this level is quite the story.

7. jonathan spector (d – west ham): though high expectations for the former manchester united starlet may have weighed down his development, spector is still the best right back our country has ever produced. he’s notorious for being wildly inconsistent: at his best he is a phenomenal player, at his worst and he would struggle to make my sunday league team. still, he’s an excellent crosser and can provide good defensive cover… most of the time.

8. brad guzan (gk – aston villa): despite being brad friedel’s apprentice at villa and timmay’s understudy with the USMNT, guzan is definitely the #2 goalie for the yanks. in limited appearances for villa this season, he’s shown his talent in the carling cup, fa cup and europa league this season.

it’s a little worrying that of the eight guys that i know will be going to south africa, two are keepers. the injury crisis prevented me from naming at least three players to this portion of my list; let’s see where they end up below.

as much as "deuce" annoys me, i know we need him this summer.

don’t have my pass yet, but i’m pretty sure i’m getting one
if i’m a betting man, which i’m not, i would wager that these guys will make the roster. but some extenuating circumstances could prevent them from making it (injuries, performances, etc.). we shall see.

9. oguchi onyewu (d – a.c. milan): gooch, if healthy, is one of the four best players in our squad. but his torn patellar tendon has me all sorts of worried. rumor is he’s close to a return, but i have doubts about a) him rushing back from injury to be ready for the world cup, and b) whether or not milan will give him an opportunity to play. the rosaneri are in the grips of a title chase, and can’t really afford to take chances on recently injured americans (i worried about this move when it happened, as i stated in this post). we’ll be taking him either way, unless his injured knee acts up again.

10. clint dempsey (m/f – fulham): same story as gooch. if he can fully recover from his partially torn PCL, then he’ll be on the plane. hell, even if he half recovers, he’ll be on there. but i worry that he’ll lose his explosiveness or lack his cocky confidence to take players on. if he can make it back to 100% though, he likely be a major player this summer. at least if he quits being so lazy.

11. ricardo clark (m - eintracht frankfurt): i debated throwing clark into the “for sure” category, but his recent move to germany made me warry. assuming he can earn some decent minutes, he’ll make the plane. but if he gets buried on the bench, losing form and confidence, i could see bradley leaving him out of the roster. otherwise, he’s a solid player. my only real complaint about him is he tries to force too many passes from the midfield.

12. stuart holden (m – bolton): my thought process about holden is the same as it was for ricardo clark. now that he’s landed at bolton, stu needs to break into the first team. my hope is that it isn’t too late in the season for bolton to really consider giving him serious minutes (i’ve written a whole post about this very subject). i like this kid a lot, and think he could be an impact player in south africa.

13. jonathan bornstein (d – chivas usa): the mexi-jew has his good and bad moments like most of the US backliners, and he’s known to be a bit inconsistent at times. however, bob likes the kid, so i’m sure he’ll make the plane. he’s real value comes from being a versatile player, as he can play left back or on the left flank. he’ll probably be in the fight to start at left back.

14. steve cherundolo (d – hannover 96): fully recovered from a run of injuries that kept him out of contention with national team over the last year or so, he’s a dependable and experienced right back. however, i expect that he’ll be backing up spector at the start of the finals.

15. benny feilhaber (m – agf aarhus): another one of bob’s favorites. although i’m not always impressed with his play for the national team, he has loads of international experience. as long as he’s not making risky passes and plays simple, he tends to do well and can be an good addition to the team.

16. maurice edu (m – rangers): now that he’s fit and getting quality minutes again for the scottish leaders, i would fully expect edu to make the 23-man roster this summer. if the former toronto fc holding mid can regain full fitness and stay healthy, he should contend for a starting spot.

sixteen spots between the top two groups, and only two true forwards out of the bunch. this is extremely worrying to me.

yeah i think so, but…
i could see the guys in this group making the team, but i could easily see them not making the team, too. i think so much is up in the air right now, it’s likely going to be the biggest group of my list. a lot depends on injuries/recoveries, and how some guys perform in the tune-up matches and with their clubs.

17. connor casey (f – colorado rapids): the big man seems to be one of bob bradley’s favorites too, and it makes my blood boil. i can’t stand him. he doesn’t work hard enough on the field. he rarely adds anything to the game, let alone score goals. he’s slow. i hate his face. i really, really, really hope he doesn’t get picked. but i need some other guys to step up and make bob take notice. it doesn’t matter what i think, though: bob will take him anyway.

18. jose francisco torres (m – pachuca): it’s no secret that i greatly admire torres. he’s creative, can play in the middle or on the flank, and is a great distributor. if he is excluded from this summer’s team, i could be tempted to finally hire a hit man to take care of bradley once and for all.

19. damarcus beasley (m – rangers): a star of the national team dating back to the 2002 world cup, beasley’s star has fallen a long way in the 24 months. injuries and lack of first team football in scotland had greatly reduced the speedy wingers form, and i thought his extremely poor play at the confederations cup last summer were nails in his USMNT coffin. however, beasley’s cracked back in to the rangers’ line up as of late and has been playing well. if he can continue to get time, improve his form and stay fit, he could find himself back in the picture for south africa.

20. marcus hahnemann (gk – wolverhampton wanderers): the third choice keeper for the americans in germany, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him fill that role again. he’s been quietly having a good season for wolves, after getting the axe from long term club reading in the summer.

21.  clarence goodson (d-start): though he doesn’t quite have the international experience that some other defenders in the pool have, he was one of the few solid performers in this past weekend’s honduras friendly. he was a calming presence for the defense, and his goal showed he is willing to attack offensively as well. his good size and speed are making me think he gets the nod over parkhurst, chad marshall or red card conrad.

22. edgar castillo (d – tigres): despite having significantly fewer caps than heath pearce, i think castillo’s a smarter defender all around. although i admit, my limited exposure to him makes me a little wary of picking him.

my surprise pick? charlie davies. the kid has magic powers or something.

23. charlie davies (f – sochaux): when i started writing this piece five days ago, i didn’t think there was a chance in hell that charlie would be making this team. i thought, “it’s too soon. he just won’t be fit enough yet.” then i read ives galarcep’s article for ESPN on davies’ recovery, and it’s completely changed my mind. did you know he’s already running? or that he fully expects to be back training with sochaux in february? this kid is blowing my mind right now. assuming he doesn’t have any set backs, he could likely play the last two months of the ligue 1 season. will he be the same player he was? i don’t know. but the fact he is already light years ahead of where he should be, it makes me believe he’s got more tricks up his sleeve. i believe in you, charlie!

i’m in… if someone get’s hurt
keep your fingers crossed boys; i’m thinking this is you’re only hope of making the squad. these guys will be competing for the three alternate places.

24. chris rolfe (f – aalborg): yes, i know i’m being a little biased here, but i legitimately think rolfe is one of the better players in our country. i know he’s better than connor casey. if chris can settle in and break in to aalborg’s line-up quickly, not to mention score some goals, he could possibly earn himself a seat on the plane. he is one of the more creative players in our pool, and can create opportunities for others just as well as he can for himself. we don’t have many guys that can be that creative.

25. robbie rogers (m – columbus crew): this kid obviously has loads of raw talent and skill, and could easily be a major player on the national team in the future. but his problem is how raw his talent is. he demonstrated that over and over against honduras. it’s like he thinks he’s ronaldo or something; he dribbles way too much. he can get away with that in MLS, but not on the international level. though, look for bob to consider him heavily if dempsey isn’t able to play.

26. kyle beckerman (m – real salt lake): i saw him play in person at the eastern conference finals against chicago last year, and he completely controlled the flow of the game. he’s quality player in the mold of a xavi or xabi alonso (obviously not quite to their calibers, though). unfortunately, he hasn’t quite shown any ability to translate that to the international stage. not that he has played horrible for the USMNT, it’s just he hasn’t controlled a game that way.

27. kenny cooper (f – 1860 munich): the former fc dallas striker is a valuable commodity due to his size, and i think he’s been more impressive than connor casey playing for the national team. he’s gotten decent minutes this year in germany and scored some goals, although he’s currently sidelined with an injury. if he can get healthy, i would choose him over a few other options (especially connor casey… i hate him).

28. troy perkins (gk – dc united): despite the pounding he took during the friendly loss to honduras last weekend, perkins was still impressive. if hahnemann doesn’t take up the third keeper spot, it will be perkin’s to lose.

29. michael parkhurst (d – nordsjælland) or chad marshall (d – columbus crew): i’m not sure which of these two would get the nod should we need more defensive cover. i could see either of them taking an alternates spot, so i’m calling it a tie for right now.

30. brian ching (f – houston dynamo): if one of the big guys up front that bradley prefers is hurt, i would expect he’ll take ching as a replacement. he likes to have a few big guys, especially since the rest of our team is so tiny. ching’s just gotten old and slow, which is the reason he’s fallen so far down the pecking order.

yeah, frickin’ right
should any of these players make the roster, i will lick my boots just like gary neville.

if adu thinks he has a shot at south africa, he's crazy.

freddy adu (m/f – aris): i never really thought that he was that special while playing in MLS, so his move to benfica was very surprising to me. since signing for the portuguese giants, adu’s been loaned out three straight years: monaco (9 appearances, 0 goals), belenenses (4 games, 0 goals), and now aris (no appearances yet). if he can’t break in at aris, then i’ll feel justified in calling him the most overhyped player ever… and that’s saying a lot.

sacha kljestan (m – chivas usa): aside from his hat trick against sweden last year, sacha has played himself out of national team contention. in all of his other 21 appearances, he was either invisible, or highly visible due to drastic mistakes.

eddie johnson (f – aris): just like his greek-side teammate adu, the man i would like to label “flash in the pan” has no business in making the USMNT. johnson was virtually a ghost after joining fulham, and made absolutely zero impact while on loan at cardiff city last year. i would imagine his ego is the only thing that is spectacular about him these days.

so 3,200 words later, you now have my predictions. i’m not saying i agree with all of these choices, i’m just saying that these are the people i expect bobby boy to be picking. i just hope i won’t have to suck on any socks or lick any boots (translation pending)!

what are your thoughts? good picks or bad? who would you rather see?