Saturday, March 16, 2013

WCQ Predicted Roster: USA v CRC/MEX


Goalkeeper
Brad Guzan
Nick Rimando
Sean Johnson

... yea, pretty much a no brainer.

Defense 
Geoff Cameron
Fabian Johnson
Timothy Chandler
Carlos Bocanegra
Omar Gonzalez
Michael Parkhurst
Edgar Castillo

... truthfully Bocanegra shouldn't even get this call. I mean, he's not even playing for his division 2 squad. But I think he gets the call based on his past Concacaf experience and sits in as more of a guide for the young guys. 
... Castillo had been on a good stretch of form in Liga MX. Unfortunately he broke his face and is racing against the clock.
Michael Parkhurst is in the same position as Bocanegra except the outside back position is a bit shallower to choose from

Midfield 
Michael Bradley
Jermaine Jones
Maurice Edu
Sacha Kljestan
Danny Williams
Graham Zusi
Jose Torres

… no real surprises in this group for me. Jose Torres has been playing Great for Tigres so I think he gets the call. The problem with the midfield is that while all (MB/Jones/Edu/JFT) can play that DM role only Danny Williams is the true one of the bunch. MB/Jones/Edu/JFT are all possible starters but all like to go both ways. So if you start a combo of any of those four you leave the possibility of too many pushing up without enough cover defensively. If they’re all on the same page then great, but if they’re not, then we leave ourselves too exposed.

Also, none of these players are truly the “creative” types. That responsibility would be left up more to the likes of a Mixx (who can’t seem to even make a Jan. camp starting roster), Adu (no explanation needed), Feilhaber (who isn’t consistent enough), or Zusi (who is the closest, but not quite technical enough yet for the pace of the international game) I leave Kljestan out of the group only because it is to my understanding that his game has since morphed into more of two-way player, than his Chivas USA CAM days. He’s more akin to the quartet of two-way players I first referenced.

Forwards/Wingers 
Clint Dempsey
Brek Shea
Herculez Gomez
Jozy Altidore
Terrance Boyd
Alejandro Bedoya

Eddie Johnson gets the snub here for me, only because he hasn’t really come out of the gates as I think we all would’ve liked (yes I saw his goal vs Tigres), but also because he doesn’t truly provide us with any really wide threat. He, like Dempsey, even though stationed out on the left, will always tend to drift in. Which is the same reason that Clint won’t work out there. So even though we’re limited with our wing options, I feel that Shea, Gomez, Zusi and Bedoya (who I’m a huge fan of out wide) will provide more width. Also, I realize that Gomez is not a traditional winger, but his work rate makes up for it. You’re not gonna get what he gives you out wide in terms of “fight” from Dempsey or EJ.


 If Jurgen’s a smart man he’ll take this all into consideration. If he wants a smooth road to Brazil that is!

Starting Line-up Below...

Starting 11 provided courtesy of American Soccer Now

Thursday, January 24, 2013

USA v CAN: Predicted Lineup


With a pair of USMNT games fast approaching, I figure it’s time for me to put in my two cents.. 
These are always hard to predict, because none of us get the chance to be there while these guys are practicing, so who really knows what the heck is going on out there… *man I wish I knew what was going on out there*

GOALKEEPERS (3): Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson
(Chicago Fire)

I see all of these guys as being pretty equal, with Hamid being my pick for lesser of the three (everytime I see him it’s like he’s making a bonehead move) and Johnson as the frontrunner. It’d be nice for Hall to get the nod since it is at the BBVA in front of his home fans, but then again Jurgen isn’t really keen on sentiment. Remember that time we played in Belgium…? Sacha Kjlestan doesn’t.


DEFENDERS (8): Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Connor Lade (New York Red Bulls), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Justin Morrow (San Jose Earthquakes), Jeff Parke (Philadelphia Union)

I think the toss up here will be between Besler and Parke, because I’m almost certain that Omar will be starting. I’d give the nod to Besler as it’s the more likely CB pairing for the future and he’s left footed. Not to take anything away from Parke, I still hope he gets some clock and represents well for the U! Beltran on the right, Morrow on the left.

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (out of contract), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Joshua Gatt (Molde), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

The midfield is just so damn hard to predict… I love it! I’m thinking of this two fold, Jurgen knows that the Canada team we’re playing really isn’t that strong, but at the same time he’s keeping an eye on players with the WCQ on Feb 6th in mind. Conventional wisdom tells me that Beckerman without a doubt will be starting at CDM (him not in the starting lineup would be the biggest shock for me). Mix and Zusi bring the best attack minded combo to the middle of the field with Benny first off the bench.

FORWARDS (4): Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Will Bruin (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Will Bruin scoring two goals against Tijuana has gotta count for something right? He’s really started to grow on me, especially after his playoff display. I just don’t see Wondo leading the line in any single striker variation that Jurgen may concoct (4-3-3/4-5-1/4-3-2-1…) So doubt he gets the start. Agudelo seems to really shine in that late sub role so that’s where I see him again and I don’t really like EJ wide on the left, but it worked in that last round so why not try it again. That leaves us with the right side of the field. Now Gatt has tremendous potential and a ton of speed, but I still have not been able to get over Bedoya’s performance in the 2011 Gold Cup. I thought he was a terror down that right side and filled in admirably for Landon, which wouldn’t ya know, is where we find ourselves again in 2013. Gatt has the slight edge in actually playing in a Jurgen camp before (Russia game), but I think that Bedoya had a better ending to 2012 than Gatt and will parlay that into a starting nod come the 29th in Houston. Or… I’m way off, neither of those guys line up out there and JK throws Zusi out there and Benny in the middle with Mix ??? Either way, can’t wait to see what Klinsman does with the roster. I’ll do another one of these for Honduras too it’ll be great, see yall then!

Oh and here’s my USA v CAN lineup. Thanks to @ThisIsASN for these lineup creator doohickey #bestthingever