The US Mens National Team released their 30 man roster today which means 1 of 2 things.
- The world cup is right around the corner.
- The blogosphere is a buzz with thoughts.
Why not include mine?
At keeper: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann and Brad Guzan. This is Timmy's world cup and he has been playing extremely well for Everton in the Premiere League. I'm not surprised with Marcus because he too had a pretty good season in one of the toughest leagues. Brad will do well on the bench but the only time he has had this season has been in Carling Cup/FA Cup ties for Aston Villa. Was there no other keeper that has seen more time and played well available?
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce, Chad Marshall
Of course Guch and Bocanegra will be starting in the middle but where I see the US struggling is on the sides. It's good to see Steve Cherundelo back. He has always been a good side defender especially playing healthy . It looks like the other side will be split between Bornstein and Pearce. Outside of the equalizer Bornstein scored against Costa Rica, I have no idea why he ever plays for the US team. He's constantly out of position and gets beet regularly. Pearce has flashes of playing really well or very poorly. I look for teams to go after the US on the flanks (especially with the likes of Lennon, Wright Phillips and Walcott for England).
Midfielders: Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers
The strength of the US squad is with their midfield. Donovan had an amazing loan spell with Everton which gives US fans something to look forward to while Dempsey has helped steer his club to the Euro league final.
Normally, the US has usually found itself playing a dual Defensive Midfield formation which usually does not help with offense. I would argue we would need the likes of at least a Torres or a Feilhaber on the field to give us an additional spark offensively.
Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Robbie Findley, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez
I'm really torn here because I was pulling for Davies to make the squad but alas, he ran out of time and I trust the decision of the medical staff of both his club in France and the US federation. Jozy needs a speedster with him to play off him and who will that be? The rest of the bunch are similar types of forwards as Altidore. Findley has the pace but his touch is lacking, Ching, Buddle, Johnson, all play a similar style to Altidore it's just that Altidore has a better touch. It will be interesting to see how Gomez plays. Obviously he plays well with the Mexican style as is evidenced by him sharing the golden boot for the Mexican League.
Final assessment: the US is going to need a lot of scoring from its midfield to make up for lack of depth at the forward position.
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