Welcome Back, Eddie
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back…the interlull. That’s right: after less than a month’s break, we’re back to weekends without club footy, with only a tiny smattering of meaningful international matches for World Cup qualification. For everyone else, it’s back to the grind of meaningless international friendlies.
The U.S. has two: against Slovakia on Saturday and against Denmark next Wednesday. These friendlies aren’t simply about deciding who’s going to be the fourth holding midfielder or third goalkeeper; late injuries to both Charlie Davies, Jay DeMerit, and Oguchi Onyewu have possibly opened up three positions for fringe players to snag. These friendlies (and their presumed counterparts in March and May) are like tryouts for the new guys, and take on a vitally important role for manager Bob Bradley.
Unfortunately, this is an area where Bradley’s not always shone his brightest; if there’s one criticism of his selection process, it’s often been that there’s a marked lack of creativity about who’s brought along for the ride. Bradley’s shown a lot of loyalty to players that most objective observers would have removed for lack of production awhile back; at the same time, other players who’ve been similarly productive have been given extremely short leashes. These openings really mess up his long term planning, however, and will force him to “think outside the box” a little.
After the jump, let’s look at the new faces and talk about who’s got a realistic shot at getting into the final World Cup squad, who Bradley left out, and what we should really be expecting from this team.
Let’s get started, shall we?
Goalkeepers
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Vålerenga)
I’m going to come right out and say that I like Brad Guzan. I like him a lot, actually; I think that, in certain situations, he brings a little bit of discipline to the keeper position that first choice keeper Tim Howard sometimes can lack. Make no mistake: I don’t think he’s better than Howard. I do like what he brings, though, and I think that it’s good to get him into the squad for first team matches like this; I was a big fan of giving him some time in the Gold Cup for that reason, but instead he went to the Peace Cup with Aston Villa (and performed superbly).
The guy who handled Gold Cup duties was Troy Perkins. I don’t know a lot about Perkins, but from what I saw in the Gold Cup he’s a competent third-string keeper; my guess is that Bradley’s trying to figure out whether to name Marcus Hahnemann (who’s 37 and hasn’t appeared with the U.S. team since 2007) or the younger Perkins to his final World Cup roster. My money’s on Perkins there.
Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejudk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
I’m just going to come out and say it: I have no idea where we’re at with the defense. The centerback pairing I like the most was DeMerit and Onyewu; DeMerit had eye surgery on October 17th, which could keep him out for about two months, while Onyewu’s looking at returning sometime in April from a torn patella tendon. Six months for a torn patella seems like an awfully optimistic recovery time; even if he returns by then, he’s likely to not be at full fitness by the World Cup.
This leaves the U.S. with several “lesser of two evils” decisions to make. Bocanegra’s fairly good play filling in at left back is now likely over; he’ll come back into the center, probably alongside Chad Marshall. That’ll bring Jonathan Bornstein back in to reprise his left back role, where (his equalizer against Costa Rica notwithstanding) he’s struggled a bit. A nice addition to the mix would’ve been the L.A. Galaxy’s Todd Dunivant, but the MLS Playoffs prevent him from being called up.
Right back is a similar mystery; the enthusiasm of Frankie Hejduk is a nice lift for the team, but Hejduk’s 35 and has lost a bit of pace. Jonathan Spector, who played there in the Confederations Cup, isn’t getting regular time at West Ham (and looked poor against Everton on Sunday when filling in at left back). My lukewarm favorite for the spot is Steve Cherundulo; I can’t help but think that there’s gotta be an untapped resource somewhere who can play this position better than the people on this roster.
Midfielders
Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
Between the MLS playoffs, Mexican league playoffs, and injuries, it’s probably fair to say that this is not the strongest midfield group the U.S. is capable of fielding. Of this roster, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and probably Benny Feilhaber are pretty much locks to go through. That said, there are several players I would’ve liked to have seen here if it had been possible:
- Jose Francisco Torres, who’s missing time to play with Pachuca (apparently Mexico doesn’t take off for international breaks either).
- Jermaine Jones, the German Giuseppe Rossi who’s yet to earn a cap with the U.S. because of a shin injury.
- Maurice Edu, the Rangers central midfielder who is also recovering from injury.
- Stuart Holden, who’s done a nice job on the wings, misses out on a shot here because the Dynamo are still in the MLS playoffs.
Dax McCarty will earn his first cap if he gets to play. I know nothing about him, so feel free to fill me in; he’s really the only guy here who could surprise me, as I’m pretty sure I know what I’m going to get out of the rest of these players. Quite honestly, Bradley’s probably going to have to spend a lot of time figuring out who’s healthy and revisit this position in March; this probably isn’t the talent pool that he’s going to take.
Forwards
Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)
Usually I’d take this space to rip Conor Casey, but since he’s now broken his duck and is pretty much a lock to go to South Africa, we’ll give him a pass. However, that doesn’t mean that he should’ve been selected for this squad.
See, striker’s our biggest need area at the moment. Losing Charlie Davies changes the entire dynamic of the attack, and Bradley’s going to have a tall order finding a replacement. Both Casey and Altidore are going to South Africa; why call them up for evaluation? You know Altidore almost has to go, and Casey’s not been left out by Bradley yet. Brian Ching and Landon Donovan are still in the playoffs, so they can’t be called up; that leaves you the possibility of evaluating all kinds of new talent.
It also allows you to reevaluate talent that you’ve previously written off, as Bradley’s seeming to do with Eddie Johnson. Johnson’s kind of the anti-Conor Casey; he’s scored 12 goals in 37 matches, and has had some brilliant moments; he’s also looked absolutely terrible. The lack of consistency is troubling, but the fact remains that there is some ability there; unfortunately, Bradley’s probably not the guy to bring it out of Johnson.
It’s also time to start talking about Freddy Adu again. Bradley’s taken a hard line stance on Adu; he won’t play for country until he plays for club. While I agree with that policy, the reality is that it seems to only apply to Freddy Adu; Jozy Altidore, Jonathan Spector, Oguchi Onyewu, and Brad Guzan have all gotten playing time in spite of the fact that their appearances for club have been sporadic. Eddie Johnson, who was just called up, hasn’t had a complete game since November 22nd of 2008, when he played in a match for Cardiff City against Plymouth Argyle; he hasn’t played a complete match for Fulham since March of 2008. If he’s getting time, than Adu should be getting time.
While Adu might be getting a raw deal, I have no idea why Kenny Cooper’s not on this list. He’s the fringe player most likely to step in to the roster spot vacated by Davies; he should be getting a shot at playing for the position.
Usually I go on to talk about tactics, but this is a squad for friendlies; tactics are really irrelevant. It’s about seeing how different combinations of players work together and seeing how different things work; I’d expect to see an odd formation or two, and I’d expect to see some glaringly stupid errors as communication breaks down. That’s to be expected with new players; unfortunately, Bradley’s going to have to pick the best of those new players and bring them along for what could be a very interesting World Cup experience in June.
If I had to guess why Eddie was chosen over Freddy for this lineup – and I’m stretching here, quite badly – it’s because Freddy right now is actually starting to see a little bit of playing time at Beleneseses, where Eddie is glued to the reserves at Fulham. If Freddy gets pulled for the international friendlies, maybe that hurts any chance he has to continue playing with his club… we already know how much Eddie is going to play at Fulham (cup games, and the occasional European night if lucky), so we aren’t damaging his chance to see “significant” playing time if we pull him away from the club now.
It’s a cracker-jack theory, but to catch a Bob Bradley, you must be able to (not) think like a Bob Bradley.
Goalkeepers: I’d still take Marcus over Troy for the simple fact that as a keeper, his age doesn’t trouble me (Keller is 40, Edwin VDS is 39, etc) and he’s had more top flight experience (and success) than Perkins. I think in a third keeper you just want somebody who won’t make mistakes, and I think he’s a better bet in that regard than Perkins. I too, like Guzan.
Defenders: It’s too bad Houston are still in the playoffs- this would be a great chance to give Geoff Cameron a run out to see what he can do.
Midfielders: I think Holden is going- especially after all of the injuries. If I were Bob Bradley the only way Maurice Edu would get into another USMNT match is if he bought a ticket. He’s a slightly better version of Marvell Wynne, who’s awful.
Forwards: Why not give Freddy a shot? I don’t think he’s the answer, but, why not? Cunningham should get a start- if he can continue his MLS form, we could be onto something. I also agree 100% on Kenny Cooper, especially if he could be in the side instead of CC.
Great post!
I can see bringing the experienced Hahnemann, I suppose, but he’s not really ever playing. It’s kind of a moot point, though; chances are the third keeper will never even make the bench.
I’ve read rumors that this squad might change dramatically before Wednesday’s match with Denmark, too, and that the new squad may include the Mexicans (Castillo and Torres). I’m hoping that rumor’s true.