US Gold Cup Roster

So I am a little disappointed with Bob Bradley’s 23 man roster, but there are some pleasant surprises. Let’s dive into the disappointments first; Jonathan Bornstein, and Robbie Rogers. I am a fan of Robbie Rogers but his attitude and laziness on the field has got to go away before he can seriously represent the US, calling him in for friendly’s is ok but this is for the Gold Cup. Jonathan Bornstein is a work horse and someone that Bradley likes on the field, but he is probably one of the worst passers on the team. He does a great job getting forward only to cross the ball over the goal, what a waste.

The pleasant surprises were pretty easy to spot, Freddy Adu and Nick Rimando are the two that I would point out in this category. Adu has been playing well in Turkey, even though it is for a second division side. Can you believe he is still only 21? Kid still has a bright future. Nick Rimando was a surprise because RSL are having a terrific season and recently lost their play-maker in Javier Morales, you would think that they would want some stability between the posts for extra support. In any case, he is pure quality and deserved a call up to the squad.

Here is the squad in full… what are your thoughts? Any surprises for you?

GOALKEEPERS (3): Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Leeds), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Freddy Adu (Rizespor), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (3): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

New Convenience Market at Work

I know this post is way off my normal topic, but I just had to share.

Instead of vending machines my work has installed a system that rivals a Mini Mart. It is called AvantiMarkets and it rocks, no more scrouging for change to feed the soda machine. Long gone are the days when you would put your money in and nothing comes out, oh no, this is the way to go!

Bale vs Inter

Saw this video a while ago, but wanted to post it to my blog. Bale is emerging as one of the best young players in the world, hope Tottenham can keep him. This is video of him destroying Maicon.

Weekend Re-Cap

There was a lot of soccer action this weekend, plenty of goals were scored in the MLS and Tottenham was finally able to get a much needed win.

For Tottenham, it could not have come at a better time or against a better opponent. 2-0 was the score line at Anfield against a Liverpool side chasing Europa league qualification, Tottenham needed to win the game to stay ahead of Liverpool on points and keep their 5^th spot intact. The game started bright for Tottenham, they were controlling possession and looking like the team that was going to get on the board. VDV scored from a failed clearance off a corner kick, it was a beautiful right footed shot that took a little deflection off the Liverpool defender and floated right over Pepe Reina’s head. From there the game opened up for a little bit with Liverpool grabbing the majority of possession, they did not really threaten but looked more relaxed going forward. Soon after the half, Liverpool conceded a penalty on a clumsy challenge from Flanagan. Modric stepped up to make it 2-0 Tottenham, The game ended with Liverpool pushing for a goal but for the first time in a long time Spurs kept a clean sheet.

Ledley King made the starting line-up and looked like he hadn’t missed a day of training, keeping the likes of Suarez and Carroll at bay is no easy task. I love that King is back and healthy, but for how long is the question. Between the knee and the hamstring you never know when he will go down, and when he does it will be for a long time. My thoughts are to let him go and fill the void with someone who is less injury prone, I love King but he misses more games than he plays and it hurts the back line. Birmingham is the last game of the season; hope to wrap it up on a positive note going into next season with the Europa League to look forward to.

Who looked good in the MLS this weekend? Well I did not get to watch all the games but mlssoccer.com has really good highlights of all the action and I spend some time in the morning catching up that way.

Donovan and Beckham were both on target for the Galaxy as they went on to route SKC at the Home Depot Center. The highlight of this game was the David Beckham free kick, that is about all he is good for these days.  Columbus fell apart defensively against the Earthquakes in San Jose, the Stephenson Strike from distance put the nail in the coffin so to speak. Chivas USA slowed down the red hot Red Bulls with Justin Braun leading the way with 3 goals, check out the game highlights here – NY vs ChivasUSA. This was probably the best game of the weekend, Chivas would go on top and then NY would equalize until the final goal in the 56 minute. NY pushed for the equalizer, but Chivas USA was able to hold off for the away win. Rounding off the rest of the weekend: Dallas beat Philidelphia 2 0 at home with goals from Shea and Castillo, New England got the home win against Vancouver 1-0, Real Salt Lake and Houston battled it out to a 0-0 draw in Utah, DC hosted Colorado and lost both Charlie Davies and Josh Wolf to injuries, the game ended 1-1, and Portland traveled into Seattle for a huge derby match that ended up 1-1.

USMNT Projected Gold Cup Roster

I want to chime in on what I think the USMNT roster will be for this year’s Gold Cup, I have read a couple of these already and agree with a lot of what is out there. Bradley will probably call in 20 – 25 players for the entire tournament and 22 will probably make the final squad, here are my final picks:

Goal Keeper:



Tim Howard



Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, and David Yelldell – Howard is obvious but Guzan and Yelldell are complete guesses. Guzan is getting married this summer and might not want to play and Yelldell has only had one run with US but looked good, and he is getting regular minutes with his club in Germany.

Defenders:

Oguchi Onyewu, Eric Lichaj, Tim Ream, Clearance Goodson, Timothy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Marvell Wynne, and Anthony Wallace or Zach Loyd. The reason why Jay Demerit is not on my list is because I don’t think that he is going to be fully fit in time due to his most recent injury. The Last two on my list are interesting to me, Wynne has shown that he can be an effect defender while playing in the middle and has blistering pace, something that not many central defenders have. Wallace has got good pace and positioning, he could get involved in the attack more but that will come with time.

Midfielders:



USMNT Top goalscorer Landon Donovan



Stuart Holden would have been a lock but with the injury he is out for sure, unfortunate because he was arguably playing the best soccer out of our mids. With that said the mids are as follows: Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Jonathan Spector, Maurice Edu, Geoff Cameron, Benny Feilhaber, and Alejandro Bedoya.  Geoff Cameron and Jonathan Spector are the surprises here, Cameron got a call up to a January camp last year but had to withdraw due to injury and Spector has impressed with him club in the middle.  Cameron is a big body who can handle the ball and deserves a look and Spector has impressed with his late runs into the attacking area from a deep lying central midfield position. This looks to be the best fit for Spector, with good skill and touch on the ball, he only lacks the speed to play on the wings.

Forwards:

Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury and Herculez Gomez. Altidore is not doing the best of jobs in Turkey right now and Agudelo lost his starting spot to Rogers at NY, but both will make their way onto the roster. Gomez is a hard working striker who seems to always find himself in a good position to score a goal and Bunbury might just be the best point man we have. Unfortunately for Charlie Davies he misses out on the making the cut, he might be leading the league in goal scoring but half of them have come from the spot and that just isn’t the same as scoring from the run of play. He is getting back the confidence and the speed that got him noticed in the first place, but he just is not all the way there yet and Bradley will probably want him to stay with DC and continue getting game fit.

Looking Forward to Next Season

Last night in Tottenham dominated poccession, had more shots on goal and basically dictated the entire game against Man City. If anyone was going to score it was going to be Tottenham, but an unfortunate lapse in focus cost them a goal. James Milner found a teammates feet from a corner kick and then got the ball right back and was able to dribble into the penalty spot before a Tottenham defender put him under any pressure. The young Danny Rose was late to defend Milner who put in a low driven cross, Crouch was not quick enough to react and it went off his foot and into the back of the net. Unfortunate lesson for the young Danny Rose who otherwise looked solid on the night, Ekotto might have some competition for the left back spot when he returns to fitness. I have to say that I was happy with the way Spurs played on the night, especially with the way they have been playing other teams with less quality. When the season is over and the transfer window opens they will have some work to do if they truly want to get back into the Champions League. Here are some players that I would like to see sold and some I would like to see brought in.

SELL:

Strikers:
Roman Pavlyuchenko - The man cannot hold up the ball to save his life, and for being is tall as he is it is a crime that he cannot win anything in the air... it comes down to him being lazy on and off the ball. But given a good look at goal he can bury it, I don't think that he ever got used to the English game where you have to work for your shots and help your team maintain poccession of the ball.

Mid:

Wilson Palacios - When we bought him he was a rock in the middle that we needed, now he is always injured and going to find it hard to break back into the lineup with Sandro Huddlestone and Modric all in front of him. I like his strong tackles, but he cannot distribute the ball as well as Sandro who is just as good covering the middle.

Niko Kranjcar - Love this player, but he is un-happy and deserves first team football. If we sell VDV, which I do not think we will, Kranjcar could see more time. But he is a quality player that is so far behind in our depth chart right now that he has hardly seen the field.

David Bentley - Bentley used to be money when he was with Blackburn, but when he made his big money move to Tottenham he tried to do too much and was typically deployed in an uncomfortable position. He fell behind Lennon, got into a tiff with the manager and then was shipped out on loan to Birmingham. He is struggling to find time there as well.

Defenders:
Ledley King &
Jonathan Woodgate - Love these two guys but why pay big money for players that cannot play. Both have suffered from long term injuries with no end in sight... get them off the books and start rebuilding the back with Dawson and Kaboul.


BUY:

Strikers:
I would love to see anyone of the following come to White Hart Lane: Sergio Aguero, Kevin Gameiro, Asamoah Gyan, and Didier Drogba. All of these strikers would be an improvement to the current strike force. Drogba is the oldest of them, but he can still hold up the ball well and has one of the best first touches in the game.

Mids:
Our midfield is really solid right now and does not really need much, but I would love to see a big money player come in. I really have no one in mind off the top of my head.

Def:

The outside backs are a little weak and could use some competition. Ekotto has really stepped up his game this year and proved that he can play well but there is really no one behind him. Corluka and Hutton are both decent players, but Tottenham want to get a premier back that can run up and down that line. I would love to see Timothy Chandler, or Mica Richards brought in. Both are very strong and athletic and like to get involved in the attack.

GK:

Maarten Stekelenburg from Ajax is supposedly a target in the summer, anyone is better than butter fingers Gomez.

Getting Started

This is my first post on my new blog... I have been posting on my fathers blog and will continue to do so, but now I finally have a place just for me.