The U.S. men's program is back in the news this week. They're heading into the toughest stretch of friendlies ever, facing England (May 28th - 3:00 p.m. ESPN Classic), then Spain (June 4th - 5:30 p.m. ESPN2), and then perhaps the best team in the world, Argentina (June 8th - 7:30 p.m. ESPN Classic). Typically, there's no downside to playing friendlies against such respected teams. But playing three top teams in a row, on the cusp of World Cup qualifying, carries the risk of exposing weaknesses and demoralizing the team if we aren't competitive. Believe me, they are taking these games seriously. Coach Bradley is calling up so many different kinds of players, relying pretty heavily on players that will feature prominently in qualifying - particularly those that are just outside the staring XI. We'll probably see about 20 different players take the pitch in the three games.
Maybe I'll do more posts about the player pool later. Let's talk forwards right now. This is a traditional weakness for the MNT given the undersized athlete that is attracted to soccer in our country. With Brian McBride out of the picture, it's time for the next generation to arrive. The current crop is Taylor Twellman, Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey, and the hot and cold Eddie Johnson. Will Jozy Altidore, Nate Jacqua, Freddy Adu, and Kenny Cooper find their way into the mix? Bob Bradley will begin the process of finding out.
Here's the player pool for the England match:
Men's National Team vs. England
May 28, 2008 - Wembley Stadium
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Birthdate | Caps/G | Hometown | Club |
| Adu, Freddy | M | 5'8" | 140 | 6/2/1989 | 4/0 | Potomac, Md. | SC Benfica (Portugal) |
| Beasley, DaMarcus | M | 5'8" | 145 | 5/24/1982 | 68/15 | Ft. Wayne, Ind. | Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) |
| Bocanegra, Carlos | D | 6'0" | 170 | 5/25/1979 | 55/9 | Alta Loma, Calif. | Fulham FC (England) |
| Bradley, Michael | M | 6'2" | 175 | 7/31/1987 | 16/1 | Cedar Grove, N.J. | SC Heerenveen (Holland) |
| Califf, Dan | D | 6'1" | 175 | 3/17/1980 | 16/1 | Orange, Calif. | FC Midtjylland (Denmark) |
| Cervi, Dominic | GK | 6'6" | 205 | 7/9/1986 | 0/0 | Norman, Okla. | Out of Contract |
| Cherundolo, Steve | D | 5'6" | 145 | 2/19/1979 | 44/2 | San Diego, Calif. | Hannover 96 (Germany) |
| Clark, Ricardo | M | 5'10" | 150 | 5/10/1983 | 13/1 | Jonesboro, Ga. | Houston Dynamo (MLS) |
| DeMerit, Jay | D | 6'0" | 185 | 12/4/1979 | 7/0 | Green Bay, Wis. | Watford FC (England) |
| Dempsey, Clint | F | 6'1" | 170 | 3/9/1983 | 38/9 | Nacogdoches, Texas | Fulham FC (England) |
| Donovan, Landon | F | 5'8" | 148 | 3/4/1982 | 99/35 | Redlands, Calif. | Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) |
| Feilhaber, Benny | M | 5'9" | 150 | 1/19/1985 | 16/2 | Irvine, Calif. | Derby County (England) |
| Guzan, Brad | GK | 6'4" | 210 | 9/9/1984 | 5/0 | Homer Glen, Ill. | Chivas USA (MLS) |
| Howard, Tim | GK | 6'3" | 210 | 3/6/1979 | 28/0 | North Brunswick, N.J. | Everton FC (England) |
| Jaqua, Nate | F | 6'3" | 180 | 10/28/1981 | 2/0 | Eugene, Ore. | Out of Contract |
| Johnson, Eddie | F | 6'0" | 180 | 3/31/1984 | 32/11 | Palm Coast, Fla. | Fulham FC (England) |
| Lewis, Eddie | M | 5'10" | 155 | 5/17/1974 | 75/9 | Cerritos, Calif. | Derby County (England) |
| Onyewu, Oguchi | D | 6'4" | 210 | 5/13/1982 | 30/4 | Olney, Md. | Standard de Liege (Belgium) |
| Orozco, Michael | D | 5'11" | 160 | 2/7/1986 | 0/0 | Orange, Calif. | San Luis (Mexico) |
| Pearce, Heath | D | 5'10" | 175 | 8/13/1984 | 11/0 | Modesto, Calif. | Hansa Rostock (Germany) |
| Spector, Jonathan | D | 6'0" | 180 | 3/1/1986 | 12/0 | Arlington Heights, Ill. | West Ham United (England) |
| Wolff, Josh | F | 5'8" | 160 | 2/25/1977 | 50/9 | Stone Mountain, Ga. | Out of Contract |
USA Forward problem:
ReplyDeleteUndersized? Mostly, but look at Eto'o, Tevez, Rooney, Owen, etc.
I guess those players usually do best when there is a big center forward to play off of, however, I think the best thing going right now is Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo....all small and fast. They do all have strength though.
Dempsey has the size and touch to be a good center forward, but hasn't played that position much - before going to Fulham. He was best in New England coming out of the midfield, but he doesn't have the skills to play that position in England and he's not fast enough to play winger in England so I guess that is why Fulham have him at forward.
I'm voting for a Dempsey/Adu partnership.
What is wrong with training techniques in the US? People like Ching show promise, but never seam to get better. Adu goes to Portugal and you can see an immediate difference. Same with McBride and Dempsey once they went to England. Mark Burch last year showed he was an excellent crosser of the ball - this year he's worse - what's up with that?!
I think it's primarily a size issue. Our best athletes above 6 feet and 180 pounds are in football or basketball. The best offensive soccer players - the most lethal, with the best finishes and speed, are all undersized.
ReplyDeleteSomething about the MLS encourages really physical play in the midfield, but doesn't seem to attract that many players who make their living in the final third. Gomez, Lopez, Blanco, all these guys dominate from the midfield and set up their playmakers when they don't score off their pure skill themselves.
I see a lot of promise in Dempsey and Altidore. Adu, I like, but he has a long way to go to be a complete player worthy of 90 minutes at the senior level.
Garcep's commentary on US forwards following the US v England match:
ReplyDeletehttp://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=540705&root=us&&cc=5901