Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas to All NP fans.

To: My Readers

From: Your faithful Editor in Chief of Ninety Plus

Some videos for you to enjoy when your done unwrapping presents.

First, a 2009 wrap-up of the US team:




Landon Donovan to Everton preview from my good friend Lawrence Cernaglia:





USA vs England teaser trailer from friend Rob Usry:

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Yanks Transfer News


Some quick hits from the transfer front:

*Landon Donovan has been granted his Work Permit by the Home Office and will join Everton on loan.  His first appearance can come on January 2 in the FA Cup.

*Stuart Holden's current tabled offers are from Aberdeen and Rangers in Scotland and Blackburn in England.  Rumors have Blackburn offering Holden a four year deal.

*Ricardo Clark is being linked with Premiership clubs according to to Sky News.  Finally some news on Rico and to be honest, its better than expected as I never thought Rico was on any English clubs radar, but lets hope this pans out as we head into the official transfer period. 

Look for more on Holden and Clark in the coming weeks.  The January camp guys will begin gathering in LA on January 4. 

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Bradley Calls 30



Welcome to the US Men's National Team program Marcus Tracy!  The Aalborg forward is one of nine players on the 30 man roster who have yet to earn a cap.  Let's look back at my predicted 30 from a couple weeks ago:

GK (4): Troy Perkins, Chris Seitz, Zach Thornton, Nick Rimando
DF (10): Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson, Chad Marshall, Michael Parkhurst, Heath Pearce, Kevin Alston, Marvell Wynne, Jonathan Bornstein, Darrius Barnes
MF (10): Jeremiah White, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers, Alejandro Bedoya, Mikkel Diskerud, Kyle Beckerman, Dax McCarty, Chris Pontius, Brad Davis, John Thorrington
FW: Robbie Findley, Chris Rolfe, Marcus Tracy, Jeff Cunningham, Conor Casey, Brian Ching

Well I was nearly right on alot of it, left off the official roster who were on mine are: Seitz, Parkhurst, Barnes, White, Diskerud, Thorrington, Rolfe, and Ching.

Here is the full official roster:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS (9): Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (5): Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)

Some quick hits:

*Most surprising inclusions?  Justin Braun, Kevin Hartmann, Eddie Gaven, and Brandon McDonald...and Benny Feilhaber simply because I assumed his place in the 23 was safe, maybe he just wants to stay fit through the Danish league's winter break.

*12 midfielders hints to me that Mr. Bradley is looking for someone to step up and grab a spot should Maurice Edu or Jermaine Jones not be fully match fit by the summertime, I'd expect Beckerman, Kljestan, Larentowicz, or maybe Cameron to step up big time.  Very excited to see Alejandro Bedoya get the call.

*Michael Parkhurst starts every game for FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark and a guy like Brandon McDonald gets the call before him?  No knock on McDonald, I'm not an Earthquakes follower by any stretch, but it seems that Parkhurst would be ahead of him in the pecking order.

*Heath Pearce and Marvell Wynne get their final chance to prove themselves.  Is Wynne still too raw for the international stage?  We know his speed is world class, but how about his defending?  Does Heath Pearce have what it takes to reclaim the left back spot from a shaky at best Bornstein?

*Race for the #4 centerback spot is on!  Chad Marshall (my pick), Jimmy Conrad, Clarence Goodson, Omar Gonzalez, and Geoff Cameron all will vie for that spot. 

*If CD9 is down for the count, who replaces him on the roster?  Is it the savvy veteran Cunningham?  The Ferrari-esque Findley, or the Danish workhorse Tracy?  Does Braun even get a cap in this one?  What purpose will Casey serve?

*Have we finally seen the end of the old guard?  (Hedjuk, Ching, Mastroeni, etc.)  Camp Cupcake just became camp survivor and whoever starts the game will logically have a chance of making the 23. 

My starting 11?  How about this tasty combo:

-----------------------------Perkins

Alston-----------Marshall------------Goodson------------Pearce

----------------Beckerman-----------Feilhaber

Kljestan---------------------------------------------------Rogers

-------------------Tracy--------------Findley