NP's 30 for May 11

One week from today, the picture will be clearer.  On May 11 Bob Bradley will release the preliminary camp roster for the 2010 World Cup.  The camp will be held on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, NJ on May 17 through May 23.  The thirty players selected represent the best players the US has to offer and will provide the anvil on to which Bob Bradley will hopefully pound his will against England, Slovakia, and Algeria.  Here is NP's best guess as to who these lucky thirty players will be.

GK (3): Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan

Lets be honest here, outside of the retired Brad Freidel, these three are the best keepers the US has to offer.  Howard has had another stellar season with Everton.  Hahnemann grabbed the starting job at Wolves almost single-handedly kept the club out of the relegation zone.  Guzan was Freidel's understudy at Villa all season, and when he did play he was solid.  The key to this will be who backs up Howard.

DF (9): Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Carlos Bocanegra, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce, Edgar Castillo

This list is also pretty much set except for the always vulnerable left flank.  Three guys get my call to battle it out.  Considering the three now play more in midfield than in defense, look for Bocanegra to man the left side against England.

MD (11): DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Torres, Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, Alejandro Bedoya, Freddy Adu

Pretty straight-forward here and I expect there to be 10 mids on the final team.  Freddy Adu comes as a bit of a surprise, but he's playing well in Greece and it can't hurt to call him in and see what he can contribute.  At worst, he gets left off the roster. 

FW (7): Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Brian Ching, Conor Casey, Herculez Gomez, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson

Lots of forwards here, but here are the battles.  Jozy is on no matter what.  Davies will come assuming he's match fit, which at this point should be no big feat for him.  Gomez, Buddle, and Johnson battle for the super-sub spot.  Ching and Casey battle for the holding striker role.

There they are, the thirty lucky players who will have a chance to lead the US to the promised land in the World Cup in South Africa.  

Johnson and Adu Star in Aris Play-Off Win

Is it just me, or are American strikers eager to please lately?  Eddie Johnson netted twice in Aris' 2-0 win over Olympiakos yesterday, while Freddy Adu provided Johnson the assist on his first and drew a penalty which teammate Koko failed to convert.  Johnson went the full match, while Adu was subbed out in the 89nd.  With Adu, Johnson, Gomez and Buddle all apparently playing themselves in, coupled with the word that Davies WILL be invited to camp, according to Bob Bradley in an interview with ESPN done just about an hour ago, its going to be tough for Bradley to select just a few of them.  Johnson and Adu play PAOK next on May 2.

It's a problem I guarantee, he loves to have.  

Hiberanation Over.....He's Back!!!!!

Wolverine, the artist formerly known as Charlie Davies has returned to full contact training with FC Sochaux in France.  Just six months after his horrific accident which left a young lady dead, Davies is that much closer to realizing his dream.

Will it be enough?  Sochaux has four matches remaining, so essentially, Davies has four weeks to get match fit and ready to go.  According to the NY Times, Bob Bradley has requested that CD9 just be match fit for him to get an invite to the pre-World Cup camp in Princeton, NJ on May 17-23.

We will continue to pray Charlie!!

MLS Catch-Up: Youngsters Making a Difference

MLS Rookie of the Year early candidates:


Ike Opara:  Though not an instant turn around in San Jose, Opara's play has been solid and has netted a couple of goals thus far.  I picked this kid as my preseason ROTY.  He's living up to it.

Zack Schilawski: A hat trick hero for the Revs, keep an eye on this kid.  Almost out of nowhere.

Edson Buddle vs. Herculez Gomez

When you're a forward in the United States player pool there's one thing you always know:  it's a position in flux.  When you're hot and scoring goals, there's a very high likely hood that you'll get a call up.  But no one expected there to be so much discrepancy after the first guy (Jozy Altidore).  Landon Donovan, Charlie Davies, Brian Ching, Conor Casey, Eddie Johnson, Jeff Cunningham, Freddy Adu, Davie Arnaud, Kenny Cooper, and Robbie Findley all played up top for the United States in 2009.  Casey, Cunningham, and Findley were all enjoying strong runs with their clubs in MLS at the time and so were brought in, to little avail.  Casey's two goal output at Honduras has almost if not completely faded from memory and Jeff Cunningham's lone goal came on a break where any striker should've finished.  Findley didn't produce in three straight run outs with the US to start 2010 and ended with a futile effort against the mighty Dutch in early March.  Of those three, Cunningham, Arnaud, and Findley seem to be best suited for MLS.  Casey is a beast physically but lacks speed and true goal scoring prowess.  Everyone knows the Eddie Johnson story, who scored 6 goals in his first 4 internationals, then another 6 over the next 36.  He and Adu, though now both aren't dormant anymore, still aren't exactly producing enough numbers while in Greece.  Kenny Cooper, a player on the rise after enjoying a solid Gold Cup, saw his time at 1860 Munich diminish and hasn't found much time while on loan at Plymouth Argyle in the English Championship.

The other two forwards listed, Davies and Ching, are both on injured reserve at the moment.  Though I have them both listed in my final 23 man roster, we all know that injuries are very hush hush about when they want to heal.  Both are scheduled to return in early May, but with Bradley naming the 30 man preliminary roster on May 11 according to ESPN, who gets called in, just in case.  Hot money right now is on Hurculez Gomez and Edson Buddle.  As both are enjoying phenomenal seasons.  Buddle has already tied his season output from last year (5) in two matches this year.  Gomez, in 13 appearances for Puebla in the Mexican first division has 8 goals.  Those 8 goals ties his output from 2003-2009 at various MLS and USL clubs (Seattle, Colorado, and Kansas City).  Those are hot numbers.

The way I see it, the 30 man roster will have 7-ish forwards.  Or at least, mine does (Altidore, Davies, Ching, Casey, Gomez, Buddle, and Johnson).  The first four are self explanatory, Alitdore and Davies should/would/could be the incumbent starters.  Bob Bradley loves his target forwards so Ching and Casey get the nod, but who can provide that spark off the bench?  Gomez, who has scored most of his goals in a substitute role?  Buddle, who plays with Landon Donovan every day with the Galaxy and who's understanding of each other could be pantamount?  Or Johnson, who brings 40 caps and World Cup experience to the table?

Tough call for Bradley.  If Buddle and Gomez remain hot, it'll be really hard not to see them called up for the prelims.  Buddle can create match-up problems for central defenders because, he, like Altidore is deceptively quick on his feet and quite technical with the ball.  But, he's never afraid to get stuck in amongst the trees on a cross.   Most of Gomez's goals have come from him being in the right place in the right time, but there's something to be said for a player who has the understanding of how the game is flowing and where the ball will end up.  He's fast, technical, yet physical if he has to be.

Neither has been on the radar for the Nats in quite some time.  Buddle's first and only appearance in a US jersey was against Venezuela in 2003.  Gomez made his two caps in the disaster that was the Copa America in 2007.  Neither scored. 

So close to the time when rosters will be decided and so much to think about for Bob Bradley.  Though I suppose it's better to have these problems than to not have them.