Compelling Soccer

When on Wednesday Honduras named it's squad in advance of the upcoming October 10th clash against the US, I really didn't bat much of an eye. After all, the US team never reveals their team publicly until a few days before the game. It's Bob Bradley no doubt channeling his inner Bill Belichick, except you know, without the winning and stuff. He also tends to make a mockery of it all by doing things like revealing it piece mail on the internet. So I guess you have to refrain from calling it Belichikian and refer it as Mangini-esque.


However, perhaps seeing what good that's done for Eric Mangini, or how well the slow reveal was received for the last set of qualifiers, Bradley broke trend and released his roster on Thursday. Three cheers for some transparency. Moving on to the selections, I was both pleased and disappointed.

Kenny Cooper finally makes it into the squad. Hooray! One step forward. Robbie Rogers also makes it in. Two steps back. No Kyle Beckerman! Woot! Bradley isn't blind! Jonathan Bornstein? Okay, but he's probably really, really near sighted.

So, here's my thoughts on the roster.

Goalies:

Tim Howard and Brad Guzan. Nothing to say here. Howard's the starter, Guzan's just there if the unthinkable happens. Just like what Guzan is to Aston Villa and former US netminder Brad Friedel.

Defense:

Edgar Castillo was cleared by FIFA to play for the US, but was not called up. This has disappointed many. I wouldn't have been if not for the call up of Jonathan Bornstein, whose performance against El Salvador reminded me of Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric. It was shocking, appalling and eye opening, leaving you wondering how the heck such an unqualified person was put into this position, while questioning the person responsible for it. And then in the following game against Trinidad and Tobago, like Palin in the vice presidential debate, people mistook Bornstein's ability to not puke or piss on himself as success. It's never a good sign when your expectations are so low that being able to stand up straight is considered a win. Why he's back on this team I have no idea, except Bob Bradley does love him some MLS players.

Jimmy Conrad and Clarence Goodson being called in aren't surprising considering the defense corps has been hit by injury. Jay Demerit is out for the foreseeable future (no pun intended after Demerit's eye injury) and Chad Marshall's got a knee issue. I don't love either, but would be willing to see what they can provide over Bornstein. That would require sliding Carlos Bocanegra over to the left back position. Boca's speed isn't what it used to be, so much so that I fear him at left back. However, he's better than Bornstein.

Of course, ideally the US team would line up Steve Cherundolo at right back, Boca and Oguchi Owneyu in the center with Jonathan Spector on the left side. But Bradley could have done that against Trinidad after Bornstein's disaster against El Salvador and he didn't. I'd be surprised if he went with it here.

Midfield:

Nothing really surprising here. Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley are locks to start at this point. Dempsey's national form has been poor as of late, but he's arguably the most talented midfielder the US team has and that includes Landon Donovan. He's got to start. Bradley is a separate issue. The talent is there, the head may not be, especially if one believes what comes out of Germany. Don't expect him to get pulled out of dad's starting XI for that though. But since I'm not sure there's someone better, we'll leave that be.

Ricardo Clark deserves a spot on the team but may not deserve one in the starting lineup. That probably should go to Benny Feilhaber or Jose Francisco Torres. I doubt Torres gets near the starting XI though, so hopefully he sees significant minutes off the bench. Odds are his minutes will go to Stuart Holden instead, unless Bradley switches style and decides possession and precision become the US method of attack. I want to make it clear that I have no issue with Holden's call up, I just think he's behind Feilhaber and Torres in terms of skill. (And obviously Bradley, Dempsey and Clark)

Then we get to Robbie Rogers. Since Freddy Adu is just settling in at Belananese, it's probably good he didn't see a call up. But geez, Robbie Rogers? I saw enough of Rogers in the Gold Cup. For those of you who didn't see it, the Gold Cup for Rogers started with a great performance against Grenada. After that, he sucked. I mean really sucked. Sucked so bad that even Max Bretos couldn't defend him and he defends every US player. He ran, and he ran and he never did anything else. He was afraid to take anyone one on one, his crosses were terrible and... and... so on... It didn't get better either. As the competition stiffed, Rogers folded.

This was against the garbage people. The chaff of CONCACAF. I don't care how he looks in MLS or that he plays on a team that does really well in the league. (Columbus) I doubt he's gotten any better over the past two months and he's so far behind every other midfielder on this squad, one has to wonder why he was brought in. In the future, maybe. But now, hell no. If he ever sees action on the field in these two games, it better be because the US has beaten Honduras and has qualified for 2010. Otherwise, it's trouble with a capital "T" with the "R" squared.

Forwards:

The good news for the US team is that now in addition to Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies have become standard fare to the US call ups. And there should be no fears about them both not starting right?

Well, one can never be too sure. Brian Ching sure does bring hustle and grit, playing like a target striker should. You know, like a statue. The bright side is that I get the sense Ching's supporters are drying up. Bob Bradley might be among them, though he did see time in the last set of qualifiers. It's funny though; Connor Casey has become the whipping boy for people saying "Player X doesn't belong on the team." At this point, I'd rather see Casey than Ching. We know what Ching can and mostly cannot do. I'm not saying Casey is great, but he can't be worse, right?

On the other hand we could just solve all debates by giving Kenny Cooper a chance. He's the size of those two but has actual, you know, skill, with his feet and knows how to make off the ball runs. I know, I know, target strikers are not supposed to dribble, be able to shoot outside of the penalty area or out pace defenders. They are supposed either hang out in the top of the box and hold the ball or stand in the box and try to head it. But maybe, just maybe, we could try someone with some ability at the position? Just this once to see how we like it.