USMNT Roster Thoughts

 

Here is Jürgen Klinsmann's USMNT training camp roster for the upcoming friendlies and World Cup Qualifiers, as well as some of my thoughts:

GOALKEEPERS (6): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake).

• Before you freak out after seeing that we have six keepers, note that the four MLS keepers (Hall, Hamid, Johnson, Rimando) are going to be rotating as the third goalkeeper behind Howard and Guzan throughout camp. As far as who claims the starting spot, Howard and Guzan are 1A and 1B in my mind. Both are fantastic keepers that have proved their worth on the international stage and I'm completely fine with either one starting the WCQs. I don't have any issues with this group.

DEFENDERS (8): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhust (Augsburg).

• Great to see Castillo called in after a great run of form with Xolos, who just advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. Also glad to see Fabian back, who was injured during the last round of qualifiers. Timmy Chandler not called in this time because of some apparent ligament damage suffered about 10 days ago in training, but I believe Michael Parkhurst is an extremely solid replacement for now. I don't really have a problem with any of these players being called up, though I am really confused by Steve Cherundolo not being called in. According to the roster notes on ussoccer.com, Cherundolo isn't fully recoverd from the knee injury that kept him out for four months earlier this year. But he's been training and playing with Hannover since April 7th. What gives?

MIDFIELDERS (10): Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Bursapor), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City), Danny Williams (Hofffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City).

• The first thing that jumped out at me when looking at this group was the inclusion of Brek Shea. Supposedly, one of Klinsmann's biggest factors in deciding national team call-ups is consistent playing time at the club level. Judging by that criteria, Brek should not even be getting a sniff of the national team right now as he has barely played for Stoke in the last few months. This decision is baffling to me. Don't get me wrong, I believe Brek is one of our biggest impact players and can change a game at any moment, but Klinsmann needs to start practicing what he preaches. You're gonna leave Landon Donovan off the roster, who has been playing great football for the LA Galaxy since his return, but call in Shea? Doesn't seem right to me. Moving along, it's great to see Stu Holden back in the mix after suffering a broken leg. I hope he gets back to being his old self. I would rather have seen Mix Diskerud called in instead of Brad Davis but I'm sure he'll be in the Gold Cup roster. Davis almost cost us that historic point in Azteca by giving up a silly foul outside of the box in the closing minutes that could have easily led to a set piece goal.

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC).

• Not much to say here, solid choices. Jozy is coming off an absolutely fantastic season in Holland and hopefully carries that form into these qualifiers. Eddie Johnson has some haters but I am not one of them, I freaking love him. He's fast and dynamic, something that the USMNT usually lacks across the board. He seems to do extremely well in qualifiers and I hope we see that this time around.