USA Roster for Friendlies

How did Dax McCarty make this roster and Castillo did not? I understand there may be a lack of DMF with Clark, Edu, and Jones (if he gets the call up. with Bob nothing is impossible)out, but Dax over lets say Cronin or even Clyde Simms is absurd. I guess Bradley feels that Borstein is the solution at left back. I would liked to have seen Jeremiah White, Castillo, and Kjlestan or Torres make this roster.

I'm guessing Jermaine Jones isn't healthy enough?

Good idea to bring in guys like Dax...

Never mind I over looked Kjlestan.

Perhaps Castillo is in-season? Tigres has a match Wednesday.

@Reignking

You are probably correct.

What about Chris Pontius?

this is prety damn disappointing, even Mikkel Diskerud...he gets more playing time than a lot of other yanks abroad!

Wow. How far off the radar screen has Freddy fallen! Not sure whether Klejstan and Johnson have earned their way back or why Cooper is left off the roster.

Dax McCarty? yougottabefuuggginkiddinme

Castillo was on fire for Tigres on Saturday. He dribbled and juked his way past 3 guys down the left and went towards goal and then beat the gk to the far post. I don't know how Bradley still doubts his quality if he saw the game. He is defintely superior to Bornstein in every way. He has atleticism which is something Bornstein lacks.

Also got a look at Marco Vidal. He is a slower version of JFT. He plays as left-sided holding midfielder. Don't think he will beat out anyone on the USMNT anytime soon. Remember Alain Nkong, he's with Indios too.

Random guys like Dax get called in all of the time. It's a good idea.

I wish DMB was called in. Seriously. Because he needs the PT and maybe some positive reinforcement.

Adu? I wouldn't be surprised if Belenenses has a match or two coming up, despite the break. That league has a weird schedule. Wow...last league game, Nov 6th. Next, Nov 29th. Huh????

I thought I was looking at a lineup from years ago when I saw Jeff Cunningham and Eddie Johnson.

After the litany of boneheaded errors Hejduk made in the RSL series, I don't think he should be anywhere near the national team.

He's been a trooper, but it's time to move on, and clearly his mind has gone soft before his body.

What about Burch?

Yeah, remember people calling for him?

why no Torres? I would have liked to see him get some actual pt with Donovan out.

Duuuuuuuuuude, don't speak bad about Hejduk!

There are quite a few positions up for grabs, so it's nice to see some other players getting opportunities. Hopefully one of Marshall, Conrad, or Goodson steps up and establishes himself as a WC quality starter at CB.

Is Guzan definitely our #2 goalkeeper, or might Perkins or Hahnemann pass him on the depth chart?

I don't really have a big problem with McCarty getting a call up, I just wonder why he was left off the Gold Cup roster in favor of Logan Pause, Brad Evans, and Sam Cronin. I don't see any of those four names making the WC roster ahead of Beckerman anyway.

In other news, it was nice of Robert Warzycha to rest Rogers on Thursday so he would be ready for these friendlies. That was really thinking ahead!

It will be interesting to see how the midfield and frontline perform without Donovan's presence. I am hoping for Dempsey and Altidore to step up against a formidable opponent.

Bradley is regressing in a very scary way. Yeah, let's get Beasley back, cuz God knows I miss the own goal from a corner kick.

There is no penalty for failure for the insiders and, for outside players, no reward for success. Cooper and Torres are not favored simply because they are not favored. (If anyone makes a crack about Torres' so called lack of defense, it's better than Klejstan's one tackle to one red card ratio).

We don't even KNOW if Castillo is any good, but nows the time to find out. We don't need to waste a spot on Jimmy Conrad, he's not going to the world cup, it's pretty obvious. Basically, I think Bradley is afraid. When he is, he always goes defensive. Nine defenders on a 22 man roster.

Torres and Castillo didnt get called because they have big club games this week. Would look extremely bad to leave the MLS guys home, but call in the Mexican League guys who have matches.

Castillo's club has been giving him an extremely hard time about playing for the US. Sure Bob could insist on these players being released for a FIFA date, but would mean they would mean burning bridges for the winter and spring.

""Random guys like Dax get called in all of the time. It's a good idea.""

It'd be fine for after South Africa. The guys being called in now should AT least be on the radar for next summer. If McCarty is on that radar, we have big problems.

"I wish DMB was called in. Seriously."

Seriously?

Yes. These friendlies are for bringing new guys into the fold, trying new formations, etc. And as for DMB, as much as I do not want to see him on the national team for a bit, he could use the PT and familiarity right now. I'm not sure who is more down, now -- Adu or DMB. Heck, Bradley is bringing Eddie Johnson.

From this roster, I would go with:
Guzan
Cherundulo Marshall Boca Spector
Dempsey Bradley Feilhaber Rogers
Altidore Cunningham

but I think Bornsetin will get the start over Spector at LB and not sure whether BB would start Cunningham.

I like assocfoot's roster with a couple of exceptions.
Spector is not a left back, and has only been used there for West Ham as a stop gap measure.
I think you play Spector at right back, have Bornstein at left back (his play of late is deserving of the start).
I like your midfield with Rogers on the left, but you might consider putting Feilhaber there and playing Klejstan in the middle -- just a thought.

Troy Perkins...

How many goalkeepers have we had since his departure?

Spector looked more than OK at left back yesterday. One Everton goal was scored "off" him, but he was called on to to defend two players by himself. Hard to blame him for the one guy getting off a shot and the other putting in the rebound -- better to blame the central defense. Spector also looked pretty good going forward. His crosses aren't as strong coming from that side, but he gets into the mix -- and he's definitely not a one-footed player. BB seems to really like Dolo, and prefers Bornstein to Spector on the left -- but, you wouldn't go wrong putting Spector out in either position.

As for the question above -- Guzan is light-years ahead of Perkins, and Hahnemann has played less than Guzan this year. Unless Friedel comes back, it's Howard and Guzan as #1 and #2.

Up top, I expect Casey and Altidore to start, but Cunningham and EJ will get looks. I bet at least one of them scores.

No one on this roster really offends me. Maybe Johnson, who if memory serves has rarely even made the Fulham bench this season. I can see Bradley's thinking there, though. With Davies out indefinitely, the team needs to look at any forward with similar speed. There's a good striker somewhere inside Eddie Johnson, and you've got to figure he knows he's approaching the point where he will be completely forgotten forever unless he figures things out for himself.

I can't be the only one who finds this whole backlash against Hejduk a little much. Yes, he made huge mistakes against RSL, but those goals weren't 100% his fault (like, say, Janicki's errors against Marathon). The guy's had bad games before and rebounded. I'm not saying he'll last forever, but if we stopped calling up players for having 2 consecutive poor performances, we wouldn't have many eligible players.

I'm noticing that every critique of McCarty doesn't come with any mention of his recent play. Did anyone watch the late season run from FC Dallas? McCarty may not be brilliant, but he did very well in that set up. Make no mistake: that hot streak wasn't just Cunningham and Ferreira doing it all on their own. McCarty probably isn't a long term national team candidate at that position, but with several other central midfielders still in the MLS playoffs, the pool is thinner. I'd rather see McCarty than Cronin, for example, because Cronin's form (along with TFC's) dipped over the late summer and fall.

One last thought: With Cherundolo and Hejduk in the squad, I would expect to see Spector at left back at some point. Bornstein is the only other choice there in this group (Bradley's not putting Bocanegra out there with Gooch out).

@joedoc1 -- "How many goalkeepers have we had since his departure?"

I think the answer is 6ish... Wells, Crayton, that Peruvian dude, Wicks, Kocic, that Portland Timbers dude (Cronin?), and maybe one more... Nolly? North?

Don't forget Thorpe...