Monday, May 01, 2006

 

Bruce is the Boss


Bruce Arena will name his 23 World Cup players tomorrow. I'll save you the wait and tell you who he should name.

I'm not predicting who he will pick, but who I would pick if I had the job...starters are listed with a star and players are ranked by the most likely to play the most minutes.

Goalies (3):
(1) Kasey Keller*
(2) Marcus Hahnemann
(3) Tim Howard

Like most everyone else, I see no reason to upset this preordained triumverate. The only exception would be if Bruce Friedel gives me a call and then I put him in over Howard as Kasey's backup.

Defense (8)
(1) Steve Cherundolo* (he likely won't miss a second of WC action)
(2) Oguchi Onyewu* (ditto)
(3) Eddie Lewis*
(4) Greg Berhalter* (will be benched at least one game in favor of Pope or Gibbs)
(5) Cory Gibbs
(6) Eddie Pope
(7) Frankie Hejduk
(8) Carlos Bocanegra

There's not much controversy surrounding these selections. Berhalter has looked poor in recent outings for the U.S. and many have him off the team, but I think he'll reprove his worth in camp and pair nicely with Oguchi. I had Pope as my starter until I saw him get stripped in the open field by LD this weekend for an easy Galaxy goal.

Midfield (7):
(1) Pablo Mastroeni* (will play every minute if healthy)
(2) Bobby Convey* (look for him to be a candidate for team MVP)
(3) Damarcus Beasley*
(4) Claudio Reyna*
(5) Clint Dempsey (will start at least one game)
(6) John O'Brien
(7) Freddy Adu

I'm not concerned about having both DMB and BC on the field at the same time. They are head and shoulders our best wide midfielders and will give defenses fits. I don't see Pablo coming off the field for the entire WC. His toughness and experience in the middle of the park will be invaluable. I kept Olsen off the team in lieu of Adu. Pablo, JOB and Reyna can all play the defensive midfielder role better than he can and Adu may have the best skills on the team. And Freddy is incredibly versatile in that he can play anywhere but defense. Anyone who doubts his recent progress is blinded by all the talent United has and I wouldn't hesitate for a second to put him on the field in Germany.

Forwards (5):
(1) Landon Donovan* (let's not fool anyone about his WC position. He may play a withdrawn forward, but he'll be an attacking player)
(2) Brian McBride* (will likely be the first player substituted in every game that he starts)
(3) Chris Rolfe (living in Chicago has given me a chance to scrutinize his game. There aren't any flaws other than his size.
(4) Brian Ching (perfect as a late game sub against a backline that's weakened and vulnerable to set plays)
(5) Eddie Johnson (might not get off the bench in Germany..might start every game and get a fat contract...a true wildcard)

Notable absences for me would be Taylor Twellman, Josh Wolff, Chris Albright and Ben Olsen. If I need a scrappy forward off the bench, I would opt for Chris Rolfe instead of Twellman or Wolff and if I needed a target man, I'd opt for Brian Ching. Wolff and Twellman are fine players but don't excel in any one area. I almost left the listless Eddie Johnson off the team but he made it on potential alone. Albright lost out to Hejduk as the last defender simply due to experience. Even though Frankie is a bit reckless with his play, he'll keep it in check on the world's stage. Olsen was the hardest omission for me. He's a dedicated ball winner who actually shows a propensity to score from long range with either foot. He's my first alternate, no matter who got hurt.

Tune in to SportsCenter tomorrow night to find out who Bruce has chosen. Good luck fellas! I know I'll be in Germany to watch. (Bostrom)

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