Just curious to see what everyone thought of the US roster for this friendly as well as our chances. I haven't broken down exactly what we've got in the way of players, but would expect a decent side from the US. I hope we show well and play attractive soccer. Nothing is worse than going into these away friendlies and playing bunker ball. I hope we attack and even if we get beat, show some skill, creativity, & organization. A draw would have me elated and a win is almost too much to dream. Hook 'em & Go Yanks
US Roster: U.S. Men's National Team vs. England May 28, 2008 - Wembley Stadium Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Caps/G Hometown Club Adu, Freddy M 5'8" 140 6/2/1989 4/0 Potomac, Md. SC Benfica (Portugal) Beasley, DaMarcus M 5'8" 145 5/24/1982 68/15 Ft. Wayne, Ind. Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) Bocanegra, Carlos D 6'0" 170 5/25/1979 55/9 Alta Loma, Calif. Fulham FC (England) Bradley, Michael M 6'2" 175 7/31/1987 16/1 Cedar Grove, N.J. SC Heerenveen (Holland) Califf, Dan D 6'1" 175 3/17/1980 16/1 Orange, Calif. FC Midtjylland (Denmark) Cervi, Dominic GK 6'6" 205 7/9/1986 0/0 Norman, Okla. Out of Contract Cherundolo, Steve D 5'6" 145 2/19/1979 44/2 San Diego, Calif. Hannover 96 (Germany) Clark, Ricardo M 5'10" 150 5/10/1983 13/1 Jonesboro, Ga. Houston Dynamo (MLS) DeMerit, Jay D 6'0" 185 12/4/1979 7/0 Green Bay, Wis. Watford FC (England) Dempsey, Clint F 6'1" 170 3/9/1983 38/9 Nacogdoches, Texas Fulham FC (England) Donovan, Landon F 5'8" 148 3/4/1982 99/35 Redlands, Calif. Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) Feilhaber, Benny M 5'9" 150 1/19/1985 16/2 Irvine, Calif. Derby County (England) Guzan, Brad GK 6'4" 210 9/9/1984 5/0 Homer Glen, Ill. Chivas USA (MLS) Howard, Tim GK 6'3" 210 3/6/1979 28/0 North Brunswick, N.J. Everton FC (England) Jaqua, Nate F 6'3" 180 10/28/1981 2/0 Eugene, Ore. Out of Contract Johnson, Eddie F 6'0" 180 3/31/1984 32/11 Palm Coast, Fla. Fulham FC (England) Lewis, Eddie M 5'10" 155 5/17/1974 75/9 Cerritos, Calif. Derby County (England) Onyewu, Oguchi D 6'4" 210 5/13/1982 30/4 Olney, Md. Standard de Liege (Belgium) Orozco, Michael D 5'11" 160 2/7/1986 0/0 Orange, Calif. San Luis (Mexico) Pearce, Heath D 5'10" 175 8/13/1984 11/0 Modesto, Calif. Hansa Rostock (Germany) Spector, Jonathan D 6'0" 180 3/1/1986 12/0 Arlington Heights, Ill. West Ham United (England) Wolff, Josh F 5'8" 160 2/25/1977 50/9 Stone Mountain, Ga. Out of Contract
Altidore is missing, but that looks pretty close to an A side. We'll see how we stack up on European soil against a couple of traditional powers in England and Spain on their home pitches. Hook 'em & Go Yanks
Would have liked to see Wolff and Eddie Johnson left off of the roster. Woff doesn't do a whole lot for me and EJ has been a non-entity for at least a year now. He has all of the physical tools to be an elite player, but he has to have some of the worst touches for a player who is supposed to be a goal scorer. It's gotten so bad now that when a ball is played in to him, he sends it back out to the mid-field immediately without even trying to turn or create. If we score on this deal it will be because of LD and also Beasley's pace on the counter. Go Yanks
If the US can exploit the opponent's arrogance like they do against Mexico, they have a very legitimate chance to win. The biggest difference, though, is that these two sides have better finishers (well, spain, at least), so a bunker mentality could be disastrous.
There is no chance we go into a bunker. First, how often do you see the Nats bunker? Secondly, this game is friendly...and a friendly to help prepare the team for the upcoming WC qualifiers. The thing you have to worry about is seeing a squad out there that doesnt excite you due to the upcoming schedule and Bob wanted to see what he has in stock for the games that count. I expect an inspired performance by the USA playing in a stadium like Wembley against a power like England - not to mention the eyes of Premiership team scouts and managers. I wonder if we will see Adu.
Below is a good article from Yanks Abroad about the roster and the trend we've seen from Bradley about bringing in lots of different players since he took over. Thoughts on Player Pool
Read the article, but it must have been written prior to the roster being trimmed to 22. Josy was mentioned as well as Sasha K. I had forgotten about him, but love his work with Gringo Chivas as well as the U-23 squad. Would liked to have seen both of those get some action with the full national team. Donavan and Adu in the same mid-field is intriguing depending on who they have to work off of at F. Would like to see Bradley & Feilhaber as well if the latter has his attitude right. With nothing else really compelling going on right now, these fixtures offer something to look forward to. Go Yanks
Pardon my ignorance, but I have been on vacation and cloistered away from the world a bit. When is the friendly v. England?
Tomorrow (Wednesday), 2:30 PM, ESPN Classic I'll be watching with a bunch of Brits so we sure had hell had better show well. I think we've got a chance. Though, I thought the same thing the last time we played them and their "B" team kicked our ***.
History, I think the article was written at the announcement of the player pool for all three games. I'm sure we will see Altidore and Sasha K. in the Argentina game and perhaps against Spain.
Why is this on ESPN classic? That seems pretty lame. Are they just trying really hard not to have to film in HD?
This game couldn't be worse than the crap I watched this week of the Toulon Tourney. It was basically an Olympic warm-up and, to be fair, not too many players in Toulon will be in the Olympics. That being said, I think Peter Novak is the worst coach in US soccer history - and that's saying a lot. I would freakin' love it if we could beat England. I have many Brit friends that talk down to us the way we talk down to aggy in football. Wait a minute, did I just compare the US to aggy. Sorry. Let's go Yanks!!!!
This could very easily be a let down game for England - they are mentally on summer vacation. The fringe players will be trying to impress the new boss, but I can see the more established players, especially those whose last game was the champions league final, totally phoning it in. In a competitive game, I'd have to support my native England, but today I'd like to see the US win to earn them some respect and build confidence.
"In a competitive game, I'd have to support my native England, but today I'd like to see the US win to earn them some respect and build confidence." Have you lost the plot???
Anyone ever heard of SOPCAST or TVants? It appears that you can download software and then watch games online. I don't think that ESPN 360 is available down here.
I've been able to watch online and I have to say that we look like crap. And that Defoe for England is good at grabbing shirts and/or slowing down to draw contact rather than actually going for the ball. I guess if it works... Rooney has looked fairly good. Gerrard has looked good. Beckham is good at what he does and Hargraves runs around like he's 18. He just never stops. For the Yanks... no one has looked good. It was an ugly half to watch. Just nothing to speak of.
Although we arent getting much up front (and that little bit is EJ....Wolff is lost) we are being forced to play long ball because Bradley and Rico simply arent getting it done through the central part of the midfield. When they announced Donovan was not playing I felt much less confident. Frankly I'm surprised we only gave up one goal in the first half with all those England free kicks at point blank range and Beckham being the man sending them in. We are still in this game though and hopefully the boys come out in the second half and do work. You never know what will happen, especially in a game allowing 6 subs.
I think that Wolff is one of the few players that actually sucks more than Ricardo Clark. Those two wastes of space are killing me.
Wow, the Americans have just looked terrible in this match. England has owned the game from the start.
Well...I rarely say this but I'm glad that game is over. Watching the US offense without Donovan is like watching paint dry. We are painly reliant on him for any creativity. I am no coach so I can't tell you all of Adu's problems but he needs to be on the field when Donovan can't be because he at least gives some creativity to the attack. For the person saying Rico sucks....I highly disagree...But you are asking him to do things that he doesnt do well when paired with Bradley. Rico has done an amazing job when he has an attacking midfielder in front of him and he can play holding/defensive midfielder. When that happens you see him get more comfortable and contribute on the offensive side. As for Bradley...He is maddeningly frustrating. He'll have a game where he looks like a star and then another where you wonder where he went. I thought the back line was pretty good considering the lack of possession from the midfield and forwards. I've got a lot more thoughts but I'll just say I hope for better play against Spain.
our offense was offensive. yuck. Let's see what happens v. Spain. England was by far the best side. They had something to prove, are still embarrassed over not being in the Euro, etc... Still, they were the better side. They deserved this chest thumping win. Congrats.
On BIG SOCCER, so people have been asking for: Kenny Cooper. Robbie Rogers. Charlie Davies. Jeremiah White. Others suggested: Rogers, Kljestan, and Alvarez, along with Altidore and Adu, probably even Cooper, Davies, Jeremiah White, etc At least SOME players with creativity and heart. And talent. That was arguably the ugliest have I've seen us play in 12 years. The BEST US players: Eddie Lewis & Johnson. (And I'm not kidding about Johnson. And YES, I realize what I'm saying.) Others that at least showed something: Pearce & Hejduk. Maybe Adu as well, but Edu & Jaqua didn't get long enough to sweat.
I'm quite nervous about going to see the game versus the Argies after that performance. If they put out their second team, we're dead
I actually thought that one of the greatest surprises for me was Pearce. He actualy showed me something today as a total unknown to me.
Agree,THEU. Pearce did a fine job on the left and as the game progressed started finding his way forward on the rare occassions we had possession long enough to mount an attack. Hopefully he will continue to impress as we always seem to get a decent game when we try someone out back there but then watch their quality fall off in later games.
