Gold Cup

[OumaFan]

I'm thinking about joining the Freddy Adu sucks bandwagon Maybe not yet.

Rogers should make the World Cup roster

This hippie we've got is pretty good, Beckerman.

[OumaFan]

And Pearce>Bornstein. Still LB might be our weak link even if Boca plays there.

Edit, I'm pretty shocked at how well Feilhaber and Davies are playing. Really encouraging. I was real excited about this Jermaine Jones guy (though he did have a hairline fracture and is out for a few months) but to be honest our central midfield is starting to look pretty good with Bradley Jr, Feilhaber, Edu, Clark and even this Beckerman guy. He is supposedly world class though but I kind of wish he was a world class left back to be honest.

Right now I'm not sure Adu should make the world cup roster. I'd take Rogers over him, Rogers gives us something we don't really have with an out and out winger. I'm not really sure what Freddy is?

How many spots are there for the World Cup roster, is it 23? If so

Goalie-Howard, Guzan, Perkins (I guess)

Defense-Gooch, Boca, Demerit, Cherundolo, Spector, Pearce, Hejduk, Marshall

Mid-Demps, Donovan, Bradley Jr., Feilhaber, Jones (?), Edu, Rogers, Clark, Torres

Forwards-Jozy, Davies, Ching

The ones that are questionable are maybe Marshall, possibly Conrad, Parkhurst instead. Also Pearce I guess but I think he's better than Bornstein. Jones might not be ready. Torres could be replaced by Adu or a fourth striker like Cooper. The only reason I would list three strikers when I want to play a 4-4-2 is Demps gets moved up there and Donovan could play it too.

[El Kabong]

We got another good result, 2-0 vs Honduras with goals scored by Santino Quaranta and Brian Ching....they put Cooper on in the 82nd minute which is shitty, hopefully he'll get a start vs Haiti.

Maurice Edu will be able to play in September but who knows when he'll have his fitness up to help out our squad.

As for Freddy Adu, nobody doubts his attack or his offensive abilities, but his ability to defend and mark his man is what has him playing striker right now instead of midfield. I think he's got the tools to be a quality player already, but he's definently not as well rounded as one would have hoped and he had a couple of missed chances vs Honduras too, but they were kind of difficult, I'll give him that.

With Kenny Cooper on the roster you've got a guy the defense HAS to mark on set pieces, he's 6'4 230 and if you brought up Gooch on a corner as well, that would probably give you a quality chance at scoring OR defending on a corner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ehv1047lQ

Overall we had some poor plays and we missed some chances but considering that this is our B/C squad and we still won 2-0, I can't help but feel good about the win.

[El Kabong]

Freddy Adu is now heading back to Benfica, I am assuming so he can try and win some PT over there. Supposedly this was the plan all along, have Freddy start and get some run and then send him off to Benfica with some confidence and some momentum.

This opens up the striker and midfield positions a little bit. I suppose if we're facing a tough team we'll go with a Ching-Davies pairing and if we're playing a softer side we'll get some other guys in there. Either that or they are ready to add Jozy to the squad

[OumaFan]

this guy seems like a bit of a prospect to me, a pure striker, was the player of the year in college last year and skipped the MLS where he was supposed to be the top pick to go straight to some club in Denmark, and supposedly is doing pretty well. Supposed to be great in the air but needs work on other stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy5VBwxKu-s

[El Kabong]

Nice to know we have more to choose from now

But overall, I find the video disturbing....perhaps that just the Synchranized Chanting/Shouting in German

Well I suppose since we have a sure pass to the semifinals, that Bob Bradley will give some players farther back on the depth chart some run.


All this makes me wonder.....what the fuck happened to Eddie Johnson When he first came on the scene he was fast and flashy and could finish, now he's never fit, he can't handle the ball, and he's not even on the team.

[OumaFan]

The Mexican national team is such a joke LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCxWxHRp8TI

[Mikkel_K]

Nice to know we have more to choose from now

But overall, I find the video disturbing....perhaps that just the Synchranized Chanting/Shouting in German

Hey, that was not German, that was Danish! Still, horrible video though and the crowd did sound annoying.

Anyway, it's funny for a Dane to follow the American team at the moment - or the Gold Cup in general - as it seems like so many players are playing here or in other Scandinavian leagues now. Obviously, that does also indicate a thing or too about the general quality of the teams - I think the CONCACAF-teams feature more players from Scandinavian leagues than the Scandinavian national teams themselves, as these pick players from bigger leagues.

Still, for me, it was great to see Benny Feilhaber in the Confederations Cup. My hometown team - AGF - bought him last summer, but the guy has pretty much been injured ever since (he did appear in the last games of the season, but unsurprisingly he looked a bit rusty). Hopefully, he'll be one to wacth in the coming season. A bit surprised btw that our other American Jeremiah White has never really gotten a chance with the USMNT.

As for the other US players in DK, Marcus Tracy still has a long way to go. He does seem like a gifted athlete though, as indicated by the goal he scored on his league debut (the one posted). Danny Califf is among the better centrebacks in the league, but he might struggle in a better league. Same goes for Michael Parkhurst who I have a hard time imagining in any World Cup-squad. Finally Heath Pearce is a hot commodity around here, really looked quality before he went to Germany. Given that he is without contract atm, a number of clubs appear to be interested in getting him back.