Martin Rose/Getty ImagesMichael Bradley, left, may be a regular on the U.S. national team, but Clint Dempsey has become its leading man.On Saturday, Bob Bradley’s squad travels to Foxborough, Mass., to take on Spain, the No. 1 team in the world.
Three days later the Americans will square off against Canada in their first match of the Concacaf Gold Cup, a tournament the U.S. federation very much wants to win. If the Yanks make it to the June 25 final, they will have played seven intense international matches in the space of three weeks.
Many questions about the U.S talent pool will be answered along the way: Is Freddy Adu really back in the mix for the national team? Do the veteran defenders Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu still have something left in the tank? Will someone step up and stake a claim as Jozy Altidore’s strike partner?
Here are 10 observations about the U.S. Gold Cup in the build-up to the tournament.
1. Bob Bradley sometimes plays favorites.
Some United States supporters possess an almost-pathological dislike for two Bob Bradley favorites: left back Jonathan Bornstein and the coach’s son, Michael. In Bornstein’s case, a long history of poor performances and a seemingly endless supply of second chances drive the fan vitriol. The Michael Bradley haters tend to ignore his performances and simply accuse his father of nepotism.
Both players, it must be said, seem to get the benefit of the doubt whenever Bob Bradley makes a roster selection or names a starting lineup. Coincidentally, both players have struggled in recent months, spending a majority of their time on the bench for their club teams.
Perhaps anticipating an outcry from fans, Bradley went out of his way to suggest that both players deserved their roster spots despite their recent lack of playing time.
“Both Johnny [Bornstein] and Michael [Bradley] have shown in the past that they are two of our fittest players,” Bradley said during a Monday news conference, “so they both do a good job in that regard.”
All righty, then. If we’re to follow the coach’s logic, it doesn’t really matter that Bornstein or Michael Bradley can’t get any playing time with their club teams. They are in good shape, and apparently that’s enough for the Gold Cup.
We shall see.
2. Jozy Altidore is the centerpiece of the attack.
Jozy Altidore is not particularly fast. His first touch is inconsistent at best. He rarely tracks back on defense. He has struggled during his recent stint with Bursaspor in the Turkish first division. And he always seems to run out of gas somewhere around the 70-minute mark.
Despite all of this, Bradley is an unabashed Altidore fan, and the coach professed his devotion to the striker in no uncertain terms.
Bradley told reporters that Altidore “is an important player for our national team; he has scored important goals as we went through qualifying, he has scored goals in the Confederations Cup and as much as he did not score in the World Cup we still felt he was a little bit unlucky in that regard.”
“Jozy is still quite young,” Bradley continued, “and we’re going to continue to put him forward because he’s a big part of things for U.S. Soccer.”
In case any of that wasn’t clear, Altidore is The Guy. Get used to it.
3. Finding somebody to partner with Altidore is the challenge.
Altidore and the speedy Charlie Davies have played well together in the past, but Davies’s ongoing injury problems have prevented these two from maintaining any sort of on-field bond.
Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesCould Chris Wondolowski, above, be an effective strike partner for Jozy Altidore?Robbie Findley struggled alongside Altidore during last year’s World Cup. So did Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez. Perhaps due to their poor track record in South Africa, Bradley brought in two different players — the M.L.S. Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski and the talented teen Juan Agudelo — to see if either can form an understanding with the 21-year-old Altidore.
If neither option pans out, Bradley can follow a familiar pattern: sub out Altidore late in the game, push Clint Dempsey to striker and hope that the tough Texan can make something happen in the waning moments.
4. This is Clint Dempsey’s team.
Yes, Carlos Bocanegra is the captain of the U.S. squad. But he is in the twilight of his international career and is now a marginal player who scrapes by in central defense and is a liability at left back.
And yes, Landon Donovan leads the roster in international appearances (130) and goals (45). But his timid performances against Argentina and Paraguay, along with his decision to remain in M.L.S. when European opportunity beckoned, have hurt his standing.
Dempsey, on the other hand, is at the pinnacle of his game. The 28-year-old scored 12 goals for Fulham this season and recently became the all-time leading scorer in Fulham’s Premier League era. He is technically gifted, aggressive, imaginative, tireless and unwilling to take a step back. He is the heart and soul of the U.S. squad.
5. Jermaine Jones needs a chance to shine.
If you watched Blackburn play the last few months, you couldn’t help notice Jermaine Jones doing the dirty work in the middle of the field.
The German-born Jones isn’t a scorer or a technical wiz. He just plays the game with zeal, makes smart decisions and always seems to be in the heart of the action. He is also a strong two-way player, someone who specializes in turning tough tackles into dangerous counterattacks.
Granted, Jones did not perform particularly well in the Americans’ two March friendlies, playing 45 minutes in each game and never getting into a good rhythm. But his showing over the last four months in the Premier League warrants some extended playing time during the Gold Cup, even if that means Michael Bradley has to spend some time on the bench.
6. Robbie Rogers: cross his name on the list.
Take a look at the list of midfielders on the roster. Two of them, Donovan and Dempsey, play on the wings but specialize in cutting in toward the center of the field. Five others — Bradley, Jones, Maurice Edu, Freddy Adu and Sacha Kljestan — prefer central roles. (Alejandro Bedoya, added to the roster to replace the injured Benny Feilhaber, can play either midfield
position.)
Jamie Sabau/Getty ImagesRobbie Rogers of the Columbus Crew.Rogers, 24, is a speedy winger who lives on the sidelines. His specialty: sending crosses into the box, where the U.S. should have a height advantage against most Concacaf opponents.
The Columbus Crew star probably won’t start any games, but if the U.S. is tied or trailing late in a game, don’t be surprised if Rogers gets the call and is asked to provide some width to a squad that otherwise tends to play very narrow.
7. The U.S. team needs to use its height advantage.
Oguchi Onyewu is 6-foot-4 and a force in the air. So is Clarence Goodson. Dempsey plays far taller than his 6-1 frame. All told, the national team has 15 players 6 feet or taller, which gives them a significant height advantage against many of the teams they will face this summer.
Rogers’s ability to deliver accurate crosses will be crucial to their success. Fullbacks Steve Cherundolo and Eric Lichaj will need to press forward and get their crosses in, too. Equally important, Donovan will have to step it up and deliver better corner kicks than he managed against Paraguay and Argentina.
If the United States is going to win the Gold Cup and gain entry to the 2013 Confederations Cup, they’re going to have to score on free kicks and via headed balls.
8. The 6-foot-5 Omar Gonzalez should be on the roster, too.
For whatever reason, Bob Bradley isn’t yet sold on Los Angeles Galaxy central defender Omar Gonzalez. The 22-year-old Gonzalez was the 2009 M.L.S. rookie of the year, made the 2010 M.L.S. All-Star team and is off to a great start in 2011. But he lost out on a roster spot to the likes of Jonathan Spector, Bornstein and Onyewu, who has been plagued with injuries over the last few months.
Hard to figure.
9. Brad Guzan and Bob Bradley may be heading for divorce.
Guzan is a big, strong, reliable, experienced goalkeeper, the national team’s no-doubt-about-it No. 2 behind Tim Howard. Or at least he used to be. Guzan is getting married this summer and let it be known that he was unavailable for Gold Cup duty. Bob Bradley, a coach known for being all business all the time, did not seem particularly enthusiastic about the coming nuptials.
Bradley’s terse analysis of the situation: “Brad made a personal decision and his schedule didn’t allow him to be available for this Gold Cup.”
Bradley didn’t send his regards to the groom-to-be, and he didn’t mention where Guzan and his fiancée were planning to honeymoon either. He could have let his backup keeper off the hook and made light of the situation; he very pointedly did not.
Best wishes, Brad.
10. Freddy Adu? Really?
Absolutely. Remember: Adu is still only 21 years old, and since securing a regular role for Çaykur Rizespor in the Turkish second division, he has been creating goals consistently.
By calling him into the squad, Bradley can assess Adu’s development and get an up-close look at a skillful player he’s been forced to monitor over the Internet. If Adu isn’t up to snuff, Bradley can plant Adu on the bench and give him a few substitute appearances in blowouts. But if the magic is back, Adu could be a difference-maker in front of the net, and that is something the United States desperately needs.
Corner kick: What do you think about the U.S. roster for the Gold Cup? How do you expect the team to perform? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
source: http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/10-observations-about-the-u-s-gold-cup-roster/
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