Some pre-liminary rosters are up for the Gold Cup and the Dynamo figure in it for two teams.
Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark are listed for the U.S. and Andrew Hainault for Canada.
It will be interesting as to what changes will be made but the abscence of Brian Ching might be contingent up on his health.
The summer of abscences has begun and the Dynamo seem primed with their depth to handle it about as good as anybody in MLS.
It is not as though manager Dominic Kinnear has not had alot of practice in this situations.
Former Dynamo Dwayne DeRosario hit for three goals against Montreal last night as Toronto FC qualified for the Champions League in Concacaf.
San Jose takes on LA Saturday afternoon (3:30 Central time on Espn 2) before all of you I assume will be heading to Robertson Stadium to see the Dynamo against RSL.
The U.S. takes on Egypt Sunday. Will a positive result or effort change your mind about the current U.S. squad?
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Well, considering that Ricardo Clark is already in South Africa, it doesn’t seem right that he would also play in the Gold Cup. That’s a lot of time to spend away from a club. The other names mentioned make more sense.
About the Egypt match, its a no-win situation for Bob Bradley. Win and look good or okay, and everyone stops hassling him until the next match. Lose and look bad, then the knives really come out for his head. How does he get out of this predicament? One match at a time. Do well against Egypt, do well in the Gold Cup, and do well against Mexico, and a lot of criticism goes away (and by doing well, we’re talking about both playing well and winning a lot of these matches). I am interested in seeing this team in the Gold Cup. Hopefully this team shows more energy and passion than the guys who are in South Africa.
I agree. Including Clark for gold cup means an even more extended absence from his club. I’m glad Holden is getting a chance, but I think Davis and Cameron are also very deserving. I know that none of this is about being “fair” it still seems that Rico had his opportunity to show his stuff and some others should get a look. Heaven forbid we lose 4 men to Gold Cup , but if they are deserving then so be it. I’m also glad Hainault is getting a call up, but was hoping Onstadt would as well, not only becasue he deserves it, but also becasue I would like to see Tally Hall get a few games.
I for one think the US winning tomorrow would be a bad thing. The last thing we need is for our Confederations Cup performance to end on a good note. If the USSF comes back with that nasty taste in their mouth then maybe they will finaly spit it out. Can you imagine them being happy just beating the team that beat Italy? What would be ridiculous would be celebrating that tiny victory when we have had the chance for big steps, and blew them. The decision must be made now. Look at the options. 1. You keep Bradly in charge, win CONCACAF, and get blown out in the WC. or 2. You bring in ANY OTHER COACH, win CONCACAF, and may or may not get blown out in the WC. I think we should take our chances.
As for the team that plays like one… I was telling my wife the other day just how good the boys have been looking lately. This team has championship written all over it, and I think the call ups will show our depth. The Dynamo have a depth that is so far above the rest of the league and it will show now. I would also expect it to show in the next CONCACAF Champions Cup. Dom is no fool, and as the old saying goes… Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…well you can’t fool me twice. It is clear that the emphasis on this team was built around that idea. Can’t wait for the game tomorrow to see which combination of players will win this time. This is getting to be lots of fun.
The problem for the US is with team selection and tactics. Example, Beasley is absolutely useless and should not even get to train with the MNT let alone be on the bench or play. He is technically and tactically barren. Why do you think he did not sniff the field in SCOTLAND of all places.
The US does not have the correct lineup. Bradley is clueless about tactics or team selection and preparation at the International level. He gets by with his limitations playing in CONCACAF. if the US was trying to qualify in Europe we would not sniff South Africa.
It is time for USSoccer to grow some stones and make another run at Klinsman or someone similar that knows the international game. The US would benefit from a German or Italian approach to the game. Time is running out. Good results in CONCACAF only mask what will really happen in the World Cup. You are seeing it in this tune-up. The US is simply not competing.
One match at a time. Play good ball with passion and results will follow. The Gold Cup will hit us hard but you have to feel good about the guys getting to go. I’d love to see Davis get a shot. He’s done so well, but I do so want to see the Cup back in Houston. It’s a great time for Geoff and Cam to shine and perhaps we’ll get to see our young Tally with some time in the net. Big day Sat.
The USMNT doesn\’t deserve to be ranked as high as it is. I mean come on, let\’s think about this for a moment…Mexico may play some horrible games against CONCACAF teams but when it comes down to it they find a way to step it up against Big Teams in competitive situations. Mexico played bad in 2007 Gold Cup losing the final against US but went to Copa America beat Brazil 2-0 beat Paraguay 5-0 and got third place beating Uruguay, only loss came against Argentina (who played the best football that tourney until that butt whooping against champions Brazil). Now I am a Tri fan so I know I am being biased but come on, Bradley needs to grow a set and stray away from his comfort zone and play some new players. Torres needs to get some playing time (again I know I\’m biased I\’m a Tuzos fan) he will add a whole different dimension to the USMNT. Torres just went to the MPL final with Pachuca and played an important role all season! I bleed red, green, and white but even I want to see the bars and stripes play some top level football. The way I saw it Mexico has beat Brazil in Confed Cup before and had in the past gone toe to toe with Italy, so I was hoping for US to get 2 points from those two teams worst scenario one point. That didn\’t happen so I am disappointed and crushed because I would understand if they tried and played good futbol and lost, but seeing the fact that Bradley won\’t change line-ups even after losing playing badly just ticks me off.
Arriba Los Tuzos De Pachuca!
Sorry for the rant even though it had nothing to do with the subject….nice to see Dwayne do well even though its not with the orange.
Off topic Glenn, but I keep hearing that the USA has sold more world cup tickets than any other nation. Could it be that they are not all fans of the USMNT?
I know of three people who have purchased tickets in the US, One German, one Brit and on Mexican. IJS.
I figured/hoped Stu would get the call-up. Good for him and possibly the MNT but not so good for the Dynamo. Much as it is a chance for him to shine on the national front, perhaps it is also a chance for some of our other players to shine, ala Cruz. So maybe it’s a good thing to sort of force us to try out a greater pool of talent. Who knows it might work out for us.
As far as the MNT goes, I can’t see why anyone would be surprised by the results against Brasil and Italia. It doesn’t change my opinion of the team. One that struggles against Costa Rica, is surely going to be hard-pressed to get a result against the likes of an Italy or Brazil.
That said I think much of our woes come from the lack of stability in the back four especially out wide. We never know who will play any day be it because of injury or tinkering. Beasley should not start for us again, ever.
Another major issue is Bob Bradley’s seeming reluctance or unwillingness to try different players or more to the point players in a formation that may be more beneficial. He seems to try and force the 4-5-1 down opponents throats with little offensive success. For God’s sake why can’t the players have defined roles instead of Dempsey/Donovan sometimes you’re a forward sometimes your midfielder formation. The holding solitary forward worked ok with Ching because that’s his game but get Jozy some service! And PLEASE try Adu! I was screaming for him when we were down 2-0. I mean at worst he would have been no worse than the mid’s we had in and at best he would have provided an offensive spark and vision. What did we have to lose?
In summary:
Good Wide-backs
No Beasley
Yes Adu
4-4-2
Rico shouldn’t go to the Gold Cup. In Stu’s absence, Davis will probably move to the middle with Corey on the left. Should be ok.
I hope the US loses bad to Egypt, so Gulati will can Bob Bradley and hire a real coach. I just hope he considers a foreign coach (mostly so he’ll stay away from Dom, although if anyone deserves it, it’s Dom).
Can someone explain to me the reasoning behind playing Donovan out wide? He is far and away our most creative and dangerous player. I think this 4-3-3 they play does not do us any favors. I would much prefer a 4-4-2 with Donovan at attacking mid.