SALT LAKE CITY -- We're going to try a new experiment here with SI.com's coverage of the U.S. national team. With nine months until South Africa 2010, we'll attempt to size up the bubble players after every remaining U.S. qualifier and friendly based on their performances. Bob Bradley is going to have to make some tough decisions before settling on his final World Cup roster, and there's still a lot of time for players to impress or force their way off his radar.
So, fresh off the Americans' 2-1 win over El Salvador on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium, here's the latest U.S. stock watch:
Making their case to stick
Charlie Davies. The 23-year-old really has come into his own of late, and remained dangerous all throughout the game despite not registering a goal. Among his best highlights were a pretty ground-ball cross to Clint Dempsey in the 28th minute, and a dangerous run into the box in the 40th off a pass from Jozy Altidore. Davies and Altidore have developed a great partnership up top -- no surprise, since they're tight off the field -- and are making a great case to be the top-choice strike pair. Based on Altidore's strength in front of goal and Davies' explosiveness, I'm calling them "Thunder & Lightning" from this point forward. (For the record, Davies loved that idea when I suggested it Saturday night.)
Stuart Holden. The one standout from the CONCACAF Gold Cup team who continues to show he can stick with the "A" team, Holden made his minutes count after coming on as a 73rd-minute sub. The Houston Dynamo star hit a pretty cross in the 89th minute that José Francisco Torres headed on goal, only to be thwarted by a spectacular Miguel Montes save.
Chad Marshall. If for nothing else than by default, the 6-foot-3 center back may be climbing the ladder now that it's clear the U.S.' depth at that position is thin. With Oguchi Onyewu out due to yellow-card accumulation, and Jay DeMerit out with a groin strain, the Columbus Crew defender got his first start in World Cup qualifying and played well enough to get another look.
On the outs
Jonathan Bornstein. Poor Bornstein had perhaps his worst game in a national-team jersey. He lost the ball on multiple occasions, got burned badly by El Salvador's Arturo Alvarez and, of course, made the key mistake that led to the Salvadorans' lone goal. The 24-year-old left back had made a lot of progress over the past couple years, but this performance may be the one that knocks him out of the picture, much as his Chivas USA teammate Sacha Kljestan has disappeared from Bradley's depth chart. The timing's even worse now that ex-Mexico left back Edgar Castillo's switch back to U.S. eligibility has been approved by FIFA.
Kyle Beckerman. It was a nice moment when the Real Salt Lake star entered the game as an 80th-minute sub -- the home fans in Utah love their dreadlocked midfielder. And his inclusion in this camp was fair: He was locally accessible and played well enough at the Gold Cup to merit a look. But Beckerman's touch was off the few times he saw the ball. With the limited minutes he's likely to get, and as crowded as the U.S. central midfield picture is, he's got to impress more than that.
Incomplete
José Francisco Torres. The 21-year-old Texan is a cult hero for U.S. fans because of the natural ball skills he can showcase. But he still hasn't found a natural spot in Bradley's set-up. Still, Torres is good enough that he keeps getting called in. Saturday were his first minutes since that awful 3-1 loss in Costa Rica in June. If Torres had buried that header late in the game, this would be a bigger debate. But for now, until he finds his niche on this team, I'm not sure he'll fit on a World Cup roster.
OK, you've got the floor: Which bubble players impressed you? Who's clearly not fit for this level? Thoughts on Benny Feilhaber's mixed performance?
Abbey Clancy
Esti Ginzburg
Arizona Rattlers Cheerleaders
Biggest Retirements of 2010
Comments (71) Add A Comment
howard
spector demerit gooch castillo
torres jones donavan
dempsey davies altidore
what the lineup should be, feilhaber is best coming off the bench to replace torres, that would be our best linup as dempsey is better served playing as a fw
Cuba Rebel
Cuba, NY
Total Comments (1269)
Friedel
Spector-Demerit-Onyewu-Bocanegra
Jones-Bradley
Dempsey-Donovan
Davies-Altidore
But the Friedel thing won't happen. I think the line-up for SA will be virtually the same as the Confed. Cup. Jones should come into Rico's place.
Keeper2
La Fayette , GA
Total Comments (48)
We have always sent 'great' goalkeepers, and ok mids and defenders to europe....but we always wanted that attacking star to cement our place in the football world as true competitors in the game...that guy is Charlie Davies.... looks fearless everytime he's allowed to turn and face goal...he pulled off a move last night that was messiesque...always dangerous. I'm glad Bob took an extended look at Holden, we needed somebody to fill the slot time left from the sasha and dmb show...
Harborview
Total Comments (193)
Howard
Spector/Castillo-Onyewu-Demerit-Boca
Jones/Edu-Bradley
Dempsey-Donovan
Altidore-Davies
I think whenever both Edu gets healthy and Jones becomes officially available, Clark is as good as gone as a starter at least.
Geezus G
Richmond , VA
Total Comments (2594)
I'm confused. On the one hand, Holden's cross is not negated by the fact that Montes made a "spectacular" save, but Torres is faulted because the header was "not buried." Are you evaluating how the player played or the result?
Ken M.
Fuquay Varina , NC
Total Comments (15)
Somebody needs to sit Michael Bradley down for a while. He's too fragile mentally and he gives up the ball too many times to be considered a midfield starter. Jermaine Jones and Maurice Edu can't come into this squad fast enough. And I'll keep banging the drums on this until he gets better at this part of his game: Michael Bradley refuses to use his left foot whenever he's under pressure from an opponent. If I can see this watching a television, so can the opposition.
ACM: Typical…
Total Comments (7816)
I haven't seen enough of Torres to make too many qualifying judgments about him but my suspicion is that he's somewhat over-rated, especially if the "fans" think he's all the rage (that's a fairly big warning sign that he may be more fluff than fury).
Bornstein was his usual awful self - one can only hope that this latest dismal performance gets him the boot off the team. Good riddance to him and Sacha - also that Beckerman guy was just terrible. No wonder people rip on the MLS with players like him in the MLS. Yikes.
Davies and Holden were great and good respectively, though I'm still not sold entirely on Holden, either.
I'm excited about Castillo and Jones coming to the states.
Was anyone else irritated that Mexico pulled off the surprise win at Costa Rica? Ugh. Made our loss there even more glaring. Sigh.
Wytefang
Total Comments (324)
Howard
Dolo - DeMerit - Onyewu - Boca
Dempsey - Bradley - Jones - Donovan
Altidore - Davies
Feilhaber, Edu, Holden and/or Torres as the depth at center-mid. With the depth, Bradley and Jones should be dropped from the starting-11 whenever they're out of form. Preference to starting two holding-midfielders (Bradley, Jones, Edu) over the more attack-minded players (Feilhaber, Holden, Torres), because like it or not, the US midfield plays better with two ball-winners in the center. Holden and Feilhaber's versatility as a winger or center-mid makes them more valuable. At this point, Torres seems to only be useable as a tactical sub in which the team reverts to a 4-5-1 late in the game, but that could be useful on occasion.
Dolo over Spector, because Spector is and always has been an inconsistent player. Still, if Dolo loses form or PT with Hannover, then Spector's right there.
Castillo can be Boca's back-up on the left, and possibly a tactical start for when the US plays a team with someone who's particularly speedy on the left side. As much as it would be nice to have Castillo's addition to the attack on the left-side, you *must* prioritize defense before offense when it comes to the backline, and Castillo is a known defensive liability. That may not be so bad for a fullback in club play, but in international play, it's damning.
As much as I think the US will miss Ching's skill-set with an Altidore and Davies pairing, the potential upside of pairing those two is greater still. Let's just hope one or both of them develop better hold-up skills sooner rather than later. Ching remains a fine back-up if one of them loses form.
serotonin
Total Comments (715)
You're seeing a Mexico enjoying high-morale at the moment, and it's showing on the pitch. Just be thankful the US has already had their home qualifier against them, and took away 3 points. They're no longer an issue.
serotonin
Total Comments (715)
I don't know what it is. Howard has god-like performances in the EPL, but on the International level, he looks lost.
He was badly out of position on the only El Salvador goal last night. I'd almost like to see them give Friedel a shot in the next qualifying fixture.
I'm thrilled with Altidore and Davies up front, but our Midfield play has me worried at times. Outside of Donovan, we seem really complacent defensively with our mids - and that simply won't work against quality teams (as we saw in the Confederations Cup final vs. Brazil).
I'd like to see them bring Brad Evans from the Sounders up again. He's only made 3 international appearances on the MNT, but he's a solid two-way midfielder that can get back to help AND play really nice balls along the wings for our forwards to press.
mwiegand
Seattle , WA
Total Comments (7)
I think that Jones will make this team better. We need that destroyer in the middle, but he is more then that. It is going to be interesting seeing how he and Bradley play togetheir, Bradley might be in trouble now that he looks out of favor with Gladbach. Castillo will def get a chance, hopefully he can win that spot. USA looks good for the wc.
balboa
Miami , FL
Total Comments (47)
Who's clearly not fit for this level?
1. The referees.
2. The ESPN camera control room: not showing replays of certain runs and questionable calls, focusing a good 5 or 10 seconds on Bradley while the play continues to go on off camera, etc. Glad they are showing soccer. Just learn how to do it better.
BlueWhiteLion
Total Comments (451)
I am a Holden fan. Every time he steps onto the pitch you know you are going to get positive minutes and a ton of energy out of him. He impresses me more and more with each match. Aside from Dempsey's goal, what else did he bring to the pitch last night? Not too impressed with him in the midfield.
Gundy018
Monroe , NC
Total Comments (4)
Howard
spec/bocan/gooch/castillo
bradly
dempsey donovan
torres
jozy davies
I dont think torres playes enough def. for bradly to put him in the middle. putting him as an attacking mid would do wonders for our attack. I think davies is our best striker right now with Jozy right behind him. I have to also give props to landon for finally stepping up his game to the level that we expect from him. he and howard (needs to stay closer to his line) are our most talented players in the US
CWILL
Atlanta , GA
Total Comments (1)
Why does everyone seem to insist on dolo and boca? I could be wrong because its hard to watch a representative number of matches of the usmnt in the US but without specter we dont reach the final of the confed cup and maybe with someone with more pace of the left back side (meaning not boca) brazil wouldnt have hammered us so bad in the second half. the amount of crosses from his side were inexcusable. he played well last night in a central role that doesnt require as much pace. however, gooch and demerit are better in my opinion
cdg922
Total Comments (2)
I find it amazing that people like Freedman and Wahl don't put the screws in CONCACAF for the officials they throw out there for these games. Seriously. How you have an all Honduras crew for last nights game is beyond me when they are fighting for a World Cup spot. You'd think what little of the American soccer media would point this out and make a case for fixing this is beyond me. I mean, the USA goes on the road and has to deal with it and they have home games in effing UTAH and have to play against the officials too?
--------
About this article, it's a big "no ish Sherlock" for it. Anyone who thought Beckerman or Bornstien could make it aren't serious. Also file "making their case" and Charlie Davies is hilarious. Davies is solid and has been for a while. He starts up top with either Ching or Altidore. Come on. Everyone knows Davies is in barring injury.
Here's some food for thought. Castillo might be nice if you play a faster team, but you can play Dolo and Spector at the same time because Spector can play on the left and right. You could also bring in Eric Lichaj who will eventually break the Aston Villa team if you are really concerned about it. Boca is shaky at best, because when he is good he's great, but when he is bad it's horrible. There is no balance with the guy.
Buck Feckham
Total Comments (1741)
Dude, are you stealing my stuff? Now, I'll admit that I didn't use "thunder and lightning" to apply to Jozy and Charlie, but I've been proposing the moniker for Jozy and Ghilas, ever since their first hook up at Hull City, for exactly the same reason. I've written comments about it all over the NY Times, Washington Post, other Jozy articles, and EPL-Hull City threads. But that's ok, I suppose you don't really read those competing threads. And, yeah sure, you're applying it to Jozy and Charlie, not Jozy and Ghilas, and for completely different reasons. But for pete's sake, come up with your own stuff. That's what they pay you for.
mannewskie
Washington , DC
Total Comments (5)
For example, please see my comment #1 on the NY Times Goal blog on Aug 25, 2008. http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/hull-city-and-altidore-keep-rolli ng/
And my comment at 12:09 on Aug 26 on the Washington Post Soccer blog:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/08/jozy_emilio_usa_wom en.html
Thunder and lightning? Really annoys me, buddy.
mannewskie
Washington , DC
Total Comments (5)
Against the top teams, our lineup has to remain the way it was at the end of the Confed Cup, with the possible addition of Jones:
Howard
Spector - DeMerit - Gooch - Boca
Rico/Jones - MBradley
Dempsey - Donovan (Benny sub, Dempsey to FW)
Davies - Altidore (2nd half sub out whichever is gassed)
But against inferior competition, we need to be able to control possession. That means playing guys with ball skills, even if they don't fit in well with the counterattack style. We shouldn't be counterattacking against El Salvador. Play Feilhaber, Torres, and maybe Holden at the same time in midfield so we can control possession.
Bornstein wouldn't have played had we not had to scrape the bottom of the barrel because of Gooch and DeMerit being available. Add Castillo to the team and we'll no longer need him even as a sub. That's enough reason to give him the call-up. MB is out of form right now. I'm not saying that he needs to be dropped, or that he is only playing because his father's the coach, but WCQ is not where players should be regaining form for their club team.
PNEI: Philosophy…
Total Comments (280)
Hey" #14 Cwill " Howard
spec/bocan/gooch/castillo
Jones(insert jones as def. mid in diamond formation)
dempsey donovan
torres
jozy davies
This idea would be nice to test in a friendly against a low level team but wont happen as long as Bradley is coach- his son is a lock.
Torres' marking(defense) at the end on the game in the last third was beautiful. Sal. couldn't even restart play- it took 4 tries.
Rating Marshall ahead of Torres who stood still while watching his mark half his height head the ball unacceptable. Freedman is rating players too high and gives way too much way for for players. Beckerman's energy is always high, he is definitely not a starter and needs to improve but on a 23 man roster i will take him for energy off the bench. We are about 15 deep now with maybe 8 definite s, let's get some new faces in and give them playing time.
BKLYN Vic
Brooklyn , NY
Total Comments (3)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.